Chapter 40: Alternative Path

Eli POV

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The green arrow in my palm made slight movements but looking at the house Salamede was in as I meandered around in the street, it was obvious that she hadn't left her home after wishing me good night. Wind magic had a special tracking spell that allowed you to attach a mana construct to something. After going over the caster library of spells, knowing more about the spell that the Front team used to track Lilly was one of the first things I looked up just in case it had somehow gotten on me. Fortunately, the construct fades after a few hours so I didn't bother with it after learning the spell.

The fact that Salamede didn't react after I put it on her back told me she was either terrible at her job of spying on me or she was genuine in her intentions. The later was already the favored assessment considering what she had known about me from our first encounter. Greed, however, could strike her so I had to make sure she didn't go to the academy or one of the nobles to try and pawn the new information.

Eventually, the light faded completely and still, she remained in her home and as time wore on I felt more and more guilty for having doubted her. A half-hour later I was satisfied that she had no intention of selling off my secrets so I headed back home. The next morning we worked on the Exter nut plant. As I bid her farewell my mind turned to less....mistrustful lines of thought.

I have an encyclopedic knowledge of technical work, living through ages uncounted as I walked across, built, and maintained stations that used entire stars for fuel and piloted ships the size of continents. I reached the 'ageless one' status in a society that spanned worlds and distances that would be incomprehensible in their proportions to the people of this world. And yet, I felt conflicted about having a maid tell me what to do.

There were a thousand different things I could have said to refute her but my gut told me there was some fundamental truth to what she was saying. All of my industrial plans will probably take years or decades. Maybe focusing on doing some good right now would be the better option.

She had also hit upon one of my most stubborn flaws as well. My tendency to hole up in a workshop and ignore the world around me has been one of my greater failings. It's just one of those things where even if you know you shouldn't do it, you still do it because it's your nature. Getting caught off guard by the rates of the breeding stipend was just the latest example.

At this thought, there was a faint tugging of memory and the faded image of an obscured woman, her face covered by the shadow cast from the light of the door. She was playfully pulling me away from the various boxes of tools and benches that held multiple engines and spacecraft parts as we headed out towards the light.

I blinked and blinked until it went away. After a tired sigh, I picked up the mental trail of where I was going before the detour.

There was another element to this that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I hadn't considered killing her when I found her in my workshop, even though that would have been the most logical thing to do. Her words were also far more powerful than they should have been.

I knew what my technical knowledge could do for this world and all the wonders it could bring, probably far more than she could currently understand. So why was I so bothered by her criticism?

I was doing all of this to reconnect my A.I. chips, something she had no appreciable understanding or notion of. I pondered over it longer until it hit me. When I talked with her afterward I felt... calm. Like I was in a state of peace that I had not known since coming here.

Maybe it was the long conversations that I could actually relax in, or maybe it was her honest nature contrasted to the constant web of lies and deceit I had been mired in and contributed to since I came here. There was also the feeling of being myself when I talked to her. When talking with the mages I always had to keep in mind my status and what questions I should and shouldn't ask.

The thoughts of a reliable companion meandered through my mind as I set up some tripwires on the stairs to the second floor with netting that I would rub in with this world's equivalent of poison ivy, as well as a few bubble grenades for when they tried to go up the stairs on the left up to the second floor. I also put up a piece of paper that said "Lethal Beyond This Point". I didn't want Salamede to get caught unawares nor did I want to be dragging the authorities back here more than strictly needed. Then I headed out to the local town hall.

It was a reasonably well-maintained thing with a long blockish center and two side structures attached to it. Going in I came up to the entrance desk. The walls were painted white and on both sides of the desk were two hallway entrances to the other parts of the building. I walked up to the desk over the dark wood floors up to the desk.

"' Ello, how may I help you today sir?" A rather pudgy woman wearing a plain green dress behind the large desk asked. Her green eyes looked at my indifferently as her brown hair had a few strands slip from her bun, freed by the head movement.

