Valley Of Los Roadways
"Oh, this little lady busted up Reiner's Garlan, eh?" Pius said curiously as he looked down at Risabeel after Blake gave him a rundown of how he beat Reiner's best work with the Demon woman at his side. That blade was Reiner's pride and joy, when it put a crack in one of Pius' best works the giant of a man could still remember the huge grin Reiner had when he was told that he wouldn't need any more lessons.
"Yeah! I didn't even realize it when it happened! Took my old man saying it to my face the next day, heh." Blake had the same kind of grin as he remembered when Reiner allowed him to be a master smith. "Thanks for that, Risabeel!" He threw some praise to Risabeel, honestly, he could never thank her enough for making his dream come true.
"Ah, Sir Blake! Please do not say such things! It was your hands that made me the item I am, was it not?" Risabeel tossed the praise back at Blake after getting far too much from him in her eyes.
"Come on, Risabeel, I'm good I'll admit that all day long but good Ore is still good Ore. We're in this together, yeah?" Blake pointed out in a bit of a cocky tone at his skills. "Hmm? What's up, Baba?" He turned to the Ala floating into his sight and stared just at him with a blank gaze. "That goes for all of you! My masterworks as it were..." He added after she didn't answer him right away.
To that, Baba smirked and fluttered away without a word. "At least I don't have to tell him anything sometimes, hehe..." She thought as she moved to Saffire's side noting that she was looking at Blake and Risabeel for a bit.
"Shut it." The Dragon growled at the Ala who again hadn't said a thing out loud.
The next time words or orders were used was from Pius. "HEY! WATCH HOW YOU'RE MOVING THAT THING!" He roared at a group of workers moving a stone wall with writing on it via some cranes. "EASY NOW! DON'T FORCE THE MACHINE TO DO SOMETHING IT CAN'T!" Even though he was barking like a warrior in the heat of battle the way he moved his hands to guide the team was like a conductor with their band.
"There he goes again..." Gram looked up to watch along with everyone else as the job was done quickly but carefully thanks to Pius' guidance, something the group got to see firsthand a couple of times while the Craftsmaster showed them around.
Despite his size and personality, when it came to the Valley Of Los' inner workings Pius had the utmost kind in whatever he was doing as if he was handling the upbringing of his very own child. "Hehe!" Speaking of children the giggling of Mari and Moco came from the two as he bounced them up and down on one of his feet when he offered to carry them around.
"THAT'S THE WAY YOU IDOITS!" Pius smirked after getting that bit of work done then looked down at the group. "Sorry about all of this. I just can't help but hammer these nails right away when I'm out of the office."
Anthony looked up from a notepad he was writing in at Pius' words. "No worries, at all Master Pius! Your short moments of guidance have given me much to think about...in many ways it reminds me of how my master handles things back in Gorz, which makes sense as you are Master Deller's teacher."
"Dang, Reiner's the opposite he's more of the 'let you go until you break something' type," Blake muttered while remembering the amount of mistakes he made thanks to Reiner's way of teaching.
"And what about yourself, boy?" Pius asked Blake as he held up a group of chained-together wagons that were in the group's way.
"Bread..." Blake called out to Bread and gave the boy a look when he turned to him.
"He's actually pretty fun even if he gets mad but he always answers my questions no matter how many times I ask about something," Bread answered, watching as a smile crept up on Blake's face at his words.
Pius gave Blake a curious look. "Oh? Didn't take you for a softie? Then again so was Reiner at times..." He trailed off after setting the wagons back once everyone was passed then looked overhead. "...Good, we're here!" He pointed to a tall and wide stone structure with a flight of stairs that led upward. "They should still be there, hopefully," Pius added as he took some care when going up the stairs, luckily for him every 10 or so steps was a landing that he could fit on.
"Ah?" Came from a landing near the top of the stairs as the group was greeted by a pair of odd-looking people. The first was a tall and muscular green-skinned woman with orange eyes and a mane of red hair with a thick white horn coming out of her forehead. She wore a long tiger-skin skirt complete with a drinking gourd tied around her waist while her clawed feet stuck out from under it, and covering her chest was a simple crisscrossing of black wrappings with more around her forearms. "Grr!" She let out a low growl with sharp fangs showing through her lips and if it wasn't for the horn then one might think she was an Orc.
