~~~~~~~~~~~

The Cephlyx relay forms the basis of all modern devices, commonly referred to as Magitech. The root of this term should be considered a misnomer as by definition ’magic’ is unknown. By utilizing pseudo-neural pathways inscribed and stabilized on mundane materials, you will learn the techniques to precisely and safely apply runes in a process commonly referred to as ’enchanting’.

I expect a full third of you to fail my class. This work is not glamorous, and I will not tolerate wanton experimentation. If you choose to take the path of a scientist, you must learn proper respect for the energies involved. Designing an armor actuator to increase physical strength or speed is easy. Limiting the rune to prevent the user from punching themselves in the face is a more demanding task.

Our mortal forms are the limiting factor to what can safely be wielded. For this reason, one of the most common and basic runes you will incorporate is the identification sigil. It is nearly free in terms of SP drain, and provides a reliable limiter to access by detecting the user’s own strengths and control. Only if those conditions are met does it allow further SP flow to the remainder of the enchantment.

It is more difficult to design a blanket limiter than one keyed to a specific individual. For this reason general use equipment is significantly more expensive that what an enchanter could create for themselves.

These limiters exist for a plethora of reasons and if I find you attempting to bypass one, I will personally pluck you clean and just as personally see to your expulsion from this institution.. Until you show appropriate skill as well as respect for these constructions, you will not be allowed to advance. Learn well and dedicate yourself to the craft, and you will create the tools that drive our world.

-Lecture notes prepared by Director Percival Conway for the first day of Magitech Engineering class.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“The usual I take it?” A tall wolf man asked as I sat down at the tavern.

“Harry, right? How can it be the usual if I’ve only been in here once before?

“I know people, and here you go,” The smooth talking tavern keep slid a light ale to me with the very definition of a wolffish grin.

It was quite good. I had to admit, the guy knew his audience. I could have tried to stay at the Maugin’s place to save some coin but after my recent payday I valued my remaining sanity a bit higher than a free room.

“What’s on the menu for tonight?” I asked.

“Musken stroganoff. My personal recipe actually. You need a room too?” Harry replied with a question of his own.

“Sounds good to me, I’ll take a plate and a bunk.”

“Gotcha covered, twelve gilder for the lot, I’ll throw in that first beer for a good customer.”

“Again, how do you know I’m going to be a good customer?” I asked.

“You’ve been in town a total of three nights that I know of, and this is the second time you’ve stayed here. Your tab is paid up and you didn’t even trash the room. Ergo, good customer. Now if you’ll let me, I’ve got the rest of the bar to tend. Will be back later to check up. Nancy should be along with your dinner in a few.”

Taking a moment to unwind from the flurry of excitement earlier with Colette, I lounged on the sturdy wooden chair at my table in the corner. Facing the entry door of course. Just an old habit of mine.

A younger wolf girl was out shortly and handed me a heaping plate. It took a not insubstantial amount of self control to avoid scritching the youth between the ears. Harry’s youngest daughter from the looks of her.

“My daddy says you’re a hero, but I haven’t seen you fight any monsters like the other heroes. Also your clothes look funny.” With all the grace of youth, Nancy had deflated my sense of accomplishment and pride at being the hero of Perthshire. Mission accomplished, she spun around and disappeared into the kitchen again.

One battle doesn’t make a veteran, the kid had a point. Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer. Her comment did help with my urge to scratch her between the ears though.

Setting into the hearty meal made with fresh cream and noodles, I glanced around the room. For the time being, these were going to be my people.

“Kids right?”

“Yep, that’s for sure. And the strange looking guy in the corner talking with the voice in his head.”

“I’m going the route of you being the strange voice in my head that took my body too. Besides, what eccentric genius doesn’t have discussions with themselves?”

“Probably most of them,” I chuckled.

“Yeah well, you’re stuck with me as much as I’m stuck with you. For what it’s worth, I think we were pretty awesome fighting that rabbit.”

“Still, after seeing what that elf looks like every time we head into the guild it’s a bit difficult to not be a bit envious.”

“Zirval? Don’t let his easygoing manner catch you off guard. I noticed a number of runes engraved on his armor. He’s the real deal and probably been at this his whole life.”

“Easygoing? Every other word out of his mouth is ’doom’ this or ’suffering’ that.”

“Eh, its a dark elf thing. You’ll know when they aren’t happy.”

“If you insist, Dansin. I’m the stranger here. So what do you have in mind for tomorrow? You’ve been complaining about a lack of temperature control on our armor but aside from wiping down with a wet rag I’m not sure how much these rune things are going to help.”

“Don’t worry about that, you’ll see the benefits soon enough. We are going to need to take on a few more jobs though. I don’t feel comfortable with marketing my rune crafting skills just because I don’t know what might catch some unwanted attention.”

“You said Zirval was enchanted up though?”

