Chapter 14
The next three days were taken by exhausting work making weapons. 40 Crossbows done and still a lot of work to be done.
Once the prototype was ready. Came the relatively simpler work of replicating. Dividing the work in batches allowed for the streamlining of production.
Finishing the crossbows, I quickly make some steel spearheads. Those were simple pieces to be attached into wooden poles by the villagers themselves.
The precise metal manipulation using mana, allowed these spearheads to be way sharper than normally would be expected from such quick job.
These few days. Aida has taken the kindness of always bringing me food. I make it a point to take small breaks with her. The girl herself has been running around ragged helping the elders.
Walking around the village. You can almost smell the tension. Everyone nervous for the battle to come. Anyone that can help with preparations, is doing so. The dedication of these people is staggering. All of them bent on not losing their way of life and their loved ones.
Arriving at the barracks. I quickly spot a whole crowd doing exercises in the direction of Raja.
“Move together! Each one of you is responsible for taking care of everyone your squad!” She shouted to the people in formation.
“Nice work making these villagers work together.” I said to her as I approached.
“It’s not much. Most of it is just remembering what they already know. You don’t get to live here without being able to defend yourself somewhat.”
“I finished the last of the spearheads.” I then handled a small box full of them.
“Thanks. This will help us greatly. You have no idea how much having a blacksmith again helps us. We just have to deal with paying you for all the metal you’ve been using.” She said in a serious look while passing the box to the crafters.
“These are all part of the promise I did to help you guys. You don’t have to reimburse me. Although outside emergency work, I do expect some kind of payment.”
“You have just saved the village’s pocket for a large hole.” She said in a deadpan expression.
“All metals have been imported as tools from Hawken at great expense last few years. And our ore source has been unused, as the only person with the knowledge to refine it is dead.”
“You do have a mine then?”
“I wouldn’t call it a mine, but there is an area up the mountain we used to extract iron. When things calm down again, perhaps I could take you there.”
Having access to iron ore would be great. It would allow me to replenish my storage. Not that I would need to do so for a long while, mind you.
As we return to the training area again. Layla suddenly arrives with Balto. The dog really has taken a liking to her lately, isn’t it?
“Hello you two.” She said as she dismounted.
“Anything to report?” Asked the second in command.
“Nothing, at least for now. I’m just back from another round across the woods. I’ve been sending hunter teams in the direction they’re supposed to be going so we can have some early warning. But still no sign of activity.”
“That is good. Any extra day we have, is an extra day we have to prepare.”
“Even if they arrive, they won’t be able to attack immediately with the moat and walls I’ve built around the village. They’ll have to take extra time building ladders. Unless they have siege equipment. They don’t? Right?” I said with a doubt.
“Weren’t you the one who questioned the prisoner? You should have asked.” Said Layla with a smirk.
“But no. They’re bandits, not a regular army. Even if bandits with some lord approval, they wouldn’t be so brazen to carry around this kind of thing. They would have to carry it openly through the road.”
Welp. That’s good to know, I guess. Thinking about it. The walls really change things, don’t they? Sieges, by their very nature require way bigger numbers on the attacking side, then the defending one.
My only worries are in the capability of their mage. Supposedly they are led by a powerful mage, son of a minor noble house. If this guy is able to blow up even a section of the wall, the whole thing is changes figures. Taking the bastard out becomes a high priority as soon as the fight begins.
As I’m worried with tactical decisions. Layla continues.
“I take it you finished the crossbows. Do you think you can help us with traps?”
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“That’s what I intend to do. I have some ideas on how we can sap some of their numbers before they even arrive in front of us.”
“I’ll leave you to it then. Just don’t forget my present.” She said while ruffling my hair.
Saying goodbye to the elves. I return to the forge. Only to find another one waiting for me. They kinda sprout everywhere around here.
“Need something?” I ask while grinning.
“Nothing much. Just food and stuff.”
Before she can react. I reach her face and plant a kiss on her cheeks.
“Wha… Why did you do that!” Said Aida, now red as a tomato.
“Payback for last time.” I said while grinning.
“Meanie…”
“Come, let’s go in.”
As we are eating our lunch, she suddenly asks me a question.
“Do you think it’s possible for someone like me to learn magic?”
“I don’t see why not.” I answered in a contemplative tone.
“It’s too expensive though.” She said with a sad expression.
“I’ve been raised in the middle of the woods. I haven’t even seen money. Yet, I still practice magic.”
“You know what I mean. It’s different.”
“No, just because other people do it wrongly doesn’t mean you can’t do it the right way. I can teach you a bit if you want.”
“Really? You’d do that for me? Thank you!” She excitedly shouted while jumping into a hug.
This girl’s smell is just so calming. The faint aroma of herbs from her concoctions mixes with her natural scent. I could get used to this.
Extricating myself from the beautiful elf before me. I continued.
“I can’t turn you into a dryad. But I can teach you some mana manipulation. No trying actual magic though.”
