Ch. 1

Kirnstraadt, a village named after the county in which it is located. Miles of rolling green pasture as far as the eye could see, not a tree in sight, Kirnstraadt was premium grazing ground in the Kingdom of Kerdt and it was home to - as one would expect - many of the kingdom's farmers. As a result of this, a close bond of friendship had formed around the few residents of Kirnstraadt, wherein any one resident would know the name and habits of another. This sense of family and belonging extended throughout the entire plateau and there was but one person who the farmers and their wives did not know how to greet nor approach. This eccentric and reclusive man lived on the very edge of the valley, his house was built into a large boulder, overlooking the rushing rapids down below it. His name was Arnold Abts. Supposedly a man of the sciences, or so rumor had it, when he had first moved in his carriage had been full to bursting with all sorts of strange and foreign equipment which had drawn many a stare as it bumped along the old path.

"They say he used to work for a rich king in the Westerlands. Playing with that man-made lightning-- what was it called again?"

"Electricity."

"-- Right, electricity! And they say he made a metal man who could move! Mind you, not a knight, but a metal man!

"A robot."

"Right! Isn't the world just becoming a more interesting place every year? Must be the king again, what with his ingenious school program?"

The other man declined to reply, opting instead to focus on the road ahead of him. He was a carriage driver, the type of person to know a lot, yet not speak about much, the forgettable type. His client this time was... talkative. It was as if he was obligated to converse with any vaguely living creature within two meters of him even if it was incapable of speech. He was paying a whole lot for his services though, so the carriage driver brushed aside his annoyances and attempts at conversation with cool indifference instead of booting the other man's fat behind off the back of his carriage. His client was apparently a lesser noble who had relatives living in Kirnstraadt - the poor saps - who he had come to visit. His name was Ower-Baron Sennis, a man who was wider than he was tall, wagged his tongue more than a court lady and was barely important enough to force his idle chatter onto some unfortunate commonfolk without having the other party cut out his tongue. The carriage driver wished not to dwell on the endless chatter going on behind him and let his gaze drift, eyes resting on the edge of the plateau, which dropped into a valley connected to another plateau. Today puffy white smoke arose from a small speck in the distance, that was the old scientist's house. It had been a good twenty years since he had first enlisted his help in moving in... What a nice fellow, respectful, didn't talk too much either.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Ooh! Would you look at that! A milestone! That's the first thing I've seen that isn't a wall or a field! Speaking of which, why aren't there any trains here? Would be much faster to reach where I want to go."

"It would startle the livestock. Too much noise can scare them away."

"Then get rid of the livestock! Simple!"

"Then what would you eat? Cabbage?"

Ower-Baron Sennis balked at the thought of vegetables. "Peasant's food? No! I would merely import the meat in!"

"Whatever you say..." The carriage driver sighed. This was the state of Kerdt's noble's? The only people to have ever attended the king's educational institute? What was happening to the country? "Besides, we've arrived. Time to unpack and greet your relatives, sir."

"Fine, fine! Won't you help?"

"I'm only paid to bring you here."

The Baron grumbled but lugged his six bags of clothing off the back of the carriage nonetheless. Beneath his feathered cap, the carriage driver smiled.

'I suppose old habits die hard, and the Baron here is used to his servants doing everything for him?' He thought before turning the carriage around and carrying on down the path. 'I wonder how Mr. Abts is doing?'

_/_/_/_/_/

Arnold cursed loudly as a static shock coursed through his hands. The cursed contraption just didn't seem to work! For the past thirteen years, he had been trying every method under the sun to replicate the human form. A living breathing human that could be birthed with full comprehension of anything the creator deemed necessary, a discovery in science and alchemy that would define an era and make his name known in history everywhere. The technical applications of such a being would greatly impact the world as a whole! Yet the machine would not work. Not when the right elements and a lightning bolt had struck the contraption, not when he had personally grafted the tissues onto a skeleton and not even when he had had a royal alchemist personally come and work on it as well. The machine stubbornly refused to work!

"I suppose it will take many more years before I can get it right... And I'll be old and grey by then." The scientist sighed, dropping the hammer in his hands. "This damned machine!"

A light tap to the side of the machine was all it took for him to vent his anger. After all, he couldn't risk damaging it, that would be moronic. Arnold got to his feet and meandered out into his kitchen, retrieving a matchbox from the table before going outside. He would watch the match burn itself out, that usually helped calm him down, then he would go back to the machine and try again.