《Unending's Wager》


 Prologue - The room

    There was nothing extraordinary about this room. Pitch black walls, marbled floor and a white textured ceiling no higher than 2 meters tall. In each corner of the rectangular space stood decorative glass-like pillars each shaped as if they were 4 armed figures holding up the roof. The room was 50 square meters in total, with the majority of the space empty.Yet the non-empty space contained items far from the common mans definition of ordinary.


    In the center of the room lay an oddly shaped, almost hexagonal, red wood table with 6 twisted legs that seemingly emmited a cool white glow. Surrounding it were 2 unconfortable looking iron chairs on opposite sides of the table.Probably the most odd thing about this room, though, were the two people sitting on each chair.


    The room had no doors, no hidden hatches and no windows. Whoever constructed such a room, although if such a person even exists is undoubtably questionable, would swear they did not construct the room with these entities inside. The walls were immaculate and whole; these walls were untouched and there were no obvious points of breakage. An observer from the outside of this black box would not even be able to image anyone entering by any typical mean. Many would even doubt whether an observer would associate this pitch black cube as a room, and not some artifcact or sculptors abandonded project. Nevertheless, somehow there were people within the dark walls, although their purpose for entry would be unbenknown to all who did not witness them personally.


    "I sincerely hope that what you have to say won''t be a complete waste of time, I only have an eternity to spend on this life you know". The first to break the ceaseless silence was the youngest, or should I say the one with with thhe most identifiable age, of the two. His disinterested tone only complemented his middle aged features. Brown eyes, lightly wrinkled forhead, greying dark brown hair down to the shoulders. His rounded chin was stubbled with pure white hair.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    The second man simply remained motionless, as if such a question were a triffle to be ignored. After a few seconds, the man slowly opened his eyelids to reveal 2 glowing eyes completely covered by a purple hue. The rest of the man suddenly juttered and shifted in response, remaining almost formless yet still obviously human in shape.


    "Do you think I would waste my OWN time personally coming here if I didn''t have anything that could move such a lifeless unending like you?". The formless entities voice echoed through the room as if a thousand souls whispered in unison.


    "I know everything, see everywhere and hear everyone. Only the minds of another pest such as yourself pervades me, so the quicker I get my answer, the more of the uknown I will know and the less bored i''ll be". The formless human could clearly see from the younger mans rapid speech that his delay had sparked an emotion he hadn''t witnessed from another unending for eons - frustration.


    "Then, Wissen the knowing", the formless man quipped, fully intending on making the most of this rare event, "I shall tell you what you know.Those pitiful, bored gods seem to have created a galaxy none too disimilar from the guiding rules of our own. They intend on creating an isolated planet to have the most successful species from our realms to battle"


    "Informem, surely you haven''t had me return to this desolate, uninteresting place just for the stupidity of those mindless beings"


    "Of course not. I''ve invited you... too make a little bet"

 Chapter 1 - Sir Walter

    "Sir Walter, it is long past sunrise and today is the day of your audience with King Lorenz! If you don''t get up soon, the head-house maid will make sure I get much more than a stern telling off, and I dare not think what the king will do to you!"


    The doors burst open as a young lady carrying a weaved basket quickly entered the room. The man lying on the cannopied oak bed grumbled as he slowly rose to a sitting position. Eyes half open, he stared at the white stone walls in the corner of the room next to his bed. A few seconds later, he tossed aside the bedcovers and carefully placed his feet onto the carpetted wooden floor.


    Now barely awake, the man Walter procceeded to aimlessly look around the small bedroom. He briefly glanced at the evenly spaced wooden beams holding up the ceiling, then looked towards the woman who had woke him. The young woman was busy at work, and was currently opening the curtains to the large french windows, letting in light that Walters eyes had yet adjusted too. Still half asleep, Walter exclaimed


    "Margery, where in the name of...."


    "Your clothes are on top of the bedside drawer, sir, just like they always are". The busy lady chuckled as she atteneded to the bed, stripping the bedsheets. For a serving girl to cut off their employer would be considered the height of disrespect, yet Walter bearly paid it any mind. He instead strolled over to the drawer and pulled off the pile of clothes and started to change out of his white nightgown.


    The clothes were nothing special. A simple dark blue woolen robe, lined with linen, that reached down to the ankles. Yet on Walter, the robes looked as if they were the attire of a wise scholar or learned mage, albeit if not for his pale skin andconstant soul piercing brown eyes, one would be forgiven for mistaking him for a knight. His short back swept hair joint his beard with well kept, straight sideburns. Dark circles from too many sleepless nights had formed under Walters eyes, and a slight layer of grease covered his dark brown hair.


    With no time left to wash, Walter buckled a leather belt, with a small pouch hanging from the side, around his waist and out of the pouch he pulled a roundediron object. After a short twist, the object extended into two hemispheres joint by thin metal rods. Inside, a glowing white gem embedded firmly in the lower hemisphere hummed as if it were a radio picking up a constantly shifting wave. Pulsating, the object quickly floated out of Walters hand until it was hovering in position over his head. Within 3 seconds, the gem engulfed Walter in an opaque dark green aura and shortly afterwards, the greasy hair became as if it were freshly washed, and the fatigue drained from his body. After a snap of Walters fingers, the green aura quickly retreated back to the object, which then promptly placed itself back into the pouch.


    Finally, Walter pulled on his leathermoccasins and once again turned to face the servant girl, Margery.The young womanwas now in the process of folding the bedsheets and placing them in the basket she had brought with her.


    Margery was no older than 17 years of age. Her black hair, flowing beyond her shoulders, was mostly covered by a white headdress. Her dainty nose was situated between two large green eyes, glowing with youthful excitement, yet her deep red lips radiated a sense of maturity well beyond her years. Her petite calloused hands continued togracefully fold the bedding. As she picked up the basket and placed it on top of the trunk at the end of the bed, Walter carefully observed her attire that was now fully visible in the rays of light from the open french windows.


    She wore a simple white dress, laced at the front. Her sleeves were covered by baggy, blue, woolen attachmentsfrom her shoulders down to her wrists. Four long black cloth pieces at her waist hung down to the bottom of the dress. This was the dress of a noblemans personal maid, and Margery was appointed as such by Walter himself the day prior.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "The head-house maid works fast" Walter deliberated "Managing to arrange such a dress in a single day? Why, its almost as if the sly old woman was expecting me to select Margery as my personal maid. When im finished here, i''ll have to have a quick look into that hags intentions"


    Walter shook his head and sighed as he walked out into the wooden plank corridor. He continued down the stone stairs, embellishedwith an equisite iron railing. As he turned the stairs corner and stepped into the large central hall, he was respectfully greeted by the multitude of servants attending to the small manor house. As they passed him, each bowed at the waist with the usual "Good afternoon, sir Walter". Walter simply raised his hand to dismiss the servants, and continued on to the front of the manor house, where the noblemans entrance was placed. As Walter opened the thick wooden door and stepped out onto the cobbled street, he adorned his feathered chaperon, a tradition only commonly held by court mages with intent to visit the king.


    The streets were busy with carriages carrying minor nobles without territory, members of court and wealthy merchants with royal connections. Walter personally could not stand carriages, and instead chose to simply walk to the palace. The bumpy cobbled roads and poor suspension, not to mention the nigh nonexistant padding on seats - why would anybody subject themselves to such an ordeal? You''d reach your destination no faster, as this was wessend-upon-lydo, the capital of the Kingdom of Wesamont. The traffic from other visiting noblemen could delay any trip by half of an hour at the least and crowded market streets would cause jams all over the city simply from the flow of goods and people.


    No, Walter would not drop to the level of those "foolish merchants and noblemen" (in his own words).


    Of course, this was just Walter''s pride speaking. In all honesty, the journey to the palace by foot was not without its own difficulties. Wesamont has yet to develop the concept of city planner. Merchants would buy out land as they needed it to build warehouses, storefronts and employee accomodation. Rulers always wanted something to mark their name down in history; Walter passed at least 10 squares and statues dedicated to long forgotten kings and conquerers.


    The streets are an unforgiving maze to those unfamiliar with the city. Landmarks are of no help when building architecture can suddenly switch from gothic to rennaisance with no warning or prior indication. Streets that were straight paths one day may now suddenly lead to a dead end which is nothing more than a consequence of giving the upper classes free reign over their land within the city. Fires, disease and famine may see entire quadrants of the city blocked; why spend precious resources trying to save the damned, those you keep from danger will replace the lost soon enough.


    Still, residences of the city did have one guiding light, the only unchanging factor in the entire city. Every building, be it church or peasant housing, has a single sloped roof coated with a metallic sheen. The sloped roofs always face towards the outside of the city - head away from the slopes and reach the city walls, head towards them and reach the palace and major market square.


    20 minutes after his departure from the upper district, the location of Walters manor abode, the young mage spotted the first signs of the kings central market, also known as the major market square. Ten large covered wagons pulled by 2 horses each slowly proceeded along the single carriage width street. A single horse would usually suffice for wagons of this size yet clearly even two horses were struggling, each horse straining to pull the wagons at even a snails pace.


    "Those wagons must be carrying some sort of metal ore, surely" Walter, who usually took little notice of the goods carried within the market, showed a mysterious interest in these carriages. "I understand selling raw materials at the market, a great deal of merchants and workers will gladly buy the goods for their trade at negotiable prices, but those wagons are not designed for such weights. Whoever the owner is, they must be in a great hurry to rid themselves of the contents"


    Walters interest in the wagon did not last long. As soon as he realised he could simply find out what was within them at the market, he shrugged and continued on walking. It was he who requested an audience with the king, and it surely would not bode well if he were late.

 Chapter 2 - Troubles

    Typically, one would consider it abnormal for a simple mage to seek private audience with a ruler; at least that is the common sense that those of our world generally hold. More often than not, we view mages and wizards as scholars of magic and mystical arts but such logic does not hold in Wesamont. No, mages are revered by the masses and noblemen treat them with deference. Certainly, it is not difficult to understand why. An archmage, a mage of a certain power focused on battle and practical arts less so than study, may bring ruin to entire millitary forces if they do not hold an archmage of equal power. Even then, the opposing forces may suffer casualities just from the crossfire.


    It is also not uncommon for defeated cities to be razed to the ground bystorms of wind and fireor crushed by tornadoes and floods, all summoned by mages. Hence, he who holds the support of the most mages is he who holds the power of a nation. In Wesamont, that man is the current king, Lorenz II, who at this moment in time is sitting in his study on the upper levels of the palace.