Her companion appeared to be a blue-skinned woman standing in a puddle of water at her feet. She was dressed in a soaking wet pink robe of odd make that had what looked like a thick mass of seaweed tied around her waist. The oddest thing about her was that instead of a head she had a large pink turban seashell which leaked inky black hair where her neck was coming out of the shell. "Hehe~" She let out a creepy giggle as parts of her shell shook a little until two large gooey eyes popped out. "Ah!" She was about to speak but paused as she reached into her robe to pull out a necklace with a green gemstone. "Hello? Can...you...understand...me?" The seashell woman spoke in a slowly mature woman's voice after putting the necklace around her neck.
"Uhm yeah?" Blake answered for the group as everyone but Pius looked at the pair of women in amazement at what they were. "So which ones the Smith-Knight?" He looked up at Pius even though part of him was telling him that neither of them were. "Up there still?" His eyes turned to the top of the stairs and saw a large green pillar that had bolts of lightning coming off it.
"Hmm!" The horned woman glared at Blake when she heard Smith-Knight and began marching over to him. "Grrr!" But halfway in getting to him, she was stopped by Gram coming up to her with his fangs out in the open.
"That's not how most say hello!" The Greater Wolf barked causing some surprise to come to the horned woman's face as she showed her fangs as well. "Oh? Guess my nose wasn't lying when I smelt you the first time!" He readied himself to pounce at her the moment she gave him a chance.
"Stop that, Ume-chan!" However, that never came as the seashell woman came over and grabbed the horn of her friend.
"Eek!" Who immediately froze up on the spot with just that action. "GRAAHH!" Ume-chan as she was called started yelling in a language the others never heard before. "Hmm!" But it all stopped when the tip of her horn was pinched.
"I'm sorry about her...she's a bit on the unruly side." The seashell woman apologized and then took a deep bow with Ume-chan going along with her. "My name happens to be Ling-Ling, greetings to all." Ling-Ling introduced herself as she came back up and let go of her friend's horn. "Hmm?" Then looked at Blake for a moment. "You are a Smith-Knight, yes?"
"Ugh? Yeah, name's Blake." Blake answered with a hand rubbing Gram's neck to stop most of the growling coming from the wolf. "And you're monster items?" He asked, getting that feeling coming off them.
"Why yes we are! I'm a Sazae-Oni who can turn into Jingasa oh? Uhm that would be a type of armored hat?" Ling-Ling explained what she was and then held a hand to Ume-chan. "And this Ume-chan, she's just an Oni who can turn to some armor."
"Ling-Ling!" Ume-chan growled at Ling-Ling and muttered something to her.
----------------------------------------
Aquatic Monster, Sazae Oni: These underwater creatures are an all-female face of monsters and in some stories are said to be the result of clams or mollusks that have reached a certain age gaining magical powers such as the ability to take on a humanoid form, or control water. Another story goes that a poor woman who has been thrown into deep waters and dies comes back as a monster to seek revenge after their spirits found a home inside a shell.
They usually take the form of a humanoid with a shell as their head with some having greater magical power being able to perfectly blend in with other races or simply a seashell with eyes and arms. However, they are still bound to water with most needing to constantly soak themselves or else they would dry up on land in a few days. One odd and horrible interest they have is for the testicles of men of all races that they wish to dine on above all else often being called water Succubi along with Naiads, Undines, and Sirens.
Items made from the Ore of these monsters are usually strong shields and armor with a shell-like appearance.
----------------------------------------
Humanoid Monster, Oni: Monsters born out of an evil heart after death that refuses to let go of their coil on the mortal world and take on a physical form or they are beings from the underworld who find their way to the mortal world via special gates that only they can use.
They appear in different colors with each giving meaning behind the Oni's wickedness those being Red for greed, blue for rage, yellow for regret, green for disease, and black for arguments. They are usually larger than most humans with some even as tall as Giants while some are smaller than children. They all have fangs, claws, and sometimes multiple arms, legs, eyes, and horns. The horns around their head are a weak point as when any who do not feel any negative emotion toward the Oni grabs a horn the monster becomes powerless against that person.
