《The Steel in One's Soul》


 Chapter 1, A Lot of Falling

    So you are Creighton?


    ¡°Ye-yes.¡± I faltered, suddenly finding my voice. The angel wasn¡¯t there before, was he?


    Do you understand why you are here with me right now?


    ¡°No?¡±


    You do understand you died, right?


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    The reason you are here and not in line at the Gates is that your death came too soon.


    ¡°What do you mean too soon?¡±


    You are aware God gave mortal men free will?


    ¡°That was taught to me, but how could someone ever be certain?¡±


    If you were truly certain it would just reflect pride, not faith. You lived like it was true, most of your years.


    ¡°Okay?¡±


    The reason free will is now considered a gift is because it allows your soul to grow, the more direct guidance we give the more a soul will stagnate.


    ¡°I can accept that, but it doesn¡¯t answer what I¡¯m doing here with you. You don¡¯t look like saint peter. Am I going to hell¡±


    No, Hell is for malicious sinners. Your soul is simply unready to enter the Kingdom of God.


    ¡°Are you saying I¡¯m going to Limbo or something? And how is that fair? No one told me that I needed a rebreather for that compartment. I haven¡¯t even been dead for¡­ twenty minutes?¡±


    I know my child, and that¡¯s why you¡¯re going to get another chance.


    ¡°Does that mean I can see my family again? Or am I attending my own funeral?¡±


    No, We won¡¯t be sending you back to Earth. You must wait until you enter the Kingdom of God to be reunited with your family.


    ¡°Then we are going to Limbo?¡±


    No, I am taking you to a whole other world. You would call it reincarnation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll still get to be human though, right? Not going to have to be a caterpillar or something to make up for my sins?¡±


    What form you take will, ultimately, be your choice.


    ¡°My choice?¡±


    Yes, I will be helping you find a path that will let your soul come into its own, as opposed to re-treading the path you¡¯ve already walked.


    ¡°Okay. How far do we have to go? I¡¯m not even sure how long we¡¯ve been traveling.¡±


    This time has been for your benefit, we are already there.


    When he said those words, I suddenly realized there was a star behind me. It was drawing no closer, but we were heading for a world that looked very much like earth. When I turned to look up at the angel, I could no longer see him, though I could still feel the hand he had been leading me with. I was brought into a low orbit, the planet spinning away beneath me, only for the angel leading me to reappear. He now held a golden rope that disappeared into nothing a few feet from his other hand.


    This is Trezemek. It will host you for your second life, such that you may return not just to the family you are leaving behind, but also all those whose souls you have yet to touch.


    The planet seemed normal, other than some areas having odd coloring, like a purple tundra, far above the equator, or a green inland ocean, seemingly just barely inside the southern hemisphere. That was allI could make out as we were entering into the nighttime side of the planet.


    This world is currently less technologically advanced than ours, but it does possess a number of things seen only in fantasy on Earth. Most noteworthy is that magic is effervescent on Trezemek.


    ¡°What do you mean by magic?¡±


    Spells, prayers, rituals. Most forms you could think of. The planet also contains new races, using this magic in many more ways, of which many are similar to your popular Earth fantasy. And a few that are not known to you.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying I have options other than to be just human? I could be, like, an elf?¡±


    Yes, but children of clay are not the entirety of what is possible. Shortly the wealth of options will make themselves manifest, and you will feel more than one call to you. But to set your expectations properly, The magic this planet possesses is also capable of harboring a soul. Think of how nature spirits were depicted.


    ¡°Like a dryad or something?¡±


    Yes, that is one, but it is one you will find less exotic.


    ¡°What would I find as the most exotic?¡±


    That¡¯s too individual a question for me to answer for you, I can show you what struck me the most, if you¡¯d like.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Okay, but before we go any farther, I want to know. Did they find my will?¡±


    I can tell you that now, sure. Your brother found it, and he shared it with the rest of your family.


    ¡°And you¡¯re sure this isn¡¯t a punishment for missing church so often?¡±


    Come now Creighton, have a little Faith. You¡¯re doubting the words of an Angel.


    The next second, the hand that had been leading me let go, and with a pinch in the small of my back I suddenly felt like I was falling off a cliff, even though I couldn¡¯t truly experience any vertigo. I was falling towards the surface, and I couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom how fast. I could only guess I was headed for the northern hemisphere, but with no lights to guide me, all I could really see was a nearly pitch black circle blotting out more and more stars. I was falling down on not just the side opposite the sun, but the moon also hardly cast any light over the vague landmass I was heading for, and that was before the clouds that seemed to cast continent long shadows.


    When I arrived on the surface, I didn''t feel any impact or jolt. It was the sight of a soft orange glow illuminating the nearby trees, and their rustling leaves, that told me I had arrived in a deep forest. The angel had said there would be dryads, and there was no mistaking the first creature I saw was one. Watching as she ran in the opposite direction of the glow, I could see her clearly. It was like she gave off her own green light, but it was a light that did not illuminate her surroundings. I glanced back in the direction of the glow in front of me, and by the time I turned back I had already lost track of the dryad completely. Walking without having to touch the ground weirded me out, especially when my foot passed right through a root I would otherwise have tripped on, the feeling having been the most like taking a phantom step at the top of a staircase.


    I continued on, letting the now noticeably flickering fire guide me. It must be big enough to be a real forest fire. Could he want to show me some sort of fire elemental? It sounded interesting, but after having just experienced a sudden and suffocating death, I certainly didn¡¯t want my next life to be at risk in a passing drizzle. A better name didn¡¯t jump out at me when I saw them, as they danced along the burning branches, so I stuck with fire elementals. What did jump out at me was that beyond the wall of fire, the blackened trees were toppled, as if by a tornado. Holding the back of my hand near the fire, I felt the presence of heat, but no pain or discomfort. I figured that would be the case, as I could see through my weird spirit hands, but it was better to check before I tried to cross.


    Stepping through, and then up, the blackened trees, I climbed through the untouched heartwood until my feet tread along the bark of the tree. A circle of fire ringed the sea of broken trunks and branches, almost all of them having toppled away from the middle of the clearing. The closer I got to the center, the more battered the trees appeared. However they also became less burnt. I arrived at a crater. It was not that deep, nor wide, as far as I think craters can get. The forest seemed remarkably well off if a meteorite that large had just landed here. If this was the extent of its damage, It must not be very dense. That would mean the almost pearlescent lump in front of me should have burned up in the atmosphere,  but before I could really think about that, I felt it pull me, or perhaps it was calling to me. The wind that had until now blown right through me, like I was a ragged sail riddled with holes, suddenly swelled behind me, and I unceremoniously tumbled down the crater¡¯s wall, before everything went dark.


    Well this isn¡¯t ideal, but to be fair, it suited you far better than I¡¯ve seen before. I suspected it might fit you, but it¡¯s unlikely anything else on this planet would have even come close.


    ¡¯What do you mean?¡¯ I found I couldn¡¯t speak, but he replied to my question regardless.


    This is Living Metal, and it was one of your many options, however you¡¯re now committed to it.


    ¡®How can metal be alive? What do you mean committed?¡¯


    Think of it like that dryad, a higher order derivative of life in this forest. You are now a dryad of magically imbued metal and rock. And by committed, I¡¯m saying if I were to extract your soul, it would be like a second death, and another death without time to grow more robust would, at the very best, scar you deeply.


    ¡®Well, Can you tell me what living metal does? I can¡¯t seem to move, I can¡¯t see. It just feels like I¡¯ve got a mouth full of cornmeal grit and sand.¡¯


    You are what passes for juvenile living metal, unworked, unrefined, unspoiled. You are essentially an ore imbued with a soul by this world¡¯s magic. You can start by trying to spit out that ¡®sand¡¯, but for the most part you¡¯ll be waiting for someone to come and find you. There is a lot of competition over the custody of living metal.


    ¡®Does that mean everyone is going to be treating me like their property?¡¯


    Living metal is still living, Creighton, and if those who find you try to abuse you, you have sufficient power to rebel. They may seek you for your strength, but they cannot take it without your consent.


    ¡®How long do I have to wait? How long will you stay with me?¡¯


    I am sorry, but now that you are incarnate, I can¡¯t give you anything more than occasional assurances, and even then I shouldn¡¯t do any more than say good luck. I will be watching, and we will all be waiting for you.


    ¡®Wait a second, You still haven¡¯t told me what living metal actually does!¡¯


    There was no response But he didn¡¯t leave me without at least some direction, so I focused back on myself. This body must have just impacted the ground, as I still felt hot. The night air will soon be robbing me of my heat, and if I know anything about metals it¡¯s easier to work with them when they¡¯re hot. I pick one of the foreign feeling clumps and try to force it out. The best way to describe what happens is that it grinds along the other grains inside of me, my structure shifting and compressing to allow it to pass, until the lump hits another impurity I can¡¯t immediately move, and the pain I feel reminds me of the worst toothache I¡¯d ever had, cranked up to eleven. I reacted by pushing even harder, and I felt the two grains crumble, and start moving together. The feeling then went from dust in my mouth to something more akin to bitter, burning coffee, and the pain and pressure finally released as it spat out of me. The relief I felt when the pressure abated was all encompassing, and I must have passed out. The next thing I knew I felt cold and lethargic, but with a slight warmth tingling in what must be my exposed surface.

 Chapter 2, What is Lost

    Normally, meteor showers aren¡¯t particularly noteworthy, other than the beauty they bring. The ones we can see passing by us in the sky don¡¯t generally indicate an increased likelihood one is going to land nearby. But with a combination of the more mundane astrology, divination and scrying, it is possible to predict, with only the meteor shower as your indicator, when a meteorite might next fall locally. Even if it¡¯s years down the line, as long as it will have some significant impact upon it¡¯s arrival. The difficult part is to tell what exact form the consequences will be. One bringing the egg of a legendary phoenix might appear just as impactful as one that levels a whole kingdom.


    The meteorite I had sent them to recover was of apparently miniscule threat. I expected it would be made up of simple iron and rock, as I usually divined incoming Skysteel far earlier. In retrospect, I suppose the general upheaval of fate those fortune tellers had kept going on about should have hinted to me something big was coming, but it seemed irrelevant to what I expected would be nothing more than some noble¡¯s fancy paperweight.


    ~~~


    The Greenwood is a young forest, and it is well known for being safe. No monsters dwelled in its depths, mostly because of the dryads and treents that called it home. Entering the forest to hunt or gather was unobjectionable, and as long as logging was kept below a negotiated threshold, the woods were a veritable boon for the local liege lord. Adventurers didn¡¯t often need to go delving inside unless some monsters had tried to migrate in, or some special ingredient or component had a bounty posted. The network of dryads and treents were warned ahead of time that something would likely be landing in their forest, and they had taken precautions to limit the spread of any fire by clearing the underbrush and expanding natural firebreaks like streams and large game trails. It was the third day of the meteor shower when it made landfall. The sound echoed a great distance, and the immediate surroundings were devastated.  The fire petered out without undergrowth to spread from one tree to another, so the denizens of the forest avoided the site. Waiting for adventurers to come and take whatever had landed away. They had been told that while it wasn¡¯t likely dangerous to the whole forest, you could never rule out the chance it might contain, or even be, a monster.


    The Dryad that was leading them to the crater claimed to have been knocked down by the force of the impact. She was youthful for a dryad, but of average age in this younger forest.


    ¡°I was just relaxing, counting the shooting stars, when I felt the forest almost shout. You need to understand how rare that is, trees don¡¯t do a lot of shouting!¡±


    From the rear of the party came a breathless mutter;


    ¡°The forest might not, but you sure do.¡±


    The white robed woman rebuked her elder.


    ¡°Oh shut it Rodney, you know dryads don¡¯t see many people, and this is probably the most exciting thing that¡¯s happened in this forest.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. How much further did she say it was again?¡±


    ¡°She said it was about a ten minute run to the road, and we¡¯ve been off it about that long, so if I had to guess another ten at walking speed.¡±


    ¡°Just had to land so close to the ridges, hm? We could be home by now if it fell on the other side of the forest.¡±


    The druid¡¯s voice butted in.


    ¡°If it didn¡¯t land here you might have had a hard time digging it out. I¡¯ve got some of the firmest and rockiest soil around, and it still threw around a lot of dirt.¡±


    The party¡¯s knight, Larrik, grabbed the druid¡¯s attention back by asking;


    ¡°You didn¡¯t get close to it right? While, even if it was a monster, I doubt that it would have been able to catch you, that is no reason to risk yourself when we were on our way.¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. I just climbed my tree! It is the tallest around, and I could barely make out something shiny half buried in the mound.¡±


    ¡°Anything else you could tell us about it? We must be getting pretty close by now?¡±


    ¡°Uh, there is one thing. On my way back to my hometree I saw something glowing go flying off into the woods. You didn¡¯t really warn me that was a possibility, so I just left that alone too. I did keep track of where it landed, though.¡±


    The party remained briefly silent. The list of things that could fall from the sky and then go flying from the crater was short. Short and dangerous.


    Rodney quickened his steps to speak directly to the dryad.


    ¡°Did it seem to be actually flying, as opposed to just being flung?¡±


    ¡°What would be the difference?¡±


    ¡°Flight would be a number of small arcs, but flung would be one long one, without any turns.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but I think one big arc. It definitely didn¡¯t turn. Why?¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be unheard of for the meteorite to crack and eject fragments, the shards would travel in a straight line along one big arc. If it had been a string of shorter arcs, it would have likely been a monster. And if it recovered from impact so quickly, a particularly deadly one.¡±


    The party now visibly relaxed, but the druid stayed thoughtful.


    ¡°I can take you around where the glowing thing ended up before we go to the crater, if you want.¡±


    ¡°How far is that?¡± asked Larrik


    ¡°It would only be an extra couple minutes. It¡¯s almost on the way, if I¡¯d thought of this earlier I could have taken you straight there. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, we didn¡¯t ask. Let¡¯s go¡±


    Continuing their walk in silence for some time, other than the occasional spiteful grumbling, the party made way towards whatever the druid had seen last night.


    ~~~


    It was certainly morning as the sun felt particularly pleasant with how deep nighttime¡¯s chill had penetrated me. It was not just the air, but the ground stealing my warmth now that it had cooled down too. I had been able to expel a few of my impurities, but now that I am so cold I don¡¯t think I could do it again. One notable thing is that the grains inside of me had felt like solid clumps, but they now felt significantly more broken up. If I had to guess when I cooled down they shattered into smaller pieces. I could probably attack someone with them, if I could figure out where my target is, and if I was hot enough. I tried focusing on my sunwarmed surface, trying to feel for anything that slow trickle of heat would actually let me do, but I think I need both a bit more sun to warm me, and a little less ground to steal my heat, before I will be able to try for a total ejection again. The shards inside of me have settled to the bottom of the voids they had previously filled, so If I could manipulate them, I could try to shake myself free of the crater. With my new plan I focused inwards, visualizing what I wanted to happen, and sort of fumbling around in my rocky muscle memory for what I had managed to do last night.


    Suddenly and violently, I felt a shearing sensation. The ground had been formed around me, but as the foreign metals jerked upwards, and then came to a sudden stop, I felt the compacted dirt around me give away. I didn¡¯t go far, and though there was still dirt stuck to my surface blocking the sun, I was now in significantly less contact with the ground. I was also afraid if I tried that again I might either fall back down or go flying off into the forest somewhere. I really hope the forest fire died out, it seemed really tranquil here. Before I stepped into the circle of burning trees, anyways.


    ~~~


    What they found was approximately the size of a large potato, surrounded by radiating scorch marks and stuck halfway into a pine tree. It glinted a brilliant yellow, which Rodney identified as electrum. A mix of gold, silver and small amounts of other metals, The old rogue only knew it as a valuable magical ingredient, especially if the ratio was right. But of what it could have come from, only one option remained.


    ¡°Good news is, we¡¯re getting paid extra for this,¡± he said, breaking the valuable find off the tree. ¡°but you must not breathe a word of it on our way to give the meteorite to the Baron.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°This is electrum, it¡¯s worth quite a lot. But the fact this is here, and not in the crater, means that it¡¯s not just SkySteel we¡¯re recovering¡±


    ¡°I thought they said it wasn¡¯t going to be Skysteel?¡±


    ¡°Leona, you must have heard of Soulsteel, Right?¡±


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°I have, but are you trying to say-¡± The woman¡¯s face lit up with shock.


    ¡°I am almost certain. When we get there, Larrik must empty his pack. Do you know any fire spells?¡±


    ¡°A few, but most of them incorporate holy magic, that¡¯s not a problem, right?¡±


    ¡°If it reacts poorly to your first casting, we¡¯re leaving it here and finding someone else to deal with it. But as it''s shitting out electrum, we should be fine.¡±


    As they started heading for the impact site again, the druid was initially speechless. She had no clue about this Soulsteel, and she thought it sounded awfully strange.


    ¡°What is it then? What landed in my little stretch of the woods?¡±


    ¡°Soulsteel is a kind of living metal, a kind with, as the name suggests, its own soul.¡±


    ¡°What? How can metal be alive, let alone hold a soul?¡±


    ¡°Living metal is physically an element like any other, and as for the soul, my limited understanding is that through its interactions with magic it gains life, and therefore eventually a soul. Natural things instead gain magic through life.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that almost the same explanation you gave me for monsters?¡± asked Larrik


    ¡°Basically, perhaps, but there is some nuance to it. Most monsters were animals before they gained magic, but they now rely on the magic to sustain themselves. Or so Archy said when I asked him.¡±


    ¡°I can see the clearing up ahead, should I come in with you three?¡±


    ¡°No, Stay here. If we don¡¯t come back, tell the next caravan going to Kruth that this part of the forest is off limits and they must inform the Baron to send for a court magician from the Duke.¡±


    ¡°Oh, can living metal really be that dangerous?¡±


    ¡°Only if your holy fire pisses it off instead of sating it.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Leaving the druid to watch from a safe distance, the trio approached the crater. The soil was indeed firm, but the mess of fallen trees made it difficult to work their way to the center, as while most trunks ran straight towards the crater, the branches and occasional outjogged tree still created a barrier to forward progress, forcing them to either cut their way through or circle around particularly messy clumps of the thrashed timber.


    ¡°Allright, I''m gonna go take a look first, you two stay here and keep your heads down. When I call you up with me, have a fire spell and your metal buckler ready.¡±


    ~~~


    After I escaped from my dirt nap, I sat there basking in the sun. It was quite pleasant, I still couldn¡¯t ¡®see¡¯ anything, but the warmth was, while not quite energizing me, making me less lethargic. I found myself completely without a plan, other than to wait and pretend I was a solar panel.


    I can¡¯t judge time well, only really able to judge by counting seconds, and how many of them it took the last shadow to pass over me. By now the sun must be reasonably high in the sky. I can say, based on the parts of me getting sun, that it''s at the latest an hour before noon. Assuming I am not more than halfway into the northern hemisphere, at least. I drop my current count, all my concentration jumping to a small flash of light that was there for just one second, and then gone the next. The brightness reminded me of retroreflectors late at night.


    Whatever it is, it''s now clambering through the maze of trees that surrounded me. I see its head clearly, and as it passes what must be the last of the ripped up roots, I get a good look at it. It is shaped like a human, but one with shading that seems all wrong. His eyes are the brightest part of his body. His clothes hide most of his form. It strikes me how it looks like I¡¯m seeing with infrared, but I can see his hair, as it doesn¡¯t show black. He¡¯s also wearing comically large gloves, they remind me of oven mitts, or baseball gloves. The fact I can see them when the rest of his clothes are imperceptible strikes me as important. He himself doesn¡¯t have a specific color, as he shines white, but the gloves are a dull blue. Approaching me carefully, he stops just out of arm''s reach of me and squats down. I can¡¯t discern the pupils of his eyes, but I¡¯m sure they are locked on me.


    ~~~


    ¡°Allright, it doesn¡¯t seem hostile to me.¡±


    ¡°What are you doing? You didn¡¯t do anything to check! You just walked right up to it!¡±


    ¡°If it was hostile it would have started trying to build up enough force to either launch itself, or more electrum, at me.¡±


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go.¡± Larrik leads Leona, holding a small steel buckler in front of him. Normally this is his backup shield, but Rodney said his wooden one wouldn¡¯t block a molten shot from this close.


    ¡°First off, light this up for me.¡± Rodney proffered a splintered bundle of wood.


    ¡°Okay¡±


    Taking the now alight tinder, Rodney waved the other two a step back, and placed the burning sticks on top of the white, almost pink rock. When nothing happened he breathed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Now listen little feller, as long as you promise to be good on our trip home, you can have all the fire you want when we get there.¡±


    The response was as dry as the kindling, but that was what he was hoping for.


    ¡°Allright, open that pack of yours up, it¡¯s a little big but it should fit.¡±


    ¡°Why do we have to put it in my pack?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too heavy for either of us, now will you stop complaining and take it before I drop it. That would piss it right off.¡±


    ~~~


    When the other two had come climbing over the log, I was concerned. They also appeared with clothes, or maybe armor, black as pitch. Their bodies also seemed to be full of their own light. They wore significantly more clothes then the first guy, so I couldn¡¯t get as good of a read on them. The one with the cloak was definitely a girl though. She did a weird snap of her fingers that sparked a fire, but I couldn¡¯t see exactly what she was doing because the man in front of her was holding a big disc of nothingness, and if I was being honest I wouldn¡¯t be able to see a firestarter if she was holding one. As the first man brought the fire closer to me, cradled in his blue oven mitts, I could actually distinguish things with the little light it gave off. His shirt was brown, probably leather if I had to guess. He placed the little fire on top of me, like some sort of crown, and I fell absolutely enamored with it. It radiated a warmth that quenched a thirst I didn''t know I had. Unlike with the sunlight, I didn¡¯t get any physically warmer, but I instead felt truly energized, and even though the flame burnt out far too quickly, the warmth didn¡¯t bleed away. Around the time the fire went out, I noticed his mouth was moving. But I had never learned to read lips, so I just sat there, focusing on him as he scooped me up. Those gloves were not cold, but they were cool. A strange distinction I didn¡¯t have time to explore before he placed me into some kind of container held by the armored looking guy, and the world returned to darkness. I could feel it was leather, likely a backpack. It seemed to strain to fit me inside, and with how I was jostled, the second man must have put me on his back.


    ~~~


    ¡°Is that really it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but let¡¯s take our time climbing over the trees on the way out. I don¡¯t want to learn how living metal reacts when it''s dropped.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said it was Soulsteel?¡±


    ¡°If it can shoot out a nugget, It should have to be. But it also should have reacted to the fire, or to me picking it up. It¡¯s weird, but luckily it¡¯s not our job to figure out why.¡±


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Looking down to take off his Gloves of Resist Heat, he saw them covered with metallic dust.


    ¡°Quick, give me a phial. That thing was shedding.¡±


    ¡°Shedding? Shedding what?¡±


    ¡°Some metal, I don¡¯t know this kind by sight. You can tell a lot about Living Metal by what mundane metals came down with it, so the Baron will be needing whatever it sheds to show to whoever¡¯s got to deal with it after us.¡±

 Chapter 3, Kindling a Good Impression

    The return trip was quick and quiet, Larrik¡¯s backpack was noticeably overfull, but none of the merchants or common folk they passed on the road were foolish enough to pry into the business of adventurers laden with loot. The other two had taken most of Larrik¡¯s supplies, having left the heaviest of rations and perishables behind, as there was no longer enough room to fit them. They wouldn¡¯t be camping outside like they had been prepared to, as they had met up with the Dryad on the first pass down the forest road.


    ¡°So, we¡¯re staying the night, right? Tom will be done by tomorrow, and there is no reason to give away we¡¯re in a rush.¡±


    ¡°You know I just got done saying we needed to get this thing to the Baron before anything goes wrong, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re not the one who¡¯s been carrying it for the last two hours.¡±


    ¡°Fine. We can rest here and wait for tom. We got here early enough that we can take proper watches. And it¡¯s late enough in the year that no one will find it suspicious if we light a fire.¡±


    ¡°What would we need a fire for?¡±


    ¡°When the sun goes down, it might get a bit antsy. If we need it to sit quietly and behave, you can placate it with that manafire again.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think it likes fire?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the flames themselves, it¡¯s the mana and energy it releases.¡±


    ¡°Oh. We¡¯re just feeding it mana then. Can it use other kinds? It¡¯s metal, shouldn¡¯t it like metal or earth the most?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either way, but do not try it tonight. If it doesn¡¯t like it, it might spit another glob of molten metal through the thatch roof.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Upon entering the tavern, the one they had just departed from that morning, Rodney went straight to book them a room.


    ¡°Mary, Is our room still open?¡±


    ¡°Yep, It¡¯s already been cleaned too.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. It¡¯s the one with the fireplace, right?¡±


    ¡°Why? Will you be needing some firewood for your weary bones?¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t hurt.¡±


    ¡°Okay, 2 silver for 4 beds, 5 coppers for the firewood.¡±


    The small coins swap hands, and the party goes straight upstairs. Arriving at the same room they stayed in the night before. Larrik drew the curtains on the only window.


    ¡°Can I take it out now?¡±


    ¡°I suppose, just make sure to use the gloves. They¡¯re not just to protect you from its temperature, they also isolate your mana from it.¡± Turning to Leona, ¡°Would you mind starting the fire, so by the time he sours it¡¯s mood we can stick it in the fireplace?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll go grab the firewood.¡±


    ~~~


    We must have gone some significant distance, because after being in that bag for god knows how long, I felt the backpack get taken off, and then I was set on the floor. Looking up, I watched as the flap got pulled back and the man whose body heat I could just barely feel through the leather peered into the bag at me. He was now wearing those blue gloves, and as they touched me again the cool feeling returned. It felt like the opposite of the warmth that fire had given to me, but not draining like the true cold of night. He was unable to hold me with one hand, and almost dropped me. This body had just struck the ground with all the force of a literal meteor, so I was not too concerned about him hurting me if he did lose his grip. The older man however, who had been turned away, spun around and started giving this brawny looking guy a real talking to.


    I didn¡¯t pay much attention though, I was busy enjoying the cooling sensation. If I felt energized with that weird fire, this was soothing. I could feel the stresses inside of me slowly reaching an equilibrium. Once I was relaxed, I realized that I was starting to store that coolness, just like I had when taking in the warmth from the fire. I also didn¡¯t get any physically colder. I had lost some of my stored ¡°warmth¡± while I was relaxing, but now that I already felt calm, the coolness and the warmth seemed to be able to coexist. This struck me as weird magic stuff. Maybe it¡¯s what I eat? What else could sentient metal even eat? I don¡¯t think I eat metal, as I''m pretty sure that the foreign grains inside of me are other metals, and I can¡¯t seem to absorb them.


    As of right now, I can feel the powdered impurities sinking not just to the bottom of their voids, but them filtering out between my different crystalline structures. They were all gathering between me and the gloves. The metals coming out of me didn¡¯t seem to reflect any light, just as dark as my surroundings. As the man holding me shifted slightly, I felt the metal abrase against my surface. The feeling caused him to jump, dumping the powdery metal dust onto the floor, and nearly dropping me once again. But without the metal blocking me, I started absorbing magic from the gloves again.


    ~~~


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    ¡°If you can¡¯t hold your hands still, put the damn thing back down. And stop shouting.¡±


    ¡°No, look. It¡¯s shedding again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll gather it in a phial, you go set that thing down by the fireplace, and try leaving a glove under it.¡±


    Carefully, Larrik slid his hand partway out of the right glove, and then guided the living metal to sit on top. He didn¡¯t have a plan for what to do with the second glove, so he simply draped the glove over its surface.


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    ¡°Is that good?¡±


    ¡°For now, but get away from it before something else happens.¡±


    Having retreated to the other side of the room, they both sat on the edge of their beds, as the shedding slowed, and eventually stopped.


    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t it get any smaller if it¡¯s expelling so much metal?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. But the metal it¡¯s expelling isn''t alive like it is.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°There is a difference between metals that can conduct magic, and metals that are magic. Don¡¯t ask what that is, I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Leona had said you were so experienced when we left. I¡¯m a little dissapointed¡±


    ¡°I am plenty experienced in Skysteel recovery, I¡¯ve been on five missions to locate meteoroids, although only two of them we recovered any significant amount. Everything about Living Metal I know is stuff I picked up by my own curiosity, at least twenty years ago now.¡±


    ¡°You said this was Soulsteel though?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, Soulsteel shouldn¡¯t be falling from the sky. Soulsteel starts off as Living metal, mostly because it¡¯s without a soul. Fresh Living Metal should be, at best, not quite as smart as a dog. Soulsteel is the next step, it is considered soulsteel when it¡¯s as intelligent as magical familiars. Plus priests can check if it has a soul.¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t-¡±


    The door to the room opens without a knock, briefly making both occupants jump, before Leona steps in with a bundle of firewood in her hands.


    ¡°Can one of you take this, it¡¯s heavier than I expected. She must have given us extra for being repeat customers.¡±


    ¡°I will, How big a fire would you say we wanna start with?¡±


    ¡°As far as I understand, a nice small one would be ideal, too much at once and it might get overwhelmed. Unless it¡¯s Soulsteel¡±


    ¡°Do I start the fire first, and then put it in, or just build the fire on top of it?¡±


    ¡°Build the fire on top. If it can already shed, ashes shouldn¡¯t bother it.¡±


    ~~~


    When the woman returned, I thought both the men were going to jump out of their skins. I must be a secret, and I guess that makes sense, if I¡¯m so valuable. I couldn¡¯t tell what she came back with at first, but then the big guy came over and moved me into what must be a fireplace, I realized their plan was and I was all for it. After placing the wood around and on top of me, the robed female came over and snapped her fingers again. With how close she did the gesture, I could make out that she kept her ring finger pointed out, and sparks flew from it, her thumb, and her pointer finger.


    Almost all the sparks caught on the wood around me, but one missed, and landed on me. Trying to look at where it landed felt like I was crossing my eyes, but I could certainly feel it. It was hot, but didn¡¯t burn, and it reminded me of the presence of warmth I had felt passing through the burning treeline. It dispersed as it penetrated my surface like it wasn¡¯t there, intermingling and assimilating with the warmth I already had stockpiled. I figured, having seen it be the product of some sort of spell, that it must be mana. Perhaps the fire is releasing fire mana, but I could also detect what I can only start to describe as the smell of laundry softener. I was still without a nose, but as the mana swirled through me I couldn¡¯t seem to find what was making the smell. I still didn¡¯t know if the cool mana was water or ice, or if there was even a difference between the two here.


    I focused on drawing in as much of the warmth as I could, but as I took a deep breath of the now abundant mana, I pulled the very flames from the logs and into myself. The fire died, seemingly because it was now without mana. I could see the three of them fine, the wood being piled mostly between me and the back of the fireplace. The older man reacted by breaking out into what looked like laughter, but the other two seemed stunned. I wasn¡¯t sure, but I was tempted to be offended. If I expelled some of my fire mana, could I start my own fire? I was worried about it being seen as a threat, so I made sure to shepherd it all towards the rear of the fireplace, where there was the most fresh wood. I couldn¡¯t focus on more than one thing at a time, so when I glanced back at the old man, he¡¯d gone from his fit of laughter to a similar look of concern as the other two. Before they could do anything to react, I guided the mana to a crack in my surface, and it spit out like a miniature flamethrower. Wherever it contacted the wood, it caught on fire, even if it had taken a lot more mana than the woman¡¯s sparks had seemed to. I tried to radiate smugness, but I don¡¯t think it was coming across.


    ~~~


    The ripping sound that briefly dominated the room died away, and the fire returned to its previous strength.


    ¡°So, that¡¯s really weird, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°It was weird when it put out the Manafire. That it is already experimenting with mana release, even if it¡¯s just as raw power, is concerning.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s a magical creature, it should know mana control inherently.¡±


    ¡°What I mean is that if it could control its mana like that, why¡¯d it put the fire out? I can think of many reasons it might have, but the only one that fits to the rest of its behavior is curiosity, it¡¯s testing its limits.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s a bad thing?¡±


    ¡°If we want to get it to Kruth quietly, it most certainly is.¡±

 Chapter 4, Through Biter Wrought

    A knock on the door panicked the two younger adventurers, but Rodney simply called out to the stranger. He expected it would just be Mary¡¯s husband, Theon.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Are you okay in there? I thought I heard something go boom.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, just some stubborn kindling didn¡¯t want to light.¡±


    ¡°Okay, be careful. I¡¯ll be the one who¡¯ll be cleaning the soot off the walls if you scorch them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sorry. We¡¯ll be down for dinner in just a second.¡±


    After waiting for the steps to retreat downstairs, Larrik heaved an exasperated sigh and asked the question the party had been neglecting since they had arrived.


    ¡°What are we doing for dinner? Who¡¯s gonna stay and watch the rock?¡±


    ¡°The more we stick around that thing, the more likely it could get curious about us. We¡¯re going downstairs until the fire¡¯s out, and then we¡¯re going to leave it in the backpack overnight.¡±


    ¡°Is that really the best solution?¡±


    ¡°It depends on if it moves after we leave. If it¡¯s gone poking around the room by the time we get back, we should use the fourth bed as well.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to tuck it in?¡±


    ¡°If you want to see it that way, sure. I just figured the sheets and pillows would dampen any noise and stop it from rolling around.¡±


    ~~~


    After a short conversation, the three of them left me alone in the room, having left behind all of their stuff. Luckily for me this included the gloves. The fire around me was burning hotter than it had been when that mage had lit her seemingly special fire, but I also couldn¡¯t detect those motes of ¡®clean laundry¡¯ smell anymore. When the fire around me had burned down, the mana I now had at my disposal, was making me feel electric. None of the ashes stuck directly to me, but some got caught in my cracks or in the small bits of rock that were half melted into me. I had to do something with this energy, and the only non-destructive idea I could come up with was trying to change my form.


    The crystalline structures moved easier if I kept them as whole structures, but that severely limited my options. I needed to break them down, so I applied more force. It wasn¡¯t painful, like the foreign materials were, just disorienting. I started actually getting somewhere when I tried to smooth my surface of its pits and cracks by visualizing a hand of mana molding me like clay. The ashes and rubble fell into the bottom of the fireplace, with the last of the fire¡¯s embers. In order to get my surface to become plastic, I had needed to use the fire mana, and in order to get my new coat to stick, I had expended most of my glove mana. I had now become significantly closer to a real sphere, being just a bit too oval, like two snowballs smushed together. It was not difficult to get my form to roll, as I just used my fire mana to shift some weight off center, in the direction I wanted to go. When I stopped focusing, my balance returned, but now I had forward momentum. The gloves they had used to put me here were sitting close by, and I rolled until I hit them, stopping by molding the part of me in contact with the ground into a flat surface. The ground here still felt like stone, so I was comfortable enough for some riskier experimentation.


    I didn¡¯t want to try to draw in whatever mana the gloves were releasing, as if the fire was anything to go by, losing all their mana at once might break them. Up first, I might as well try and expel some of the cool mana I was now gathering, as if fire mana produced fire, logically this cool mana would either produce water, or ice. Because I had removed all my surface cracks, I made myself a simple nozzle, just a hole that tapered out. I started with a very slow trickle of the mana, and I didn¡¯t initially notice any water or ice. The mana did however cast a light I could just barely see by. Enough to know that I was now on the edge of the stonework that surrounded the fireplace, and the wooden floor was a short drop away, before disappearing into the distance. I then did the same test with fire, shooting as little out as I did of the apparently not water mana, but unlike before, as when I had blasted the logs with the mana, there was no ¡°flamethrower¡±. I could just barely feel the air it was passing through causing turbulence, unlike it did with the blueish mana. I tried countering this effect with a blast of cool mana, and the light they gave off together seemed to shine brighter, and the turbulence of the mana plume was gone. Just as I was about to start trying to expel both at once, I felt footsteps through the stones below me.


    ~~~


    Upon arriving at their room''s door, the three adventurers all shared a look. Waiting much longer would risk the Living Metal getting bored, and for all they knew it would start trying to catch the whole room on fire.


    ¡°Ladies first.¡±


    ¡°Really? Is this your idea of chivalry?¡±


    ¡°You are the mana expert here.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡±


    Leona opened the door gingerly, half expecting to see the ashes from the fireplace scattered all over. Instead, The room was just as they had left it, except for one thing.


    ¡°It has moved, but it''s on top of the gloves?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what?¡±


    Entering the room, and closing the door softly behind them, they all saw the same thing. The previously rough looking lump was now much more spherical, with its previous pearly appearance now far closer to silver. It was also resting on top of the gloves Larrik had placed to the side after using them to move the Living Metal into the fireplace.


    ¡°So, if it did move, that means it¡¯s curious. That doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s more dangerous, right?¡±


    Both the rogue and the divine mage seemed conflicted.


    ¡°Well, this is over my head, but if I had to guess, it¡¯s not just capable of manipulating that chaotic mana. Those gloves are of Resist Fire, right? They should be passively emitting order.¡±


    Rodney rounded on the mage.


    ¡°That was chaos mana, not fire mana, earlier?¡±


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t tell?¡±


    ¡°No, I couldn¡¯t. Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Not sure, no. I have a spell that would let me be certain. Would you like me to find out?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s tempting, but I also don¡¯t want you to cast any more spells in front of it, in case it tries to copy you again.¡±


    ¡°You think that¡¯s what it was trying to do when it reignited the fireplace?¡±


    ¡°That is my best guess. Larrik, Can you get the gloves out from under it, without touching it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that heavy, sure.¡±


    As he headed for the giant pearl lookalike, it shifted slightly, and the orb fell from the stonework with a light thump. His instinct had been to dive and catch it, but Rodney had made it clear he shouldn¡¯t be touching it without the gloves on, and he wasn¡¯t even wearing his normal gauntlets. His two party members shared a glance behind him, first of shock and then relief when the orb didn¡¯t seem to react to the impact.


    ¡°Well that wasn¡¯t good for my heart.¡±


    ¡°Nor mine.¡±


    ¡°Larrik, please just get the gloves and grab it before it gets into something.¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, sure.¡±


    The orb had been rolling in the vague direction Larrik had been approaching from, but as he gingerly stepped around it, it angled slightly, turning for the party members'' haphazardly discarded supplies. Leona rushed to grab both backpacks and lift them out of the way, but Larrik was more than fast enough to have made it in time as the living metal didn¡¯t seem to be in a hurry, and didn¡¯t resist when being picked up.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ~~~


    After our quick game of tag, the trio seemed nervous. They moved me to the one bed they had left open. It was between the two men and the woman, and they wrapped me almost completely in its sheets. I could only tell they were sheets because they felt so soft compared to everything else I had touched. They blocked my vision, but I could barely see light peaking between some of the threads as my new friends must have been moving around, getting ready for bed.


    Shortly after being swaddled, I stopped seeing the occasional flashes passing by. My experiments had been interrupted, but that didn¡¯t really bother me. I could now only speculate as to what the warm mana really was, but it didn¡¯t seem to be simple ¡°fire¡±. Seeing as how external experiments were on hold, unless I wanted to risk them taking more drastic measures to keep me from rolling around, I figured I could do some internal experiments so I¡¯d be ready for tomorrow. I started by trying to turn myself the rest of the way into a perfect sphere. It was slow going, as I was trying to smooth a dent out of sheet metal by hand, but when I changed my conceptualization to magic hydroforming, my mana expenditure dropped slightly and my precision went up drastically.


    I was now a perfect sphere, with no bumps, no cracks, not a single blemish on my surface. My plan¡¯s next step was to try and compress myself into a smaller sphere. This started off easily enough, with going from bigger than to just smaller than a basketball, taking almost no effort beyond imagining compacting snow. But after that, it started getting really difficult to make myself any smaller. I tried a few different approaches, starting with folding and working myself like you might forge iron.


    My next breakthrough came when I got fed up and just imagined another dimension where I could stick my excess mass. While this idea didn¡¯t grant me some sort of otherworldly pocket, It did feel like I was swallowing myself. This time when I shrunk, my weight seemed to be diminishing at the same rate as my volume. As I approached a baseball¡¯s size, I tried for my end goal. I focused on the look and feel of a weapon. I was imagining a decorative one, rather than a real one. I could only assume daggers were commonplace in a world like this. My reasoning behind being decorative was that turning myself into a real weapon was a big risk, as unlike normal weapons, I had some responsibility in what I was used for.


    I attempted to cast myself into my desired shape, using the pale blue mana as my mold. The form I managed was not very good. I had a point, I had a handle, and I had an edge, but I looked more like an oversized butterknife that had been dropped in a blender. I wasn¡¯t going to give up until I ran out of mana, though.


    ~~~


    When Larrik started his shift, he cracked the window and let moonlight in so he could check on if the living metal had moved at all. It was still dead center in the bed, but something did seem off about its size. Was it smaller? The sheets had probably just settled down after they had been all balled up. He spent the rest of his watch listening quietly for any one trying to sneak up on their room, but all he heard was his party members shifting in their beds. He checked again at the end of his watch, but all he really did was look to see if the sheets had moved.


    Rodney had taken the last watch, and he didn¡¯t notice that something was wrong. It wasn¡¯t until dawn was properly breaking that he glanced over to the door, as some other denizen of the tavern got up and headed downstairs, likely in search of breakfast. Glancing past the unoccupied bed, he saw that Leona was still sleeping, and on his other side Larrik was likely awake, but still resting. It took him a second to before he made a double take at the unoccupied bed. Jumping to his feet, he grabbed the sheets, and swept most of them off the bed in one large movement.


    ¡°Larrik, where did it go?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°The living metal isn¡¯t where we left it.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck? When I went to bed it was still there. I even double checked just before I woke you up for your shift.¡±


    Rodney turned back to the bed, and cleared the rest of the sheets off the bed. It was only as he dragged the last of the sheets off the bed that he heard something metallic strike the floor.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be shitting me.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°One second.¡±


    Pulling on the sheets until whatever was caught inside of them fell out, Rodney facepalmed.


    ¡°That¡¯s even more abnormal, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, everything before this was strange, but still believable. Now I just don¡¯t know what to say.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not supposed to be able to become things until it''s been worked with by a manasmith, right?¡±


    ¡°Nothing man made. I heard a story that one turned into a bird on the way back, but it couldn¡¯t fly, what with being made of metal.¡±


    ¡°And how long did the story say it took to figure out becoming a bird?¡±


    ¡°Somewhere between one month and two.¡±


    ¡°You think Tom¡¯s ready to leave yet?¡±


    ¡°No, he will stay at least for breakfast here in the tavern.¡±


    ¡°What do we do with it then?¡±


    ¡°Pick it up with one glove, put it in the other, and then we¡¯ll stuff it in your backpack again.¡±


    ¡°But won¡¯t everyone get suspicious when I¡¯m not carrying something so bulky in my backpack anymore?¡±


    ¡°Of course they will, but we can stuff our bedrolls in with it, and then it won¡¯t be much more suspicious than the simple fact we came in with something so big.¡±


    ¡°I guess that might work.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Is breakfast ready?¡±


    ¡°No. Our friend here learned a new trick last night.¡±


    ¡°Our friend? Learned what?¡±


    ¡°Take a look.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ~~~


    They didn¡¯t seem exactly happy that I was now less than a twentieth my former size, but it did wake them up pretty quickly. I had figured it would be easier to smuggle me out if I was smaller. Their reaction to someone coming in unannounced had made it clear to me they were trying to be discreet. I had wanted to keep experimenting with my form, but I had burned through about half my red mana getting this far, and was almost out of my pale blue. When he picked me up, only to place me inside one of the gloves, It let me start trying to refill myself with the glove¡¯s mana. I hadn¡¯t noticed initially, but the matter I had absorbed into myself seemed to constantly require that mana to stay put. If I didn¡¯t actively use cool mana to hold my form, I would start growing. I had gained a whole inch in length and about half an inch in width before I realized what was causing it.


    I was once again closed off from the world around me, but I could still feel the shifting of the pack, and the rise and fall of each step. After a short descent to the first floor, I was placed on the ground again, and I figured they must be eating breakfast. I was bored as I sat there in the pitch black void. The glove I had was stuck in was my only landmark, the other glove having fallen down to the bottom of the bag, out of my sight. Today they had stuffed me in with something soft, but I don¡¯t think it made for good camouflage. I couldn¡¯t see the actual appearance, but I expect the weight of a large rock weighs a pack down differently than a larger than normal dagger, and two pillows. After breakfast, we didn¡¯t return upstairs and after a short walk, I felt myself set down again.

 Chapter 5, Its A Cold Road

    Tom was a peddler. He would travel out to the more remote villages that weren¡¯t lucky enough to lie on major trade routes. He served as a middle ground between expensive custom order products and the homemade goods that local blacksmiths or potters could make. He didn¡¯t just deal in finished products though, he also kept a stock of materials, always making profits wherever he could. In his estimation the single greatest asset he had to his name was his covered wagon, pulled by his two cart horses. He always leveraged it in every way he could. Its size wasn¡¯t as spacious as those used in bulk trading caravans, but it was large enough that no one village should be able to empty his inventory.


    To further diversify his options, Tom also kept part of his wagon open for passengers. Travelers would pay a fair price for a ride, and he estimated he made about a fifth more on his profits each trip if he had passengers. He saved far more than that when adventurers were the ones catching a ride, as they made for great traveling companions. Hunters, herbalists and healers being his favorites. Regardless, he wouldn¡¯t ever complain when a mage mended an axel, or when one of those muscle heads would drag a whole fallen tree out of his way.


    The three adventurers he had brought here to Breaksdenn had paid ahead of time for the return trip to Kruthburg, telling him it wouldn¡¯t take them more than a day or two. They had headed for the Greenswood, so he figured they¡¯d return early on the second day, and he¡¯d be able to take his time to try and convince the local craftsmen to buy some of his excess materials, as Kruthburg had been in a surplus when he¡¯d left. Of course, his plans had been ruined when they returned shortly after lunch, and he¡¯d spent the remaining hours before bed closing deals on everything he could. Normally he¡¯d have tried to convince the adventurers to give him more time, offering them a discount if they waited, but he knew Rodney well enough to tell that when he said they had to hurry back, he was understating whatever situation they¡¯d gotten into.


    ¡°Allright, we¡¯re all loaded up. Did you really finish up everything you needed to?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, it was a bit of a rush to get that big cabinet into the mayor¡¯s house this morning, but I¡¯m good to go now.¡±


    ¡°A new cabinet? Was it a custom order then?¡±


    ¡°Yes, for his wife. Apparently she really likes exotic woods. Reminds her of home.¡±


    ¡°She is a half elf. How are they doing?¡±


    ¡°Well, it was for their twentieth anniversary, so you tell me.¡±


    The small talk between the two older men promptly fell silent. There was an awkwardness in the air that prevented the casual atmosphere they had enjoyed on the ride out.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably a good thing we¡¯re leaving today, the hunter kept telling me it¡¯s gonna rain tonight.¡°


    ¡°How¡¯d he know?¡±


    ¡°Said the squirrels and other rodents move their nuts into dryer places when a storm is coming.¡±


    ¡°Sounds plausible.¡±


    Silence returned again, and this one stretched out until they stopped for an early lunch. Tom could see they clearly had something important in Lorrak¡¯s backpack, as he didn¡¯t leave it in the wagon as they stopped to let the horses drink and to boil their lunches.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me what that is if you don¡¯t want to, but if you want you can put it in one of my lockboxes.¡±


    ¡°No thank you, it¡¯s safer in a soft container, and we need to keep an eye on it.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pass on seconds, we¡¯re already halfway there. I¡¯m gonna go get the horses ready.¡±


    Tom was really sweating now, as he had absolutely no idea what they could have inside of that bag.


    ~~~


    My curiosity of what might be going on outside was significantly diminished because even if I looked I wouldn¡¯t be able to see anything. When I was next picked up, it seemed to be because the party was taking a break from traveling. It had been a bumpy ride, so they must have been riding a cart or something. It was only when I caught the nostalgic smell of fresh laundry wafting by that my curiosity flared up again. I could tell the three of them by their faces, so as long as I was careful when I peaked I¡¯d be able to see if anyone new was around. I was also suffering because in order to keep myself this small, I was using more of the pale blue mana than the one glove seemed to give off, at least on the inside.


    I started by getting longer, my blade reaching two feet in length before I came into contact with the flap at the top. Shifting my weight, I managed to slip out the gap just far enough so that I could see outside. The three of them were just having a conversation, but what caught my attention was the fire. It looked warm and inviting, just like the fire I had put out by accident yesterday.


    The biggest problem I faced was that a dagger isn¡¯t very mobile. I could grow and shrink repeatedly, but there is no way that wouldn¡¯t cost far more than just taking the form of something actually capable of natural locomotion, and I already had an idea that shouldn¡¯t require a ton of mana to achieve. I had originally jumped to a snake, but after trying to visualize it I realized I¡¯d never slithered before, so I settled for a lizard. With a gecko as my base, my focus shifted away from maintaining my current form and I started growing more than I intended causing the backpack to tip over.