    Outside the study, an elderly man dressed in a heavy, black, fur coat with white fur rimsis standing infront of the rooms delicately decorated wooden door thats embellished with a lion-like creature shaped bronze knocker. The man grasped the knocker, and swung it downwards 3 times, producing a crisp metal bang. The man stepped away from the door and gently adjusted his black brimmed hat. After a brief period of silence, a sharp voice from beyond the door called out "Enter!".


    "Your highness, the archmage Walter has arrived at the palace gates, he is here for the arranged audience". The elder opened the door and respectfully addressed the elegantly dressed man sitting behind a decorated redish-brown desk. Glowing bright red lines flashed around thedesks carvingsas its occupant sat with both arms laying ontop of it, motionless. Another brief period of silence ensued, before a feint sigh left the fellows lips followed by an almost reluctant "Well then, send him in".


    15 minutes prior, Walter had reached the major market square and was in the process of convincing an "enthusiatic" woman that he did not, in fact, require any jewlery no matter which turesmithhad produced them. Though of course, possessing the jewlery itself was not an issue.


    Due to the nature of magic and the base construction of the world, many times oreswill simply start"growing" given the right conditions. There are even some select ways to regrow depleted or emptying mines. As such, for a metal to be rare isa rarity on its own. Tureitite is one of the few such rare prescious metals, and owning fine jewlery of such a metal would indeed by a massive symbol of wealth and status. If not for his sagely attire, the woman would not dare approach somebody who seemed to have shallow pockets.


    Anyway, right now the issue was not with the jewlery itself. No, it was due to an issue which in fact had connections to the lack of rare materials - money. In a world that has not yet developed credit, how can trade be conducted if gold is as common as iron and rare materials are too precious to trade for bread? Clearly, as a market exists, a solution has been found. Indeed, different cultures and kingdoms have developed a multitude of methods to circumvent this, but no matter the methods they were of no use to Walter right now. His problem was much too deep.


    He had no money. Or, should I say, in his rush he had not thought to bring any with him.


    On any other day, such a triffle thing as possessing no money could simply be dealt with by, well, returning to the manor and aquiring some of the vast wealth Walter has accumulated from his days as a court mage. In fact, if he truly needed to purchase anything, why not just buy it another day? However, at this momentneither was an option.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Today, Walter had a personally requested audience with the king. Arriving at the palace without a suitable gift is poor ettiquette; no matter how little notice Walter took of societal customs he could not request to recieve without first giving. He had not prepared a gift as the Kings market lies right outside the palace boundaries, he simply believed he could aquire something on the day. The possibility of Walters plans leading to naught but failure because he forgot his purse is not something Walter accounted for. Truly, fate was not on his side. As Walter resigned himself to gaining nothing but a loss of face and the kings favour, a soft womanly voicespoke out behind him.


    "Ah what a magnificent brooch. Is this the work of an ferdwan turesmith?" Walter quickly swiveled around to see a young looking woman holding a deep purple brooch with a single large encrusted sapphire.


    "Madame, what fantastic eyes you have! This is a warstone-design brooch straight from the ferdwan capital". The owner of the market stall certainly had eyes for money, as the moment she spotted the potential customer she instantlydisregardedWalter.


    The arriving woman''s figure was incredibly striking. No more than 25 years of age,judging from her youthful appearance, the redheaded woman was not wearing a headdress to cover her neck length hair as is expected of a noblewoman, yet her tight green silk dress that complemented her hour glass figure and blue eyes was obviously not something a woman of poor wealth could afford.


    The gold floral pattern covering the dress was a work no normal seamstress could achieve; if not the work of a master then at the very least it would have consumed a great period of time to achieve such a design. Unfortuantly, it was a design Walter was very familiar with.


    "Lady deRose, what a pleasure it is to see you. What is a woman of such exotic tastes such as yourself doing outside of the magitorium on such a wonderful day as this? I don''t believe it is for jewlery - I wouldn''t expect you too be interested in such an object as the brooch in your hand". Walter sarcastically bowed towards the woman he refered to as deRose, with an uncharactistically large smile.


    "Charming as ever, I see. No, in fact I came here today as I heard a certain somebody had a request for the king they wished to make in private, and I was absolutely sure he wouldn''t prepare any gift in advance". The womans soft voice was not pleasing to Walter. To be so easily predicted by this woman, he could not help but frown.


    Lady deRose simply chuckled "Oh, don''t be so glum. You aren''t THAT predictable - I never expected you would even forget to bring any money to buy a gift! No no no, that is even beyond my abilities"


    "If you are here to jest, don''t bother. My day is already off to an attrocious start, I do not need you and your petty squabbling today! I''ve already apologised, do you really see the need to taunt me so?" Walter''s attempts to hold back his displeasure collapsed the moment deRose laughed at his troubles, and it wasall the more visible on his face. "Unless you are here for a rare act of charity, i''ll be on my way"


    "Charity? My dear, dear Walter, you still don''t understand women do you. Charity is not my intention, but repaying a favour is a different song". As she spoke, a flat metalic platform carrying dozens of books floated towards Lady deRose from the distance. Underneath the platform, a turquoise crystal was emitting a clear aura in all directions.


    "This is your design, is it not? You cannot even begin to image the results i''ve achieved from researching this little marvel, not to mention the time and money i''ve saved on sending apprentices to carry equipment".


    In response to Walters confused look, she turned to the seller of the brooch and handed over 10 large black coins which the woman happily excepted. Then, she turned to Walter and handed him the brooch.


    "Im sure the king will love such a masterpiece, but unfortuantly I am too busy to pay my regards to him today. Here, why don''t you gift it to him in my stead, as you are heading to see his highness anyway"


    Without even giving Walter time to consider thanking her, Lady deRose vanished from sight. "What a coy woman". Walter kept his words to himself; he knew deRose was still around, and she had surprisingly good hearing. After securely placing the brooch within his belts leather pouch, he continued onwards towards the palace.

 Chapter 3 - The request

    Upon reaching the gates of the palace, one of the palace guards approached Walter with his hand on the scabbard of his sword. Judging by the poor quality of the kings royal crest on the guards tabard, and the lack of any mail or plate over his gambeson, the guard was of lower ranking; being on guard against Walter was understandable, as he would have no knowledge of the court mages.


    Soon after hearing of the purpose for the vistors approach, the guard left the mage to seek the approval of a superior. Left with nothing to do but wait, Walter''s eyes wandered over the palace walls.


    To the untrained eye, this palace would indeed seem like nothing more than a castle - tall stone walls patrolled constantly by polearm wielding guards, iron portculis and high towers dotting the wall. To those in the know, though, this was much different. To them...it still looked exactly like a castle, but why would anybody refer to it as a palace?


    Thats right, the palace was a palace in name only - the residence of the king, thoughthe king just happened to live in a castle. But, one question remains unasked; why are the walls so low? Anybody with a common ladder could climb the 5 meter walls. Furthermore, the amount of towers is unproportional to the length of the wall. Every 20 meters lay another 15 meters tall tower, yet the towers have no arrowslits or open battlements. These towers are completely closed off, round stone structures with odd frustrum shaped tops.


    Seemingly, these defences are just for show but nevertheless here they stand. Perhaps the architect never truly expected anybody to reach this far into the city. Perhaps the builders were working on a minimal budget with strict plans, or even the opposite; a large budget yet no clear way forward.


    Either way, right now they were managing to keep Walter out, though with his thinning patience maybe the king will be forced to redesign the castle in case of rampaging mages.


    A short while later, the guard returned to escort the disgruntled mage to a small side-roomwithin the palace. Inside the room was an elderly man dressed entirely in black fur. The elder, with great difficulty, raised himself from the wooden chair on which he was seated.


    "Chancellor Degrough, you needn''t have come all the way here to greet me"


    The elderly chancellor shook his head and gruflly responded "Nonsense! You''ve only been under the kings employ for 5 years, yet he gladly accepted this meeting. The king clearly values your talents, so how could I not take the oppurtunity to escort you?"


    Degrough paused. Evidently, the mage standing in front of him hadn''t quite grasped the meaning of his speach. The chancellor stroked his long white beard and continued, "I may be old, but it doesn''t mean im willing to let go of my position any time soon. A few upstarts with their younger, quicker minds are already crawling out of the woodworks, attempting to make me look senile! Well, it may take me a few moments to remember quarterly reports, but i''ve not yet forgotten politics! Having a few...uh...strong allies is never a bad thing to have, you understand?"


    "Im quite oppossed to setting fire to powerful nobles children, if that is what you are implying" Degroughs laughter was not exactly the reply Walter was expecting to his statement; he was certainly not joking, as he would not set fire to noble children without proper compensation.


    "I will never get used to you mages. I''ll sell my wife the day I meet a normal mage who DOESN''T instantly jump to burning nobles! At least drown them, much less mess..."


    Noticing Walters curious gaze, the chancellorquickly coughed to stop himself, realising what he had just said. He glanced around the room and sighed in relief "Well, lets ignore that little joke, ay? Too be honest,It wasn''t as if I was being entirely serious... I''d actually sell my wife as long as I could find a buyer!"


    One awkward period of silence later, the chancellor ushered Walter to follow him. They arrived in front of the kings office. As before, Degrough slammed down the knocker three times and a short time later came a sharp "Enter". Degrough then stepped back, and gestured for the mage to step into the room.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Walter entered the small study, and immediatly bowed to the Strawberry blonde haired man sitting behind the desk in front of him. "Greetings, your highness"


    King Lorenz slowly raised his brown eyes from the parchment laying on the desk in front of him in response to Walters greeting. One eyebrow raised, as if deep in thought, the king reached towards a drawer within the desk and took out a spherical iron object, with a finger sized hole in the center.


    Around the perimeter of the sphere lay evenly space numbers, increasing from 1 to 12.


    The king inserted his right hands index finger into the hole. He closed his eyes, then slowly exhaled.


    A faint orange light radiated from the edges of the hole, and two small dots appeared on the white perimeter. A large black circle formed around the 12, while a black line that slowly proceeded around the sphere formed just next to the 5. Then, the king pulled his finger from out of the hole, observed the object and gently placedit back into the desk. After which, he hastily straighted his back and sat with one hand over the other on the desk in front of him. Fervidly, the king explained,


    "Marvelous new device, invented by one of your colleagues, Peter. He calls it a Time Cipher. Apparently, its an application of your magical storage crystals - something to do with recording a magical formula that calculates the time. Shame it requires someone with a precise control of the elements, or anybody may be able to use one".


    The kings rant completely threw Walter off. He was unable to even process a reply before the king continued, "Just then, it told me you were 5 minutes late. Let me guess, you forgot to purchase a customary gift and got held up at the market attempting to purchase one?"


