Chương 131: 131

The ship rumbled, jostling Mark's bed. Mark woke, terrified… and for no good reason at all, it seemed. Mark could already feel the world with his Unionsense and he knew nothing was happening, aside from all the normal stuff that was happening here on Grey Whale. A few thousand people and a few hundred animals in storage were all doing their own things.

Most of them were focused on each other, their vectors pointed directly at each other, or at the people in the room they were with, or on the world beyond, looking at screens or through the few windows of the ship. There weren't many windows at all, most of them relegated to the bridge. The animals down in cargo hold 3 were all sedated and half asleep, and kept that way by the people on watch. No reason to wake terrified. Mark grumbled and blinked in the darkness of his top bunk, while the bunk below him was empty.

Sally was already up, then? And absent. It felt like Eliot's bunk, on top of Isoko's bunk on the other side of the room, was also empty, though Mark couldn't actually see that space, not through the curtains over his own sleeping space. The lights were on out there, though. Mark looked at the cracks in the curtains, between the bed and the walls, where light spilled through like cracks in doors. Did Mark want to wake up, or not?

Eliot and Sally were elsewhere, but Isoko was still sleeping on the other side of the room, probably behind her own drawn curtains. With a lifting of his adamantium limbs, Mark brought Quark to himself— Bright silver light almost blinded him. Mark groaned a little, blinking a lot, taking a moment to adjust. Quark took a moment to adjust, too, his brightness dialing down. Soon enough, Mark could check the time. It was 8: 38 AM, January 4th, 2049.

Mark had barely been able to sleep, due to excitement and the rumble of the ship, so he had put himself to sleep around 3 AM. Five hours of sleep was not enough. Eliot and Sally had slept fewer hours, it seemed, since they were up and about… wherever they were. Mark tried to feel out where they were, to see if he could sense Sally and Eliot through all of the other vectors out there. It was like 'looking' at thousands of arrows that all looked the same.

Finding Sally and Eliot amongst all of that was an impossible task. He wasn't too worried. There were lots of people on the ship. Mark put himself back to sleep for another hour. When he woke up the second time, he was feeling a lot better, and Isoko was awake, too. Mark opened the curtain on his bed and looked over at Isoko, laying in her own bed and poking at her phone. Mark said, "Morning!"" Morning," Isoko said, grinning a little, but not looking up from her phone.

And then she looked up, and asked, "Breakfast?"" Absolutely, yes." - - Mark dug into his waffles and syrup, savoring the sweetness. Isoko ate her own hashbrown and soup breakfast, which was akin to her usual fare. Usually she wanted fish, but there was no fish in this ship. Mark usually wanted bacon, but there was none of that, either. Mark said, "I think I'm hung up on the lack-of-meat-thing."" You want to go find whoever farms in this place? Ask them about future developments?" … Did he? Mmm...

Mark glanced over to a screen hanging on the wall that showed their current location. At 12 hours into the journey, Grey Whale was above the western coast of South America. They were about 4 hours away from the Southern Crossing, but that could change if they met another kaiju. The ship had already been rerouted once, adding a few more hours to the trip, but once they got through the Southern Crossing and they were on Daihoon, they'd be rerouted dozens of times to avoid all of the kaiju out there.

Assuming the Southern Crossing went okay, of course. As for Earth and Daihoon, Addavein had killed the big named threats, but new threats rose all the time, and it had been months since Addavein had been active. There were always new kaiju out there. … That damned dragon should be awake by now, right? Mark ignored that thought and said to Isoko, "Yeah. Let's go see the farmers." Using his actual hands, Mark brought Quark out onto the table...

and then he realized that they weren't under Curtain Protocol, even though there were kids eating breakfast with their parents over there. Mark could freely use his Powers if he wanted… But. No. It was still rude to use Powers in public… But he was a villain now, right? He should use his Powers all the time, shouldn't he? Hmm. Mark continued to think about what was 'proper', but he decided to use his actual body to move stuff when he could, for now, even though they weren't under Curtain Protocol anymore.