Items made from the Ore of these monsters are usually heavy clubs, armor, and swords.
----------------------------------------
"Oh, hush now!" Ling-Ling dug a hand into her shell to pull out a closed fan that she pointed at Ume-chan. "And I'm not giving you my translator! It's not my fault someone drank themselves to sleep last night and lost theirs." She opened her fan with water splashing in Ume-chan's face.
"Grrr!" Ume-chan rolled her eyes with a groan as she went for her drinking gourd. "Huh?" Then got a side glance from one of Ling-Ling's eyes. "Tch!" And clicked her tongue as she put it down.
"Good girl~" Ling-Ling gave Ume-chan a light pat of her fan on the shoulder. "Sometimes, I wonder why Bai-dono keeps you around."
"Oh, you have a bit of hardhead on your side as well?" Baba floated over to Ling-Ling to look her over with the seashell woman doing the same. "Our's is that blue-haired one over there." She pointed a toe at Saffire after that.
"If anyone is hard to deal with it's you! Airhead!" Saffire yelled at Baba with smoke and embers coming out of her mouth causing Ume-chan to jump forward ready for a fight while Ling-Ling just giggled. "Oh, you wanna go!?" The Dragon then turned her hands to claws when she saw Ume-chan move.
"Don't." Blake gave Saffire a light tap of his hammer on her head. "Uh oh!" And was rewarded by Saffire's wrath getting put on him as she lifted him off his feet. "Not the face! Not the face!"
"Oh my!" Ling-Ling watched as Blake was carried aside to be yelled at and partly set on fire. "She's not that bad...at least when sober." She mused while watching Mari run over and was about to dump Os on him but he strung up and patted the fire out himself. "So, Pius-dono? I hope you didn't get another Smith-Knight to kick us out. Bai-dono does take his time but he's trying earnestly!"
"What?! Nah, this guy just showed up to do the same thing your boy is doing so I just brought him here to see how things are done." Pius assured Ling-Ling with a wide grin. "Sides Bai's been doing a good job by me so with two Smith-Knights I get double the output, bahaha!" A handy laugh bellowed out of him along with rolling thunder from atop the stairs. "He trying to more out of those pillars?"
"Yes, the two of us were waiting on him after we got tired out but he and Jiho are still at it even after an hour," Ling-Ling answered with a bit of a bored tone to her voice as she kept fanning away. "I swear when that man gets his mind set on something it would take the Goddess up above to drive him away." She grumbled at first then turned one of her eyes to Ume-chan when the Oni poked her side and muttered something to her. "Oh yes, there is that foxy miko! He'd run all the way back to the capital for her even if that three-headed lizard told him not to, heh-"
Ling-Ling's giggling was cut short when a bolt of blue came down next to her and caused her hair to stand on end as yet another odd figure appeared on the stairs above. This time around they were what looked like a large horse with draconic traits. Those being bright blue scales covering most of its body with green fur on its underbelly while a long mane of green went down its head to the tip of a snake-like tail. Deer antlers adored the strange horse's head and long green whiskers near its snout twisted in the air. The dragon horse bowed its head to Pius then its sliver reptilian eyes went to Blake where they showed signs of shock for a moment.
"What is it, Jiho?" Came a male voice as a young man in his mid-twenties appeared behind the odd horse. He had a head of red hair that was put into a top knot with a golden pin to keep it in place and a scar over the right of his pair of blue eyes. His outfit was made up of a simple white dress shirt with black thread instead of buttons to keep it closed, the sleeves of which were tucked into iron arm bracers, and a pair of black pants going into brown boots. Finally around his neck was another necklace with a green gem and hammer tied to his waist. "Ah, Pius-dono and friends..." He looked over the group of unknown people until he locked eyes with Blake.
Time froze for the Smith-Knights as a flash of realization hit them, while they had never met the other before in their lives they both knew who the other was with one look as the name of the other Smith-Knight came to them. Not only that but there was also a strong pull at their hearts to find something within the Valley Of Los.