    "I apologise, your highness. I''ve been completely absorbed in my research as of late, and the gift completely escaped my mind"


    "Oh don''t worry, its fine. I can''t say I am a lover of tradition myself - but I won''t say noto the brooch you''ve bought. Stop looking so shocked, I have eyes everywhere, though it does seem I will haveto thank Lady deRose when I see her next"


    Walter unhesitatingly opened the pouch hanging from his belt, knelt on one knee and presented a 10cm squared box. King lorenz reached over the table, took the box from Walters hands and carefully opened the top. Using 2 fingers, he proceeded to take out the large purple brooch. He examined the brooch and passionatly uttered "Marvelous". With one swift movement, the king then placed the brooch back inside its contained, then moved the container onto a pile of parchment ontop of the desk. Then, he continued,


    "Now that all the formalities are out of the way...for what exactly have you called this meeting, Walter?"


    As he was speaking, the king signalled for Walter to bring over and sit on one of the wooden chairs. Walter did as requested, then answered the king.


    "I will be quite blunt with you, your highness, as there is little I wish to negotiate. I wish for you give me control over the Brightland forest as I believe, and I hope you do agree, that I am the best equipt to utilise the land to the highest standard. If you provide me with a medium sized village of farmers, smiths and builders, I guarantee it will be your most prosperous lands!"


    The king remained completely motionless while Walter presented his request, as if he were not aware of the mages presence.


    A 10 second period of complete silence later, the kings eyes shifted to meet Walters. His reply was certainly not what Walter expected.


    "Walter, you want me to send an Archmage to an isolated, verdant, forest abound with resources. You wish for me to send such an intelligent, talented man to undeveloped land right at the border between us and our most powerful neighbour? Mage, do you really despise my employ that much? What you are requesting...its almost as if you intend on forming your own nation!"


    Forming his own nation? With a village worth of people, how could the king ever come to such a conclussion. Its absurd. As Walter was about to protest, the king held out his hand to stop the mage, then swiftly pulled out a large, thick parchment with intricate purple, metallic, borders.


    "This is the deed to the Brightland forest and surrounding territories. I''ve kept it here, hoping some trustworthy, competent and loyal retainer would request control of the land so...sign here".


    King Lorenz handed Walter afeather quill with a strange crystal nib and pointed towards a line at the bottom of the deed. Walter infused the quill with magic and continued to write his name. As he did, without ink, strange red glowing letters formed along where he wrote. Soon after, the glow dissapated leaving only ink-black writting. The mage then reread the deed, and checked over the last line:


    "I, King Lorenz II,Ruler of the Kingdom of Wesamont, archduke of the eastern lands and all its territories, prince sovereign of the region of tescant, hereby give ownership and control of the Brightstone Forest, Brightcove Mountains and its constituent lands to the holder of this signature, and all their descendent"


    The mage glanced over the final line, and there lay his signature.


    "Walter deWissen"

 Chapter 4 - Accumulation

    At present, astrononical dusk has already long since set upon the land, painting the once disorganised streets in a uniform curtain of blackness. Many hours have passed since the initial audience with the king.


    Upon signing the deeds to Walters newly aquired province, King Lorenz relocated himself and Walter to the palace''s eastern great hall, wherein a great majority of the kings advisors and accountants had be summoned. There, numerous discussions and negotiations ensued, involving the rellocation of populace, the initial trade routes for building material and daily neccessities, the initial construction of housing and farmland and other subjects fundamental to the development of the land .


    The meeting had continued long into the evening, forcing Walter to stay over at the palace to eat, much to his dismay. He''d have much prefered to return home or, if he wasn''t in such a penniless state, even a nearby tavern would have sufficed.


    Trading his belt for scraps of bread would have been better, in Walters eyes, than the simple meal that evolved (devolved, as Walter saw it) into a grand feast to celebrate the appointment of a new duke of the duchy of Brightland.


    Of course, it may seem unusual for such an unplanned feast to occur; usually they would take months of preparation. The aquisition of food being the major part as a king that provides too little for a feast may be considered of poor etiquite by the nobles. Invitations, on the other hand, were less of an issue - mages could quite rapidly send messages over long distances if given adequate resources to set up the communication channels. This time, though, no magic was required to request their attendance. Many important noble figures were already gathered within the capital at the kingscommand for many subjects, ranging from the expansion of land to the implementation of new agricultural techniques.


    Either way, it just so happened that the basic neccessities of a feast of its scale had been prior prepared, though for what reason none may ever know. Maybe its all the fault of the clerk in charge of the palaces storehouses, and the king just happened to find a suiting event to capitalise on anothers misgivings. Then again, maybe it was just a coincidence. Perhaps it is a secret that will forever be lost to the king and his advisors, though such a triviality was the least of Walters concerns.


    The uncomfortable carriage that he so despises,ofwhich he is being forced to travel in, is the greatest of Walters current problems. You would be considered a fool if you tried to traverse wessends streets on foot without a deep understanding of the city,and thats only considering if the trip is during the day!


    Trying to do the journey in a time whence streetlights have yet to become widespread would be suicide, a fact even Walter must concede too. Albeit, if not for Lorenz''s persistence, he may yet have taken his chances over this ordeal.


    Each stone on the paved city streets causes the entire carriage to jolt and jostle. The unsteady movements of the horses jerk Walter forward with each step taken, and the hard wooden seating covered by a thin layer of cotton barely aleviates the constant upwards smacking of wood against man. His back is no better off, as although the padding may be thicker, the seat is much too short and the backing much too straight, forcing him to take an excrutiatingly straight spined position.


    What irks Walter the most is not his current discomfort, though. No, he can bare with the half hour of pain due to how fatigued the day has left him. The thought of the journey to the Brightlands, on the other hand, is more painful than anything the carriage is able to inflict.


    The dirt roads leading to the forest are pooly kept, moreso than in the city at least; laws may be in place dictating that those living around the area must maintain them but the chances of the peasants bothering to do a decent job is minimal. Travelling by carriage, which Walter will be forced to take out of respect for his new position, the journey will be at least 2 weeks on the dirt paths, given rain does not turn them to mud.


    Although a river cuts through the forest territory, it is still a 3 day week journey to the nearest port connecting it. Only 4 days will be required for the journey from that point on, and fewer stops will need to be taken and hence the trip is considerably less by boat. Unfortuantly, boats are no better than carriages - they are much, much worse.


    And so, Walter resolved to improve his transportation dilema.


    Almost at the instant the carriage reached his manors doors, the mage rushed towards the wooden doors, barely showing his fatigue. Shoving his way through into the hallway, Walter whipped off his chaperon and nearly threw it onto the iron hooks imbedded into the wall.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Very little of the hurried activity from earlier in the day remained, with only a small number of house maids and servants left at work. Those remaining attempted to greet the hurried mage albeit Walter did not give them the time; he hurried past each till he reached a set of downwards spiralling stone stairs.


    Once again, Walter reached for the pouch and pulled out the spherical object and twisted, revealing the glowing core. This time, he held the two hemispheres in his hand as the core now radiated a bright yellow aura that extended out to the walls. He then proceeded down the stairs. Every 10 steps, the aura engulfed strange glass structures on the wall, resembling lamps. Each "lamp" was full of a water-like substance, which quickly began glowing with light of the same colour as the aura. Upon closer inspection, it could be see that the gem within the hemispherical object in Walters hand also contained the same liquid.


    The momentWalter reached the end of spiral staircase, immediatly infront of him was short corridor stretching out towards a sizable black wall. The mage then stretched out his arm containing the spherical object which floated out of his open hand and placed itself within a hole at the center of the wall. The two hemispheres reconnected, producing a sharp click. Soon after, a split formed down the center of the wall, and opened to reveal a completely black walled room. The mage stepped into the room, pulling the sphere out of the wall-turned-door while he walked, completely sealing theentrywaybehind him.


    Early the next morning,Margery hurriedly carried a flat wooden tray towards the house masters bedroom. He had not returned until much later than expected and she doubted he had eaten much, hence she had the head chef prepare a light breakfast. On the tray lay a plate, on which a small slice of crusted bread and two chunks of cheese placed. Next to the plate was a green-tinted glass containing a sweet-smelling creamy coloured liquid. Margery knew her employer did not enjoy the wine or beer that was generally consumed by other noblemen for breakfast, hence she personally squeezed a glass of poinberry juice.


    Wheninfront of the noblemans door, Margery gently knocked on the wooden structure and waited.


    "The master is probably still sleeping, although I strictly remember warning him that too much sleep will be bad for his health!" the young maid mused, as many seconds has passed yet still no reply came from the room.


    She knocked again, and yet again no reply came from the room. This time, she grabbed the handle and opened the door, carrying the tray into the room


    "Good morning sir, I am awfully sorry to disturb you but I really insist you wake up and eat. I can''t bear to see you get sick from an improper appetite and lack of activity and im not just saying this as I wager you''d dock my wages!..."


    He isn''t in the bed? Margey was so absorbed in her rant she had failed to notice that the major component of a decent complaint was missing - there was nobody with her to hear it. She knew the master had returned, as she personally witnessed him stepping out of the carriage from her second floor room, and yet seemingly he had not returned to bed. Although Margery had only recently been promoted to the lords personal maid, she had been under the noblemans employ long enough to know exactly where he had hidden himself.


    Carefully, she picked up the tray she had placed onto the bedside drawers and headed towards the downwards staircase. The abnormal still-glowing laterns confirmed exactly where her employer had gone.


    The lanterns were no longer completely full of the liquid. Although she did no understand exactly how they worked, the fact that at least 4 centimeters of the usually full liquid had vanished informed Margery that her master had retired to this place the moment he returned from the palace.


    Knowing full well that knocking on this black wall would have little effect, instead Margery loudly spoke,


    "Sir Walter, its me, Margery. I''ve come to bring you breakfast as I''d very much wager you ate as little as possible in the day gone past"


    Practically the moment she finished speaking, the black wall split open and out stepped the now haggardly nobleman, still wearing the robes from the day prior. Her employer eyed the tray, then carefully took it from her hands and retreated to the room. A short while later, sir Walter returned and handed Margery a large stack of parchment of differing sizes.


    "Perfect timing! I want you to gather a few servants, and send them to all the people listed on that note, carrying with them the corresponding parchment. As i''ve personally taught you to read, I perfectly understand you are the only one in my employ capable, Give them the instruction to hand the parchment over to their target, and request them to construct what is drawn"


    Walter barely took any breaths between each word, and continued to bombard Margery with instructions.


    "Oh yes, money". He pulled out a small parchment of paper from his pouch "give this to the accountant and tell them to deal with any expsenses that may arrise. Oh, and also, I want you personally to attend to this list"


    Sir walter pointed to a thin piece of parchment ontop of the pile. Margery skimmed through the list of strange components, then confusedly asked "Sir, would it be rude of me to ask what exactly all of this is for?".