“Yes, but a seasoned adventurer buying pieces from a larger city isn’t going to draw nearly as much attention as some nobody suddenly showing up in a full matched set of transforming riot gear. The pieces he has are decent, even good. But they’re made by different artisans. I can tell and so could anybody who is knowledgeable about enchanting. That is exactly the type of notice we want to avoid. You already stick out enough as it is.”

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

“Couldn’t you just make that gear and take out anyone who tried to stop us if it’s that powerful?” I asked.

“Do you know how to craft a sword? Tan a raw hide and sew it into armor? Knowing how things are made isn’t necessary to use them. I know what’s possible, but without the equipment, blueprints, or base components to make it with I’m nearly as lost as you. I specialize in theoretical energy manipulation, which isn’t nearly as useful as it sounds.”

”Still sounds pretty useful if we could find you a working lab,” I took another bite of my dinner. Quite filling, I was going to sleep well tonight.

“For now though we need to start small. I’m thinking a combination of fire and ice. The more complex the enchantment, the more difficult it is to use. Air would be nice to combat the humidity but it’d be best to be sure we can actually use whatever I make.”

“Utility does sound better than a grand design,” I observed, finishing my dinner. A few minutes later I was able to flag Nancy down to take my plate.

“Hey so you say you’re a hero right?!” I almost flinched at the accusation surely soon coming from the little child spitfire, “Well then I quest you to find my big brother! His name is Jacob and he’s big and dumb like you. He went off chasing some stupid girl he likes and won’t play with me anymore. The two lovey birds went over that way yesterday to go smooching again but they caught me spying on them and ran into the woods and haven’t come back yet. I even made a fancy quest thing for you so you have to take it!”

Taking the bit of writing she had scrawled onto the back of a napkin, I read her ’quest’

***

Title: Help my big Stupid brother.

He ran off into the woods with Bella and she’s dumb too. They probably got lost without me to help them. Find him and bring him back so I can yell at him for getting lost and not playing with me like he promised!

Reward: 2 gilder (its my allowance for the week so you can buy some nice toys with it if you find him)

***

By the time I’d finished reading her poor handwriting in the note, the girl was trembling. A small tear was caught up in the corner of her eye, not yet to fall. What kind of monster would be able to decline a request as heartfelt as that?

Summoning a voice of authority, I told Nancy, “I, Fabius Dansin, do hereby accept your quest and-“

My airway was suddenly choked off as the kid bounded forward and wrapped her arms around my neck. Tiny sharp claws drew drops of blood in her excitement as I attempted to peel her off of me.

“Oh thank you thank you! I knew you weren’t another stupid adventurer! I’ll be right here with the reward for when you get back!” Her eyes beamed with the pure light of trust in me.

“I’ll go look for him in the morning when it’s light out, okay? Don’t want me to get lost going out there after him!” The girl was placated by my offer and skipped away to serve the other tables.

My interaction with his daughter caught the attention of Harry, who made his way over to me.

“Is she bugging you about Jacob too? Sorry about that, I’ll let her know not to bother the customers again,” Harry shrugged, apparently from his reaction she had done things like this before.

“Is something the matter though? She seemed quite worried about him.”

“He ran out with his crush and Nancy caught the two of them necking it. I think they ran into the woods so they wouldn’t be disturbed again. It is odd that they haven’t come back yet, but I’ll let the watch know if they’re not back by morning. I know I’d done worse things than that when I was a teen. I imagine Nancy will be on a whole new level when she decides to get interested in romance herself. I swear, those kids will be the end of me.”

“She did seem pretty worried though.”

“Yeah, despite the tough talk she really does care about him. I just wish she’d not bug everyone else about it in the meanwhile. I’ll be giving that boy a talking to when he finally does get back. If you have time though, I would take it as a personal favor if you could keep an eye out for them if you’re going that way.”

“I’ve got some business to take care of in town tomorrow morning, but it would be a good field test for some equipment I’m working on.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it. Your room is the third on the left tonight by the way. Here’s the key.”

Taking the key from his hand, I decided to start making my way to the room. I didn’t yet feel confident enough to make conversation with the small groups of kin gathered around the tavern. Some were clearly amateur adventurers by their appearance. I was no veteran yet, but the loud and brazen demeanor was the same one I’d seen on countless recruits before.

They were always the first to die.

It was the cautious ones, those with eyes always searching, those were the dangerous ones. I saw at least three in the room of a couple dozen that matched my expectations. They’d already spotted me long ago and had one eye pointed my way while they conversed with the other groups they’d came in with.

Most of those present were simple villagers. The baker and the blacksmith, a few laborers. They were here to have a good time and relax after a long day, and that they did. No violence had broken out the last time I’d been here, but Harry seemed to be a deterrent on his own with wiry muscles and a lithe physique. Being kicked out of one of the few taverns in the town also was a fairly potent threat by itself.

