141 Chapter 7.28 - Deadly Beauty

Winter's last grasp was upon Haven when a fairly unexpected meeting was happening.

Lord Serin, Sovereign of Haven was sitting across from Kara, the rather malcontent Forged.

"How are you finding things here in Haven Kara?"

"I live to serve, Lord Serin."

Serin smiled, "No need to lie to me. If I am told everything is perfect, how can I make things better?"

Kara thought for a moment before responding. "There are two things that seem to cause setback for the Forged, Lord Serin. The first is purpose. Other than the tasks that are considered too 'undesirable' to fleshlings, we have no purpose. Without purpose and pride of work, we are still seen as slightly better homunculi, with no merit to our names."

Serin nodded. He understood well. Having a task and purpose is what gave people pride in their work. He had heard of Rico solidifying his work massaging command into homunculi, increasing their efficiency and working on repairs to the recycling and waste management facilities that were beyond the skill of the spirit folk. But Kara was still having trouble.

"Secondly Lord Serin, we have no sense of community. Without our place in the community of Haven, we have no sense of belonging, and without that this place is less of a home and more of a safe refuge from the certain death that awaits us outside its walls. Being allowed here and being welcome are two different things. And the fleshlings are not likely to welcome us so easily unless we have a worth. We want help rowing this boat, not simply be along for the ride."

She had used a Skygge idiom, which had worked well.

Serin smiled, "I am glad to know your mind. And I might have found a solution for both these issues. Do you mind taking a walk with me?" Serin motioned and Kara stood up. They started a rather lengthy walk to their next destination.

***

As they walked Serin asked, "Why do you call us fleshlings?"

Kara continued without a thought, "It is to describe those of flesh. While we are those of metal. It is not a term of superiority, but there was no word to describe all of the organic races of Haven. So fleshlings seemed accurate."

Serin smiled, "Do you count the spiritfolk among the fleshlings? Only some of them are flesh. Some are botanical, and some again are made of stone."

Kara thought for a minute. "No. Spirits are spirits."

Serin smiled, "Why do you take the time to differentiate them out of all the races?"

Kara replied, "They are pure beings. They feel no prejudice and their actions are within a set bound that almost follows a script."

Serin smiled, "I guess there are weaknesses in flesh. I don't mind Kara, but others might mistake it as a slur."

Kara smiled with her words, "I guess sometimes it could be, albeit usually deserved."

***

Their journey concluded as Serin and Kara arrived at a large metal facility in the Biome region. The doors were locked and the wall was protected by several hardlined homunculi.

"This facility cannot be manned by people. It's too risky."

Once they passed through the first set of doors, they were in a rather nondescript room room. The door sealed behind them.

"This is the two door system. People must enter here, power the room with the [cleanse] and [purify] spells, which might rid them of any parasites. Not the race, actual… Well I will explain inside."

Serin then powered the room, and then powered one of the buttons to unlock the door inside, hard locking the door to the outside.

"What happens if someone magically brute forces or attempts manual forced entry?"

Serin gave a grim look, "This facility is isolated by 5 kilometers for a reason. It is to be immolated."

Kara then looked at Serin, who motioned for her to go inside.

Inside there were several homunculi working away, drying out, boiling, mashing, and mixing various ingredients.

"We are aware that simple homunculi are capable of working the lab, however even with Rico's refinement, they still fail to optimally work in the specialized botanical garden."

Kara looked at the lab as they were bottling glowing blue potions. "What are they making?"

"Superior quality Mana recovery potions. Most of our citizens are too powerful to garner much benefit from Low and Normal quality potions, so with an increase in power comes an increase in demand of this good."

"Why do you need my help in this department? Fleshlings are quite capable of gardening themselves."

Serin laughed. "Usually, but this garden is different."

Kara narrowed her eyes, "How so?"

Serin smiled, "Everything in this garden will kill you."

Kara was confused, "Explain please, Lord Serin."

Serin smiled, and pulled a totem. A gift from King Jeffrey.

He motioned for her to follow him into the open garden section of the facility. Serin seemed fine, so Kara was unsure what could make this place so dangerous. Serin then summoned a small rat from the totem and held it aloft by its tail. Instantly it was in distress. It squirmed and squeaked. It thrashed and tried to pull up to bite at Serin's fingers. Then it began to convulse uncontrollably. Its eyes bled and mouth foamed. Small splotches covered its skin which then began to fall off. In less than a minute of being summoned to this world, the rat was dead. Serin then threw it into a different section of the garden where a giant carnivorous plant swallowed the rat whole.

"Why is this place so dangerous? A few reasons. Widow's Fern emits pollen that causes blood to expand and lose its coagulant properties. Although great as a blood thinner in small doses, it is more often a poison than a remedy."

Serin then pointed to another plant. "The bloodroot plant constantly emits a gas that shuts down the central nervous system. It is usually harvested for its highly addictive properties and sold as a drug in the larger cities of the northern kingdoms."

Serin then pointed down at the small roots that were trying to poke up through his shoes. "The ground we are standing on is poisoned with mana leeching roots from the Maliki Plant, and when they make contact with skin, they will quickly drain the mana from their target.:

Serin then pointed towards another plant. "The leaves we have brushed past are from Blister Thorn. Outside of this specific potion, it has no other medical use, and is extremely dangerous."

Serin then pointed as ivy was beginning to try to interlace with his shoes. "The plants that are currently trying to hold me in place are the Shackling Ivy, which also causes paralysis in its target. And of course the Gorger plant is the thing that swallowed the rat whole. What you can't see but is located in that lightless cave over there is the MadCap Mushrooms. Their spores are in the air and are trying to infect me so they can tell me to go far away and die in a secluded dark grove."

Kara then saw it. All these plants were reacting to Serin's presence. They were trying to eat him. "Why aren't you affected Lord Serin?"

Serin smiled, "My Stats are too high."

"And me?"

Serin smiled, "You aren't food, fuel, or flesh."

Kara then realized it. "That's why you need me. This isn't a job the fleshlings don't want to do. It is a job they *can't* do."

Serin smiled, "Exactly. This is your niche. And a well paid one too. As supervisor of this facility you will be in charge of quite a few employees, albeit all homunculi. You also be fairly well compensated."

"I don't want money. I want Family." Kara looked at Serin, "All the money we spend goes straight towards bringing more of our brothers and sisters to life. Pay me in materials."

Serin smiled. "Everyone wants family dear Kara. It is what you have in common with us 'fleshlings'. That and a distaste for drunkards." Serin winked.

In the end, they settled on enough materials provided by Haven to produce a new Forged body every 3 months. Serin commented this made Kara one of the highest paid government employees in Haven.

Kara was excited, as this Lord had given her pride of work, access to family, and a place in the community in one move.

He was truly a Lord worth following. Even if he was a fleshling.