Bookworm

Inside The Last Forge, Niko was staring fixedly at Grayson, who had removed his breathing mask and was stealing glances at Yako, who was licking his paw. Grayson noticed Niko's gaze and, clearing his throat, turned back to Niko.

"As I mentioned before, I'm Officer Grayson, and I'm here to hear your side of what happened earlier in the upper elevator zone."

Niko's face shifted into clear confusion, causing Grayson to mirror the expression.

"Is something wrong?"

Niko's expression returned to normal as he exchanged glances between Grayson and the entrance door.

"N-No, it's just that I didn't think you were really here to talk to me."

Grayson's face changed from confusion to understanding and then to resignation as he lowered his head slightly.

"I apologize for his behavior; he's... too impulsive."

"Please raise your head; it's not you who should apologize. I'm more interested in why you're here when Vander told me you had given a two-day grace period for the culprit to surrender."

Grayson raised his head, revealing a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"I wasn't aware of your connection with him."

"Hmm? I thought you were in front of my shop because you had investigated me."

"And we did; we managed to locate you by asking the enforcers stationed in the upper and lower zones. Particularly those from the lower zone recognized you and gave us a description: Niko, 6 years old, blacksmith, operates a forge in the Commercial District of Zaun."

Niko listened attentively to Grayson and nodded at the last part.

"I must say I'm surprised by how quickly you've acted, especially your involvement."

Grayson raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"You're quite perceptive, kid. Indeed, my involvement in a simple assault case is unusual, but it's all because of the victim, or rather, who's behind him."

"...I understand that the Kiramans wouldn't overlook something like this, but what I don't understand is why I'm not already being arrested."

Grayson let out a deeper sigh, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"I prefer not to escalate situations after what happened a year ago, so as a Zaunite, I contacted Vander to surrender the culprit. When he refused, I tried to negotiate with a timeframe, but he still declined. Therefore, I had no choice but to issue an ultimatum. Since it was a request from one of the merchant families, I started investigating on my own."

"...I still don't understand. If you hadn't come to arrest me, then you wouldn't have brought someone like the person outside."

Grayson sighed even louder.

"He has good leadership but still needs to refine some aspects. I brought him with the intention of evoking pity upon seeing the suspect in this case, but..."

"It would be a pity for Zaun if someone like him became the leader of the Enforcers."

With nothing else to say, Grayson cleared his throat and turned back to Niko.

"To the point, Niko, could you tell me what happened about an hour ago in the upper elevator area?"

Grayson pulled out a small notebook along with a gear-shaped pen, and Niko rubbed his eyes with his hands, yawning.

"Sorry, I'm a bit tired. Let's see, about an hour ago, I was heading towards the elevators to go back home when two men intercepted me, introducing themselves as part of House Kiraman with an interest in arranging a meeting between the heads of families and me."

Grayson wrote in the notebook as Niko spoke, nodding when he paused.

"That matches the witness's explanation."

Niko nodded in response and continued.

"During the conversation, I noticed one of them looking at Yako, and when we finally agreed on a meeting, I turned around to apologize because I was in a hurry. When I turned back, I heard a growl and an insult from one of them."

Grayson furrowed his brow slightly, pausing his pen and looking towards Yako.

"I turned and saw him holding Yako by the neck, so I took him off and left, saying I wouldn't meet with them again."

Niko fell silent, leaving only the sound of Grayson's pen scratching the paper; moments later, Grayson finally stopped writing and put away the pen, looking at Niko.

"Do you have any idea why the man who verbally assaulted you is in his current state?"

"You mean his wrist? I broke it when I took Yako from him."

After finishing speaking, the room fell silent, and Yako began shifting his gaze between Niko and Grayson, who seemed to have a twitch in his eye as he displayed an expression of disbelief.

"...Do you realize you're confessing to a crime?"

"Hmm? *Yawn* I thought you already knew. There was no one else around us at the scene who could have harmed him. Yako wasn't involved since he can barely fend for himself, and the assailant was accompanied by a Waverider that looks literally like the one in front of you."

Niko pointed at Yako, who was hitting Grayson's arm with his tail in annoyance, and Grayson's demeanor turned serious as he looked at Niko with an authoritative aura.

"This is no joke, kid. You just confessed to a crime against a member of one of the merchant houses in front of the Enforcer Chief."

