Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1793.12.13]

Zeph was woken up by the muffled sounds of kids playing outside. Weak, pale light filtered into the room through a laced curtain covering a large window. He glanced in that direction with one eye, squinting furiously. It seemed that it was past noon already, and it was snowing again today.

Thanks to the late hour of his return, or rather a very early hour, he was spared from taking the role of a Night Guard. He didn’t even have anything resembling that Class, but the orphanage personnel was convinced otherwise, so it was too late to change the strange title.

Thankfully, Zeph was given the keys to the main doors yesterday. He was asleep the second his head touched the pillow.

“Grrru,” his chest vibrated in greeting.

“Morning…” he said, yawning.

He moved his hands above his head and stretched. It feels good to be rested! he thought and energetically sat up, throwing the covers away and putting his feet on the soft carpet by the bed.

He shivered in the chill air. Quickly manipulating his Veil, which was filling the whole room after saturating it during his sleep, he pushed it into his amulet that was resting in a slot on the wall. After making sure nothing was wasted, he moved a slider button above the amulet to the right, increasing the Mana input of the heating enchantment to the maximum. The warm air started flooding from the floor level while he moved quickly to the wardrobe to put on something warmer.

Doing morning ablutions in his bathroom, he once again cursed the Regeneration PE. Because of it, people here never invented a toothpaste equivalent. Sure, his oral microbiota was almost nonexistent because of the Mana shenanigans, so he didn’t have furry teeth or similar effects, but that didn’t mean his breath was fresh. The best he had, was the mint-like water to rinse his mouth.

Thinking about teeth, he wondered if Regeneration could stop primary teeth from falling out. It would be hilarious and problematic in equal measure.

Finished, he returned to the bedroom, which was blissfully warm already. After retrieving the amulet and adjusting the heating, he walked out to get some breakfast downstairs. A Mana-transferring connection snapped into place the moment he passed through the door frame, and he started to send his Mana to fill his daily quota.

He had to walk through the big hall to get to the kitchens. The big windows inside allowed him to see the kids’ chosen playground. It seemed that a grand snowball battle was taking place on the premises of the building. He also noticed Aisha, standing on the sidelines and watching over the kids.

After fixing himself a few sandwiches for the late breakfast, he decided it wasn’t enough. Yesterday he forgot to buy himself a proper meal. Willforce Morphon was probably the only reason he wasn’t starving during his session with Ghrughah – the Enhancement possessed the ability to sustain him with other resources, after all. But now that his body finally received some nutrition, it screamed for more, reminding him that the standard amount of sustenance wasn’t enough anymore.

When he finally exited the building to speak with Aisha, wearing his heavy coat, he could only see the devastation wrought by the snowy war. The aftereffects were truly disastrous – the kids were exhausted to the point of no return. They either started building something resembling igloos or were creating small figures from snow while sitting on the ground and resting.

It seemed that only a snowy war could force out their more creative inclinations. At least no one was paying attention to him for now.

Looking around, he quickly found Aisha, sitting on a wooden bench to the side, as always in the company of her trusted weapon. He slowly walked up to her.

“Hello. Yesterday was arduous for you, I see,” she greeted as he plopped beside her, his slightly overstuffed stomach protesting at the rough treatment.

He wiped the grimace from his face and leaned back to relax. “Hi. Yea, you can say that… I have learned quite a lot, though. Wanna see my new spear?”

“Sure, when we go back. How much did you pay?”

“Fifty thousand,” he said, not so sure about the price anymore. After getting the money from Aisha, he kind of forgot about the objective value of a gold coin.

She whistled. “It better be worth it, then. I am curious now… Weapons from the third stratum go for similar prices. Mostly because of materials, though.”

“It’s too light to be even a second stratum weapon, I think. But yea, I would like to hear your opinion,” he admitted. “Did I miss anything yesterday?”