    ~~~


    ¡°You trust Tom, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s a businessman, and when you¡¯re doing business out here alone, you don¡¯t make it far if you¡¯re not trustworthy.¡±


    ¡°I guess you''re right. While he¡¯s gone, should we check on it?¡±


    ¡°When was the last time you checked it was even still there?¡±


    ¡°Before we left, when I put the bedrolls in.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you probably should-¡±


    The conversation was interrupted as the backpack sitting next to Larrik fell down, and something tumbled out into the grass.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Quick, get the gloves, don¡¯t let it get away!¡±


    While Larrik grabbed the now open backpack and started searching for the gloves, both Leona and Rodney jumped to their feet. Getting a closer look, they could see what appeared to be a large, pearly salamander. It struggled to its feet, before looking up at the two of them.


    ¡°Should I cast something?¡±


    ¡°Unless you have a binding, or a sleep spell, no.¡±


    ¡°I do have a sleep spell. Should I cast it now?¡±


    ¡°No, just be ready in case it makes a break for it. We don¡¯t want to antagonize it.¡±


    The staring contest continued only for another second, before the lizard bolted in Leona¡¯s direction. When she jumped, the mana she had been preparing fizzled. Larrik had just found the second glove as the salamander dove into the fire.


    Larrik was just about to go digging into the fire, to find the living metal, but just as he got down on one knee to start, Tom returned with the horses. Everyone took a second to pause, Leona and Larrik looking to Rodney for guidance, while Tom finished guiding the horses to the wagon.


    ¡°Just sit down you two, it doesn¡¯t seem to be going anywhere.¡±


    Tom left the horses tied next to the cart, before returning to his previous seat.


    ¡°So, can you tell me what I missed, or do I need to go somewhere for a bit?¡±


    ¡°We recovered a magical creature that¡¯s fond of heat. He jumped for the campfire as soon as he saw it.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense, but are you telling me that¡¯s what you picked up in The Greenwood?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I see. Do you want to use my traveler¡¯s stove? It¡¯s in the back if you think that would keep it contented.¡±


    The three adventurers shared another look, before Rodney agreed.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d be great. I don¡¯t want to risk it jumping out on our way through town.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to bring my carriage past the inner gate. Can you get it back out if it doesn¡¯t want to?¡±


    ¡°My plan would be to bring the stove inside with us.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah. Sure. That¡¯s fine. Just get it back to me before I leave, please.¡±


    ¡°How long are you staying in Kruth?¡±


    ¡°At least three days.¡±


    ¡°We can do that. Larrik, can you go grab the stove with him?¡±


    ~~~


    Now that was funny. The three of them looked mortified when I came out of the bag, and in retrospect I should have expected that, they must have thought I was trying to run away. Running around like this takes almost no mana, but I''m sure if I did try and run away I would have run out before losing them. I was now basking here in the bottom of the fire, enjoying the ample warmth and mana around me. I curled up, and I estimated that I must be about the size of a large dinner plate. This size didn¡¯t seem to require any mana to maintain, but I was also quite dense, with my feet having sunk into the bare dirt around the fire when I jumped.


    I could now clearly tell that this fire was different from the one I''d lit. It was burning far more cleanly than my fire had, leaving behind little ash. The scent of fresh laundry seemed to be stronger here but when I took in the red mana it wasn¡¯t carrying the smell. I didn¡¯t care though, because the ground was warm and that red mana was bountiful, so I dug myself down a little. I don¡¯t know how long they¡¯re going to let me stay here, but I''m hoping at least until they finish lunch.


    After only a couple minutes, the fire suddenly extinguished, and with it I lost my ability to see. As I stuck my head up out of my nest of firewood, I saw two of the adventurers kneeling down next to another flame. This fire was obviously contained though. The light the fire was giving off was illuminating the inside of a rectangular box. I figured if it was a proper cage, they would have started by putting me inside, so this must be their plan to coax me back onto the road.


    I took a brief look around, and on the opposite side was the mage, and a man I hadn¡¯t seen before. He was shorter and a little fatter than the rest, and as my head turned towards him he seemed quite put off. I turned back to their impromptu terrarium, and decided I would rather not ride inside. I walked forward, and as I got closer I could pick out its legs, it was appearing more and more like a small woodstove. I climbed up the side of the firebox and settled down on the top. The metal seemed to conduct the heat quite well, but much of the red mana didn¡¯t seem to be making it through. I considered this an acceptable tradeoff for getting to see what was going on, and if I saw another stranger I could always just crawl in the firedoor.


    ~~~


    This was the first time Rodney or Leona had gotten a calm, clear look at the living metal since retrieving it from the crater. It had reverted from the silvery, almost mirror polished surface it had while it was a dagger, and now possessed its original pearlescent white again.


    ¡°Larrik, can you get this thing into the wagon by yourself?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just tell me Leona has something ready for me if I throw my back out.¡±


    ¡°Whenever I get stuck with you, I always brush up on Lesser Alleviate Pain.¡±


    ¡°Still can¡¯t manage the proper version?¡±


    ¡°I can cast it once the whole day. And you won¡¯t be needing the ¡®proper version¡¯ if it¡¯s just a little back pain.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re both glad you''re making progress. Now, stop gawking. I wanna get this thing to the Baron already.¡±

 Chapter 6, New Digs, New Holes

    Leona and Larik were still waving goodbye to Tom, even as Rodney was pulling out the request. The papers would grant the party an expedited audience with a mage in the Baron¡¯s employ.


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be more than an hour before one of the mages can see you, but the Baron will be busy for the rest of the day. They¡¯re having the final diet before winter.¡±


    ¡°We will wait as long as it takes, but it would help if we could do so somewhere with a fireplace.¡±


    ¡°That can be arranged, but why?¡±


    ¡°The creature we recovered is drawn to flames, so the fire should keep it out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°So it will be done. This maid is Penny, and she will be taking you to the sitting room. The firewood will arrive shortly after, I¡¯ll send a footman.¡±


    The walk to the sitting room was short, having entered the castle by a side gate, the halls they were led down brought them to a reasonably well appointed waiting room. As Rodney had requested, it was one with a large marble fireplace. Penny had closed the door behind them, having promised to bring refreshments. Larrik set the large backpack down on the table, he opened the flap on the top so the living metal could get out and stretch its legs.


    ¡°You sure we should let it wander around?¡±


    ¡°With how curious it is, we had better. If we don¡¯t it might get antsy again, especially because we put it in the bag after it had behaved itself on the way here, sitting still and watching from on top of the stove.¡±


    As all three of them looked down at the backpack, and it only took a second longer for a head to come poking out. It glanced at them only briefly before it went back into the bag, only to return pulling the bedroll out with it. The three of them were dumbstruck once again as it started kneading the blanket, and curled up on the bedroll. Just as it settled down, a knock on the door was followed by a footman with the promised firewood.


    ¡°Come in¡±


    ¡°Good day to you, this is the firewood you requested.¡±


    Initially, the three of them were confused as to why the footman wasn¡¯t reacting to the giant salamander sitting on the tea table, until they actually looked back at where the salamander was, and saw it had transformed once again, this time into an exact copy of the silver serving tray adjacent to it, one that was holding a tea set. Rodney only nodded, and the footman brought the wood over to the fireplace, dropping most of it into the empty rack, and putting four of the logs into the hearth.


    ¡°Would you like me to light it for you?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll start a Manafire, thank you.¡±


    ¡°Will that be all?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I guess so.¡±


    ¡°Please ring this bell if you need anything else, the maid will be back shortly with refreshments, but if you need something, we are here to be of service.¡±


    The footman exited the room, leaving the three of them alone again. Though they did not immediately start talking, as they were still trying to figure out just what the living metal was doing.


    ¡°Is it trying to disguise itself?¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but it can¡¯t be trying to hide from us, it even made a big show of getting comfortable.¡±


    ¡°You told me they could be as smart as dogs, right?¡±


    ¡°No, I said they shouldn¡¯t start any smarter than a dog.¡±


    ¡°I think that was more like a cat, really.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to think about this anymore. In less than an hour that mage is gonna take custody of it and we¡¯re going to get paid.¡±


    ¡°Aww, aren¡¯t you gonna miss it?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be missing it. Did you see how it kept looking at me?¡±


    The conversation had fallen into a lull, so Leona got up to light the fire. It took her only about five seconds to cast Greater Ignite. Despite its ¡®greater¡¯ designation, the spell was simple, only ensuring that the flames would catch and that they would burn cleanly until extinguished. Ignite and Lesser Ignite both didn¡¯t ensure a clean flame, and Lesser Ignite often needed to be cast multiple times to get damp or green wood to burn. There was one stronger version Leona knew of, Superior Ignite, that was basically just Greater Ignite with the added benefit that the fire was almost inextinguishable without magic, though only on whatever fuel you had originally targeted.


    The noble atmosphere must have been getting to her, as after having sat down she saw and immediately grabbed for the expensive silver tray sliding off the edge of the tea table.


    ~~~


    The ride was getting less rough. I figured that it was an indication we were now in an area that saw more traffic. The armored guy had been neglecting the fire and letting it die down for a while now, and I was debating on if I should get back in the backpack or to try and get him to put more firewood on. However he refused to work with me here, as even if I got his attention, he¡¯d only ever glance at me briefly before turning away again.


    With one big bump, we went onto a cobblestone road, as the cart suddenly felt like it was hitting a speed bump every second. The intensity died down as we got further into what must be a proper town, but I had already decided to jump down and force his hand when the gloves grabbed me by my torso. I was too long to fit in his hands anymore, and my tail could almost reach the floor.


    One of the others was holding out the backpack, and they had left one of the pillows in the bottom of it for me to rest on, so I was quite content when they lowered me inside. Soon after that the cart came to a complete stop. Unlike last time, no one put the backpack on, and I just swung back and forth as they walked.


    I couldn¡¯t see much of the room they let me out in, but with only a little red mana I could make out I was on a table, and the other things that were. I wasn¡¯t gonna leave the bedroll behind, and after getting settled I tried to turn myself into a copy of the serving tray on the table. A guy came in and put firewood down, and shortly after that the mage got up and used it to light a fire in a massive fireplace. The glow it gave off let me see much more of the room, and when I caught that clean laundry smell again I started moving to warm up.


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    I had been assuming the fire they lit was for me, but the mage had grabbed me when I started moving. It really blindsided me, they hadn¡¯t been touching me, probably because as she came into contact with my handle, her mana started rushing into me. It must have been like what an empty canister would feel as gas rushes into its vacuum. Even wielding all the mana I had saved up, I couldn¡¯t stop it. I rushed to gain control over it, and as I did I turned it to help halt the rest of the flow. After I had stopped the deluge, I turned my attention to reabsorbing my handle, as she still hadn¡¯t let go. When the last vestiges slipped from her grasp, I fell down the rest of the way to the floor. Looking up I saw she was cradling her right hand to her chest, and it was noticeably dimmer than the rest of her skin.


    The other two had both jumped to their feet, but while the brawny guy seemed furious, the old man¡¯s face was calm. Gaining distance as a serving tray was impossible, so I decided to turn into the least threatening thing I could think of, that being a sphere. While rolling away I grew to around the size of a basketball, and the young guy made to follow me. The other two stopped him, but with the way he was reacting, did they think I did that on purpose? And had I seriously hurt the mage?


    ~~~


    Leona was burning with shame. She remembered having made fun of how likely it was she¡¯d need to be the one prying Larrik¡¯s fingers off the living metal if he touched it, but after what had just happened, and how the living metal had all but fled from her, she felt the absolute fool.


    ¡°I''m gonna call the maid so she can bring a doctor. You were only in contact with it for a moment, but it¡¯s better to be safe than sorry.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Larrik was glaring across the room, and following his gaze, she saw the living metal had returned to its original, spherical shape.


    ¡°It¡¯s not its fault, Larrik.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? It was obviously trying to trick you! Think about how smart it¡¯s been this whole time.¡±


    ¡°If it wanted to steal mana, why didn¡¯t it try and take yours while we were on the way here?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe it couldn¡¯t resist with how much more mana you have compared to me?¡±


    ¡°Then why did it leave on its own?¡±


    ¡°For all I know it didn¡¯t like the taste.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, okay? Look, I can already move my fingers again.¡±


    At this comment, Penny, with her head poking through the double doors, Rodney, and Larrik watched as Leona¡¯s hand opened and closed, something that, after being drained of mana, should have been excruciatingly painful and difficult.


    ¡°It didn¡¯t take much mana from me at all, It wasn¡¯t even as much as those two Lesser Alleviates cost. Based on how strongly it was pulling at first, it wasn¡¯t a tenth of what it could have taken.¡±


    ¡°After you call for a doctor, can you please tell the mage what¡¯s happened? I expect he will want to come straight here.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    The maid hurried off, leaving them alone again with the Living Metal. When the three of them sat down, Leona was the only one who took her eyes off it, but still their conversation resumed.


    ¡°You said that if I touched that thing with my bare hands, I wouldn¡¯t be able to use the hand for at least a day.¡±


    ¡°If it was normal living metal, I¡¯m sure that would be the case. It¡¯s got as great a mana capacity as any mage, and it¡¯s far more conductive to mana than the human body is. Archibald always stressed that it was like connecting a full barrel to an empty one. The alcohol would rush to fill the empty one, as fast as the connection you made would let it.¡±


    ¡°Is this more proof it¡¯s already Soulsteel? When it started it felt like it was going to completely exhaust me, but the flow came to a stop on its own. Even if it hadn''t withdrawn itself from my grip, my hand would have had enough control to let go in another five seconds.¡±


    ¡°I would say so, but from the stories Archibald had told me, Soulsteel was never docile like this. It would try to flee, or actively attack you just for approaching it. It shouldn¡¯t be playing this nice, especially the way we¡¯ve been handling it.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s Soulsteel that isn¡¯t afraid? Could it just be curious about us like you said?¡±


    ¡°That almost seems true, but if it isn¡¯t afraid of us, why is it hiding in the corner right now?¡±


    ¡°Well, Larrik did just give it a death glare.¡±


    ¡°Should it be able to tell I was giving it a death glare?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, unless it¡¯s been paying attention to the faces we¡¯ve been making at each other.¡±


    ¡°The only thing that makes sense to me is that it learned to not try and forcefully consume mana when it put out the fire back in the tavern. So when it started absorbing your mana, it thought it was doing the same thing, just to you.¡±


    ¡°That is an awfully astute deduction, Mr. Rodney Baker.¡±


    ~~~


    The man who came in after the maid left just stood there for a while, listening to everything the group was saying. He¡¯s glowing even brighter than the mage does, so I¡¯m gonna call him a wizard. The three of them must have been talking through what had just happened, as by the halfway point brawny did stop glaring at me. Just as I was wondering if the wizard was invisible, he said something, and they all snapped to look at him.


    The first thing he did was check on the mage. Taking her right hand, what he did reminded me of an x-ray. It looked like he was emitting mana with his top hand and sensing something with his bottom. In less than a minute he was finished, and said something to the party that made them all turn to look at me. I was tempted to try and make myself smaller or hide, but decided it was better to face any consequences head on, rather than run away. Doing so would likely make them think I did it on purpose.

 Chapter 7, Too Much Of A Good Thing

    Rodney had been an adventuring buddy of Cole¡¯s master, Archibald. The man had retired early, now only doing easy jobs for the Baron, while Archibald was now a court mage for the Duke. He hadn¡¯t expected Rodney to return quite so swiftly, or to request an expedited meeting. It wasn¡¯t too out of character though, the old man didn¡¯t like to waste time. He had left the current meeting to Poetrak and went straight to see him.


    He had arrived just after Penny had closed the door to the sitting room, and she had reported to him they had requested a doctor for the party¡¯s mage, even though whatever problem it was didn¡¯t seem serious. He told her not to hurry the doctor, as he would go in and check on her now. Upon entering the room, he met with a quite animated back and forth, and chose to wait it out. His eyes only momentarily flicked to the living metal when Leona mentioned it had let go of her on its own. He seemed to have his work cut out for him, as the party had gone though most of the questions he had been about to ask them. He took some slight satisfaction when making the old man jump, but it was admittedly irresponsible of him, as he should be checking on the mage¡¯s hand. Mana starvation could cause serious damage if it was left untreated, especially if the magician was unable to recirculate mana fast enough to start recovering right away.


    ¡°So how long were you in contact with the living metal?¡±


    ¡°Only about eight seconds total. After the first three, it didn¡¯t take any more mana.¡±


    ¡°Now that¡¯s strange. I¡¯ve never heard of even Soulsteel attempting to slow mana ingress. Only ever it trying to prevent its mana from being taken away.¡±


    ¡°What do you think of Rodney¡¯s theory?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s plausible, but finding out why is the long term question, what I need to know today is if it would react the same way with me.¡±


    ¡°Is her hand fine, Mage Cole?¡±


    ¡°Yes, remarkably so. If I didn¡¯t know better I would just think she had cast one too many spells with poor circulation.¡±


    ¡°So, what now? Should we put it back in the bag?¡±


    The giant pearl still hadn¡¯t moved, and as everyone turned to look, it continued to sit there apparently in self imposed exile.


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me it wasn¡¯t skittish before you touched it?¡±


    ¡°Downright playful with Tarrik on the carriage ride here.¡±


    ¡°Is that why it kept opening its mouth at me?¡±


    Cole stood up. He hadn¡¯t been expecting to do his testing here, but he didn¡¯t want to carry an unknown factor through the Baron¡¯s halls without checking to make sure it wasn¡¯t hostile for himself. Rodney had given him the bag they had collected all the metals it had shed inside, and looking through it he was shocked with just how much gold, silver and electrum he could spot at a glance. The powdered metals he couldn¡¯t immediately identify, but he¡¯d bet on at least one of them being platinum. The dark gray powder was notorious for being difficult to pin down, and it would likely have to be sent to Archibald, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to try and test a sample himself.


    ¡°So, I''m certain I see electrum here, but it¡¯s not powdered. Did it shoot it at you?¡±


    ¡°No, it fired it off the night it landed. We found it about ten minutes away, stuck halfway in a pine tree.¡±


    ¡°Halfway inside the tree, or half of the nugget?¡±


    ¡°Half of the nugget.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm.¡±


    ¡°Electrum would strongly point to it being living metal, but having shot it out, especially so far, strongly points to Soulsteel.¡±


    ¡°This is the conversation we¡¯ve been having for two days.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I have a third option. If it¡¯s just Living metal, do you think it¡¯s already been bound?¡±


    At this the group went silent. They had seen it in the crater, and it hadn¡¯t even crossed their minds someone could have messed with it before they got there.


    ¡°Who could have beaten us there? And if they did beat us there, why didn¡¯t they just take it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but based on how a certain crackpot promised me it was gonna be, If I remember his words exactly, ¡®Too small and pitiful to even sell as a paperweight.¡¯ I¡¯ve got a suspect at the top of my list.¡±


    ¡°The directions he gave us were perfect though. And I¡¯m pretty sure the druids would have told us if someone else had gotten to it before us.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. The more I think about it, even if someone had snuck in while the druid was waiting for you instead of watching the crater, they''d need upwards of three hours to cast even the most basic of binding spells. And If it¡¯s Soulsteel, they¡¯d be completely screwed as soon as they tried.¡±


    The conversation had hit a standstill, and Cole could only think of one line of inquiry he could do now, before moving it to his laboratory.


    ~~~


    They all kept glancing over at me, and it was getting a bit unsettling. What are they even trying to decide? Initially, the only thing I could think of that would be taking them this long is if they¡¯re arguing over how dangerous I am, but maybe they¡¯re haggling over my price. Or both. Honestly, I don¡¯t care either way. They¡¯ve been talking for so long, the fire¡¯s almost out. They don¡¯t seem to be planning to try and take the mana back, so logically they shouldn¡¯t mind if I just scooch on over to put a few more logs on.


    Just as I¡¯m about to start turning back into that giga-gecko form and trying to warm up inside the fire, the wizard starts approaching me. He has to walk around the two couches the party is sitting on, but he¡¯s holding something in his hand. It¡¯s shining more brightly than he is, but not by much. Just like when I expelled mana, or when the mage lady lit the fires for me, It is casting a light I can see by, a pale blue light.


    He places the stone on the floor around two feet from me, and then backs away a step or two. I just stare at him. Is this a test to see if I can see the marble? Perhaps it¡¯s food? It could also be a component for a spell or something he¡¯s trying to cast. He doesn¡¯t seem to be making any weird gestures, and I take a look over at the trio still on the couch. They are all just watching, not giving away any hints on what they expect me to do.


    I guess I can start by turning into something that could actually interact with the blue marble. I sort of pencil out the rough shape of the gecko¡¯s form inside of my orb, and then ¡®let go¡¯ of all the excess material. It drops to the floor and forms a pool, before I absorb it again by tethering it to me with light blue mana, and then pulling on the threads until I swell back to my full size. I don¡¯t really ¡°see¡± with my head, but I still turn it to look up at the wizard, and he seems pleased. That doesn¡¯t last for long though as I just keep staring at him.


    He briefly says something to our impartial observers, and then bends down and flicks the marble towards me. It¡¯s not moving very fast, and he seems to have reasonable aim, as I barely have to turn my head to grab it with my mouth. Now that I know what to expect, I have a wall of mana ready and waiting to stop what would have otherwise been another uncontrolled influx. I promptly place the marble back on the floor, and I nudge it back towards him. This doesn¡¯t just get a pleased look from him, but a full on overjoyed one. He reaches down and picks up the marble after inspecting it, he turns away from me to tell the peanut gallery something.


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    I¡¯m still not sure what this man is looking for, but he takes the marble and strips it of all its light. He then places it back on the ground, and rolls it towards me again. The problem being, I now have no way to tell where it is. I open my mouth to try and catch it in the same spot as before, but I feel it bounce off my chin. I try to snap it up, but I miss and it goes rolling away somewhere to my right.


    ~~~


    ¡°Interesting, it must still only be able to see the base manas.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like any of the mana sense derivations, anything that doesn¡¯t contain order or chaos mana must be black to him.¡±


    ¡°I was asking if you meant it could learn to see normally.¡±


    ¡°Well-¡±


    The back and forth ended early, as the lizard turned to its right, and started searching for the marble. It was opening its mouth, and almost perfectly miming breathing fire like a miniature dragon.


    ¡°Is this it¡¯s way of showing it¡¯s angry?¡±


    ¡°No Larrik, I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°What is it doing then?¡±


    ¡°Correct me if I''m wrong, Mage Cole, but he¡¯s spitting mana. And if I had to guess, he¡¯s trying to catch the marble with it, so when he does it will glow again.¡±


    ¡°That was my first assumption, but use this.¡±


    Handing over his monocle, its glass yellow and ringed with gold, Leona saw that the faux dragon was spewing the mana up into the air. The mixture, being of equal parts Order and Chaos, would react and cast a dim mana glow in the immediate vicinity. It only took two more breaths of bootleg light mana for the little guy to locate the mana bead.


    ¡°Oh wow. I wouldn¡¯t have guessed that in ten tries.¡±


    ¡°I know. It should be capable of synthesizing light. Why would it bother doing it this way, unless it either doesn¡¯t know how, or it didn¡¯t want us to know it can?¡±


    ¡°I have no clue.¡±


    The two mages'' conversation stopped as the lizard approached Cole, and spat out the bead at his feet. Surprisingly, it was now filled with mana. Cole quickly scooped up the mana bead, as it wasn¡¯t designed to contain more than one type of mana at a time. He pulled both the chaos and the order out before they could start to react. He found both to be of remarkable purity. They should have mixed more than this before he had extracted them.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do one last test before I take him away. I¡¯ll need your help though.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I want to see how much mana he can keep out at once. I¡¯ll just need you to pet him with me, adding one more until you can feel your mana being drawn out .¡±


    Larrik volunteered to be the second to put his hand on the creature. He didn¡¯t want to let Leona take any more risks after she had already gotten her mana drained once today.


    ¡°I felt something when I first put my hand on it. But now it only feels sort of tingly.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s it doing?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s not taking any of my mana. Could you make a guess on how long you could hold your hand there?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I can feel the tingling getting worse. Oh, now it¡¯s starting to hurt.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. Take your hand off¡±


    After the two of them removed their hands from the creature¡¯s surface, it crawled into the bedroll the party had brought it in. Its tail still stuck out for a second, before it shrunk away too. Rodney was the first to speak.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it liked that.¡±


    ¡°With how mature it acted, I had expected that it would be significantly more proficient at controlling mana.¡±


    ¡°You think this thing is mature?¡± Larrik almost seemed offended.


    ¡°For Soulsteel, Yes. It¡¯s turning into the form of things it¡¯s never seen before. That behavior is almost unheard of, even in the oldest and smartest ones I¡¯ve read about.¡±


    ¡°I find it to be acting more like an overgrown toddler than anything else.¡±


    ¡°Hm. You¡¯re all staying in town for at least a few days, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Can I borrow this bedroll? He seems to like it.¡±


    It was Larrik¡¯s bedroll, as the other two had been too small to fill the bottom of his massive backpack.


    ¡°Do you really need it? And why do you keep calling it a he?¡±


    ¡°I do, and I¡¯m calling it a he because he has long, thin limbs when he¡¯s a salamander, and unless I¡¯m mistaken, that means it¡¯s a boy.¡±


    ~~~


    Now I realized that all these tests were checking my ability to control mana. I had burned through a good amount of all the mana I had stolen from the mage, but when the wizard bent down to pick me up with his bare hands, I concentrated my mana where he picked me up, just below both my armpits.


    I didn¡¯t feel any mana leaking in from his hands, but as he brought me back to the table I was starting to get light headed. His mana was far greater than her¡¯s had been, and I promptly failed to notice another hand before it touched me. I ended up taking in some of whoever¡¯s mana that was. I could manage to slow that tide, but even with the mana I was taking in, I wasn¡¯t able to split my focus effectively in more than two places. I put both my front legs over my head. However, I had neglected to make lungs, so despite the presence of my mouth, I could not scream.


    When I woke up, I was still inside the pillow. Well, it must not be a pillow after all, as I''m inside it. It must be a sleeping bag, or maybe just a simple bedroll with how furry it feels. I was currently about as flat as a pancake, and the bedroll was sitting on something solid. I wasn¡¯t back in a backpack again. Peaking my head out, I could actually see for once. There was a miniature sun that was suspended by a chain about three feet above me. Looking around, I saw that I was inside what must be the wizard¡¯s idea of a terrarium. Three walls, Plus one made of a clear glass. I could only tell there was a glass wall because I thought there was no wall at all, and promptly slammed my face into it.

 Chapter 8, Magical Daycare and Kennel

    The only excuse I had was that I still felt groggy. That being said, the impact did help to wake me up. It also calmed my initial indignation at being caged up like an animal, as I had just acted like one.


    This was going to be a problem, but I suppose it''s as nice a place as any to work on my glaring inadequacies. First, being an oversized gecko was likely the biggest reason why I was caged up. It''s obvious that they would put the lizard in a box, that''s just what you do with one when you take care of it. If I wanted them to even know I wanted out, I needed to become something different.


    Before I change forms, however, I want to figure out how I should try and solve my inability to vocalize first. This proved quite tricky as while the lungs were easy, a simple void I opened up inside, I had been a machinist. Having entirely neglected any anatomical pursuits, I hadn''t learned what vocal chords looked like, nor the principles on which they functioned. I did however know how to make a whistle, so that''s what I was now planning on using.


    Say hello to the world''s first whooping gecko. Unless that''s a thing here already. I don''t think it was on earth. I tried to start making noise, but I couldn''t tell at what speed the whistle was making an audible sound, only the approximate resonance I could feel in my throat.


    After my third work whistle, I saw a kid turn the corner. He had been running with his hands to the side of his head but now that I had stopped, he dropped them and approached me slowly. He was looking at me like I had just fallen from the sky in front of him.


    He was inspecting something below desk level, so I tried getting his attention with another whistle. Starting as low as I had felt a resonance start, he looked back to me. His face still seemed befuddled, so I just waited for him to get himself together.


    I had been debating if I should just go for trying to become human outright, but I don''t think I could pull it off in a way that wouldn''t be so uncanny valley that they''d be disgusted by me. I also don''t want them to think I''m manipulating them, as even if I used all my mass, I don''t think I could manage anything bigger than a malnourished eight year old.


    That leaves me to pick an animal, and I think the choice is obvious. The kind that has a million different ways of telling you it wants out. The ears were the hardest part, as if I wanted to try and make them functional, I had to focus and actively interpret the raw vibrations, like a microphone. I was not very confident in this method succeeding, but that was most certainly a gasp.


    ~~~


    Tommen was the second apprentice mage of Cole, Cole¡¯s first already being old enough to go out on her own and start her journeymanship. At times like these there was little to do, as Tommen did not follow Master Cole into official meetings with the Baron. He liked it this way though, as he always found himself feeling uncomfortable around nobility, even if the Baron was more laid back. He had always had a hard time reading people, and the noble customs would always make his head spin.


    There was silence in the lab, for Tommen had already finished transcribing the last chapter he would be needing this week. He could have gotten started on the next chapter, but the grimoire had been increasing in difficulty as he moved from the simple apprentice level spells into the intermediate. Most of Tommen''s spare time was spent on practicing innocuous spells that possessed no consequences for failure. The grimoire served as a list of spells that would steadily challenge him. Master Cole had transcribed it from his master, and now it was Tommen''s turn.


    The book was written with the intention of the student only moving onto the next spell once they succeeded the previous spell five times in a row, and upon their first successful cast of a new spell, they should always go back and reinforce the previous spell. Tommen wasn''t perfect, sometimes he''d start a new spell early, or get distracted trying to rework an existing spell.


    His new favorite spell to tinker with was an illusion derivative his master had made. It was called ¡®Summon Sketch¡¯ and let him generate an illusion of anything he could draw, only much faster. The spell even let him weave more than one line at a time, and he had been experimenting with getting it to automatically mirror his drawing over chosen line of symmetry, the ones career artists used only ever reflected over the centerline. He had a problem he was struggling with. Anything he drew on the right side reflected properly to the left, but anything he drew on the left wasn''t reflected to the right. A little more troubleshooting let him discover that it was drawing the lines, just on the same side, tracing everything he drew without translating it.


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    He was about to start digging for the mistake in his modifications when he was distracted by a sound like a teapot going from just barely whistling to screaming in less than five seconds. He jumped to his feet, if one of the alchemical suspensions was decaying, he needed to turn up the heat and send for his master. But then the sound stopped, only to start again from the same quiet whistle.


    Tommen then set off in search of the source, running with his fingers in his ears. When he finally found it, he read the label and warning on the Ignararium as ¡°Soulsteel, physical contact - mana drain¡± along with the creature''s reference number. It was in the four thousands, and he didn''t know where the encyclopedias containing anything higher than the two thousands were kept.


    Master Cole would return soon, and if all the big salamander wanted was attention, Tommen would just draw it. Or that was his plan, anyways. As he was halfway through the upper torso, it started changing. Watching as it carefully shifted its body into new proportions, even down to the most subtle detail Tommen could make out, the young apprentice was briefly terrified. However, being a young apprentice, his fear was immediately overtaken by curiosity, and his love for dogs. Questions raced through his mind. How did this thing know his favorite animal? It hadn''t turned into his favorite breed, so was it just guessing? It was one that most people first think of when picturing a dog, after all.


    He watched as the Labrador stared at him. Its eyes were still featureless, but the dog''s ears seemed to be at attention.


    ¡°Uh, hello there.¡±


    Its only reply was tilting its head. Stepping up to the enclosure, Tommen studied the thing¡¯s form closely. It had been the color of pearls while it was a salamander. However, now that it was in the form of a dog, its coat was a silvery mirror finish. There weren''t any vestiges left over from its previous form, so it must have been a complete polymorph.


    He had no idea who Master Cole had worked with to get his hands on this thing, but he knew it must be dangerous. A polymorph can manipulate its body however it wants, his master had told him a story of a shapeshifter that could use its fingers like daggers by sharpening them, or use its unnatural constitution to crush you with more force than any mortal could manage.


    That was why, when the silver Labrador had started nosing the roof of his ignararium off, Tommen jumped up and kept it down. After doing so, the canine seemed to sulk at him, laying down and turning away.


    ¡°I can¡¯t let you out, Master Cole isn¡¯t here.¡±


    Tommen waited to see if he would get a response. However the Soulsteel didn''t even tilt its head, let alone answer his question. Master Cole had put it in an ignararium, so while he could light a fire under it, he wasn''t sure he should. Doing so usually helped to calm occupants down, but his master might have picked this one because it''s the largest enclosure they had, not for the attached furnace. It was already acting unhappy, and if the Soulsteel reacted poorly to the fire, it might try and force the roof off next time. And with how malleable it seemed, it could also just leave through the damper when he opened it to start the fire.


    He decided to try one last thing, to see if it would understand pictures. He drew a stick figure lifting the lid off a terrarium. The dog didn''t take notice of the paper until he pressed it up against the glass.


    ~~~


    I couldn''t get him to try any commands, and he didn''t react well when I tried to pop the lid off. When he started talking, I stopped pouting and turned my head back to him.


    I''m not sure if it was just a limitation of my ears, or if he really was speaking a different language. It flowed like a sentence, but the meaning, or even the actual nuance between the different words, was lost to me.


    It sounded like a mix of the parents from The Peanuts and whatever language the Sims speak.


    Listening to him speak, I managed to tune my focus to the approximate range he talked at. This helped, but the only thing I could think to do with this information was to, quite literally, parrot it back. I had found no meaning at all, despite it being vaguely similar to English. It all sounded natural, but like I''m hearing a completely foreign language I''d never heard before.


    This was unlike when listening to, say, someone speak German, where you could at least pick out one word in ten and find a common root. But in the thirty or so he had just spoken, not one had rang any bells. I was just about to start changing my whistle voice box for a speaker when I heard something bang against the glass. It was really dark, he was near one of the ends of the enclosure, with the miniature sun casting about the light a candle might.


    I reached up and grabbed it by the chain. A gentle tug broke it free, and I brought it back over to the kid, who now looked just a little mortified. He was holding up a sketch of me being let out. That was what I wanted, so I started wagging my tail. It was surprisingly difficult because my body has no muscle memory, It hadn''t even started with any form of passive perception. Except touch. Every other sense took effort to maintain at more than occasional flashes, and even repetitive actions like tail wagging took a lot of focus.


    The second picture was more disappointing, but I still nodded to whatever the kid was saying. I couldn''t decipher the actual words, but the pictures really helped. He was trying to tell me he didn''t have permission to let me out. He must have been a student or something for that wizard from yesterday. I assume it was yesterday, as I lost track of time when I passed out.


    So, if we were going to wait anyways, I could start building some trust with the kid, even from behind glass. Now, while keeping in mind the normal limits and range of movement physically possible by a dog, I lifted my front paw and pressed it on the window.


    He seemed to think I was trying to break out at first, but when I just held it there he came closer and placed his hand mirroring my paw. Then when I swapped paws, he swapped hands too.


    I had hoped that this would be enough of a primer to get him thinking of other tricks, but I almost gave up before he spun his finger around in the air. I promptly chased my tail, and he had me keep going. My ballerina impression must have been pretty good, as I now know what laughter sounds like here. It''s basically the same.

 Chapter 9, Clear sight, Clear signs

    Tommen was concerned. After he had gotten the Soulsteel to do a couple of tricks, it had refused any new ones. It would just tilt its head as if it didn¡¯t understand. He knew most magical creatures would do tricks when rewarded with mana, but he didn¡¯t have permission to feed it. Trying to go back to what worked before, it was now refusing to spin, but it would still put its paw back up on the glass. He once again decided to wait for Master Cole, as he should be returning any time now. He initially only glanced up as it began messing with the light it had pulled down. He knew it couldn¡¯t harm the living metal, it was just a mana bead and gold wire. Even if it broke, the worst it could do was cause a small flash and a bang. But when he noticed it was losing its light, his eyes jumped back down to the words written on the Soulsteel¡¯s warning tag.


    ¡®physical contact - mana drain¡¯


    ~~~


    I was sick of working on my ears. I had thought if I tied a sense back into touch, It wouldn¡¯t need focus. But I was making no more progress on that front. Hearing might be important, but hearing better won¡¯t make me speak their language. I think I''ve hit a wall with what I can do by applying how microphones work so I¡¯m gonna move on to trying things with my eyes. Hopefully they will be able to see things that don''t have mana in them, or maintain some consistent peripheral vision. The more I started theory crafting on what to do for my eyes, the more I realized there were significant gaps in how I understood the magic in this world. I couldn¡¯t account for why people didn''t illuminate their surroundings, but this construct does. The papers the kid had been drawing on didn¡¯t catch any light from him, so this miniature lamp is doing something that he isn¡¯t, and I¡¯m missing it.


    When I tried to draw in its mana it didn¡¯t even budge. The only conclusion I could come to is that the mana I can wield is somehow different from whatever mana is in this light. When I tried touching it to try and force it out, I managed to absorb only a single thread of the foreign mana at a time. Breaking it apart, I recovered about two red mana for every blue mana. Once I had withdrawn and integrated everything I could see, I tried putting the same ratio of mana back in. It started to glow, but it failed to cast any actual light. And upon pulling the mana back out, I was disappointed to see it hadn¡¯t changed.


    There must be something that can be done to make the mana glow, and these are the only base components I can find. The only conclusion left is that it must be a visualization problem once again. I¡¯ve been treating this blue and red mana like it is a simple force vector. More mana was how I gained more magnitude. This left me free to pick any direction. However, I must need a different perspective here. I tried mixing paints first, but the mana separated back out on its own. How would I even use the mana if I visualized it as paint? After throwing that idea away, inspiration finally struck me. I had already visualized mana as a thread once or twice while trying to pull my form together, and the mana was coming out as threads too. I took two strands of red mana, intertwined with one blue. The three of them would obviously be stronger, but what I needed to know was the braid was what caused the illuminating effect. As long as it couldn¡¯t come undone on its own, I might have something workable here. I finished by pulling them taught, and the distinct red and blue coloration faded away, leaving only white. This time when I filled the lamp with the white mana, it started actually illuminating things again.


    How I managed to neglect mixing mana before now is beyond me. I¡¯ll have to try so many different ratios, but I¡¯ll start with the opposite of the light recipe. Spinning two parts blue into one part red. I was getting the hang of this. The dark thread I produced was as black to me as something without mana, but it was no harder to control than the white mana. My original goal had been to have real eyes again, so I used black mana to form a filter, and then I put an array of light mana behind it. I started adding muscles and some eyelids, so I could properly take in my surroundings for the first time.


    My new eyes are not a physical structure, they are some sort of mana structure that is tied to my physical eyeballs. Everything is based on light now, but I can still see something¡¯s mana if I focus like before. I think that¡¯s pretty good for now, though I wouldn¡¯t go as far to say they are perfect, as I¡¯m only seeing in black and white. If I understand how the principles I¡¯m applying here work, if I get new mana types and mix them with the black mana filter, and the white mana sensor, I should be able to upgrade to color. The other thing I notice is that I got carried away synthesizing the new mana. I must have spent half my leftover red and blue to make white and black. There is something else I can learn here too, as the white and black mana makes up more than half of all my mana now, despite the ratio having been three inputs to one output. I¡¯ll have to think about this later. The wizard has finally returned.


    ~~~


    Tommen had stepped away to grab a nearby managlass. It was obviously manipulating both dark and light mana, something it hadn''t done the last time it changed. Returning with one, he could tell it was doing something to its eyes. After sitting back down, he heard the door to the lab open, and the only person who¡¯d enter without knocking was Master Cole.


    ¡°Master, Come quick! The Soulsteel is polymorphing again.¡±


    Brisk footsteps echoed throughout the lab, Cole turned the corner before the Soulsteel was sitting up straight again.


    ¡°How long has it been active?¡±


    ¡°It must have turned into that dog about an hour ago.¡±


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    ¡°What did it just change then?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s eyes, they were blank before.¡±


    The Living metals eyes had dark black pupils, ringed with gold. It was another rare phenomena that was usually reserved for Elder Soulsteel. Artificial Sight usually required a number of preconditions, all thought to be impossible for Soulsteel to manage without mortal intervention.


    ¡°This thing is just doing more and more inexplicable things.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where to start.¡±


    ¡°I could tell you what it did while you were finishing your meeting with the adventures.¡±


    ¡°Please do.¡±


    ¡°It got my attention with a whistling sound. I thought it was just lonely, but then it went from being a salamander into a dog right in front of me.¡±


    ¡°I already knew it didn¡¯t mind transforming in front of people, but it can whistle now?¡±


    ¡°It couldn¡¯t before?¡±


    ¡°Not that I''m aware of. And you didn¡¯t do anything to it?¡±


    ¡°I tried to talk to it, after it grew ears. But it didn¡¯t react with anything more than tilting its head.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had a dog in here. Why does it know what a dog looks like, let alone acts like?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It was getting antsy, but I didn¡¯t know if I should light a fire or not.¡±


    ¡°A manafire should have pleased it, I was told it¡¯s been seeking out all the flames it could on the trip here.¡±


    ¡°Should I start one now? He seemed to want out.¡±


    ¡°How did you figure that out?¡±


    ¡°He tried to knock the top off, and when I held it down he got mad at me. I sort of promised him you would let him out.¡±


    ¡°First, how. Second, why?¡±


    ¡°I drew it for him, and he just seemed really sad.¡±


    Cole had been planning to relax and start some tests on the recovered metals first thing after he got back, and then storming over to chew out Poetrak while the tests were running, for not realizing that full on Soulsteel was about to land in the greenwood, not even a day away from his fat ass. But looking at Tommen, and then the Soulsteel, he really couldn¡¯t bring himself to say no.


    ¡°We can take it to the training yard if it wants to go for a run, there won¡¯t be anyone there at this hour.¡±


    The walk was a short one, and after a quick spell the Soulsteel was safely in the hall. It lingered for a second outside the lab, but it caught up with them. Tommen was always excited to have an excuse to play outside. But as he ran out into the courtyard, he realized he had no plan of what to do now that they were here. Turning to his master, he asked;


    ¡°What now? I can¡¯t play fetch with it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, why can¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°First off, it¡¯s not actually a dog, and you know that. Secondly, you brought us to the interior courtyard. There are no trees here.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either, you¡¯re the one who told me to let it out.¡±


    ¡°I just meant from the Ignarrium¡±


    ¡°And let it gallivant around my laboratory?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not. It¡¯s way too big to stay in a cage.¡±


    ¡°You and I both know those aren¡¯t just simple cages, I¡¯ve got it set up so that it can-¡±


    ¡°Wait, Master, look!¡±


    The apprentice pointed at the Soulsteel, as it had moved away from their argument, and stopped in front of the well. They simply watched as it began scraping something into the ground where the grass was worn away to packed dirt.


    ~~~


    When the wizard lifted the top off, I stuck my head out over the top of the glass wall. I was conflicted if I would need to turn into something that could climb or fly. I could jump, but I was more worried about hurting the floor than myself. My concerns ended up being moot when the wizard used magic to lift me up and out of the terrarium. He carried me by magical means until we reached the hallway, and he had closed the laboratory door behind him. Did they really think I wanted to go all the way outside?


    Despite the fact I didn''t follow them, waiting by the door as the two of them walked away, they kept going. I started after them when I noticed the wizard was making the same hand signs to cast another telekinesis spell. Bastard is lucky, if I wasn¡¯t in a fancy noble¡¯s home I would be whistling in indignation at such mistreatment.


    It was a good thing I had four legs right now, because it felt like I was a newborn deer. It didn¡¯t take that long to find a good tempo, but I was distracted by how surreal it was to be walking down a medieval looking hallway only being able to see in black and white. The wizard exited the hallway, walking through a double door. The kid waited for me, holding the door open. Looking outside, I saw what must be an interior courtyard, as there were walls on every side, and it must be getting close to night by now, as the whole courtyard was cast in shadow.


    I needed to make it clear I am a sentient creature, even if I look like a dog right now. The best idea I could come up with was math. As far as I know, on earth, the smartest of crows struggled with even just addition. And while I don¡¯t think mapping my alphabet onto theirs would be productive, they should recognize a base ten numerical system, even if they use some other kind.


    I started by simply counting to ten, but using tallies. This was because the meaning of each line in a tally shouldn¡¯t be possible to confuse. It took longer to write it all out than I expected. I had to turn one of my legs into a point so I could make a clean line for the fifth tally. I sat behind the number one, and waited for them to come over.


    The kid arrived first, and he seemed pretty lost at the start. It was only after the wizard came over and said something that he started holding up the same number of fingers as each tally count. I would nod back to him and go to the next number, and so far so good. I drew an arrow after we hit ten and did the same thing with roman numerals, slowly pivoting around the well. This time the apprentice went and grabbed a quarterstaff, and used it to draw their numbers in the sand, matching them to my roman numerals.


    Next, I started doing single digit addition and subtraction with their numbers. I was lucky their mathematical signs were almost identical, so we moved on quickly. It kept going well, we got through multiplication, and then into exponents. The little idiosyncrasies were manageable. Once I did pythagoras''s theorem they both seemed to get the point of the exercise. The variables they used must be their letters, and they looked like a knockoff of the eastern european alphabet. We finished with me solving a simple factorial. It took me longer to interpret it than it took to solve. They seemed quite impressed, if I do say so myself.

 Chapter 10, Clear as Mud

    Poetrak felt something was wrong. Ever since the Skysteel recovery quest had been taken, he¡¯d felt a pit in his stomach. It was now so bad that he decided to recast Divine Imminent Incident. But it came back with the same, precise location of landfall, the same minimal impact on The Greenwood, and even the same expected journey length. The big picture was identical to the previous scries. The party mage¡¯s mana expenditure was trending upwards, but that was to be expected. It couldn¡¯t be what was concerning him because it wasn¡¯t going to get much past four apprentice level spells. He wouldn¡¯t doubt Rodney¡¯s performance, he had quite the storied history. When he noticed that Larrik was going to suffer some kind of minor injury, he decided he was just getting paranoid and wasting mana. That was something only apprentice or journeyman seers should be doing, so he would need to work on trusting his skills more, as even still his apprehension still hadn¡¯t completely died down. Like there was one more thing he was missing.


    ~~~


    When the Soulsteel went bounding off down the hallway, still covered in water, Cole¡¯s first instinct was to cast another Bind Gravity to stop it from running into any servants that might be wandering the corridors at such a late hour. He had however waited to see where it was going, as it had just gone to a lot of trouble to show its intelligence. It stopped right in front of his lab, but unlike when they had been leaving, it didn¡¯t wait by the door for them.


    ¡°What¡¯s it doing?¡±


    ¡°It seems to be looking at the Guardian Armor.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not gonna try and fight them, is it?¡±


    They both cringed at the thought of the Baron rebuking them for ¡®letting a fight break out in his castle¡¯, and ¡®damaging expensive magical defenses.¡¯ All because ¡®they had neglected to put a leash on their new pet.¡¯


    However, as Cole did start to ready another Bind Gravity, the Soulsteel started to change. It grew much taller. It should have returned to its full size while it was down for a nap, but it certainly wasn¡¯t this big when Cole had placed it in the Ignarium. By the time it was approaching Cole¡¯s height, it now clearly possessed two arms and two legs. But the metallic sheen didn¡¯t change, so whatever it was turning into mustn''t have had skin. It wasn¡¯t until it tried to turn, and promptly fell to pieces, that Cole realized what it had turned into.


    The Soulsteel had just managed to pull itself back together, and was now putting its helmet back on. It took a second to get situated, before trying to stand up again. Cole could clearly see it had improved the armor¡¯s joints, as it only seemed to be using a tenth the mana it had when it fell apart.


    He pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket, and then proffered his now slightly insulated hand. It was met with a gentle grip, and Cole pulled it to its feet. It still seemed to teeter for a second, but then it managed to stand straight up. When it began moving its hand up and down, it took Cole a second to recognise a handshake.


    ¡°Master, are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine. Just, give me a minute. Can you take him into the lab and have him sit somewhere?¡±


    ¡°Yes, master.¡±


    After getting its attention with a wave, Tommen opened the door to lead the still stumbling suit of armor inside the lab, but before Tommen could close the door Master Cole had one last thing to tell him.


    ¡°Give it a cane or something, I don¡¯t want it to stumble into anything.¡±


    ¡°Yes master.¡±


    ~~~


    I had wanted to keep doing more math, but by the time they had stopped talking about whatever it was they were on about, it had started to rain, and the packed earth was rapidly turning into muck. As the two of them led me back inside, they wiped their feet at the door. I was half tempted to shake off like a dog, but I managed to talk myself out of it. I had just gotten done convincing them I was smart enough to both do multiplication and understand mathematical variables, I didn¡¯t want to ruin my hard work by immediately acting like a dog. They both were staring at me, as if they were expecting something new now that we were inside.


    I had actually come up with an idea to achieve a more human form without having to try and make a face, that being something I had always dreaded in character creators. The hallway was mostly rugs, and those ¡®not¡¯ coffee tables you put against walls. But there was a pair of alcoves, positioned across from the laboratory we had originally left from. They each contained a suit of plate armor. I figured I was just a little shy of the amount of material I might need, as they both were taller than the wizard, but I wasn¡¯t going to give up without trying. Copying them wasn¡¯t difficult, but when I tried to turn back to the wizard and the kid to perform a formal bow, I felt myself come apart at the seams. I had neglected to make more advanced joints beyond what the armor in front of me possessed, and I had substituted the straps for light and dark mana weave, controlling extension and contraction respectively. What I didn¡¯t expect was that as soon as I started putting a sideways load on my joints, the mana necessary spiked, and I lost all control. My form didn¡¯t revert or anything, so I would just have to take the time to reassemble myself. If I lowered my new height, I bet I could make some ball in socket joints that wouldn¡¯t put so much stress on the straps.


