(Lord Alex Savage)

I entered my office and saw the damage from yesterday. They had cut me out of the cockpit using a magical saw. I would have to fix that, but something else needed to be done first. I pulled everyone into my office and cleared the table.

“This place is like a pig pen.” Debbie said, looking around the room. She wasn’t wrong. I needed to get it cleaned up.

“Parnel, please remind me to get that done.” The boar man who had joined us on the road nodded and left. He had become my assistant and bodyguard. “Now, how did you teach Sheldon that song?” I asked her. She looked at the ground and I started feeling sad. Fucking broken cheat skill. Whatever she felt, others would feel. She could own this world if she was a bit smarter.

“Umm, sorry about that?” She said in a small voice. I waved it away, trying not to let her feelings influence me.

“Forget about it. I want to know how. Even if you could sing it perfectly, it wouldn’t have sounded like that. How did you teach him?” She looked up and reached into a pouch on her belt. She pulled out a cellphone and a solar charger. I jumped up and looked at it, excitement on my face. If she could get service, this would break this fucking world in half.

“You got a connection?” I asked, my eyes wide in wonder. She shook her head but cheered up and the sad feeling faded. “How did you get the music to play then?”

“One of my boyfriends felt bad about me like being out of minutes and would buy me songs? I used to run a lot and being out of minutes would mean I couldn’t listen to music?”

“And the charger?” She looked embarrassed and held up the solar charger.

“I would like forget to charge my phone?” I looked at it closely.

“I need a metal plate.” I said looking around. Running out and back in with a lightly singing bar of iron, I put it on my desk. In a flash I smoothed it out like a pizza and started etching runes into it. Hena looked over my work and smiled.

“A magical speaker?” My elf lover said sweetly.

“Yep, might be nice to listen to it a little louder.” I said with a smile. For some reason I felt lighter today. “After that I would like to make something that could record the music to something someone could play.”

“Like a boombox? A magic boombox?” Debbie said and I smiled at the blonde airhead. She was getting excited, and I let her emotions wash over me. It felt nice and seemed to fill the room with energy.

“I can’t remake that phone and wouldn’t even try to power it with mana. It would more than likely fry it and music like that needs to be in this world.” I finished up and let Hena look it over. She nodded and I turned to Debbie. “Now select a song for us to test it out.” I said putting a small core in the holder I had molded into the speaker. Debbie flicked through her phone and set it on the plate. I closed my eyes and smiled as the music filled the small room. She had selected Happy by Pharell Williams. It was one I liked but sounded slightly off. I looked at the speaker and saw one of the runes was tilted. I altered it and the sound improved. I looked around the room to see Debbie clapping and dancing, Ket joined in smiling and clapping with her. The sight made me laugh and I held my hand out to Hena escorting her to the hanger. She was laughing and the tips of her ears were bouncing with the beat. I started dancing with her. It felt like I could cut loose, and I danced with my elf wife as she giggled and spun. When the song was over, I went back in to see the two women smiling and giggling.

“You like look so much better today.” Debbie said smiling. I nodded and moved to my seat.

“I needed yesterday and today. Now let's bring this new joy to this world.”

“What did those words mean?” Hena asked, a smile still plastered on her face. Then it hit me, Common and English are not the same language. The songs would have to be translated, but that was a problem for my new music teacher. Her skill would mix well with that spot.

“Debbie, our new music teacher will tell you while I look for something.” I said pawing through my desk and cabinets. I know I had asked Lily for one of those magic video recording wands and I prayed the woman had done it. In a bottom drawer I found it. A note was wrapped around the handle.

My love,

I hope this helps you make this world into the amazing dream you have.

Your,

Honey Bunny

I smiled at the note and lifted the wand looking over the runes and what each one did. It looked like if some were merged with some of the elf runes that Hena’s mother had given me, I could make the recorder easily and power it using a small core. Quickly molding it, I worked on a scrap of paper to outline the runes I wanted to use. Hena looked over at me, leaning on my shoulder.

“You can’t use that one there.” She said poking at the page.

“Why?” I asked, beaming at her beautiful face. She kissed my forehead and smiled.

“If you use that one in that place, it will output mana and not sound.” I blinked at her, and my mind went into overdrive. She had given me the last key. I pulled out my notebook and started sketching as fast as I could, making a diagram on the bottom of the page. It was here. The last part of my mech nerd dream. Pulling back, I turned the book to Hena. She looked puzzled and then her eyes went wide.

“What is it?” She asked in wonder.

“A particle beam cannon.” Every good mech show had something like it and I wanted one. “We need parts. Hena, please try to find small focus crystals for the boombox. I will be working on this.” I said jumping up and running to the shop. I started ripping metal off plates and bars, molding them into the shape I needed. The smallest I could make ended up being five feet long and weighed far more than I could ever hope to lift. When I was happy with the shape, I started molding the runes. The main body had to hold a large mana core. It would take a hell of a long time to charge fully and with this set up, it would only be capable of one shot at a time, but with the compression runes running in a spiral around the inside and outside of the barrel running in parallel with a line of acceleration runes. This should force the mana into a small tight beam that would fly at the target, unleashing hell on it. I smiled at my new project before being called back to the boombox.

