With a sudden rush of awareness I was pushed out from the deepest reaches of the imaginary realm and placed back into my own senses. My hands were on the red stone, which pulsed with red light slowly as if breathing, and I could feel that lingering sense of joy that I had felt from it as we spoke. I gave what must be Vilt’s physical body one last pat before stepping out of the slowly opening doors, then turned to the pink operator who was seated on his stool in front of the terminal. He looked at the screen while smirking, though a look of confusion appeared for a moment.
"Kayrux, inventor and scribe…and savior? Oh, it went away. Whew, thought it might have broken again.”
He tapped the screen to make sure there wouldn't be any more surprise jobs appearing for me, but when the dark glass remained the same he nodded to me in approval. I did smirk as I stooped to grab my bag, then with a second glance into the dim chamber illuminated by the scarlet gemstone on the wall I silently wished the machine good-bye as I moved out of the way for the crowd of younger kobolds lining up for their turn in the machine. Dobo and Vimna were waiting by the door alongside my family and best friend, and when I got close I could feel the coiled up tension in Vimna waiting to go off but being kept in check by the foreboding presence of my mother just over he shoulder. Once within arm’s reach I was still grappled by her as she spewed out a stream of thanks and praise while her father poked me to get my attention.
“Thank you. You are growing more skilled with runes, maybe best I seen in long time. You should go now, let Vimna surprise you with results. She tell me she wanting to but not brave to say it.”
Vimna stopped hugging me and scowled at her old man, who grinned deviously at her sudden shift in emotion. I sighed and rubbed at her head, then made a few motions to the door and up in the air that I would be going to the higher floors. Vimna was fortunate enough to recognize these gestures and quickly stole one more hug before I left.
“I see you later Kayroo, tell you what job I get!”
I looked at my family and best friend, and seeing their rather bored expressions I jotted down a note explaining that I’d cover for some lunch for taking up their time. Unsurprisingly when Raevu mentioned going to some carved in the wall butcher shop her clan had a hand in building up, my brothers got curious and requested we go there quickly. Mom also seemed curious, but more so that it was a store from the lower floors which meant it was in the old town where she seldom patrolled during her guard shift. The trip there was short, only a few floors higher than where Raevu’s house was, and saw us arriving at a reddish part of the mountain where all of the cafes and stores sported blue signs that showed off the black claw insignia tied to the Dreadclaw clan.
The food was a bit pricey and the place seemed to be quite lethargic due to it being in an awkward brunch hour, but there was plenty of seating in the open area so we could all sit comfortably. Juaki and Raevu began talking about who in the store my friend was related to while my brothers began a small conversation regarding the job selection machine as though I wouldn’t hear their cutting remarks, but as we ate my mind lingered on the dragon altar and the words of the mythical beast buried beneath it. Magistrates, mages, and the mention of a court were all rattling in my head like loose pieces as though someone had dropped more components to a puzzle into the unsorted pile of miscellaneous parts already collected there. I’m no history expert, but the sounds of this stuff made me think of some kind of kingdom, perhaps where a single elder or noble kobold would hold a seat of power and rule with their underlings divvying up the workload. If that’s how it used to be, just how did we end up under the thumb of a bunch of old toads who were all bickering over control of the city? Something in my gut besides this spicy mushroom cold cut tells me that this all ties back to the altar itself and the shadow dragon they cooked up in there.
I involuntarily sighed as I looked out over the edge at the massive stone figure of the dragon below, contemplating how I was going to proceed. Regardless of any quests or dragon missions, I still need to figure out a way to save my tail from whatever ritual the dark elders are cooking up for, and to that end my best option is to act on my own volition as opportunities become available. My best bet there was to just keep trying to make the workshop better until I could manufacture some toys from Earth, but that would still be months down the line if I wanted to make anything guaranteed to be reliable. There is the option of just making some makeshift bombs, pipe guns, or something crazy like a cannon, but with how cramped this city is and how despicable these elders are there’s a very high chance of innocents getting caught in the line of fire. As much as it sucks it seems that going medieval on their asses was my best option, which meant that I needed to go see Rakyat and get my new parts before any of those ideas could start to take physical form.
When everyone was done eating there was a brief discussion regarding what everyone wanted to do now, and the consensus was that my family members wanted to go to the market and then the spas while I was dead set on going to visit the fuzzy genius. Raevu tried to make it seem like my idea was the one she agreed with, but the way her eyes sparkled when my mother mentioned getting a good scrub brush this time around told me she really wanted that plan to win the vote. Well it was four to one anyway, and since I abide by the rule of majority vote it looks like I’m getting a new garment and a clean n’ shine. They were gracious enough to offer that we all go to pick up my order after, so I guess I did technically win as well.