“You turn into Dryad? I thought you were born this way.”
“Nope. I was turned by mother when I was still little. The very Goddess comes and changes you in a very, VERY painful process.”
The frightened look on her face is priceless.
“After that, came the engraving of the runes. This one’s.” I said while showing her my uncovered skin.
“Mother did the first, I did the rest. They’re painful. But not nearly as much as the Dryad ceremony.”
“They’re really beautiful.”
“They’re the very magic, engraved into my body. It helps me cast it. In the olden days, people used to engrave these beginning on childhood. But it felt in disuse as supposedly you could make artifacts with the guiding effect They won’t be as powerful, but they don’t require pain.”
“I though these were a Dryad thing.”
“Having a Dryad’s body really helps. But they are not exclusive to one.”
“I want to learn magic, but these sound kind of scary, sorry.”
“Don’t worry. Come here.” As she approached, I put my hand on her belly.
“Here is your soul. The very first thing you must learn, is to feel it, and the mana around it. This will allow you to expand your senses and feel mana all around you.”
I then began circulating a small bit of mana trough her natural pathways.
“Wha-what is that!” Said the now flustered elf.
“I’m circulating mana through you. Memorize this feeling. And try it for yourself. Concentrate.”
She then closes her eyes and begins to concentrate. After a little while she says:
“I think I feel something. It’s a fuzzy sensation passing through me.”
“Now try and feel it around yourself. It’ s easier if you focus the mana on your eyes. Imagine it extending from your soul.”
It took a few moments, but eventually she got it. She’s really talented it seems.
“Ok, this is really trippy. I see different colors all around me.”
“Yes, this is the mana taking different aspects. The very first thing I’ve learnt to do, is to manipulate it. Drawing it around. But I strongly urge you to never try forming phenomenon on your own. This is what the runes are for. And can be really dangerous if done without guidance.”
“Don’t worry. I think I’m a long way from even trying something like that.”
“You better. Anyway, this is what you can do on your own for now. So, if you excuse me, I got to go back to work.”
“That’s ok. I also got work to do. Thank you for teaching me.”
“For you, anytime.” I said with a smile and a wink. Making her flush with embarrassment.
Returning to work. I collect all the artifact tablets that lacked rune scribing. They were going to be used for the plants, but now I intend to repurpose them for more immediate needs.
Beginning the scribing process. I draw explosion runes. They’re exceedingly simple for such big effects. As they simply require overloading the pathways. A few more guidance and you have a powerful bomb.
The only problem is activating them. It requires passing mana through the specific pathway. It needs a powerful mage capable of projecting mana from a large distance. Thankfully this village seems to have a very capable one. Wonder when I’m meeting her though.
Laughing at my own jokes aside. I’ve continued working on the artifacts till next day. They in no way can be considered masterpieces, but they’ll have to do.
----------------------------------------
Finding my way outside. I go toward Layla.
“Hey there girl. What brings you outside of your lair at this hour?”
“I know I’ve been spending a lot of time at the forge lately. No reason to call it a lair though. Villains have lairs.”
“Oh, Ms. Villainess, do you have a henchman position available?” Came the sarcasm.
“I’d love to have you around.” Giving her a wink. Which only made her laugh.
“Onto business. Do you think you could help me find some of the positions they’ll more likely to stay? I have some explosive artifacts we could spread around.”
“Magical artifacts as disposable tools? Even the royal army would think twice before using something like that. You have no common sense at all haven’t you?”
“Common sense? Is it something you eat?” I said making a befuddled face, which only drawn further laughing from the elf.
It’s always so easy making jokes with her. Her easy-going personality only seems to draw you further into her own pace.
How she balances it with her leadership is something that amazes me. The hunters seem to have almost an unfaltering reverence and loyalty towards her. Perhaps because she truly is the strongest warrior in the village. Or perhaps her maxed out charisma stat.
We spent the next few hours going over the village and spreading the artifacts. The difficulty is that they need to be hidden to avoid detection from the invaders. But they also can’t bee too hidden, as I need to see where they are from the wall to activate them.
“Yep. That’s all of them.”
“Do you think we could test one of them?”
“Probably not. It would be a waste of preparations and it would scare the hell out of everyone in the village. They need to be warned about them before the battle by the way.”
“I guess you’re right. Let’s go home.”
In the distance, we could see the walls of the village and the cliffs. The mountains now beginning to cast shadows over the valley.
That night was spent resting at home again. I seriously needed the sleep after pulling the all-nighter last night.
Aida spent the rest of the evening silently practicing her mana sensing. It should take her a while to get her to the point of sensing and manipulating it in any consistent way.
I wonder if I could teach people the right way of doing magic. Rhea’s wizarding school or some equally non copyright infringing name. Complete with segregating everyone villain look-alike to a corner and leaving them to plot evil shit together. Nope, that would be stupid.
Immersed in my delusions. I fell asleep. I just wish this peace could last longer.