Aisha nodded lightly. “Kwan sent me a message, she already bought a place. It will take two more days to set everything up. Your visit here will be shorter than I anticipated.” She looked at him. “Please do visit sometimes. The kids are feeling much better after the previous night. None had problems with sleeping today, even if they were mightily disappointed the bearded uncle won’t be there for them,” she said with a crooked smile.

He nodded. There was nothing he could say to that. “Can do. Anything from Makani?”

“Nothing yet.” Aisha turned her head forward again. “But he should be back before the New Year’s celebrations. That was his deadline, according to the Tower’s staff at least. Oh, right,” she snapped her fingers and looked at him excitedly. “The pilots are relatively free till the New Year, too. I can easily arrange a meeting in that timeframe, you just need to give me a date.”

“Ugh. Let’s leave the planning for later. I have someone else I would like for you all to meet. It complicates things. And I would need to prepare a model or prototype before that.” She nodded. “Anyway, let’s go directly to P’pfel’s room when we go back. Is it as safe as yours?”

“More or less,” she shrugged. “Should be enough. Are you going to the city today, too?”

“Yes, I have a few errands to do. But I will go in the evening, so there is no need to hurry.”

“Okay then. Hmm, want to play?” she asked, nodding in the direction of Ulma, the rumor-spreading girl, who was waving her hand at them.

They spent another hour or so on idle talk and playing with the kids. Zeph even showed them how to make a simple snowman, but the idea didn’t sell well. Because the crystals of the snowflakes were three-dimensional, it was surprisingly easy to create much more intricate shapes – the snow here was never powdery and kept the shapes much better than on Earth.

When the time for dinner has come, they moved directly to P’pfel’s room. Yula promised to bring them something to eat later.

Zeph visited his own room quickly to take his new spear, Earth’s combat knife, Production District map, and Lurona City map. The books were delivered yesterday, long before he made it back.

As always, the old Gremling was working on reagents and enchanting. The chemicals he prepared in the North Tarak were still in Kwan’s possession, so he had to concoct new ones to be able to work. He was too busy to even greet them properly.

While waiting for him to finish his latest work, they prepared the room. Aisha activated the enchantments and made sure they were good enough, while Zeph cleared a table with unimportant equipment for them to use.

Then, with pride, he presented his new spear to Aisha, explaining how it was built and for what purposes.

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She hummed to herself for a long time, swinging it a few times, trying to bend it, testing the Mana-conductance, and checking its balance, before finally giving him her professional verdict.

“It’s too eye-catching. And overcomplicated. Also, too light. I prefer a slab of metal that can do its job without all this fancy work!” she declared, tapping its bottom lightly on the floor and making a heroic pose.

Aisha… He sighed in resignation, facepalming. You just slapped the blacksmith in the face…

“Seriously, though,” she tried to redeem herself. “It’s quite good. Definitely worth the price, even if the materials are from the second stratum at best. You will have to get used to how it’s balanced, though. As for other problems, I doubt your Spell can sharpen its blade. And those Mana-conducting traces will break at one point…”

He sighed again before explaining slowly. “I want to learn how to use hammers and axes, so it has to be balanced like that, the tip is swappable. The scabbard is able to sharpen the blade and secure the resulting powder to not waste the material. The inlay is also done below the surface, and it’s made from material I can easily replace myself. Also, other people could have problems with selectively activating the enchantments through the traces, but, as you should know, it’s perfect for me…”

She blinked, still in her heroic pose, and glanced at the weapon with new respect in her eyes. But then, her eyes narrowed.

She tried to bend it again, but this time on her knee, flexing her, admittedly impressive for a Corora human, muscles. She was wearing only a red, thin, long-sleeved shirt on her torso, and it strained from the pressure. He could tell she was even using some Skills, as her Veil started to shrink slightly.

Zeph wasn’t going to stop her, he had a warranty for the weapon, after all. He just crossed his arms and observed.