    Hearing this question, sir Walter began stroking his bearded chin and raised his eyes to the ceiling as if in deep thought. He began questioningly humming a series of Hmmm''s until he once again looked at the young maid and answered "Its all for an elemental accumulator"

 Chapter 5 - Metal

    Margery, although confused by her employers sudden request, committed herself to the task at hand. The nobles trust in her ability was certainly an unwitting boon to the eventually, timely, completion of the gathering buisness that Walter personally assigned to the maid. Fully devoting herself to aquiring each component on the list, utilising every contact and owed favour the young woman had at her disposal, the somewhat monumental task was completed in a third of the expected time; a single week was all it took.


    Even Walter himself was impressed with the girl. In fact, he didn''t trust his maid to complete the job at all, that was Margery''s own misguided interpretation. No, he had assigned the task to her exactly for the reason he said; Margery was the only one he knew, who was accessible at the time, that can read.


    Truthfully, the mage simply wished to keep all possible distractions away from the basement room while he found another more capable of completing the job. And now, unfortuantly for Margery, Walter''s opinion of her had changed from "useful when I need waking up" to "can be sent on nigh-impossible or daunting jobs and still produce results". This certainly would not bode well for the maids future.


    Back to the subject at hand, Walter was shocked by his maids performance. A large portion of the objects on the list were items that rarely passed through public markets, the rarest of which being aewer ore.


    Aewer ore is known by another name in Wesamont - wealthy mans bane, aptly named for its uncannily similar appearance to that of a much more sought after material, zautine, also known as elemental iron. Aewer is much denser than zautine, though it''s pliability and softness is of a much higher degree than the aforementioned elemental iron. Another property of aewer that undoubtly contributes to its common name is its tendency to completely vanish from sight.


    This property is its ownly marketting value. Certain mages find great interest in the ores ability to dissappear and will often spend hefty sums on aquiring large quantities, although aewer is absolutely not uncommon enough to justify such prices. How Margery managed to get ahold of such an eluvise material is beyond Walter, though he does not doubt for a second that his recent immense luck has something to do with it, hence he didn''t bother to inquire to where she found it. What Walter found most important, at this moment in time, was to safely process the aewer into a useable form, lest it dissapear from sight and doom the entire project. Well, doom it until more ore can be aquired, but wasting time was as good as ruining the project in Walters eyes.


    With Margery in tow, the mage once again moved towards the black walled room, no longer seeing his maid as just a useful tool. He fully believed allowing the girl to observe his work to be a benefitial investment. The mage didn''t intend on having her learn, but instead hoped she would be useful in explaining his constructs to others in the future. It takes a simple woman to convince the simple, he thought. Honestly, he still viewed the girl as a tool, though he now viewed her as a specialised tool worth cherishing.


    The maid, on the other hand, saw this seemingly sudden change of attitude from her master as an oppurtunity, and as they walked down the stairs, the girl started her enquiry.


    "Sir Walter, would it be rude if I were to ask how exactly these odd lamps work? I''ve seen magical tools before, but never seen such devices work without a mage constantly attending them or without magical engravings"


    Walter, barely pausing as he continued down the stairs, replied in his usualflat tone, "Since when have you bothered about whether I would find something rude?" The young girl guiltily look to one side, trying to avert the invisible gaze from the back of her masters head.


    "Anyway, to answer your question, their workings are all down the that liquid, you see", Walter continued in a much more cheerful manner than the maid is used too, "It is the fluid form of what we mages call pure element, though I guess you will know it as mana. Skipping over the unneeded details, pure element has the remarkable ability to take on the form of any other simple element it is exposed to".


    Walter paused and pointed towards the hemispherical object radiating the bright yellow aura in his hands, then went on speaking,"By exposing the pure element to the element of light, the outter layer of pure element becomes light element, which in turn converts that below it and so forth, hence emitting light".


    Unfortuantly, this explanation completely slipped past Margery. It wasn''t that Walter''s description of the lamps workings were insufficient if explained to that of another mage, but the young woman was certainly not one well versed in magic.


    "Simple element? How is simple element different from pure element? What makes it simple? What IS simple element? Actually, what is element? Whatever it is, it doesn''t explain how the lamps seem to refill themselves after a time!"


    Believing the nobleman had already gone out of his way to even attempt to explain theoperation of the lamps, Margery did not dare to voice her questions this time, though she would soon find these questions inadertently answered anyway.


    Soon after Walter finished his rather ineffective lecture, the maid and mage reached the pitch-black wall. As before, Walter opened the wall and signalled for his maid to follow him in.Stolen novel; please report.


    Once inside, the maids eyes wandered around the small black-walled room. Her attention was at once broughttowards the strange objects lighting the room - they differed from the lamps on the stairwell very little shapewise, yet each lit in succession without the need for Walter to use the metalic object, which was still embedded in the doorway. There was little else in the room. The only other notable features were the abnormally straight cut and polished marble tiles on the floor, and the unusual pattern on the white ceiling. Margery also noticed the room splits into two pathways on differingends of the room.


    Walter continued down the right path, urging his maid to continue following. As she slowly began to amble behind the mage, she turned to look down the other path. The pathway seems to lead to a dead end, yet Margery couldn''t help but find the black wall at the end of the path to be incredibly unnerving; it looks almost as if it is absorbing the light around it, producing a darker blackness than even the light devoid darkness of night. The maid quickly turned away from the hall lest she lost herself in the wall. The woman had been holding her breath the entire time, and the sudden rush for air hit her all at once.Gasping for breath, Margery continued behind the nobleman.


    After walking in an almost trance-like state for what seemed to be an eternity to the young woman, though it was truthfully less than 20 seconds, Margery met with Walter opening a normal seeming wooden door. The mage, as he turned to welcome his maid into the room, noticed her now pale complexion.


    "Ah, so you''ve seen the other hallway then?"


    Walters comment was met with nothing but a blank stare, as if the maid had lost a vital part of herself, though he knew that was due to nothing more than fear.


    "Calm down, what you saw is simple a slightly complex illusory magic formula, designed to give this place that mage-like mystique guests expect from powerful mages. Pay it no mind"


    Colour visibly returned to the girls face upon hearing her masters statement, though she could not fully shake the dreadful feeling that something was wrong. The nobleman never had guests come to this room, so why bother prepare such a formula? The feeling she lost some part of herself never left her mind, either, but there was nothing more she could do. Her employer clearly did not want to give the complete truth and she was careful not to press for it.


    Instead, the young maid chose to do as her master intended, and proceeded into the room. Unlike the clean black walls of the hallway, the maids shock at seeing dusty stone brick walls and jagged cut paved floor is certainly not uncalled for. The rooms looks no different than any scholar or mages room. A single wooden bookshelf in the corner is overflowing with thick books, scrolls and loose parchment. Dotted along the walls are single shelves holding all manner of items, from clear glass bottles of differing shapes, to twisted metalic gadgets and amulets. Right at the back of the room stands a simple, orange-red coloured desk, littered with crystal looking quills, stacked books and parchment. Most notably, a large glass container full of fluid stands right in the center of the desk and within the fluid lies the aewer, almost suspended in the liquid. Unlike when the maid purchased the ore, which looked no different than specks of dark red surrounded by chunks of rock, the aewer was now a smooth reddish-brown sphere.


    "This liquid is, or was, the regard turpentine. You should be well familiar with it, as you were the one who brought it" the mage began speaking to his maid in the unusual cheery tone from earlier.


    "regard turpentine is produced by distilling resin from the kelmentar tree, which is incredibly rich in fire element, using a particular method only a mage is currently able to do. Theturpentine not only completely dissolves the sediment around the aewer, it also causes the metal tonaturally compact. The process produces large amounts of heat, completely dispelling the remaining fire element, but also melts the compacted metal, leaving behind a sphere of aewer drowned in pure element! How fascinating this is indeed"


    Once again, Walters explanation was almost completely lost on the young maid, but she understood the gist of it - the products she bought, when mixed together, somehow refines the aewer ore into metal and the liquid within the glass lamps.


    What happened next, though, completely destroyed Margerys hope of understanding.


    The nobleman pulled out agreen metalic box about the size of a watermelon from a cabinet in the corner of the room. At the front of the box is a single pane of crystal-like glass, allowing one to clearly see the circular slot around the size of Walters fist in the center of the box.


    The maid recognised this as one of the items her employer had sent to be crafted by the cities magic smith; she specifically remembered its exorbitant price. Mages may be rare, and mages that taken an interest in smithing rarer still, but a price she could not personally afford even if she worked for a thousand years for a green box? Clearly, her employer was more bizzare than she imagined.


    As Margery was internally complaining about his lavish spending, Walter speedily took the orb of aewer out from its glass container with a pair of iron tongs, then placed into the circular slot inside the box. Then, he grabbed a small turqoise bead and broke it over the top of the orb, before swiftly closing the top of the box.


    Peering through the small window, Margery instantly stopped concerning herself with the spendings of the wealthy. Instead, she absorbed herself in the strange occurences happening within the box.


    Firstly, the previously reddish-brown orb completely changed colour to match the turqoise bead. Next, a thin layer of clear liquid substance formed on the outside of the sphere, before changing into a turqoise aura, the same as the yellow aura Walters sphere radiates to start the lanterns. Finally, the orb began to violently vibrate in its slot before small pellets of turqoise aura began to bombard the orb from every direction.


    10 minutes later, the orb lay completely silent. Now, it no longer lay surrounded by a turqoise aura. Instead, the aura had transformed - it became a dark turqoise liquid that completely filled the box.


    Walter stared at the green box in front of him, as Margery simply gawked in shock at the substance that materialised from nowhere, and then he smiled.


    "Margery, close your mouth and stop drooling everywhere, are you trying to drown the place? Oh, nevermind that, go and find out if everything else I requested has been completed yet. Its about time we begin constructing the accumulator"

 Chapter 6 - Felton

    The industrial quarter of Wessend has never seen a shortage of oddities and curiosities flowing between its myriad workshops. Innovation has always been the craftsmans forte, and the incredible supply of rescources, manpower and inventive mages present within the city only stokes the fire of progress.


    Usually, the focus of the cities creative talents areaimed towards the art of war; rarely a day is there not a new crossbow, an improved balistae or imposing suit of armour produced from this city quarter.


    Today though, the largest gathering of proud worksmen ready to display their products is not outside the blacksmiths, nor the boywers, but instead they are gathered around the master carriagemaker Felton''s workshop.


    Felton is your average workshop master - 39 years old, balding brown hair and wrinkles on all visible patches of skin. He wears a murky yellow tunic accompanied by red hosen. When working, he is commonly found wearing a red sugar-loaf hat, and he ties a single white piece of cloth around his waist as an apron to prevent his work from dirtying the clothes more than neccessary.