At some point Parnel had returned and had brought lunch with him. One of his duties was to make sure I ate and left on time. “Thank you.” I said taking the basket into the room. We all had lunch as I worked on the final outlook of the box. It ended up looking like a soda can. I had put the runes on the inside with the focus crystal and mana core. The outside had a number of runes that would let the user select one of five songs, stop them, and turn the sound up and down. To upload the music, one just had to set the can on a speaker and push the rune for that slot and with another can or Debbie’s phone it would record it to the box. The base could even record messages to put on the boombox. I went to test it and had Debbie sing something into it. She did not have a good singing voice and Ket had to cover her ears as she ran out of the room. I was tempted to keep the recording as a punishment for future offences.

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“Let’s test this.” I said pushing the rune on the boombox. Her badly pitched and screeching voice came out sounding exactly like her. “It works.” I said jumping up and down. “Debbie please test this fully and record the songs you like. The battery should last for six hours of play time. I will work on larger models that can hold more.” I said leaving the room. “Parnel please fetch Meathead. I need him to test something new.” Parnel nodded and left. I went back to my Mana beam cannon and looked it over. The core was charged. I would need a wagon and we would have to test it in the field. This was going to be epic. Hena, Debbie and Ket were picking out songs and I smiled at the songs coming from the transfer base that was sending everything to the Party in a can. No, that wouldn’t work. music master, no, mpc? That one would work as it was a play on the term MP3 and it was a magical counterpart to that. I would have to borrow her phone and make a few MPCs to help me work. Today was turning out to be a great day.

Meathead came in and smiled down at me. The man was just so big. Why were all the men in this world either fat as a hippo or built like a bodybuilder?

“Parnel said you have something new for me to play with?” He asked as he looked around, joy on his face. I pointed at the cannon and smiled. “That looks like a musket. You should know gunpowder is impractical here. Fire balls just rip muskets apart and kills the user.” So, this world did have gunpowder. Good to know.

“No, this is something new. I need you and Parnel to load it and we will have to test it in the field.” He whooped at my words and the two quickly loaded it up along with any parts I could use for repairs. I checked on the smiling women who were playing with the MPC and debating on what to load on it.

“Savage, you have to make more of these.” Hena said smiling.

“That is the plan. I’m heading out to test something else. Feel free to stay here and play.” Hena nodded and sat in my chair. Ket was randomly clicking on songs and her ears flicked up and down as she danced with the music. It made me smile in a good way. I shook my head and went to the cart. It didn’t take too long for us to make it to the testing site and I had them move the cannon to a spot I was sure wouldn’t hurt anything in case I was wrong about the power output. Meathead jumped into the back and smiled as he moved the huge gun. “Try to hit that rock.” I said pointing off into the distance. He nodded and squeezed the trigger. There was a strange sound as the gun warmed up. It almost sounded like Godzilla from the new American movies. The way the mana grew and hummed in the barrel made me smile. “Three, two, one.” I said counting it off and then boom.

The mana roared out of the barrel and down the field. The rock was a melted heap along with a large row of trees. As this was mana and not fire, I was sure the trees wouldn’t catch making a forest fire for us to deal with. I turned back to see the barrel had melted into slag. Meathead looked at the carnage with a stunned look of horror on his face. “It worked.” I said jumping up and down. Meathead stepped down and walked slowly to me. “I know, I know you want one for your Knight.” I said with a happy smile. Suddenly his hands were around my neck. I could still breathe, but the point was clear.

“I am going to beg you to never do that.” He said squeezing my neck, making breathing hard.

“What?” I croaked out.

“NEVER BUILD THAT FOR KNIGHTS!” He screamed and I could see tears starting to flow from his eyes. What the fuck was going on?

“Explain.” I said coldly. I could kill him at any time, but I wanted to know why he was doing what he was doing.

“How can we stop that?” He asked, removing one oversized hand to point at the cannon. FUCK ME RUNNING! He was right. I nodded and he removed his hand, kneeling to the ground. I was looking into his eyes as he pleaded with me. “I’m sorry, I just saw that and thought of Batsy and our boys. How could I save them from that? Runt, Alex, I beg you to never build that.” He looked at the ground and started crying. “Kill me if you want, but I had to make sure you didn’t unleash that on this world.”

“Why the fuck would I kill you for being right?” I said outraged. “Never kill the person who knows better.” He looked up at me and I smiled back. “Let me try one more test with a less overpowered version. If you still think it is too much, I will agree to scrap it.” He nodded, wiped his nose and eyes and stood. “Meathead, no Thomdab, thank you.” He blew his nose and gave me a weak smile.