"...Seeing that you put away your notebook and pen, I assumed the answer to the question would stay between us."

Both fell silent as they engaged in a staring contest for a couple of minutes until Grayson changed his expression to a more friendly one.

"I take back what I said about you being perceptive; you're quite the little monster, kid. I won't dig deeper, but seeing your strength and your ability to notice even the tiniest detail, I can't help but want to offer you a position in the Enforcers."

Niko ignored the offer and yawned again.

"So, could you tell me what will happen?"

"I see... We've been given a deadline to bring you before them. If you voluntarily surrender between today and tomorrow, you'll be accepting to join House Kiraman as a member. However, if you don't and we need to issue a search warrant, you'll be brought before the Piltover Council and likely exiled or imprisoned."

Niko took a moment to think and slapped his cheeks, surprising Grayson.

"There won't be a need to put me on the run, but I also won't surrender to be under Kiraman's control."

Grayson looked somewhat confused and wore a complicated expression, prompting Niko to quickly explain.

"Being a member of House Kiraman means they'll be aware of what I do, especially being from Zaun, am I wrong?"

"...You're not wrong."

"Then I'll simply attend the council to see if I can resolve this situation."

Grayson showed an even more complicated expression, as if he wanted to say something, but the mere thought of saying it left him conflicted.

"...They won't listen to you, kid."

"*Yawn* Because I'm from Zaun, I know."

"If you know that, why don't you accept to work for the Kiramans? Kid, you'd really live a good life; it would just cost you a little work. Believe me, prison or exile at your age would be the worst thing that could happen to you."

Niko glanced at his hands and smiled at the woman in front of him.

"Maybe you know this; being under someone's orders is like being a bird in a cage with no bars. You have freedom in front of you, but you can't escape."

"That..."

"Besides, you're being too negative; you're assuming I'm guilty."

"...You are guilty; you just admitted it."

Niko turned, stretching his back and hunching over.

"But they don't know, and that's what's important. I can evoke a lot of sympathy, and above all, I'm aware of my worth. To ensure I won't flee, you can enforce Active Surveillance."

"What do you mean?"

"As the name suggests, you can assign an Enforcer to actively monitor me for two days; they won't bother me unless it's that idiot outside."

Grayson gave a slight smile and nodded.

"I'll do that; wait a moment."

Niko raised an eyebrow as Grayson walked towards the entrance door and returned shortly after.

"Done, Marcus just left, and you're officially under Active Surveillance."

Niko slightly widened his eyes in surprise as he pointed in front of him.

"You?"

"Me."

"Don't you have responsibilities?"

"An investigation related to the merchant families takes priority."

Putting his hands to his head, Niko ruffled his hair and let out a sigh.

"Fine, come inside with me; I'll show you the worth I was talking about."

Grayson raised an eyebrow and was surprised to see Niko pick up Yako and place him in his arms while giving him a mocking smile.

"You were staring at him a lot; he likes to be scratched under the chin."

Clearing his throat, Grayson began petting Yako while following Niko into the forge room.

"I've been wondering, does this little one need water? He has gills and all that."

Upon hearing him, Niko started laughing slightly exaggeratedly, earning a confused look.

"Sorry, hahaha, Vander said the same thing when he saw him. I have a solution for that; get ready, Officer Grayson, I'm going to show you the skill of Zaun's last blacksmith."

Grayson took a seat on one of the piles of materials with Yako in his lap.

"Let me see that talent you're boasting about, kid."

Niko ignored his slight teasing and pulled down the hood of his tunic along with the rest of it, revealing an extremely bulky backpack on his back. Seeing Grayson's look of confusion, Niko smiled and walked over to the anvil with the backpack in his hand.

"I went shopping."

Placing the backpack on the anvil, he opened it, revealing various items. Suddenly, a glass bottle filled with spices slipped from one side, threatening to hit the surface of the anvil. Reacting quickly, Niko reached out and caught the bottle just centimeters before it could shatter, placing it back on the anvil.

"Phew. That was a close one."

Digging through the backpack, Niko finally found what he was looking for and pulled out two books featuring a large drawing of a jar filled with green liquid titled "Introduction to Chemicals I and II."

Grayson looked at the books in his hand with some curiosity. 

"I thought you were going to show me something in the forge, not start studying."

"For what I want to do, I need to learn about something. I'll be focusing, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't interrupt me while I read. Here."