The spear bent maybe a few millimeters on each side before she released it with a huff. Panting a little, she looked along the shaft.

It was perfectly straight.

“Are you challenging me?” she murmured grumblingly to the weapon, to Zeph’s amusement.

But before a round-two could start, P’pfel spoke from the side.

“I hope it is important if you barged in without as much as knocking?” The professor sent them a glare.

“News and news, not sure how important” Aisha shamelessly answered. “Are you even answering to knocks anymore?”

“No. But that doesn’t mean you can just invite yourselves whenever you like,” he said, hopping down from his stool and walking to their table.

It seemed kids were still curious about the Gremling and tried to pay him a visit a few times.

“Don’t dare speak to me like that,” Aisha said, pointing the spear at the small guy, playing a presumptuous villainess. “I am your boss now!”

Zeph looked at him with a raised eyebrow. The Gremling noticed and just shrugged as he walked. “We made a life-contract after visiting the Temple yesterday.”

“You are mine now!” she exclaimed, raising the spear into the air in a triumphant gesture. “But seriously, he is all-in now,” she explained, putting it back down. “We reported about the happenings in the Torrent mountains already, so you don’t have to worry about a possible interrogation anymore. Landlord Oric and the Temple of Souls are going to have a bad year,” she said to him proudly.

“Yes. Also, she filled me in on your background already.” The professor adjusted his glasses while looking at Zeph’s spear. “Nice weapon you have there. Do I see correctly that it’s made, in part, from a malleable alloy?”

Zeph smiled widely. “Indeed, it is. You will have to teach me the enchanting procedure.”

“That will be only possible after we set our workshops. The reagents for those are too dangerous to even try in this environment,” he said, struggling a little to climb a chair. “Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long.”

“Yes, I already heard about it from Aisha.” He turned to her. “By the way, is your… warhaxammer”—he grimaced slightly spelling the strange name—“the same as my armor? You always keep it close.” It was leaning against a wall right now.

“Not really. I don’t have to keep it in my Veil, but I still need to prepare before using it to its full potential. It helps to be always prepared, but… I swear, every time I put it away something bad happens…” she said in a half-mock rage, making a fist with her free hand. “Anyway, what did you want to talk about?” She threw the spear at him lightly, which he easily grabbed from the air.

“Right. There is actually quite a lot…”

He narrated his yesterday’s ‘adventures’, omitting nothing. He felt better now that P’pfel could hear everything.

The pair was quite surprised by the unusual happenings, especially the information about Gibbons.

“How come no one knows about your two friends…” Aisha murmured, deep in thought. “Presumably them, but still… It doesn’t make sense. Even if they contracted with an Onji or two right after crossing the gate, others should already know about them… I have a feeling System Onji is involved here…”

“That’s not important!” the Gremling screeched. “Zeph will find them sooner or later and can ask then – I want to hear more about the blacksmith! The equipment…” he started murmuring madly to himself, saliva dripping from his mouth and eyes bulging.

“Get a hold of yourself! You will meet him in three days at most,” she countered, bonking him lightly in the head with a fist. That made the trick. The Gremling made a disgusted face and fixed himself. “I will contact Kwan to prepare a room for his visit… But Zeph, are you sure about the direction this is going?” she asked, unusually serious.

He kind of understood what she was suggesting.

“We weren’t met with any problems within the city yet, but I already feel confined,” he confessed. “How bad will it become after we start releasing new products? No, we need to prepare beforehand. I would like to have an aerostat of our own. Maybe a base somewhere in the wilderness… At least that were my thoughts. This constant vigilance is scraping on my sanity.”

P’pfel’s eyes shined like stars after hearing it, the Gremling evidently liking the idea of their own aerostat. Aisha looked thoughtful.

“Besides, he can help me hide for longer from the public eye. He is known, so we can use him as the face of our ventures. This should lessen the scrutiny and pressure placed on us…” He paused, seeing Aisha’s predatory smile growing with each second. “Um… Aisha?”

