Getting the glass was surprisingly easy. The glazier took fifty silver and agreed to send one of his apprentices out to Kal's house to take measurements before the day's end. Then the windows would go in the next day. Kal just hoped his dad didn't rush home. He knew he usually spent a day getting the catch unloaded and sold along at Berum. It was a much larger town with a port about a two-day sail away from Westmarsh, which only had a small river that led to the sea. The carpenter was even quicker to get set up. Kal agreed to take the wood the man would need back home on his Tank, saving the man a trip. The carpenter will come out early tomorrow to get the porch fixed up.
While setting everything up, his mind was still spinning from the Mayor's weird demands for him to leave. He and Jase had chewed on it for a while, but they couldn't make sense of it. Sure the Tank was a dangerous summons, but it wasn't like Kal was a known troublemaker. They agreed to visit one of their dad's friends on the way home. Earl was a veteran with a full fist of Tokens. Kal had seen him use all of them during the frequent exhibition matches the locals put on to kill the boredom of living out in the sticks.
"Right, that's the main things sorted. We should probably get mom something as an apology and then head to Earls. Oh, we'll need to load up the timber as well." Jase surmised and got an evil glint in his eye as a plan formed.
"Drive the Tank right down the main street?" Kal asked, having already had similar thoughts.
"Well, they do want you gone in a hurry." Jase rubbed his hands together villainously. They quickly grabbed their mom some scented candles and a bag of apples they knew she liked and went to go pick up the wood.
An apprentice led them around the back of the workshop to a small yard with piles of timber in neat rows. Several boys their age were doing different parts in processing the raw logs piled at the other end of the yard. Some even had their summons out and helping. Most were simple things like a glowing axe or a beast to haul the logs. One made Kal stumble when he saw it. A small green goblin with axes instead of hands was trimming down one of the logs. Jase caught on to where he was looking but paid the goblin no mind.
"So, you got a wagon coming? The apprentice asked while summoning a big one-eyed ogre and began ordering it around to get them their wood.
"My Token is a kind of wagon," Kal said, intentionally downplaying how extraordinary his summons was. He walked over to an empty space pointed out by the apprentice and summoned the Tank. All sounds of chopping and sawing stopped as the heavy weight of the M1 settled into the dirt.
"Gods above, what is that thing?" the boy next to him asked.
"A very dangerous wagon," Kal said smoothly before hopping inside and turning on the engine.
Jase sat atop the Tank, occasionally checking the rope holding the timber was still secure. At the same time, Kal directed the Tank through Westmarsh. He kept a snail's pace through the packed streets, forcing everyone to huddle at the sides. At such a low speed, every single clack of the tank treads was distinct and ominous. As Kal reached the main street, he made sure to go extra slow as he passed the town hall. Ahead of him, guards began ushering people out of the road. They threw angry looks at the Tank for causing so much disruption. Kal found it hard to care, even if most of the guards hadn't kicked his door down and dragged him out of the inn. Once through the gate, Kal let the engine roar to life and sped away from the Town. For probably the first time since he blew up the porch, Kal just enjoyed riding in the Tank.
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They stuck to the road the whole way to Earls, not wanting to lose a load of wood in the swamp. Only one minor monster tried to attack them on the way. A skeletal raven swooped at them, but the machine gun on the roof blasted it to pieces before either of them could react. Earls farm was huge, and Kal could drive for an hour and not get to the other side. The only way he could work so much land was the combination of Tokens he used.
Kal had seen him summon over twenty men in shoddy armor and send them off to work. Kal planned on asking him much more about Tokens than before.
"Out of respect for Earl and to not frighten any of the animals, Kal dismissed his Tank before reaching the house. The wood fell to the ground in a heap, but it wouldn't take them too long to get it secured to a new Tank later. He gave Jase a warning this time, and he was well clear of the falling wood. Earl had obviously still heard them coming and was standing in front of his house with a full twenty summoned men. Instead of rakes and shovels, Kal noticed they all held weapons.
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"Earl! It's Kal and Jase." Kal shouted and waved his hands over his head.
The men lowered their weapons at Earls's command, but even from this distance, Kal didn't think he looked happy to them. Kal and Jase shared a concerned look as they approached. Earl had always been friendly to them, and they weren't sure what had changed.
"What the fuck was that?" Earl asked or shouted. Kal guessed was the correct term. Earl had sent the summoned men away as soon as they were inside the gate to the large enclosed yard around the house. He stood tall at six and a half feet and had his well-tanned solid arms crossed in front of his chest. Yep, not a happy bunny. Kal took a deep breath before answering him.