Niko handed Grayson the second edition of the book and moved to sit on a pile of materials next to Grayson. 

Grayson glanced at the book and then at Yako. Seeing that Yako seemed relaxed in his lap, Grayson shrugged and opened the book.

Minutes passed with only the sound of flipping pages, and after a while, Niko finally finished the first volume.

"The properties of metallic elements... Hmm, Officer Grayson, could you pass me the second volume?"

Grayson, who was only on the fourth page, didn't pay much attention and handed him the book, receiving the first volume from Niko and looking surprised.

"Wait, you've already read this?"

"Yes, I understood it; it seems pretty straightforward."

"H-How?"

Grayson glanced down, observing the size difference between the first and second volumes, with the first one significantly larger, almost doubling the size of the other, and muttered under his breath.

"Bookworm."

This didn't go unnoticed by Niko's enhanced hearing, and he looked away from the book, squinting at Grayson.

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing."

"Mmm."

Niko returned his gaze to the book in his hands while Grayson let out an internal sigh, also looking at the book in his hands.

Finally, a few minutes later, Niko closed the book, setting it aside, and with a leap, positioned himself in front of the anvil with the backpack on top.

"I've got it. Although it was too easy."

[Due to the knowledge of Superior Spider-Man, the host, it makes it easy for him to interpret chemical knowledge related to product creation.]

'...It was easier to say that I'm a genius.'

[I would never lie to you, host.]

'.... Screw you.'

Niko rummaged through the backpack, glanced down at Grayson, and shortly after, pulled out two bottles, one filled with water and another with sand, along with a rock. 

"Arts and crafts?"

"Ha Ha, very funny."

Niko left the materials on the ground and placed the backpack on a stack of materials. Grabbing the hammer, he headed towards a pile of coal and ignited the brick furnace.

As time passed, the temperature rose, and Niko turned towards Grayson, adopting a serious tone.

"There's a rule in this forge, Officer Grayson: what happens in the forge stays in the forge. Do you understand what that entails?"

"Yeah, yeah, I won't say or spread anything I see. Hurry up and show me why all the mystery."

Letting out a sigh, Niko went to the titanium pile. After staring at titanium pieces for a while, he picked up a piece, estimating it weighed close to a kilogram and a half.

"This will work."

Back at the anvil, Niko placed the piece on it and grabbed the titanium punch, sliding it back and forth over the titanium.

After a few seconds, he stopped and, with a grunt of satisfaction, raised the hammer and struck the punch, thereby splitting the titanium into two pieces, one significantly larger than the other. 

Grabbing the smaller piece, he headed to the furnace and tossed it inside, seeming to wait.

[Host, won't you use Flow?]

'No, I've realized that Flow completes tasks much faster, but it's not perfect.'

[...I hadn't realized]

'But it's extremely insignificant; if I had to put it in percentages, something done by Flow is 99% similar to what I would do. I don't want to put myself in the worst situation, but it's quite possible that I won't be able to escape this situation. Although I could go threaten the Kiramans... Better not.'

{Say it clearly, you're giving farewell gifts}

Niko glanced at the furnace with a hint of sadness and approached it with titanium tongs.

'Maybe.'

Using the anvil as a support, he began hammering with the hammer, flattening it completely. Each blow was strong and precise, echoing loudly in the room.

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

Once it had taken a perfectly flat shape, he started rotating the tongs while striking, giving the titanium an oval and finally spherical shape. 

Not having a bucket of water, he glanced sideways at Grayson and began taking in air in an exaggerated manner.

The Enforcer Commissioner was agape as Niko's chest swelled with each passing moment. Soon she was startled by the illogical situation, and before she could say anything, Niko leaned forward slightly, releasing a blast of air towards the empty titanium sphere.

Niko watched as the metal changed from a reddish color back to a metallic hue, collapsing to the ground while gasping for breath. Grayson moved Yako, placing him back where she was sitting, and approached Niko, searching for something in her pant pocket.

"Here."

Niko lifted his head to find a white handkerchief in front of him. Looking at Grayson, he shook his head and rose to his feet.

"I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not sweaty, just tired."

Grayson stared at him for a while before returning to her seat and placing Yako back on her lap.

"What the hell was that?" 

"I have good lungs."

Holding onto the two bottles and the rock he had left on the floor, Niko headed towards the anvil, pushing the titanium aside.