    Using pale blue mana, I dragged my left arm back to my torso. It was slow going, and I once again promised myself I would need to make new, stronger mana again. I started with my shoulder joint, a cup in the torso and a ball at the end of the arm. I was able to design it to possess a far greater range of motion than the base armor could have managed, as I didn¡¯t need to account for an arm being able to fit inside. I copied this to my other arm, and then modified it for my hips, as the knees and my elbows were already workable hinge joints. The U joints I made for my wrists and ankles required a greater supply of mana to keep stable, but with the load being transferred through physical material, and the balance being maintained by the paired black and white threads, I was able to move into a kneeling position.


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    After the wizard helped me to my feet, the kid started leading me into the lab. I was slowly getting better at walking upright, but I was finding I had no natural balance. I knew that the ears had some kind of system that managed to sense acceleration, but I didn¡¯t have time to think about how I could emulate that before the kid handed me a wooden walking cane. Testing it briefly, I found that as long as the tip of the cane was in contact with the floor, it would return to standing straight up.


    The wizard hadn¡¯t followed us into the room, so I would have to make do with asking the apprentice. He brought me further into the lab, stopping at a pair of desks in front of what must be a chalkboard. After he pulled one of the seats out for me, I sat down. It was a little small, at least until I started scaling myself down to fit properly. I was now only about half a foot taller than the kid, as opposed to before, when I was somewhere above the wizard in height.


    I started my questions by trying to point at the staff. It took him a second to recognise that I was trying to ask him something, rather than just point it out to him. I took it and, while holding it so it didn¡¯t quite touch the floor, I tilted it every which way. Then I simply let go, and as soon as it touched the floor it stood up straight.


    ~~~


    Tommen was just as confused about this thing as his master was. When he gave it the walking stick, he didn''t need to explain how to use it, it had just started walking with the stick like it had been using one for years.The enchantment on the staff was a simple one, called Stabilize, But it seemed to remarkably improve the Soulsteel¡¯s balance. He had learned it about three months ago, halfway into his apprenticeship so far, and around the same time Natasha had left for her journeymanship.


    Before he could get too lost in his thoughts, he noticed that the Soulsteel was trying to get his attention. It was pointing at the staff, as it now rested sideways on Natasha¡¯s desk. He had to do a double take, as its current form was now much smaller than it had been. Before it had towered above even his master, but now it reminded him of how tall Natasha had been when she left. As it started trying to explain its question, Tommen snapped back to focus.


    It seemed to be wondering how the staff managed to keep itself upright. Perhaps it even wanted to learn how to do it on its own? Tommen briefly went digging into his master''s notes, trying to find the ones relevant to how the enchantment was constructed. Finding them, He grabbed a piece of chalk and started drawing.


    ¡°Okay, so, Here is the staff. It¡¯s just a normal, if slightly magically conductive, wood.¡±


    ¡°Then we hollow out a section and implant a mana bead. For the Stabilize spell, we need one filled with Balance.¡±


    ¡°Once we have a source of Balance mana, we add these long mana struts. They will constantly stay in contact with the ground, but always try to return to their initial length.¡±


    ¡°There is a more advanced version that improves their performance on uneven terrain, but this is the basic version.¡±


    Tommen was pleased. His verbal explanation didn¡¯t seem to be registering, but it seemed to follow the chalk as he drew his explanation. The Soulsteel didn¡¯t seem entirely satisfied, but before he could start trying to explain the more advanced versions, he started miming another question entirely.


    It seemed to be pretending it was tugging on a string in his hands, but then it did a sort of slow clap, only to then go back to tugging on the invisible string. Tommen had a guess as to the question, so he turned back to the chalkboard.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying you understand how to keep something in tension, like the rear strut would be if it¡¯s falling forward, but you don¡¯t understand compression, like the front strut would need to be?¡±


    ~~~


    After he circled the front leg, I nodded. In the drawing, the staff was falling forwards. And while I understood that it was like a giant radio tower needing cables to hold it in place, he seemed to be implying the front legs were capable of also pushing on the staff.


    He seemed to move to an entirely different topic at this point, but I just patiently waited. He must be going somewhere with this. After drawing two circles, he filled in one in completely, and to the other he added sun lines, like it was giving off light. He then took a line off of each and brought them to a third circle that he half shaded, with the other half having more rays of light.


    This was what must be a mana recipe he was trying to explain to me, and as I spun the White and Black mana together, the new mana was a silvery gray. I tried making it into a sort of bubble level, but that didn¡¯t seem to work well. When I tried making a plumb bob, it worked much better. The silvery thread hung down from behind my eyes, and as I walked it stayed perfectly perpendicular to the ground.


    ~~~


    Poetrak was now enjoying his evening tea, listening to the rain outside. He was now absolutely sure he was missing something. He¡¯d been informed that the adventurers had arrived around noon today, without any major injuries, all just as he''d expected. What he didn¡¯t expect was that they would request an urgent audience, and Cole had left for it immediately. He had struggled through the rest of the meeting, doing some mild forecasting of when the next ideal time for some infrastructure project would come, or if the preparations for the upcoming hard winter would be sufficient. He couldn¡¯t stop trying to guess at what could lead Rodney of all people to use an expedited request.


    After the meeting had ended, he had expected for Cole to come and inform him of just how useless his divinations had proven to be, as he so relished doing. But as time went on, and he heard that Cole had dismissed the adventurers and then left for the training ground, he was at a complete loss. He had told a footman to inform Cole that he was going to come over and see what the fuss was about, but he still hadn¡¯t gotten a reply. As the door was thrown open, He nearly choked on his tea. When Cole just slumped into the couch opposite of Poetrak, It seemed he was still in shock. After Poetrak managed to collect himself, he asked the question he knew would start an argument.


    ¡°So, what was it then?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡±


    ¡°How many times do I have to tell you, divination isn¡¯t an exact science like your formulas. I¡¯m-¡±


    ¡°I said I don¡¯t know what it is.¡±


    ¡°Wait what?¡±


    ¡°It''s Living Metal, and it¡¯s already acting like Elder Soulsteel.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re being serious?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Where is it right now?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in my lab with Tommen. It''s unbelievably friendly for Soulsteel, and I¡¯m not worried about Tommen because it actively resists when foreign mana tries to enter.¡±


    ¡°Were there really no other complications on the way back? Is it what hurt Larrik?¡±


    ¡°No, he threw his back out trying to lift the peddler¡¯s traveling stove back into the wagon without any help.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯d he do that?¡±


    ¡°The Soulsteel is drawn to fire, and it had jumped out of their packs and into their cooking fire when they stopped for lunch.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± After a brief pause, Poetrak continued ¡°Is that the only thing that went wrong?¡±


    ¡°No, Leona touched it with her bare hands.¡±


    ¡°She should know better than that?¡±


    ¡°It had turned into a serving tray, and she couldn¡¯t help herself.¡±


    ¡°How did it resist foreign mana then?¡±


    ¡°It stopped the mana flow after three seconds, and it pulled itself out of her hand¡±


    ¡°Now that is most unheard of.¡±


    ¡°I agree. I also tested its mana control and its mana sight. It had highly developed mana sense, and its control is the same.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm.¡±


    ¡°It also filled a manabead for me.¡±


    ¡°I see why you said it was acting like Elder Soulsteel. Getting mana back out is normally like pulling teeth.¡±


    ¡°That was before it achieved artificial sight, and then started showing off its ability to do complex math.¡±

 Chapter 11, No More Fall

    Natasha was bored. She was missing Tommen, his unlimited curiosity had made the three months she spent with him fun, even though they spent most of their time together going over things she had learned years ago. It was as the first snows were starting to fall that she received his letter. It wasn¡¯t a magical letter, before she left he had been having difficulties when it came to specifying targets, and apparently that hadn¡¯t changed. It informed her that due to Master Cole having acquired some extremely unusual Soulsteel, he was going to be coming to the capital.


    She had already known they were coming, as Master Archibald had informed her ahead of time. He had made her oversee their rooms being prepared. Still, it was nice to receive a letter from her junior, and it struck her that he seemed to be getting along well with the living metal. The stories he told in the letter seemed to imply it was as hungry for knowledge as she remembered him being. Based on what master Archibald had told her, they would arrive within the next couple of days.


    However, the diagram that came with the letter was what really got her excited for their upcoming visit, as the design was ingenious, the main pendulum body could swing in every direction, the limitation being its single dimension of travel having been sidestepped. The top hook was a half circle, set inside a cup with a hole in the bottom. Natasha had no idea how Tommen had designed such a detailed piece, as not even Master Archibald was likely to manage creating something this complex on his first try.


    She saw diagrams for how the pieces fit together, and then the different paths the mana took to express the pendulum''s relative angle, and she simply couldn¡¯t believe something like this could have been hiding from her in that library. She¡¯d scoured every book in there that was on purely magical structures, and nothing remotely like this came up. This wasn¡¯t just applicable to her current project, but to many more ideas she had discarded as unrealistic.


    The pendulum would output one light and one dark mana thread, each¡¯s length dependent on the position of the semicircle relative to the cup. It was initially heartbreaking when she realized that was the entirety of the designs, as there was nothing that could actively keep something stable, just tell you which way it was tipping.


    ¡°I suppose I can¡¯t let that kid do all the work for me¡±


    The last sketch was of a dog. Tommen had already given her some pictures of his favorite breed and the hunting dogs the Baron used, but this one was a labrador, and it looked strange somehow. It didn¡¯t click for her until reading the writing on its back, ¡®Soulsteel¡¯s favorite form¡¯.


    ~~~


    When the living metal started walking straight without the cane, Tommen went and grabbed a pair of golden colored mana glasses that were two sizes too big for him. Now that the helmet was within his arms reach, he flipped up the visor. He initially balked at the shadowy void inside, but looking at the hanging silver weave and the glowing golden eyes made him come back. The living metal was keeping mana structures whole without needing to create physical bodies for them to inhabit.


    After putting the visor back down, he turned around and headed in the direction of the library. It was in an adjacent room.The door out into the hallway was kept locked, as Master Cole kept a strict no food near books policy, but the door into it from the lab was left open. Beckoning for the living metal to follow, he entered into the musty and dark room.


    He touched the Light Plate anchored by the door, and all the manalights in the room slowly started coming to life. It would be another few minutes before he could read by them, so he focused on getting the living metal situated at one of the reading desks, and finding a ladder to reach the higher shelves.


    He was searching for a book that Natasha had often sent him to read when his questions about her work got too troublesome. It contained a number of simple magical structures, and he recognised the new, silver pendulum from the project she had been working on when she left.


    It was near the back of the book, but as far as he knew, it only swung in two directions, not freely. He was also tempted to find the four thousand series encyclopedia, but Master Cole would hopefully know where it was when he got back. The Pendulum of Balance was described in the rear of the book, and was used to prevent topheavy ships from capsizing in storms. He tried showing the book to the Soulsteel to take a look at the pages, but the text-heavy pages only earned him a shrug for his efforts.


    ~~~


    ¡°Did you get a chance to test its companion metals?¡±


    ¡°No, It was already active by the time I returned from debriefing the party. I can tell you it¡¯s mostly electrum, silver and gold though.¡±


    ¡°Did you come just to catch me up on what¡¯s happening, check you hadn¡¯t gone mad, or did you want a new scry from me?¡±


    ¡°Mostly to get my thoughts in order, but I¡¯d appreciate to know I¡¯m not stepping into someone¡¯s trap.¡±


    ¡°I can do that for you, but I should go see it first.¡±


    ¡°Why is your tea so much better than mine?¡±


    ¡°Because I give romance advice to all the maids, and you just complain when they clean up behind you.¡±


    Cole was too tired to really get into a proper argument. He¡¯d already thought he was having a rough day before the adventurers had brought him a superpowered problem child. The upcoming winter was putting a strain on the treasury, he had only just returned from burning out a blight in Hedrik¡¯s Crossing, and the Baron was trying to get him to teach his youngest daughter magic, despite the fact she had only just turned ten.


    ¡°While you¡¯re looking at the Soulsteel, I¡¯m going to start writing Archibald a letter. I¡¯ll at least need his help in determining one of the metals it came with, and I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ll be able to fulfill its mana needs alone.¡±


    ¡°I could contribute a little, and surely Tommen would too?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand. The form it last took must expend more mana than we could spare. We¡¯ll need some kind of advanced artificial mana generation to keep it happy, especially if we still want to be able to function as mages.¡±


    ¡°Is that what Archibald was working on?¡±


    ¡°Yes. You must remember that¡¯s the entire reason why I sent Natasha off to work for him.¡±


    ¡°I do remember the conversation now. Most of what I heard was cursing, though.¡±


    ¡°Just go already. I¡¯ll start writing.¡±


    Despite the fact that Tommen had brought the armor into Master Cole¡¯s library, everything else he had been told about it was correct. Elder Soulsteel, seemingly content while having almost no mana, burning through what it did have at a truly frightful rate. Tommen had been sketching something when he came in, and when the Soulsteel pointed him out, Tommen rushed over to show Poetrak what he¡¯d gotten so excited about.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°Look at this. It managed this after I explained how a Stabilizing Cane works to it. It¡¯s crazy complex, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I would say so. Did it seem to work?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, It can walk in perfectly straight lines, but it still over-corrects during turns.¡±


    ¡°Did you get an estimation for how much mana it¡¯s consuming?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning to wait for Master Cole, but I forgot about it when it started asking me questions.¡±


    ¡°Cole asked me to Scry Potential Threat on it, so while you get ready, I''m gonna take a turn babysitting it.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be able to hear without its ears anymore, and-¡±


    The conversation died as the armor turned back into the dog it had been before. It¡¯s eyes were still imbued with light and dark mana, but Tommen¡¯s managlasses told him it had drastically reduced it¡¯s mana consumption by changing back into this form.


    ¡°- I don¡¯t know how long it will stay this way.¡±


    ¡°Cole was afraid it was going to exhaust all its mana and get stuck, but he still seems to be underestimating its intelligence.¡±


    ~~~


    Fall was nearing an end, and Tom was eager to get back into the capital to settle in for the winter. There were carriage barns he and a number of other peddlers would rent together and pack their wagons and their horses into, as while Trish and Parn could take the cold, the roads were often so covered in snow that any wagon laden with sufficient trade goods would get stuck at some point on the winding dirt roads that still connected most of his route. He knew another peddler had bought sled dogs from a trip past the northern border of Ridgewern, but that idea had fallen through when the leather straps had proven too complicated for the local leather workers to repair. They didn¡¯t have the same pulling power as a real cart horse, but in the year Harold had been running winter trade, he claimed the dogs never got tired.


    Regardless, he felt conflicted about making one last stop so he didn¡¯t have to sit on so much inventory over the winter, but he was leaning against doing so. The rain had started early last night, and the neglected roads would be treacherous with all this mud. He might change his mind if some adventurers wanted to head in the same direction, but he figured there was little chance of that. When Tarrik stopped by to ask if they could tag along for the ride to Drake''s Redoubt, he made up his mind. An early stop in the capital might let him undercut some of the merchant caravans before they got back to bed themselves down for the winter.


    ~~~


    I don¡¯t know how long the kid spent drawing my new creation, but it was a good while before a plump looking man came inside. When I focused, he was glowing about as brightly as the wizard had been. He seemed to be unsurprised with my presence here, and moreover seemed content to stand there and watch as the apprentice kept sketching.


    I had to snap my visor back down and point before he took a look at the newcomer, and when he did he ran over and started talking to him. This form was more human, but I was also finding it quite draining, even trying to sit still. I had achieved a human-like stature by making myself almost entirely hollow, except for my joints. My eyes required more mana upkeep without physical ones, and my new pendulum wasn¡¯t exactly cheap either. I was getting close to a critical mana shortage, and while I still had some control when not using mana when I was a rock, I didn¡¯t want to find out what happened if I got stuck in a form with no muscles.


    The kid talked with the new guy for a while, and if he was going to stick around I needed a name for him. The wizard had worn a dark blue robe, but this guy was wearing white with silver embroidery. I wondered if it was some kind of seniority. The silver thread was apparently functional somehow, as after the apprentice left, the old man started casting what must be a spell. The embroidery was filling primarily with gray mana, but as I looked closer there seemed to be other colors I hadn¡¯t discovered yet.


    After the spell or whatever was released, he started laughing. I put my head down, as I was no longer worried about it being targeted at me. I had stopped watching him, but I felt the couch dip when he sat down. I think I¡¯ll call him something witty, like wiz-lard. Wiz-large?


    ~~~


    Tommen returned to Master Poetrak having started petting the Soulsteel. He was still wearing his master¡¯s managlasses, so he could clearly make out that the Soulsteel was still keeping Poetrak¡¯s mana out, and the grimace it was making made it quite clear it wasn¡¯t enjoying itself.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t like that.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to check if it would resist mana for myself. It''s something I¡¯ve absolutely never heard of.¡±


    ¡°I think it wants you to stop now.¡±


    ¡°Okay, fine.¡±


    He was disappointed, he had brought their Gloves of Resist Cold so he could pet the Soulsteel, but master Poetrak had beaten him to it. He took out one of his apprentice level mana beads, and filled it completely with Balance mana. Placing the box with the rest of them on one of the reading desks, he put it on the palm of his right glove, and offered it to the Soulsteel.


    ¡°I do hope it takes mana this way, or we¡¯re going to have to light a fire for it every night.¡±


    ¡°We are gonna do that anyways now that winter is almost here.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t think we have a fireplace big enough to keep him topped up.¡±


    ¡°How did he feel?¡±


    ¡°Like normal silverware, but warm.¡±


    Tommen resisted the urge to pout, and the Soulsteel finally took the manabead from his hand, but it spit it back out still full of mana. It seemed to think they were doing a mana control test again. Tommen mimed swallowing the manabead, and offered it to the Soulsteel again.


    ¡°Come on, go ahead.¡±


    ¡°It is remarkable. I¡¯ve never seen any Living Metal not desperate for as much mana as it can get.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like it had a bad experience with gaining mana before it got here, right?¡±


    ¡°You mean when Leona touched it? Apparently it also liked manafires just fine.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t given it a manafire yet.¡±


    ¡°We can try that after we get a baseline for its mana consumption.¡±

 Chapter 12, A Hearty Meal

    Penny was preparing dinner for the residents of the East wing. On her way through the eastern hall, she saw someone had left a trail of water starting from the interior courtyard and leading up to Mage Cole¡¯s laboratory. She¡¯d need to ensure it was cleaned up before someone slipped on it. She knocked on the door, and when she received no response she went inside. The lab was in a state of only mild disarray, the result of her hard fought battles after the mess it had sunk into after Natasha¡¯s departure.


    The Laboratory had an interior connection to the Library, and the two rooms were the best place to find the mages around dinnertime. The eastern small hall was prepared for them, but the mages often preferred to eat in their rooms, especially if they were busy with something. Continuing into the library she was mindful to not trip on any errant jars or a seemingly abandoned walking cane Mage Archibald had used before he left for the capital. She found the door to the library still open.


    ¡°Milords? Dinner is ready to be served, will you be taking it in the small hall?¡±


    Stepping into the room, Penny could now clearly hear Tommen and Mage Poetrak having an animated conversation about something. The Metal dog laying down on the couch with Poetrak briefly took her aback, but she was a professional.


    ¡°Oh, Penny. Of course. We¡¯ll take it in the small hall, Cole will be joining us shortly.¡±


    ¡°Hi Penny.¡±


    ¡°As you say..¡±


    ¡°Oh and Penny, Please tell the footmen I want squash for my side.¡±


    ¡°Me too!¡±


    ¡°Yes Milords.¡±


    Penny straightened up, ordering squash was code for when Poetrak had foreseen something was about to happen and he wanted knights present. The last time he had given the order to ¡®Serve the Baron squash¡¯ they had caught an assassin attempting to poison the Baron¡¯s meal. Tommen was oblivious to this, squash was just one of his favorite foods.


    ~~~


    The letter hadn¡¯t taken long for Cole to write, and it was off on a wing by the time the footman came to inform him dinner was ready. Cole didn¡¯t recognise this particular footman, as they had been increasing the castle¡¯s staff in preparations for the upcoming winter.


    ¡°Milord, Mage Poetrak and Tommen will be eating in the small hall, shall you be joining him?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I will.¡±


    The small hall was located in the opposite direction of his lab, but Cole was sure Poetrak and Tommen had done something to keep the Soulsteel busy. Passing by two guards, a rare sight in the eastern wing, his attention was distracted from their presence as soon as he entered the dining room. A familiar silver dog was curled up in the middle of the blazing hearth, and he realized that it was obvious neither would want to part with it just so they could eat.


    ¡°Did you start a proper manafire, Tommen?¡±


    ¡°Yes Master.¡±


    ¡°How many attempts did it take?¡±


    ¡°Only one.¡±


    ¡°Good job, now. How is the Soulsteel doing?¡±


    ¡°It turned back into a dog after I brought it into the lab. It made a new mana structure I wanna show you after dinner. It reminded me of what Natasha had been working on.¡±


    ¡°What about you Poetrak, how¡¯d the scry go?¡±


    ¡°It told me tonight is going to be a good night.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°Just sit down and start eating before your food is cold.¡±


    ~~~


    The Wizard had come in not long after I got settled down in the fireplace. The servant that had brought me firewood seemed to be giving me a weird look. However, that might have just been because I was eating red hot coals from the fire, as they had more mana inside if I broke them open before they split on their own. I was basking in the amount of red mana I was able to absorb, and it made me start to feel electric again. It seemed I was slowly getting used to having more mana in me at once, but other than the hyperactivity, I still hadn¡¯t found anything that limits the amount of mana I could possess at one time.


    I spent most of my focus on getting back to my ears. With my new silver-gray mana I was overhauling them, starting with a membrane woven of its fibers. Using white and black mana threads, I was able to drastically improve my passive hearing. Now, without focusing, I was able to hear a fork drop on the other side of the room. The conversation of the diners was still nonsense to me, but I could make out laughter, or a raised voice, without having to take time to interpret.


    It seemed the dark mana was best used as a discriminator, filtering out superfluous sounds, and white mana worked best as a sensor, feeding me information about what it was ¡®seeing¡¯. I expect I could now delegate most of my senses to the white mana, and this in combination with my newfound balance meant I now had much greater dexterity. I had just been gearing up to see about mixing more mana, so I could get started on colored vision, but as I took one last glance around the room. He was staring at me again. A single maid was serving the drinks, a butler was taking away empty plates, and then there''s this guy who keeps giving me strange looks, and does seem to be doing anything. When I caught his gaze, he seemed to stuff something into his side pocket, and then started moving towards the door.


    I stood up from the fireplace, and when I did the fat wizard stopped eating and stood up from his chair. I focused on the servant trying to leave, and I found his skin was far brighter than any of the other servants, and I could also see whatever he had tried to hide was giving off enough white mana that I could see its outline in his pocket.


    The kid and the blue wizard had their backs to me, so they only reacted to the wizlard¡¯s apparent interest. I tried to remember what dogs looked like when they were pointing at something, like when a German shepard found drugs, but the best I could manage was to just look at him with a front leg in the air.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    After they took the shady guy away, I returned to my spot inside the fire. Their meal must almost be done, but I should still have time to try a new recipe or two. With my red mana having been able to start a fire, it was an easy first pick. My second pick was white, as it seemed like the most likely option to give me new colors. When I wove two of the strands together, an orange color started from between the braid¡¯s midpoint, and the thread turned from the low saturation red I¡¯d had before into a proper fiery red.


    I started trying to weave the red into the sensors in my eyes, but it seemed that that just turned everything shades of red instead of shades of black. It was only when I separated the pattern, and then copied it to the filter, that I managed to get black, white and red. I figured if white and red gave me a better red, surely white and blue would give me a better blue? I was now on fire in two ways, as that was my second successful guess on coloring. Duochrome vision was disorientating, but apparently this is how dogs would normally see the world. I was not going to settle for two of three, and started trying to work out how to make yellow or green.


    Then, in order to aim for green, I started with red-black and blue-black. The red black gave me a brown, but the blue-black gave me the green I was looking for. I made the green light filter thicker, and added some of my new blue mana to only the filter to make it sensitive to only yellow. With this I had achieved my goal, and all before they finished dinner.


    ~~~


    When the living metal started pointing at him, Poetrak knew for certain this was the man who he¡¯d foreseen getting caught tonight. It was glaringly obvious to him now that it was pointed out. A new hire, he had a poor shave, and was obviously far too nervous. The servant began to make a break for it, and Cole was about to respond by casting Bind Gravity on him, but a wave of Poetrak¡¯s hand made him pause.


    As the spy opened the double doors, the two knights he¡¯d requested were within arms reach, and it took only a moment for him to have been grabbed by both.


    ¡°Perfect job gentlemen. Would you mind getting him set up in the dungeon? We shouldn¡¯t be needing you again tonight.¡±


    ¡°Of course¡±


    ¡°Would it really hurt you to tell me about these things ahead of time?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t, as long as I foresee myself telling you.¡±


    ¡°You never seem to foresee yourself telling me.¡±


    ¡°A seer does not control the future, he only influences it.¡±


    Cole dropped back into his seat. Poetrak always said he kept his secrecy so as to not inadvertently affect the future he had foreseen, but it always felt like he just enjoyed keeping him out of the loop. His smarmy grin also didn¡¯t help him believe in Poetrak¡¯s honest intentions.


    ¡°How long has the soulsteel been keeping warm?¡±


    ¡°About twenty minutes, give or take.¡±


    ¡°What was its mana consumption?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get a chance to take it before it turned back, but it went through a full bead in about five minutes as a dog.¡±


    ¡°This thing is quite the glutton.¡±


    ¡°Even if this thing was just a normal Soulsteel, I¡¯d still be sending word to Archibald. He always makes time to see any new Living Metal finds for himself, and finding virgin Soulsteel would normally bring him running. However, considering how busy he is, and his network and greater infrastructure in the capital, we should be going to him.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to see Master Archibald and Natasha?¡±


    ¡°Yes Tommen, we will be heading to the capital as soon as I secure the Baron¡¯s permission. Living Metal that falls on his territories would normally be his, but because it¡¯s already Soulsteel the Duke will be paying to ¡°emancipate¡± it from him. In this case, he hasn¡¯t put any resources into it beyond the reward for recovery, so it should be some quick negotiations.¡±


    ¡°How soon will we get there?¡±


    ¡°If all goes well we¡¯ll be there shortly after the first snowfall, But it depends on if we get bogged down by it.¡±


    ¡°You two should have fun. Not often you get a free pass into the Ducal Estate.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too bad you can¡¯t come, but the Baron won¡¯t be willing to part with both his mages at once.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about me. You two are gonna be the ones trying to keep that thing out of trouble without my gift of foresight.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t remind me.¡±


    ~~~


    Penny was shocked when the new hire, Jerry, had turned out to have been passing reports on the Barony during his days off. She was once again glad for Mage Poetrak¡¯s advice, as it had once again saved her from another less than desirable situation. He would swear up and down he wasn¡¯t using divination, but she wasn¡¯t sure.


    ¡°Are you serious? They¡¯re already leaving for the capital?¡±


    ¡°Yes, both the Duke and Mage Archibald must have given the Baron a fair deal and a half to ensure they set out before the snow started sticking to the ground.¡±


    ¡°It was all because of that thing the adventurers brought, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure Mage Cole was looking for an excuse to check up on Natasha.¡±

 Chapter 13, An Audience With An Audience

    Tom left for the capital early in the morning, having spent a brief two days in Kruth. Tarrik and Leona were making the trip with him, He had long suspected that Rodney was less retired than he let on, as the day after the adventurers had dropped off their find, he¡¯d been summoned by the Baron to deal with some complication related to it.


    ¡°It¡¯s weird seeing you two without him, he¡¯s been babysitting you since you were apprentices.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not completely true. I was technically a squire.¡±


    ¡°Being a squire only matters if it¡¯s to a noble house, Larrik.¡±


    ¡°Give me a break, it¡¯s the same years of shitty work, but without any of the pomp.¡±


    ¡°What about your apprenticeship, Leona? Got any thoughts on it now that you¡¯re been a journeyman for, what, three years?¡±


    ¡°Not really. There was more difference between my first and second masters than there was going out to start doing actual jobs.¡±


    ¡°I thought you¡¯d said that you¡¯d got an especially good one on the second draw?¡±


    ¡°I did say that, and it¡¯s still true, I¡¯m just trying to say he prepared me well for ¡®independent study¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Not much more you can ask for when it comes to good apprenticeships.¡±


    ¡°How about good food, or the weekends off?¡±


    ¡°Once again, we know you had it hard. You don¡¯t need to keep telling us.¡±


    The trip to the capital by foot was three days. However, that trip time failed to account for anything more than breaks for breakfast, dinner and sleep. Of course, there were faster ways to get around, but Trish and Parn could take them there in three days even when taking ample breaks so as to not tire the horses out.


    ~~~


    When dinner finished, they kept talking for a while, and before they finished I had now run out of firewood. I tried getting the attention of the butler to bring more, but just as I got through to him the wizard and his student got up to leave. The kid waved for me to follow him, So I gave another glance back at the gray-silver robed wizard, and he seemed quite pleased about something.


    We passed a maid who was just finishing mopping the mess I¡¯d made, but we passed by the door to the laboratory. It was just after the lab that the kid and the wizard split up, and when I went to follow the kid, he pointed for me to follow the wizard instead. I managed to catch up to him easily, but we seemed to be headed deeper into the castle, as there were no windows in this new hallway. I was just starting to get concerned about how much more opulent everything seemed to be getting when we turned the corner at the end and came across a pair of large double doors.


    He knocked twice and then entered, despite not having received any reply. There was another butler holding the door open for me to come in. I entered what must have been some kind of reception hall, as there was a throne raised up on a wooden stage, along with what I could only describe as a battle grandpa sitting on it.


    Now when I say battle grandpa, what I mean is an old looking man, missing one eye, and wearing a silver circlet along with a long fur coat. He didn¡¯t have any weapons to hand, but his arms were bare and he still seemed quite fit. Also on the raised platform was a younger looking man that shared a family resemblance, likely his son, a woman and her child. The child was a girl, and shared the same familial resemblance with the battle grandpa. Everyone here seemed excited to see us, or more accurately they seemed excited to see me.


    After the wizard kneeled down, I sidled up beside him and did as good a bow as a dog can manage. I would have turned into that armor before I came in if I knew I was going to be meeting people, but someone neglected to tell me where we were even going. Giving him the side eye, the conversation started after what I can only assume was an instruction to rise.


    The little girl seemed like she was about to lose control and run over to me, despite her mother¡¯s firm grip. The battle son seemed thoughtful, and the battle grandpa himself just couldn¡¯t stop laughing whenever the wizard finished a sentence. Near the end of the conversation, he waved his daughter or grandchild over, and then beckoned for me.When I looked at the wizard, he just gave me a shrug and followed it with a thumbs up.


    ~~~


    Baron Rawphor had always had a soft spot for his daughter, he and his wife had been trying to have another child for years after all. His only son and heir, Eugene Rawphor, was less martially inclined than Brengt had been in his youth, but made up for it with a shrewdness of mind. Or at least that¡¯s what the Baron would say if he was in a good mood. If he was in a bad mood he would say his wife had coddled the boy too much and he¡¯d developed a streak of craven. The truth was somewhere in between, but today he was in a good mood.


    The Baron¡¯s territories were small but prosperous. He prided himself on the stability of his rule, and the safety he gave to his subjects. He often butted heads with the ambitious Duke Drake, but mostly on matters of policy.


    When one of his court mages had sent a pitiful two sentence report about having found Soulsteel while on a Skysteel recovery mission, he''d initially planned to summon him immediately. It didn¡¯t sit right with him that Cole had gotten to skip out on that boring meeting to go play with more of his magic toys. That being said, his wife had talked him down to summoning him after dinner, and to have him bring this special Soulsteel along.


    However, when the Soulsteel showed up in the form of a dog, Franchesca had fallen in love with it. She was trying to pull her wife¡¯s arm off while begging to pet it, so he¡¯d come up with a plan to let his daughter down easy.


    ¡°So, This is the Soulsteel that¡¯s already caused such a ruckus, all in one day?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Baron.¡±


    ¡°Just how ¡®safe¡¯ is it to handle? I certainly couldn¡¯t touch it unprotected, right?¡±


    ¡°It''s still mastering mana control, but as long as it¡¯s one person at a time, it won¡¯t drain you even if you made physical contact.¡±


    That was exactly what he didn¡¯t want to hear. The rest of the conversation had rapidly devolved into Mage Cole recounting the many weird things it had done, both before and after arriving in Kruth, with it acting sometimes like normal Living metal, sometimes even smarter than Elder Soulsteel, and most notably interpreting and exhibiting human social behaviors.


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    ¡°Fine, come here Franchesca, if it lets you, you can pet it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you papa. It¡¯s like a living statue. We really can¡¯t keep it?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s considered a citizen of the realm once it is designated as Soulsteel. But the Duke¡¯s gonna pay us a tidy sum for it landing out in the greenwood, so I think I can make it up to you.¡±


    ¡°Letting me pet it is already enough. Mama will yell at you for spoiling me again.¡±


    The Soulsteel took its time ascending the dais¡¯s front steps, and hung its head in front of the two of them.


    ¡°Go ahead and put your hand out, just make sure he moves the last of the distance into your hand.¡±


    ¡°I remember from when we visited the kennels. I also have to slowly back off if he tenses up, right?¡±


    ¡°Correct. You¡¯ve been playing with them again, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Mommy always says I have Daddy¡¯s courage in my blood.¡±


    When Franchesca put her hand out, the Soulsteel gave the Baron a look. He replied with only a wide smile, and the Soulsteel gave in. He promptly picked Franchesca up after only a couple light pats, as he didn¡¯t want to try it¡¯s patience.


    ¡°Okay dear, I think that¡¯s enough. It''s not an animal you know.¡±


    ¡°It felt like one of the silver trays, but warm like someone had just used it to serve tea.¡±


    ¡°I expect so. That will be all, Mage Cole. We¡¯ll talk about your trip to the capital at tomorrow¡¯s meeting.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Baron Rawphor. Have a good night, to you and yours.¡±


    The Soulsteel looked lost, it kept glancing between the departing Baron, Eugene and Cole. It wasn¡¯t until Cole clapped to get its attention that it came back down the dais and followed him back out into the hallway. He had no sufficiently large Ignariums to hold the Soulsteel overnight, so his plan was to leave it in his attached living room fireplace. It was stocked with enough firewood to last the night, and it also connected to Tommen''s room.


    ~~~


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact battle grandpa was obviously a noble lord of some kind, I would have booked it out of the room as soon as he tried to bring me up on stage. I wasn¡¯t going to bite the kid or anything, and he knew that. He also seemed to know I couldn¡¯t make a little girl cry. Next time I¡¯m going in as armor. Mark my words.


    I figured this traitorous wizard was gonna ditch me in his lab again, but instead he brought me to where Tommen had split off from us, and to a new hallway. When he opened the single door, there was a modest living room that already contained a fire, and the kid. The kid was sprawled out on a couch by the fire, seemingly having been waiting for us to arrive.


    I quietly went and laid down on the hearth stones, and the wizard went off to what must have been his room. I spent the night tending to the fire, and stocking up on the silver mana I would need to avoid another situation like that again.


    ~~~


    Tommen spent the morning drawing the Soulsteel. Master Cole hadn''t left him with any work to do beyond to just watch it and keep it out of trouble. He had awoken to it sleeping in the fireplace. He wasn¡¯t sure it was actually sleeping, as the second he stood up it had opened its golden eyes. After hearing about it from master Cole, the first thing he¡¯d done was try the same negotiation tactic the Baron¡¯s daughter had used the night before, and when it worked he was ecstatic.


    ¡°What, you want the gloves?¡±


    The Soulsteel had taken the gloves of Resist Cold he¡¯d been planning on using if he couldn¡¯t pet it bare handed, and it didn¡¯t initially click for him why it would want them.


    ¡°What do you want those for? You aren¡¯t gonna copy the enchantment again, are you?¡±


    Receiving no reply, he watched as it returned to the fireplace and rested its chin on them. Tommen knew there was some reason it had taken the gloves, but his mana glasses were still in the laboratory. He supposed he could go grab them, but it didn¡¯t seem like a time sensitive thing. The Soulsteel was going to do whatever it was going to do with them, he wanted to take the time to draw it.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna send this one to Natasha. We probably won¡¯t get to leave for a couple more days, so I¡¯m gonna send this stuff ahead so she can see it sooner.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Master said you could hear him clapping last night. Can you just not understand Wernst?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Master Cole about translation spells. But as far as I know they can only interpret from one language to another, not if you don¡¯t speak any language.¡±


    Despite not receiving any verbal reply from the Soulsteel, it had held his eye contact and tilted its head after each separate statement. Tommen was about halfway done with his second drawing when Master Cole returned.


    ¡°Allright Tommen, we can leave as soon as we finish something for the Baron.¡±


    ¡°I thought he was gonna take the money for it?¡±


    ¡°When I broached the subject of what the Soulsteel is capable of, he jumped on the artificial eyes.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t lose his left eye that long ago, right?¡±


    ¡°About a year before you got here, during a hunting trip.¡±


    ¡°So what do we have to do, exactly?¡±


    ¡°He wants his own Artificial Eye.¡±

 Chapter 14, A Gift, and Wrapping Up

    The wizard and his apprentice talked for a while before we set off back to the lab. When we got there, the wizard headed deeper into the back, an area I hadn¡¯t been before, and the kid brought me to the chalkboard we had used yesterday. Wiping it clean, he started sketching on it.


    He started by drawing a pair of eyes, and then crossing one out. Then he drew the same symbols he had used for mana mixing, but then drew lines from them to a third eye. He finished with an arrow pointing from the third eye back to the crossed out eye. I think I could see where he was going with this, but I don¡¯t know if my new eyes would work for other people. Even if I could, I wouldn¡¯t just leave part of myself behind so battle grandpa can have his depth perception back.


    It wasn¡¯t until the wizard came back and placed a solid golden bar in front of us that I realized they wanted my help making it, not for me to become it.


    ~~~


    The standard process started with casting an artificial eye into the correct shape. The second step was to carve mana pathways while ensuring it would still rotate comfortably within the socket. The final step was to seed the mana pathways with pure mana, as the intricate traces could allow other mana in and ruin the functionality if it was not dyed thoroughly ahead of time.


    ¡°Its artificial sight has no physical structure, right?¡±


    ¡°It seems like it only loosely follows the directions the physical eye turns, and there are no visible pathways on the surface.¡±


    ¡°It must have constructed the mana structure first, and then let it set into the physical eye.¡±


    ¡°Kind of like casting?¡±


    ¡°Something like that. Maybe. Go get the furnace lit, I will try and walk it through the design we have, and hopefully it will point out any improvements it''s made.¡±


    ~~~


    Mage Cole and Tommen had asked to take their lunch in the lab. After getting permission to enter, Penny came in with sandwiches and tea. What greeted her was the sight of them both pouring over a pile of papers.


    ¡°Your lunch is here.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Penny. Leave it anywhere.¡±


    ¡°You appear to be making good progress, can I get you anything else?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Good progress.¡±


    Tommen got off his stool and came over to the side table Penny had placed the lunch on. He and Master Cole had been optimistic about getting the Soulsteel¡¯s help with the Artificial Eye, but things had moved far too rapidly for even their most wild expectations.


    ¡°We weren''t the ones making progress, really. We are just trying to mark down what we¡¯ve learned at this point.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t have the eye ready for him today?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s already done.¡±


    Penny didn¡¯t know much about how mages created something as complex as a new eye, but from what she could remember it was supposed to take them far longer to manage far simpler devices.


    ¡°The Living Metal really helped that much?¡±


    ¡°It did all the work itself. Master Cole sent me to get the forge warmed up, and by the time I came back he was holding a finished product.¡±


    ¡°When are you presenting it to the Baron?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still trying to figure out just what it changed, and if it would still be usable without an unbearable mana drain on the user.¡±


    On the other side of the room, Mage Cole brought his hand to his forehead with a loud slap. His facepalm caught both Penny¡¯s and Tommen''s attention, and as they gazed in his direction, he met both their gazes.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just different, It¡¯s better. How could I be so blind as to why it was using fire, ice and air mana.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean better? You just got done saying you couldn¡¯t find a reason for the increased mana cost the extra mana types require.¡±


    ¡°It must be to let it discern colors.¡±


    ~~~


    There wasn¡¯t much to it, really. I took the design I was already using for my eyes, scaled it up to the size of the eye in their drawings, and then bound it all to part of the gold bar in front of me. When I focused the fiery mana in my teeth, it cut like butter.


    Light mana really let me feel what I was doing as I manipulated the lump of golden metal to accept the design. I had some difficulty getting the mana structure to stick properly to the golden eye, as I had to bind it with silver mana I hadn¡¯t needed to use for my own eyes.


    ~~~


    Colored Artificial Sight was not well understood. Some magical life or constructs had apparently possessed it in the distant past, but modern mana costs and the size necessary to achieve colored artificial vision was prohibitive. Cole once observed a prototype Archibald had created to capture and then project a colored illusion, and it had gone through mana too fast for even multiple mages to keep up.


    The golden eye the Soulsteel had spat out was deceptively simple. He had been sure it would allowed mana to bleed across traces with how close it had grouped them, or that the functionality was compromised by adding the extra mana types. He was wrong though. The traces were superior to those of the most proficient mana smiths and artificers he¡¯d seen, and the extra mana types were colored such that it would mimic the human eye.


    ¡°So can we give it to the Baron already? Master Archibald and Natasha are waiting for us.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there is much more to learn from this other than why it¡¯s using air mana. Perhaps because of its low complexity, it doesn¡¯t cause interference like the more traditional yellow mixtures?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s using wind mana, doesn¡¯t that make the eye less sensitive to yellow?¡±


    ¡°It seems to have a plan for that too, but we won¡¯t know for sure until the Baron tries it.¡±


    ~~~


    Natasha had been working feverishly on a self balancing cane that used the new pendulum in its design. It was going to be her proof of concept. While it didn''t seem to improve over the traditional umbrella design, it scaled far more efficiently. Her mind was running wild with plans of what she could do with it. Just adding it to a targeted spell could increase its accuracy tremendously, even if it came at a steep manacost.


    What she wanted to test was how it interacted with other mana constructs. Flight required almost complete focus to prevent disorientation, and was impossible if you couldn¡¯t keep your eyes on the ground. But with this pendulum, it didn¡¯t matter how high you flew. The design was only one or two steps away from also telling you the direction it was turning. She had just finished her last revision, and was on track to finish it before Master Cole and Tommen arrived.


    ¡°Master Archibald, are you there? I finished the changes you asked for.¡±


    ¡°Come in, I can review it right away.¡±


    ¡°What made you think of adding earth mana to the end of the pendulum to increase its accuracy?¡±


    ¡°I have seen many Pendulums of Balance that had been tuned so they wouldn¡¯t aggressively counter light rolling while on the ocean. They generally sensed from lower down the neck, or would just shorten the neck.¡±


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    ¡°Does that mean I could invert the output by bringing it past the hinge point?¡±


    ¡°That is correct, and you¡¯ll likely find doing so useful for your plans.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Master. Is the design good enough now?¡±


    ¡°Yes, now go and take it to Keith to have him make one.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I want to try it for myself.¡±


    ~~~


    When presenting a gift to the nobility, there are certain customs that help guide the interaction, such that even if a gift is paltry, the deference and humility with which you conduct yourself guarantees the receiver will express gratefulness. Cole didn¡¯t take the time for any of that as he entered the Grand Hall while the Baron was still in the middle of lunch.


    ¡°My lord, It is ready.¡±


    ¡°Already? We must have agreed to it not more than two hours ago.¡±


    ¡°The Soulsteel simply imprinted the same method it uses to see into pure electrum.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see it then.¡±


    The Baron often took his meals with not just his family, but also his sworn knights. He had started inviting them to lunch when the loss of his left eye prevented him from going out for his regular sparring sessions. His missing leg had also made it more difficult, but he had acclimated to it¡¯s replacement quickly, only to promptly lose his eye to a boar on his first hunting excursion after recovering. News that the Baron was getting a new eye had left all present at the table speechless.


    ¡°Where is my physician? I told one of you I''d be needing him today.¡±


    ¡°He was also taking his lunch, my lord. He will arrive shortly.¡±


    ¡°Good. Now, show it to me. You said it wouldn¡¯t show me color, right?¡±


    ¡°That was what I expected, but I believe I was wrong.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°The eye¡¯s design is significantly more complex than the one I was familiar with. I think it is very likely that the improvements it possesses will let you see color as if it was the one you were born with.¡±


    ~~~


    While Master Cole was delivering the Artificial Eye, Tommen was getting everything they needed ready to go. He was planning on asking for a traveling stove for the stagecoach ride, but he¡¯d had an idea when he saw the Soulsteel breaking down the still glowing coals.


    ¡°Hey, You can turn into animals and that armor, but could you turn into, like, a stove?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Come on, I''ll draw it for you.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If you absorb mana from the fire around you, isn¡¯t there a bunch of mana that¡¯s escaping around the exterior of the fire?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If you could contain the fire, you could recover all that lost mana.¡±


    ~~~


    The kid seemed to have a pretty good idea, but I was actually pretty full on the cloudy red mana. I had stopped myself last night after I started getting overexcited. I needed to top back up after making that golden eye, but I didn¡¯t see a reason why I needed to do it when there was plenty of firewood around.


    It wasn¡¯t until he drew the cart and put us all in the back of it that I realized we were going somewhere. I could try turning to a furnace if he really wanted me to, but I got restless when I couldn¡¯t move, and I wanted to gather more base blue for my mana mixing experiments.


    After I didn''t immediately react, he went back to packing. I felt sorry to disappoint him, but I¡¯d already let him pet me first thing in the morning. I couldn¡¯t help it though, as his idea did make me start to think of how I might go about doing it. If I did use the armor as a base, I could just shove a furnace in its breastplate. That would smoke out my helmet though, so I kept shifting things around to try and make something that worked and didn¡¯t look like some sort of hell knight. It was in my childhood memories that I found an answer.


    ~~~


    Keith Kalvas had begun his employment in the human lands with Duke Drake¡¯s predecessor. His intention had been to find a patron that would challenge his skill level with their ambition, and he had really found one. The Duke¡¯s Court Mage was a man of many eccentricities. He spent almost all of his budget on bringing some kind of prototype to life, and it was those prototypes that had forced Keith to push his understanding of both metal and mana to the absolute limit.


    After twenty years, he was starting to get sick of never making a functional prototype. They were all simple proof of concepts, that the mage would promptly toss into storage and move on from. He had tried to convince the old man to refine them into something more practical, but he never managed to pull him away from whatever new lead he¡¯d get caught up in while Keith had been building the latest prototype.


    It was an absolute breath of fresh air when Natasha had come. She had her head in the clouds, but she still seemed to keep her feet on the ground. Upon her arrival today, she seemed of particularly high spirits.


    ¡°What has got you so giddy?¡±


    ¡°Master Archibald gave me the go ahead for this project.¡±


    ¡°The new walking cane, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. And I¡¯ll tell you what my plan is for my next proposal if you promise to finish this one before Tommen and Master Cole get here.¡±


    ¡°Let me take a look at it first.¡±


    The cane appeared outwardly normal, but it replaced the lattice of stability with a Pendulum of Balance. Natasha had shown him her original design, and it had only taken a few minor adjustments to make it feasible for him to craft. Mage Archibald had then suggested some improvements.


    ¡°You just need me to weave in earth mana to the actual weight and arm, but leave it out of the cup, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It was an easy upgrade.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised he didn¡¯t push you for more features.¡±


    ¡°Technically he did, as in order to make it act like a normal Stabilizing Cane, I had to set it up to stop balancing when this button was pressed.¡±


    ¡°Ooooh, I see. It¡¯s quite a subtle change. I can certainly get it done in two days. Now tell me about this next step.¡±


    ¡°Well, we already know the original worked on boats, right?¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡±


    ¡°But this new version can control the pitch as well as the roll, so why not apply it to flight?¡±


    ¡°If you incorporate it into a spell, the cost of keeping it manifest is gonna shoot right through the roof.¡±


    ¡°I never said it was for a spell. Master Archibald gave up on his flying constructs because they couldn¡¯t stay upright.¡±

 Chapter 15, A Set Stagecoach

    The Baron¡¯s personal physician, a Doctor Harold Yeets, was a second son of an unlanded noble family. He had moved from his family¡¯s homelands, the Kingdom of Ridgewern, down to try and find a prestigious position. He had been hired on as the Baron¡¯s physician because he had neglected to hire an accredited one before he had lost his leg. Harold had managed the crisis well, saving much of his leg. Harold still remembered how the very day he cleared the Baron to go out riding again, he had rushed off to a slap-and-dash spring hunt.