The market was, unsurprisingly, one of the places that had been prevented from taking any damage or flooding from the recent rainy weather. I had not noticed them before during all of our previous trips here, but along the walls and down three different lined in between the backs of stalls were these grates that flowed down with the subtle tilt of the room towards the far wall, where they undoubtedly left the mountain interior and fell along the great lift that I had seen there before. In addition to the tarps hanging over the railing facing the main shaft to prevent any of the rain from coming in there directly, this place had nearly been untouched by the weather. As such, every stall was open and staffed by the colorful rainbow of smiling kobolds waiting to sell their wares.
Today’s focus on our trip was actually more oriented towards finding some new delving gear for my brothers, since they would be going out on expeditions in the following week and would need things like rope and travel food to replace the ones they had been using on the last excursion. Raevu surprised me when we were walking around by pointing out a knife and going on a four minute long infodump about the kinds of knives used to cut mushrooms and what metals they should be made of, which was seconded when Mibata appeared beside me and took notes on what she was going on about. It was charming hearing her geek out and adorable of my brother to pay such close attention so in the end I wound up buying both of them new harvesting knives as a way of thanking them for coming with me today. Tokols and Juaki looked left out on the gift giving, so in order to not make them feel that way I bought him a few new sewing needles and her a big whetstone for her ax. Everyone seemed quite pleased with their gifts and began to whisper amongst themselves as I wandered off on my own for a bit, but I had no doubt that they were trying to figure out something to get me back.
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They went off in order to go poking and prodding at the wares of a few merchants in the far corner, but I continued to walk up and down the aisles elsewhere as my mind drifted to focus on an odd sensation that was in the air. No, it wasn’t something new in the air, it was something missing. The drones. There weren’t any drones out today. In fact, I don’t think I saw a single one on our ride up here or on our way down. I pondered for a moment as to why that was, but the answer was as simple as looking at the small puddles of water that had formed closer to the spire. Moisture. If those blood enchantments got wet I’m sure that it would cause some major malfunctions in them, and without a doubt would tear the whole curtain of mystery they were trying to keep up.
Glancing at the small crowds of people who were also shopping here I could see that there was some degree of cheerfulness on their faces I had not seen often. Perhaps even though other people couldn’t sense magic or detect the eyes themselves they could still feel the oppressive watch of those drones despite their invisibility. I wondered how else people would act differently if other things the elders had in place weren’t around, like the spies or the living sacrifices they had to witness every month. Without all of that, would people be happier than they are now? Would they be safer without the ever present eye of the elders over them? In the end, regardless of what became of the elders, would things get better around here?
My idle wandering had me standing at the edge of the market looking up into the cloudy sky from between two tarps. I felt off, as though this was something I had overlooked this whole time: how would my actions would affect those living here. I truly did wish for there to be a peaceful option, but given that the enemy sees me as nothing more than a component to some spell and someone they can freely torment or play tricks on I don’t see any way for that kind of resolution. The only way forward was conflict, regardless of how messy it would get. Why didn’t that bother me like I knew it should?
“Kayrux.”
My inner turmoil dampened my senses too much for me to realize it, but Mibata had at some point come up to me and had been repeating my name. I flicked my eyes over to him and saw him flinch, and only then did I remember how unpleasant of a leering gaze I made whenever I got too deep in thought. Thankfully he realized quickly that I was just pondering a little too hard and was lost in my own head, then reached out for my hand with that small smile of his.
“You’re putting too much energy into thinking right now. Come on, we should head for the baths and reserve a room large enough for everyone.”
Before I could object or look to see what the others were doing he pulled me along and led me onto the lifts, only letting me peek once as we left the market at my mother hoisting something up onto her shoulder wrapped in a woven sack. Ooh, they got me a present! I tried my hardest to not wiggle with excitement at the possibilities of what they might have gotten me, but my blasted tail betrayed my thoughts and kept sweeping at the floor of the lift without my permission. My brother saw this and scoffed in amusement, which earned him a jab on the elbow from me.