    What stands before him today, though, is certainly not something an average workshop master would expect to see. Ever since being sent off into apprenticeship under the workshops master from 2 generations prior at the age of 9, Felton has never seen such an abnormal carriage.


    Carriages and wagons, for wealthy patrons and the transportation of goods respectively, are usually a product of the combined effort of wheelwrights, carpenters and blacksmiths. Carpenters produce the axles, framework and odd bits required for the carriages. Wheelwrights use the shaped wood produced by carpenters to produce, obviously, the wheels. The blacksmiths produce the iron sheets that encircle the wheels, to be fitted by a specialist, and any other metalic constructs the carriage or wagon may need. Then, finally, the carriagemakers construct the final product, generally involving fine carpentry skills.


    To involve magic smiths, upholsterers, glassmiths and all other manner of craftsmen? Felton can''t even begin to image the eccentricity of the fellow who ordered such a carriage as this.


    What''s more, the final product itself is completely abnormal and goes against all sense of logic. The frame is much larger than common long-distance carriages, yet there is only space to harness two horses even when it would take 4 to carry the weight at any respectable speed. The wheels look much too fragile and fancy; instead of the usual iron looping, the wheels outter rims are lined with a 2cm thick opaque crystal structure. The spokes of the wheels are also constructed of this odd material, and are centered around a large white gem.


    The body of the carriage is shaped no differently than the usual noblemans carriage, yet the large clear glass windows on each of the 4 doors, all backed by silk curtains, greatly differ from the usual small windows placed on either side.


    Talented upholsterers spent days fitting their finest benches within the carriage, with each seat painstakingly constructed to their patrons request, and using the odd foam substance provided.


    On the very front of the carriage, two completely metal hemispherical devices are attached to either side of the body. Felton truly does not understand their purpose, but the collaboration of people required to construct them is outstanding enough. Firstly, simply the employment of the cities magic smith in building these strange ornaments is already impressive. To also employ glassmiths and gearwrights, those who work in the construction of mages measuring tools and other impressive gadgets, just to make what seem to be lumps of metal?


    Felton could not understand these devices, but the fact still stood that they were the hardest parts to fit; an intricate array of ropes are weaved into the body, leading to a lever fitted on the carriage drivers perch. And yet, all the lever seems to do is lift metal disks hinged onto the hemispheres, revealing a circular glass window in front of a completely hollow space.


    The most curious part of all, though, is the metalic compartment hidden within the back of of the carriage. Although the compartment certainly has room to store goods, the iron used in its construction, in Feltons opinion, surely will do nothing but contribute to the bulk of the already overweight carriage.


    Granted, all the old masters doubts were soon to be proved superfluous.


    Their patron, Sir Walter, along with an entourage of servants , shortly arrived infront of the carriagemakers workshop. Felton immediatly sighted the large wooden crate that the servants were carefully carting along with them. Full well knowing this man was their most "generous" customer to date, Felton ordered a small group of apprentices to aid the servants with their strenuous task. It''s never a bad idea to curry favour with the wealthy, Felton believed.


    Bowing towards the nobleman, Felton respectfully addressed the blue robed man, "Greetings, my lord. For you to come all the way to our most humble workshop is an honour. I only wish we could repay such kindness"This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Having dealt with many a noble and wealthy fellow, the master has long since learnt how simple such men are; flattery is a straight path to the upper classes approval. Unfortuantly, Walter payed the mans honeyed words no mind in his reply.


    "Two months have passed since I placed this order, and today is the deadline for its completion" the mages impatience revereberated with every word, "so, is there a reason for me to not want to see my carriage first hand?"


    "Of course not, my lord. The carriage is completed, as to your request. From the...ornate design, I understand this is show piece, no? I can prepare a suitable place to store it if you desire, lord". Felton called over one of the younger apprentices, and began assigning the task of scouting sufficient land to produce a storehouse, before Walter interrupted.


    "Don''t bother. I simply require you to harness two decent horses and bring the carriage out to the front road, where my servants will take over. That is all"


    Felton, though doubtful of the nobles intentions, did not wish to offend such a wealthy customer, hence he simply bowed and left to do as requested. Walter then approached the young maid Margery, who had come at the request of the house master, and began issuing a series of instructions to the young woman.


    An hour later, the gathering of curious onlookers and worksmen had all moved to the districts main road and assembled at either side of the vehicle now mounted with two stirdy looking white horses. Seeing the great struggle the carriagemaker employees had in transfering the carriage, the crowdgrewwith those wishing to see the foolish designer.


    People who were watching since the moment the carriage reached the roads, though, were staying for an entirely different curious itch.


    These early bird onlookers had witnessed some households servants, along with a collection of carriagemaker apprentices, lifting a large green structure and smoothly sliding it into a space at the back of the carriages body. The few who approached for a closer view noted the two long strips of different coloured glass running either side of the objects center point. One of these glass panes was an opaque white, while the other was a deep turqoise.


    Although the sightseers may not have understood the purpose of the structure, they soon comprehended why the carriages owner cared little for the extra weight.


    After a blue robed man followed by a young maiden stepped into the carriage through a swivle door, one of the servants stepped up into the front perch of the carriage. The elderly looking driver grabbed the reigns, and with a swift flick of the wrists, the carriage started moving, much to the amazement of the onlookers.


    The old master, Felton, was the most astounded; when moving the carriage earlier, the horses were barely able to move at a snails pace. Now, though, the carriage was going as fast, no, faster than any carriage he has seen before! The two horses barely broke a sweat to start moving the monstrosity and trotted along the paved path, yet the body of the vehicle barely even vibrated, let alone shook like would be expected. What an incredibly sight!


    But suddenly,Feltons awe turned to horror- he''d noticed a large pothole right in the path of the wheels. No matter how solid the crystal wheels were, the moment the horses step into the pit, the sudden jutter surely would shatter them to pieces.


    Yet, the sound ofcracking glass never came. Instead, Felton witnessed the hooves of the leftmost horse step right into the pothole and...walk on the air above it?


    No! Upon closer inspection, Felton observed a blue, glass like aura filling in the pit. In fact, this aura created a completely flat surface right underneath the vehicle, and followed it as it moved. The entire carriages body seemed to glow with a multitude of transparent colours that morphed into a turqoise hue at back end of the construct.With this, Felton was assured of his previous assumption - his client was indeed a mage.


    Inside the carriage, a certain maid''s inquisitiveness was completely overriding her uneasiness of sitting right next to a nobleman. Without even saying a word, the young womans pleading eyes, much to his dismay, told Walter exactly what his maid wished to hear. The mage never intended on teaching her anything, but clearly she was going to learn whether Walter wanted it or not.


    "You are such a tiresome maid, making me teach you basic magic concepts, I hope you understand that" Walter began, though the large grin forming across his face told Margery otherwise, "to put it into simple terms, element is attracted to area''s of greater element"


    The mage took out a crystal quill and began drawing a deep pit onto a piece of parchment, then continued "Image dense area''s of element like a pit - element of the same type nearby will naturally fall into the pit. The steeper the pit, the faster the element falls down. The wider the pit, the greater the amount of element that falls in"


    "Sir, if I may interupt, what exactly does this have to do with the carriage?" Margerys interjected.


    "If you would let me finish," Walter sharply responded, "I was about to get to that. Anyway, element is attracted to dense element. The aewer ore you proccured is actually the solid form of pure element, mana, and hence is an incredibly dense source"


    Margery finally begun to understand, "Oh! So by introducing the aewer to that bead, which must have been element, you created an object that the element around us is naturally attracted too!"


    "Exactly! Then, by isolating it in a specific manner, the element is rapidly attracted, then expulsed around the entire carriage, powering the gems stored with specific magic formulas. The element used to produce thepathway is then recollected and the cycle continues. Though, the element used to soothe the horses and lighten the carriage cannot reenter the cycle, so this process is incredibly crude and highly dependent on the concentration of the right elements"


    Margerys excitement only rose each time she grasped another aspect of the workings of magic, and at this point you entire mouth was agape as each concept wriggled its way into her brain.Though, without warning, the maids suddenly face shrivelled up from one of elation to one of confusion. Slowly, she one again turned to her master and posed a yet unanswered question,


    "Sir Walter, then why do we still need horses? Surely you could just make the carriage move on its own, or even fly?"


    Walter simply looked at the girl, and smiled.

 Chapter 7 - Cloaked

    Another 4 months has past since the unveiling of the lords personal carriage. In this time, Margery has seen little of her master. Upon receiving his transportation he immediatly set off to the brightlands to oversee the initial planning and construction of the newly established town. Briefly, the mage would return to his manor in the capital but only to arrange the collection of materials for more of his magical contraptions.


    During the few periods in which the young woman had seen the nobleman, Lord Walter (he was a duke now, after all) had merely provided Margery with a collection of handwritten notes on magical theory, or books on geography and political nuance. That''s right, the nobleman was nowthe maids master-turned-teacher.


    Although not a very hands on teacher, the notes are from one of the most accomplished mages in the kingdom, Walter himself.


    With her newfound comprehension of magic, Margery finally understood why Lord Walter did not produce a self-moving or flying carriage and instead chose to lighten the load and improve the road quality; the answer is all down to magic formulas.


    A magic formula, which is the formal name for spells, is the ratio and pattern of movement which simple elements, or elements that cannot be further split into other elements, are required to undertake to produce a tangible effect on the world.


    To put it in laymans terms, its the way in which intangible element must be combined and moved to produce visible effects i.e rapidly rotating fire element around a fixed point to produce heat, and then slowly providing wind element into the rotating fire elementto produce a fireball.


    The greater the effect on the world, the greater the complexity and elemental requirements.


    Now, everything in this world is constructed of a combination of elements. In other words, a rock is a dense source of earth, pure and other elements that decide its properties. Trying to move a rock, then, would require a quantity of element greater than the density of element in the rock. The complexity of the formula would also have to account for the rocks own makeup.


    Lifting a weight of 30kg up to the height of a mans shoulders would, then, strain any apprentice mage but would be a triffle task for an archmage. On the other hand, attempting to carry the weight of a man to the same height would soon drain even the sturdiest of Wessamonts archmages. The consumption of element for such a task is exponential.


    Walters crude accumulator cannot absorb enough element to power the formulas required for the heavy carriage, nor are the storage crystals capable of storing and manipulating such complex spells. Unless a greater source of element and easier automation of spells is produced, the carriage will always be horse powered.