"Greetings, I am Bai Tie, Smith-Knight of the Tenno Empire." Bai introduced himself by clapping his hands together then took a bow with his hands held above his head. "You have already met two of my items and last of which is Jiho, the Storm Qilin Spear." He added as he came back up from his bow with Jiho giving off some spark of lightning as if showing off. "Care to share yours...Blake of Laudonia?"
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
----------------------------------------
Draconic Beast, Qilin: An offshoot of Dragons that take on the appearance of horses with draconic features mainly scales and horns of different shapes and numbers with some having a mixture of whiskers, claws, and fangs added in or none at all.
Like their greater cousins, Qilins are monsters of many powers having a mastery of an element, bringing great fortune to those who treat them well, and in some cases are even asked to judge the wrongdoings of criminals as they can see into the souls of others.
As with Dragons items made of their Ore are of the highest quality and often kept in the hands of royalty or place of worship.
----------------------------------------
"Sure thing, Bai," Blake spoke to Bai as if they were good friends and gave out the names of his items and what they were along with the others as well. "So mind if I help you out with that thing up there?" He offered while going up the stairs to meet face-to-face with Bai. "Hmm?" And found five other stone pillars circling the area, with each having a different color to them.
"The heck are these things?" Saffire mumbled as she walked up to the one Bai and Jiho were at. "Is that a bird?" She walked around it to find a stone statue of a majestic bird with four wings and four tails inside a hollowed-out part of the pillar. "Hey, Airhead, can you read this?" She called out to Baba while pointing at a nameplate at the base of the pillar that she couldn't make out any of the words on it.
"Just because I'm a wind spirit doesn't mean I know everything about birds far less in a place like this..." Baba was at first very sure she wouldn't be able to read anything found in the Valley. "...Oh? I can?" But the words came as clear as day to her even if the language it was written in wasn't one she knew. "This happens to be a carving of Zizi, Gale Of Destiny...that's a big name to be here?" She mused as she floated up to the statue's face. "Oh my!" And when some of her winds swirled around the pillar it let off a gust of its own and started to glow.
"Hey!" Which Saffire took the brunt of as she was pushed back. "What was that for!?" She growled with a fireball ready to toss at Baba.
But the Ala held up hands. "Now, now, for once that wasn't me teasing you..." Baba showed a rare honest look on her face as she didn't do anything and the torrent of wind was still going on. "...see, Hubby, protect me~" She faked a whimper and flew over to Blake's side when Saffire didn't look like she was going to listen. "I promise I didn't do anything this time."
"I believe you, Baba," Blake patted Baba's head with one hand while the other was held up in a useless defense against Saffire. "Hey, Anthony, you're better at this research thing than me got any ideas?" He turned to the tinker for some answers since he couldn't make heads or tails on any of this but oddly enough he could read writing as well.
"Hmm? It appears to be some kind of device that takes in mana and copies its effect?" Anthony was already looking over the pillar as the wind died down. "Do other elements have an effect?" He asked Bai seeing as lightning was coming off it moments ago.
"Well, yes and no..." Bai started to point over to a blue pillar and one that was just a regular stone color. "...those two reacted to Ling-Ling and Ume." He turned back to the green one after nodding over to Jiho who walked over to it and taped a hoof on the pillar, causing lightning to shoot out of it like before. "And it appears lightning mana works fine for this one as well."
"So different types of mana make these things work, huh?" Blake looked around at the pillars and noted their colors as green, blue, red, grey, white, and black. "But what does one of the Supreme Rulers have to do with this stuff?" He turned back to the statue of Zizi. "Was it added to look extra fancy?"
Risabeel perked up at the mention of Supreme Rulers. "By what reason is such title given to this being, Sir Blake?" She asked, gazing at the statue as well. "Are they one of great power, skill, or wisdom?" She tried to guess herself and looked at Blake to confirm.
"All of the above and much, much, more, Risabeel..." Blake wiggled a finger in the air as he thought about how best to explain this one to her. "...that's the title given to the six most powerful creatures in the world since...well the very start of it with just one of them have the might to not only destroy the world 10 times over but change the way of life on it to boot! Basically, they're gods in the truest and highest meaning of the word."