    When he was told the Baron had bartered his way into a prosthetic eye, he had started preparing himself to talk the Baron through the process of reacclimating himself to depth perception, and the half colored vision it would give him. He was going to ensure the old fool didn¡¯t rush off and hurt himself this time. The Baron had taken responsibility as he had been fully intending to rush off before he could be caught, but he suspected the same desperate desire to return to his life before would possess him as soon as he regained his second eye.


    ¡°It¡¯s already ready, milord? I was told it should be done soon, but this is a bit too soon, no?¡±


    ¡°The Soulsteel made a copy of its own eyes. Mage Cole says he¡¯s never seen anything like it.¡±


    ¡°What tests have you done?¡±


    ¡°I did a mana consumption test, and a capacity test.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have anyone else around with a missing eye, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Come now Harold, Everyone here has been trying so desperately to stop me just popping it in. Hurry up and get the socket cleaned. If you make me wait much longer, I¡¯ll not be able to resist.¡±


    Harold had rushed to get to this point, but he was now taking his time. Lifting the upper eyelid out of the way, he started to insert the new prosthetic. The rear of the replacement was a complex array of light mana, and he had to ensure the nerves would meet cleanly with it, without obstruction. The procedure didn¡¯t require any anesthetics or magics, beyond a thorough Cleanse Wound. After he set the eye into its new home, he started cleaning his tools and putting most of them away.


    ¡°Keep the eye closed and wait until you can make out the manalight through your eyelid. Artificial Eyes are often very sensitive when first implanted, and we don¡¯t want to stress it.¡±


    ¡°It should compensate for changes in brightness faster than a natural eye, but it will take some getting used to before it will be as easy to keep it focused on anything moving.¡±


    ¡°I am starting to see the glow now.¡±


    ¡°Take your other hand off your good eye, give it a couple seconds, and then try looking around.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Well? Can it see color? It seems you can already control it just fine.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s crystal clear. Better than my other eye, and yes. I can see colors.¡±


    ¡°Are the yellows coming through properly? The design follows a different principle from other Colored Artificial Vision.¡±


    ¡°Yes. They seem just as vibrant as I remember them. Why?¡±


    ¡°I was concerned they might bleed over into the greens and blues, but the filter is doing its job remarkably well.¡±


    ¡°That settles it then, you can leave any time you¡¯re ready.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Baron Rawphor.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be expecting your return this spring. I hope you manage something even more remarkable by then.¡±


    ~~~


    Keith preferred it when he got to forge more metal, but Natasha¡¯s staff called mostly for wood, with only an intricate metal Enchantment Anchor. He was now shaping the hazel wood into a staff, as he¡¯d rushed through the anchor on the first day. When he¡¯d tested it, it had spun around perfectly on its tip, like a top that couldn¡¯t fall over. When it started to slow down, he would give it a slap and watch as it gained speed while fighting to righten itself.


    He hadn¡¯t been much of an idea man but he¡¯d got a number of artifices he¡¯d want to try sticking it in, but he agreed with Natasha on first sticking it to one of the Old Mage¡¯s many failed flying contraptions and seeing if it could manage to make one usable. The hazel wood was both aesthetic and strong, the default for non-critical mana artifice. The Anchor was mostly copper, as while the work was especially complex, it didn¡¯t need to channel a massive amount of mana. The design Natasha had shown skipped the use of the mana bead normally for ensuring consistent power, instead relying on the Anchor¡¯s natural capacity. It would also let him treat the hazel wood as mana agnostic, so that it could serve as a focus. As the cane would only slightly sip the user¡¯s mana unless stressed by extraordinary circumstances, like trying to use it to cling to a wall. He was just getting the fit perfect, and aligning the pegs to hold the anchor in place inside the cane when he heard a knock on his workshop¡¯s door.


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    ¡°Good morning Keith, how¡¯s it going?¡±


    ¡°Well. Have you picked out which deathtrap you¡¯re gonna try and fix up?¡±


    ¡°I already know which one I want to start with, and I have the reworked pendulum here for you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you picked one of the short ones then? Trying to fit the pendulum in sideways?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s got to be a lot larger to anchor a mana structure that isn¡¯t overlapping it, and the lower I keep it the more stable it should be.¡±


    ¡°Okay. The cane just needs sanding and polishing now. I¡¯ll be done by lunch.¡±


    ¡°Can you bring it to Master Archibald when you come for lunch?¡±


    ¡°The earliest the varnish will be finished drying would be around dinner time .¡±


    ¡°Dinner it is. Will you start on the new one today?¡±


    ¡°You two never let me have any rest. I¡¯ve not had a day off in the past month.¡±


    ¡°Yes you have. I thought dwarves were supposed to be honest?¡±


    ¡°Well, I thought humans were supposed to be gullible.¡±


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    ~~~


    After dropping the adventure¡¯s off, Tom had headed straight for the market square. Trish and Parn were drinking from a public trough, and he was trying to sell off his surplus. He had managed to sell most of what he¡¯d wanted to, a blacksmith had taken almost the entirety of his iron, and had bought about half his leather for a new bellows. The rest of his goods were finished products that were always in surplus here at the Redoubt.


    The town had been founded by the first Duke Drake after he was granted the land for having saved the King of Ridgewern¡¯s life during the First Calamity. It had become independent when the previous King''s three brothers had all tried to usurp the throne, and while the second and third brother both failed, the oldest brother and original heir had achieved partial success in the Petty Kingdom of Cordillera¡¯s Gap.


    The rest of the Kingdom or Ridgewern was returned to the King¡¯s designated heir, the now reigning Queen Edith Ridgewern. She had put political pressure on both Duke Drake and Cordillera¡¯s Gap, but so far both had kept their newfound independence. Most peddlers would try and strike it rich by running the Gap, but unlike them Tom hadn¡¯t made a loss in his many years of trading. He might not see quite the profits they did, but he made more consistent money without having to risk his whole livelihood going tumbling down the valley.


    ¡°Keith my friend, what are you doing about the town? You¡¯re out of luck if you¡¯re looking for metal, I¡¯m out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m actually looking for wood. You¡¯ve got any Beech?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t bring high volume cargo like that. It would never fit.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I suppose. Got any recommendations?¡±


    Keith was holding a Golden Drake, the newly minted currency of The Drake. Upon handing it over, Tom gave him the best advice he could.


    ¡°I know Henry has some beech he¡¯s already got stowed away for winter. If you try and buy it right now, he¡¯ll probably give you a hard time. If I go back and tell him someone was looking for beech wood, he¡¯ll be out here tomorrow basically trying to give it away.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate it Tom, but when the mages have a plan, they don¡¯t mind spending the extra coin. Where are you all bedding down this year?¡±


    ¡°At the ShadeTree¡¯s stables. Same as last year.¡±


    ¡°All right, may fortunes find you. We¡¯ll catch up on my next day off.¡±


    ¡°Hah, as if.¡±


    ~~~


    Tommen was ecstatic when it turned into what he could only call a Fire Tortoise. It far surpassed his expectations of a waddling furnace. It seemed optimized for travel, especially when the roof could rotate to funnel the smoke in different directions. People would want to get their hands on mundane versions of this for travel. That is assuming one could be made lighter, as iron or steel would weigh at least twice what the Soulsteel did.


    The packing was done, and the footman had run off to get a stagecoach ready. Master Cole had said they couldn¡¯t quite run the horses flat out, but they would be at the capital by dinner on the second day. Tommen was excited to show the sketches he had made to Natasha, as while he¡¯d sent her the designs for the Pendulum of Better Balance, anything he sent now wouldn¡¯t make it before he did. Once the three of them were on the carriage, neither he nor Cole could get the Soulsteel to sit with them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it likes being pet.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s breaking my heart too, Tommen.¡±


    ¡°But why did it put up with you petting it longer than it did me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I think it was focused on what it was gonna turn into now that we weren¡¯t stopping.¡±


    Tommen had always wanted a dog, but Master Cole had forbidden him to keep one while living in the Baron¡¯s castle. He¡¯d been filling the void by going down to the Kennels, but now he was leaving them behind and the Soulsteel hated it when he treated it like one. He had to find a way to convince Master Archibald to let him get one while he was staying in the Ducal Estate, and then Master Cole would be forced to let him bring it home with him.


    ~~~


    I had started with my giga-gecko form, and evolved it into a giant turtle. I then raised my shell and put a brazier under it, like a covered hearth. I even added a smoke stack on top that would prevent anything from falling inside. The gap I left above the brazier¡¯s edge was enough to throw a medium sized log through, and the bottom of my shell served as an ashpan. There were fresh air intakes that I tried to partially preheat by channeling it through the ashes, but this form now prohibited lungs, so I had to hope my stubby chimney would induce even a small draft naturally.


    When the apprentice returned from whatever he had been packing, I got his attention. After going over to the dwindling firewood rack I started shifting into a mobile fire gazebo. He seemed quite excited that I had brought his idea to life.


    In less than an hour, we were away on a fancy carriage that had actual suspension, unlike the ride me and the party that found me had taken. It was also drawn by four horses, instead of two. As we got aboard, it was snowing lightly. It must be pretty late in the year. Me, the wizard, and the kid all climbed inside. I couldn¡¯t fit as a fire gazebo, so I swapped back into a labrador. The seats¡¯ cushions were far better than the floor, as with them, the carriage almost started to feel like it wasn¡¯t going top speed over barely maintained roads.


    I had chosen poorly when I picked what side to lay on, as not more than five minutes into the ride the kid started petting me again. However, when I jumped down and swapped sides, the wizard started in too. I was stuck now, I had to choose to either turn into something that wouldn¡¯t invite petting or suffer on the floor. I was pretty full on mana so I chose the former option, and I swapped back over to the kid and sat down as armor.


    I just sort of stared out of the window and watched the road go by. From what I could remember, we had taken a different road out than I had originally taken in, so we likely weren¡¯t headed back to the forest. The surroundings were mostly pastures ringed with trees. I saw a lot of sheep, pigs, and cows. I only saw a few chicken coups.


    When I saw a black dot appear in the sky, I became concerned. I pointed it out to the wizard, and his face turned into a frown. He banged twice on the little sliding window behind the kid¡¯s head, and the driver stopped the carriage. I got down carefully, as the steps were high on the uneven road, and before the kid could trip I picked him up and set him on the ground.


    As the dot got closer, I started to make out what must have been a cow, and what exactly was carrying it. I should have been expecting this from such a fantastical world.

 Chapter 16, Whyvern Do We Flight?

    Natasha had picked the first, and simplest, flying contraption Archibald had abandoned. He had simply taken a rowboat and added flight runes to its hull. The construct was dusty, and half buried by a number of other prototypes that had been stored inside of it. When she took stock of what she had, she found that one of the Enchanted Oars had snapped, and would need to be replaced. The boat was made from beechwood, and Keith had set off to find some, as he had plenty of connections even if it wasn¡¯t peak trading season yet.


    She had gotten to work on affixing the pendulum to the rowboat. It hung from the bottom of one of the bench seats, and she was just testing its balance by pulling the boat¡¯s supports away. It seemed to her to be more stable than a boat normally would be in water, but then again she hadn¡¯t gone boating since Master Cole had taken her for her eighteenth birthday. That had been shortly before he¡¯d taken Tommen on as a full time apprentice, and after he had convinced her that it was for the best to go do her journeymanship under his old master.


    Unlike her apprenticeship under Master Cole, Master Archibald had told her he was gonna start her out with extreme freedom, and as she found her passion he would help her focus on turning it into an area of expertise. She had already been planning to do artifice, but from the stories Master Cole had told her, she had feared he wouldn¡¯t be interested in her more practical applications. That couldn¡¯t be farther from the truth, as her passion for projects seemed to infect him, pushing her to try greater and greater leaps. Flight had been her long term dream, always having loved anything that soared through the sky.


    ~~~


    Not more than two hours into the trip, the Soulsteel had pointed out a wyvern to Cole. It seemed to have taken a cow from some poor rancher. Such a thing was not unheard of, and they rarely went after humans. People called them ¡°skysharks¡± sometimes, but while sharks were a normal animal, wyvern were most definitely monsters.


    He had called for the carriage to stop, as he needed to cast an illusion over the cart incase it was looking for more prey. However, as he exited and then tried to weave dark mana into a Disguise Presence, he found that the structure was being torn apart as fast as he could put it together. Pulling out his managlass, he saw the Soulsteel was channeling a ludicrous amount of light mana in its right arm.


    It wasn¡¯t a second after that the strange spell released, the supercharged mana seemingly just disappearing in a second. It wasn¡¯t until he saw the wyvern had dropped the cow that he realized it had just drawn first blood.


    ¡°Tommen, get back in the Stagecoach. Coachman, Take him off into the grass away from the wyvern.¡±


    ¡°Yes milord.¡±


    ¡°But master, what about-.¡±


    ¡°Get in the carriage Tommen, I¡¯ve killed one bigger than this before.¡±


    ¡°But that was with Master Archibald.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and now I''ve got the Soulsteel. Hurry up and get out of range.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯d just let me practice real spells I could be helping!¡±


    Tommen had only been learning magic for six months, and Cole had forbidden him from trying any spells that could backfire, as almost all combat spells could. He didn¡¯t regret it, as it was considered the height of folly for novice mages to start real combat before they finished their first year of apprenticeship.


    Unlike the Soulsteel¡¯s light mana attack, Cole¡¯s Earth Lance needed to lead its target. This meant he didn¡¯t fire his spell off until just as it was bearing down on the Soulsteel. It seemed to be unafraid of the giant winged monster about to bite it in half. The spell made contact with the creature¡¯s tough, mana resistant scales, and while it did peirce, there was little power left to actually damage the monster¡¯s neck.


    The Soulsteel had formed a weapon of some kind, but he couldn¡¯t make out what as the wyvern slammed itself into the ground where it had been bracing. Soulsteel was highly resistant to physical attacks, but it wouldn¡¯t stand a chance if the wyvern took back off while holding it. As he prepared another spell, the wyvern didn¡¯t take flight, instead spasming weakly before falling limp.


    He held another Earthen Lance above his head as he approached the motionless wyvern. Taking a second, he saw it was one of the worst that he personally could have encountered, a brown scaled greater wyvern. When he¡¯d told Tommen he''d killed a bigger one before, it turns out he had been lying.


    One of the Soulsteels arms was just visible under the dragon¡¯s torso, the ground having been churned up when it struck. He had started to entertain the idea of trying to dig it out when the whole wyvern started moving.


    ~~~


    I hadn¡¯t spent any of my time trying to design myself a combat form. The closest I had was the armor I was now, but I had no weapons, and certainly nothing that could reach the dragon flying towards us. I was going to have to try some things on the fly, and the first mana to hand was my white mana.


    Its elastic properties seemed perfect for slinging a projectile, so I took a couple strands, hooked my finger around their midpoint, and then pulled them back like I¡¯d done with rubber bands back in grade school. I stretched the mana out until I could hardly look at it, the mana was shining brilliantly with all the energy it now contained. I lined my arm and thumb up to the dragon, I hoped this would hit. I don¡¯t think mana has air resistance, and if it''s like light it should have a negligible travel time. Just point, and shoot.


    My light band must have hurt, as the thing dropped the cow it was holding. I took just a moment to pray the cow was already dead, but had to focus back on the dragon as it started diving. It was gaining speed, and at this rate I wouldn¡¯t be able to hit it again before it got behind the trees. I readied another blast just in case, but my focus was now on what to do when it got down here. If it could breathe fire, I would need a shield. A spiked one. If not, I would need some kind of polearm.


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    Something more complex than a simple spear, as while it was likely to peirce, it would easily come back out, and it wouldn¡¯t do a lot of damage. As it disappeared below the treeline, I kept the blast ready. I glanced to check on the wizard and the kid, and while the kid and the wagon were a distance away, the wizard had stayed with me. He had his own spell prepared, but it also seemed far more complex than mine. Brown and green mana concentrated in his hands.


    I turned back to the forest just in time to see it come rocketing straight for me. I let the light mana lose, and this time I could see the impact it had. The second the light mana disappeared from my arm, a blister formed on its chest. It didn¡¯t seem to be trying to breathe fire, but it was closing extremely fast. I planted my feet, and then the pommel of my new halberd just as it brought its mouth down to snap at me. The Wizard¡¯s spell caught it by the base of the neck, but its momentum carried it onto my halberd, and then me. I could only guess as to where its heart might be, but as I clove though its scales, and then flesh, I could feel just how much mana this thing possessed. Complex mixtures I had yet to discover seemed to almost tease at me.


    I figured a little extra energy couldn¡¯t hurt, but while the mana in its scales resisted my pull, the gentle stream through the halberd''s tip turned into a raging river. Its crash had slammed my body almost completely flat, so when it briefly tried to stand up my weapon¡¯s barb and spike were the only thing that kept it on the ground. It stiffened up as I kept draining more if it¡¯s mana, and as I reached over double the mana I¡¯d had in me when the fight started, I felt so strong I felt I could lift the whole thing off me with one hand.


    The electric feeling had never been this powerful, and I was drowning in it. As the dragon seemed to finally run out of mana, I struggled to dominate it all. Rushing to disassemble it all into forms I was used to handling, except one kind that seemed almost too familiar. The mana was the same as my excess mass when I tried to shrink myself. I focused on calming the rest of my new mana from leaking out at any second, as I didn¡¯t need to keep the new mass mana as mana, and the puddle I was now promptly grew. I started turning myself back into armor, starting from a gauntlet and one of my boots that hadn''t been crushed flat. I simply kicked the dragon off of me.


    ~~~


    The Soulsteel was the only thing not covered in blood. It seemed unable to stick to the silvery surface as the Soulsteel shifted the wyvern¡¯s chest off of itself. Cole hadn¡¯t seen a cleaner wyvern kill. A single thrust, straight into its heart. The strike seemed to have drained all the mana the creature had. Living Metal and especially Soulsteel were legendary for their lethality against anything magical, but Cole had all but forgotten this with how it had been acting.


    As the blood began to boil away, and the flesh started to do the same, he figured it was a waste to lose out on the normally valuable reagents. However, the almost pristine wyvern leather would more than make up for the cost. Tommen caught him from behind with a surprise hug.


    ¡°Master Cole, is it dead?¡±


    ¡°Yes Tommen.¡±


    ¡°And the Soulsteel?¡±


    ¡°Tommen, Soulsteel can eat a wyvern for breakfast. Just give him some space. He¡¯s never taken in this much mana at once.¡±


    ¡°Is he still getting taller?¡±


    ~~~


    Archibald had spent most of his life trying to push the frontiers of magical knowledge. He was one of the rare few wizards that managed to keep himself multidisciplinal, and while it had suited him just fine in his younger years, he was getting worried he might not live long enough to see the fruits of his discoveries. This was why he had pushed so hard for Cole to send him Natasha, as she had already formed multiple ideas on how to apply his life¡¯s work.


    She was currently focused on direct applications of his artifice, but he tried to guide her to the deeper meaning of things she might be overlooking in her youthful zeal. While Cole had written a simple, formal letter telling him he was bringing Virgin Soulsteel to the capital for him to appraise, his excitement had been measured. He had originally figured it would make a good companion for Natasha, but that was before Natasha brought him the designs she had received from Tommen. When she had tried to jump straight into applying it for flight, he had forced her to pace herself.


    Since he¡¯d sent her away, he couldn¡¯t stop chucking to himself. Tommen couldn¡¯t have made these designs, and Cole wasn¡¯t interested enough in Artifice. The diviner Baron Rawphor employed was also unlikely to have made them, and seeing the portrait of the Soulsteel Tommen had sent with the designs made him certain. There were no labradors in Kruthburg after all, Rawphor kept only bloodhounds as hunting dogs.


    ~~~


    Duke Drake was busy these days. Reports of a blight in Hendrik¡¯s Crossing, Pressure from both the Kingdom and Cordillera¡¯s Gap, and while the ¡°demon king¡± that had popped up in Harvale had managed to get himself lynched before causing any real problems, things just didn¡¯t seem to be setting him up success, especially with how long and harsh this winter was going to be.


    When he met with his court mages, The headmage Archibald had finally brought him some good news. Soulsteel had fallen in the Greenwood, not skysteel like had originally been predicted. He told him to make sure Mage Cole made a full report when he was settled in, as one of the biggest reasons he had been having so much trouble dealing with Queen Edith and Petty King Ein was that the two states had split the original Kingdom of Ridgewern¡¯s Soulsteel during the succession war.

 Chapter 17, Late Night

    The ride back seemed to take forever, and it wasn''t until that night that I slowly started coming back down from the mana-high, and I still hadn¡¯t found my max capacity. When we got to this mansion, I had hoped we¡¯d arrived at our destination, but the servants hadn¡¯t unpacked anything, so we were probably going to keep traveling tomorrow.


    Staying as the armor served two purposes, firstly it prevented anyone from trying to pet me again, and secondly it was a constant drain on my overfull mana stores. Taking stock, I seemed to have pulled mostly brown and green mana from the dragon. There had been other kinds, but I had been in such a hurry to gain control of them, I had taken anything I didn¡¯t recognize apart without checking what their ratios were. Now that I knew my mass was some kind of mana, I started making uneducated guesses for it.


    Starting with brown mana I added the gray-silver, but it didn¡¯t seem to want to hold together. I then tried base blue with the brown, and got a new gray. This one didn¡¯t shimmer like silver, and had almost no give. When I added the gray-silver mana back in, it became the mass mana I was searching for.


    Looking at my remaining stores, I figured I could try to discover a few more new recipes by adding anything to anything, but my attention was grabbed by the apprentice. He was watching me from the stairway leading upstairs. I guess seeing something that had, until then, looked like a medium sized dog suddenly slaughtering a flying killing machine could keep you up at night.


    ~~~


    The rest of the day passed uneventfully, if slowly, due to the stagecoach being overburdened with a pile of unprocessed wyvern leather. The Soulsteel was now large enough to take up most of the far bench, so Master Cole and Tommen were sitting next to each other.


    ¡°Why do you think it picked a fight with the wyvern, master?¡±


    ¡°If I had to guess, It either just saw it as a threat, or it saw it as an opportunity to show off.¡±


    ¡°But it didn¡¯t see the Guardian Armor as a threat?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Could it have seen the wyvern as a threat to us? Was it trying to protect us?¡±


    ¡°Right now I¡¯m just hoping it doesn¡¯t turn into a wyvern before we get there.¡±


    ¡°I mean, what can¡¯t it turn into?¡±


    ¡°So far, it seems reluctant to try and mimic a human. The armor is close, but even Living Metal likes to try and copy the form of whoever is working with it.¡±


    ¡°What would it look like? Didn¡¯t Rodney get his hands on it first?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I think we should stop applying common sense to it. Normal Soulsteel wouldn¡¯t want to fight something like a wyvern that has resistant scales that hide its mana.¡±


    ¡°Okay. What are we gonna do when we get to the capital?¡±


    ¡°After Archibald gets a look at it, I want to bring in a priest. Have him try and teach it some Wernst.¡±


    ¡°Did you have one in mind?¡±


    ¡°I think Father Daniel is still an advisor to the Duke, so I¡¯ll start by asking him.¡±


    ¡°Will he know any advanced translation spells?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m certain he can find them if he doesn¡¯t.¡±


    The rest of the carriage ride passed with no more outside disruptions, and when they arrived at the manor house they both went straight to bed. However, Tommen could hear the Soulsteel was still active by the sound of occasionally creaking floorboards. He snuck quietly past Master Cole¡¯s room, and down the stairs. Despite staring at it during the rest of the ride, he hadn¡¯t gotten any read on how well it was recovering. It had sprung right back into shape, and therefore seemed unhurt, but he still couldn¡¯t wrap his head around how it was even alive after being entombed under the wyvern.


    It seemed restless on the drive back, and while Master Cole had assured him Soulsteel didn¡¯t feel pain, he was still finding trouble sleeping with how they had left it alone. When he peeked into the living room he saw the still towering suit of armor was now sitting with its back to the cold hearth. Master Cole had told him not to start a fire, as it was already overwhelmed by the mana it now had to keep control of.


    Using his managlasses, he confirmed this assumption for himself. The joints had what looked like steam pouring out of them. The soulsteel itself was using its hands to manipulate more of its abundant mana. Tommen watched as it wove Earth and Order into Metal, with an almost practiced ease. It was making Mana Weaving look easy. Tommen had struggled with it for a long time, and the focus it still took him made him seek out natural sources if he started running low on any of the big four.


    He was about to leave, having decided it was just restless like Master Cole had said. But when he went to turn around the living metal waved him over. He stepped out from the doorframe, but only started approaching when it waved him over for a second time. When he stopped in front of it, the Soulsteel stood up and picked him up by his armpits. It sat down on the armchair and rested Tommen on its lap.


    If Tommen hadn¡¯t had his managlasses on, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell what the Soulsteel was trying to do. In each of its hands, it held a strand of order and a strand of chaos. When he stuck out two fingers for order, and one for chaos, the soulsteel combined them into one dark thread. When Tommen eventually fell asleep, The Soulsteel moved him to the couch. They had spent the rest of the last hour going through all the basic mana combinations that Tommen had learned.


    ~~~


    Natasha had been summoned by Master Archibald as soon as she woke up. It was the day that Master Cole and Tommen were supposed to arrive with the Soulsteel. He didn¡¯t normally summon her so early, and she was hoping whatever had come up wouldn¡¯t take long, as she hadn¡¯t quite finished tuning the Pendulum. Knocking on Master Archibald¡¯s office door, he invited her inside.


    ¡°You wanted to see me, Master Archibald?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Cole and Tommen have been delayed. It will take them another day to get here.¡±


    ¡°Do we know what happened?¡±


    ¡°The Soulsteel picked a fight with a wyvern, and won.¡±


    ¡°Is that normal?¡±


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    ¡°Not really. Soulsteel attacking monsters with a lot of mana might be common, but wyverns have mana resistant scales that should have made it an unappetizing target.¡±


    ¡°How do you know it picked a fight?¡±


    ¡°It launched a light magic attack at the wyvern while it was flying overhead.¡±


    ¡°And you don¡¯t think the Soulsteel saw it flying over them as a threat?¡±


    ¡°It might have, but what really matters is that it was a greater wyvern.¡±


    ¡°Is everyone okay?¡±


    ¡°The wyvern went for the Soulsteel first, and the Soulsteel pierced its scales and killed it by draining all its mana.¡±


    ¡°So it shouldn¡¯t have seen it as a threat because it was much more powerful than it?¡±


    ¡°In the letter Cole sent me, it says that the last time it was threatened, it had acted afraid of a knight.¡±


    ¡°One knight couldn¡¯t beat a wyvern.¡±


    ¡°He also said Tommen is convinced that it was worried for them.¡±


    ¡°That does explain why, despite it being far stronger than the wyvern, it might have attacked it.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Cole said he thinks it was just trying to show off, because it had already shown off the fact it can do math.¡±


    ¡°Can other Soulsteel do math?¡±


    ¡°Simple addition and subtraction. Some Elder Soulsteel could even do multiplication. But he doesn¡¯t go into details about the kind of math.¡±


    ¡°So the delay will be just one day?¡±


    ¡°Yes, now go run along and eat your breakfast. You¡¯re almost finished with it, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes Master, and thank you.¡±


    Taking a light breakfast in her room, she went to find Keith. If he was done with his breakfast, he would already be in his workshop. With how fast he¡¯d found the beechwood, he had claimed it would be ready just in time for her first attempt. She¡¯d been prepared to use a single Enchanted Oar, but having two would make things much easier. She ended up running into him in the hallway outside his workshop.


    ¡°Keith, there you are. There¡¯s been a delay, they won¡¯t be here for another day.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°They got in a fight with a wyvern. Master Cole claims the Soulsteel was showing off.¡±


    ¡°Did that bastard ruin another perfectly good hide on me?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask, but they¡¯re bringing it.¡±


    ¡°He better hope he didn¡¯t. The last hide he brought me practically had more holes in it than scales, and I told him if he did it again I¡¯d make him keep going back out until he found one that I could use.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it will be fine. How¡¯s the oar coming along?¡±


    ¡°I finished roughing it out after dinner last night. It needs a little more sanding and then I can start carving the engravings.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to push yourself, we can put off the maiden flight until tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Gives me more time to work on tuning the pendulum. It starts spinning too fast to recover when it flips upside down.¡±


    ~~~


    Scrying on others in real time was not an easy feat, but when it came to tracking the Soulsteel, it was easier than normal. It seemed to attract causality¡¯s very favor. Poetrak and The Baron had just watched the moment when the Greater Wyvern had finished its dive for the Soulsteel. Just before impact, The Soulsteel had sunk multiple inches into the ground, and watching closely, a number of the attending knights could see its barbed polearm finish forming just as the head snapped to the side from an earthen projectile. A number of the men at arms balked at how it tossed the greater wyvern away like nothing.


    ¡°So, do you still think you got a good deal?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯d say so. If that thing can kill a greater wyvern that easily, I¡¯m glad it¡¯s out of my demesne.¡±


    ¡°I figured you¡¯d say that. What else can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°Can you show us the weapon?¡±


    ¡°Yes, milord.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a normal barbed spear, It also has a pick and an axe blade attached.¡±


    ¡°It seemed quite effective, but I wonder how it would perform if it was made of steel.¡±


    ¡°It also seems to be riveted, even though it¡¯s all one piece.¡±


    Interrupting the sworn knights, Poetrak attempted to explain.


    ¡°When manifested by living metal, weapons often still show the appearance of whatever weapon they¡¯ve used as a reference.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean someone has made this weapon before? And the Soulsteel saw it before it came here?¡±


    ¡°This is certainly its first appearance. Normally, if I were to scry an existing weapon, I¡¯d be overwhelmed by their number. There can¡¯t be or have been one on the whole of Trezemek.¡±


    ¡°Will it make it to the capital safely?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then one of you will go find a blacksmith to make me one of these ¡®halberds¡¯.¡±

 Chapter 18, Early Dawn

    The next day, when the wizard came downstairs, the kid was still asleep on the couch. I figured it was easier to be quiet with four legs than with two, and turned back into a labrador while scaling myself back down to a reasonable size. The wizard seemed too tired to be impressed despite my nearly silent approach.


    He went straight to the kitchen, and as I watched he prepared food for himself and the kid. Servants I had been seeing through the living room¡¯s windows had been active in the back yard and must have been collecting things for breakfast, as there were eggs and bread waiting for him. I had figured the magicians of this world were like nobles, but I also couldn¡¯t envision any nobility cooking their own meals. They had been brought all their meals when we were back in the castle, but this could be just a consequence of traveling.


    After a short breakfast, we returned to the road. Today when I sat next to the kid he didn¡¯t pet me. The conversation was sporadic, but eventually the kid got my attention and, while pointing at himself, started repeating the same thing.


    ~~~


    It had been Master Cole¡¯s idea to try and teach the Soulsteel their names before they arrived at the capital. They had been kept so busy since it had first arrived they hadn¡¯t taken the time to do one of the literal first step to test the intelligence level of Living Metal. While they were sure it was smart enough to quickly pick up their names, establishing names also helped to make the soulsteel more personable.


    When it turned from Tommen to Master Cole, Cole said his name to it. For a brief second, both were concerned when neither name got a response, but it was only taking a second to reply with its own. The Soulsteel had created itself a collar. Initially they were both flabbergasted as it always seemed reluctant to be treated like a pet, but when Tommen tried, and failed, to read the tag, they promptly forgot how out of character the move was.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen most of these letters before. Have you Master Cole?¡±


    ¡°I know I haven¡¯t. We won¡¯t know if it is an actual alphabet until we run it through a translation spell.¡±


    ¡°It looks a bit like dwarven, but that¡¯s just appearance. Should I write it down?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Tommen. And of the similar letters, they are all missing parts.¡±


    Now that it knew their names, The Soulsteel would turn its head to them when their name was spoken.


    ¡°How do you think it¡¯s pronounced?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t guess. There is a spell for that, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    ¡°How do you think it learned them?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Who taught it these letters? I thought Living Metal wasn¡¯t supposed to be smart when it first landed?¡±


    ¡°I have two theories, the less likely one is that it was imparted the knowledge with a spell of some kind. The second is that the soul wasn¡¯t originally the Soulsteel¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s some kind of forbidden magic, right? Rebinding souls?¡±


    ¡°I am not sure if it¡¯s the kind we¡¯re familiar with. Soul implantation leaves marks, basically scars. It¡¯s like fitting a human into a dwarf¡¯s armor. It is possible, but it won¡¯t fit right. And whenever you try to do even simple things the constraints would chafe the very soul.¡±


    ¡°But you still don¡¯t think its soul is original to the Soulsteel?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t, but implanted souls also don¡¯t keep a recollection of their knowledge, so I can¡¯t be sure.¡±


    ¡°You mean that they can learn the stuff they knew before more easily, right? Can the priest help us with that?¡±


    ¡°Father Daniel? Yes, he should be able to. But it depends on if the spells he has are able to translate from whatever language that is.¡±


    ¡°So the spells to read something out loud and to translate something are different?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t I learned them? They sound useful.¡±


    ¡°They are the purview of Divine magic. If you chose to become a Divine Mage, I think it¡¯s generally taught in the third year.¡±


    ¡°Do I have to be a Divine Mage to learn them?¡±


    ¡°No. It¡¯s not mandatory, you¡¯d just have to go out of your way to learn them.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Does the name look more like a boy¡¯s name or a girl¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°It strikes me as masculine.¡±


    That night, they were forced to camp out, as the stagecoach couldn¡¯t make good enough time while still being so overburdened. The Soulsteel spent the night as a Fire Tortoise, the form was highly efficient at casting heat out to the sides, and the new tall chimney was lifting the smoke up and away from those sitting around it.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame we can¡¯t cook on him too.¡±


    ¡°I suppose, but I bet he¡¯d hate it.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think he hates it when we treat him the way he looks?¡±


    ¡°Well, think about it like if I started petting you.¡±


    ¡°But I''m not a dog.¡±


    ¡°Neither is he, really.¡±


    ¡°But he looks so cute. Even like this I don¡¯t know how to resist.¡±


    ¡°The same way I¡¯ve started resisting messing up your hair whenever you master a new spell.¡±


    ¡°Master Cole, that¡¯s not what I meant.¡±


    During the night, they did not keep watch, and Cole had also neglected to cast any wards upon the camp. Not that any of the wolves, or the bear, that stumbled across the camp wanted to stick around with the flaming hell turtle holding vigil.


    ~~~


    Duke Drake and his Court Mage Archibald were standing on one of the Ducal Estate¡¯s balconies. It overlooked a small courtyard, ringed by a low hedge, surrounded by bare fields. A few plows still tilled the earth, turning the fresh snow into the soil. In the courtyard, Natasha was slowly rowing in circles. Her initial tests had been trying to test its max speed, but having failed to find the limit with only one oar, she was now testing to see just how strong a bank the little vessel could take before inverting.


    ¡°So. How useful is it, really?¡±


    ¡°That little dingey couldn¡¯t hold much more than a single person. Just a second man would make it scrape along the ground.¡±


    ¡°And that had nothing to do with the balance, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. If it was a bigger boat, in combination with the impressive efficiency of this new pendulum, we''re still not quite outperforming a covered wagon.¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason you couldn¡¯t use your new prototype to power one?¡±


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.¡°It needs constant rotational input. The mana it produces is also not easy to store.¡±


    ¡°How many mages would it take to float a Galleass?¡±


    ¡°Twenty mages, and a full complement of oarsmen, even with Enchanted Oars.¡±


    ¡°Could it catch wind with sails, then?¡±


    ¡°It could. The balance would prevent the sail from pulling it over. But it would still have a max speed before it gets overwhelmed and flips, and would require even more mages the faster it got going.¡±


    ¡°What about spells for propulsion?¡±


    ¡°It would exhaust the mages when they need to be focusing on keeping the ship aloft. And twenty mages is already too many to commit to one vessel.¡±


    ¡°So what did you want to talk to me about? I know you can¡¯t want more money.¡±


    ¡°The money is fine. But I think that Soulsteel must have more ideas wherever this pendulum came from.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re really worried I¡¯ll send it off to the Drake Guard?¡±


    ¡°Only a little. I like to think I know you better than that.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It will be in your care here at the capital. Keep it out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°Is Daniel going to be here when they arrive?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but why?¡±


    ¡°The Soulsteel came with a name.¡±


    ¡°In Wernst or some other language?¡±


    ¡°Cole sent the name to me just after sunset.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s sure sending a lot of magical letters. He¡¯s gonna exhaust himself. But let¡¯s see.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be fine. He keeps his letters short.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a long name. And I don¡¯t recognise the letters.¡±


    ¡°A few of the letters are reminiscent of the dwarven alphabet, but they¡¯re certainly not the same.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the chance it''s a dead language?¡±


    ¡°That is the first thing I¡¯ll be asking Father Daniel.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show him this, and he¡¯ll have an answer for you tomorrow.¡±


    ~~~


    The Church Library was massive. And the books Daniel was looking for hadn¡¯t been needed for a long time. Most books would get transcribed about once a century, more if nobles were buying copies, but by injecting a small amount of order mana into a manabead in the binding of a book, they would last a long time as they were simply sitting on shelves.


    The standard translation spells had been unable to divine the word¡¯s meaning. This was not too strange in itself, the spells he had tried were for translating from dwarven dialects. The books he was searching through now had a layer of dust thick enough to obscure their titles completely. Lesser Cleanse was the only spell weak and accurate enough to not damage the books, but the spell required him to cast it on each of them individually.


    ¡°Remin? Have you found anything new?¡±


    ¡°Yes Father Daniel, I did find something that referenced a powerful translation spell.¡±


    ¡°Well I''m having no luck over here. Let¡¯s take an early lunch break, and you can tell me about the reference.¡±


    ¡°Yes Father. It¡¯s a story you¡¯ve given a sermon on before.¡±


    ¡°Oh, which one?¡±


    ¡°The Conclave of Gormtra.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes. Of course. The last time I brought it up must have been about ten years ago now? Do you really remember it?¡±


    ¡°It was a good sermon, Father Daniel. It struck me how overreliance on magic caused the mages to start speaking complete nonsense when they ran out of mana.¡±


    ¡°I remember it more clearly now. Does the text itself name the spell?¡±


    ¡°No Father, but surely knowing who made it and when will help us find it?¡±


    ¡°It might, but we don¡¯t have much time. They''re expected to arrive an hour after noon.¡±


    ¡°I thought we just needed to find out if it was old dwarven or not?¡±


    ¡°There is always the chance it¡¯s a whole different language. They suspected it might be a dead one.¡±


    ¡°Okay Father Daniel.¡±


    Despite spending the rest of the time before he had to get ready to leave, they could not find the spell, or any others that would help them. Father Daniel couldn¡¯t be late, as he had to inform both Duke Drake and Mage Archibald of his lack of findings, and his recommendations for what to do about it. He didn¡¯t bring Remin with him to the Ducal Estate, as Remin had other responsibilities, especially now that his ordination was approaching.


    ¡°Good morning Duke Drake, Mage Archibald. I have come to make my report.¡±


    ¡°I can always trust you to be punctual. Did you find what language it is?¡±


    ¡°No, Nor its pronunciation. At this point it might be better to ask a diviner to work with me on adapting an existing spell.¡±


    ¡°Would the Kingdom of Ridgewern have more complete records?¡±


    ¡°The only references to a spell that could translate even dead languages was from the story of Gormtra. Spells from so long ago are unlikely to have survived, especially not with their full functionality.¡±


    ¡°Any Artifices that would be useful here?¡±


    ¡°Not that I could think of, or I could find while searching for a more powerful translation spell.¡±


    ¡°Cole wanted to know if you could teach it a translation spell, and if that fails just teach it Wernst.¡±


    ¡°Both of those are a large time investment. Is it already capable of reproducing spells?¡±


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t reproduced any, but it has made its own attack out of light mana.¡±


    ¡°Then I will do my best. How much longer will they take to arrive?¡±


    ¡°The stagecoach is still about fifteen minutes out. You two are to greet them in the foyer, and bring them to meet me in the Great Hall.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Did you finally get him to stop calling it the Drake Hall, Archibald?¡±


    ¡°It was a hard sell, and I had to promise not to make fun of the Drake Guard anymore.¡±

 Chapter 19, First Contact

    I couldn¡¯t see ahead while in the wagon, and while the farmhouses had been getting closer together, and maybe a bit taller, I didn¡¯t realize we were already there until the carriage jumped as it left the dirt and started running along cobblestones. It wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as I had expected, the suspension this thing had and the seat were still doing wonders, but even then the road seemed less rough than it had been in the castle town.


    As we were traveling through what really looked like a medieval city, what with all the wood framed and plaster houses overhanging into the street, I realized we must be in at least the regional capital. After a few more turns on the wide road the carriage, for hopefully the final time, came to a stop. This time the driver got off and opened the door for us.


    If we were here, I was about to meet someone new, so I quickly shifted out of dog form and into armor again. I moved my Creighton tag to my chest, raising it slightly to ensure it was readable, as it was still made of metal like the rest of me. The kid, Tommen, had been distracted trying to guess at how my name sounded, but so far he was stuck on the eigh sound. He hadn¡¯t even started on ton, and I figured that would be a ton of work. I was still smirking, though only on the inside, for that little gem when I realized the wizard wasn¡¯t moving and I gestured for Cole to go first. If we were meeting nobles, like the fancier building around us implied we would be, it must be proper to let the man of highest rank disembark the cart first. Or something like that. I followed after him, having to stop Tommen from exiting before me. I wanted to once again help him down, but as the road was level I initially just offered him a hand.


    He seemed embarrassed, and if I remember correctly that is something families do for eachother, or lovers do when they are courting, but I wasn¡¯t gonna risk him eating it on the street because someone didn¡¯t give this thing handrails. I just picked him up by the armpits and set him on the ground like I had before, and when I turned around Cole had walked up the straight path, and what greeted me was a real mansion. I had thought that modern rich people lived in mansions, and they do, but the sheer scale of the building in front of me, despite its rustic design, was a different feeling altogether. The building must have housed all the servants as well, because I couldn¡¯t imagine even an emperor needing this much space to himself.


    The entrance was tall double doors, and they were once again held open by butlers. Although I don¡¯t know if butlers normally carry swords. Behind them was a lavish foyer, a room with lots of open floor space, with an area to sit on both sides. There were two fancily dressed men waiting for us. One was dressed in mundane looking priest robes, at least until I looked closer and saw the seemingly familiar silver threads woven into it. The other man looked quite old, and with the way his robe seemed to glow, it must be a cloak of fire or something.


    Both men seemed to possess more mana than Cole did, and the old man was shining noticeably brighter than the other guy. I figured introductions would be in order. Giving Cole a side eye and seeing he wasn¡¯t making a move, I put a gauntlet out for a handshake. The old man laughed, and the middle aged one took it. He gave me a firm handshake, but I kept my hand rigid, because I didn¡¯t want to risk crushing his fingers. I still hadn¡¯t tested for the actual limits of my physical strength either. When it came to keeping his mana out, it wasn¡¯t difficult for me, as draining the dragon had given me plenty of my own, I was more than a match for his capacity.


    The man in front of me said what I presume to be his name, Daniel. Ever since my two companions had given me their names, I had started to recognize other patterns in their speech, but that also might just have been from me making a conscious effort to. I pointed at the old man who was still chuckling to himself, and Daniel gestured and called him Archibald.


    It was only after that that the old man took my hand, and when he shook it I had to focus on keeping his mana out. If Cole or Daniel was like lifting a full jug of milk while I kept their mana out, this guy was like lifting a full propane tank with just one hand. My reaction seemed to earn me another fit of laughter.


    I gave Cole a pronounced shrug, but then he started laughing too. I couldn¡¯t help but feel something was going over my head, but whatever it was Tommen and Daniel didn¡¯t seem to think it was funny, so maybe it was an in-joke. It was at this point that Daniel, the priest looking guy, pulled out some paper. On it was written my name, and while the handwriting was not good, it was legible.


    I pointed to my nametag, and nodded. He smiled back, and then gestured for me to follow him to the left side¡¯s seating arrangement. When we got there, I saw a lot of papers were prepared. Most of them were blank, but some had text. Looking over them, they seemed less like the knockoff eastern european characters, and more like knockoff english ones. Familiar letters were warped slightly, or had new quirks. My favorite was a W with each outside line folded over again like a little mountain range.


    I gave them another shrug, and they shared another look. When he pulled out the scroll, I knew they were getting serious. It looked old, like most of the paper here did, but it also clearly contained mana. I figured they were still trying to solve the translation problem, so I stopped them before they could commit to the spell. There was one more thing I could try before I wanted to let them start casting magic on me.


    ~~~


    Daniel had been about to start trying to walk the soulsteel through the most generic translation spell he¡¯d been able to find, when it started to ask for something to write with. The servants had some ready within a minute, and they all watched as it started to write.


    ¡°Those don¡¯t look like the same letters it used for its name.¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t, these are his numbers, from when he showed us he could do math.¡±


    ¡°Its own numbers?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he matched a sequence of lines up, one through ten, and then ran through it all over again with his numbers. and then Tommen wrote our numbers underneath both.¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s it trying to do with the numbers?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s already putting our numbers in, though he got three wrong.¡±


    The Soulsteel handed the sheet to Tommen, and then started a new sheet. Everyone leaned in as the soulsteel started writing its letters, but leaving large gaps in between, just like he¡¯d done with the numbers. The quill kept giving him trouble, as he seemed unaccustomed to having to constantly go back for ink. They briefly thought he was giving up before he formed a writing implement in his hand, dipped it in the ink, and got back to writing.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°How does that work? It''s not producing mana from ink, right?¡±


    ¡°No, It¡¯s storing the ink inside the handle, and somehow it''s controlling the flow so it doesn¡¯t all come out at once.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not using mana to slow it. It''s a mechanical quill.¡±


    ¡°Focus on what he¡¯s writing. His alphabet has twenty six letters?¡±


    ¡°Knowing its alphabet would be helpful if I was going to rework a translation spell, but it¡¯s not enough on its own.¡±


    ¡°What about a pronunciation spell?¡±


    ¡°His name, the first letter sounds like a K.¡±


    They began pairing letters off with what they sounded like in the Soulsteel¡¯s language, and slowly managed to put together its name. When it enthusiastically nodded to them getting its full name right, Tommen seemed the most pleased to finally have a name to call it. The Soulsteel wasn¡¯t done yet, as it drew a circle, and then divided it up with unfamiliar lines. While this was normally how mana was depicted, it was archibald that pointed out it had drawn a globe. As they sounded out the word he¡¯d labeled the planet, All four of the mages felt the word resonate with their Earth mana. The Soulsteel went on to show them its words for Fire and Ice, but stopped there. Daniel was disappointed.


    ¡°Does he not know what the other mana would be called in his language?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my guess.¡±


    ¡°So, Earth doesn¡¯t seem to resonate as strongly as Trezemek does, right?¡±


    ¡°No, but it definitely means the same thing. Could we build a translation spell off of the names for mana?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Anything derived from the big four is more subjective, but It certainly seems like it would learn Wernst quickly if I started teaching it.¡±


    A footman approached the ring of Mages, and after a moment, the Soulsteel had to point him out so they would stop arguing about what exactly this could mean.


    ¡°The Duke is ready for you now.¡±


    ¡°Damn. We¡¯ll have time to talk this through later. We can¡¯t keep him waiting.¡±


    ¡°Allright. Tommen, stay here. We will be right back.¡±


    ¡°Can I really not come?¡±


    ¡°Take some time to catch up with Natasha. I¡¯ll take care of Creighton.¡±


    ~~~


    Natasha had been told to wait to greet the Soulsteel after it met the Duke, so she had waited to the side. When the Soulsteel was led away, she rushed to greet Tommen, and he returned her proffered hug.


    ¡°How was the trip? I heard you ran into a great wyvern.¡±


    ¡°We did, but the Soulsteel killed it in three hits. Mostly the third though.¡±


    ¡°Did it really pick a fight with a greater wyvern? While it was with you?¡±


    ¡°I think he was worrying about us. The wyvern couldn¡¯t have hurt him if it tried, and it was flying in our direction.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t Cole put up an illusion?¡±


    ¡°He said the Soulsteel spell was too disruptive.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Tommen. It sounds kind of dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Of course he¡¯s dangerous, he¡¯s got more mana than Master Archibald does.¡±


    ¡°It what?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Master Archibald tried to overpower it during their handshake, and he failed. That was why he couldn¡¯t stop laughing.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe for you to be around something with that much unstable mana.¡±


    ¡°I sat on the soulsteel''s lap the first night of our trip. He has plenty of control over his mana. Now that I think about it, He might not have more mana than Master Archibald. Just more control.¡±


    ¡°Why do you keep calling it a he?¡±


    ¡°We know its name now, and we all agreed it sounded like a man¡¯s name.¡±


    ¡°What is his name then?¡±


    ¡°Creighton.¡±


    ¡°Well me and this Creighton are gonna have to have a talk about getting the attention of a monster while you¡¯re with him. But as long he apologizes I just might forgive him¡±


    ¡°He still doesn¡¯t speak Wernst.¡±


    ¡°Dammit. How do you know his name but not what language he speaks?¡±


    ¡°We also now know he calls the planet Earth.¡±


    ¡°Was this its attempt at drawing Trezemek? It didn¡¯t get any of the continents right.¡±


    It was only then, as they both turned to each other, that they realized it might not have been trying to draw Trezemek after all.