'I didn't buy this for this purpose, but it'll work.'

Opening both bottles, he tossed the corks to a corner of the room and struck the rock against the anvil, breaking it into small pieces. He then proceeded by submerging two fingers in parallel into the water bottle.

"What are you doing, kid?"

Niko glanced at Grayson, who was once again looking puzzled.

With a sigh, he gestured with his chin towards the second volume of "Introduction to Chemistry."

"On page twelve, it talks about glass properties and its composition. Based on that, I came up with how to get the components of this and thought of using a technique with what I have on hand." 

Grayson seemed even more confused but decided not to interrupt further and observed attentively.

Niko closed his eyes and imagined a calm lake in his mind; simultaneously, his hands started to become enveloped in electricity. In his mind, he frowned as the lake started to ripple, and he took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling for a few seconds before lunging towards the lake with his arm slightly pulled back.

'Control yourself.'

Suddenly, he found himself reflected in the center of the lake, and abruptly opening his eyes, he thrust his arm forward gently, causing the ripples on the surface to calm down. 

In the forge, Grayson watched in astonishment as Niko smiled, both of his arms covered in crackling electricity.

His right arm was surrounded by water circles, and his other arm was surrounded by circles of small white powders orbiting around it.

"W-What... You're a mage."

Niko looked at Grayson, moving his right arm to let the water fall into the water bottle, then moved his other arm to let the white powder fall into the bottle of sand.

"Surprise."

Ignoring Grayson, he picked up the broken pieces of stone and put them into the bottle of sand. Heading towards the furnace, he threw the smaller piece of titanium inside. 

After a few minutes, he created a small bowl and filled it with the bottle's contents, reducing the fire's intensity by half when he heard Grayson's voice again.

"Now I understand why you kept repeating everything."

"Yeah, well, you know, it would be annoying if someone I didn't consider an ally found out."

Grayson remained silent for a moment before speaking again.

"Why me?" 

"Vander respects you, or at least it seemed like that when we talked about it. It's probably our backgrounds and roles that make trust difficult, but your collaboration until today has involuntarily instilled trust behind the words between you both. In short, if Vander trusts you, then I'll try too."

Grayson nodded, showing a smile that Niko reciprocated as he returned his gaze to the furnace.

"So, what's that for?"

'..I don't know who's more annoying, her or those brats.'

"It's a combination of silica sand, sodium carbonate extracted from seawater, and limestone rocks. When you put them together and heat them to a high temperature..."

Niko picked up the tongs, grasped the bowl, and placed it on the anvil.

"You get glass." 

Taking a deep breath and exhaling again, he managed to shape the glass into a round form.

"The glassblowing technique."

"I-Incredible."

Taking the titanium punch again, he approached the furnace, heating the tip and then collecting the glass sphere, balancing the punch on its surface, which resulted in Yako lowering his head while placing his paws on either side of his face.

"Oh, sorry Yako, it'll take some time." 

A couple of minutes later, he finished shaping what appeared to be a diving helmet. In the next half hour, he used the leftover glass with some blue coloring and the titanium bowl along with a bit more to make a container, thin tubes, and a blue emblem that he attached to the helmet.

Niko filled the container with water from the bottle and approached Yako, who had stars in his eyes as he jumped from side to side on the pile of materials.

"For you, buddy." 

After taking some time to fit it on him, Niko stepped aside, leaving Yako looking around with excitement.

[IMG here]

"Well, Commissioner Grayson, if you want an explanation of how it works, I'll summarize it for you."

Grayson, who was indeed about to ask, felt slightly embarrassed as she prepared herself to listen attentively.

"On the left side of the helmet, you have a filter; the air in Zaun is polluted, so that filter separates oxygen from pollutants. On the other hand, there's the water container; as you know, when you shower with hot water, it turns into water vapor, making the air moist. Being close to the Pilt River and in the underground, the humidity is noticeable, so I made sure the container has a filter that absorbs the water vapor combined with ambient gases and filters it to then expel it. In a way, it's self-sustaining."

Grayson took a moment to process what she had just heard, and then, as if a light bulb had appeared over her head, she looked back and forth between Yako's breathing apparatus and Niko, who was smiling as if he had been anticipating a similar response.

"N-Niko, if you could produce this on a larger scale and in quantity..."

"Yes, I could eliminate all the pollution enveloping Zaun."