"I wanted to see about buying some new property," I said cordially.

"Head down there and take out the paper to start in the stack of files with the "Buying Land" Sign beneath them," She said indifferently.

I went into the room and while the sun was shining through the window, it still felt stuffy. On a long table to the right was stack after stack of papers. Some for official government business, others for establishing a trading company and others for every other function of society. I meandered through until I got to my stack. Taking my sheet of paper, I then looked over the requirements for land ownership and got paler and paler as I traversed the literary mountain.

A stamp of approval from the mayor, a re-examination of the zones involved to make sure it was up to code, signing of several forms which would take at least a few weeks to get processed. All of which had their own set of fees and forms to be approved in triplicate.

It was a tree genocide.

Then after all that I still had to have the background check, which was an obvious non-starter for me. I put the paper back on top of its brothers and went out of the building, noticing the sympathetic glance from the secretary as I left. Coming back to my house I made the last adjustment I needed to make.

It was when I started moving my hammock up to the second floor that I now got into the mental space to really think about a new avenue of experimentation.

I had been trying to use technology to fuel my magical works. But there seemed to be a finite amount of mana that could be generated at any time and that only came from the earth. I could possibly create a few workarounds but I had to be realistic. The thought of me creating an alternate source of mana when all of these civilizations hadn't been able to over many thousands of years was ....extremely optimistic, even with my knowledge. If it was purely technical I would have far more confidence in doing so but this was their arena and while I could pull a few neat tricks, like the packet-switched crafts, something so fundamental as making more mana was probably something they were far more studied and informed on.

The solution might be to make a magical device that provides energy for my technology.

On my way to the shop I also changed the hole cover to only open with a hidden handle on the bottom and the whole thing was made to look more like a seamless part of the brickwork.

Coming into the shop and looking over the pole with a magnet at the end I couldn't keep my mind from wandering. How many thousands or millions of man-hours have humans spent in front of wheels figuring out how to get them to turn in the most efficient way possible? But I had access to tools that none of my ancestors or fellow engineers did. What magical items would give me an ability no one else ever had?

Over the next hour, I tinkered with wind and water summoning to move the pole. As I expected, it was a dead-end. No amount of finicking would produce any amount of consistent electricity or wasn't a huge Mana drain. What I needed was something that had magical properties but didn't rely on a constant intake of mana.

Then an idea came to me like a bolt of lightning.

It was so absurd I almost dismissed it but my mind teased and chewed on it long enough that I became determined to try it, if for no other reason than to let myself move past it. I called it quits for now and went out to go back towards the academy to get one particular study reference. But as I was getting the book with the item's recipe I needed, Joey and his gang of shit heads came up to me.

"Hello, great crafting genius. You know, people have been talking. You've done a lot of good for us crafters and I have to commend your academic achievements. But there is a rumor going around." Joey said, leaning forward at the last word.

"Are you a virgin?" He almost whispered.

My work was being held up for bullshit like this? I'm so close to a potentially world-changing discovery and he wants to know if I've gotten my dick wet? That's not even counting how rude it is to ask a borderline stranger that, in public no less.

"No, now please exc-" I said as I tried to push past. But the green-eyed man-child with glasses just moved in front of me.

"Woah, it seems I've struck a nerve. Even if any woman deigned to be with you, the record rooms chatter would seem to indicate your seed is impotent." Joey said as he pushed up his glasses. His little gang snickered.

I just stood there. There were a few times that someone gave off a 'creep' vibe to me, and that signal was now broadcasting loud and clear as I looked at this group.

Dear God, what wouldn't I give for a professional work environment?

"Enough Joey" I heard off to my right. Coming from between the bookshelves was our mentor, the middle-aged woman with short brown hair and green eyes. But those eyes showed a deep aggravation as she looked at Joey's group.

"Do your parents need another letter about your behavior?" She asked.

Joey and the rest paled at this and promptly scurried off.