"It's my Token. It's called an M1 Main Battle Tank, and it's why we're here."
Earl pinched the bridge of his nose and sucked in a few deep breaths of his own. "Of course, it would be you. You're your father's son, alright," he muttered. "I got myself a little magic message from the Mayor of Westmarsh about half an hour ago. It warned me that a dangerous youth with a high threat Token threatened the Town and was heading my way." he gave them both a piercing glare as if he was trying to rip the truth out through their eyes.
"I didn't threaten anyone. That's bullshit!" Kal protested.
"No?" Earl's eyebrows rose. "So you didn't drive that thing through the middle of Town, and you also didn't almost run over several people and then tear up half the road leaving the Town?"
Kals mouth made its best impression of a fish as he thought of something to say. "That wasn't a threat," he said, looking to Jase for support, and his brother shrugged a maybe back at him.
"You might not have said the words, but you as good as held a knife to that Town's throat. The message only described it as a high threat. What kind of damage can that thing do?" He asked. Despite still being angry at them, Kal sensed it was Earl, the ex-soldier asking, not the angry farmer.
"I destroyed three goblin nests in about an hour," Kal said, trying to at least impress him.
"Not bad, dangerous, but others can do the same."
"He did it from over a mile away. The thing can fire these big explosions, which mowed down like a hundred goblins that got too close." Jase couldn't help adding. Earl seemed much more interested after that.
"Well, that explains the high threat, but why did you threaten the Town?"
"He told me to pack up and leave the area!" Kal unleashed his pent-up frustration on him. "I did the bounty. All I wanted to do was pay to get the windows fixed, and all of a sudden, I've got guards kicking my door down and dragging me into his office! He told me I wasn't welcome. My Token is too dangerous." Kal was red-faced and basically screaming at Earl, who calmly absorbed the tirade while he thought.
"Alright, alright. I can see what's happened. Come inside, and we'll have a talk."
The inside of Earl's house was incredibly stuffy. Hundreds of mementos and war trophies filled every possible space. From swords of fallen knights to the mounted head of a drake, he had every achievement on display somewhere. He waved them over to a small table in the kitchen and poured them some water.
"So, there are some things that need to be explained to you. Your dad would probably have done it, but I'm guessing he's not back yet or seen your Token." Earl said, and Kal shook his head to confirm while Earl wet his throat.
"You know the basics, so I won't waste time on them. Suffice it to say most birth Tokens are weak. People try to fit them into their everyday lives. Maybe they pick a job that matches it or join the guard if they're really adventurous. Now, every once in a while, some village brat." he paused to point at Kal. "Gets a monster that can wipe out the whole village in a matter of seconds. Eventually, they get bored of killing the little critters that scavenge close to towns and cities. Sometimes they get annoyed at people who are weaker than them, telling them what to do and think they should be the one in charge."
"I'm not going to try and overthrow the government, Earl," Kal said, annoyed that the man thought he was so childish.
"No? It took you a single day to get so annoyed you threatened the whole Town. Can you honestly say you didn't think of blowing the whole place up even once?"
Jase gave him away which a poorly disguised laugh.
"I might have mentioned it once."
Earl managed to crack a smile at that. "Usually, when some kid gets a Token like that, the local Mayor or alderman or what have you gently encourages them to seek greener pastures. They tell them a few war stories and send them off to the nearest lord to join up. That's what happens when the Mayor isn't an absolute moron who only got his job because of family connections." Earl grabbed a bottle of something stronger than water and poured them all some.
"He panicked, his guards panicked, and then he doubled down, so now you're here. What was the name of that thing again, your Token."
"An M1 Main Battle Tank," Kal repeated, and Earl grinned like he'd walked right into the man's trap.
"Well there you go, it's even in the name. A Battle Tank should be used in battle, not massacring gobos that your average ten-year-old can kill."
It was well into the evening when Earl was done with them. Kal had agreed to wait for his dad to come home before making any decisions, but Earl had strongly encouraged him to leave. He'd been both a kingdom soldier and a mercenary and had helped Kal weigh the pro's and con's of both options. Kal was leaning toward joining a mercenary company by the time they had the wood loaded back up onto a new Tank.
"Whatever you choose, I've got your back," Jase said as the Tank rumbled along the road. Kal had never appreciated his brother as much as he had in the past few days. He'd always been closer to Jase than their older brother Tim, but he'd never really expressed it. "I..Thanks." I'll express it another day. he decided.