“Call me Meathead. my own name doesn't sound right now.” He said, reaching out a huge hand. I nodded and shook his hand. Looking back at the scrap barrel and sighed.

“It wouldn’t have worked anyway. To change the barrel after every use or use mithril would be far too expensive.” I used my mana to remove the smoking barrel, spreading it out to let it cool faster. Shit it was still hot as hell. I had to use a chain to move it from a distance. Once it was gone, I started shaping a new one. This time I used about half the runes on each line inside the barrel making seven groups in total. This should cut down on the heat buildup from the mana.

“Are you sure this one will be okay to test?” Meathead asked when I was done.

“Yep, this should be safer.” I said, nodding at my work. The last barrel had a thick line of fifty runes on each line. Seven should be safer. He took a deep breath and looked at the core.

“Are you ready?” He asked, taking his spot and turning the gun to another rock.

“You may fire when ready.” I said inwardly laughing at the Star Wars reference. He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger once more. The gun hummed once more like Godzilla, but this time it was faster and softer. The beam that came out wasn’t as tight or dazzling, but hit the rock, taking a large chunk out of it. I held my breath as Meathead stood and smiled at me.

“Thank you, Runt.” He said, kneeling in front of me.

“For what? You had a valid point. Now there is the issue of scaling that up. A large weapon like that wouldn’t be practical as large as it is now, and the charge time is unreasonable.” I said as I sat on the wagon. “I could make a wrist weapon that you could aim, but that would only be about twice this length. If my math is right, that should only be about six times as destructive as a normal wand. The issue is mana draw. It wouldn’t be able to fire too quickly as the barrel would melt down and may alter the runes making the gun unstable.” I was just talking as I sketched. Meathead was nodding, but I had forgotten he was there. He was right about the gun. I had ripped up a bomb idea in my first year here. I didn't want that in this world.

“Shame you can’t just swap the cores and barrels,” he said. “Like swapping weapons in battle when one is too damaged.” I looked up at him blankly.

“Fuck you.” He blinked at me. “You are supposed to be an idiot. I am the smart one here.” We both laughed and I started making notes. Something like a gatling gun would work for swapping the barrels and I could use a larger mana engine for that type of weapon. It would have to be a part of a different mana system as the two engines may fight. That would mean the pilot would have to have a backpack with a trigger.

“Can I test it some more?” Meathead said with a sheepish smile. Someone found a toy he liked. The suit I was making for him could hold the new gun and would have a platform large enough to hold it.

“Sure.” I said smiling and he jumped up taking aim and laughing as he fired again. I made a mana accumulator to cut down the charge time and Meathead tested it to his joy. It now took five minutes between charges, and he would jump down and look over his handiwork. I smiled as we made our way back. “Thank you for keeping me in check.” I said looking at my big dumb friend.

“Thank you for listening to reason.” He said, bowing his head. I just smiled and slapped the big man’s shoulder. He jumped and looked down at me.

“Thank you for being a good friend.” I said happily.

“You think I’m your friend?” Had I misjudged things? Did he not want to be my friend? I looked at him with a sad expression on my face, my heart falling.

“I’m sorry. I thought we were friends.” I said, my heart breaking. He jumped off the cart and started to run alongside it.

“I’m friends with Runt.” He said, jumping up and down. It made me laugh and smile at the big fool. We talked openly on the way back and it felt nice. Whatever had happened yesterday, it was clearly needed. It had changed me in some fundamental way. I was a person and not some monster everyone feared and hated.

Once I got home, Boss was sitting in my living room, and he looked bothered by something. Was he upset about the testing? Had I pissed him off somehow?

“Runt, we have an issue.” He said, handing me a viewing orb. It was the part of a recording wand that was removed letting the person see what was recorded when mana was pumped into it. I looked closely and saw a large six-legged dragon stomping away from the viewer. It had to be massive as it towered over the trees. “A demon lord is coming to pay us a visit.” I sighed with relief as I looked up at him.

“You had me worried it was something serious. How long do we have?” He blinked and frowned at me.

“Alex, this is a demon lord. We can’t talk our way out of it, can’t pay it off and it would take an army of Knights to even hold it off.” He said, his face growing red as anger set in.

“How long do we have?” I asked, smiling at him.

“It should be here near mid fall.”

“It’s mid spring now so we have plenty of time.” I said tossing him the orb back. He caught it blankly.

“What should we do? Run?” I looked over my shoulder as I turned to leave.

“Oh no, I’m going to kill it.” I said with my evil murderous smile. He smiled back and started laughing.

“Of course you are. Why did I even worry about it? You are the Savage Lord after all. You can break this world with enough mana.” He was now openly laughing with me as we went to have a drink. Meathead joined us and told Boss about my mana cannon. This seemed to lift his mood even more.

“You think that is cool, wait until Scarlet is trained. Her Knight will knock your socks off.” I said laughing.