Our mentor then turned and looked at me with a mischievous grin.

"Thanks ..." I struggled for a name.

"Bess, but I won't hold it against you, especially considering how I never told you my name in the first place," Bess said.

"Listen, Eli, I know it's been rough. But you have much to offer the magical world. The crafting master and I would love to get together and go over ideas for organizations you might be well suited to join. Maybe we could even collaborate on some projects." Bess asked with her hands clapped together in eager anticipation of my answer.

"I'll think about it," I said, not willing to commit to any more obligations at the moment.

Bess gave a light bow.

"We will be eagerly waiting for your answer. Eli, just so you know, a good number of crafters have started getting better grades and pushing to make better crafts since the trials. So keep at it. Don't let those people who've never met you decide your fate or tell you what you're worth all right?" She took my hand and looked me in the eyes with genuine eagerness and joy. I couldn't help but smile at her.

When she left I took my book back to my workshop and along the way, I bought the various implements and parts I would need. Fortunately, I had accumulated several mana crystals that made the job ahead of me doable.

It took many long hours. Sculpting the metal frame, getting the ambient mana into the air by cracking the crystals so I could maintain the spells I was using, and making the magical crafts needed for this absurd idea. But there was only so much time before the human body got too tired to go on. Judging by the setting sun when I came out of the workshop that time was fast approaching.

After a quick dinner and good night's sleep, I was refreshed and ready to start the day anew. As much as I wanted to get right back to my device, I had a few classes today that I had to attend. This time it went smoothly and I didn't run into Bess or Joey's gang.

I was out on the road with a group heading back towards the dorms during one of the less traffic-heavy times of day when there came a loud din of screams and mayhem over the treetops.

Coming onto the main road section leading up to the academy I saw a few pillars of smoke billowing into the sky from the town. We all rushed up and a line of guards was blocking the academy entrance as fighting was heard in the distance. One guard was motioning for us to come over into the academy.

"Hey, come back kid!" Someone yelled as I took off down the side of the hill towards my part of town. Everyone was running around in a panic as the few women scrambled into their houses and the men armed themselves with whatever was on hand. I beelined straight for Salamedes' house. I saw her in a window clutching a crude knife.

"What's going on?" I yelled to her.

"Bandit raid," She said as she came through the door, clearly shaking in her dress. My jaw tightened and my fist clenched.

"All right come on, I'm getting my shit. You'll be safer with me." I said as I took her hand.

She motioned somewhere in the house and an older Kelton woman in a plain brown dress came out of the house. She was a skinny thing, coming up a good foot shorter than me, with brown fur flecked with grey and horns going over the back of her head. Her eyes were the same white spheres as Salamedes.

I led them to my house and went to pick up my equipment from the underground workshop. As I opened it I saw what I assumed to be Salamede's mother stare as I went into the underground room. After getting my weapons I came back out to see the two Kelton women in an animated argument.

"Excuse me, but we have a problem that we need to address outside, so let's get you ladies to safety before we finish this discussion," I said as I took both their hands.

As we came up to the academy the line of guards was letting in an assortment of students. I pushed through the crowd while making sure to keep the two women holding my hands firmly attached. Eventually, we got through and I left my two charges besides the receptionist kiosks.

As I turned to leave I noticed Ryan looking out over the guards' heads nervously.

"I heard it's a bandit raid. So what's the plan?" I asked him.

"Just sit tight and wait out the storm. The guards are massing to push the bandits back but it seems most of them got tied up escorting some men to be examined, probably a ruse to spread our forces. That's all we've been told so far."He said taking in the growing flames from the right side of the town.

"What? They're just going to let them rampage?" I said, my blood boiling from such nonsense.

But my tactical sense kicked in and I considered what was happening. This was exactly the kind of situation I didn't like. Going into the opponents with no set up beforehand or intelligence on their capabilities. The counter-argument of distant screaming and cries for help were burrowing into my brain. Damn it, this is one of those times where being a psychopath would really come in handy.