 Chapter 20, In-Thorough Inspection

    The hall we entered would have taken my breath away, if I¡¯d had any. It had two long tables against the left and right walls, so it looked like more than a hundred people could eat in here at once. The ceiling was high, held up by what I assume was flying buttresses my civil engineering friends would sometimes joke about. It was built like a Cathedral, but it didn¡¯t contain anything I recognised as religious. A stylized dragon adorned banners hanging from the ceiling. Wales had a dragon on their flag, and while I couldn¡¯t bring the image to my mind, I think theirs was red. This one was blue, against a black background.


    I had managed to become the leader of the pack as we entered the hall, as the servant I had been following didn''t pass the threshold. I was awed by the decorative suits of armor next to the door, and the artworks that were centered in between each of the huge columns that supported the vast ceiling. While I couldn¡¯t quite make out the man I was here to meet, what I found myself drawn to was the long blue carpet in front of me, and how it ended just short of the throne at the far end of the hall.


    Confidence was never my strong suit, but I took some solace in how I kind of look like I belong here, as my armor was based on similar suits to the ones now flanking me. Steeling my resolve, it almost felt like I was breaking through a literal wall as I started walking down the carpet. As soon as I started walking forward, the two suits of armor started escorting me down the hall, and it was a good thing I¡¯d prepared myself as it took all of my self control to not jump a foot in the air. As my progress on the carpet reached a quarter of the total distance, I could now make out that the man who was sitting on the throne at the end of the hall was alone. He was beckoning me to approach, and with this atmosphere I assume this one is going to be more formal than my last audience with battle grandpa.


    I focused on my silver plumb bob to maintain a straight back, as it was about half the hall¡¯s length when I realized none of the other three had passed the threshold with me. I still had quite the distance to go left, but I wasn¡¯t focused on it. My mind was racing as once again these same bastards hadn¡¯t given me even a crash course on how to be respectful to nobility, especially not ones with fancy thrones and a crown twice the size of the last one. I decided what to do just as the end of the carpet was nearing. I would try and recreate what Cole had done for battle grandpa. I dropped to a knee, posing like a superhero landing, but with the normally extended arm over my chest.


    As I did so, the tension I felt was shattered when laughter burst out from behind me, but because I hadn¡¯t bowed my head I could see the noble infront of me seemed both relieved and pleased. There was basically no actual conversation, with Cole coming up and pulling me to my feet, telling the guy on the throne my name along with two other sentences I couldn¡¯t comprehend. When he pulled me back the way we¡¯d come, the living armor didn¡¯t follow me back out. As we passed them the two chuckleheads were still laughing. Daniel was barely maintaining a suggestion of decorum by holding his hand over his mouth, meanwhile Archibald had his hands firmly on his gut, almost doubled over laughing. When we exited the hall, I was trying my best to give Cole an incredulous look, he returned it with no answers, and only a seemingly pale face. He only dropped me off with Tommen and some girl I hadn¡¯t met yet, and returned swiftly to the hall.


    Now that I was closer to her, I could see that the girl was more accurately a young woman. She didn¡¯t look exactly happy to see me, but she didn¡¯t look unhappy either. Assuming I remember correctly, during the middle ages the correct way to greet a noble woman you¡¯ve not met before is to kiss the back of her hand. When I offered her my hand, palm up, she seemed confused. It was only when Tommen said something to her that she took my hand and I could bring it briefly to the bottom of my visor. She was speechless for a second, but Tommen pushed her lightly and she said what must have been her name, Natasha. Looking around, there didn¡¯t seem to be any new people to meet, so I stepped over to the chair I had been sitting in before, and I let myself fall into the seat.


    ~~~


    Natasha wasn¡¯t expecting the supposedly brutish and impulsive Soulsteel that had struck down a Greater Wyvern to conduct itself with the chivalry of a knight. Of course, it then had promptly dropped itself into an expensive leather armchair like a bag of potatoes, so she was right back to feeling conflicted if it would be a good influence on Tommen, even if her opinion of it had increased.


    The Soulsteel had been removed from the meeting early, and she couldn¡¯t guess why. When she asked one of the footmen if they were free to leave, they told her they had the duke¡¯s permission, but to stay on the estate until Master Cole found them. That answer didn¡¯t make it sound like the Soulsteel had done anything wrong, per say. Perhaps it had been discourteous somehow?


    ¡°Tommen, Do you want to see what I put your design to use on?¡±


    ¡°If you mean the pendulum, I just copied down what Creighton made.¡±


    ¡°He made it? Why did he make a Pendulum of Balance?¡±


    ¡°So he¡¯d stop falling over when walking on two legs.¡±


    ¡°I see. Would you like to see what I did with his designs, then?¡±


    ¡°Yes, please. Creighton can come too, right?¡±


    ¡°Come on Creighton, I don¡¯t see why not.¡±


    The soulsteel seemed like it wanted out of the sitting room, as even before Natasha had called its name it had stood up from its chair, ready to go. They exited by the room''s western door, and then turned to take the western corridor. On their left side there was a window that led to an exterior side yard, but on their right there was an interior garden that ran the length of the great hall. She had chosen the western wing to pass through as it contained Keith¡¯s workshop, and the second oar should be done by now.


    ¡°Keith, are you there? Is it ready yet?¡±


    ¡°Natasha, Are they done already? I figured I¡¯d have some more time.¡±


    ¡°Hello Master Keith, I¡¯m Tommen. This is Creighton.¡±


    ¡°Well met, both of you. Has Natasha told you what she and I have been working on?¡±


    ¡°She wants to surprise us. It¡¯s half the fun for her.¡±


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.¡°Then I''ll give you guys a second to be surprised and join you shortly with the last piece. It¡¯s already good for use, Natasha.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Keith. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Creighton, come on. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The Soulsteel seemed to be transfixed, staring after Keith as he turned around and re-entered his workshop. Tommen had to grab its gauntlet to bring it out of its daze. The rest of the walk didn¡¯t take long before they had entered the northern corridor, and they took the first available exit.


    ¡°Allright, it¡¯s just over here, right in the middle of the courtyard.¡±


    ¡°You mean the boat?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a rowboat Tommen, and look closer.¡±


    ¡°An enchanted rowboat?¡±


    ¡°A rowboat enchanted with flight.¡±


    ¡°Wait, really? Can it actually fly?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and unless you¡¯ve put on a growth spurt, we can go for a test flight in it when the second oar gets here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so cool. It can really take both of us? And the Pendulum of Balance really helped you make it work?¡±


    ¡°Yes, It was one of Master Archibald¡¯s designs, he gave up on it because without the pendulum it would flip over and dump out anything inside.¡±


    ¡°But, Natasha. Creighton can¡¯t come with us, can he?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there would be enough capacity leftover for him, no. Can he shrink any smaller?¡±


    The Soulsteel seemed interested in the rowboat, and as ran a gauntlet along the engravings covering the exterior of the hull, a pair of silvery wings emerged from its back. The feathers were covered in veins of Light, Dark and Air mana.


    ¡°Is that new?¡±


    ¡°Very new.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it was responding to me?¡±


    ¡°No, the first thing he does when he sees a new spell is to try and apply it to himself.¡±


    ¡°So does that mean he¡¯s about to take off?¡±


    ¡°He might, but he shouldn¡¯t go far. He¡¯s waiting for Master Cole too.¡±


    The Soulsteel seemed to break out of its second stupor, and it looked around like it hadn¡¯t seen where it was before this very second. After it turned back to Tommen and Natasha, it scratched the back of its helmet sheepishly. The wings were then folded neatly against its back, and by doing so it effectively communicated it was content to stay on the ground for now.


    ~~~


    Inside the Grand Hall, a heated argument had broken out between the former master and the former apprentice.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me he was gonna have the guardian armor active?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t warn me it walked around without any mana sense.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know it didn¡¯t, but I would have checked if you¡¯d told me.¡±


    ¡°It worked out fine didn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°How was that fine? When it walked through the Guardian Barrier like it wasn¡¯t even there I thought I was gonna vomit.¡±


    ¡°I figured it must be powerful for soulsteel after it kept me at bay, but this is incredible. A greater wyvern couldn¡¯t have broken a guardian barrier like that.¡±


    ¡°I told you it had superior control in my first letter, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s superior mana control then I must still be an amateur. And what would that make you?¡±


    The argument between the two continued in petty circles, while Daniel and Duke Drake watched.


    ¡°Why do they always get like this?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s not really a bad thing. I still think they have a healthier relationship than some I¡¯ve seen.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you recommended I dismiss my attendants, they might have fainted.¡±


    ¡°Once they both realize the reason you¡¯re not mad is because the trust you put in them saving you if it had meant harm, they¡¯re never going to let you live it down.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re going to tell them the reason I¡¯m not mad is because of how powerful it is, and how it showed perfect fealty the first time it saw me.¡±


    ¡°I bow to your wisdom, my duke.¡±


    Both conversations entered a lul, but Daniel broke the silence with an important question, only to be answered by the other three men rushing to the windows behind the throne.


    ¡°How long has it been able to fly?¡±


    ¡°It can what?¡±

 Chapter 21, Does a Soul Dream?

    The Soulsteel and Keith watched from the ground as Natasha focused on raising the rowboat into the sky. A second passenger put the flight enchantment under considerably more strain than her previous test runs, but it was still rising at a steady pace. Tommen began rowing, but despite his physical exertion on the long, heavy oars there was no forward movement.


    ¡°Tommen, you need to give it mana as you are entering the down stroke, and then pull the mana back out during the upstroke. Otherwise we won¡¯t go anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Okay. How much?¡±


    ¡°The more you put in the harder it will be to pull them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s wind magic of some kind, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It increases the blade¡¯s drag as you put more mana in, and decreases back to the normal amount on the backswing.¡±


    ¡°It gets tiring pretty quickly, having to pull the mana in and out.¡±


    ¡°Master Archibald made more advanced versions that addressed that, but they¡¯re too big for one person to manage two at once.¡±


    ¡°Okay, It turns just like a normal boat, right? One oar at a time?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but be careful not to-¡±


    Before Natasha could finish warning him, Tommen had let go of the right side¡¯s Enchanted oar. It wasn¡¯t initially a catastrophe, as he hadn¡¯t left any wind mana inside. However the boat¡¯s oarlocks did not hold the oar down, only kept them in place while they were in use, and as the brand new oar was slipping out of the boat, Tommen realized his mistake and grabbed for it. However, the drag from the other oar, this one still filled with mana, combined with the sudden shifting in weight caused the dinghy to invert.


    ~~~


    Everything seemed to be going fine with their test flight, until their height was just getting in line with the roof. Tommen had started rowing them outwards into the empty fields, but just as they were about to pass the hedgerow, he dropped one of the oversized paddles, and then the whole thing flipped.


    While Natasha didn¡¯t fall, hanging onto her bench seat, Tommen didn¡¯t have a chance to grab anything and he parted from it and started plummeting for the ground. I now massively regretted having not tested my new wings out, but I hadn¡¯t wanted to steal the girl¡¯s thunder by just waltzing up and stealing her cool spell. It seemed to make both of my new wings act like they had a far larger reach, catching air almost twice their length away from me.


    I started with the highest jump I could manage, but that barely brought me to the first of the three stories their height had reached. In the time it taken me to react, Tommen had probably fallen one story. I estimated I would need at least a story left after I caught him if I was going to ensure catching him wouldn¡¯t hurt just as much as hitting the ground, so I beat my brand new wings once. They were far more powerful than the jump had been, but with the little control I had over their output, I had to brake hard so I didn¡¯t slam into the kid.


    Once I got my hands under his armpits, and we were falling together, I billowed the wings out like a parachute, and I only slightly dented the ground when we landed. I didn¡¯t have time to check on him, beyond putting him down on his feat with the dwarf. I beat my wings for the second time to reach Natasha, as while she had been lowering the rowboat, I didn¡¯t know how long her arms could endure, so I rushed to get it upright and then I''d worry about getting it safely to the ground.


    Placing both hands on the boat, I had a hard time catching her gaze. She had been fixated on the ground, but as I started to flip the boat back over she snapped out of it. I had been quite pleased with the amount of mana I had collected from the dragon, but these wings had already drained more than half of my stockpiled mana. I kept a stabilizing hand as we descended, but there didn¡¯t seem to be any more risk of capsizing.


    Once I got her to the ground, and out of the boat, I checked on Tommen. The dwarf was holding him by his hand, and he was crying. I was almost out of mana after the slow descent, but I managed to hug him, and shortly before I passed out I felt Natasha also join in from the side.


    ~~~


    By the time the four of them arrived on the balcony, the soulsteel had returned to the ground with the rowboat. They watched as the wings it had grown turned into golden dust and disappeared. Even from hear they could hear Tommen and Natasha crying into it. The dwarf had to pull Tommen out of the way as it limply slumped forwards. Tommen promptly started crying even harder.


    ¡°So remember when I told you I didn¡¯t think it was trying to protect you two when it fought the wyvern?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I take it back.¡±


    ¡°Good. We should go get down there already. The soulsteel is probably just out of mana.¡±


    The two of them set off without further delay, but Daniel and the Duke lingered for just a little longer.


    ¡°Can other Soulsteel fly?¡±


    ¡°I can think of one that managed to take on the form of a crow, and glide short distances.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I should send him to the drake guard after all.¡±


    ¡°Now¡¯s not the time for this conversation. Let¡¯s go, Mage Archibald and Mage Cole are already halfway there.¡±


    The stairs back down opened into both the Great Hall, and into the Northern Corridor. Cole was in the lead as he exited into the courtyard, and Archibald kept a brisk pace behind him.


    ¡°Are you two okay? Tommen? Tommen, it¡¯s okay.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I should have known better, but I was-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay Tommen, things like this happen.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Master Archibald. I know I promised to not take him more than a story in the air, but I completely forgot after the meeting and how the soulsteel was acting.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have a conversation about this later, but it¡¯s a lesson everyone will experience at least once.¡±


    ¡°Come inside, Creighton has just run out of mana. He¡¯ll be fine in no time at all.¡±


    ¡°Really? His eyes just sort of went out. Like someone had blown them out, like- like a candle.¡±


    ¡°Yes, those wings must have taken a lot of effort to control, especially because he used Lesser Levitate Object to make them.¡±


    ¡°I should have known better. She just got done telling me how two people were pushing it right to the limit.¡±


    ¡°Stop it Tommen. It is okay. I promise. Now let¡¯s go inside. Some of the Footmen will bring him along and get him a manafire.¡±


    ¡°Is everyone unhurt?¡±


    ¡°Yes Daniel. Can we use the Eastern Lounge?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give them a checkup when we get there.¡±


    ~~~


    Leona and Larrik had been in the capital for just a day now. Most noble households would hire on journeymen adventurers for the winter, providing bed and board for the duration of the frigid months. Most of the work for Leona was simple enchantments, or supplying mana to other mages so they could make their own stronger. Hedge Knights like Larrik had to deal with more manual labor, but occasionally he¡¯d get lucky and have a chance to teach a batch of squires or freemen. They had both seen the ducal stagecoach carrying the remains of a greater wyvern pass down mainstreet, and Leona figured the duke would be hiring people to process it over the winter.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think they¡¯ll have their current staff do it?¡±


    He¡¯s an archmage. The chances he¡¯ll spend the winter doing it himself is almost zero. His time is spent on pushing at the very edge of our magical understanding.¡±


    ¡°And the footmen or other mages he already has can¡¯t prepare a wyvern hide?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, every single person in that mansion has a job, and more work just dropped on their heads. If we get in before they delegate it to someone else, they¡¯ll give it to us.¡±


    ¡°Fine, Fine. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    They arrived at the Ducal Estate shortly after noon, not quite an hour after the near disaster. Servants were still rushing around, and they watched as a set of guardian armor, seemingly made of pure silver, was carried in a sling by two footmen up the main stair into the second story. The maid leading them to their audience didn¡¯t seem surprised.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think that¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°It would make some sense if it¡¯s what took down a greater wyvern.¡±


    ¡°That is the Soulsteel the Duke just emancipated. He bought Baron Rawphor off with a prosthetic eye.¡±


    ¡°I see. Are you sure the Duke isn¡¯t too busy to see us right now?¡±


    ¡°No, he wanted to talk to you. You were the ones that found it out in the Greenwood, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we were.¡±


    ¡°He and Master Archibald just want to clarify a couple of facts about the recovery with you.¡±


    The Duke¡¯s Office was on the fourth floor, and it had a balcony that overlooked the interior gardens and the roof of the Grand Hall. The Balcony was open, and on it stood three men, The Duke, Archbishop Daniel, and the Archmage Archibald.


    ¡°Greetings, adventurers. You are Leona and Larrik, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my Duke. We are.¡±


    ¡°A shame Rodney isn¡¯t here, I¡¯d have liked to get his opinions too.¡±


    ¡°What do you need from us? We recounted everything, even just our suspicions, to Mage Cole.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s otherwise engaged at the moment, and for that matter so is the Soulsteel we want to ask you some questions about.¡±


    ¡°Would you like us to start from the beginning, then?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Please do.¡±


    ~~~


    When they told Keith to basically just stick the soulsteel in a manafire and hope, he had been certain it wouldn¡¯t be that easy. All the mana drained soulsteel he¡¯d worked with had needed to be spoon fed mana in order to revive, but then again it might be different this time because it expended all its mana willingly, instead of having been beaten into submission.


    He had started with a wood fire, but while the Soulsteel was absorbing some mana it didn¡¯t seem to be drawing most of it in. He built progressively hotter and hotter fires, but it still didn¡¯t stir. It was most certainly still alive, but this was quite strange. Working his bellows, he got the fire hot enough to start swapping to charcoal, but as he threw the lumps onto the fire, those that landed near the soulsteel didn¡¯t burn. They didn¡¯t even start to catch, like they were damp.


    As he watched, the charcoal was turning into dust, and the dust then caught fire and was pulled away by the draft. Using his managlasses, he saw that the soulsteel was drawing only the charcoal¡¯s order mana in. Woodfires didn¡¯t give off much, if any, order mana. This was only further exacerbated if it was a manafire, as the combustion was far more complete, and it used the fuel¡¯s own order mana to do so. Deciding it must be lacking in order mana, he kept feeding it more charcoal.


    Despite how much fuel he¡¯d now gone through, it still hadn¡¯t stirred. Letting the fire die down, he pulled it from the hearth, having exhausted all the charcoal he had to hand. The surface was still cool, as if it hadn¡¯t been buried half deep inside glowing embers, but it was still drawing in any complex mana nearby, so he had to wear his Gloves of Greater Insulation when he moved it.


    He placed the limp suit of guardian-like armor on one of his workbenches. He¡¯d only taken a brief look at its joints before now, and as he looked at them they were ingenious. They looked like they could pivot better than a human¡¯s, while also able to more efficiently transfer force through the shoulder or hip. If it wasn¡¯t for how badly everyone wanted a status update on the Soulsteel, he would have loved to get the designs down on some paper.


    ~~~


    Hello Creighton, I¡¯m here for your check in.


    ¡°My what?¡±


    I told you I could give you some assurances. It¡¯s time.


    ¡°Oh. Uh, Did I ever get your name?¡±


    You did not, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m still used to the old days when people always recognized me right away. I¡¯m Jerahmeel.


    ¡°Will you be offended if I say I don¡¯t recognise it?¡±


    It is fine Creighton. Do you have any concerns that have come up in your time so far?


    ¡°Well, uh, a couple I guess. There are a lot, but I haven¡¯t really had a chance to put them into words.¡±


    The angel seemed to pull a piece of paper from thin air.


    If you¡¯re not ready right now, we can and will be meeting again. I¡¯ve only gotten the one prayer here, ¡®I hope that cow is already dead.¡¯ I can answer that one for you now. It had bled out shortly before it was dropped.


    ¡°Are the kids okay?¡±


    Yes, they were both a little shaken up, but they¡¯re fine now Cole is with them.


    ¡°Thank go-uh-odness. I¡¯ve got more I could ask, but didn¡¯t you say too much guidance was harmful?¡±


    Yes, any questions you ask about what you should be doing I can¡¯t answer. If you¡¯re really stumped on anything to ask me, I have one to ask you.


    ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡±


    Why haven¡¯t you returned to human form yet?


    The dreamlike state I had been in seemed to just end. One second I had felt myself sitting in a hot tub with a literal angel, and the next I was laying on my back, looking up at a wooden ceiling. Perhaps he was right, and I should just use my old body, but isn¡¯t this new world a chance to start over? If I just turn back into myself again, won¡¯t I be walking the same road? He had said he wanted to help me find a new one.


    I took a second to focus on my right gauntlet, and tried turning it into my hand. The hand that had a long scar across the palm of it, where I¡¯d accidentally caught myself with a deli slicer. It wasn¡¯t difficult to picture, and then create it. When I focused, I could make the scar disappear, but I brought it back, as erasing my scar just didn¡¯t feel right. Like I was pretending that my old life didn¡¯t matter, or maybe that I hadn¡¯t lived one at all.

 Chapter 22, Man or Mimic?

    It felt like just as Cole had managed to get to sleep, he finally received word from a footman that the Soulsteel was active again. Heading down to the second floor, he went to the bedroom it had been placed in after dinner. He had been starting to get worried, as they had attempted to kickstart it with their own mana, but after an initial burst, it would only accept a slow trickle of mana. He arrived at the door, and the maid waiting outside had a flushed face.


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡±


    ¡°No, my lord. It¡¯s just that he''d taken his armor off when I went in to check on him.¡±


    ¡°He what?¡±


    ¡°He was naked, my lord. Only wearing one of the bedsheets about his waist.¡±


    ¡°Is he, uh, dressed now?¡±


    ¡°He should be, by now. I left him some spare clothes.¡±


    Upon entering the room, he saw that Creighton still looked the same way he¡¯d remembered him, but only at first glance. When he looked closer, the armor¡¯s joints had reverted to a traditional look, and the gaps under the shoulders showed a white linen shirt. As Cole entered, He removed his helmet and sat it on the bed next to him.


    ¡°Creighton?¡±


    ¡°Cole.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you still don¡¯t speak any Wernst do you?¡±


    ¡°Tommen? Natasha?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re fine, uh, and sleeping.¡±


    Cole was struggling his way through the conversation by miming his answers and talking with his hands. He paused for a second, and as the living metal pointed at itself, it said its name.


    ¡°Creighton.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Cole was absolutely stunned. Living Metal could turn into a facsimile of a human, but he¡¯d only heard of one Elder Soulsteel that had talked, and maintaining multiple separate forms was almost as rare. He¡¯s certainly never heard of one who could do both. Normally Soulsteel would rapidly lose control over its divided mass if it wasn¡¯t brought back into contact in time. Longer duration deprivation would lead to its regression into metal and order mana. Remembering when it had fallen to pieces outside his lab, he wondered why the thought hadn¡¯t struck him then.


    ¡°Daniel? Archibald? Cole?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re asking me. Do you want to talk to everyone right now? They¡¯re asleep. It¡¯s late.¡±


    The normally pearlescent sheen of living metal¡¯s faux flesh was not present. Creighton¡¯s skin looked like marble, with subtle streaks of light, dark, and order mana. He mimed speaking with his two hands, and then unrolling a scroll.


    ¡°Yes. Daniel. Sleeping. Tomorrow?¡±


    When it replied with a nod, he stood up. If they were gonna solve this communication problem, he¡¯d need to get some sleep. Before he left, however, there was one last thing he needed to do. He stuck his hand out for Creighton to take, and pulled him into a standing hug.


    ¡°Tommen. Natasha. Thank you.¡±


    ~~~


    My first proper conversation went better than I expected. He got most of it across with his hands, and I could infer the parts he couldn¡¯t manage with just gestures. I had been surprised when he came so swiftly, but it makes sense with how badly I must have scared the woman who came in. She ran out of the room so fast I was worried she was gonna trip. The clothes she had brought were soft, and while it was strange to have them between the me that was me, and the me that was armor, it was also comforting. I was right at the limit of my density and mass, but I felt like myself, and the armor made me feel safe.


    Ever since I¡¯d started trying to focus on how my body had used to feel, like how talking had felt, I found the things I had failed to brute force my way into coming to me naturally. It was a strange feeling, a lot like when I first was trying to escape my crater. The upside is that even if I didn¡¯t understand the underlying structure, the higher the complexity of mana I was working with the more likely it was capable of filling in the gaps in my understanding. Tommen had taught me a lot of new recipes, and I found almost all of them useful.


    My familiar voice had come from sound mana, base red woven one to one with green, and I¡¯m calling it sound mana because of the wonders it worked for generating sound. When I used it to do some tests, the mana had taken on a shape. Then I¡¯d grown physical vocal cords with that mana¡¯s form as a base. I thought of it like the mana was leading me, and it has worked out remarkably well. I did have some trouble, as I had been so distracted by my results that I almost didn''t grab the sheet fast enough when the door opened. The other problem I had with letting the mana lead was that it seemed to like to idealize. I certainly didn¡¯t have this sixpack when I died, so I spent the rest of the night doing little things to get comfortable in my new, creighton two point oh form, mostly toning down my greek statue level physique.


    I heard a knock on the door early in the morning, and I assumed it was either Cole or another one of the servants again. When I made a grunting sound, Tommen opened the door. His eyes seemed red,and when he came over to me for a hug, he started crying again. I picked him up and put him on my shoulders. This had always worked for me as a kid.


    We spent the rest of time until breakfast scaring the shit out of random servants we bumped into as we wandered the halls. My steps were heavy now that I was using all of my mass to maintain both human form and armor, but not that heavy. The floorboards were sturdy and I didn¡¯t see any bedrooms on the first floor that we could be disturbing.


    Cole found us in one of the gardens next to the big main hall, and he had Natasha with him. Tommen was distracted, having been trying to make a snowball. I got his attention by saying Cole¡¯s name. Their conversation was short, and Tommen seemed a little embarrassed, but then the three of them moved to enter the main hall, and I figured I might as well join them.


    The people at breakfast included two of the first faces I''d ever seen, the female mage and the brawny looking knight. They were sitting together, and seemed almost afraid of me. I figured that that made a certain amount of sense. The last time they¡¯d seen me I was a two foot long lizard, and now I was walking around at six foot plus in full plate armor. I went over to Brawny and offered him a handshake.


    ¡°Creighton.¡±


    ¡°Tarrik.¡±


    ¡°Leona.¡±


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I pointed at the empty seat next to them, and it took them a second to guess at my question.


    ¡°Rodney.¡±


    ¡°Rodney?¡±


    ¡°Rodney.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t really sure what to do with myself now, so I sat down next to Natasha. Tommen was already flanked by her and Cole, so this was the next logical place. The noble guy arrived next, but that was overshadowed when Archibald showed up, and as soon as he saw I didn¡¯t have my helmet on he started laughing again. Three times is when bad behavior starts to become a habit, so I scowled at him.


    ~~~


    Everyone was becoming more at ease, as despite being far taller than anyone else in the room, Creighton had been nothing but personable and polite, even if he didn¡¯t have the words to hold a conversation. That all changed when Archibald started laughing at him. Its face went from slight interest as it passed Duke Drake, and as his eyes rested on the most powerful spellcaster in the dukedom, he showed Tarrik what a real death glare looked like. This wasn¡¯t what anyone had expected, and with a far more booming and forceful voice, he said the Archmage¡¯s name.


    ¡°Archibald.¡±


    The old man simply laughed harder, until Duke Drake struck him in the back of the head.


    ¡°He saved your apprentice¡¯s apprentices yesterday, the least you can do is show some respect.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t help it.¡±


    ¡°Yes you can, now go sit down and stop causing more problems. I thought you wanted it to like you, so it would tell you more of its strange ideas.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know.¡±


    He sat down, and while the soulsteel did stop glaring when he did, the old man had a smirk on his face for the rest of the meal.


    ¡°We, uh, didn¡¯t get a chance to talk about it yesterday, but me and Tommen think he might be from a different world.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°The planet he drew didn¡¯t look like Trezemek.¡±


    ¡°So you think he¡¯s been reborn from Duozemek or even Unozemek?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t look at the planet for very long, but I didn¡¯t recognise any of the landmasses.¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s from a whole other planet, why does he look human then? Is he just duplicating our appearance?¡±


    ¡°When I look closely, it¡¯s clear to me his features are distinct, in ways I''ve never seen before. If he was copying us, instead of having been a human, he¡¯d have a more average face.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t have been a survivor on the lost continent, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but we know what it looked like before it was lost, and what he drew wasn¡¯t even close.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t relevant right now. No one still thinks it¡¯s a soul in its first life, right?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Then that means that he must speak some kind of language. Daniel, have you tried teaching him the translation spell yet?¡±


    ¡°No, not yet. He taught us his alphabet instead.¡±


    ¡°Any reason you can¡¯t get started now?¡±


    ¡°Sure, and if it doesn¡¯t work Remin is still looking for more references to Gormtra, the Conclave said to have had some kind of universal translation spell. I won¡¯t promise anything, as everything we¡¯ve found so far doesn¡¯t do more than specify that the conclave was active soon after the creation of Trezemek.¡±


    ¡°None of the grimoires had a spell that could translate?¡±


    ¡°No, I checked all of them. The most general translation spell is what I brought to show him.¡±


    ¡°What about spells to help him learn the language faster the old fashioned way?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a whole new kind of translation spell, it would learn his language as he learns ours.¡±


    ¡°How long would it take to expand the scope of existing translation spells?¡±


    ¡°The problem isn¡¯t of scope, it¡¯s of the base mechanism of the spell. All modern translation spells were made to translate between specific languages, and the general ones just pick a common language, like Wernst, to translate all others through. I would have to make a whole new spell to translate between the meanings of two different languages. It might take me six months, or it might take me the rest of my life.¡±


    ¡°Could the soulsteel manage it in less time? He seems to have a knack for distilling spells down and then building up new ones.¡±


    ¡°Based on how inefficient the wings he made were, he might have trouble trying to rework it.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s stop talking about it and give him the damn spell already.¡±


    ~~~


    The paper they handed me didn¡¯t mean anything to me. The words were in their language, and I hadn¡¯t learned their names for most mana yet. I still had hope it would be a translation spell, but not a great amount, as this spell was unlike the patterns that actively glowed with the different mana types where I could see the way they mixed, and were utilized by the spell. I tried to watch for patterns, or to discern the magic at work here, but the only mana it used was the silver-gray, and as it continued to do nothing, and I continued to try and force more mana in, it caught fire.


    I waited to see if they had other options for me, but everyone present seemed shocked, and then went back to their conversations. None of the mana Tommen had taught me seemed like a good fit, well other than the silver-gray. I could just work on trying to learn it the old fashioned way, but I¡¯d only taken the bare minimum Spanish in high school, so I didn¡¯t have any idea how to actually start learning other languages. I was just about to take my chair, put it on the table, and declare it was a chair, when Daniel walked up to me. He gestured for me to follow him, and when I looked at Cole and the kids, they all seemed reserved. I guess they aren¡¯t coming.

 Chapter 23, Winter Work

    I remade my helmet as we exited the mansion. The carriage we boarded didn¡¯t look as ornate as the one we had rode into town, and when we arrived I stepped out to see a church with a pair of tall stained glass windows on either side of a belltower. Daniel met a man at the door, and he took me down a flight of stairs by the entrance. In the basement, there were some desks, but the most notable thing was that there were a lot of books. What Daniel and his friend led me to was a standing desk, and it already had a book opened up.


    Before we got distracted with whatever we were here for, I tapped Daniel on the shoulder. Now that we were inside, and inside a church no less, I took my helmet back off. After both of them were looking at me, I went for a handshake with the new guy.


    ¡°Creighton.¡±


    ¡°Remin.¡±


    Remin and Daniel got back to whatever they were doing, and I just stood there. Eventually, they brought me a map. I didn¡¯t recognise it, and they took it away. They did this with two more maps, and then they brought me a large, blank sheet. I drew a rough map of Earth for them, I¡¯d forgotten some things, the other islands around Cuba, what exactly the area above Australia looked like, being what I knew I got wrong. But I got the big picture down. I labeled it Earth at the top of the page, in english, and they seemed pleased.


    They then promptly brought out a fourth map, it looked like the third map, except time had passed, and continents had shifted. After some time comparing my map to theirs, they seemed to give up and went back to the book. They then rolled all the maps back up, and bringing the book too, we ascended back upstairs and into the carriage we¡¯d arrived in, Remin was coming back with us.


    ~~~


    Remin wasn¡¯t sure just what to think. The world the Soulsteel had drawn didn¡¯t match to the First, the Second, and certainly not to modern Trezemek. The chances he was from the Lost Continent was also nonexistent, as the Soulsteel had drawn more than one continent, and This ruled out Pre-Calamity Trezemek as well. This excluded the change it was just the changes the First Calamity would have brought.


    Their only other options were to either locate the mythical ¡®Universal Translation¡¯, or try and recreate it with modern spellcraft. Neither option had seemed tenable, however there was one last thread and they were on the way to get the Duke¡¯s permission to investigate it. Not because it was some guarded secret, but because their inquiries would give up information about the soulsteel, and while the Dwarves were always neutral no matter the current political climate, they were also known as notorious gossips.


    While Remin had come to the Estate, they had planned he would stay with the Soulsteel during the discussion, and use the time to start teaching Creighton Wernst. It wasn¡¯t going very well, as once he had realized Remin¡¯s intentions, he had put a chair on the table and started calling it a number of different words. Remin was just trying to get Creighton to start with a simple greeting when Daniel briefly returned.


    ¡°How is it going, The Duke wants to have an estimate for how long it might take for him to learn.¡±


    ¡°Not well. He¡¯s focused on nouns right now, and his language seems to have a lot of different words for the same thing.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Well, what we¡¯ve spent this whole time doing is going over the multitude of different names for a chair. This includes Chair, Throne, Seat, Armchair and Recliner, among others.¡±


    ¡°So a long time?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Daniel reentered the Duke¡¯s Office. Remin didn¡¯t envy the Archbishop¡¯s status as a Ducal Aid, as it seemed to him that more often than not it only entailed breaking bad news to the most powerful man in the country.


    ~~~


    ¡°Keith, are you busy?¡±


    ¡°Ah, Mage Cole. I am not, what do you require of me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a couple questions about Creighton, specifically about how he speaks a language we can¡¯t translate.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any artifice that could help you with that.¡±


    ¡°I just meant, well, Do you know if the Cloven Dwarves have more complete records of the people left behind on the Lost Continent.¡±


    ¡°They kept an eye on the passes, aye. If a group of more than fifteen crossed the western ridge, I¡¯d say it¡¯s written down somewhere. Do you think he¡¯s one of the Lost?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. Daniel found references to a universal translation spell in the church¡¯s records.¡±


    ¡°And you couldn¡¯t find the actual spell?¡±


    ¡°It was used by a Conclave of Mages, and we think they were lost with the First Calamity.¡±


    ¡°It sounds to me like you just want to find another excuse to go looking.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to argue about if an expedition is feasible yet, What I need to know is if we need to argue about if an expedition is feasible.¡±


    ¡°You lot are far too obsessed with that cursed land, but yes. If it was a Mage Conclave, and they passed into the forbidden lands, the Cloven Stacks would have a record of it.¡±


    ¡°Okay. If we go there in the spring, would you be interested in coming?¡±


    ¡°It depends on if I¡¯ve gotten through all my work by then. Natasha and Archibald are keeping me busy these days.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s relevant to my second question. Trying to teach him Wernst is not going very well, and Creighton seems bored. Would you like his help?¡±


    ¡°I would love to get another look at those joints of his, and is it true he made the Baron¡¯s eye in one day?¡±


    ¡°It took him about two minutes after he got his hands on the electrum.¡±


    ¡°Send him down then, I don¡¯t have to tell him what to do, I can just show.¡±


    ~~~


    The biggest problem was trying to keep what I¡¯d learned in my head. Their language sounded just enough like English that their words felt wrong. Remin kept trying to get me to work on pronunciation, when I still couldn¡¯t string more than two words together properly. I was dreading each session with him more each day, and it was with great relief that I would leave with Tommen or Natasha when we were done.


    Natasha had wanted my help with her rendition of my plumb bob. Specifically to solve her total inversion problem. She tried one additional test flight with her current design, and then I tried to impress on her how the spell she was using was wasting efficiency with how high her center of mass was compared to her center of buoyancy, and if she could raise it high enough she wouldn¡¯t need the pendulum.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    My time with Tommen was simpler, he wanted to watch me weaving mana, summoning my wings, or to just go out and play in the snow. He seemed to be getting out of lessons with Cole and coming straight to me. I enjoyed my time with him, but the way it reminded me of my childhood felt bittersweet. It was during a snowball fight that Cole came to get us. He hadn¡¯t spent a lot of time with either of us, as he¡¯d been working with Daniel, Archibald and the Noble on something for the past few days. I say working, but really when I stopped to listen it sounded like they were just arguing.


    ¡°Cole.¡±


    ¡°Creighton, Come?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    I had stagnated as I just couldn¡¯t cram that many simple words into my head at once, but my ability to converse had made some progress.


    ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°Keith.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Keith was the dwarf I had only met in passing. I wondered what he¡¯d want from me, as of the few times I¡¯d seen him he¡¯d been working in his forge, or talking with Natasha about some design. We¡¯d been in one of the exterior yards, and he worked on the other side of the mansion. Cole just dropped me off, he and Tommen just left me here alone. The dwarf didn¡¯t answer when I knocked, but he might not have been able to hear me with how loud that pounding was.


    The dwarf only turned to look at me when I walked right up to him, but he did seem happy to see me. He gestured to what he had been working on. It was a U joint I had been using for my ankle. He must have cast it, and now he was heating the metal and engraving that mana script on it. He tapped on a paper on the workbench behind him, and it showed the completed pattern.


    It looked like it was using the same light and dark mana I had used, but there was going to be the same light mana pattern on the top that I¡¯d needed to add to the eye. I started forming the full picture in my head, and I was about to try and put it into the leg, when he stopped me. He put his chisel and hammer in my hands instead.


    ~~~


    Cole had left his problem child with Keith, so now he had to decide if Tommen should come with him to today¡¯s meeting. He was normally reluctant to bring him in with nobility, and if he watched today¡¯s argument he might develop the same bad habits he was still struggling to break. He was just about to send him off to do more spell practice, when Tommen stopped at the stairs.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming today.¡±


    ¡°Why do you say that?¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯ve been arguing about what to do. If I¡¯m not there, you¡¯ll make a decision without me and by the time I find out what you are going to do with Creighton you¡¯ll be halfway to wherever you¡¯re taking him.¡±


    ¡°How do you know we are going to take him with us?¡±


    ¡°Archibald told me.¡±


    The old man had a very peculiar way of always interfering with how Cole raised his apprentices, he¡¯d forgotten just how pushy he¡¯d get because they¡¯d both agreed Natasha was better off in the capital.


    ¡°Well, did he tell you where we¡¯re planning to take him?¡±


    ¡°No, just that it was gonna be a long trip, and that I should tell you if I wanted to come.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to see the Cloven Dwarves. They just want to have a look at Creighton, and we want to have a look at their records.¡±


    ¡°So can I come?¡±


    ¡°I was going to ask you tonight, but that¡¯s because me and Archibald haven¡¯t finished convincing Daniel and the Duke you would be ready for a journey like that.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Do you still want to observe? And I mean observe, Daniel and Archibald are old time friends of the Duke. You can¡¯t talk to nobles the way they talk to him unless you¡¯re friends.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but Master Archibald always seems to be fighting with Duke Drake. Are they really friends?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Tommen. As you get older, you will start to find that your best friends fight you more often than your good ones.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound very nice.¡±


    ¡°I know I¡¯ve told you this before Tommen. Being friends isn¡¯t just about being nice to each other.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master. When are we planning to leave?¡±


    ¡°The snow is already too deep on the mountains, so it¡¯ll be spring before we can go. We also are going to bring Baron Raphor his new leg, while we¡¯re passing through.¡±


    ~~~


    Leona and Tarrik were both exhausted. They had expected it to be a greater wyvern, but they didn¡¯t expect its hide would be so untouched. There were less than three major blemishes, and when it came to killing a greater wyvern you normally needed more than three attacks. The nights were growing longer, and the winter deeper, as Larrik kept slicing, and Leona kept dyeing the scales with balance mana to keep them pristine.


    ¡°So, About that trip they are planning to go meet the dwarves. Are you gonna sign up?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, the pay is good, but there¡¯s no bonuses, and It¡¯s a tall mountain.¡±


    ¡°The Duke doesn¡¯t put out requests like this often. It¡¯s a chance to make connections and we might even get hired on more permanently.¡±


    ¡°You said the same thing about this job, and all I do all day is cut rotten meat off wyvern hide in the freezing cold.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but think about how it will look when we try and get onto some of those professional adventurers'' parties. We¡¯ll have worked with the Rodney and the Archmage Archibald.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather we actually go learn something actually difficult, otherwise all we can say it that we¡¯re experts in living metal babysitting.¡±


    ¡°Come on, chances are there won¡¯t be any good work until summer anyways.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it, okay? I¡¯m too cold to make a choice right now.¡±

 Chapter 24, Deep Snow Deep Sorrow

    In the beginning of winter, there is a lot of work to be done, but as the frigid months pass, people have less and less to do. Dwarves deal with this in the same way as most, but Keith had run out of alcohol only a month into the harsh winter. He had meant to order more over the summer, but Archibald¡¯s latest prototype had been having some teething troubles while Tom had been around, and rebuilding a new part almost every other day didn¡¯t leave time for shopping.


    He had been dreading how much the merchant would charge him for a long time, but if he didn¡¯t do something soon he¡¯d have to go out and buy human alcohol instead. The Soulsteel was around, but wouldn¡¯t have any recommendations for him. Every single mage was still drowning in the piles of revisions each of the Soulsteel¡¯s tweaks caused. The big idea that started all of this frantic winter work had come from the Soulsteel, and had given Archibald so many more. He had now roped everyone else into trying to get the designs and prototypes finished before spring, as they couldn¡¯t finish development on the road. The budget was absolutely colossal, but the old man had convinced the Duke it would work, so there was a good chance it was really going to all come together.


    Currently, his part was to build the overgrown teapot that the Soulsteel was working on, but it had taken the designs away from him. This meant he¡¯d have freetime for once, so he was going to spend it getting his hands on something to drink. Now that he had finally caved, he made his way to the ShadeTree Inn to look for Tom, but instead he saw different, but still familiar faces.


    ¡°What are you two doing here? Already done with skinning that wyvern?¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re just taking a break for the end of the year. We haven¡¯t had much of a chance to talk, have we?¡±


    ¡°No, those mages like to keep me busy, and the Duke pays in Drakes, not days off.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong. What brings you here to the ShadeTree? I doubt it stocks anything you¡¯d like.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to see my liquor supplier, Tom.¡±


    ¡°You know Tom? He went out back to check on the horses, always does this time of night. He¡¯ll be back in a couple minutes.¡±


    ¡°Mind if I join you in the meantime? I wouldn¡¯t mind trying some of that Flame Drake¡¯s Draught.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a fancy name, same old whiskey.¡±


    ¡°I can pretend, at least. You two were going to join us for the trip to Cloven Heights, aye?¡±


    ¡°We were. She¡¯s convinced it will set us up for success.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you in on a little secret. It just might.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? I just thought the Duke and the Archmage would make good references.¡±


    ¡°That Soulsteel you two found is the major reason. Well, the real reason is he¡¯s given those wizards a big idea that¡¯s letting them try everything they¡¯ve ever wanted and to stuff it all in one giant artifice, but it¡¯s his fault all the same.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean anything to me. We¡¯re going up to the Heights to search their records, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but come on now. There are only two reasons humans want to go to the heights, instead of just going to the depths.¡±


    ¡°I can think of two. The view and people looking for the lost continent.¡±


    ¡°They might be trying to convince the High King to support our independence.¡±


    ¡°No, the lass is right. The fools have a good excuse to go looking, and if their idea works out they might have the first good plan, ever.¡±


    ¡°That must be some idea. Can you tell us anything else about it?¡±


    ¡°Well, I can tell you a couple things. Dwarves would never have come up with what they are gonna build when we reach the Lake of Stars.¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡±


    ¡°Dwarves don¡¯t build ships. And you know the worst part of it all? I¡¯m in just as deep as the rest of them.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°Tom, there you are. How¡¯s the winter treating you so far?¡±


    ¡°Good, Keith. Treating me good.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve already been delving into the bottles before I got here, huh?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not that deep. More of a Cloven Range than a Cloven Depths, you know?


    ¡°Sure, sure. How¡¯s your stock of dwarven liquor? Is it already bought out?¡±


    ¡°I was absolutely certain you¡¯d be needing more this year. I meant to bring it up when we met in the market, but I got distracted by that new coin. Bigger than the old ones, huh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. The Duke wanted to push the value of a Drake above old ridge coins. Do you have any or not?¡±


    ¡°For you, I kept only the best, and plenty of it. You three already know each other?¡±


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.¡°Yes, we bump into each other from time to time in the estate.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, of course you do. Okay. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°What, Tom, where are we going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna show you some real booze, and guess who¡¯s paying?¡±


    ¡°Fine, but only because you saved it for me. Come on.¡±


    The four of them celebrated the new year in the back of Tom¡¯s wagon. The other merchants that were wintered down didn¡¯t come out to the barn, so they had the whole place to themselves.


    ~~~


    Rodney was cursing his luck. Poetrak, that damn know it all kid, had sent him on another wild goose chase. He¡¯d ¡®waited three days by the tallest Oak in The Greenwood¡¯ and not a single person, let alone any knights, had come ¡®gallivanting by¡¯. Poetrak had said, for the first time, he¡¯d foreseen him coming back successful, but there was absolutely no one here. Today he could finally start heading back from the multi day hike he¡¯d had to take to find the stupid tree in the first place. Every druid claimed their tree was the tallest in the forest. The treents had been more helpful, but it was hard to get them to wake up this deep in the winter. However, as he looked up at the sunrise, he saw smoke, damnable smoke.


    Following it to its source, he found three of Cordillera¡¯s knights, and one of their court mages all huddled around a bonfire. The conversation they were having through chattering teeth was loud enough that he didn¡¯t need to even try and sneak closer to hear them.


    ¡°Why do we only need to blight beech trees? They aren¡¯t important to the Duke, he doesn¡¯t even have that many carpenters. And the last time we started one down south it hardly affected their crop.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but the seers never seem to tell us why, do they?¡±


    ¡°Probably because they don¡¯t know themselves. They always cultivate an air of mystery and superiority, but they are just making guesses at the future.¡±


    ¡°He did make the prediction right after we got word the duke was hiring a bunch of craftsmen. He could be onto something.¡±


    ¡°Seers are always onto something, it¡¯s just that they¡¯re never the ones to suffer for it in the end.¡±


    Four on one wouldn¡¯t be very difficult, and if he asked nicely he was sure one of the ents would be willing to help him carry them at least as far as Breaksdenn. He did hesitate though, as Poetrak was going to be so smug that he¡¯d gotten another one over on Cordillera¡¯s Gap that he¡¯d probably not stop gloating the rest of the winter.


    ~~~


    When Archibald showed me the lightning generator, I got to work laying the groundwork for a steam engine. I started with the ideal gas law, and Keith already had check valves on his bellows. It was a simple thing to whip up a small model, but even with my ever growing metalworking proficiency, something at scale was beyond my ability to instantly create.


    They really took my idea and ran with it, though they kept trying to use mana for things. I had to stop them from using fire mana, and swap to a normal wood fire instead. Just insulating it properly was a fight, as they had wanted to carve spells into all of the pipes. The hardest part was the controls for the engine, as I didn¡¯t remember enough about valve gear. It was Natasha and Keith who contributed the most to that hurdle. I showed them what it had to do and they worked their way to something that could manage it, but we had a lot of dead ends were they kept trying to use mana again. They also kept trying to get me to make it smaller, but if it was gonna spin Archibald¡¯s lightning box it needed to be big. It wasn¡¯t until I saw the complete design on Keith¡¯s workbench that I realized they were planning on making a whole airship.


    Now that I knew what they actually were going to use it for, I started working on making a smaller and more efficient engine, as opposed to one that would produce massive torque. I thanked god I¡¯d worked on naval drive systems, not that my expertise in packing mattered very much when the ship was gonna fly, but it was still better than if I''d stuck with my backup plan of being a barista for the rest of my life. Although, I might not have died if I had stayed at my old job.


    I still didn¡¯t know why they wanted a flying boat so bad. I''d tried to sell them on a plane, or a zeppelin, but the concepts must have seemed too different to them, or maybe they wanted to still be able to land on the water. By a month in, my conversational skills were still improving. I had died in late december, so it didn¡¯t initially strike me as strange when we celebrated their new years first. It did strike me as strange when they brought me to church for ¡°First Life Day¡±. Gift giving was still a staple, but no Christmas trees, mangers or Santa.


    I didn¡¯t get anyone anything because I didn¡¯t even know this was coming, but when they started giving me their presents, even if it was mostly clothes, I couldn¡¯t help myself. I¡¯d had to miss my last Christmas on Earth, and I didn¡¯t realize how badly I¡¯d regretted that fact until now.