    This is why mages cannot simply lift heavy boulders and drop them ontop of charging knights, hence armour made of metal is not entirely redudant, since metal is an incredibly dense source of element hence absorbs most thrown spells. Although, this specific part of Lord Walters note emphasised "at least according to the most commonly excepted hypothesis", which made Margery believe her teacher had another explanation. Considering the maid barely stepped into the world of magic, she daren''t start considering such complicated subjects.


    Instead, her current conundrum is the brightlands region; why exactly was it an undeveloped land until now?


    Large cities and towns will usually employ magically engraved tools or mages to improve the quality of harvests and farmland. Although the costs associated with such a task is astronimical, the incredible capacity for population more than pays for it. Wessend-upon-lydon itself has3 million residents.


    The Brightlands, though, has land so dense with elements benefical to the living that it could sustain well over 5 million citizens without magical assistance. Ontop of that, its fantastic access to resources, with the mineral rich brightstone mountains half a days cart ride from the forest, could easily make the Brightland forest into the most powerful city in human society!


    Unfortuantlyfor the newly appointed duke, as the no longer dim-witted Margery has come to understand, staking claim over such a perfect plot of territory will never be without challenge. In this case, her teachers biggest threat is her most dreaded subject - politics.


    Attempting to put the horrifying subject behind her, before curiosity kills the cat, or in this case curiosity drains the young maids will to live, Margery swiftly turned her mind to the most recent set of notes she had received; on the materialisation of magic from an individiuals own power. In other words, how to become a mage.


    For even Margery, one who would gladly risk offending a noble to quench her curiosity, would gladly toss aside the thought of politics for such a wonderous thing. Although it should be said that Margerys avid hatred of politics would ruin any nation she were to rule.


    Fortuantly for Wessamont, it does not have tosuffer from such uninterested leadership. Albeit anyone not within the kings most trusted inner circles may indeed believe otherwise. Especially if they witnessed one of the many advisory gatherings.


    One such gathering is currently in session within the palaces east great hall. Lornez''s talented advisors on all things military and economic are, as usual, crowded around a single large table to discuss the future development of the brightlands. At the very end of the table sits king Lorenz who seems to barely be taking notice of the advisors bickering.


    With both arms firmly planted on the table, the king blankly stares into nothingness. Yet no advisor voices their complaints and nobody would ever question whether it is the king that makes the final decision.


    After numerous minutes the king sits up and finalises the choice of action on whichever subject they are debating.


    During his 15 year reign, the kingsjugdement on his advisors solutions has earned him the nickname "Lorenz the Average".A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    During times of famine and disease, the kings policies have neither doomed the nation to death and uprising nor have they miraculously saved as many as possible and ushered in a new age of reverence. Instead, they kept the most important individuals alive while maintaining basic public order.


    During times of war, the kingstactics have neither crushed massively advantages forces against all the odds nor lost what should have been won. Instead, they minimalised casualities and loss of land when victory is nigh impossible and gained the best possible land they can without inciting fierce opposition when victory is in their favour.


    No matter what subject of governing, the kings final decisions have always produced results with positives that simply complement the negatives. He always produces acceptable, rarely fantastic, results.


    With the night fast approaching, the king adjourned the discussions till a later date. Once all but his chancellor had left he turned to the elderly man and exhaustedly said, "Send for my guest". Chancellor Degrough bowed his head in respect and set out through the central doors of the great hall.


    The chancellor returned 5 minutes later with a tall, thin, black hooded figure in tow. Upon reaching the chair closest to the king, the figured removed their hood to reveal an intricate purple mask covering their face. Long flowing silver hair unfurled from the hood and reached the figures waist.


    Placing one foot forward and bending their hands out infront of their chest, the figure bowed in a fashion not common to Wessamont. With a gentle, androgonous voice the figurebegan almost singing to the king


    "I give my greetings to the my lord, Lorenz. For you to call me to the great hall, and not thine personal quarters...I do rightly assume this is of utmost urgency, yes?"


    "You are correct as always" Lorenz sighed, "I''ll get straight to the point as we have very little time left. What does it mean when all the paths converge to the same place"


    "Then there is only one destination, my lord"


    "That is what I feared" the king grasped his forehead with his hands as if all the exhaustion hit him at once and, in a much more serious tone continued "can the destination not be changed?"


    "No it cannot, my lord. Once a convergence is gazed upon, it always must be reached," the figure raised their hand to stop the kings reply, "but you can change when thine must reach it"


    Lorenz''s fearful expression rapidly changed to one of hope and his change of manner could clearly be seen in his urgent tone as he spoke, "How! How can it be done! You must tell me, I know you must tell me!"


    Although the king could not see the figures facial expressions, he knew that behind the mask they must besmirking; who wouldn''t want to laugh at a begging king?


    "Here is what must be done, my lord..."


    Margery finally finished her daily duties as personal maid. Although her master was nowhere in sight it did not mean her tasks of maintaining to the lords personal manners ended. Noble guests who wish to earn the mages favour, merchants who wish to use the mages services; every day the maids schedule was clogged with attending to their needs before informing them the master cannot see them.


    But with the sun long since below the skyline, the young maid is at last able to return to her chambers.


    While within the dark room, the maid took out a small tinderbox from a pocket on her dress and used it to light a small piece of yellow lint. Next she threw the now alight lint into a stone hearth, a luxury only afforded to the personal maid and others of high position in the manor.


    She used the fireplace to light a candle and placed it within adeep red coloured holder on her simple wood table. The table afforded a little light without the candle, as it was placed right next to the window, allowing moonlight to gracefully enter the room.


    The maid then sat down besides the table, and pulled the large stack of notes towards her. The notes are simple white parchment held together in the corner by a piece of string.


    By now, Margery was incredibly proficient at reading through her masters notes; everything he wrote was entirely practical, therefore it was easier to skim through them first before fully digesting the rest. The maid quickly scanned each page and noted all the odd paterns and associated numbers. She recognised these as magic formulas, but each was slightly different than usually. Instead, they were laid out as a set of instructions with each line and circle ordered with letters. Each letter, from the worlds equivalent of a to z, had a set of text written next to them.


    Margery soon finished skimming the notes and began reading through in full. Unlike usual, though, she decided she would attempt to follow the instructions as she reached them.


    Before even beginning, something she originally dismissed as strange wording finally caught her eye; Lord Walters very first line began as such:


    "In this world, humans generally believe learning magic to be an arduous task. First, before even becoming an apprentice, you must master your internal flow of pure element. This usually involves years of experienced mages injecting their mana into objects then having their trainees visual removing some invisible river from the objects"


    In this world? Did he word that incorrectly? Did he mean "In this kingdom"? Unable to grasp the meaning behind her teachers odd phrashing the maid simply carried on reading.


    "There is one major issue with this method, though - the object which the element is injected to will, inevitably, also be made out of element! What mages are doing is requesting potential apprentices to find a small needle hidden within a stack of slightly larger needles and then asking them to move the needle without disturbing the rest!"


    No wonder mages are such a rare commodity, Margery thought as she continued through the notes.


    "Then, how do we get around this issue, I bet you are wondering" Margery was ashamed she was so predictable, "the answer is simple. Pure and simple element is all around us, so to learn how to make element flow we simply need to sense a free flowing source - like the fire element from a candle"


    The maid promptly moved the lit candle to the center of the table as she began following the notes guidance. She grasped both hand into a hollow ball then placed the candles flame into the center. Making sure the flame was not touching her, she slowly started trying to match her breathing with the waves of heat from the flame.


    Then she began imagine she was sucking up an ebbing river circulating around her palms. She continued this process for the next four hours, each time ending with her touching the flame and flinching. The candle was now half way melted and Margery had began drifting off.


    As the girls delicate eyelids began to shut, the expected darkness did not come to the maid. Instead, a vivid image of multiple colourful lines intersecting filled her view. Before she could absorb herself in the dream a sharp prick struck her in the center of both palms.


    Now fully awake once more she noticed the candle had gone out. But, the candles wick had not run out - no, barely a few seconds had past in that odd dream. Excitedly, she ran over to the fire and relit the candle, then tried again while remembering the feeling.


    Yet again, this time in full view, a sharp prick struck both palms and the candle went out!


    After repeating this process 10 times, she once again turned to the notes and picked out the first set of curious symbols.


    10 minutes later the frustated girl almost tossed aside the notes in exhausted anger until, as she was trying to follow the formula one last time, a miraculous sight formed before her eyes.


    Right in the center of her right palm, from the point she felt the sharp prick, floated a small candle-like flame. She had finally done it. Aftermonthsof learning nothing but magic theory, she had finally cast her first spell. Now, she thought, she just has to make it bigger.

 Chapter 8 - Target

    The brightwater river is the 3rd longest river in the entirety of Wessamont, only the kenlight and yulehead rivers surpass it in flow length. Both cut from one end of the kingdom to the other. Yet, neither are nearly as important as brightwater in the flow of goods.


    Brightwater feeds into over 20 large lakes and its believed underwater offshoots of the river may feed anther 50 smaller bodies. The sheer reach of the river has made it the largest inland supply line in any human kingdom.


    This route is usually ocupied by smaller riverboats and outdated cog. Each may carry the goods of a single merchant to the connecting sea port or cities. They rarely transport a weight over a few tonnes.


    Recently though, 10''s of large caravels have been sighted passing through its waters. These large ships can each easily carry 80 tonnes of cargo, which is a weight no downstream town or city would ever need to accomodate. Yet downstream these caravels go, all heading to the same destination - the temporary port in the brightland region.


    Almost every day a caravel arives at the port to unload a large variety of goods. Uncut stone, food, livestock, ore and even people can all be found among the ships cargo holds. Vast swathes of crates lie along the wooden decking of the ports main dock and innnumerable wagons constantly ferry the shipments back and forth between the large ramshack warehouses and the newly forming central town.


    Among the newest batch of immigrants is an average height bald man. The only visible clothing besides the boots on the man is a long brown cloak. There is absolutely nothing unusual or suspicous about this man. Of course, his tendency to nervously look in every direction could be considered odd, but this is a new town.


    And its quite different from most towns and cities - unlike Wessend, the towns layout is orderly and clearly designed.


    Longroads wide enough for a single carriage divide houses and workshops and connect to much larger roads wide enough for two carriages. These roads direct towards the outskirts of the town and the inner town square. Even more unusual is just how well built everything is.


    Each building in the housing district seems to be constructed out of small white stone bricks and each is three stories high. The roads are well paved with a smooth orange tinted surface. Curious gutters with strange holes every 30 paces lay within the sides of the roads.


    If this were the noble district of an ancient city, nobody would bat an eyelid at the marvelous construction. But this town has only been undercontruction for half a year and no nobles bar the duke live here! The speed of construction is astounding.


    It even seems as if its peasants and commoners living in the grand builings.


