To look at his work makes me more confused than giving me insight. He just creates everything without writing anything down and puts it where it should go before even making a frame!
Is it not normal to work on one place and let it extend into all the other parts? He just starts at dozens of places at once and just clicks them together, when they are close to completion to make them one part.
The parts themselves are more strange, as they are non conform. Triangular Gears? Spiral Piston? That is definitely organic muscle, how did he hammer that out of Mithril and Silver?!
I… No, it is better not to look any more, as I have no Idea how or what he makes. The more I try to understand the more psychic damage I get. No wonder the Empire wanted to take all his ideas before executing him. He is definitely not a normal Human to work like that.
…
In front of me are metallic Trilobite looking digging robots. These things are rather huge and have different appendages with different drills picks and shovels. He just made them in less than a week? Are you serious?
“Can dig well. Just tell where. Cleaning up commences.”
“Yeah, the tunnel needs to be reinforced and be water and air proof, as the Fuel would otherwise pollute the ground water. To make them more stable we need some runic rings. Are your Trilobites able to do that?”
“Trilo? Ground diggers. They not bite.”
“Ah, sorry. A word from my former place. Are they able to insulate and graft runes?”
“Yes. They are smart.”
Waving their smallest picks as if showing their best tool for the work the Tri… Ground Diggers show their support to their creator. I did not even notice they are already running. Of course the Mana flow was easy to see, but I thought they just charge or something.
“Then that is good. Elane our local Witch has made simple runic bands to mostly reduce the pollution to a minimum.”
Looking over the plans and where we would like the tunnel directly to the Castle, Simov shows a really scrunched thinking phase.
“...Not enough. Miasma will kill. Better increase density.”
And that is where I had to show him to Elane. With him they work slowly on creating better warding for higher reduction of miasmic escape. They did not like each other. Simov has his speech impediment and is rather quirky while Elane mostly tries to make him explain more for every single change.
At best they are two worlds colliding. Magitech and classical runes are somehow not fully compatible and show heavy discrepancies. The first time I understood the differences between the two and three dimensional Runes fully. Two dimensional ones are for humans to work with. Three dimensional are made for machines like a magic code. So that is why they are also a circle in themselves. They are Modules like some kind of programming language!
…
While they discuss, or rather fight over the best combination of Runes the Ground Diggers are right now working hard at the perimeters of the Tunnel. Before breach they are working hard to not only make the path but isolate and insulate the tunnel over and over. The Walls are already shiny and near indestructible in themselves, as the repeated coating and reforging of the walls made them scarily dense. They are just robots, but why do I feel pride emanating from them?
I think Simov has found a way to synthesise Souls with his cores. How interesting!
The rest of the week is so peaceful, I suspect something is brewing in the shadows. The Magistrate makes strange moves and show hostility in their passiveness. Maybe I am just paranoid, but having Time for myself…
“Null! Emergency!”
There it is.
“What is it Snow? Do we get attacked?”
“No, Ville messaged a Villager mangled his arm! It is Belk’s oldest Son!”
That is something I did not expect, but luckily already anticipated.
“Tell them to stop the bleeding. I am right there.”
And with this we exit the castle post haste.
…
“How is my son?!”
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It has been three days and Belk is already heavily malnourished. He really loves his Children, especially after losing his daughter to… Let’s not reminiscence about that…
“He is all right. His arm needed to be removed, but I am right now growing him another.”
“Another?!”
“Yeah, luckily I have some experience with creating body parts. He needs to learn again how to use it, but will be fine otherwise.”
“Can I see him?”
“Of course. Let us go.”
Bringing Belk to the third Floor I open the Laboratory. I totally forgot about how the Jars might frighten him, but after a while Belk composed himself and followed me.
“Jarden! Thank goodness you are alive!”
“I am, Father. Can I go home already? I am a bit scared about… all this.”
Waving his left arm around the room I can understand him somehow. Body parts are in many glass jars and some of them are twitching. Well It is just muscle reaction on the salt inside the nourishment solution, but still…
“I think nothing is in danger any more of rejection. Lets open the cast.”
Opening the metallic device on the part of his remaining arm I slowly pull out the arm out of the now a bit jelly like nourishment goo. The place where the old arm and the new one intersect make a rather obvious line on his biceps. The skin is still snow white, as it was never touched by the sun.
