The ride back seemed to take forever, and it wasn't until that night that I slowly started coming back down from the mana-high, and I still hadn’t found my max capacity. When we got to this mansion, I had hoped we’d arrived at our destination, but the servants hadn’t unpacked anything, so we were probably going to keep traveling tomorrow.

Staying as the armor served two purposes, firstly it prevented anyone from trying to pet me again, and secondly it was a constant drain on my overfull mana stores. Taking stock, I seemed to have pulled mostly brown and green mana from the dragon. There had been other kinds, but I had been in such a hurry to gain control of them, I had taken anything I didn’t recognize apart without checking what their ratios were. Now that I knew my mass was some kind of mana, I started making uneducated guesses for it.

Starting with brown mana I added the gray-silver, but it didn’t seem to want to hold together. I then tried base blue with the brown, and got a new gray. This one didn’t shimmer like silver, and had almost no give. When I added the gray-silver mana back in, it became the mass mana I was searching for.

Looking at my remaining stores, I figured I could try to discover a few more new recipes by adding anything to anything, but my attention was grabbed by the apprentice. He was watching me from the stairway leading upstairs. I guess seeing something that had, until then, looked like a medium sized dog suddenly slaughtering a flying killing machine could keep you up at night.

~~~

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, if slowly, due to the stagecoach being overburdened with a pile of unprocessed wyvern leather. The Soulsteel was now large enough to take up most of the far bench, so Master Cole and Tommen were sitting next to each other.

“Why do you think it picked a fight with the wyvern, master?”

“If I had to guess, It either just saw it as a threat, or it saw it as an opportunity to show off.”

“But it didn’t see the Guardian Armor as a threat?”

“I don’t know.”

“Could it have seen the wyvern as a threat to us? Was it trying to protect us?”

“Right now I’m just hoping it doesn’t turn into a wyvern before we get there.”

“I mean, what can’t it turn into?”

“So far, it seems reluctant to try and mimic a human. The armor is close, but even Living Metal likes to try and copy the form of whoever is working with it.”

“What would it look like? Didn’t Rodney get his hands on it first?”

“Yes, but I think we should stop applying common sense to it. Normal Soulsteel wouldn’t want to fight something like a wyvern that has resistant scales that hide its mana.”

“Okay. What are we gonna do when we get to the capital?”

“After Archibald gets a look at it, I want to bring in a priest. Have him try and teach it some Wernst.”

“Did you have one in mind?”

“I think Father Daniel is still an advisor to the Duke, so I’ll start by asking him.”

“Will he know any advanced translation spells?”

“I’m certain he can find them if he doesn’t.”

The rest of the carriage ride passed with no more outside disruptions, and when they arrived at the manor house they both went straight to bed. However, Tommen could hear the Soulsteel was still active by the sound of occasionally creaking floorboards. He snuck quietly past Master Cole’s room, and down the stairs. Despite staring at it during the rest of the ride, he hadn’t gotten any read on how well it was recovering. It had sprung right back into shape, and therefore seemed unhurt, but he still couldn’t wrap his head around how it was even alive after being entombed under the wyvern.

It seemed restless on the drive back, and while Master Cole had assured him Soulsteel didn’t feel pain, he was still finding trouble sleeping with how they had left it alone. When he peeked into the living room he saw the still towering suit of armor was now sitting with its back to the cold hearth. Master Cole had told him not to start a fire, as it was already overwhelmed by the mana it now had to keep control of.

Using his managlasses, he confirmed this assumption for himself. The joints had what looked like steam pouring out of them. The soulsteel itself was using its hands to manipulate more of its abundant mana. Tommen watched as it wove Earth and Order into Metal, with an almost practiced ease. It was making Mana Weaving look easy. Tommen had struggled with it for a long time, and the focus it still took him made him seek out natural sources if he started running low on any of the big four.

He was about to leave, having decided it was just restless like Master Cole had said. But when he went to turn around the living metal waved him over. He stepped out from the doorframe, but only started approaching when it waved him over for a second time. When he stopped in front of it, the Soulsteel stood up and picked him up by his armpits. It sat down on the armchair and rested Tommen on its lap.

If Tommen hadn’t had his managlasses on, he wouldn’t have been able to tell what the Soulsteel was trying to do. In each of its hands, it held a strand of order and a strand of chaos. When he stuck out two fingers for order, and one for chaos, the soulsteel combined them into one dark thread. When Tommen eventually fell asleep, The Soulsteel moved him to the couch. They had spent the rest of the last hour going through all the basic mana combinations that Tommen had learned.