    ~~~


    Cole, Tommen and Natasha hadn¡¯t expected that Creighton would cry over socks, but when he did they were all at a loss. They had tried to figure out how to communicate that the holidays were coming up, but they figured just letting him experience them would be the ideal way for him to understand. They had settled on giving him clothes as he¡¯d been slowly wearing his armor around less often, but the only clothes he had were the generic ones the servants had scrounged up for him.


    Tommen had been the first to run over and give him a hug, but he was not the last of the little gathering to do so. Cole had taken the longest, as he was bewildered by what must be another first, as if it wasn¡¯t someone would have written down that Soulsteel cried pure light mana as tears before now.

 Chapter 25, Hills To Climb

    After they moved my room up to the third floor, out of the guest room I¡¯d been staying in, I¡¯d started joining them for breakfast. Today they¡¯d eaten extra early, and set off just as the sun was coming up. The first thaw had come about a month ago, but we didn¡¯t leave then. It had been the correct call, as we got as much as the whole previous month¡¯s snow in the next couple of days. This time, I recognised the road we were taking. It had been the same road we had taken from battle grandpa¡¯s. There was no snow falling today as we filed out through the gate of the city. It was named after the guy who ruled this place, Drake¡¯s Redoubt. I wasn¡¯t sure if it translated as Drake¡¯s Fortress, Drake¡¯s Castle, or maybe something else. We were still having some trouble with more abstract translations. So although I didn¡¯t know his relative rank, I did know he wasn¡¯t beholden to another ruler.


    There were a few wagons that didn¡¯t fit with the rest of the fancy carriages, like the one I was riding in with Tommen, Natasha and Cole. They contained the disassembled fruit of our winter labors. Except for the leg, that was in with my stuff. I didn¡¯t even notice that battle grandpa had been missing one. I had taken my time with the one we had with us now, as Keith simply wouldn¡¯t let me take the easy way out and implant mana into it.


    I felt like I had gotten back at him, as the steam engine didn¡¯t have any magical parts to it. He had really wanted to make the oiling magical, but eventually I did get him to cave on drip feeding oil. The oil we had settled on to use was something from the wyvern I¡¯d killed. Apparently Dragons were even bigger, and didn¡¯t hunt for cattle, they hunted mostly wild game. Unless they weren''t.  After I had put Keith through the wringer, and we started running out of work left to do on the engine, Tommen had pushed me to start training with Larrik.


    Larrik didn¡¯t seem too excited about this, and it only got worse for him after he taught me a proper stance and he couldn¡¯t beat me anymore. I still had poor reflexes compared to him, but after the initial training he really didn¡¯t have much to teach me. His fighting style of sword and board didn¡¯t really work when my entire body can be both a sword and a shield, at the same time. Tommen did enjoy it when I¡¯d make some over the top weapon, but none of them were practical.


    I ended up sticking with a polearm, but when Leona stepped up to try and teach me magic it went far better. Even if I didn¡¯t speak the language properly I could chant the spells, and I could also manipulate mana in a way she couldn¡¯t. If she wanted a fireball, she had to structure it with her voice and her hands. If I wanted a fireball, I could just force mana into my hands, and then hurl it like a baseball. Spells might not have been a massive problem, because if I started getting one of the words right the spell stopped working. If I got a word in their language wrong I might not find out until I started applying the pronunciation or meaning to a new one. After three months of daily lessons with Remin and Daniel, I was still getting common words mixed up. They were trying their best, but I couldn¡¯t make the kind of progress they wanted from me, especially with how much work we¡¯d been needing to get done during the first two.


    I got to sit in on more than a couple of Cole¡¯s lessons for Tommen, but they seemed all directed at basic formulas and strategies to keep mana from mixing when you didn¡¯t want it to. For experiments, Cole would often use me as a pure mana dispenser, but I didn¡¯t mind that much. Archibald would find me when he¡¯d burn himself out on the last idea I''d given him. Currently I was walking him through what I remembered of a sewing machine, but I couldn¡¯t give him more than the fact it was two threads, not one, and how the first had to pass over the whole spool of the second. He had seemed to be making some progress before we¡¯d left, I could tell because that¡¯s what he always laughed at. I was surprised when he didn¡¯t come, but also a little relieved. He would still, on occasion, just start laughing when I was around, even if we weren''t working on anything. Cole had explained it was because he had made the armor I was copying, but surely it wasn¡¯t that funny, especially after all this time.


    When we got to Kruthburg, I was surprised to see Rodney was waiting for us in the Baron¡¯s hall. I had completely forgotten about him, but Leona and Larrik went right up and started talking. I did my old reliable handshake introduction.


    ¡°Creighton.¡±


    ¡°Rodney. Good meet of you again.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Good meet you too.¡±


    Behind Rodney, the battle grandpa was waiting with his wife, son and daughter. He was a vassal of Drake, an apparently close one. I performed the bow they had taught me, not that I had needed many pointers, and the Baron had me rise with the gift we¡¯d brought him. I still didn¡¯t know how he¡¯d lost his leg, but now that I was paying attention his right leg was currently made of wood starting below the knee.


    ¡°A gift that is fine, My thanks given.¡±


    ¡°Honor is mine.¡±


    This time the little girl didn¡¯t try and get to pet me, although with how long we were going to be here, she¡¯d have a couple more chances. The wagons of wood and of the shipbuilders were here, but there were still a few stragglers coming from farther away than we had. They had shown me on a map the route we were taking, and it made a certain amount of sense. If we built the skyship down here, it would have to climb all the way over the mountains on its first voyage. If we build it on the slope on the other side, it wouldn¡¯t need to climb more than a few feet at a time, and we¡¯d be able to follow a river. Whenever it ran deep there would be places to set down.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Cole¡¯s old lab was still untouched and he, Tommen, Keith and Natasha started setting themselves up while we waited. They had taught me more advanced mixtures than the basic ones Tommen had, recipes that included three part mana recipes. A lot of them had I had to be careful with, as they were a lot more powerful than any I¡¯d used before. The names of the different types were by far the easiest to remember, as the mana itself responded to its name with attention. I still couldn¡¯t figure out how exactly to apply this to spoken spells, but there was little else for me to do while they rushed around trying to double check everything was ready.


    ~~~


    ¡°So, you¡¯re sure you didn¡¯t want to go with them?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m too old to go on any more adventures.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not certain that¡¯s true. With all the extra storage space, they could have brought most of your lab.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. They are all plenty capable. I wouldn¡¯t be bringing anything by coming along.¡±


    ¡°Experience isn¡¯t nothing, Archy. Rodney is going.¡±


    ¡°He could never settle down. I¡¯m certain they¡¯ll be fine, and we both know I promised I¡¯d not try and go again.¡±


    ¡°We both know this wasn¡¯t what she meant.¡±


    ¡°It was what I meant. I know they¡¯ll succeed, and they don¡¯t need me to do it.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you kept pushing Creighton away? So he wouldn¡¯t try and bring you like he brought Keith?¡±


    ¡°That could be part of it. If you¡¯d make me guess, I mostly kept pushing him away because I''m jealous.¡±


    ¡°He does have absolute control over mana.¡±


    ¡°Not that. He¡¯s got a long future in front of him. And better friends to share it with.¡±


    ¡°At the start, maybe. You don¡¯t think you got there in the end?¡±


    ¡°I spent all this time trying to set my apprentices up for success, but now that they¡¯re going off to earn it, I feel envy.¡±


    ¡°As we get older, It¡¯s natural to feel this way when they go off to achieve something we failed at.¡±


    ¡°Says the man twenty years my junior. You better get your act together, or you¡¯ll have no one to inherit by the time you¡¯re my age.¡±


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯re not going there. You and I both know I still have some time, at least.¡±


    ¡°Time always seems to go faster when you¡¯re relying on it.¡±


    ~~~


    Is your ward doing well, Jerahmeel?


    Yes. I would say so.


    You really aren¡¯t going to help him with the language?


    We are not to do things for them that they can manage themselves.


    You can intercede on his behalf, he¡¯s not on Adamah any longer.


    I know I could, but I should not.


    He seems to be struggling, though.


    One must struggle. How often did you used to be the one reminding me of that fact?


    Fine, fine. Do with him what you will.

 Chapter 26, Mountains Ahead

    The first thing that struck me is just how much stuff we had to bring. The second thing was how peaceful the forest we entered was, other than the lack of leaves, this Greenwood was exactly how I remembered it from four months ago. The third thing, however, I only noticed when we reached a hill that was also a clearing. The peak of the mountain in front of us had seemed tall from back in Kruth, but now as we approached their bases they seemed to be dominating more and more of what had before been the sky.


    The horse drawn wagons struggled with the dirt roads, but I¡¯d found the craftsmen riding in the heaviest wagons were all very thankful when I¡¯d lift a wheel off the ground so they could fix an axle, or simply to get them out of the occasional spring washout. Most of them seemed to be carpenters or shipwrights, but there were also plenty of metalsmiths. Keith seemed to spend most of his time with them, perhaps because there were a few other dwarves there. I like to think he was getting them ready for the unorthodox work we had to do when we reached the top.


    The Cloven Peaks meant something like Carved Mountain¡¯s Top, and it seemed fitting for where dwarves would make their home. During our planning, I had also learned there was a volcano somewhere in the nearby range, but while Keith had said it was one of the tallest ones, everyone else had pointed to a smaller one, closer to the coast. I was familiar with tectonic shifts, but for all I know volcanoes here could just be wherever lava spirits are currently living.


    Cole was looking over my shoulder as I cut through a tree that had fallen in our way. He was quite interested in my modern tool, but when I simply handed the silver chainsaw over to him it just seemed to creep him out. He got like this whenever I handed part of myself to someone else, despite how I showed him that I was keeping a line of light, dark and balance mana running through the air to keep it together. Before we¡¯d left, he¡¯d made me test how long my tools would function without the threads, and had seemed absolutely floored when they lasted ten minutes.


    I won¡¯t tell you it wasn¡¯t weird, but I see that part of myself as simple mana, just in the form of a chainsaw. Unlike Cole, Keith had been especially happy with my rivet gun while we¡¯d been constructing the boiler. It was proving to be by far the most difficult thing to get up the mountain trail, and after the third day we moved our carriage to be right in front of it, so when it would get stuck I could immediately get out and push.


    We were approaching a high cliff, but apparently there was a cave around here somewhere that would lead us to a valley on the inside of the mountain range where the going was far easier. We reached the entrance on the third day after leaving Kruth. Most of the mountain¡¯s slope was lightly forested, and after we¡¯d left the Greenwood we didn¡¯t see any more druids.


    The road turned sharply and headed into the cave, and before we entered a lot of the wagons had to take down their canvas coverings that were used to keep the rain off the seasoned wood. It was all lashed together in bulk, but inside the caves weather wasn¡¯t going to be a problem. I had expected the horses to balk at the dark and narrow caverns, but honestly they seemed far more relaxed when we got inside.


    It was during our first rest after entering the caves that Keith pointed out to me how the fork we were about to take wasn¡¯t natural, it was hand hewn. I¡¯d checked if explosives were a thing yet, and while I didn¡¯t know formulas or anything, I was tempted to try and work through it with Cole and Tommen, but I had to focus on something, and learning Wernst was currently my highest priority. I was approaching what I would guess is a highschool level understanding of the local language, but I had been bogged down in how exactly to string them together so that it was understandable to them. Whenever I ask them how their morning is going they look at me like I am crazy. I think it has something to do with it coming across as them owning the morning, but I¡¯m not sure.


    The natural looking cave had rounded edges, even during previous forks. This man made tunnel we were moving into had a hard transition where the floor went from smooth and rounded to flat, wavy pattern. The walls and ceiling were also just as flat, but they didn¡¯t have any pattern on them. The ceiling¡¯s corners were rounded, but obvious gutters ran along the edges of the roadbed. The center of the road came to a point in the direction we were taking, perhaps it¡¯s a kind of road sign.


    ~~~


    When Eugene¡¯s father had told him he was going on the expedition, he had been certain the old Baron was actually just trying to kill him. No matter how special the soulsteel was, or how ingenious the design of their flying deathtrap, he was not going to participate. His mother had started on his side, arguing it was far too reckless to send the heir apparent out on an expedition for the Lost Continent. However, she had begrudgingly swapped sides when his father had shown the letter from Duke Drake. His father thought the world of the previous duke, but Eugene hadn¡¯t known him, and the only opinion he had about the current duke was that he hadn¡¯t let his father start a war with the gap, specifically by landing him here, against the Western Ridges.


    It wasn¡¯t until he saw the Soulsteel again that it sunk in what the Duke had meant when he said ¡®like nothing he¡¯d seen before¡¯. When he¡¯d last seen it, it had appeared as a living dog statue, and he¡¯d watched as his younger sister had pet it during its audience with his father. Eugene only wanted to apologize for his family¡¯s disrespect, not to follow it to a watery grave in the Roiling Sea. This hadn¡¯t been quite enough to convince him to go, but it had been enough for him to commit to looking over the designs and following them to the Lake of Stars were they would launch it.


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    On the first couple days of the trip up, he¡¯d been frustrated with how often they¡¯d stop for apparently simple problems. They¡¯d stop the whole column for five minutes or less at a time. It wasn¡¯t until the third such stop that he got out to see what was holding them up for himself. He had to walk the whole length of the caravan, but he¡¯d never skipped out on his father¡¯s training, so he power walked his way down the steep road. He was rendered speechless when he got to the offending cart, and found the soulsteel was laying underneath it, the whole cart held up off the ground. It held the cart only by its knees and hands, while two of the craftsmen removed the broken axle, and then replaced it with a new one. When the soulsteel rolled out from under the cart, it caught his gaze and walked up to him. There was mud stuck to its clothing, but the marble skin didn¡¯t have a smudge on it.


    ¡°Creighton.¡±


    ¡°Rawphor, Eugene Rawphor.¡±


    ¡°Meeting you took longer.¡±


    He remembered now how the letter from the Duke had informed him that the soulsteel was well on its way to learning Wernst, even if it was still having trouble with full sentences.


    ~~~


    Cole was using the travel time to catch up on his record keeping. He didn¡¯t manage to keep full notes during the rush job they¡¯d spent the winter trying to complete, and when he got there they would have less time. The skyship was planned to be finished in six months, less time if they could get the dwarves full support. Officially, they were bringing Creighton up to present him to the high king as a magical marvel. Unofficially, the original intention had been to search for records of the Conclave among the Cloven Stacks. When they had received confirmation of records indicating their entrance into the forbidden lands before the calamity, and that they hadn''t escaped before it was lost, the plan changed.


    Cole hadn¡¯t initially been able to wrap his head around what Keith had sent that got the stubborn old dwarves to send them an actual answer, rather than just inviting them up to look for themselves. It hadn¡¯t been until he received revisions of his designs from Keith that he realized the dwarf had sent the plans to his kin. While that wasn¡¯t the difficult part to wrap his head around, the Duke was normally against giving away cutting edge artificary, even that meant giving up on the dwarves¡¯ valuable perspectives.


    It had been Archibald¡¯s idea. He claimed that the best way to get the dwarves on board, while not completely showing their hand, was to let Coldera¡¯s Gap and the Queen only hear rumors of the fantastical artifice they¡¯d invented. This wouldn¡¯t sound like a great upset if it had come from Archibald, and by the time all the facts made their way back down the mountains, and into The Kingdom of Ridgewern or The Gap, they¡¯d already be back.


    They were going to spend about a month doing endurance tests of Advanced Levitate once it was actually engraved into the copper band. The spell used lightning mana instead of the traditional choice of wind mana, as Archibald¡¯s Mana Source could produce Lightning Mana from Creighton¡¯s engine. He claimed it had been a coincidence, but Cole thought he¡¯d stumbled into far too many coincidences in his long career.


    Tommen was focusing on catching up on his studies, he¡¯d not had time to instruct him on new spells, but that wasn¡¯t a massive problem, as the hands on work Tommen had been doing made as good a foundation as practicing spells. He had also noticed Tommen¡¯s mana control was growing remarkably faster ever since he¡¯d started emulating Creighton. Soulsteel was known for not just its physical strength but also its ability to manipulate mana, and Creighton was in a league of his own, even for Soulsteel.


    ~~~


    Natasha had been afraid when they left the capital, as she wasn¡¯t sure Archibald would let her go, or if Master Cole had truly forgiven her for endangering Tommen just to try and show off. Now that she was here, and they were making their way up the Western Ridges, she could finally relax. That didn¡¯t last long though, as she was soon swept up in excitement. She was not just going to get to fly higher than Lesser Levitate had let her float, but she was going to be going faster and farther than her wildest dreams.


    The Lake of Stars had been chosen because it was on the far side of the mountains, so they could constantly descend most of the way into the Roiling Sea. Her dreams of flight hadn¡¯t included an adventure to the Lost Continent to try and find a spell to translate for Creighton, so she was conflicted. On one hand, it was the adventure almost every person on Trezemek would dream of at least once, but on the other hand, she knew that the translation spell was a convenient excuse. It would be nice to hear Creighton speak fluently, but it paled in comparison to many of the other spells rumored to have been created by the Conclave of Gormtra. Gormtra had been legendary, and his children had formed the Conclave to continue his legacy.


    Gormtra had been the most vocal of ancient sorcerers who claimed that magic was the only way to stop the First Calamity from ruining the whole world. The Forbidden lands had been forbidden because that was thought to be where the Calamity would occur. Gormtra had been of the firm belief that if they didn¡¯t intervene to stop it, the Calamity would spread through the Ridges and first threaten the lands of Ridgewern, and then the rest of Mindyke. No one knew if he had been wrong, or if he¡¯d been right and succeeded in containing the disasters spread. Many had died trying to find out, though, and if the fact that the Conclave was on the Lost Continent during the Calamity, and didn''t escape, got out there would be many more.

 Chapter 27, A Twisted Tunnel

    Leona and Larrik were in front of the caravan, and as they scouted, almost every problem they came across was just solved by sending for Creighton. A tree here, a washout there. He could turn a fallen tree into firewood in less than half the time it would take the footmen, and with his help Cole could move far more of the roadbed back into place than any mage would have been able to manage alone. At the end of their shift, they went back to Tom¡¯s carriage. He had signed on to help transport building materials to the top, but his wagon was mostly an impromptu tavern following the convoy along. He was selling it all cheap, as he wanted to stock up on dwarven vintages while they were at the Peak.


    Keith¡¯s many papers were all stacked in a corner, as the dwarf had made himself at home in Tom¡¯s wagon. The floorspace it offered gave him enough room to spread the entirety of the designs out while he was working, and he had kept returning to marvel at the frames they¡¯d be casting. Currently he was off either trying to get more blacksmiths onboard for the colossal undertaking, or perhaps talking to Creighton about one of the many new tools he had pulled out of nowhere.


    ¡°Finally almost out of the caves.¡±


    ¡°You make it back to daylight?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. The tunnels made for easy going, but you won¡¯t see me complaining when we are back in the sunlight again.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let Keith hear you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if he hears. He¡¯ll be able to spend months underground when we get there. I need some fresh air.¡±


    ¡°Mountain air is said to be some of the freshest, you know.¡±


    ¡°I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Who are they going to give the captainship to?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve been keeping an eye out as we passed all the fancy carriages in front, and we still haven¡¯t seen anyone with any kind of naval uniform.¡±


    ¡°The rumor in the caravan is that it¡¯s going to be the Baron¡¯s son, or some dwarf that bullied his way in because of their excitement about the new artifice.¡±


    ¡°Really? The Baron¡¯s son didn¡¯t strike me as captain material. Too green for command.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re probably right about Rawphor, but what I said was that those were the rumors. I have it on good authority that the planned captain will be joining us later.¡±


    ¡°So do you know who it is?¡±


    ¡°You know him too.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know any sailors. The Dutchy is landlocked.¡±


    ¡°Rodney isn¡¯t a native of the Dutchy.¡±


    ~~~


    The trip up the mountain was much easier when we entered into the valley. The interior mountainside had fewer cliffs, and there were plenty of switchbacks that let us make good progress up the mountain. It was the third day after we¡¯d left the caves that we entered back into the underground. It was a T junction, the path to the left sloped down, whereas the path to the right was a climb. We passed a group of dwarves passing down, and they were all equipped to go mining. Pickaxes, candle helmets, and a number of hand drawn carts lightly loaded with what must have been their supplies.


    I could see them meet up with the head of our procession, and they passed him after only a short conversation. I had been on my way back from helping reload a wagon that had spilled it¡¯s cargo of fabric when I met them. They didn¡¯t stop, but they were all staring at me. I suppose that is the normal reaction when a six foot and change statue walks past you. I could hear them talking amongst themselves, but it wasn¡¯t Wernst. I would need to make it a point to find Keith, as I now realized I don¡¯t know what to expect from the dwarves here inside The Cloven Peaks.


    My attempts to find him were interrupted by a new call going up from behind. I turned around and started walking in the direction of the shouting. I then started running when I heard a weapon strike stone. The tunnel we had entered was an underground road, and it had curved slightly to the left as we¡¯d ascended. Now that I was descending, the tunnel was curving to my right in front of me. I saw, by flickering torchlight, the outline of a giant spider. Not a tarantula, that was about the size of the little guys swarming around it. This thing was bigger than a horse.


    We had soldiers all throughout the caravan, and I could already see that Leona, Larrik and a few others were pulling the attention of the smaller spiders away from the wagons. There was already one big one down that Larrik had cut some of the legs off of, but the one I''d seen first was dragging a horse into the cave they had come from. I hadn¡¯t had a lot of time to practice throwing, but now was when I¡¯d find out if it was enough. I pulled a harpoon from the palm of my left hand, and then hurled it for the one trying to escape with the horse. I overshot the spider, but as the harpoon passed over it I increased both its weight and my own.


    My chain now pinned the spider to the ground, and my heavy footsteps echoed as I broke into a sprint past the last two wagons and dove into the immobilized spider. Its carapace was tough, but it still dented under my body slam. I took the harpoon and plunged it into the monstrosity''s center mass, and it did not rise again. As I stood up to start dealing with the smaller ones, magical flames engulfed me. I sealed the holes in my armor with a thin foil to ensure my normal clothes wouldn''t catch fire, though I should have done that before risking getting them covered in spider juices.


    Most of the small spiders were dead or dying now, a few still burning as they skittered in every direction. Standing amongst their corpses, I pulled my harpoon back out. The cavern they had emerged from had appeared to have been collapsed, but had instead been an illusion created by stones stuck into a web, with a large hole now opened up in the center. I channeled light mana into my harpoon and tossed it into the area beyond the hole. Cocoons of spider silk hung from the ceilings, and the floor was littered with the remains of the spider''s previous victims.


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    Leona was already helping the men who had been injured, including a few of the dwarves who''d seemed no less interested in me now than when they had passed me by before. I stepped through the hole, and surveyed the room while carefully stepping over the corpses littering the floor. Most of the humanoid ones looked dwarven to me, with wide shoulders, but human proportioned skeletons appeared infrequently. There were also horses and other pack animals I didn''t recognize. With no further threat in here, as the other exit to this chamber was blocked by another faux collapse, I turned back towards the caravan.


    God, I hate spiders. Please let that be the last of them.


    ~~~


    There had been rumors that Duke Drake was sending some remarkable Soulsteel up the mountain in a bid to gain the new High King¡¯s support in an expedition to the Forbidden lands. Beghaim had thought it was nothing more than the next generation of humans trying to make another pass at the adventure the previous generation had failed at, but his opinion started to change when he saw just how large and independant the Soulsteel was when Beghaim and his company passed it. When Thriel stepped on a Rubble Spider¡¯s line, they¡¯d still been arguing about if it was still Soulsteel, or something greater. The human knight had grabbed Thriel and slashed at the spider trying to drag him in, and their mage was preparing a spell for the swarmlings when the Soulsteel slammed into the matriarch. The mage¡¯s fire spell briefly blinded him, and when he could see again the Soulsteel had just retrieved its spear and was flinging it into the Rubble Spider nest, the chain following behind it illuminating the entire side cavern.


    Rubble Spiders could grow to be dangerous in unused passages, but a proper matriarch this high up in the Cloven Roads was unheard of. The corpses inside the nest implied it had been here a while, and if it had been here so long it should have been caught months ago. Beghaim¡¯s thoughts had just turned to how he was going to thank the caravan for jumping to their defense when the Soulsteel walked up to him and offered a handshake.


    ¡°Creighton.¡±


    ¡°Beghaim, Son of Jeklain, of Clan Gritten.¡±


    ¡°Safe are them?¡±


    ¡°Aye, Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Most welcome.¡±


    As it departed, his men started to talk amongst themselves.


    ¡°So It really can talk.¡±


    ¡°Did you see how it pinned the matriarch?¡±


    ¡°No, but I did see it flatten her.¡±


    ¡°Quiet you lot, and start gathering up the dead. Prospectin¡¯s canceled.¡±


    The small mining company promptly filled their rockwagons with the remains of the recovered victims, wrapped them in fabric borrowed from the humans, and joined the long procession heading Peakward to report the incident to the High King.


    ~~~


    The incident with the Facade Spiders caused Eugene to amend his orders to the scouts. They had been relaxed due to entering areas that should be well traveled by the dwarves, and therefore safe, but once burned twice shy. The band that had started following them back up the tunnels was carrying the corpses of those they had found inside the cavern. The standard for recovery of materials and dead was that they were to be brought back to their families, and then whoever had brought justice to the departed was either compensated with a bounty of gold based on what they killed, or if the family didn¡¯t want to pay the reward, the party could lay salvage claims on the loot they had retrieved.


    Eugene was his father¡¯s representative, and by extension the Duke¡¯s, so he had already decided to waive the process as the Soulsteel had killed the broodmother, and Leona and Larrik were already being compensated by the value of the spider¡¯s corpses. The upcoming negotiations with High King Gryger Ramrest would get off to a far greater start if they started with the return of missing dwarves and generosity. He wouldn¡¯t rely on them not seeing the gesture as a simple negotiation tactic, but it couldn¡¯t hurt. He didn¡¯t think it was likely it would hurt, anyways, as the dwarves would sometimes take offense to those who acted too humble after their success, especially if it was something the dwarves themselves had ¡®recently¡¯ failed at.


    As long as he could get a foot in the door, he was certain they¡¯d be past the hardest part. The information they had been given on the Conclave already proved the dwarves were more willing to work with them now than any other time in the past century. Cooperative artifice and research generally went fine, but the information given to their artificers and researchers were always narrow in scope. Telling a human to go find what they wanted for themselves in the Cloven Stacks was telling them to grow old and gray searching through ancient dwarven dialects that were crammed into shelves and scattered inside a network of maze-like tunnels that forced humans to hunch. Dwarven librarians spent most of their lives among their books, and were said to guard them as fiercely as dragons guarded their gold.


    The trip would take another few days, but as the caravan ascended higher and higher, the full scope of their endeavor was spreading throughout the craftsmen, and they were making better and better time. That was until the last day, as they were crossing a massive stone arch bridge that spanned a gorge. It was a minor marvel of the skill dwarven masons possessed. As they crossed it, and entered through the large stone double doors that served not just as an entrance, but also a massive fresh air intake.


    A dwarven city was built tall and skinny, where the bottom was shaped like a vase, and then the average diameter pulled back in as it ascended. This was because, right at the bottom, there was a massive forge and hearth that induced a draft. The smoke of the massive deepfire, and all other fires burning inside the city, funneled into one massive chimney running the entire height of the settlement. Fresh air was then sucked into even the most miserable of dead ends, so long as a fire was lit and the vents were kept clean. It also kept the stagnant air from slowly building up, and posing a risk to dwarves in flat pockets or lower levels. The caravan had to stop and wait as the fire¡¯s ashes were dumped, as the gate needed to be shut to prevent the torrent of ashes flowing out from being sucked back in. Most of the caravan watched as the gray avalanche of dust rushed down the steep mountainside.

 Chapter 28, Welcome Hearth

    ¡°We''ve got to go. Now.¡±


    ¡°I''m right in the middle of this.¡±


    ¡°You''ve been right in the middle of something different every day for the past month. Come on.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to be there, it¡¯s not like the King ordered me to go.¡±


    ¡°He did, the summons are right here.¡±


    ¡°You said Gryger sent that.¡±


    ¡°He''s been the High King for sixteen years now.¡±


    ¡°Sixteen years and he''s already ordering me around? I served his grandfather for a half century before he was born.¡±


    ¡°You asked to be invited. The Mages and the Soulsteel that came up with the designs are going to be there.¡±


    ¡°I thought that was tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You stayed up all night. We''re going to be late.¡±


    ¡°Keith can just tell me about it when he gets home.¡±


    ¡°Is that the real reason you don''t want to go? Afraid he''ll rub his success in your face now that his plan to find employment in the human lands has borne fruit?¡±


    ¡°You think I''d be angry that my son proved me wrong? I''m mad because he¡¯s coming home without a girl.¡±


    ¡°He''s not even sixty yet, we didn''t get married until you were eighty nine.¡±


    ¡°Ember¡¯s Reign, I was taking my time to find the perfect woman, he''s not even trying!¡±


    ¡°How many times did you tell him he needed an achievement under his belt before trying to settle down?¡±


    ¡°Just because he hasn''t achieved it yet doesn''t mean he¡¯s not well on his way, and that logic was good enough for you.¡±


    ¡°There, you''re not in the middle of anything but another pointless argument now. Let''s go.¡±


    The elderly dwarven couple started down the spiraling main. Austine Kalvas was the Forge Master of The Cloven Kingdom, in charge of the entirety of the Deepforge. He had, for the last three months, handed off day to day responsibilities so he could focus on the ¡®big picture¡¯ plans his son had sent. His wife, Grella Kalvas was the one handling the day to day affairs he''d thrown to the wind so he could spend more time with his new obsession, Beeswax Casting. It had been an almost dead art, as modern casting could rely on small magical forms. When the plans had hit his desk calling for casting the three massive bulkheads the surface area of the pieces was far too large, and he had determined they couldn''t have been cast as one piece with any other known method. Every bulkhead had main mounting points on both sides, so the depth of the casting would be an issue as well.


    Magic had still aided in getting them past the initial hurdles, as trying to both synchronize the pour rate and ensure no air bubbles were trapped inside would otherwise have taken a lot of trial and error. The scale models had been melted back down, and the first of the full size wax forms was approximately half done, being already half buried, the remaining surface being cut down into approximate dimensions.


    Without additional magical assistance, Grella had estimated that only half of the castings would be usable, but Austine knew his smiths could get it up to two in three, and perhaps even higher once they had run through the process a couple times. If they could use Unyielding Earth and Greater Resonance they both agreed it was likely pushing three in every four, but their mages already were at the limit of their mana capacities. The breeze suddenly died down, so they hurried their steps as the delegation must have arrived early.


    ~~~


    The lower levels of the city were dimly lit, with only the main road possessing sufficient manalamps for the caravan to comfortably see. They cast their glow down, leaving the exact height of the thoroughfare¡¯s roof a matter of speculation. On the right the walls were rough stone, but on the left were townhouses, carved from the natural rock. Large pillars descended from the darkness precisely every sixty eight feet. The number was apparently the ideal compromise between form and function.


    Eugene watched as many working dwarves passed by. They had been told to bring the mechanisms for powering the ship¡¯s flight for review, but the wood and shipwrights hadn¡¯t been mentioned in much more than passing. This had led to the prevailing theory that the dwarves wanted to delay the actual construction for at least a year, but as they passed the foundry floor, that notion was dashed. The area was simple and open, with chains strung overhead in every direction. Dwarves worked on what could only be a frame casting, the massive forms already half buried. This meant exactly the opposite, as the dwarves must have started work at least a month ago to already be this far along.


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    Before Eugene even processed what that could mean, the caravan reached the first public plaza, and there he saw something even harder to parse. It had been one hundred and twelve years since the last welcome feast, and he now feared he¡¯d need to focus on stopping the dwarves from trying to take the whole project out of their hands. The buffets ahead were filled with dreaded dwarven cuisine, but the bars were serving dwarven alcohol. The High King took Eugene by surprise, having walked up to him with no escort and having needed to push a few dwarves already too deep in their cups out of his way.


    ¡°You are Rawphor¡¯s son? Come, we have much to discuss.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I suppose we do.¡±


    ¡°You can have a servant fetch your food, but I recommend grabbing as we go.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°So congratulations. You''ve done it. I had started to think that your mages had given up.¡±


    ¡°Given up on what, exactly?¡±


    ¡°After the last expedition to the forbidden lands, my father made it clear that we had determined that the sea was simply too rough. The previous envoy asked him what you would need to do to get him to change his mind.¡±


    ¡°He responded that there was nothing we could do, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°I neglected to double check the records before you came, but I am reasonably certain that we told you the only way there would be to fly.¡±


    ¡°You meant that literally?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I think one of your delegates responded by asking us if we expected you''d domesticate wyverns.¡±


    ¡°No, you''re right. It¡¯s just that we assumed you were¡­ letting us down easy?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps we should hold informal meetings like this more often. We meant it, in good faith.¡±


    ¡°I know for a fact that we¡¯d jump at the chance to visit the Peak more often.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve set up some foreign quarters, so from now on when you all visit your stays can be for longer.¡±


    ¡°That is most gracious of you.¡±


    ¡°It''s the least I could do, as you lot figuring out flight in under fifty years won me a wager with my father, though it''s a shame he didn''t live long enough to see the designs himself.¡±


    ¡°We didn''t really figure out flight ourselves though. It was the Soulsteel.¡±


    ¡°The report I received said that the Soulsteel contributed about fourteen percent of the final design.¡±


    ¡°It''s higher than that if you consider the ways he applied our existing knowledge.¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t really matter if it was your mages or this Creighton. You''ve brought us flight, so we''re going to honor our word.¡±


    ¡°What scope is that supposed to imply?¡±


    ¡°We said we''d back another if you could fly the expedition there. So back it we shall.¡±


    ¡°And that''s it? Just going to throw as much money and time at it as we want?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I''m sure you''ll want it done faster, but the first frame won''t be ready until the end of the month. That can¡¯t be rushed.¡±


    ¡°I saw the foundry working on one of them already. You did get the full proposal, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Keith sent them, along with the timeline. I would have expected it might be a bit fast for your shipwrights, but if they can handle it, we''ll have all the metalwork done with time to spare.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t send you our timeline, I was going to negotiate it with you when I got here.¡±


    ¡°Keith sent his. It was rather reasonable for only three large castings, and six smaller enchanted plates.¡±


    ¡°If you can get even just the frames done in three months, we can start trialing on the Lake of Stars by the end of the fourth.¡±


    ¡°We can get into the specifics later, our food is getting cold.¡±


    The table they sat down at was no more special than the others they had passed, other than their seat¡¯s superior cushions. Eugene found the food tasted better than he had expected, and the mead exceeded its reputation. The conversation turned casual, specifically to how the trip up the mountain had gone.


    ~~~


    ¡°Allright. Are you two ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes Master Cole.¡±


    ¡°Tommen?¡±


    ¡°I am still not sure I¡¯ll be of any help.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been working as hard as everyone else, you¡¯ll have plenty to contribute.¡±


    ¡°Will I be able to keep up?¡±


    ¡°You need to learn how to articulate what you¡¯ve learned. I won¡¯t let the conversation leave you behind.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t done enough work on the boiler, or the engine to explain them.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to explain things you aren¡¯t as familiar with, I want you to try and explain the things you¡¯re confident in. When me or Keith are talking make sure to pay attention as clearly communicating complex magic is one of the most important skills to being a good mage.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best, Master Cole.¡±


    ¡°And Natasha, You''re going to be doing the same, right?¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Is Creighton coming?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah. Creighton, come with us, we¡¯re meeting with Keith, and his family.¡±


    ~~~


    Cole had said there was to be a meeting, and Keith showed up with a pair of older dwarves as everyone else in the caravan started swarming the food. The male dwarf looked a lot like Keith, but older, and with thick glasses. The woman had a more subtle familial resemblance. They both seemed pleased to meet us, and the father seemed quite interested in me. After a brief introduction to Austine and Grella everyone but me started gathering their food. I declined to take some for myself, and we all sat down to eat. Austine finished his food first, and started asking questions of Cole, Tommen, Keith and Natasha.


    The conversation seemed complicated, and while Tommen had started off answering most of them, Natasha took over when he started to falter. I could keep track of most of the questions Tommen answered, but after Natasha began answering things the complexity surpassed my fluency. I tried to focus on the conversation, but it felt like just as soon as I started getting a feel for how their language fits together, the next sentence would just shatter my false progress.


    I started to drift as Cole and Keith started fielding most of the answers, and I started playing with my taste buds again. I wanted to start trying to taste food even if I didn¡¯t need to eat when Eugene, the noble in charge of negotiations, came over with a dwarf around Keith¡¯s age. They wanted me to come with them, so I said goodbye to the table, and rose to my feet. The two of them brought me off to the side for a conversation with one of the dwarves we¡¯d run into on the way up, but I initially couldn¡¯t understand what they were asking me. I had already told Eugene that I didn¡¯t need a reward for killing the big spider, and I couldn¡¯t think of anything else they would need to talk to me about right now.

 Chapter 29, Coming Together

    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying he made part of himself glow?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t like a manalamp, my King. It was as radiant as the sun.¡±


    ¡°Is this something you¡¯ve looked into, Rawphor?¡±


    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t had cause to see Creighton make light.¡±


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go ask him then. Can¡¯t be too hard to find him.¡±


    ¡°He should be in Mage Cole¡¯s care, and he went with Keith to meet your Forgemaster.¡±


    ¡°I see, Austine must be putting your mages through the ringer. He¡¯s been obsessed with the designs, he wants to revise your engine before any more building begins.¡±


    ¡°I am certain his input will be most valuable.¡±


    It did not, in fact, take any time to find Creighton. He was almost a head above most adult men, and seated on either side of him was Tommen and Natasha. Eugene spotted him as soon as he stood up, and after skirting the edge of the buffet they arrived at the table in question. Creighton was not eating, and he got up to come with them almost immediately. Rather than going to a table the group set off to a deserted corner as most attendants had finished eating, but not drinking, and man and dwarf alike were starting to get rather rowdy.


    ¡°There is something the king wanted to ask you about, Creighton.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Do you do anything special with your light mana? It seems to cast far more light than dwarven lamps do.¡±


    ¡°Light weave?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the structure you use to produce light.¡±


    ¡°Bound tightly, Produces most. I add lightning.¡±


    ¡°I had thought it might be just because Soulsteel possesses such a high conductivity. Can you show us?¡±


    ¡°High conductivity bad to make light.¡±


    ¡°That is quite bright. Can you dim it?¡±


    ¡°Less lightning will.¡±


    The three of them inspected the metal rod in Creighton¡¯s hands. It was engraved with simple channels that bound light mana to the rod¡¯s surface. Occasionally, one pattern would spark off to another, and as the arc jumped the light flickered slightly.


    ¡°The requirement of constant lightning mana input makes it impractical for delves, my king.¡±


    ¡°It might not be practical as a mobile light, but with a generator, I expect standing lamps or wall mounted ones would be possible, especially because you already have a source of heat.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll worry about that after you¡¯re on your way. In the meantime, thank you Creighton. You seem to come up with the most intriguing of insights.¡±


    ¡°Have more, when time?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll get you to talk to Austine over a design table. He¡¯ll be the one in charge of actually putting quill to parchment.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ~~~


    The first two months were mostly prep work, But by the start of the third two of the castings were completed, and they had begun to put the rear of the ship together. Each frame would support a mast rigged with square sails, the front and rear frames also having a pocket for a topmast and mizzenmast respectively. Based on the barques commonly used outside Ridgewern, but possessing a deeper draft to fit the boiler and engine. Creighton had originally proposed it as a ¡®Windjammer¡¯, and the name had stuck after being roughly translated into Wernst as ¡®Galefast¡¯.


    The rear of the vessel possessed a copper screw, enchanted to increase its drag while turning in air. It was only considered as secondary propulsion, because despite the dwarves'' access to coal, the generator consumed the majority of the engine¡¯s power during high speed flight. If the boiler was at full pressure, the screw could be run for a short duration to allow the ship to fly directly into the wind, rather than having to tack. The boiler was just aft of the middle, and the engine was located right in front of the rear¡¯s cast frame. The coal bunkers were on either side of the boiler, running along the hull.


    The original design had been a completely ironclad ship, but despite dwarven metallurgy, the sheets necessary to form a hull were not competitive in terms of weight, and iron beams were the same. The metal quality was approaching practicality, but if they wanted to make the ship lift from her moorings by the end of the year, the Galefast would have to settle for white oak. Normally large amounts of the lumber would be carted down The Gap for shipbuilding in the port city of Jinkrok, so a few less loads leaving The Duchy was unlikely to draw much suspicion.


    The Plates of Advanced Levitation needed to run along the hull¡¯s topsides, so that the plates would be kept dry enough to take off while sailing on the surface of the ocean. The rear of the ship was mostly complete as Rodney neared the end of his journey, bringing with him the Galefast¡¯s crew.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been traveling for a month now, and you want us to climb up to the peaks?¡±


    ¡°I told you we were coming here for another expedition.¡±


    ¡°So why aren¡¯t we passing through the depths? Aren¡¯t we just gonna have to walk back down again?¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t taking a vessel from the Iron Escarpment. Our vessel is at the top.¡±


    ¡°Just what did the mages cook up this time, and how much did they have to offer for you to take part?¡±


    ¡°They hadn¡¯t settled on the name before I left, but you¡¯re telling me you don¡¯t want to serve aboard the first skyship?¡±


    ¡°Not if it¡¯s going to fall from the sky when the mages need a snack or a nap.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that. They¡¯ve found a way to generate mana without exhausting themselves.¡±


    ¡°How does that work, then?¡±


    ¡°It was something Archibald and my granddaughter were working on.¡±


    ¡°Is Natasha coming?¡±


    ¡°She is.¡±


    ¡°Then you really must think its safe.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡±


    ¡°Fine. You¡¯re lucky that navigating in the air won¡¯t be any different than navigating at sea.¡±


    ¡°I expect it will be a lot colder, though.¡±


    ¡°Wait a second, you still didn¡¯t tell us what we¡¯re getting paid.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a budget for crew wages, and you¡¯re getting normal shares to be paid out when you take your leave.¡±


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    ¡°What about our advances?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll get an advance once we¡¯re at the peak. Just make sure not to drink everything you buy before we leave.¡±


    ¡°Oh shit, I forgot. We¡¯re drinking dwarven, boys!¡±


    A cheer went up from the long line of carriages, men with weary feet suddenly finding a spring in their step. Half the trip had been on foot, only grouping up to sharing a couple of wagons after entering the Duke¡¯s demesne. The crew was mostly older seamen, but a few green sailors were in the mix as well. Rodney had gotten most of the previous expedition¡¯s crew back together, along with their apprentices and, in a few cases, their children.


    ~~~


    Jinkrok was the capital of Cordillera¡¯s Gap, and it was ruled by the Petty King Gregor Ridgewern. There was no royal palace, as when Gregor had declared it the capital of his new kingdom, he had instead put his available warchest into making the castles¡¯ defenses as strong as possible, only putting the bare minimum into cultivating a royal atmosphere. This was both to ensure that despite the early disadvantage he¡¯d had, the Gap itself had exacted a toll on his brothers when they had come down to lay siege, and because he didn¡¯t ever want to feel comfortable here.


    The knowledge that his brother¡¯s daughter now sat on his throne kept him up at night. He was content to put economic pressure on Edith, squeezing her coffers until she either taxed her lands into revolt or had to cut back on her levees, either would give him the opportunity he needed to recover all that had been taken from him. He could almost imagine himself leaving Duke Drake to his own devices, if only he¡¯d stop causing trouble. They had an implicit alliance, as The Kingdom of Ridgewern couldn¡¯t take both of them on at once. However, the Duke wanted to maintain the status quo indefinitely, something Gregor couldn¡¯t accept.


    ¡°You mean to tell me they¡¯ve got the dwarves onboard for another expedition?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the rumor, and a number of freemen that served on the last expedition have left the country, heading west.¡±


    ¡°I always underestimate just how underhanded Drake can be. How long until they can leave?¡±


    ¡°We were already monitoring the Iron Escarpment, and the Gilded Carp seems to be readying to sail.¡±


    ¡°Something still seems strange. It must be big if it changed the dwarves'' minds. Are we sure they aren¡¯t going without dwarven support?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t be sure yet, but it seems like the dwarves are backing them.¡±


    ¡°What about this ¡®Soulsteel¡¯? Has anyone bonded with it yet?¡±


    ¡°We can surmise someone has, as it left with the envoys.¡±


    ¡°A shame. If we¡¯d found out about it sooner, we could have tried to steal it.¡±


    ¡°The few reports we have gotten all seem to indicate it has been acting particularly eccentrically, even for soulsteel.¡±


    ¡°Why would it be weird for living metal to turn into a dog, or a suit of armor?¡±


    ¡°I meant the more recent reports, of how it seems to be acting human.¡±


    ¡°If it can talk, that certainly rules out the chance it¡¯s only living metal, but all Soulsteel is known to be eccentric, especially Elder Soulsteel.¡±


    ¡°It is learning at a truly frightening pace if it arrived on Trezemek only six months ago.¡±


    ¡°Another reason I wish we¡¯d gotten our hands on it. Drake has always seemed to have divine luck.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps they¡¯ve made a spell of greater fortune.¡±


    ¡°Go tell Detryl I want him to look into the Gilded Carp. He should be ready to scry by now.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my King.¡±


    ~~~


    I found myself in high demand during construction. When we laid down the keel, mounting the first two frames with their respective masts, and even as a upjumped nail gun for affixing the hull¡¯s many planks. I had to draw a line when, instead of making a shipwright climb all the way up with each rope, they would have me fly up with a large bundle of them. I had improved my wing¡¯s efficiency, but they still consumed an unreasonable amount of wind, light and dark mana.


    I was confident that if someone fell overboard I could catch them and return to the ship, but I expected I¡¯d pass out shortly after getting back. If it was a truly dire situation, I could always burn some of my mass mana, but the return wasn¡¯t great, and I don¡¯t want to find out what happens when there is no more of me left. I relented and promised I¡¯d get them started for the third mast too, but they would have to pull the rest of the rigging the old fashioned way. I had been passionate about sailing ships, but my practical knowledge was all from my time in college and then the far too short machinist¡¯s course I¡¯d taken. I did put special attention to ensuring the ship was well ventilated, as I liked to think I¡¯d learned my lesson. Not that I breathe anymore.


    The first engraved plate was finished, and I was inspecting it with Cole, Natasha and Eugene. Grella had been focusing on them now that the process for casting a frame was proven, and just by looking at it I could feel its pull. It was designed to draw in ambient wind mana and excite it into lightning mana. They seemed like anti-gravity plates to me, made of burnished copper.


    ¡°They can lift two thousand tons each, with a little left over in case others get damaged. The whole ship could still fly with only two of them active, but they¡¯d have to be paired, left front with right rear, or middle with middle.¡±


    ¡°I was worried losing more than one would mean we¡¯d need to land immediately. How did you increase their strength?¡±


    ¡°Lightning seems to be far more efficient than just using wind. It more than makes up for the weight added by the fuel and the engine.¡±


    ¡°The new enchantment completely avoids all the problems that would have been caused by the old spell¡¯s downdraft. The sails won¡¯t lose wind, and you could walk right under it while it¡¯s flying.¡±


    ¡°That is great. Control individually to balance?¡±


    ¡°Yes, We¡¯ve added a control to each of them separate from the lightning channel, and it will let Natasha¡¯s balance mitigate pitch and roll.¡±


    ¡°The rudder¡¯s enchanting is also almost finished, it was easy compared to that screw of yours.¡±


    ¡°So, if we can fly with half the plates, couldn¡¯t we fly with half the ship?¡±


    ¡°No, Tommen. The plates might transmit most of their force into the metal frames, but the wooden framing also takes some of the load, and more importantly keeps the plates from twisting.¡±


    ¡°The original design called for two masts and four plates, but we had to go bigger to fit the engine.¡±


    ¡°When casting finish? Make front plate?¡±


    ¡°Aye, we could make the paired plate for this one, but are the sailors okay with the launching ceremony being into the sky instead of into the water?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll ask around once they get here. They should arrive any day now.¡±

 Chapter 30, Liftoff

    I walked up the scaffolding leading into the ship. In my arms were the last of the tubes we had left to install.The original design called for just pressing the tubes into place by folding the ends over, but after Keith succeeded in reverse engineering my rivet gun, I started trying for a welder. Keith managed a functional welder that followed my design, and despite our lack of any spatter protection, the mana seemed to produce better welds. My lightning mana is reasonably efficient, but Keith¡¯s fire mana version is not, though as a bonus it doesn¡¯t risk damaging his eyes.


    The boiler is narrow and long, as the vertical triple expansion engine we had assembled back in the capital was designed for efficiency, not maximum power. In retrospect we could have gotten the dwarves to cast it for us too, and it would have been simpler, faster and of a higher metal quality. Regardless, it ran well during our testing and the only thing I regretted about the design was that it wasn¡¯t reversible. However, everyone had agreed that if we needed to back the boat up the mages could figure something out.