"Most wonderous!" While Blake's answer was crude and lacked a bit of fancy wording Risabeel was still all too curious about the information given to her. "Would it be correct to say that such beings are in the similar ranking as the...Goddess?" She forced herself to speak near the end as a pull at the back of her mind told her not to speak of the Goddess.
"Not just in similar but the Goddess Elyon happens to be one of the Supreme rulers." Blake corrected Risabeel bringing more wonder to her eyes then pointed a thumb at the statue of Zizi. "We got Zizi, Supreme Ruler Of Wind right here so are the others around too?" He looked at Bai for an answer.
Who nodded in turn. "Actually, yes...come let me show you..." He guided the group around the pillars with the next one being red with the perfect example of a Dragon inside of it, large wings on its back to rule skies, powerful claws to rip apart the earth, and a thick tail nearly as long as the beast itself. It had two pairs of horns adoring its head that faced both forward and backward along with a rainbow gemstone on its forehead. At the Dragon's feet were smaller Dragons of different types such as Wyrms, Drakes, Wyverns, Lungs, and many more. "Supreme Ruler Of Fire, Dogma, Genesis of Dragons." He read the nameplate on this pillar.
"Huh, I can read this one?" Saffire muttered, looking up at the statue with a hint of awe in her eyes.
Keeping things moving the next pillar was white with a statue of the Supreme Ruler Of Light Elyon, Generator Of Divinity in prayer. "I take it you can read this one too?" Bai asked Blake after watching the other Smith-Knight look at the nameplate.
"Yep, hey, Pius? Can you read this?" Blake confirmed while throwing a question at Craftsmaster sitting off on the side as he did not have much room to move up there.
"Sadly no, that writing isn't any kind of divine text or old tongue that I know about," Pius answered, giving both of the Smith-Knights a thoughtful look, he was hoping these two could gleam some light on what these pillars were for as they were one of the few things he couldn't figure out about the Valley. "By the by, I also tried using some of my own mana on that one and nothing happened." A ball of holy light appeared around him that flew over to the pillars and despite flying right into it there was no reaction.
"Ah, so they only react to the mana of items made by Smith-Knights then?" Anthony noted that down as they moved to the next pillar. "Care to read this one, Gram?" He motioned for the Greater Wolf to read the next plate of the stone pillar. The statue in this one was of a great beast that stood on four sturdy legs, a long nose that hid its mouth from view while huge tusks reached its feet, and growing from its back was a forest of trees where small animal statues were found.
"Writing ain't a thing for my kind..." Gram's eye glanced at the nameplate but sure enough, he could read it. "...Supreme Ruler Of Earth, Behemoth, Glutton Of Destruction, heh they better be looking that fat." He sniffed at the statue a bit getting a rather pleasant scent from it as if he was running through an endless field of warm sunlight. "Grrrr!" Until his nose guided him up to the statue's head where he was hit by the stench of death.
"Ah?" Ume-chan took notice of that and tried to get something by Gram while motioning to her nose and then at the spot where that smell of death was coming from. "Ugh? Grrr!" Then groaned and growled at it like the wolf did before her.
"I get ya! Whatever that thing is it's bad news!" Gram understood her right away somehow. "Not a bad nose or smell on ya." He smirked after taking a whiff of Ume-chan.
"Hehe!" Causing the Oni to let out a giggle as she bore a toothy grin at Gram that he returned.
"Oh, now look at that~" Ling-Ling was quite amused by that little interaction. "Hmm?" Then one of her eyes shifted to Moco currently drooling while looking at her. "Yes?" She asked, fanning herself slowly but all that did was give a fishy breeze over to the slits Moco had for a nose.
"Can I eat her?" Moco asked while pulling at Blake's arm as they moved to the next pillar.
Baba came in to wrap her arms around the Merchild to keep watch over her for Blake. "No, you're going to be a maneater, not a womaneater, unless Hubby is interested in watching that?" She reminded the younger girl as she pointed Moco at Blake. "Sorry about that, she's the newest addition and is still a bit of a stray."