It took a few minutes for us to go all the way down to the floor where the old establishment was, and along the way my head started to become a tad bit light. As Mibata discussed the larger baths with the short clerk I took a seat off to the side and inquired with my scanners and Charles as to what was going on. The reply was that I was actually in a state of mana depletion I was not used to: 75% capacity. Neither my runes nor internal buddy could tell me how much that was, though it actually explained why my thoughts felt so clear despite my slight discomfort. As interesting as it was that my mental capacity and physical strength were somehow tied to how low my mana was, I decided that if that were the case then I would simply make the most of being a little low on power to put some effort into enjoying the spa trip.
Once he was done with the clerk, Mibata led me to the room he had rented and unlocked the door using the key he was given, revealing a carved out room with little wall shelves and seats surrounding a water-filled tub as big as a backyard swimming pool. My eyes went wide as I saw the width and depth of the tub, and before my brother could say a word I had already shoved my bag into one of the slots and dove in head first. There was a splash, a pop, and a dull bubbling sound as I went beneath the water’s surface, followed by the blissful sensation of the water’s warmth permeating through my scales and skin warming me to the core. I was right, going in head first made it so much better.
I continued to swim around for a minute until my lungs told me it was time to surface again, which I did by slowly rising with my own buoyancy and breaking through with just my head above the water. Mibata stood there at the edge of the bath with his arms crossed and a dour look on his face as water slowly dripped off of him and into a puddle at his feet. I almost wanted to apologize to him for that, but in a single motion he took a step off of the edge of the pool and dropped in, sinking down until his head just barely dipped beneath the surface of the water before rising back up. He let out a puff of air and frowned as the water dripped from his brow into his eyes, but after he regained sight he looked to make and grinned.
The next five minutes of our privacy were spent with the two of us each enjoying the bath our separate ways. Mibata would sink until his feet touched the bottom of the water, kick off the bottom, wiggle his feet and tail in order to stay afloat, then sink once more while I swam around in all the ways I remembered from being human. As it turned out, it was much easier to swim if I let a majority of the paddling be done by my tail and used my limbs as rudders to change course. This went on until both of us got tired and went to the shallower end to sit and recover.
The two of us sat there for a while, just relaxing with the water up to our necks and our heads leaning over the edge of the pool onto the ground outside of it. This feeling of relaxation and rejuvenation that had pierced through me and worked out all of the tension in my body was something that I didn’t know I had needed, and I could feel as all of my worries and doubts became blurry in the steam. More than once I had to catch myself before dozing off and slipping into the water before there came a knock on the door, followed by the sound of Tokols talking through the keyhole for some reason.
“Bata, you in here? This the right room?”
Mibata opened his eyes and blinked rapidly, trying to hastily remove any indication that he had dozed off and was letting his horns work like anchors to keep him from slipping into the tub.
“Yes. Enter.”
There was a wave of cool air, the sound of bags hitting the floor or being shoved into shelves, then a great shadow passing by as three kobolds jumped into the bath as though they were doing cannonball dives. At first I thought it might have been Raevu and Juaki alongside Tokols, but it was actually Humey and Bahruk instead. I had just enough time to pull my tail out of the way before they crashed into the water and sent a wave right into Mibata and I. Both of us shot up from the bath sputtering and coughing due to the water that had gone up my nose and in my mouth. Mibata and I recovered then shared a look, one of despicable maliciousness that we were about to unleash upon these three numbskulls.
Bahruk was the first to surface, and like a smart dad he realized that he had made a grave error and moved to the far side of the bath before Humey and Tokols surfaced. They both laughed and splashed one another for a moment unaware of us standing over them, but once they realized the silence in the air they turned around and went from looks of joy to that of complete terror. Mibata snatched up Tokols in both arms, then with surprising grace flipped him over and drove him face first into the water. Humey looked at me with terror as I stuck my arms into the water while focusing on putting wind runed together, turning my hands into air cannons to blast him with a torrent strong enough to knock him off balance and put him under the surface.
I hissed out a maniacal cackle before looking to see Raevu and my mother standing in the doorway, both looking at me with mild disappointment. I stared back with an equal degree of judgment, as I knew that under the surface they were both just as goofy as the rest of us. They both sighed and dropped their bags with the rest then closed the door before joining us, Raevu sitting beside me in the shallows as Juaki trudged over and pulled the still submerged Humey up by the arm. At this point I was smiling so hard that my jaw and cheeks had begun to hurt from holding that face for so long, but I could ignore the pain just to save this feeling for a little while longer. This was a moment I dared not interrupt, and would let go on for as long as it could.