    The boiler had two smokeboxes to maximize efficiency by passing the coal¡¯s burning gasses back and forth through the boiler¡¯s fire tubes, thus ensuring complete combustion of the fuel. Keith and I finished by riveting the rear smokebox into position, and as we left for lunch, we were met with a crowd. I now regretted how much I had been slacking when it came to learning Wernst, as when we came up the mountain Daniel and Remin hadn¡¯t joined us, leaving me bereft of any teachers. Rodney was the only recognizable face among them, flanked by a woman who looked exactly like how I¡¯d describe a crazy cat lady, and a bald man with extensive facial hair.


    ¡°Rodney.¡±


    ¡°Creighton, meet the crew.¡±


    ¡°Hello.¡±


    ~~~


    Krisjen had been a boatswain for many years, and despite the near disaster of the last expedition, he had agreed to join for the new attempt. The money was nice, but the real reason he joined was because he detested the short port to port trade he currently found employment in, as it failed to capture the real freedom that had drawn him to the sea in the first place. No matter the ship, whole crews would rotate off after only a few stops, and he¡¯d be forced to break in green recruits again.


    When Rodney had told him they were setting off again, he¡¯d jumped ship and was relieved to hear just how many members of the old crew Rodney had managed to bring back aboard. He could have done without the old hag, though. Joan was a fine navigator, but wasn¡¯t a person you looked forward to being stuck at sea with. The only relief was that as a navigator, she would sleep during the day so as to use the stars as a guide at night.


    ¡°The dwarves couldn¡¯t make their tunnels slope just a little less?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost like we¡¯re climbing a mountain.¡±


    ¡°They can dig them at whatever incline they want. I am certain the deeps are a gentler grade.¡±


    ¡°They cut these to create a shortcut between existing caves. They would have to make the tunnels a lot longer to decrease the slope.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t they have to drag ore all the way up?¡±


    ¡°The depths have first smelt bloomeries, they only haul bars up.¡±


    ¡°Still seems excessive to me.¡±


    ¡°Stop complaining, focus on something else.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it will still look like a real ship, or are we going to be screaming through the air in a flying henhouse?¡±


    ¡°I expect it will be able to sail the open sea as well. The reason being, if it doesn¡¯t work like a ship, why do they need us?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, but you can never trust mages to follow common sense.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there, I hope they have something ready for us to eat.¡±


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s mushrooms?¡±


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s mushrooms.¡±


    The trip up the Cloven Roads did not take the crew as long as it had taken the original convoy, as the crew wasn¡¯t burdened with bulk construction supplies. They had passed a number of delving bands, but as they neared the peak they bumped into a patrol. Apparently, there had recently been a Facade Spider operating in the upper roads, and the dwarves wanted to make sure nothing else had snuck up through the untrodden paths.


    They did not spend long inside the dwarven city, having arrived at lunchtime, Rodney paid out advances, along with a warning to try and find warm clothing before they spent it all on alcohol. The dwarves lived on top of a mountain, and with the three months of lead time, the dwarves had a few outfits ready, even if they were not perfectly sized for humans. The next morning, they started back down the other side of the mountain on their way to the Lake of Stars.


    The shipwright¡¯s camp was about a three hour walk back down the mountain, but the path was mostly on the surface. The air was thin, and still quite cold when they exited a short tunnel through a ridge line and could see the Galefast for the first time. The third iron frame was being prepared to be erected, with the fore-mast already inserted, and the top-mast resting next to the keel, needing to wait to be mounted after the frame.


    ¡°Holy shit. It is a boat.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re using metal frames? Will it still float?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be able to fly, Krisjen. It must be able to float.¡±


    ¡°I meant without mana.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Eric, where are you?¡±


    ¡°Here, father.¡±


    ¡°What do you think? Is it going to sink?¡±


    ¡°I think it will float, especially if it¡¯s dwarven made.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good enough for me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna go find out when they¡¯re planning to launch her. They say a ship christened with dwarven wine is blessed with good fortune, and if they take too long I won¡¯t have any left.¡±


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    ¡°Come on Joan, let¡¯s just go look at the ship first.¡±


    ¡°You two are both coming down with me. The rest of you lot too, You all need to meet the mages and Creighton.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s Creighton?¡±


    ¡°The Soulsteel who designed the ship. Now, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ~~~


    Eugene and the High King were down at the Lake of Stars, watching as the ship was launched. The body of water derived it¡¯s name from the mirror surface, and from the claim it was a crater from a huge meteor. Plumes of water shot upwards into the chilly air, and much to everyone¡¯s relief the Galefast did not sink. It took only a moment for the ship to settle, and then as the watertight status of the hull was confirmed, a cheer echoed back and forth throughout the valley.


    ¡°When are the levitation tests?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re after dinner, such that the boilers will have enough time to warm up, and to leave enough time to test both the screw and rudder before trying to take first flight.¡±


    ¡°Do you think the crew will adapt?¡±


    ¡°They were already used to tying themselves to the mainmast during the last expedition, and in the sky it should be a lot calmer than on the Roiling Sea.¡±


    ¡°I hope they don¡¯t have a fear of heights.¡±


    ¡°Most of them are already used to climbing the rigging, I expect that they will be fine.¡±


    ¡°Our Peak is about sixteen thousand feet above sea level, and humans can¡¯t breathe up that high. Is there anything you have to push past that limit?¡±


    ¡°Well, we won¡¯t know how high the ship itself can go, but Creighton made it clear that as the ship climbs higher the boiler will get less efficient, but the engines will get more powerful.¡±


    ¡°So you can¡¯t estimate the ship''s maximum altitude yet?¡±


    ¡°We were planning on sticking to ten thousand as a general rule, but they¡¯ll have to test it before they set off.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still not planning to go then?¡±


    ¡°Why should I go? I don¡¯t know any special lore, I don¡¯t know any magic. I might know how to wield a sword well enough, but not better than any knight we could send instead of me.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to negotiate with the locals then? There could be survivors.¡±


    ¡°I guess I assumed the mages would do it.¡±


    ¡°What if there are nobles among them? They could be descendants of your long lost ancestors, after all.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that could be true, but is that really enough of a reason for me to go?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an adventure, my boy. That¡¯s enough reason for you to go.¡±


    ¡°Are you sending a representative then?¡±


    ¡°To be honest, half the reason I want you to go is so Fredrak will have a peer with him.¡±


    ¡°I would not consider myself his peer, even if he¡¯s only your nephew.¡±


    ¡°Come now, I¡¯m certain you¡¯ll both make good company for the trip.¡±


    Despite the lack of wind in the valley, the sails were being tested by summoning a breeze, and the ship started doing laps around the lake. The first smoke could be seen coming out of the funnel, located port side amidships. They were also taking this time to test the anchor, though it was a simple mundane anchor, as the planned enchanted anchor hadn¡¯t yet reached usability. The ship continued working up as the sun sank ever lower, and shortly after dinner the day¡¯s final tests were marked by the ringing of the ship''s bell, followed shortly by the ship¡¯s whistle, both echoing across the water.


    ~~~


    Keith could see Creighton was having a lot of fun pulling the steam whistle¡¯s rope. He had been familiar with traditional whistles, as they were often used deep underground to communicate breaks and shift changes to miners. The one installed on the ship was far louder than anything he¡¯d heard before, putting even magical noisemakers to shame with its strangely harmonious sound.


    ¡°First time propeller?¡±


    ¡°Aye, screw first. Kris, Have you dropped the sails?¡±


    ¡°Aye, we¡¯ve stowed them.¡±


    ¡°Engine is warm. Can start now.¡±


    ¡°You heard him. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The triple expansion engine couldn¡¯t be started while still cold, and the steam jackets had now brought it up to temperature. At first the shaft remained still, the first piston being in a bad position to make power. The second, however, kicked the whole engine into motion. The steam began exhausting out though the stack, and with it the induced draft the fire only burned hotter, causing the pressure in the boiler to continue to grow.


    Initially the boat didn¡¯t appear to be moving much at all, but it did begin to gain speed and topped out at ten knots. This was good, especially because the lake was slightly too small to ensure it was their absolute top speed. After reaching maximum pressure, they began testing the generator. They ran the engine slowly at first, ensuring that the lightning mana wasn¡¯t escaping from its paths, and that the Plates of Advanced Levitation weren¡¯t about to tear themselves from the ship.


    Initially, no one on board the ship realized when they had taken off. The ship had been riding high in the water as they slowly increased the power to the plates, and it wasn¡¯t until cheers had sounded from across the lake that they realized they were now aloft. The last planned test called for ensuring the enchanted rudder would work to steer the ship while in air, and after making a couple turns, they brought the ship back down into the water. The descent was gentle until the spray caught the Plates and the ship lost all of its lift, slamming down and bobbing back up, causing a number of large waves. Though the plates were now wet, and would be unable to operate again until mostly dry, the generator and the conducting channels remained undamaged.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell you when we actually left the water.¡±


    ¡°As soon as the generator turned on, the ship didn¡¯t sway at all.¡±


    ¡°Natasha is work is good. Make sure to tell her.¡±


    ¡°Aye, we should.¡±

 Chapter 31, Last Call

    Natasha and Tommen hadn¡¯t been allowed aboard for the test flights, including the maximum altitude test. After having reached thirteen thousand feet the sailors had started to become restless, and then as they approached fourteen thousand, the youngest of the crew were short of breath, and that was agreed upon as the limit. Bad weather had blown in just as the ship made ready, causing the actual departure to be delayed. The trip down the mountain needed good visibility to avoid outcroppings and to keep contact with the Iron Run. When they arrived at the Iron Falls, they would bypass the Iron Escarpment¡¯s docks and rendezvous with the Gilded Carp out at sea. It had been the ship for the previous expedition, and was going to transfer her old equipment and the rest of the naval goods necessary to mount a three month long voyage.


    Today, the weather was clear, and the engine could be felt vibrating anywhere on the deck. Tommen and Natasha were talking at the prow, with Master Cole keeping an eye on both them and the forward Plates of Levitation. After the ship was christened, further festivities had been toned down, so now with only a little fanfare the Galefast started westward. Initially gaining altitude to clear the ridgeline, they then started the long descent down, as by hugging the ground they could catch the strongest winds from the mountain¡¯s natural convection.


    The river made a nearly straight run down to the ocean, The western side of The Ridges were not often traveled, with the dock at the base of the Iron Escarpartment being seldom used by the dwarves themselves. In ages past, the Cloven Depths had allowed one to travel from the Kingdom of Ridgewern into the Forbidden Lands, and while the dwarves did not endorse passage into them, they did not stop any who chose to ignore their warnings. Famines, droughts and wars had driven many of the early settlers, but the Conclave had entered for the express purpose of trying to stop the calamity, rather than the majority who crossed seeking unspoiled lands.


    In the days before the Calamity, the Iron Escarpment had been a gentle valley, known then as the Iron Vale, and today ancient mining tunnels could still be seen dotting the massive cliffs. Many had fled back through the safety of the Cloven Kingdom and then into Ridgewern, as the tremors and extreme weather had convinced many to flee. Exact accounts of what exact form the start of the calamity had taken were mixed, most claiming it started with natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and a few others claimed it began with blights or even a plague.


    It had been over a thousand years since the calamity, and despite the many attempts, the Broiling Sea had swallowed nearly every expedition. Only those who turned back had ever returned to tell their stories, and the greatest obstacle was the Broiling Sea¡¯s ashen rainstorms. Great Broilstorms would blanket the whole horizon, leaving only thin passages between the massive storm¡¯s cells. While there were calmer months where the storms would become significantly less intense, the routes between them would close. This meant a ship had to either try and tack between two walls of death, or endure a light drizzle of boiling pain.


    Natasha¡¯s father had been lost on the last expedition, when the Gilded Carp had been blindsided by a sudden shift in the wind. A full fourth of the crew did not have enough time to take shelter, and most of that number perished. Natasha had been raised by her grandparents, and after her grandmother died she started an apprenticeship due to her significant magical prowess. Master Cole had also been sailing with the Gilded Carp, and at the time he had been merely a journeymage, and had been safe below decks while trying to pass between the storms, only joining Archibald and the rest of the crew on deck to help after they were caught in the scalding rain.


    ¡°So, Natasha. Do you think the trip will be as easy as everyone keeps saying it will be?¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯re going to avoid most of the known risks, but we¡¯ll have to see how dangerous flying over it all is once we¡¯re there.¡±


    ¡°How tall do Broilstorms get?¡±


    ¡°They can be quite tall, but that¡¯s only during the winter months. In the summer they become shorter, and that¡¯s when you can sail between them.¡±


    ¡°So, are we going to be flying through, or are we just going to be able to go over the whole storm?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not certain. Normal levitation would put us at risk of getting sucked down or lifted too high by the storm, but with Advanced Levitation, and Superior Stabilization, the winds would need to lift the entire boat.¡±


    ¡°How can the storms keep going for so long? Master Cole said they were fed by mana, but where could they be getting it all from?¡±


    ¡°Master Archibald told me, before we left, that the whole sea is suffused with fire and earth mana.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be wind and ice?¡±


    ¡°If I had to guess, It¡¯s an after effect of the Calamity.¡±


    ¡°What does Master Cole think?


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t like making assumptions without actual data, but he agrees it¡¯s the most likely explanation.¡±


    ¡°Are there others?¡±


    ¡°Yes, some people claim it¡¯s giant fire dragons protecting their nests, that it''s a natural phenomena, some even claim the Conclave of Gormtra is using the storms to prevent whatever disaster happened there from escaping.¡±


    ¡°Gormtra was an Elf, right?¡±


    ¡°The credible records don¡¯t specify if he was a full blooded elf or not.¡±


    ¡°I thought almost all of the elves left Mindyke because of the Calamity?¡±


    ¡°They claimed that it was God¡¯s design that Mindyke was going to suffer the calamity, and that was because the continent was predestined to fall into sin. Or something like that.¡±


    ¡°What do they say today?¡±


    ¡°These days everyone is pretty sure it was just a prophecy to keep people from passing the western Ridges into danger.¡±


    ¡°So why do the dwarves still call it the Forbidden Lands then?¡±


    ¡°It took a while before we started calling it the Lost Continent, and that was because, ever since the continent was lost, divinations don¡¯t return with ominous cataclysmic prophecies anymore.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t learn much about divination from Master Cole, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, before Poetrak I had never seen a competent diviner, so I hadn¡¯t wanted to.¡±


    ¡°Are we not bringing one with us?¡±


    ¡°Master Cole said a dwarven diviner will be joining us, but Joan is also technically a seer. Just specializing in navigation.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we picking up some of the Baron¡¯s Knight¡¯s too?¡±


    ¡°The Duke supposedly sent along some of the Drake Guard as well.¡±


    ¡°Where is Creighton? That just made me think of something to ask him.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°He has been growing wings, but can¡¯t he just turn into a small wyvern?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s been staying as a human for a while now. I don¡¯t know if he wants to turn back into other things.¡±


    ¡°I hope we do find that translation spell. I want to ask him about it properly.¡±


    ¡°What did he tell you last time?¡±


    ¡°When I asked him why he never turned into a dog anymore, he said ¡®No pet like this¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad Tommen, He¡¯s probably just embarrassed.¡±


    ¡°Master Cole said the same thing, but I still don¡¯t get why he hates it so much.¡±


    ¡°He looks like he was a lot older than you and I expect that¡¯s part of the reason why.¡±


    ¡°He looks even older than you. Do you think that was really what he looked like before he became living metal?¡±


    ¡°Master Cole and I did a¡­ physical on him. He seems to be intimately familiar with the male form, and the reason we think he¡¯s replicating his body from his previous life is because we couldn¡¯t get him to turn into someone else.¡±


    ¡°Like who?¡±


    ¡°He wouldn¡¯t turn into Cole, me, or any portrait we brought in.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯d want to turn into a girl, and I don¡¯t think he looks much younger than Master Cole.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re probably right. We should have asked him to turn into you, or maybe just himself at your age.¡±


    ¡°He might do that.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have a lot of free time on the voyage. Maybe we should try talking to him about it.¡±


    ~~~


    Seeing the future was not an exact science, but out of all the magics few were as esoteric as foresight. Dwarves possessed ¡®standard¡¯ divination magic, permitting them to see versions of the future, with the vision¡¯s accuracy declining the farther into the future you tried to peer. However, there was another foresight possessed by the dwarves, one that was perhaps the most esoteric. Speak with Ancestors was not so much a spell as a ritual, one performed after a seer¡¯s hundredth birthday.


    Deuin Forstriken was once such Voice of the Ancestors, and was generally considered to be both the most prolific of seers, and one of the hardest to understand. Most Voices are limited to receiving advice from their late family members, or from heroes of Legend. Deuin however received warnings from not just dwarves, but humans and even the occasional elf. Today he could be found fishing off of the dock protruding from the Iron Escarpment, talking to thin air.


    ¡°So, how long did you say again?¡±


    About a month.


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s sooner than I expected.¡±


    You''ve apparently chosen a good time to leave. Just make sure there is a warning system in place for low boiler pressure.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell them to install something. How did you know this Creighton again?¡±


    I was his grandfather, he was my daughter¡¯s son.


    ¡°I see. You¡¯re certain I shouldn¡¯t pass any other messages along?¡±


    So, from what the last guy told me, we could, but we shouldn¡¯t.


    ¡°As long as you¡¯re sure. It¡¯s been a pleasure talking to you.¡±


    ~~~


    The trip down was easy going, and the crew had taken over running the boiler and engine without me. Rodney was apparently the captain, and his second in command was the bald man, Krisjen. As we continued to follow the river, I was now completely without anything to do. Cole was on the deck observing the plates to ensure they were operating properly. Keith had not come with us, as some kind of argument between him and his father had broken out shortly after the ship¡¯s shakedown cruise. Some other dwarf had joined the crew though, and he was spending most of his time with Eugene and Rodney.


    I was just practicing my climbing, as while I didn¡¯t have to worry about my physical strength anymore, I do have some difficulty when it comes to avoiding getting tangled up in the rigging. Tommen and Natasha had come to find me, and they wanted something from me. I could guess they were just as bored as I was, even with the awe inspiring view. Cole had talked to me a little about Earth, but apparently he had neglected to relay anything I¡¯d said to the kids.


    Initially, they wanted to know more about me from before I¡¯d died. I told them a little about my parents and my brother, and how he¡¯d had a daughter on the way, one that I never got to meet. Natasha then asked me if I wouldn¡¯t turn into animals anymore, and if it was because of Tommen. It took some time to explain that I had been too busy to try coming up with any new forms, and that when I was a lizard or a dog I kept getting treated like I was a lizard or a dog by everyone, not specifically Tommen.


    Their next line of questions was something I didn¡¯t have an answer for. I felt comfortable being myself again, but that wasn¡¯t a good enough reason for neglecting to even try turning into a dragon. I did point out that the upgraded flight spell on my wings would work just fine if I turned into one, and promised I would try it later, once the ship wasn¡¯t moving. That was when they asked me to show them what I¡¯d looked like when I was Tommen¡¯s age.


    I don¡¯t exactly remember what I looked like when I was twelve, but if I let the mana guide me again, it should fill in the gaps in my memory. I was about to give in and try when I realized that my clothes wouldn¡¯t fit anymore if I suddenly dropped ten years. However, this excuse didn¡¯t stop them, as Natasha and Tommen promptly dragged me down a deck to borrow some of Tommen¡¯s clothes, and despite my pleas, Cole did not come to my rescue.

 Chapter 32, Twos a Fleet

    I had been willing to humor the kids, but then Leona and Larrik had shown up and having a grown woman laughing at me was just too much. The four of them started talking while I returned to the hammoc¡¯s area, and rather than getting undressed properly I just shrunk out of Tommen¡¯s clothes, and then shifted into my armored self again. I don¡¯t actually need my clothes as my metal skin can¡¯t chafe. Tommen and Natasha looked a bit cowed when I came back out, and they apologized to me. I didn¡¯t exactly understand what for, so I just patted the two of them on their heads.


    Pretending to not notice the dress Natasha had brought, I climbed the ship¡¯s ladder up to the deck. I had two competing ideas, and I wasn¡¯t sure which one I should be trying first. A wyvern was my safe bet, as the one I had killed proved something that looked like it could fly, but my other idea was less monstrous. I was torn between the two, but I couldn¡¯t suppress the desire I was feeling to reiterate my manliness in front of the kids. This drove me towards trying for a wyvern, but if I could staple wings to my own back, surely I could manage a pegasus. When I tried to ask around, Larrik answered with what I interpreted as support for starting as a dragon. Tommen also seemed quite taken with the idea, so as I approached the edge, I penciled out the rough shape.


    Originally I¡¯d tried to base my forms on what I fully understood and just scaled existing animals up or down like a sort of mental computer aided design. Ever since I¡¯ve started letting the mana guide me through the smaller details, I¡¯ve found the cost to maintain the resulting forms drops considerably. Not to say I could lift a whole wagon without putting extra mana into my muscles, but even routine exertion didn¡¯t noticeably impact my mana anymore.


    ~~~


    ¡°You can¡¯t treat him like a doll, Natasha.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t really.¡±


    ¡°Why did you bring your old ball gown then?¡±


    ¡°Well, if he wanted to try it¡­¡±


    ¡°If he wanted to, he¡¯d try it for himself. He doesn¡¯t need clothes to try out a new form.¡±


    ¡°He might have just not thought of it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m certain he put plenty of thought into his human form. You told me about how he even replicated a scar on the palm of his hand.¡±


    ¡°What do you want me to do then?¡±


    ¡°Tell him you¡¯re sorry for pressuring him, and that he doesn¡¯t have to transform into something if he doesn¡¯t want to.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to apologize for laughing at him? He didn¡¯t seem too bothered before you two showed up.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Natasha, he didn¡¯t seem so enthused while we were bringing him down with us, or when you returned with the clothes.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me that.¡±


    ¡°You normally pick up on stuff like that before I do.¡±


    Creighton had only briefly accepted Tommen and Natasha¡¯s apologies, and promptly headed straight for the upper deck. This highlighted to Natasha just how reserved Creighton had been acting, as it reminded her of how whenever he was actually excited about something it really showed. It was only a short walk up the ship¡¯s main stair, but having been occupied with her thoughts Natasha was the last person to reach the daylight. She was just in time to see Creighton step up onto the ship¡¯s railing, strike a strange pose, and then fall backwards off of the ship. Only the smile he¡¯d sported and the fact she knew he could fly for a little while kept her from completely freaking out.


    There was no sign of him off the starboard side, below or above the ship. It wasn¡¯t until they turned around to check the port side that they saw the silver dragon with its tail coiled around the maimmast''s port shrouds. Natasha hadn¡¯t brought a managlass, but Creighton refused both her and Leona¡¯s offer of mana, so he couldn¡¯t have badly exhausted himself coming up with his new form. He was small for a wyvern, about equivalent to a medium sized dog, though his wings and his tail caused his breadth and length to be far greater. Creighton seemed quite pleased with himself, and everyone flinched when he breathed fire near the tarred rigging.


    When they told him to not do that again, Creighton only replied with whistling, seemingly unable to speak. Tommen pointed out that before he¡¯d first turned into armor or a human he¡¯d been only able to whistle for attention. The next couple hours until the ship stopped for lunch Creighton spent getting comfortable with his new form, and everyone not on duty was watching the silver streak weave in and out of the forest below. They set the boat down in the Iron Run, where it was just wide and deep enough to fit the boat, the gangplank needing to incline to reach the river¡¯s bank.


    While everyone else was eating, Creighton had been sunning himself on one of the Plates of Advanced Levitation. It was only once everyone was done eating that his size grew and he approached Tommen. His wings were now visibly crackling with lightning mana, and Natasha surmised he¡¯d been gathering it during his rest on the plate. She had to suppress her jealousy when she watched Creighton give Tommen a ride.


    When they came back Creighton was a dragon no more, returning as something that wasn¡¯t any creature Natasha had ever heard of. A horse with wings was the union of her two favorite things, and she was so shocked she didn¡¯t realize that Creighton was offering her a turn until Tommen told her to hurry up and get on. As they took off, she briefly remembered how she¡¯d given up trying to summon a horse as her familiar. She was now certain she¡¯d find a way to replicate this rush, no matter what she had to do.


    ~~~


    Cole was watching as Creighton took his apprentices for an aerial joyride. He had been feeling queasy before lunch, so he waved Creighton off to do more laps with Natasha when he had come to land by him. Shortly after he was called over by Eugene and Fredrak, something he had suspected they might do, as this was the first time they would both be seeing Creighton fly.


    ¡°Mage Cole, can you tell us more about Creighton?¡±


    ¡°I will answer any questions you have, but if they¡¯re of a personal nature I can only relay what he¡¯s told me.¡±


    ¡°The first thing I want to know is just how strong is he? Do you think he¡¯d be willing to spar with me?¡±


    ¡°The knight Larrik, that man down there, and Leona, the mage about to get a ride, have both been training with him. He¡¯s interested in testing his limits and has been trying to become competent at wielding the weapons he can make.¡±


    ¡°What kind of weapons are those?¡±


    ¡°He can make anything, but he generally sticks to spears, emulates spells, and one time he even used a strange horizontal bow during target practice.¡±


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°Could you ask him if he¡¯d be willing to get some practice in with me? I¡¯d need to pull my blows for any of the duke¡¯s knights.¡±


    ¡°I can, do you want me to do so right now?¡±


    ¡°No, Eugene has other questions.¡±


    ¡°You told my father that this is his second life, but not who he was in his last life.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot to explain. The closest job we have is a shipwright, but it was more complex than that.¡±


    ¡°Some kind of advanced shipwright? Did he make flying ships like the Galefast, then?¡±


    ¡°No. He worked on oceangoing vessels, just ones that were made entirely of metal. He sketched one for me.¡±


    ¡°How large was it then?¡±


    ¡°The one he drew for us was twice the size of the Galefast, but he worked on ones even bigger than that.¡±


    ¡°He did leave the Forgemaster and his son with ratios of impurities to reintroduce for strengthening steel.¡±


    ¡°If we can¡¯t make it on this expedition, our next plan is to make a new skyship made of dwarven steel.¡±


    ¡°Did you already pitch that to my uncle?¡±


    ¡°I did, though it was not in so few words.¡±


    ¡°Then isn¡¯t it strange that he¡¯s taken so well to shapeshifting? Or was it commonplace in his old world?¡±


    ¡°His world was without magic, but their mundane technology was far more advanced than ours.¡±


    ¡°Completely devoid of the arcane? And in what ways was it more advanced?¡±


    ¡°The way he explained it to me was quite roundabout, but they could Conjure Greater Illusion multiple times a second and then distribute copies for anyone to view in real time.¡±


    ¡°At what scale? Did he tell you how many people lived in his world?.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t know the specific number, but it was more than seven billion, all living in relative peace.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of people. How could they feed them all?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the answer to that.¡±


    ¡°Was he of Noble lineage then? Or perhaps a Scholar?¡±


    ¡°He had an education similar to that of a Scholar, but was working as the equivalent of a journeyman.¡±


    ¡°How many years of education then?¡±


    ¡°He said four years of ¡®greater¡¯ education, but I don¡¯t know how many years of ¡®lesser¡¯ that would imply.¡±


    ¡°Even if we assume it was another four years, that¡¯s a long time to make journeymanship.¡±


    ¡°What age was he when he died?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not exactly the same because his world had fewer days in a year than we do, but he was in his early twenties.¡±


    ¡°I could see eight years of general education starting around ten, and then four years specifying a specific trade, if they were so advanced.¡±


    ¡°I just want to warn you, he¡¯s left a family behind, so he can get sentimental about things that remind him of them.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°He cried when we gave him socks.¡±


    ¡°Soulsteel can cry?¡±


    ~~~


    ¡°The Gilded Carp is going to leave within the week, but I can¡¯t identify if the envoys ever go aboard.¡±


    ¡°Could they just not be going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry my King, but I can¡¯t yet say either way for certain. They¡¯ve left the Peak, but I can¡¯t find any of them anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me where that human Soulsteel is?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to locate him either.¡±


    ¡°The dwarves aren¡¯t going to keep him so they can use him to dig tunnels, are they?¡±


    ¡°No, most of their focus has been in their foundries since the Soulsteel arrived, and that lines up with the Court Mage Archibald coming up with some new invention to bribe the dwarves.¡±


    ¡°We still don¡¯t know what it is?¡±


    ¡°No, but the Soulsteel definitely contributed significantly to whatever it actually is.¡±


    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t it have landed here, If it¡¯s so great it would make quite the fearsome fighter.¡±


    ¡°One of the reports came back that it is just as durable as normal Soulsteel, but it can cast its own spells.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to try and deal with Duke Drake before it gets back.¡±


    ¡°You could try bringing The Duke back to the negotiating table. We might have been unable to pressure him into a reliance on foreign food, but he might give in to enough coin.¡±


    ¡°Edith¡¯s ¡®smugglers¡¯ have been making me a lot of money, perhaps I could reinvest it into getting Duke Drake on my side.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to lower the prices next year, otherwise a real famine could develop.¡±


    ¡°I have a feeling that, one way or the other, Edith will be reaping a most bountiful harvest this year.¡±

 Chapter 33, Aweigh to Sea

    The Gilded Carp left port and began sailing north just out sight of the Iron Escarpment. The ship would be transferring crew and supplies to the Galefast. On the deck Deuin was talking with Lieutenant Hardridge, the man in charge of the Dake Knights coming on the expedition. Poetrak had suggested sending additional fighting men, as while the monsters in the Broiling Sea were generally docile, that didn¡¯t mean that the same would hold true for any they¡¯d find in the skies above it.


    The Drake Guard had originally been a small order serving as the Drake¡¯s house guard, but after the previous duke declared he wouldn¡¯t renew his oath of fealty until there was only one king between the ridges, the guard had started to grow ever larger. It was mostly a deterrence force, as without Living Metal or Soulsteel, the Duke¡¯s mages made up the bulk of his military might


    ¡°Good weather, even if they can fly they¡¯d have been unable to spot us if if we were fighting a broilstorm.¡±


    ¡°They would have still found us, but it would have taken longer.¡±


    ¡°Are you excited to experience flight for the first time? Just seeing a whole ship sailing through the air would make any man doubt his own eyes.¡±


    ¡°It sounded like fantasy to me at first, but they are on their way as we speak.¡±


    ¡°I saw the prototype flying back in the capital. It was a rowboat, but it was really flying.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll be here by noon. Likely even sooner.¡±


    ¡°I know if it was simple I¡¯d already know, but how exactly does your foresight work?¡±


    ¡°One second. Yustein can see something.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I know who that is. Soon we¡¯ll be getting a visit from Creighton.¡±


    ¡°The Soulsteel is coming to us first?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡±


    ¡°How can you, er, how can Yustein tell he¡¯s coming.¡±


    ¡°Yustein has a pair of binoculars, they¡¯re apparently like a telescope, only more advanced.¡±


    ¡°So he¡¯s up in the crow¡¯s nest right now?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡±


    ¡°So what exactly is he then?¡±


    ¡°That is a matter of some debate. Most Voices see only their ancestors, and the prevailing theory is that the awakening lets a seer divine the advice their ancestors would give if they were still alive.¡±


    ¡°Does that imply that they aren¡¯t really here then, or-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got something, And it¡¯s too small to be the Galefast!¡±


    The flesh and blood lookout raised the alarm, and everyone¡¯s eyes trained skyward. It took a second for Hardridge to realize the rest of the ship didn¡¯t hear that Creighton was on his way, and he had to stop his own knights from getting ready to intercept the incoming silver dot. It was not long after he had informed the ship¡¯s captain that Creighton began circling above them.


    ~~~


    Before yesterday, I hadn¡¯t used my wings for recreational flying, as they took too much mana to keep me in the air. However, as a small dragon I could fly much more efficiently, and I had spent the rest of yesterday¡¯s daylight practicing to get the mana cost even farther down. I can only describe the feeling of flight as a combination of bungee jumping and of what it felt like when my father used to pick me up and spin me around when I was still little. A dragon can¡¯t cry so despite those bittersweet memories I held it in, not that there is anyone who could have noticed me tearing up out here in the open sky.


    Today was the day we were arriving at the ocean, and Eugene had asked me to go and fly ahead of the ship to find the Gilded Carp, as we were going to meet with them before starting across the ocean proper. I didn¡¯t outspeed the Galefast by that much, and I arrived over the waterfall at around the same time as I lost sight of them.


    I couldn¡¯t begin to estimate how tall the cliffs were, but the water was blown into a mist before it rained down on the ocean. The sea itself looked normal to me, but from here I couldn¡¯t see any ships out on the horizon. The Iron Falls kicked up a double rainbow from certain angles, and I took some time to enjoy the view of the red cliffs. Once I could see the Galefast again, I headed out towards the open ocean. Everything else in the sky seemed to be afraid of me, despite the fact I had shrunk down as much as I could to maximize my efficiency.


    I had traveled slower to keep them in sight, and after about an hour of searching I found a ship. I stayed high up in the sky so that the Galefast wouldn¡¯t lose me, until I was sure they had turned towards me. Once they had, I decided to go down and meet the ship¡¯s crew. I could tell they were getting antsy from all the way up here.


    There was a face I remembered from the Duke¡¯s estate on the ship. He was one of the guards, and he seemed glad to see me. I had been pretty sure the ship¡¯s name was right, but he was proof I had the right one. He asked me a few questions about how far away the Galefast was, and I turned back into myself to answer him. The actual conversation was short, but his smile widened more when I said I remembered him. The dwarf he introduced to me as Deuin Forstriken looked about as old as Keith¡¯s father had, and as we shook hands he asked me if I was the Creighton he¡¯d heard so much about.


    ~~~


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.The Iron Falls always caught a lot of attention when ships would pass it while running up or down the Iron Escarpment, but the view from the sky was even more incredible. Cole¡¯s awe passed quickly because he needed to focus back on the little dot that was Creighton, and relayed course corrections to the helmsmen. His vision was augmented by Artificial Sight, the same upgraded structures Creighton used. No one else could maintain it at the level required to keep Creighton in view.


    It had been Fredrak¡¯s idea to send Creighton off ahead, despite the fact they¡¯d not yet gotten a chance to spar. Creighton had agreed to a practice fight after they¡¯d finished their meeting with the Gilded Carp. The whole trip to the ocean had taken less than two days, a quarter of the time it took them to climb up to the peak, and that didn¡¯t take into account making their way through the Cloven Depths and down the Iron Escarpment to arrive at the Red Bearth.


    Rodney¡¯s helmsman was keeping the ship following straight after Creighton, and shortly after Cole lost sight of land Creighton began circling something. Cole could just make out the mainmast that must belong to the Gilded Carp, and so the Galefast began its descent towards the surface of the ocean. It was a bit unnerving, as when they lowered the power going to the Plates of Advanced Levitation everyone could feel their stomachs start to turn. They let the ship rapidly accelerate, then kept the ship dropping at a constant rate, and as they neared the ocean they slowed their descent, fearing they might smash holes in the hull if they came down too fast.


    Touching down within a mile of the Gilded Carp, they furled the sails, and ran the screw to head straight upwind. The boiler was still warm and they¡¯d be topping up on coal from the Gilded Carp, so it was a good time for the helmsman to get some practice in with the propeller turning. The wind¡¯s direction on the surface was back towards the cliffs, but up in the sky it had been blowing away from them. This confirmed that by varying their height they could find winds blowing in different directions.


    Creighton came over with a towing line, and after setting the ships to keep the ropes taught by turning both slightly away, the gangplanks were lowered and the bulk provisions could start being taken aboard. Around twenty extra hands were also being transferred, including Lieutenant Hardridge, a man who Cole had gotten to know well while planning for the expedition. Hardridge was in his mid twenties, and was joined by a further five knights, four of them appearing to be quite green. The fifth was another twenty something, and she was the only woman who wasn¡¯t a magic user of some kind on the crew.


    Female knights were not unheard of, but generally they found employment in house guards or captaining a local levee, as while mages had spells to supplement their hygiene, knights were not so lucky. Creighton was currently talking with her, and while she seemed quite interested in what he had to say he seemed embarrassed about something, and his speech was stumbling far more than it normally did.


    ¡°Absorbent on string, for help remove. Can throw away after.¡±


    ¡°These were common where you came from?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look into it, thank you Creighton.¡±


    Cole had been about to try and clear up whatever misunderstanding had developed, but after listening for a few seconds he decided that was a rock he¡¯d rather leave unturned. The dwarven seer was on his way to speak with Eugene and Fredrak, and that left him to help Rodney. The single most important thing they were bringing aboard were the Icechests, as they were crucial to any voyage that wanted to last more than a month out at sea, using mana to cool its contents, with wood sandwiching horsehair insulation to keep the inside cold.


    Keeping the Icechests topped up with Ice mana was the primary job of mages while sailing. Creighton had briefly mentioned a method of building Iceboxes that could cool themselves, but had told them it required something they didn¡¯t currently have access to. Rodney was doing final checks for everything, ensuring everything was topped off, from the fresh water barrels to the coal bunkers.


    ¡°You know, if we didn¡¯t have that condenser we¡¯d need double the freshwater supply.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t use seawater?¡±


    ¡°We could, but it would damage the boiler over time.¡±


    ¡°Will running the condenser put a strain on the mana we need for the Icechests?¡±


    ¡°Creighton is so efficient at manaweaving that he could manage both by himself, but with all the mages we¡¯re bringing there shouldn¡¯t be any problem even without him.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re moving to shifts starting tonight, and I¡¯ve got Krisjen to keep an eye on things overnight, but what about you?¡±


    ¡°Leona will be the one taking over my responsibilities while I¡¯m asleep.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that means Larrik will be wanting the night shift too.¡±


    ¡°No doubt about that.¡±


    The Galefast departed with her new crew and supplies, rising until she reached a westward wind current, and rapidly gained speed. Their speed was only limited by how fast the air around them was moving, making fifteen knotts before they started to lose the wind, as the occasional gust would blow against them and foul the sails.


    The high speed meant that the frontside plates could be heard making a constant low whine, and constantly crackling, while the rear plates were almost completely silent. The sails all being above the center of mass meant that the ship constantly tried to pitch down. Cole took some time to work with Natasha on her balance, so it would keep the prow slightly higher while they were in the air, as it helped to mitigate the imbalanced load.


    The first three days of transit were calm, giving the crew a chance to acclimate to their watches. At the start of the fourth day, however, dusty red clouds could now be seen, stretching from one end of the horizon to the other. Joan had been directing them in a nearly constant westward heading, but now that they made it to the Broilstorm¡¯s front, they¡¯d need to consider what plan they wanted to try first.

 Chapter 34, Rising to the Occasion

    Fredrak wanted to go for a round with me, but I was a bit nervous as his weapons was something particularly nasty. We were squaring up after dinner, while the sun still cast a reasonable amount of light, and his hammer did look kinda scary. It was coursing with black mana, and the air around it seemed almost warped. My previous sparring with Larrik had been with blunted weapons, and while you can¡¯t really blunt magic Leona¡¯s spells couldn¡¯t hurt me either. This would be my first fight, other than my oneshot wonder with the wyvern, where the enemy was focused on me and had lethal capacity.


    He started with a wide and low swing, aiming to take me in the knee. I took a half step back and it missed. Not that I had just performed some kind of inhuman reaction, the hammer swing had been quite slow. That was just the start though, as each successive swing he made was faster, and the hammer was stealing my mana whenever it got near me. I tried taking one of his blows on my bracer, but it went right through my whole arm.


    My left hand dropped limply to the deck, and I had to really start giving ground as his swings came faster and faster. It took me a second to gain control over my stump again, and form a new arm. His hammer was no joke, and so I would be needing to start applying my own pressure. I sprung my trusty halberd into my hands, and I started by using its long reach to force him away. Larrik had helped me practice some basic moves, and despite going through three halberds, I gained myself enough ground to start getting creative.


    I swapped the axe and spike for a hammer, and swung it for his center mass. He went to bash the haft of my weapon away, but he realized too late that it wouldn''t stop the hammerhead from carrying on into him. I had increased its density, so its momentum promptly carried him into, and then over, the railing. Everyone started panicking because we were a couple hundred feet in the air, and he hadn¡¯t been tied off to the ship.


    I simply walked over to the edge and started pulling him back up. I had woven a thin web of mana all around us after he¡¯d broken my third polearm, and that let me continue to maintain any parts that fell off of me. I had sent him flying overboard with plenty of my mana, so turning it into a chain to catch him was easy enough. By the time I got him back aboard I was starting to feel drained, as I¡¯d been projecting and manipulating so much mana.


    ~~~


    Fredrak had not expected the Soulsteel¡¯s blow to carry quite so much momentum. He¡¯d tried to catch himself on to the railing as he went over, but his gauntlets prevented him from establishing a firm enough grip. He knew that Creighton could fly down and get him, or that one of the wizards could cast something to slow his fall, but he was still briefly terrified by the long drop ahead, especially with the wind knocked out of him. That was when he felt something wrap around his bruised ribs, and his fall came to a sudden, painful halt.


    He stopped channeling mana into his Hammer of Oblivion when he saw it was Creighton who was pulling him back up, as he didn¡¯t want to risk disrupting the chain. After managing to scramble over the topsides, he and Creighton both took a second to rest against the ship¡¯s rail.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a lot of strength, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Everything can be muscle.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t use any mana in that strike?¡±


    ¡°Did to add more weight, and to keep together.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised how quickly you can reassert control, mages struck with one of these are normally stunned.¡±


    ¡°Felt tingle. Remind of arm fall asleep.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for pulling me back up. Wasn¡¯t looking to take a saltwater bath tonight.¡±


    ¡°Welcome. Good fight?¡±


    ¡°I was a little disappointed at first, but I enjoyed myself plenty after you started pushing me back.¡±


    ¡°Can learn how you do that?¡±


    ¡°Aye, I suppose I could teach you. Not right now though. I¡¯ve had it for today.¡±


    ¡°Am I tired too.¡±


    Leona was the closest thing to a healer on the ship, and she set about getting the dwarf comfortable in a proper bed. The next two days were spent with Creighton trying to integrate an absorption spell into one of his weapons, but they kept consuming the very mana that he had made them out of.


    ~~~


    Rodney, Cole, Eugene, Creighton, and Fredrak were all at the bow of the ship, staring out at the distant curtains of rain. They had been putting off making a final decision until they could visually assess the Broilstorm¡¯s height, and now that they were here they had to make a choice.


    ¡°So, are we going over the clouds, or are we going to try and make it through one of the valleys?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why we aren''t doing both. Just sail along the very top of the valley.¡±


    ¡°If we go between the Rainheads, we will be at risk of getting sucked into one of the storms, and we¡¯re far more susceptible to sudden changes in the wind without the drag from the ocean.¡±


    ¡°Aye, but what about going over it all?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d estimate the height to be around ten thousand feet. We should be fine to sail up that high, but the air will be noticeably thinner, and we¡¯ll all be especially short of breath if we¡¯re over a Broilstorm.¡±


    ¡°We could take a day to rest, and then try and fly over it with the entire crew awake?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t be sure just how long we¡¯d need to sail to come out the other side, and if we had a malfunction up that high we¡¯d have a long way to descend before we hit the ocean.¡±


    ¡°Propeller not help?¡±


    ¡°No, it would. I think using it and running a passage is our best bet.¡±


    ¡°If we use the screw, we won¡¯t need to rig the sails, and we can keep much more of the crew below deck.¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Won¡¯t that impact our fuel consumption?¡±


    ¡°It will, but we have plenty, especially with just how fast we¡¯ve been running with the wind.¡±


    ¡°Should we go today, or wait until tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Creighton, can you go scout a good one for us? You can get up quite high, and see which ones are the straightest, and widest.¡±


    ¡°That can do. Keep up?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll follow along behind you, if you like the look of one coming up, return and tell us.¡±


    It was well past noon before Creighton returned, and the pick he¡¯d made had a narrow gap and steep rainheads, but it was a nearly straight shot for as far as he could see. The crew was as fresh as they were going to get, so while Creighton headed down into the engine room to siphon off some of the ambient mana, the ship turned to take the plunge.


    The width at the bottom would have been too tight for a ship to tack back and forth in, but by climbing almost halfway up the Broilstorm and with the aid of the ship¡¯s screw, they found an area of constant updraft that let them maintain a constant speed and heading. The slight nose up attitude of the ship let the sails catch some of the updraft, and they were able to push ten knots once they were sandwiched between the towering cliffs of water.


    Broilstorms only get more intense the deeper into them you go, but up here in the sky the rain fell without making a sound. The straining of the rigging was the only thing the crew could hear, other than the occasional course correction. They could still tell that the storms on both sides were getting thicker, as it was constantly getting darker. Lamps were hung around the ship, as the sun had descended past the strip of sky above them, and its light was stifled.


    The air held the scent of brimstone, and when night arrived Joan started guiding them by the stars directly above their heads. She stood just behind the mainmast, and called out headings to keep them away from the mute walls of steaming pain. The knights on watch held bullseye lanterns, aimed so that they could just make out the light reflecting back off the curtains of rain. They passed two other branching paths in the storm, but both angled off perpendicularly to their current route, and both Joan and the ship¡¯s compass agreed their current heading was still taking them westward.


    It was just as the watch was changing, with daylight first appearing high above their heads, that the first man was found asleep at his post. Despite other crewmembers trying rather vigorously to wake him, he could not be roused. Many of the next shift¡¯s crew were unresponsive, and the most exhausted also started slipping into unconsciousness. Leona had been the only mage for the night shift, and she was the first to realize what was happening.


    ¡°It¡¯s a sleep spell, but I have no idea what could be casting it.¡±


    ¡°Where is Creighton, he doesn¡¯t sleep.¡±


    ¡°Well, he doesn¡¯t normally sleep, but the deckhands couldn¡¯t get him to budge. Apparently it affected the engine¡¯s room first.¡±


    ¡°Shit. Can you counterspell it?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The ship¡¯s bell had been ringing, but with Larrik¡¯s voice petering out Leona was suddenly very aware that she couldn¡¯t hear it anymore. Turning to it, it was still swinging, but with each strike of the clapper it produced no sound. A sudden jolt went through the ship, and she turned back to a massive gray dragon digging its claws into the port topside.


    ~~~


    ¡°What the hell was that?¡±


    Something big had been stalking below the ship, and it¡¯s apparently a dragon.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t wake me up for this?¡±


    How was I supposed to know it was a problem before it started putting the crew to sleep?


    ¡°How much of the crew is still awake?¡±


    About half, Though that number is dropping.


    ¡°Are the other mages up?¡±


    That girl in the green robes is, but she¡¯s kinda busy.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I hear anything? Why is the ship listing so badly?¡±


    I¡¯d blame the dragon for your deafness, and he just landed on deck.


    ¡°Oh shit. Where is Creighton?¡±


    He¡¯s still down by the boiler.


    ¡°Then go wake him up, I¡¯ll go try and dispel whatever it¡¯s doing, hopefully with Leona¡¯s help.¡±


    When Deuin made it to the deck, A few knights of the Drake Guard, plus Leona, Larrik, and Krisjen were still on their feet. Leona was focused on repeatedly rousing whomever had most recently fallen asleep, but she then got distracted patching up a knight who¡¯d taken a swipe from the dragon¡¯s massive tail.


    It was having some difficulty trying to get its head past the rigging, and its claws were busy gripping the ship, so it was currently only striking out with its long tail. Just looking at the dragon made Deuin feel lethargic, and he started chanting a counterspell. It was using sound and order mana to suppress all noise, so he focused on conjuring a drum out of his own and enhanced it with chaos.


    His first few drumbeat couldn¡¯t overpower the oppressive silence, but it was not long before some broken notes started to break through, and then all at once the roar of the fight reasserted itself. The relief was not the saving grace Deuin had hoped it would be, as the dragon opened its maw and a rolling cloud of gray blanketed the deck of the ship. As it came into contact with each person, their movements stiffened as their flesh turned to stone.


    It was only now that his legs were frozen in place that Deuin remembered he¡¯d neglected to pass along the old man¡¯s advice for Creighton, but as the petrification reached up to his neck, the last thing he could hear was the ship¡¯s whistle.

 Chapter 35, Great Riddance

    Tommen had gone to sleep next to the boiler, as his hammock is near a vent, and so was almost always too cold.  The constant rhythm of the engines almost completely drowned out the sounds of men shoveling coal, but that didn¡¯t mean Tommen always got great rest down here. Creighton had made a routine out of bringing him back upstairs and tucking him in once he¡¯d fallen asleep. Awoken by the ship¡¯s whistle, Tommen found he was still in the boiler space, And there were no crewmen working the boiler. Creighton was sitting with his back to the hull, not far from where Tommen had been sleeping. Tommen had practiced stimulating the manastructure of Creighton¡¯s eyes after the last time he¡¯d run out of mana, but when his attempts failed to elicit a response, he went to try and find someone else to help. When he passed in front of the boiler, he saw the whistle¡¯s pull cord was snagged on a valve.


    The first person he found was Fredrak, who was passed out next to the engine, his hammer still in hand.  After working up the courage to manhandle someone of noble blood, Tommen succeeded in waking him up with an only minimal amount of shaking.