"Oh, not at all!" Ling-Ling waved her fan at Baba then closed it to point at Ume-chan. "That one tried to use my shell as a mixing bowl once...nearly had to get a new one after that night."
"Hmph, I've had my share of drunks in my time, thankfully there doesn't seem to be any in my little flock at the moment." Baba played around with Moco's ear fins as she spoke while looking at the statue in the blue pillar. This one was of a mass of sea creature parts. There were fins, grills, tentacles, crab and lobster claws, fish eyes, and seashells all smashed together as if the artist had no idea what they were looking at. "Now be a good girl read that nameplate there for me, so we know what all of...that is called." She eyed the statue and really couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"Slurping roller of the wartar! Bahmama, Grain of the decks! Do I get a snack, Chum!?" Moco cheered after taking one look at the nameplate. "What?" And had everyone looking at her in disbelief, as even those who couldn't read the writing knew what she said was off by a bit. "Did I do a bad?"
"No, you didn't..." Blake rubbed the Merchild's head, watching her push her head more into his hand. "...it reads Supreme Ruler Of Water, Bahamoot, Grin Of the Deep." He corrected her and then moved on to the last of the pillars which was pitch black. "Huh? What gives with this one?" When they got there the pillar was empty with no statue in sight, in fact, it looked like the statue was ripped out of its spot. "I take it this was like that when you got here?" Blake questioned Bai expecting a simple answer.
And was given one as Bai spoke. "Indeed, rather unfortunate as I believe this ruler is the one that lacks the most visual interpretations." He brought a hand to his chin, while there were parts of the Valley that had been broken or missing parts just as much as it had parts that were in perfect condition this instance of a missing piece was off-putting to him not just as a Smith-Knight but as a crafter in general. It was as if this one piece was removed out of spite and for what reason he knew not.
"Supreme Ruler of Darkness, Baal, General Of Demons..." Came from Risabeel's lips as she gazed at the nameplate with a trance-like stare in her eyes that then flashed with a purple glow. "...of course, he would do such a deed, that bastard had no right to make a statue of him after what they did!" Her voice was vile and filled with malice while her eyes were set in hateful glare.
"Uh, Risabeel?" Blake gave her a worrying look along with the others as an aure of suffocating darkness was coming off the Demon. "You good?" Preventing him from getting any closer and setting off the pillar which was shooting off a beacon of black into the air.
Risabeel's eyes lost their glow as she blinked a few times. "Ah...yes, Sir Blake? What is the matter?" Her demeanor returned to normal and then put on a puzzled expression when she noticed the other eyes on her.
"Yeah, you kind of zoned out there and started talking about someone?" Blake explained while keeping a bit of a distance from Risabeel, the last time something happened with her it involved him getting trapped in a world of black and spoke to another her. "Was that other one speaking then?" He thought when RIsabeel didn't look like she got anything he was asking her.
"I...I am sorry but I do not know what you are speaking of?" Risabeel became quiet after that, she already had no memory of her past but now there were blanks in her present life as well and why was it caused by speaking the name of a powerful, no, the most powerful Demon? Was it merely the fact that they were important to all Demons or important to Risabeel's past? "Ah?" She was pulled out of such thoughts by Blake finally coming up to rest a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, remember we're here for you, Risabeel." Blake waved a hand at others mainly his items who were crowding around Risabeel to check up on her.
The Demon woman nodded in agreement and held her head high. "Right, you are, Sir Blake! Now then, we have come to know that these pillars house visages of the Supreme Rulers and react to certain types of mana by Smith-Knight made items but for what reason?" She got back to her investigative mindset, examining the Demon pillar more closely even waving some of her mana on it to start it up again.
"Well, whatever reason I doubt we'll be able to find out until we have all the right mana..." Anthony pondered while looking at the notes he had written up. "...as it stands now Blake appears to be almost there just missing a being from divine nature..." He trailed as he looked up at Pius.
"Well, we got one right here don't we?" Blake jokingly threw a thumb at Pius after following Anthony's gaze. "What do you say, Master Pius? Wanna come with?" He held out a fist after making the offer.