Curiously the Arm has no problem with Mana burn. Rather it shows so much potential, if the whole body would be changed he could… Nah, Belk would protest on this experiment. Maybe somebody else? The Caretakers of the children seem to be rather sad about the scars unlike the Villagers.
“Is this my arm?”
“Yes, it is completely made to be exactly like your former Arm. I could not create parts directly as this would have been more invasive, so I needed to make it slowly with the help of what your spirit remembered. The colour will be back to normal in a while, like your strength in this arm.”
Jarden looks at me in awe and back to his arm. He thought it gone, as heavy damage would either mean amputation or the need of a very high magic potion. I could have used like that on him, but growing an arm was a great experiment to see how a not taken over Spirit would grow flesh naturally.
“As it looks, the Arm needs rest, but you can for the next few days work on moving the fingers and elbow to get the feeling back. Afterwards you should be back to normal. And one other thing.”
“Yes?”
“If there is something in the shed you need, take the things on top of them off first and not just yank it out. Next time you could even lose your life!”
“Understood!”
Yeah, Jarden was so clumsy in that way. To not waste time just pull the box out under the one filled with the sickles. If the Box had fallen any other way he would have one of them in his eye!
…
Back to what I was really concerned. No mention of any problems in Telk or anywhere around makes me worried. It feels like they work different ways right now to find the best place to attack. No direct spies, only indirect ones asking about simple matters when the Caravans come.
Halk is now under Ember Woods Umbrella and from the Information I got, they are rather famous in passivity and negotiation while having strangely been in places, where quick and decisive takeovers were made by Telk.
Kilt was with the next placed Towns under their cover, while Malek was invaded by the Kingdom and after only a few Years Malek was suddenly theirs…
Sounds like deep cover Spies to lever the Gates open before the strike team gets their poisoned knives in the back, but right now everything is more than silent. Not a single thing out of the order, if Betty did not have found some rumours I would have thought about them as the most innocent and forthcoming diplomats they could muster.
The highest pacifiers with a great reputation. They have a rather soothing power on the populace and many people get in line and even work harder under them. Why? They are strangely invested in making sure everyone under them is content and often send apprentices to many places and ask about their feeling about how the City would benefit in one way or another.
Being asked by the People in charge and even supported in their endeavours to rise to new heights makes many work harder and even more enthusiastic, but that is only one part. Angie mentioned how every one of the apprentices smelled the same and nearly overlooked how the subtle smell suddenly makes its way through the streets.
Either it is more subconscious training or they use a more drug-like incense to bring the populace under their Banner. As corruption and other things still are running under the cover of the darkness, it is not a full on mind control or something, that is directly noticeable.
Subconscious leading of the thinking and emotions, those are mostly the tricks of either Charlatans or Politicians. As Magic is able to lead the mind in more obvious ways, such tricks are totally invisible under the guise of interpersonal care.
Luckily, those special methods need time and I am able to go to more Ruins inside the Steppe. Stomping Hoof told me about two deer People asking for special products in exchange for a place with high probability to be the summoning place of the Hero. What a great exchange for me!
Dew, Vegetables and Metal are no problem, where Metal is imported by Telk for now, but Dr. Simov starts to build an own furnace for the magical ores his little buggers start to unearth in the tunnels they dig.
…
“Thank you for the generous exchange. I am ‘Antlers like twigs of a tree’ but you can call me just Twig for short. My friend is ‘Silent buck through every season’, just call him Buck, he rarely speaks.”
The other one nods. Behind them are a few deer people, but they keep distance for some reason. They are the same Clan, right?
“The place we need to go is rather far and partially inside the Kingdom, so we need to be careful.”
“I understand. Anything else I should know? Your brethren are rather timid and not only to Snow and me.”
“To be honest we are rather distant to our brethren and chose ourselves the challenge to bring you there.”
Ah… I do not understand at all, but whatever. If they are distant, then something seems to be at odds inside their own clan and is not my problem.
The travel was rather long and after we were at the area of their place the delegation just split without many words and just vanished into their home. Twig and Buck are still with us, but the others ran like hell. What is going on?
…
“What are two humans do with that Ferral scum around here?!”
Great, another expedition into the ruins. Those are knights of the Kingdom of Ulk apparently. With them are a few people looking like some kind of Archaeologists? Maybe Scholars looking for old history and knowledge. This might get ugly…