“[Warning: Human presence detected, 25 kilometers from the iron mine.]”

“Hmm?”

Stopping the fabricator, I assumed control of the drone that had notified me of a human presence.

Using its camera, I zoomed in on a human moving carefully through the woods. The autumn trees had already shed all their leaves, making it easy to monitor it from above. He wore a dark red tunic, and was armed with only a bow and dagger. He wore a strange insignia on his shoulder, a blue flower dripping with what appeared to be blood.

“I should ask Aurea if she knows what that insignia is.”

Disconnecting from the drone, I took control of Peregrine and bolted out of the mine and up the hill. When I got to the top, I saw that she was training with the claymore, swinging it around chop at a log.

“Aurea!” I called out.

She turned around, and stabbed the claymore into the ground before walking over.

“What's up Evan?”

“Another person is approaching the mine. He’s not dressed like one of the villagers. He wears light leather armor and on his shoulder there’s an insignia that looks like a blue flower dripping blood. Do you know who he is?”

Aurea inhaled quickly at my words.

“That’s the insignia of the Peace Corp. They’re tasked with keeping the peace in the Empire. We haven’t seen one of them out here for years though.”

“Empire? What empire?”

Aurea looked at me as if I were crazy. “You know, the Empire? The one we’re in right now?”

I shook my head and said, “I didn’t know I was in an Empire’s territory.”

“How the hell don’t you know that? Well, we are in the human Empire of Pithus.”

“I didn’t realize these people had advanced to the point that they could found empires.”

“[The fact that it is referred to as an empire also implies that it is a powerful force.]”

“Anyway,” Aurea said, interrupting my inner dialogue, “ the Peace Corp’s motto is ‘Watering the flower of peace with the blood of war’. That should give you an idea of how they operate.”

“Well that explains the blood coming off the flower.”

“That still doesn’t answer why one of their scouts is here though,” I said.

“Are they looking for you?”

“Why would they be looking for me?”

“I mean, you are pretty powerful, right? I’ve never heard of a mage who could control so many golems at once. They must be trying to find you to either recruit or kill you. That's what they do with mages here in Pithus.”

”Wait wait wait…did she say what I think she said?”

“[I believe she did.]”

“Did you say mages?”

“Yes?”

“As in magic?”

Aurea appeared to be in utter disbelief at what I had said.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Are you saying you aren’t a mage?”

“No? Why the hell would I be a mage?.”

“There’s no way that’s true. You’re obviously a mage controlling a golem.”

“I don’t know what a golem is, but I can assure you I am not one of them. I can also assure you that nobody is controlling me. This is just the body I’m using right now.”

Aurea looked at me skeptically, asking, “Well if you’re not a mage, then what are you?”

“I’m still a human being, I just don’t have a living body. That is why I’m using this robot as a vessel.”

“...I’m not sure what a robot is, but basically your mind is human, right?”

“That’s right. Would you mind explaining a bit more about this magic you were talking about?”

“Ok, umm, how do I start? Magic is sort of just a colloquial term. Magic is actually called Laws, and the people who use magic are called Law mages. There are 3 tiers of laws, Earthly Laws, Heavenly Laws, and Universal Laws. Earthly Laws are things like the Law of Fire, Law of Water, Law of Earth, Law of Air, Law of Metal, Law of Lightning, stuff like that. Heavenly Laws are more…abstract. So stuff like the Law of Life, Law of Dark, Law of Light, and Law of Undeath. Then the most powerful tier are Universal Laws. They sort of deal with really powerful forces, like the Law of Death, Law of Emotion, Law of Space, and Law of Time.”

“And can anyone use these ‘Laws’?”

“Oh definitely not,” she laughed, “Otherwise the whole world would end. Some people are just born with an innate talent for a Law. They can’t really learn other Laws. From what I hear, Law mages are really rare, and the more powerful the Law they can use, the rarer they are.”

“Damn. If what she’s saying is true, then that would explain the robed man shooting fireballs at me.”

“[I am doubtful that this alleged ‘magic’ exists. I believe that it is most likely scientifically explainable phenomena that has been misconstrued as supernatural forces.]”

“So how strong are these Law mages?”

“It depends. I remember my dad…he said that it was tied to their understanding of the Law. So I think the more they study it, the more powerful they are?”

“That’s…interesting.”

“[It may be beneficial to capture some of these ‘law mages’ for study and to ascertain the veracity of her claims.]”

“Honestly, I thought you were a Life Law mage. They say that life mages can bless non-living things with life, and in return they serve them,” Aurea said with a faraway look in eyes.

“Thanks for the information.”

“No problem. It’s the least I can do.”

Leaving her to return to her training, I went back to the mine and took over the drone once again.

“He’s getting closer.”

“[If there is one scout, there are probably more.]”

“Do I have to kill them?” I thought reluctantly.

“[They might not be searching for you. If you kill a scout, it could alert them to your presence. If you don't kill them and they do discover your presence, then you’ll be exposed for certain.]”

“Could I hide? Camouflaging the mine entrance wouldn’t be too hard. Adding camouflage to the Sentinels isn’t a problem either. The scouts wouldn’t know what they are even if they found them. The Enforcers and Falcons are already stored inside the mine. I’ll have the drillbots carve out more rooms for the Montanas and GARs.”

“[I believe this course of action is more advantageous.]”

I ordered the Sentinels to shoot any scouts that wore the same armor if they got within 500 meters of the mine. I urgently had the GARs transplant several trees and bushes around the mine entrance, and had dirt added around the area to make the entrance less obvious. Once that was taken care of, I made several new drones, ones that could fly further and had a longer battery life. I sent them out on reconnaissance, as I wanted to know where the main army the scouts had come from was. I suspected they were near the village, as that was the only place I knew of that had a road that led through the forest.

My suspicions were proven correct once I saw a large camp outside the village walls. Several fire pits had been made, and a large number of horses were stationed. I identified the occupants as Peace Corps soldiers, as like the scouts, they also wore an insignia on their shoulder.

“300 soldiers. 4 horse pulled wagons, along with several attendants and servants for the soldiers. Approximately 400 individuals all together.”

My eyes landed on something that gave me pause. Taking a picture, I sent it back to Eve, who was still managing things back at the mine.

“Eve, do you think those robed guys are the mages Aurea was talking about?”

“[Analyzing…based on the fact that the previous ‘mage’ was wearing similar robes, it is possible, if not probable, that these men are mages as well.]”

“Actually that gives me an idea…”

I ordered the drillbots and GARs to carve out a large stone room, and fabricated a steel door several inches thick. The drillbots made sure to carve out minute air holes, which were all covered by steel grates.

“Well, nothing to do now but to wait for night…”