In a mansion in Eastern District.
Stella was lounging on a recliner and reading a map. She was feeling a bit bored when she sensed someone entering the mansion.
To her surprise, it was Guardian Dert and she was straggling back into the mansion. Stella went downstairs and saw a trail of blood behind Dert.
Guardian Dert was injured and apparently had lost her hand in a battle. But when Stella saw Dert she saw a new bone, forming in place of the arm, and Dert’s body was regenerating itself by continuous sewing of blood, muscles, and nerves. It was one of her skills, Physical Reconstruction
Stella instantly received her with a towel and asked, “Master, how did you get hurt? Who attacked you?”
Dert took the towel and started wiping the blood from her dress and arms and replied sternly, “I cut it myself. It was that drunken bastard. He trapped me in an illusion and I had to cut off my arm to escape it.”
Stella a bit surprised asked, “Wine Monk? Isn’t he a neutral entity? Why would he actively oppose you?”
Dert now a bit irritated replied, “There is nothing absolute about him. He is an old monster and only someone from the headquarters can fight him.”
Stella asked again, “Is he in the 4th domain?”
Dert nodded affirmatively, “Yes when I started my training he was already in the 4th domain. The only reason he has not advanced is that Mind Tower Masters are relatively few and there is no effective method to create a 5th one.”
Dert then said, “He simply likes doing anything he wants. We were apprehending a tower master when he came and knocked out a squad and took the tower master with him.”
Stella continued, “And when you tried to apprehend him he trapped you.”
Dert nodded and then said, “This is the reason I wanted you to become a Magic Tower Master as it was a more compatible option for you, but you were adamant to follow in my footsteps.”
Stella’s remembered a time from her childhood and said, “Master I told you my reason to follow in your footsteps because I looked up to you and wanted to become as strong as you. I’ve never had an interest in casting spells and performing tedious research.”
Dert looked at her arm and winced and saw that it was completely reconstructed. She threw light punches in the air which made shockwaves and told Stella, “I hope you have your wits about as the person we are after is dangerous.”
Stella simply smiled and said with a mischievous glint in her eyes, “Don’t worry master, I have already prepared some surprises for him.”
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Axis woke up in the morning with a sore back and first checked out his arm. To his amazement, his arm was healed completely and there was not a single reminiscent of an injury.
Axis was excited to read Ashville’s book but he remembered he was a bit busy today. It was the beginning of a new week and his first day after his promotion. He also remembered he had to take his father to the hospital.
Axis got ready and left a reminder for his father regarding the visit.
As Axis was reaching Cyclops he saw Miss Stella also entering the building. Axis didn’t say much and slowed down to avoid meeting her.
Axis purposefully loitered around the building and entered it 10 minutes after Stella.
The moment he stepped inside the lobby, he saw his Boss and Stella sitting in the waiting area.
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Cerkin saw Axis and called him over, “Axis come over here, Miss Stella is interested in a private project, and as my new Senior Apprentice I have decided to let you handle this project.”
Axis came over and greeted both of them when Stella continued, “Mr. Axis I have come in possession of a series of mechanical clocks from 3rd Era Askeria. I have been interested in adding them to my collection, but to my dismay, they were not in proper order. I hope you will be able to properly restore them.”
Cerkin kept making signals with his eyes to Axis to accept the order and Axis reluctantly agreed. Cerkin then called Axis to the side and said, “Axis this is your first project and Miss Stella is a big customer from the capital. This is the second time she has entrusted us with some work showing trust in our skills. Also, she is paying 10 Aur per restoration of which you can keep 80% so do your best.”
Axis then met Stella who had a smile plastered on her face when she said under her breath, “Mr. Axis this is just a smokescreen to allow you to work on my project. Please gather the necessary tools if any and let us go.”
Axis started understanding the game that the nobles played he used to read in the novels. There is always a hidden agenda behind every move.
Axis packed his toolkit and went towards the parking. To his pleasant surprise, he saw a Taurus mechanical carriage. It was one of the newer models of mechanical carriages and was also designed to accommodate 5 people.
Axis sat in the carriage opposite Stella and there was an awkward silence between them. Axis didn’t know how to start the conversation or the topics she was interested in.
Stella then asked, “Mr. Axis, are you interested in history and legends?”
Axis replied with a slight yes when Stella continued, “Do you know Mr. Axis, before the Durak Empire came into its full glory and was still expanding, there was this small city-state called Arantis in the North. It was on the border between the Great Grasslands and the present-day Kustar, the northernmost city. Its area was just a little larger than Ettic and Durak tried to invade them 5 times.”
Axis replied being the history buff he was, “They repelled the invasion 5 times and was later assimilated into the Empire through political marriage.”
He then continued, “But the reason I know about Arantis is that they were the pioneers in Machinelore and Steam. The entire glory of Durak was due to their engineering. But the question is Miss Stella, Why are you telling me about this?”
Stella not expecting a quick and curt reply laughed and said, “I have always read and heard stories about Arantis, it is now just a ruin and many explorers visit there to try their luck. Last year on my birthday I received a gift from my younger brother. It was a collection of diaries from Arantis, apparently written by the royal princess.”
Axis, interested in the conversation asked, “Why were there diaries from the royal princess in Arantis?”
Stella suddenly struck her head and Axis couldn’t deny the fact that she looked cute doing that and she said, “Oh, yes, many people don’t know the fact that the last Empress was of Aran descent. Her daughter Princess Mariella was interested in machine lore and spent most of her time with her maternal grandfather in Arantis. Not even many people in the royal family knew about it.”
Axis a bit confused asked, “Why was her learning machine lore a secret? Was it taboo?”
Stella waved her finger and said, “Her learning machine lore was just one of the reasons. The Royal family was forbidden from marrying an Aran as the Empire was already weak from within and there were rumors of Arantis gathering forces to rebel.”
Axis silently digested the information and wondered, “Even then the Empire fell due to various reasons. The splitting for territory, war amongst the remaining aristocracy and they were worried about Arantis, Bullspit.”
Stella then said, “Mr. Axis, the reason I asked you the earlier question was, are you also willing to translate the diaries for me as they are in Duraktar.”
Axis himself interested in the diaries replied affirmably and the rest of the journey was silent.
The carriage stopped outside a warehouse and both of them got out.
Stella then said, “The work in the warehouse will remain secret, and if asked you will say that you worked a mansion. I will show you the mansion later to prevent cross-checking.”
Axis followed her inside the warehouse and was simply surprised by the amount of preparation there was.
A newly assembled Steam Compressor was in the center of the warehouse along with the latest assembly tools.
Axis was drooling from his mouth looking at the apparatus as it was like a dream come true for him.
As Axis was about to check the workstation, Stella handed Axis a diary and said, “I apologize as the issue for Steam outlet is still faulty. It will take an hour for it to be corrected. Why not we go into the office and you can translate this in the meantime.”
Axis having nothing to do at that point agreed and opened the diary.
Axis almost cussed loudly as he saw the handwriting in the diary.
It was written by the same person who had written at the beginning of Ashville’s Notes.
And a revelation struck Axis, Veddick was somehow related to Royal Princess Mariella.