Surprisingly Pius went along with it and bumped a finger to Blake's fist but nothing happened after some time. "Honestly, that's a fine offer and not the first time a Smith-Knight has done it..." He nodded over to Bai and smirked, the first thing the two tried was turning Pius into Ore. "...he already tried with me, boy, and it looks like I don't meet your cut either."
"That so huh? Hey, Bai, is there some condition for Orefication? Cause so far I feel like it's random?" Blake asked the other Smith-Knight as anytime he had used Orefication it was never by his own choice maybe with Gram at the very least but then his attempt with Vasha came to mind.
"Hard to say from my experience but I believe some amount of trust and time spent together is needed?" Bai gave out his theory on what allowed Orefication to be brought on by a Smith-Knight. "Although, I have only been a Smith-Knight for a few months at best."
"Same here, did it start after getting into a dungeon that appeared out of nowhere?" Blake asked half-jokingly while chuckling a little. "Seriously?" He stopped when Bai nodded in answer.
"And the same has happened to you?" Now it was Bai's turn for some questioning. "I think we both have a lot to discuss, Would you care to take this someplace a bit more comfortable?" He then counted everyone that was there with Blake and looked as if he was thinking something over. "I may need to make a bigger pot once we get back home? Ling-Ling is there still iron ore leftover after that I helped with that waterwheel?"
Ling-Ling tapped at her shell with her fan a few times. "I believe so? But should you be more worried about our food stock? There are some with bigger stomachs than they look?" And rolled her eyes at Saffire and Os. "We are going to need more than a just bigger pot, Bai-dono, and that's going to be costly..."
"Then we just need to buy more food then, Ling-Ling?" Bai answered in a simple-minded tone while tilting his head to one side. "And we don't need to worry about money, Emperor Khan-O already said his coffers are ours to use anyway, right?"
Causing the shell woman to release some bubbles from her shell and grab at Bai's cheeks to pull at them. "Bai-dono! I have told you before! That just puts us in his debt and that's not something I want that three-headed lizard to have ov-eeek!" A bolt of lightning came down next to her and she jumped back. "Stop doing that you tyrant supporter!" Her eyes fell on Jiho sparking with electricity and stomping a hoof to the ground. "Oooh? Can't talk back so you're using violence!" Ling-Ling on the other hand waved her fan around with a surge of water following its movements.
"Here we go again...Ume, it's your turn to stop Jiho, I'll handle Ling-Ling." Bai sighed while pushing Ling-Ling away as she was cussing up a storm with Ume getting Jiho in a headlock. "Ugh! Pius-dono would you mind showi-ah! stop that! Ling-Ling! them to my place here in the Vall-I said stop that!" Bai yelled out as water was thrown in his face. "This might take a while."
"More reason to not be in the office? Fine by me!" Pius gave Bai a thumbs-up while the Smith-Knight was currently inside a whirlpool while Ume's bones were visible with the amount of lightning going through her. "Believe him this will take a while..." The giant man muttered after crouching down to Blake's group. "I think those two have started a fight every day since they got here."
Baba smirked at that bit of information as she floated over to Blake's side. "Oh, that's good to know I was worried this Smith-Knight was all serious business, it's easier to get along with a bunch as rowdy as us right, Hubby?" She nuzzled up to Blake's arm while winking at Saffire and Mari to set them off per her usual teasing.
"I think you're a big part of why we are a rowdy group, Baba..." Blake would have pushed her off but Moco came up to hold on to his other arm. "...Goddness be dammed." He groaned after accepting his fate of getting glared at by Saffire and Mari while he left Bai to deal with his own items.
But one member of the group stayed behind to look at the pillar which should have had a statue of Supreme Ruler Baal one last time. "Who are you to me?" That being Risabeel who whispered said question to the empty spot before turning away. "Why do I wish to meet you so? Yet wish for them to never do the same?" Two more came to her mind as she looked at her friends laughing and playfully arguing some stairs below her. "Ah! I am coming, everyone!" She broke out of it here Blake turned back to wave at her to join up with them.
Chapter End