    ¡°Tommen? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, someone left the whistle pulled, and when it woke me up everyone was gone.¡±


    ¡°Something was putting everyone to sleep, and I managed to bring most of the workers up a level. Where is Creighton?¡±


    ¡°Whatever was putting people to sleep must have affected him too, as I couldn¡¯t wake him up.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think Soulsteel could sleep?¡±


    ¡°Normally he just sort of stops if he runs out of mana, but I gave him more than enough t-¡±


    The whole ship shook, and the sound of snapping ropes was followed by a monstrous roar. The two of them hurried over to Creighton.


    ¡°If he already has plenty, what else is there to try?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s not too little mana, could it be too much?¡±


    ¡°Soulsteel can¡¯t ever have too much mana, can it?.¡±


    ¡°It could be too much of a specific type. Whenever he got too much chaos and light mana, he¡¯d get really restless.¡±


    ¡°How do we get mana back out of him? The only thing I can think of that might work is my hammer.¡±


    They were both rather hesitant to try hitting Creighton with literal oblivion, but as the combat on the topdeck grew more intense, Fredrak charged up the enchantment, and put the hammer down.


    ~~~


    I felt too cold to sleep, but at the same time I was too tired to get back up and turn the heat on. It was like someone had draped me in freezing bedsheets, as I could still see the occasional flash of light, but I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to do anything. It wasn¡¯t until there was a sudden weight that drove the breath out of me that the frigid blanket that had been surrounding me shattered.


    I opened my eyes to Tommen and Fredrak standing over me, sweat running down both of their faces. The mana in the air still held a biting edge, but now that I focused on keeping it out, I could feel the physical warmth of my surroundings. The two of them didn¡¯t know what was going on, but they did know something was attacking the ship, so I told Tommen to wake up more of the crew, while Fredrak and I would go see what was going on upstairs.


    I took the ladders two steps at a time, climbing the first, second and then third decks as fast as I could. When I got to the top, stepping onto the deck felt like I had just walked outside in freezing weather while I was still half naked. I nearly bumped into a statue of Deuin, and when I focused my eyes on him, I could see he was suffused with the same dusty blue mana that the Galefast was currently awash with.


    The rigging was a mess, and next to the mainmast was Leona, Larrik and Vannessa. Other statues littered the deck, most of them having been hiding in cover from something on the port side. Larrik seemed to have some kind of wound which Leona was tending to. While I was still trying to take in the situation, Vannessa started pointing at the starboard side. As I turned to look, a scaled head appeared, followed shortly by the rest of a huge gray dragon. Larrik and Leona were not in cover from its, and it was rearing back to breathe fire at them. I wasn¡¯t about to let it though, so I poured mana into my legs and jumped for its neck.


    I was able to break through its scales, but I couldn¡¯t manage to steal its mana. When I tried the chill started creeping back in and before I¡¯d even gotten through an eighth of its capacity, and I started getting tunnel vision. It seemed to have far more mana than the wyvern had, and it was almost all blue. The first step to my backup plan was to wrap it in chains. I wasn¡¯t trying to restrict its movements, so it wouldn¡¯t be able to flex out of them. Despite how it kept trying to shake me off, I could hold my entire weight with just one finger, so I wasn¡¯t going anywhere. Next I shifted the chain into barbed wire and I cinched it as tightly as I could. Hundreds of small cuts were gouged into its hide, and its wings were now riddled with long ragged holes. It made one last lunge at the ship, but I increased my density, as I wasn''t going to let it try and take anyone down with it.


    ~~~


    Leona had been too busy with Larrik to participate actively in the fight, so Vannessa had been trying to keep its attention off of them. She was in a unique position to resist falling asleep, and while she didn¡¯t stand a chance of landing a lethal blow on the dragon, she could avoid its tail strikes and petrifying breath. That status quo fell apart, as it lost interest in her, and retreated back over the topside. While she was searching for where the dragon would next strike from, Vanessa noticed Creighton, who had just emerged from the forecastle.


    She felt the dragon raking the underside of the hull, so she focused Creighton¡¯s attention to the starboard side. Before she could start trying to move Leona and Larrik into better cover, the Gray Dragon had returned, and Creighton took off for it like an arrow.


    He had been standing still, appearing almost dumbstruck until he saw the dragon. His face had almost imperceptibly hardened, perhaps even literally, before he¡¯d leapt straight at it. She¡¯d been only able to watch as he jammed his sharpened arm deep into the dragon¡¯s throat. Dragonhide was prized as armor, and even multiple sheets of steel couldn¡¯t compare to its durability. Vanessa took a brief second to glance around the deck, and saw that Fredrak had arrived, but just like her he also couldn¡¯t do anything to help.


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    Creighton was remarkably adept at using his chains to dodge the dragon¡¯s attacks, like a monkey might swing from vines. He could seemingly perfectly control himself, Vanessa guessed the reason why was because the chains were just another part of him. It reacted to his rapid progress by pushing off of the ship, and violently thrashing about in mid air. This only accelerated the rate that Creighton was going, and after a few final passes over the wings, he planted his feet on the dragon¡¯s spine.


    As Creighton heaved on the long chain, it seemed to contract like a muscle, with sharp barbs growing out and then digging into its flesh. It made one last swipe for the ship, but it dropped like a rock out of Vannessa¡¯s sight. She ran to the ship¡¯s rail, having to briefly dodge out of the way of a silver grappling hook. When she looked down she could only barely make out a gray blob that was now descending in a spiral. The hook embedded in the rail was connected to a thin silver line, which disappeared into the darkness below. Vanessa was bewildered as the rope started to widen, and then the hook caught on the topside transformed into a hand. She grabbed Creighton¡¯s new arm and helped him make it the last few feet aboard, before he then turned back around and started retching.


    Her initial assumption had been that it was normal motion sickness, as he¡¯d just been swinging wildly, fallen for an unknown distance, caught himself, and then made it all the way back up to the Galefast. However she soon dispensed with this idea, as he was throwing up gray snow. When his skin returned to the marble texture he¡¯d had for the last four days, Vanessa just chalked it up as some weird magic shit. Not knowing if it would actually help, she slapped Creighton on the back a few times to try and help him get whatever it was out.


    ~~~


    Cole had woken up just long enough to realize something was wrong, but had then passed back out. He didn¡¯t wake up again until Tommen and Natasha came to shake him awake, and it took him a second to gather his wits.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Leona says it was a dragon. Like a proper dragon.¡±


    ¡°An adult dragon?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, right Tommen?¡±


    ¡°That is what she said.¡±


    ¡°Is everyone alive?¡±


    ¡°A few people are still petrified, but no one fell overboard, or got eaten.¡±


    ¡°I see. Where is Leona, I¡¯ll need to talk to her and Rodney.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re both on the aftcastle. Rodney and Eugene sent us to find you.¡±


    Tommen and Natasha didn¡¯t come with him, as they were going to check on the ship¡¯s balance next. Cole found Leona on the topdeck, using Creighton¡¯s mana to cure petrification. Mages could use living metal like a massive manabead, but it was less efficient than using one¡¯s own, and by using foreign mana a mage would rapidly exhaust their stamina. Vanessa was helping the restored crewmen down into the ship.


    ¡°What happened to Deuin?¡±


    ¡°He broke its silence spell, but he still got caught in its breath.¡±


    ¡°Did you kill it then, Creighton?¡±


    ¡°Not sure. Torn up, fell down.¡±


    ¡°So you didn¡¯t chop its head off or do anything particularly lethal?¡±


    ¡°No, many small cuts. Ruined wings.¡±


    ¡°Good work then, and thank you. Is it true there aren¡¯t any fatalities?¡±


    ¡°Some people toppled over after getting petrified, so they¡¯re going to need some stronger restoration spells, but no. No deaths.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure it was an adult dragon?¡±


    ¡°I mean, it was large enough to be one, but I can¡¯t discount the chance it was just big for its age.¡±


    ¡°How long has it been since you drove it off?¡±


    ¡°Less one hour?¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯m going to go talk to Rodney, you should teach Creighton a restoration spell. He¡¯ll be more efficient than you, and then you can give yourself a rest.¡±


    ¡°Deuin is the last one I¡¯m doing for now, everyone else lost a few fingers or a limb, so they need to be put back together first.¡±


    ¡°How far along are the repairs on the rigging?¡±


    ¡°Ask Rodney, I haven¡¯t been paying attention.¡±


    The stair up to the wheel was short, and Rodney was currently the man at the helm, as the helmsman normally on duty was currently made of stone. Eugene and Fredrak were both talking to Lieutenant Hardridge, and Rodney was busy coordinating his crew.


    ¡°What are those three talking about?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re debating if we should turn back or not.¡±


    ¡°Is the damage that bad?¡±


    ¡°No, they¡¯re mostly arguing about if the dragon will come back.¡±


    ¡°I thought Creighton hurt it pretty badly?¡±


    ¡°Fredrak claims that dragons can heal themselves, and Hardridge is afraid it¡¯ll be in the mood for another round if so.¡±


    ¡°Creighton should be able to severely outrange it.¡±


    ¡°Go tell them that.¡±

 Chapter 36, Storms Abreast

    ¡°We¡¯ve already made it deeper into the broilstorms in four days than a week¡¯s worth of sailing would have taken us. We aren¡¯t equipped to kill dragons.¡±


    ¡°Creighton drove it off in less than a minute. We aren¡¯t in serious danger.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to be getting close. It can¡¯t have come from the broilstorms, or the ocean.¡±


    ¡°Why exactly is that?¡±


    ¡°If it was from the broilstorm it would have possessed chaos, earth and fire mana.¡±


    ¡°Are you certain it wasn¡¯t just a sky dragon or something?¡±


    ¡°Sky dragons are rare, and always have light, dark and wind at their disposal.¡±


    ¡°Aye, but that doesn¡¯t tell us how far from land we actually are.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that. Normally the Galefast would be easy to see for miles, by anything with manavision, but with how much ambient mana is in a broilstorm I don¡¯t think they could pick us out from any great distance.¡±


    ¡°Mage Cole, if we didn¡¯t have Creighton, could you have killed it?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re off topic, does anyone want to turn back anymore?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t think of anything that prevents us from staying the course, and it might be bad luck to fight an ice dragon of some kind, but the Duke wouldn¡¯t want us to turn around for that reason alone.¡±


    ¡°Aye, My Uncle would want us to press on as well.¡±


    ¡°If we didn¡¯t have Creighton, I''d say we should turn around before we run into something nastier. We could always return with more mages on a bigger ship. Watching him run rings around that thing has convinced he can handle anything we might run into.¡±


    Cole was facing the stairs, where Creighton had been listening to their conversation. It was only now that they had all agreed that he spoke up.


    ¡°Why not turn around?¡±


    ¡°Creighton? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Very danger here, should not risk lifes.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re sailing on an unproven skyship through the worst weather anywere on the face of Trezemek, a dragon doesn¡¯t really tip the scales that much.¡±


    ¡°I not want you to risk. I fly the rest of way by self.¡±


    ¡°We would be in far more danger if you left us, even if we turned back around right now.¡±


    ¡°I make good progress on Wernst. No need spell.¡±


    ¡°Creighton, first off, you have made great progress. More progress than anyone¡¯s made trying to learn your English, but that doesn¡¯t mean we shouldn¡¯t keep going.¡±


    ¡°There are more reasons for wanting to rediscover the Forbidden Lands than just to find a single spell.¡±


    ¡°Everyone here comprehends the risks involved. Well, we didn¡¯t expect a dragon, but that¡¯s not really relevant when you consider all the other dangers we are prepared to face.¡±


    ¡°Even Tommen? Natasha?¡±


    ¡°Natasha lost her father to the last expedition. She is quite aware of what she¡¯s putting at stake. Tommen is young, but we¡¯re mitigating the risks to him, the same way Archibald protected me.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I apologize, I think wrong reason we come.¡±


    ¡°No- You didn¡¯t. The primary reason we set out so fast is that the Duke wanted to find a way to communicate effectively with you as soon as possible. The trip itself will also ensure we are the first to explore the lost continent, and to help keep you away from the political bullshit in Ridgewern.¡±


    ¡°We could have taken longer to leave, but the more time you spent in the dutchy, the more likely the neighboring kingdoms would have seen you as a threat. By sending you away, you drop down their list of priorities.¡±


    ¡°When we talk before, you said everyone want to help for me.¡±


    ¡°I did, and while I can¡¯t remember the exact question I was replying to, it is true everyone here wants to help you, but you are also helping us. They aren¡¯t exclusive. Even if you spoke perfect Wernst, we¡¯d still want to search for Universal Translation.¡±


    ~~~


    Vanessa watched as Creighton climbed the foremast. The majority of the crew was ecstatic because they¡¯d just weathered a dragon attack with no fatalities, but not him. She went to find Tommen and Natasha, as she thought that they would both know him the best. Vanessa found them on the second deck, where Natasha was tuning the ship¡¯s Balance.


    ¡°Hey, are you guys busy?¡±


    ¡°Natasha is, but I''m just sort of here to watch. Do you need something?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about Creighton. Does he normally talk to himself, in his own language?¡±


    ¡°Ever since he first turned into a human, and more so since he started learning Wernst. Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°He just seemed kinda down.¡±


    ¡°Kinda down in what way?¡±


    ¡°He started sulking after he had a disagreement with the Lieutenant, Mage Cole, Eugene and Fredrak.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what it was about, then?¡±


    ¡°Were they mad that he was with me when the dragon showed up?¡±


    ¡°No, they were not. The four of them had been discussing turning around, and just when they had agreed to keep going, Creighton tried to convince them to abandon the expedition.¡±


    ¡°Why would he want to turn back?¡±


    ¡°He seemed concerned about the ship¡¯s safety, especially for the two of you.¡±


    ¡°He is the reason we are so safe. Is he mad we¡¯re not turning around, then?¡±


    ¡°No, I think he¡¯s mad at himself. Maybe. Will you come talk to him with me?¡±


    ¡°We should give him some time. It could just be a mana imbalance from fighting the dragon, and everyone is busy right now. I want to wait until Leona has gotten some sleep, as we got into trouble with her when we talked to Creighton about his shapeshifting.¡±


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    ¡°I don¡¯t remember getting in trouble for it¡­¡±


    ¡°I will go talk to him by myself, then. Do you know if he has spare clothes on the ship?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why?¡±


    ¡°The ones he was wearing, didn¡¯t make it back.¡±


    Vanessa grabbed a spare set of clothes for Creighton, but she couldn¡¯t find him. Cole was present on the main deck, looking at the large central Plate of Levitation, one that the dragon had damaged while clinging to the topsides.


    ¡°Do you know where Creighton went?¡±


    ¡°He said he was gonna scout ahead. Do you need him for something?¡±


    ¡°Well, he looked like he could have used someone to talk to. And I brought these.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Creighton always likes to be doing something. Not to say that he doesn¡¯t talk once you get a hold of him, though.¡±


    ¡°You know when he¡¯ll be back?¡±


    ¡°He said he wasn¡¯t going to go far from the ship. I can try to signal for him to come back down.¡±


    ¡°Well, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say he could use some time to himself. When he killed a greater wyvern, it took him a long time to integrate all of its mana. If he¡¯s just learning to control the new mana he¡¯ll be back when he¡¯s ready.¡±


    ¡°Tommen said he talks to himself often, is that really normal?¡±


    ¡°He does when he¡¯s stressed, but when we killed the wyvern he couldn¡¯t speak, so I don¡¯t know if he¡¯d talk to himself while trying to maintain control over an excess of mana.¡±


    ¡°I''d thought he¡¯d thrown up most of the mana he got from the dragon.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s certainly news to me. How could you tell he was vomiting mana?¡±


    ¡°He was half vomiting, half coughing. And it came out as a shiny, blue-gray dust.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but Creighton has always tried to gather more mana, as long as doing so wouldn¡¯t hurt someone. If he was throwing up mana, there might really be something wrong with him.¡±


    ¡°What about his skin? It¡¯s supposed to be that peachy marble, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Well, it had been blue, before.¡±


    ¡°So, his skin is generally a more natural looking marble, it gets the pink highlights when he turns specifically into a human. No, I don''t know why.¡±


    ¡°This was an icey blue. Not like marble at all.¡±


    ¡°If it went back to normal when he threw up, it¡¯s sounding more and more like an excess of mana. He looked normal after he left us, was that when he was talking to himself?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. He seemed determined before he went to talk to the four of you, but then when he came back he seemed; I don¡¯t know. Disappointed?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Creighton actually wants to turn around. Let¡¯s give him another half hour, and if he¡¯s not back I¡¯ll send something to get his attention.¡±


    ~~~


    Flying wasn¡¯t helping clear my mind. I had jumped on the first excuse I could, but I still couldn''t stop thinking about how narrow minded I''d been, and it was causing me to lose good updrafts, as my focus wandered back to our conversation. I did feel my mood get a little lighter as I climbed past the dark underside of the clouds, rising above them to a sea of white fluff, awash with the orange glow of the rising sun.


    It is hard to pick out paths, especially in areas of low cloud cover. It was proving even harder because the Galefast was barely lit up by a few scattered lanterns, and with how low it was flying, I couldn''t veer off to get a different perspective. The one we were on continued straight west, and the clouds were now starting to descend in front of us. I expect that means we''re past the halfway point, as before the clouds had generally been getting higher. The sun had risen behind us, and looking around I could see the southern rain was beginning to catch some morning light, causing rainbows. I wasn¡¯t in the mood to take in the scenery, though.


    I must have been letting the design process for the Galefast, and all the praise that came with it, go to my head. I had certainly failed to consider that all these people have been living their lives long before I got here, and that this isn''t their first attempt to cross the Broiling Sea. I''m not Tommen¡¯s guardian, and there is no reason I should be acting like I am. I haven''t even been in this world for a year, I can''t keep assuming I know better than people who have lived their whole lives here.


    Snapping out of my overdue introspection, I noticed that there was something strange far ahead. Since I¡¯d gotten up here, the clouds had been trending downwards, but I could now see a plateau. Most of the cloud tops were rolling hills, where either side was drifting slowly in the direction opposite of the other. After scouting a little further forward than I was comfortable with, I was certain. We were headed right for a whirlpool of dark, gray clouds.


    ~~~


    A letter had been sent off by Cole as soon as Creighton had returned, but the distance back to the Dutchy had grown ever larger. The original letter had been short, and to the point, with the response arriving shortly after noon. This left barely an hour to spare before they were to arrive at the cyclone, and it was clear from the walls on either side of them that the storms were growing more chaotic.


    +++


    Most of the research in question is my own, so I can surmise it for you without needing to get any of the books out.


    Oceans generally contain ice and wind mana, with higher concentrations of wind near the equator, and higher concentrations of ice as you approach the poles. However, that does not hold true for the Broiling Sea, as its storms are fueled by the sea¡¯s plentiful fire and earth mana. Most of our observations are from safe waters, but nothing any previous expeditions has seen refutes the following assumptions:


    The storms move in massive cells, and when they collide, they either form an area of updraft, called a run, or merge into one larger cell. Runs are rather stable, only collapsing when the broilstorms get violent, almost exclusively in the spring and the fall. What Creighton has described is likely three or more broilstorms colliding, especially if it contains so much more wind mana than the surrounding clouds. Before now, no one has been able to observe what the point of intersection between more than two would be like. You did not ask for my input on what you should do, but I would like to remind you that making sharp turns while in the air is difficult, and likely to draw more mana than my generator can provide during powered flight. You might use Creighton to store up mana to perform such a turn, but as long as the gap at the bottom persists, do not discount making the attempt while sailing on the ocean¡¯s surface, so that you can use the screw to drive against the wind, affording to you maximum control.


    I don''t know how much time you have left, as it will soon be noon here, so I will be sending this letter without any further input. Good Luck.


    +++

 Chapter 37, Steaming Through

    Rodney had been through a few storms at sea. He was confident he could get the ship through whatever was coming, but Cole and Creighton were still worried. When Cole had sent off a Magical letter to ask Archibald about the phenomena, he had decided to seek out Joan. She¡¯d still be asleep, but he needed to be sure that they hadn¡¯t drifted south. He confirmed that they hadn¡¯t from Joan¡¯s logbook, rather than from the woman herself, and returned to the aftcastle to begin some last minute planning with the day crew, being joined first by Lieutenant Hardridge.


    ¡°Allright, we¡¯re going to be making two hard, sharp turns. Creighton described it as rotating widdershins, so we¡¯ll need to head into the wind if we want to find the closest path that won¡¯t take us farther north.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll not be needing the sails, then?¡±


    ¡°No we shouldn¡¯t. Make sure they¡¯re secure.¡±


    ¡°How powerful is this propeller, then?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s limited while we¡¯re in the air, but it can get us up to a good clip on the surface.¡±


    ¡°Should we just stay out of the way, then?¡±


    ¡°I''d rather everyone stay below deck. We might have to cut a corner through the edge of one of the storms, and the cyclone is constantly kicking rain out into the runs, so there¡¯s no reason to put yourselves in danger.¡±


    ¡°Can we rig some sailcloth over the wheel?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, as long as it¡¯s small it won¡¯t catch much wind.¡±


    The canvas awning was strung up so that Rodney could keep his vision clear on the port side, and by the time they had finished configuring the ship, Archibald¡¯s response had arrived. Cole had been talking with Creighton about what he¡¯d seen on his second scouting trip, and it was only now that the further insights were passed on to him.


    ¡°So, It¡¯s not much different from where we are now, except that the confines are a lot tighter. The real danger is the outer wall¡¯s overhang. It would be silent if it were to shift, and drop the full fury of the broilstorm on us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because the wind is blowing the rain away from the center?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The most westernly path is to the left, and takes us west southwest. It¡¯s about a third of the way around, so we really will be going against the wind.¡±


    ¡°How rough were the waters?¡±


    ¡°It nothing that risk the ship, but it splash water on the deck.¡±


    ¡°I like your new roof. We should get a more permanent solution next time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll need to make good time, but it should be fine. If it gets bad, we can just have Creigton steer us.¡±


    ¡°Then there will be no one left to watch for our exit.¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be that hard to miss.¡±


    The last thirty minutes passed uneventfully. They had been able to see the highest clouds slowly rotating past the end of the run, but soon they could start to see the aggravated mix of rain, clouds, and steam that made up the center of the cyclone. The lower the altitude the faster it was spinning. Creighton had gone ahead, to watch for any sudden changes that might catch them unawares, or phenomena he¡¯d missed on the first two passes. As the Galefast finished its descent, the entire crew began to sweat as the air grew humid and stifling. After impacting the water, the Plates of Levitation briefly sparked as the last traces of Lightning arced through the seawater that had splashed up onto them.


    Now fully committed to making the attempt at sea level, Rodney turned the ship in, and they started slogging against the headwind. Sheets of rain blew in from the starboard side, soaking the top decks with still steaming water, But Rodney kept the ship in the approximate center. It wasn¡¯t long before an initially silent column of water crashed into the ocean off the port side, the impact sounding less like sudden rain and more like a giant waterfall. By now, the oiled cloth awning was getting waterlogged, and Rodney had to step to the side to avoid one particularly persistent leak. The nearly boiling rain was lifting the oil coating away, and the same water was starting to make its way into his boots.


    After a grueling five minutes, Creighton signaled that the exit was coming up by channeling light mana. Rodney was tempted to leave the wheel, but he¡¯d not given Creighton any lessons on manning the helm, and Krisjen would be ready to relieve him once they made it back out into calmer waters. It was dark down here at sea level, but after Creighton finished circling, he lit up like a sun. It was so sudden and so bright, that Rodney was blinded and ended up late in starting the turn, having to wheel the ship hard to port, slamming the rudder over. As he started easing the ship back into a straight heading, the starboard side passed within a dozen yards of a particularly ill timed cascade, the resulting waves throwing the ship up and down violently. The ride was nauseating, but the ship''s balance kept the roll to a sedate lumbering. Rodney only loosened his grip on the ship¡¯s wheel as they passed out of the last squall.


    ~~~


    The air below decks was cooler than that of the top decks, but not by much. Cole was currently keeping the condenser chilled, as without it the engine would start to bog down with just how much moisture was in the air. Rivulets of steaming water were constantly running down the hull, and on the level above he could hear the crew had started running the bilge pumps. The robust ventilation inside the ship meant that the lower decks had heated up rapidly, but it also helped take away the additional humidity. Occasionally, huge torrents of water from the ocean would wash over the topsides and make its way down into the bilge, but this was a welcome reprieve, as the ocean water was, comparably, much cooler than the rain.


    The crew¡¯s firemen were unaccustomed to shoveling so much coal so fast, and two exhausted men were swapping out with two fresh crewmen. The intake was shielded against rainwater, but the exhaust stack was not, and the ashpan was slowly filling with a mixture of steaming water, extinguished cinders and coal ash. During the seventh minute the ship started getting violently thrown around, the incoming seawater starting to outpace the pumps. Once the ship settled back down with the wind at their backs, they were now taking the waves straight on, so the constant streams of water slowed to a trickle.


    Cole could feel Creighton¡¯s approach before he heard him, as the ambient fire mana was drawn out of the air, before being replaced with ice that gave the crew a much needed breather. The fire had been stoked as fiercely as it would go, but now they let it start to die down. Due to the high load on the engine, and the ambient heat, once the fire died down they¡¯d be taking some time to check on the engine, specifically that the oil feed was sufficient, and none of the bearings were damaged. Creighton was already getting to it while the engine was still running though, and the crew that had been sitting idle started for the topdeck, as they¡¯d now be sailing with a tailwind, thanks to the cyclone behind them.


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    Leaving the condenser behind, Cole went to check on the three iceboxes. Despite the canvas coverings, and thick rope, one of the crates had slid away from the interior wall, and slammed against the exterior hull. This environment had already been a lot for the iceboxes to withstand, and this damage had been too much, the box in question was now full of soggy, room temperature meat. However, the reason this box hadn¡¯t been lashed down as thoroughly was because it had been the one they were using, so instead of losing multiple week¡¯s worth of rations, only about a week¡¯s food was spoiled.


    ~~~


    Getting the ship back in proper order had taken the rest of the afternoon, and with the night shift starting Joan and Deuin were eating together, before Joan started her navigations, and Deuin returned to his divinations.


    ¡°So, what do you reckon?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re headed west by southwest, but we¡¯d been drifting north. I expect we¡¯ve got another few days of sailing ahead. If we don¡¯t run into another one of those, we¡¯ll really be in uncharted water by the first.¡±


    ¡°Still another week of sailing before we are out of these storms? I thought we were making better time than that.¡±


    ¡°We are, but it will depend on if we return to a more westernly route, or if we continue to curve farther south.¡±


    ¡°I would recommend getting back in the air sooner, rather than later. It¡¯s hot down here, and it¡¯s starting to fatigue the crew.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be getting back in the air tomorrow morning. Not much reason to try and rush, it¡¯ll be plenty cool enough at night.¡±


    ¡°I wish they¡¯d take off tonight. I can¡¯t be sure of my predictions until I can see more than that thin sliver of stars.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t consider that. It¡¯s not like we¡¯d take any branches now though, the wind is still with us. For now.¡±


    ¡°I expect you¡¯ll see the last of it before sunrise, the wind won¡¯t carry as far down here at sea level.¡±


    ¡°You make a good point, as always, grandfather.¡±


    ¡°Who is it this time?¡±


    ¡°Frekain.¡±


    ~~~


    Now that summer was coming to a close, it was certain. It had been warmer this year than the last, the testbed had gotten plenty of rain, and there was not a single trace left behind. Gregor had come to check for himself, as despite Detryl¡¯s assurance that there was no chance they would survive the winter, he¡¯d never let foresight be the deciding factor in his decisions, ever again. A few mages were checking through the soil, searching for any seeds that could have laid dormant.


    The testbed was a small valley, it mimicked the topology of ridgewern proper, but was secluded enough that the test wasn¡¯t at risk of being leaked. In order to scry on a location, you must know it exists, after all. The preparations to ransom back the knights, in addition to the mage that Duke Drake had captured, were proceeding apace. The ransom would be a good excuse to talk to the Duke, and with luck, a more generous ransom would keep him from interfering, though as soon as the duke had sent his apparently fearsome Soulsteel away, Gregor was reasonably certain that the Duke wouldn¡¯t throw in with his niece.


    The trip back to Jinkrok was short, and now that he¡¯d determined that the Gnarlthorns were controllable, he needed to speak to his nephew, and his sister in law. Despite how desperately Gregor was fighting for the throne of Ridgewern, his heir apparent was his nephew. While Charles Ridgewern The First had taken up arms during the war of succession, he had the good fortune of being captured by the First Prince, Gregor. As punishment for rebellion, Gregor had stripped him of his right to inherit, but Gregor had spared his son, Charles The Second. The former now sat in house arrest, but his son had been receiving an education befitting his status. His mother was engaged with the local nobility, as Jinkrok had originally been planned to be the demesne of Charles The First, and she was the daughter of a local Baron.


    ¡°Good day, Uncle.¡±


    ¡°It is, Charlie. It is. I have good news to share. Where is your mother?¡±


    ¡°She is out, the harvest is soon, and she¡¯s gone with Baron Higgans to inspect the southern crop.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s fine. You can tell her the news for me, then. I¡¯m told you¡¯ve been excelling with your new tutor?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he says I have an above average magical aptitude, and he has been a most gracious teacher.¡±


    ¡°You do like him, then?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Uncle.¡±


    ¡°I should hope so. He was in line to be the headmaster, before the war. If I had it my way, you¡¯d be taking classes from him at Greswich, but this will have to do.¡±


    ¡°I thank you again, uncle. Mother and I appreciate all the opportunities you¡¯ve given us.¡±


    ¡°Charlie, I always take care of my family. Now, the news I have to tell you is both another opportunity, and responsibility. The city of Jinkrok will be needing a regent while I am away, and that will be you.¡±


    ¡°W-w-what?¡±


    ¡°In addition, due to your ¡®inexperience¡¯, your father¡¯s confinement will be coming to an end, so that he may advise you. I¡¯ll be taking all the attention anyways. In three days, I¡¯ll be making the official announcement.¡±


    ¡°Does father already know?¡±


    ¡°He does. Now, I¡¯m permitting you a meeting with him today, so that you two can talk about what¡¯s going to happen. I¡¯ll send your mother to join you if she returns in time.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Uncle.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome, now get going already. I have three more meetings to get through.¡±

 Chapter 38, Clear Skies

    Cole was sick of waiting, and had made up his mind to talk to Creighton before he ran off to scout again. Something must be bothering him, as he¡¯d been avoiding spending any more time on the ship than he had to. Before, Creighton had been making a point of participating in every meal, despite the fact he couldn¡¯t eat. After Creighton had defeated the dragon, and the disagreement that had followed, he¡¯d been uncharacteristically distant. Something was driving him away, and whatever it was, it wasn¡¯t going away on its own. Creighton was already within eyeshot and would be back any minute now, for the clouds had been descending for days, and were now far lower than they had been back when they had first entered the broiling sea.


    When Creighton arrived, he confirmed Joan and Deuin¡¯s prediction that they would be seeing the last of the Broilstorms by the end of the day. Before Creighton could take off again, Cole caught him by the arm.


    ¡°Creighton. I need to talk to you before you go back out. Please.¡±


    ¡°I have to?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I can order you to, but you do have to.¡±


    Cole wasn¡¯t sure if having more people would make Creighton more or less talkative, but he¡¯d start with just the two of them. Rodney¡¯s cabin was the most private space on the ship, and with the man in question at the helm, Cole was free to use it however he saw fit.


    ¡°Sit down, Creighton.¡±


    ¡°Yes. What do want from me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried about you, Creighton. We haven¡¯t talked casually since the dragon¡¯s attack.¡±


    ¡°Things to do. Am busy.¡±


    ¡°You and I both know that¡¯s not true. We could get by with less than half the reconnaissance you¡¯re doing, and the crewmen can do maintenance on the engines without your help.¡±


    ¡°I just, want to feel busy.¡±


    ¡°Why do you say that? You were plenty busy before.¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­ I just not want to compete. With you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not following.¡±


    ¡°Tommen is your student. Not want to tell you how to live.¡±


    ¡°Creighton, you¡¯re not serious, are you? Your insight is something I want, it¡¯s something Tommen wants. You¡¯ve never dictated to us. And besides, Tommen thinks of you like an older brother, it makes sense for you to want to protect him.¡±


    ¡°I bring what I do from Earth, but it not apply here. Kid Tommen¡¯s age not work like this. Never risk like this.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve told me before that youth was spent learning, but practical education like this is the groundwork for helping him grow into a real adult.¡±


    ¡°I know, but I worry. I put in too danger.¡±


    ¡°Now you¡¯ve really lost me. You¡¯re a force of nature compared to everyone on this boat, at least by raw strength. You might not have the form down the way some of the knights do, but you¡¯re contributing more than your share to keeping us safe.¡±


    ¡°I attract danger, like dragon. If not seen before, but now I am here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just as likely the enchanted plates could have caught its eye, but it doesn¡¯t matter either way. We can¡¯t predict what we could come across, especially once we¡¯re out of the broilstorms. Not knowing what¡¯s coming isn¡¯t an excuse to isolate yourself. Besides that, you being gone so much is far more dangerous to us.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Have you been keeping your mana balanced? I¡¯m worried that this is a result of the environment you¡¯re in, only made worse with how you¡¯re constantly consuming more to fly.¡±


    ¡°I feel normal. Last time I felt weird was right after dragon. Too much Order.¡±


    ¡°Okay, if you¡¯re sure that¡¯s the only reason, I need you to understand that you¡¯re a positive influence on Tommen. He was starting to stagnate before you arrived, but with your help and encouragement he¡¯s been making impressive progress, and I don¡¯t just mean in magic.¡±


    ¡°I am glad. I go see him, if you think I should.¡±


    ¡°I know he¡¯d appreciate it.¡±


    ~~~


    Keith was hard at work in the foundry, the latest alloys his father had cooked up were being tested. Rust resistance was the first thing his father had wanted to tackle, and the first thing Creighton had recommended they try. Slimes made for a good enough analog, and after tempering another billet he stacked it with the others. Containing slimes was tricky business, so the plan was to bring the billets down into the depths and hunt for wild ones. Taming slimes was not something dwarves had any experience in, and finding a good black or gray slime wouldn¡¯t be too difficult.


    The testing for the rest of the mixes was being overseen by his mother. She had been working her way through the different suggestions Creighton had made, but finding out which alloys were ideal for mana conductivity was her main focus. A number of Manabulbs had already been made, but they were still having trouble pulling a vacuum. Not a single craftsman in the cloven peaks wasn¡¯t at work, but the most effort was being put towards the explosive recipe Creighton had suggested. Progress was slow, however, as Creighton hadn¡¯t given them nearly as clear an explanation.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ~~~


    Seeing Tommen after so long wasn¡¯t as awkward as I expected. He was just happy to see me, perhaps because there isn¡¯t much to do on the Galefast, so Tommen can easily get bored. Especially when the rest of the crew is working or sleeping. The Knights and the kids both just sort of hang around wherever keeps them out of the way.


    The Lieutenant Hardridge guy is with Cole and the Nobles, but the other knights don¡¯t have anything to do unless there is free space on deck for them to train, other than Trezemek¡¯s card games, which are all almost identical to the ones I know. That is only true when I''m not here, as when I am around everyone¡¯s favorite pastime seems to be asking me about Earth. We¡¯ve wandered from topic to topic, from my family to the moon landing. Trying to explain topics that are so complex is giving a real boost to my vocabulary, even if it is a bit cumbersome.


    I did notice something weird, that¡¯s both helping and hurting me in learning Wernst. It doesn¡¯t sound anything like English, but it¡¯s almost like the languages developed along the same roots. For example, Gauntlet means both armored hand ware and a path of trial, just like Gauntlet does, and throwing one down is considered a challenge. It¡¯s screwing with me just a bit, as sometimes I miss the obvious similarities, and sometimes I make a connection where there is none. Tommen and Natasha still want me to transform into different things for them, but I don¡¯t want them to expect a new form every time I see them.


    Now that I''m spending more time on the ship, I¡¯ve been working with Leona to try to wrap my head around healing magic. The mana used is called Vietae, but I¡¯ve not used it for anything other than healing, so I¡¯m not really sure what it¡¯s supposed to be. Metal is metal, Ice is cold, but what is Vietae supposed to be? It comes from earth mixed with chaos, and my best guess is life? Before now I¡¯d been under the impression that all mana was life, but my biggest problem is that it instantly disappears when I take my attention off of it.


    I¡¯m still going out for my scouting missions, but I''m doing so less often. Now that we¡¯re past the last of the Broilstorms, I just see the open ocean stretching out in front of me, and I can get going really fast. There is more than one time where I lose track of the ship on the horizon, and I have to really focus to catch sight of it again. The plates shine brightly with how much mana they¡¯re using, so long as I¡¯m searching with my manasight. It¡¯s on the fifth day of clear skies that I catch sight of a jagged line moving across the horizon.


    I was flying a rough search pattern, and my last leg had been taking me southwest, but the land still seemed to be moving even after I turned towards it. I wouldn''t have noticed at all if it wasn''t for the setting sun, but it was moving so slowly that I couldn''t be sure it wasn''t just a visual illusion. The battered cliff face that came into view was familiar, as materially it is an almost exact copy of the Iron Escarpment. It¡¯s got more erosion and deep gorges, but the same red stone. Instead of a straight plunge the cliff isn¡¯t quite as steep, and at the base is a beach under the overhanging cliffs.


    As I approached, I could feel the mana on the air was starting to tip towards order, and its derivatives. Chaos was scarce, and it felt weird after how plentiful it had been in the broilstorms. Instead of getting distracted by exploring what was in front of me, I turned around to return to the Galefast. I was tempted to see if I could provoke anything to come out and fight me before the ship got here, but that¡¯s something I need to talk about with Cole.


    ~~~


    Daniel and Remin were taking advantage of the dwarves'' current attitude, and were transcribing a number of important texts that either hadn¡¯t made their way down the mountain before, or had been lost. One such text translated was To Remember Calamity, written by a dwarven mage by the name of Frekain Amberlight. Remin was the one doing the actual scribing, as Father Daniel was busy with other tasks. He set aside an excerpt to be sent to Archibald, as he¡¯d asked for anything particularly interesting. The book was written over five centuries ago, and pulled from a number of primary sources to give, what the author claimed, was the definitive retrospective of the Calamity.


    ¡°¡­ determining an express cause of the Calamity is impossible, but the two most credible hypotheses are that it was either divine retribution, or a natural disaster caused by Trezemek¡¯s formation having been compressed into such a short time. Fire based Elementals have always been depicted as demonic creatures that feast on mortal flesh, but not those of the water, earth and wind variations. In reality, all elementals are simply incarnations of mana, and in them no divine or demonic mana has ever been recorded, at least by any credible mage. Reports from the survivors of the Calamity conflict over this, but the vast majority of them don¡¯t report ¡®demonic elementals¡¯. It is important to note that, while unlikely, this may be an example of survivorship bias, as any demonically charged fire elemental would have a significant increase in their aggression and lethality.


    Whether or not it was divine punishment or a natural occurrence, the effect that The Forbidden Land had on mortals is undeniable, as children born there see an increase of their magical sensitivity of, on average, fifty percent. The effect has persisted throughout the generations, with average magical sensitivity increasing by twenty five percent even as far east as Delenny. It is notable that this is the biggest contributing factor to human magic coming into parity with that wielded by the elves. The Forbidden Lands were always known to be significantly richer in natural mana, and Nobles having been creating mana-rich saunas for years in an effort to emulate the effect. Despite this, no meaningful increase in mana sensitivity has been found from artificial mana concentrations, and this is an often overlooked reason as to why so many ventured into the Forbidden Lands, with most history books placing the blame almost entirely on the famine of forty five, or on¡­¡±

 Chapter 39, Iron Vale

    Every nook and cranny was filled with a red dust, distinct from the natural soil. In some sunken areas it had piled up quite deeply, not that it slowed my progress. Despite taking a day to try and lure out anything aggressive, I¡¯d found nothing. I did find plenty of ruins, though. This was the biggest and earliest town along the dried out riverbed, and due to the lack of vegetation, it was remarkably well preserved. That said, there wasn¡¯t a building left standing, all the wood used in them had completely dry rotted. The church was made of stone, but was mostly collapsed.


    The bell I found buried in the steeple¡¯s rubble was small, but still rang when I rapped on it with my knuckles. It didn¡¯t have a casting mark on it or anything, and the brass¡¯s patina was beautiful. The Galefast had taken yesterday to catch up on maintenance, and would be joining me shortly. I¡¯d brought back some of the dust for Cole to look at, and it was apparently some kind of mana-dust. Not useful or anything, but an indicator of the rich presence of Fire and Earth mana here, a long time ago.


    I could pick out the nearby fields by the splintered remains of their fences, but the furrows themselves were indistinguishable from the surrounding soil. It simply seemed dry and desiccated, without any life whatsoever. The area around the church was particularly rich with Order and Balance mana, but that might just be because it was the only building in town with more than one wall still standing. Nothing I could find looked even remotely elven to me, and there were no clues as to what had actually happened here, other than the overwhelming evidence of the seemingly permanent drought.


    The Galefast was silent as it flew, so the whole ship had snuck up on me while I was searching for a root cellar below the church, and Cole would have spooked me if I hadn¡¯t heard his footsteps as he fought through some of the deeper dust.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll find anything down there.¡±


    ¡°Daniel had basement in his.¡±


    ¡°The foundation doesn¡¯t extend into the soil. I assume you haven¡¯t found anything in the rest of the town?¡±


    ¡°No. Just weird mana dust.¡±


    ¡°Did you search this thoroughly everywhere?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but fresh eyes could be good.¡±


    Despite rechecking everything, we did not locate anything Elven, the few scroll cases and preserved books we found were crumbling, and despite my attempts to see through the book covers, the text inside was illegible, at least to me. Deuin had been doing some kind of ritual in the center of town, and he was now walking my way, holding hands with thin air.


    ¡°Hello Creighton, are you free? I¡¯d like to do something to help this young woman.¡±


    ¡°Yes, name she has?¡±


    ¡°Tess. The town¡¯s graveyard is back behind the church, and in the rush to evacuate she and her family¡¯s graves were left unmarked. Would you mind making them a couple of headstones?¡±


    ¡°Not problem for me, where I can get stone?¡±


    He didn¡¯t respond for a second, instead he was looking down to what must have been, heartbreakingly, a kid¡¯s eye level.


    ¡°She says any of the blocks from the church¡¯s rubble would do.¡±


    While I was here, I dusted some of the other headstones. Without plants or rain, everything seemed frozen in time. After receiving a secondhand thanks from Tess, Deuin and I returned to the Galefast and he relayed what she¡¯d told him of the Elves.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t personally see any. It was a story that was spread by traveling merchants. Five towns down the valley, there was a settlement that apparently did, on occasion, trade with elves.¡±


    ¡°Should we head straight there? We might be missing more clues in what we bypass.¡±


    ¡°No reason to stop at them if we have a lead somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°This is Deuin¡¯s merit, we should follow up on it.¡±


    Only Cole wanted to explore the other towns, but he was out argued and out voted, so we went straight to the fifth one. It was slightly bigger than the rest had been, even possessing a stake palisade around the outside, and some distance from the river. I went to the graveyard first, and looking around I could find a number of unmarked graves here too. I took the time to place something at the head of every grave I could find. By the time I was done, Deuin had already acquired directions, the path the trading elves had always taken.


    The path led us up one of the tallest mountains around, and after reaching the top, we had seen nothing. The elve¡¯s trail had blended with the remnants of natural game trails, and the charred remains of the forest. The air was a bit thin in the sky above the mountain, but we couldn¡¯t see anything that the elves could, or rather would, have called home. Apparently, they don¡¯t like caves.


    The first day of searching ended without finding anything, and we headed back down the mountain. The eternal drought left us bereft of any locations to land the Galefast, and so we burned through more of the dwarven coal. The next day a heat mirage immediately stood out to me, as it was still in the exact place it had been yesterday evening. It wasn¡¯t too uncommon to see them in the evening, but this early in the morning it stood out alone against the clear skies.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    I failed to point it out to anyone else on the ship, despite angling them straight at it. This was actually a good thing, as if they could see it, it would have likely been a natural phenomena. Instead, this meant it was my mana-based sight that let me pick it out. It was a bit of a problem getting the heading right, but we headed over to the otherwise innocuous clearing the heat mirage was originating from. It was perfectly circular, and as I jumped down to take a look at what it was, exactly, I could immediately feel the mana it was made up of. Light, Dark, and Balance seemed to be woven into the very air, reminding me of what I did when I was fighting with Fredrak, where I had created a mana-matrix to keep my weapons from dispersing during the spar.


    Reaching out to touch it, I started trying to just absorb the bound mana and the mirage seemed to intensify. I heard gasps from the Galefast behind me, but despite my as of yet unlimited capacity, I could only open a small hole in front of me. Inside I could clearly see a stone wall, and ducking slightly, I could see it continued upwards beyond my line of sight. When I stopped pulling the mana in, the lattice returned to its original form, the window I had made faded quickly out of sight. I stepped foreward into the lattice, and the next thing I knew I had turned around and stepped right back out. I tried again, this time focusing on suppressing foreign mana. After doing so I passed through, before a wind started trying to push me back out. Not that it affected me much with how heavy I am, and I followed the lattices to where they entered into the tower in front of me. Despite trying to peer through the walls, the bricks seemed infused with mana, and it obfuscated the interior.


    The only doorway had been filled in with stone bricks, but it had obviously been the original entrance and exit to this tower. I pried briefly on the bricks to ensure they were not bearing any of the tower¡¯s weight, and then started to pull them out. After the first few the whole false wall collapsed and I didn¡¯t bother to step out of the way. The door itself opened outwards, however, and I had to spend a couple minutes cleaning the rubble so it would open. If someone had bricked this up from the outside, I couldn¡¯t tell. Magic could control stone, so if these elves were as proficient as everyone claims, I wouldn¡¯t put it past them. When I did get the door open, I had to make a choice. I could go back and try and drag someone in here with me, fighting the wind and whatever illusion had originally turned me around, or I could go inside and try and find the source.


    After manifesting a lamp in my right hand I looked around the insides of the tower. I could immediately identify the source of the lattices around the tower, but the room also contained two other notable things. There were stairs that wrapped around the outside wall, and a brass colored alcove, inside of which was what must have been an elven skeleton. The elf looked slightly taller than the humans of this world, but around the same height as earth¡¯s humans. The source looked almost like a rubik''s cube, but the center pieces were jutting out on every side. One of them I couldn¡¯t identify, but the other three all matched the types of mana that had been keeping me outside. I started by pulling on the light attributed one, and intricate traces like that of a motherboard appeared before me. Once I pulled it all the way out, I could feel the corresponding latticework fall apart. The wind cube was next, followed by the apparently befuddling cube. It was by far the most complex looking, and I sensed many different types of mana, but the most prominent were Light, Dark and Vietae.


    Looking at the third, It was almost entirely pure balance mana. My best guess was that it had something to do with the tower¡¯s structural rigidity, as its lattice only extended to the walls, and while not including the ones that had been used to brick over the doorway, it did cover the door itself. The others would come inside soon, it might take Cole a second to make sure it was safe, but I was confident enough to keep exploring, at least this first floor. Leaving the fourth magic cube in place, I walked over to the brass contraption housing the elf¡¯s skeleton. Its clothes still clung loosely, and despite not understanding fashion in this world it looked like what an old man would wear. He weighed nothing to me, and remembering yesterday¡¯s interaction with Tess, I picked him out of the alcove with the intention of burying him outside. As I did, I heard a clicking sound as his right hand brushed past an orb that was embedded in the right armrest.


    ~~~


    Despite the heavy atmosphere, the crew was still energized, as Deuin had already proved to be an invaluable asset by divining exactly where they needed to head. While morale had dropped slightly when they hadn¡¯t found anything that day, it had soared to new heights when Creighton had spotted something everyone else couldn¡¯t see. Creighton¡¯s mana sense was far more advanced than even Joan¡¯s, and they followed his directions to a seemingly ordinary clearing in the dead forest. Creighton had flown down before the ship had steadied itself, but the entire crew had been awestruck as he used his bare hands to open a gap in the illusion spell. Creighton had seemed to have initially had trouble entering into the tower, but after a few minutes the illusion around the tower dropped, and they could see the door he must have entered through.


    As the crew started dropping rope ladders to climb down, a vibrant red light lit up the inside of the tower. Despite the cloaking enchantment having been disrupted, the tower¡¯s bricks blocked attempts to use mana sense to sense anything inside, including Creighton. Rushing down the ladder, and further through the doorway, Cole had to cast a simple light spell, as the interior was nearly pitch black. The Arcanum in the center of the tower¡¯s floor first caught his attention, along with an empty brass device against the far wall. When he started walking around the Arcanum, he noticed the alcove was not as empty as he¡¯d thought. Laying sprawled on the ground was a skeleton, resting on top of Creighton. Creighton hadn¡¯t entered with real clothes on, instead going in with only his ¡°armor¡±. Now he was naked, suffused entirely with Vietae and Life mana, and appeared, unmistakably, human.