    Still dumbfounded, the bald man continued on down the streets till he reached the pleasure district. He entered a two storied tavern and approached the bar. After sitting down on one of the wooden stools, he called for the older man behind the counter.


    "I''ll take atankard of ale, and a room for the night. No need for food" the man growled.


    "We''ve only got small rooms left," the barman said while eyeing his customer "That''ll be two muncae if you still want it"


    The bald man reached into his cloak and pulled out two dark green coins and placed them on the counter. Swiftly scooping the coins up, the barman turned and began pouring a yellow liquid out of a tap into a wooden tankard. He then placed the tankard down infront of the bald man and returned to work behind the bar.


    A few moments later, another man entered the tavern and sat down besides the bald man. He tossed a single red coin on the table and nodded at the barman.


    He then turned to the individual he sat besides and began attempting to strike up conversation with this brown cloaked fellow.


    "I ana'' seen you round here before, you one a'' them newcomers then?"


    Hearing this, the bald man tilted his head to face his new seating partner. Just from his rough, burly voice the man assumed the speaking individual was a farmer or a hunter but his equipment told otherwise. The manis wearing a thin gambeson, cut off at the sleeves. Underneath the gambeso isa thin woolen shirt that covers his arms and has leather padding on the elbows. Ontop of the bar the man placed a simple iron Sallet-style helment and rest his arm on the top of it.


    Obviously, this man is a town watchman who should clearly be on duty right now.


    "What makes you think im new here. I doubt you know everybody who visits this tavern" the bald man replied.


    "Aye, yer right. I dunno everybody, but that cloak...most people round here imported cause they got a trade, like masonry, and you''s can tell what job a man ''as by his clothing. It weren''t rainin'' when I was out and no trade ''ere wears a cloak, so you must have come recent, looking for a trade I bet"


    "Well, you are half right. I was sent here to scout out the potential of this place for the trade of goods"


    "Yer saw the caravels. This place is ripe for trade. Food, ore, you name it we need it"


    "Im talking about...different type of goods.You see, there''s rumors that the duke here is a bit...odd. That he''s introduced loads of strange contraptions to the craftsmen, and these contraptions apparently work using magic. There are even rumors that the duke is a mage. If thats corret, mages always have want for rarer materials"


    "All true. Mage straight from the capital, and those contraptions are more than strange"


    The bald man smiled upon hearing these words. While glancing around the room as if checking for eavesdroppers, the bald man then startedleaning in closer to the watchman andbegan speaking in a much quieter voice.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Then, is it true the duke wanders at night, with only a small group of unarmed men, to a place just on the outskirts of the town?"


    "Now why''d you wanna know that, then" The watchmans upturned hand completely betrayed the watchmans concerned voice.


    The cloaked man pulled out another of the green coins and placed it into the watchmans hand while assuring the man he had no ill intentions.


    "As I said, im here to scout out a potential customer for, um ,rarer goods. I can''t quite announce my intentions at his front doors now can I? Anyway, for a duke to freely wander with no guards...its always good to know when you are dealing with an archmage, you understand?"


    The armoured man bit down on the coin then, confirming it was real, slipped it into a small pouch hanging from his belt.


    "Aye, that''s all true as well. Takes the path straight down to the forest border with a few o'' his architects. Seems he intends on building something oer'' there. Anyway, you can''t tell this publicly to the duke but yer can tell me? Something fishy ''bout that. Yer ain''t even introduced youself""


    "I apoligise. Im Herel, a merchant from artistadt. And why I can tell this to you... well, a town watchman, or one of the dukes guards, going to the tavern for a drink in the middle of the day. In full gear, no less. I know this buisness and I also know you can trust a slacker if you pay them enough"


    "That so," the guard chuckled whiled signalling to the barman "Nice to meet yer Herel. Bit cheeky of yer, but I can''t say yer wrong"


    Many hours later, Herel returned to the tavern room he booked. After confirming the dukes nightly path, the apparent tradesmen spent the rest of the day wandering. He had originally hoped to have the newly settled locals direct him through the streets in an attempt to map out the alleys, but he soon found this unnecessary. The roads and pathways were so well organised that as long as one understood the general direction of their destination, reaching it was no hastle. This is a farcry from the usual winding streets the kingdom is known for.


    Instead, he spent the day learning as much about the duke and the town as he could. He wrote each thing he learned down on a set of notes, which he placed on the rooms desk. Herel carefully checked through his notes using the dim light of a candle. Each piece of parchment layed out in front of him on the small desk contained numerous lines of text written in both common wessend tongue combined with some odd indesipherable script.


    The fact he owned such parchment was already enough to show he was wealthy, or at least had a rich backer. Being able to write in a foreign language on top of that? Clearly, Herel was no normal tradesman.


    As he finished reading he began scooping up the notes and slowly piled them to one side. He then reached into the cloak he had yet to take off and pulled out a disk of metal shaped like a wheel. A small lump of pulsating flesh-like material was centered within the objects spokes. Whilst grabbing each side of the disk with finger and thumb, he began raising the object to eye level.


    After a stort period of staring at the object, he moved it back within the cloak and swiftly sat up from his chair while grabbing the piled notes and shoving them into a pocket. He left the tavern and set off into the night.


    Now that the curtain of night had set the newly formed town looked no less familiar to Herel than any other. A complete blanket of darkness covered the indistuishible roads and houses. Yet, even without a light source, Herel had no issue navigating through the town.


    Half an hour of straight paths and 90 degree turns later and Herel reached his target. In front of him lies a large stretch of clear flat land just on the borders of the forest. The road he took lead Herel to a district of much larger buildings, each of different shapes and sizes.


    Not far in the distance, Herel noticed a bright light heading towards the clearing in front of him. His target was on his way here. Herel quickly manoeuvred his way into an alleyway between the two builds closest the the clearing. Next, he pulled pulled out the metal disk once again and raised it to face the oncoming light.


    As he tightened the grip on each side of the disk the flesh-like object began pulsating more violently. A faint drumming noise, like the sound of a rapidly beating heart, rang out from the object. Seconds later, red crackles of lightning shot out of the side of the disk towards the adjacent buildings and began circulating the disk. As the beating got louder and louder and the pulsations got more violent, the lightning crackles slowly converged to a point a few centimeters in front of the now rapidly oscillating fleshy center.


    Suddenly, a voice from behind Helent forced him to drop the disk. The lightning remained converging in front of the disk but the heartbeat stopped.


    "May I ask exactly what you are doing"


    Helent hurriedly turned to face the direction of the voice. A few meters in front of him he now saw the outline of a city watchmen. Unlike the man he met earlier, this watchman was wearing his sallet. To wear a visored helmet in this darkness, what was the man thinking?


    No matter his intentions, Helen did not intend on letting the mans blunder pass. He instead grabbed for his belt and unsheathed a rondel dagger and charged towards the man. Clearly, Helen was no tradesmen- or at least he was a tradesman with malicious intent.


    When he had just reached within arms reach of the watchman, a sudden blinding light flashed out infront of him. As the light hit his eyes, the dagger was parried to one side. Once his eyes had adjusted, Helen noticed the light coming from a small hole in the side of a buckler the watchman had parried his dagger with.


    With his senses regained, Helen skillfully stepped one foot forward and stabbed up at the incoming arm, which was holding an arming sword. In a manner no tradesman would know, he navigated his entire body out of the way of the blade while using the unarmed hand to redirect the watchmans attacking arm into the path of his upwards stabbing dagger.


    As the dagger and appendage collided, instead of the expected screamed pains, Helen was met with the clanking sound of metal on metal. The watchman was wearing plate armour vambraces.


    With little pause between the swing the watchmans buckler arm came flying towards helen. The large spike on the center of the buckler left a large gash in the bald mans face, revealing...trickling dark blue blood! The wound even completely sealed itself within seconds.


    The watchman looked at the spike on his buckler and saw the odd coloured liquid on the end and unhesitatingly shifted his stance. He placed the buckler arm out in front of him, and pulled the other half of his body back and hid the arming swords blade behind the buckler.


    Helen once again jabbed out with the dagger and the watchman once again went to parry. This time, though, the watchman quickly stepped his entire body forward and jammed the buckler against Helen''s hand, completely locking in the knife with the bucklers spike. Then, the watchman stabbed into Helens shoulder.


    Without stopping, he then looped the buckler hand under Helen''sarmpit and twisted his entire arm upwards. He rapidly twisted his body behind Helen and kicked out the back of his leg, dropping him to one knee. Intending on giving Helen no time the react, the Watchman thenremoved a small dagger from his belt and stabbedit right through the side of the bald mans kneck. The act let out a loud crunching noise as metal collided with bone.


    The watchman let go of the limp figure and turned towards the place his assailant had dropped the unusual item. Yet it wasn''t there.


    Instead, it was somehow in the hands of the supposedly dead attacker on the floor and it was pointed right at the dukes party!


    The vibrating once again built up, much faster than it had only a minute ago. Before the watchman could move back to stop the bleeding bald man, a powerful shockwave blasted out of the alleyway. Along with it, a ball of spinning red lightning hurtled its way towards duke Walter.


    Helen once again lay motionless, with the now melteddisk burned into the grilled flesh of his hands. Whatever this "tradesman" had done, it was not done out of good will.

 Chapter 9 - Governance

    Without warning, the red ball of lightning struck.


    Where before two men stood, now stands a foul char smelling disembodied pair of legs and a human statue of flesh with the entire right side of its body gouged out. The remaining onlookers witnessed as both simultaneously collapsed to the floor and spilled out their seared innards. The mess of melted fat, blood and chunky black goop crawled along the flat ground.


    Even Walter stepped back at the scene, not out of shock, but from fear of steppng in the biological soup. Fortuantly for Walter the projectile had missed its target. Albeit not so fortunate for the now dead Helen and even less so for the fellows the ball had struck.


    Although it should be said that no fool would sacrifice their very life to unleash an attack relying purely on luck. No, this immense congregation of element was indeed originally on course to collide perfectly with its target. The almost curved trajectory in fact indicated some form of tracking was at work. If not for Walter redirecting the spell, the disfigured flesh heap on the ground would indeed have been the mage himself.


    While the four other individuals surrounding him panicked, each jumpy enough to sprint due to a light gust, Walter simply looked at his right hand and sighed. The back side of each finger is covered by a pure white wrapping and each tip is ended by a centimeter long pointed crystal. It looks as if he is wearing half a gauntlet that only covers the back of his hand and arm up to the elbow.


    "Still not at an acceptable level" the mage muttered to himself.


    From the corner of his eye, the mage observed another speck of oncoming light. As Walters accompanying party prepared to flee once they too noticed the light, a recognisable voice echoed out as if from inside a cave.