“Zeph, my dear friend,” she started, placing her arm on his shoulders. “It’s a delightful idea!”

“… Why do I feel like I wouldn’t like where this is going?” he asked, his body tensing.

“Gree,” vibrated Gru, sharing his sentiment.

“Why don’t we form a Guild?!” she exclaimed, her far-away gaze inspired by unknown demons.

“No!” he refused immediately. Is she possessed?!

The Gremling spat on the floor. “Get lost! I am not taking part in it!” he growled.

“Grrrarru!” accusingly vibrated Gru.

“No, wait! Let me explain!” she pleaded, then started to placate them one by one.

She had some good arguments, too. They would be seen as one entity, so the whereabouts of individual members shouldn’t be that important in the grand scheme of things. She would take care of the second-line business of the Guild, namely – the thing her faction of Temple always did, further diluting the information about them. It would also allow them to buy from the market in bulk and identify as a part of a Guild in different cities.

That alone made them reconsider. She also has thrown a bone of institutional right to keep production methods secret, but no one believed it even for a second. P’pfel and Zeph both had a life experience directly contradicting such claims, and Gru was skeptical because of her much earlier talks about power. There was no way to convince them that they wouldn’t have to fight tooth and nail to keep their rights to the inventions for a prolonged period of time.

Luckily for Aisha, her two companions never planned to hoard knowledge. It was just counter-productive for their goals.

“Why are you even so fixed on that idea?” Zeph asked finally.

“Well…” she hesitated for a moment, but confessed in the end. “It would also be nice to have a logistic backup after moving to the higher stratum…” she said dreamily.

“Are you planning to hire just anyone?” Zeph asked disdainfully. “Except for Kwan’s and Ghrughah’s groups, we are just individuals. And we all will probably move there together. I am not trusting enough to hire some random people to have my backs.”

“Grrraru,” it vibrated in fright. Keeping silent for prolonged periods of time wasn’t pleasant at all.

“Let’s leave it for after the meeting,” wisely advised the professor. “We need to check this Ghrughah first, anyway.”

Aisha pouted slightly because of their skepticism, but didn’t try to sell her idea anymore.

“Can we go back to my other questions?” Zeph asked, sighing for the third time today. He was doing that often with them around.

“Sure,” P’pfel answered. “I had a feeling you wanted to ask something for some time now.”

“Yesterday, I saw a Wadokei for the first time… Or rather, it was explained to me how it works…” he left his words to sink into their small skulls, but there was no effect. They just waited for him to continue. “For the fucking first time!” he irritably pointed out, raising his hands.

The two oohed in sync, finally understanding what he was talking about. He didn’t know about their units of measurement. At all. Which was problematic if he was to keep his head down.

“I prepared something to compare our units of measurement to get an idea of what I am working with,” he declared, putting a few sheets of paper, a pen, and his combat knife on the table. “But I will need your help, P’pfel. First, we need a vacuum tube. Also, you two are going to explain to me how things are measured here. Aisha, because I know you will get bored quickly, take those maps and try to find the best route through the places I have to visit today. Mark Kwan’s quarters, the Temple of Library, and the System Shrine, as well. You are the only one who knows the city. P’pfel, make a list of ingredients and reagents that will be necessary to work with the spear… Add the ones for possible aerostat enchantments, just to be sure. Aisha, mark those shops, too…” he started giving orders, wholeheartedly strangling any indication of objection from the two too-busy-to-work people.

He wanted to be finished with the small errands and tests as fast as possible. It was all necessary, but consumed too much time for his liking. Before going to the System Shrine, he wanted to finish a few minor experiments that could help him with the Exchange choices. But if they worked with their current pace, he would sooner see the new year than deal with the upgrades.

It was time to prepare for the real shopping spree.

“Grrrrrum!” it silently vibrated in excitement, wholeheartedly agreeing.