"We got to get in there, or else there won't be many people left to save before long," I told him

"Get in there? You want me to risk my neck over some peasants?" Ryan said looking at me with clear confusion. As he talked his green eyes shot back towards the town as a particularly loud scream went out.

"What about the bravery of scions? You talked a lot about being the hero, well here's your chance." I growled between gritted teeth.

Ryan looked at me with fear in his eyes, then to the din of battle outside. But his face got a look of determination and his back stiffened.

"Right, your right. If anyone should be leading the charge it's a scion. I'll get my armor and that hammer" He said before running back towards his house.

Who knows if he'll deliver, but I had places I needed to be.

A few of the guards tried to stop me but jumping clear over their heads put an end to their intentions. Coming down the road to the right I eventually came into the shopping quarter. It was a scene of hellish proportions. Men and a few rare women laid in the dirt moaning and bleeding from various wounds, often among their dead fellows. A few women were among burned stalls as men in dirty leather jerkins tore at their dresses, some already had their pants down as they thrust into their screaming victims.

As much as I wanted to just rush in and start cracking skulls, I knew cutting the bandits off at the source of their entry would save the most lives in the end. But I shot a brick of molten slag from my shoulder cannon into a group of bandits who were moving through the crowd as a parting gift before I used my leather armors air boosters to get onto one of the roofs.

Covering myself with a water shield, I took a moment to see which targets I should prioritize. I was considering a few choke points in the streets until I saw a group of boats coming down the river. That seemed like the best choice so far. Jaunting over the roofs and alleys filled with scenes of murder, rape, and destruction I came upon a squad of archers slowly moving around the rooftops, occasionally stopping to shoot at some target below them.

My lava tube would do as much damage to the homes as the bandits were so that wasn't an option. Bounding through the roofs I got close enough to at least hit them with my water jet. As one archer leaned over the roof of a shop to shoot a guard in the back I hit him with hair-thin water. It didn't cut into him but it did have enough force to unbalance him and send him right over the edge. The loud crunch of breaking bones followed me along my path as I repeated this tactic, ducking out of view and weaving through the uneven field of roofs to hit them before they could react, on my way to the docks, which is where they seemed to be coming from.

The vast array of warehouses and river docks that made up the riverside of this district came into view. Moving quickly between the smaller warehouses to stand on the tallest one I finally had a view of the bandits' point of entry. Boats nearing the pier were filled to the brim with whooping men as they approached the pier and pouring in fresh reinforcements for the raiders.

I fired a shot at the one closest to disembarking. The shabby boat exploded in bits of steam and wood as the lava hit the vessel and then water, sending its jeering occupants tumbling into the water. I got off another shot at the boat behind it before ducking behind the roof. The explosive hiss and crack of wood followed by hoarse screaming told me my aim had been true.

This process went on for a while. The warehouses were so large and numerous that the enemy archers were struggling to find me among the rows of buildings. The few archers who did find me and got a shot off before they died were not having any luck getting their shoddy arrows past my water shell. But after the first few unlucky enough to succeed in their mission of locating me, all the remaining ones got too scared to come into the area. I suppose finding men whose heads had been replaced with a brick of molten slag or diced into fine pieces like an onion from my water jet would merit such a response.

The river was becoming chocked with the scattered bits of wood and bodies. The bandits who did manage to make it to shore had discarded their weapons to prevent them from sinking into the churning river and now wasted precious time trying to scrounge for a weapon. But whatever purchase the bandits had made into the town was now slipping as the stream of reinforcements stopped and the guard started its counteroffensive.

In one of the engagements, one of the bandits put up his hand in surrender as I looked at him from my vantage point on the roof. But then I saw the mana construct to use a fire spell come out of his hand. He clearly thought I couldn't see it and if he had met any other crafter he would have been right. I went to fire my lava tube and move out of his spells way but a strong gust of wind knocked me out of the air onto the hard ground beside the warehouse.