    "No need to fear, gentlemen. The issue has now been dealt with although I must apologise for how poorly it was handled. Certain...unexpected circumstances arose that delayed my reactions"


    Everybody present now turned to the much closer light and saw the town watchman standing before them. The watchman raised his handsand lifted off his helmet to reveal a somewhat fineblack haired man.


    The mans threatening aura from his hooded eyes and incredibly short hair is almost palpable. Yet his rugged face and sharp jawline are almost welcoming, as if he is a welldoing noble knight or handsome prince. Clearly this man could present himself, with very little alteration, as anything he wishes.


    But under this dim light nothing but the most prominent features are noticeable. From what can be seen, one thing stands for certain - this man is the figure Helen met at the tavern.


    "What exactly happened?" "Where are the guards?" "This is the second time this month, what are you watchmen doing?" "Poorly handled? Tell that to the poor sods on the floor!"


    The cacophony of questions from the still panicked group bombarded the watchman and left him with little time to answer. Luckily, Walter was of clearer mind thus interjected the babbling men.


    "Enough!"


    The group fell silent. Walter then continued the questioning in their place.


    "Ehrhart, would you be so kind as to explain exactly what happened here. I''d also like to hear what this unexpected circumstance is"


    "Its a strange story, my lord" the watchman replied as he rubbed the back of his head, seemingly somewhat embarrassed, "While I was doing my usual um...scout duty at the tavern, I met a strange man who started asking about you. I asked around a bit and noticed his story didn''t fit - he said he was from artistadt but the caravel he arrived on were only ferrying people fro.."


    "Get to the point already, Ehrhart" Walter interupted.


    "Skipping the details, then, I followed the man as he slipped out into the streets and found him at the...fa..fact...the area with the odd buildings. He was holding an odd glowing item. I asked him what he was doing, he attacked me, I disarmed him. As I was heading to find the item, it seems the assailant had slipped past and picked the item back up. What happened after..."


    Erhart pointed towards the blackened mass on the floor.


    "Let me get this straight. Ehrhart, the kings finest spy master, was decieved by a common assassin?" Walter smuggly replied.


    "At least its over now. Considering it was your mistake that lead to this predicament, I want you to safely escort these four gentlemen back home then YOU can inform the deceased relatives what happened. Oh, I also would like you to write up a report telling what exactly was so important that an unarmed man was able to slip past you undetected"


    The mage paused to catch his breath. Walter didn''t show it on his face but the nights events had exhausted him mentally and the appearance of this watchman only made it worse.


    "I will do as you say, my lord, although about that report..."


    "You are not talking your way out of it this time, spy master"


    "I wouldn''t dream of it. No, I simply think it would be better if you saw what occupied my attention for yourself. I believe it may have something to do wth the shaynaij"


    "That does indeed change things"


    The mage stroked his bearded chin in deep though, then refocused his eyes back onto the watchman.


    "Do as I originally asked, then collect whatever it is you wish for me to see and bring it to the manor. It is much too late now and it would be better if we reconvene after I have dealt with tomorrow''s afairs. You are all dismissed for now, so Ehrhart...get to it"


    Morning soon came and the events of the night prior has long since left Walters thoughts. As he awoke and headed for his new manors study, all his minds attention was focused on the concern of the days proceedings.


    A young man carrying a large book greeted Walter, with a bow, while he entered the room. The mansattire implies he is not of low birth or wealth. Curly shoulder long brown hair reach out to his shoulders from underneath a black flat-cap with upturned rims.


    His bodies coverings are not the usual, simple wear. A neck-long black shirt lies below 2 layers - a laced black doublet, with a short, sleeveless, red robe over the top. Black hosen cover his legs while similarly black leather boots stretching past the ankle adorn his feet. Even the mans face is fancy, with two deep blue eyes set between a large nose and a mouth extending to his large cheekbones. His clean shaven flat chin lightly juts out from his jawline.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    He raised both bushy eyebrows to an outwards sloped position and tapped on the outside of the book, once Walter sat down behind his desk.


    "I don''t like that look, Johannes. You only give that look when there is a problem" Walter exclaimed.


    Johannes, the dukes clerk, shook his head and apologetically replied, "Im very sorry my lord but there is more than just one problem"


    Walter placed his elbow onto of the desk then lay the side of his head on his fingertips. He raised both eyes towards Johannes and sighed.


    "Well then, what are they."


    "Where exactly would you like me to begin, sir?" he answered.


    "The beggining"


    Johannes started cradling the book in one arm and began turning the pages. He stoppedroughly a quarter of the way in and placed his finger half way down the page.


    "Firstly, the architect are refusing to work at night until conditions are safer. They complained to me that the attack of last night was the 10th since they started and this time the casualities are much too severe"


    "That can''t be helped. Tell them to pause their other duties. Have the town guard escort them during their usual working hours to continue planning - it will soon be time to begin, there''s less need of privacy"


    "Yes, my lord. The next concern is the rising civil unrest in the peasants working district"


    Walter rolled his eyes. "What exactly are their issues? Aren''t I providing them with enough?"


    "Of course, my lord. The conditions here are already several fold greater than any town or city i''ve witnessed! Yet, this is not without issue"


    Johannes turned the books page and began summarising from the notes.


    "Many are complaining about the lack of a chapel to the crown gods. Without a place of worship, they fear that they may suffer devine retribution. Others are concerned with the people who have starved from the poor distribution of food or frozen as they have not yet been allocated living space. To top it off, jobless vagrants who came here seeking jobs, and thus far been unsuccessful, have mostly turned to petty crime which is, of course, committed against their peasantry peers"


    Johannes paused,expectantly waiting for the dukes reply. With little thought, Walter, clearly disinterested in the subject, gave his solution.


    "Take some of the vagrants and assign them to the warehouses and to construction. Have anybody not needed in the main construction force build temporary wooden accomodation for those not yet given housing. Is that all?"


    "Im not sure it will be so simple, my lord." Johannes dismissively replied. "Those who have turned to lawlessness will surely not turn over a new leaf now that they have tasted the temptations of evil! Further, thecrown gods will never let them live easily without repent. It would also be much cheaper to construct a chapel and have them provide alms and shelter to the people than building temporary housing and providing more food"


    "I''ve said it many times before, but I will not have a member of the church in my town to contradict my rule. Have the church provide alms? Are you saying you want the people to think their duke cannot do anything!!" Walter barked. "Do as I said. If there are issues, just send the town watch to deal with them. If those peasants want to worship the gods, have them do it themselves"


    Johannes submissively lowered his head and quietly acknowledges his lords command. "Yes, my lord"


    "Any other bad news?"


    "Oh, plenty my lord. There was a major collapse in the underground facility you ordered, a small fire broke out in the forest and killed 10 woodsmen, a smaller merchants vessel collided with one of the caravels and is demanding repayment, there was..."


    Two hours passed. It was clear Walter had little intention of taking his clerks advice, as many times during the period of back and forth discussion he forced his own solutions. Of course, Johannes issues were not with the solutions themselves.


    No, they were with the dukes lack of consideration for common sense or tradition. His refusal to construct a chapel or allow a priest into the town, his dissaproval of assigning land so that nobels may take over some of the administration and his tendancy to allocate large funds to abnormal products, among other things.


    As much as he understood the major problems the lords governance may bring, he could do nothing about it. He was just the son of a minor nobel, a role he could not inherit, that had taken up work as a clerk. Knowing how little he could do, he instead focused on the positives.


    "My lord, there is some good news. A letter from the king arrived this morning. It contained sincere appreciation for the elemental accumulator plans you provided to the mages council 2 months ago. His highness even wrote that, now they have finally grasped the use of the devices, they already have many projects under way. As thanks, he is sending one hundred more of the kingdoms finest smiths"


    Walter had mixed feelings about this news. Although ecstatic about the smiths, which were vital to his plans, he was concerned about how rapidly they had applied his accumulators. For starters, where did they get enough aewer to begin experimentation? The mage had only written about the basic operation of the gadgets, so it would take them a lengthy period of time to understand their usage.


    On top of that, there were already projects underway. This meant the aewer supply was enough for not only prototypes to be built, but large scale construction as well.


    "Then we must hurry with the construction of the brightstone mountains mine system and its connecting road. All of the most important projects hinge on this, not to mention our limited timeframe to capitalise on the kingdoms need for aewer"


    "It seems I indeed do have some more good news then, my lord", Johannes said while showing an uncommon smile, "The road was finally finished this morning. Transporting people and ore to the mountains will no longer be an issue. On top of that, among the 18 potential identified mining sites, 10 of them have finally struck the mineral veins and can begin extraction immediatly"


    "Fantastic!" the duke exclaimed ,"Have two large warehouses constructed near the industrial district and have all ore taken to that site. Only start selling aewer. Also, call for the head of masonry and smithing"


    "You do not wish to begin selling the ore, my lord? We do not have enough smelteries to process it ourselves"


    Johannes concerns were not unjustified. The smelteries the town currently had were just about able to keep up with the demands of construction. Attempting to use them to smelt the vast quantities of ore would be impossible. In fact, some of them required specialist facillities to process, so the town would just end up with vast quantities of unusable rocks stored away in the warehouses - the costs would completely outweigh the benefits.


    "Ah, don''t worry about that. I already have plans I can now put underway"


    Another one of his pricey project, Johannes thought. Has the king gone mad, putting a mage in a ruling position?


    "If there is no other news, then I want you to send the carriage back to the capital to pick up my personal maid. Its about time she came here. She needs to witness the dragons corpse for herself"


    The clerk raised one eyebrow in confusion. He wants to send that exquisite carriage for his personal maid. For a corpse? Johannes began considering quitting before the town burns, but the pay is much too good.


    "Yes, my lord. Will that be all?"


    "You are dismissed"


    Johannes closed the large book and held it in one arm. He once again bowed to the duke and turned to leave the room. Suddenly, the duke called for him to stop.


    "Wait! Before I forget, find Ehrhart and tell him towait for me in the laboratory.Also, tell him to bring whatever it is he wanted me too see. That will be all"


    Johannes bowed for a final time and left the study.


    A short while later, Walter departed the study and arrived at the laboratory. This laboratory was no different from the room behind the closed black wall at his capital abode, yet it was much easier to access. No black wall, no corridor. Just a basement room locked behind thick iron doors.


    What awaited for him behind the doors, though, was surely unlike what he expected. His nose was bombarded with a foul stench eminating from the center of the room. Walter almost reflexively gagged out of shock - he could almost taste the smell.


    "Erhart! What in the 4 elements have you brought!"


    Standing in the corner of the room was the unfliching spy master. He calmly directed his gaze towards Walter, and pointed to the table in the center of the room.