~~~

Natasha had been summoned by Master Archibald as soon as she woke up. It was the day that Master Cole and Tommen were supposed to arrive with the Soulsteel. He didn’t normally summon her so early, and she was hoping whatever had come up wouldn’t take long, as she hadn’t quite finished tuning the Pendulum. Knocking on Master Archibald’s office door, he invited her inside.

“You wanted to see me, Master Archibald?”

“Yes. Cole and Tommen have been delayed. It will take them another day to get here.”

“Do we know what happened?”

“The Soulsteel picked a fight with a wyvern, and won.”

“Is that normal?”

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“Not really. Soulsteel attacking monsters with a lot of mana might be common, but wyverns have mana resistant scales that should have made it an unappetizing target.”

“How do you know it picked a fight?”

“It launched a light magic attack at the wyvern while it was flying overhead.”

“And you don’t think the Soulsteel saw it flying over them as a threat?”

“It might have, but what really matters is that it was a greater wyvern.”

“Is everyone okay?”

“The wyvern went for the Soulsteel first, and the Soulsteel pierced its scales and killed it by draining all its mana.”

“So it shouldn’t have seen it as a threat because it was much more powerful than it?”

“In the letter Cole sent me, it says that the last time it was threatened, it had acted afraid of a knight.”

“One knight couldn’t beat a wyvern.”

“He also said Tommen is convinced that it was worried for them.”

“That does explain why, despite it being far stronger than the wyvern, it might have attacked it.”

“Yes. Cole said he thinks it was just trying to show off, because it had already shown off the fact it can do math.”

“Can other Soulsteel do math?”

“Simple addition and subtraction. Some Elder Soulsteel could even do multiplication. But he doesn’t go into details about the kind of math.”

“So the delay will be just one day?”

“Yes, now go run along and eat your breakfast. You’re almost finished with it, right?”

“Yes Master, and thank you.”

Taking a light breakfast in her room, she went to find Keith. If he was done with his breakfast, he would already be in his workshop. With how fast he’d found the beechwood, he had claimed it would be ready just in time for her first attempt. She’d been prepared to use a single Enchanted Oar, but having two would make things much easier. She ended up running into him in the hallway outside his workshop.

“Keith, there you are. There’s been a delay, they won’t be here for another day.”

“What happened?”

“They got in a fight with a wyvern. Master Cole claims the Soulsteel was showing off.”

“Did that bastard ruin another perfectly good hide on me?”

“I didn’t ask, but they’re bringing it.”

“He better hope he didn’t. The last hide he brought me practically had more holes in it than scales, and I told him if he did it again I’d make him keep going back out until he found one that I could use.”

“I’m sure it will be fine. How’s the oar coming along?”

“I finished roughing it out after dinner last night. It needs a little more sanding and then I can start carving the engravings.”

“You don’t have to push yourself, we can put off the maiden flight until tomorrow.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

“Gives me more time to work on tuning the pendulum. It starts spinning too fast to recover when it flips upside down.”

~~~

Scrying on others in real time was not an easy feat, but when it came to tracking the Soulsteel, it was easier than normal. It seemed to attract causality’s very favor. Poetrak and The Baron had just watched the moment when the Greater Wyvern had finished its dive for the Soulsteel. Just before impact, The Soulsteel had sunk multiple inches into the ground, and watching closely, a number of the attending knights could see its barbed polearm finish forming just as the head snapped to the side from an earthen projectile. A number of the men at arms balked at how it tossed the greater wyvern away like nothing.

“So, do you still think you got a good deal?”

“Yes, I’d say so. If that thing can kill a greater wyvern that easily, I’m glad it’s out of my demesne.”

“I figured you’d say that. What else can I do for you?”

“Can you show us the weapon?”

“Yes, milord.”

“It’s not a normal barbed spear, It also has a pick and an axe blade attached.”

“It seemed quite effective, but I wonder how it would perform if it was made of steel.”

“It also seems to be riveted, even though it’s all one piece.”

Interrupting the sworn knights, Poetrak attempted to explain.

“When manifested by living metal, weapons often still show the appearance of whatever weapon they’ve used as a reference.”

“Does that mean someone has made this weapon before? And the Soulsteel saw it before it came here?”

“This is certainly its first appearance. Normally, if I were to scry an existing weapon, I’d be overwhelmed by their number. There can’t be or have been one on the whole of Trezemek.”

“Will it make it to the capital safely?”

“Yes.”

“Then one of you will go find a blacksmith to make me one of these ‘halberds’.”