Respectfully nodding my recognition to the veterans that had kept an eye on me, I made my way back to the room and stepped through the sturdy door. A quick check and the latch was secured behind me. Stripping down to my small clothes I laid out on the bed, arms and legs dangling off the edges of the small piece of furniture. Rolling onto my back, Samara asked me a question I’d been dreading to answer.

“So what are we going to do about sex Fabius? Because it’s been over a week and I’ve not masturbated once.”

“Okay... that’s out of the blue. Well neither have I. It’s not exactly like I’ve had much in the way of privacy either.”

“Yeah, and what’s your point? I’ve seen everything you have. The hormones racing through my… our blood are affecting me just as well as it is you.”

“What do ‘whore moans’ have to do with any of this?”

“I forgot. Barbarian. You know that tiny tingling feeling you get when your penis feels neglected? And that big rush after an orgasm? That’s the effect of hormones. I feel them too and it’s affecting my ability to concentrate.”

“So just ignore it, work around it.”

“Fabius, don’t lie to me. You’re feeling it just as much as I am. That’s why I want to get this figured out so we can go back to being effective.”

She did have a point. I was being unreasonably distracted and it wasn’t like I could get a quick one off in private to relieve some steam, “So what do you want to do about it?”

“Well first, I want to figure out how one of these dicks works from the business end. But this is an entirely new situation for both of us and I really want your consent before either of us do anything. We are sharing a body after all. This is uncharted ground for ethics as far as I know.”

“I agree that we should work out something to work for the both of us. And beyond that?” I asked, feeling a bit of blood rushing toward my groin.

“Well kin can’t reproduce outside of their species. Just not possible without advanced medical technology I haven’t seen here. Given that you’re the only one of your species and literally came from another world... I kinda thought it might be nice to have some hot sex with some of the various kin.”

“Weren’t you just the one talking a couple days ago about not being, and I quote, ’not that type of hero’?” I couldn’t help but note the irony, my heart wasn’t in the argument however.

“I was, until I realized that life isn’t as simple as it’s portrayed in my novels! Like building up a romance over a series of years! Seriously? It’s like get with it girl, move on and treat yo self. If you’re making a move on a man and he’s not interested, move along.”

“You seem to have strong feelings about this,” I observed.

“And you’re just teasing me for the fun of it now. Well two can play at that game. Yes, my eyes saw the same thing when that cutie Colette was bending forward in her low-cut shirt earlier. Really wanted to give her a hands on demonstration hmm? Show her how to use those features while riding on top of you?”

My face flushed, as I grew ever more excited at the knowledge that Samara had seen the same view I had. “Well at least she’s not taken and has shown interest in me. Unlike some traveling merchants we know that are happily married with kids on the way.”

“Ha! Like that’s ever stopped anyone befo-... oh wait. You’re serious? Wow. I mean...WOW. Of course I’m not going to cheat with the man if his wife’s not okay with it. You talk with them and if everyone’s on board, go ahead, stay safe and have fun!”

“You’re serious?”

“Yes, at least that’s how it was when I was around. Who knows what’s changed since then.”

“But don’t you want a relationship with your fun?”

“Yes, but that relationship can be whatever we agree to make it be. Seriously, do you see yourself settling down forever with the ridiculously adorable cat girl?”

“I don’t...I mean I haven’t really thought about it like that.”

“Of course you haven’t, but you want to have her snuggled up real tight against you right?,. Post coital bliss? Those furry little ears tickling against your chin as she nuzzles your neck. Did you know that their tongues are textured? I bet that’d feel real good. I don’t know yet but I’d like to find out. Don’t set up for the long term until something is there. For now, if you want the same thing and she does, then do it. I’ll even be your wingman, show you all the ways to please a woman and have her cumming back for more. You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, yes I would. And I bet you’d enjoy every second of it too.”

“Absolutely. You know, this scaleless skin might not be so bad, really get to feel every little touch of her smooth body against you. Pushing into her over and over again.”

“Just you wait till I find a scaly for you. You like that right? A smooth skinned body and one with those silky scales. I bet you’d cream yourself in a minute like that.”

I started stroking myself at the guilty thought, “Don’t make me a promise if you can’t keep it big man.”

“Maybe I’ll just pull one aside behind the stall during market hours and go to town on each other. You’d be all for that, wouldn’t you?”

“But we could get caught! I think it might be just as much fun to bend Colette over that lab table and ... mmmphh.” I bit my lip as my peak rapidly approached.

I looked around in a hurry, finding a cloth just in the nick of time as I came for the first time since arriving here.

Taking a few moments to catch my breath, I was overcome by waves of varying emotions. From embarrassment, to arousal, to lust, to curiosity. Finally I spoke up.

“So since sex is primarily mental with a physical component... did we just have sex with each other? Because that’s what it feels like. Or is it masturbation since it was all done with one body. Also this was fun and I want to do it again. For science!”

I smiled as I finished cleaning up the mess, then laid down to go to sleep as soon as my heart quit racing.

“Good night, Demon.”

“Good night, Barbarian.” I smiled for the first real time in far too long.