With fingers to his phone, Mark started flipping through a few screens, searching for some farmer information— Quark popped up with a message at the top of the screen. Mark clicked on it and read the message, which was an email, sent on priority channels. It was from Aurora and… Oh. That was a big message, huh? Mark breathed deep as he started reading, saying, "I think I need to make an appointment with some bankers… and..." Mark continued to read. Isoko raised an eyebrow as she sipped her soup.

She put her soup down and asked, "What's up?" A lot of things were up. Aurora had sent Mark an entire itinerary of people he needed to see, when he could. - - Dear Mark, Below is a condensed list of people I believe you should contact for your various needs, along with people you should contact for the needs of the settlement. 1) House Metallic: Marigold Metallic will be doing all the banking for the settlement.

She and her family have a long history with mithril blooded and other metal blooded people, primarily in securing the interests of those people, and making all of them incredibly wealthy. Consider House Metallic like the Collective putting paladins onto the List to protect True Healers, but instead of paladins of various kinds protecting the True Healers, House Metallic has paladins of Pluta and various others protecting the metal blooded.

Before the paladins came along, House Metallic had the dragon's share of protection duties in the Aluatha Empire, and they still do, but they are high in standing with the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity, and that influence is large in their organization. Speak to Countess Marigold Metallic when you wish to discuss your situation. I have not informed them of your situation. They will brush you off if you attempt to approach them at ground level, without spilling secrets.

You should insist on speaking to Marigold, and only then should you spill secrets. 2) Mage Society: Grand Mage Rekaro Solari is the representative for the Mage Society. All magical learning is done through him, along with all enforcement of Magic Secrecy. Ask him for what you asked me, and when he denies you flight magic, then tell him I have promised to get you flight magic in other ways. He might come around after that. Attempting to go through the proper channels first is still the proper thing to do.

3) Learning metalwork: There are many ways you could go with this. Tulo Khava has been read in on your situation, and he is eager to speak with you. He will probably give you to someone else in the Builder's Guild, though. Khava is an extremely busy man. If he hands you off to someone else, then you should speak to the Builder's Guild, or the Artificer's Guild, depending on how you want to proceed with metalworking. Their information is public, and you can choose someone there to help you with those things.

The Builder's Guild is mundane forging, making weapons and buildings and all sorts of things like that. The Artificer's Guild makes artifacts. Both are needed in the creation of a flying castle. 4) Becoming nobility: Make a house, get a family, have a structure in place for heirs that can pick up the same obligations as you, and I will make you a noble at that time. For you, this means your children will need to be adamantiumkinetics.

The same sorts of obligations hold true for anyone else wishing to become a noble. If, however, you wish to attach to an existing noble house, then that is a different path altogether. 5) For the needs of the settlement: Kaiju Team Leader, Sam Ranger / Nightbolt. See him regarding assistance for kaiju attacks, and eventual lead against kaiju yourself. Don't expect to be a lead member against a kaiju for years. Do expect to work with those who can kill kaiju at the present moment.

You did a wonderful showing with Nightbolt and that skysnake. We expect more of that. Tactical Team Leader, Bert Ironclad, no hero/villain name. He will be who you will work under for normal settlement protection detail. The Slayer organization does not exist in the settlement yet, but you will still be counted as a Slayer for the purposes of advancement in that arena.

Killing big-ish monsters will be our expectation of you, and you will get a portion of the money we make from the big monster kills, as per normal agreements already made. Agriculture and Resource Management Leader, Reeni Thumb. ARM is responsible for feeding us all. I have heard you wish for meat in your diets. Speak with Reeni if you wish to help with something along those lines. Perhaps growing food for fish?

I am unsure of what, exactly, you could help with, but the option is there, and Reeni desires to speak with you about various things. ~ General Aurora Valen, settlement project leader - - Mark looked up from the email and saw Isoko and he realized he had been reading at the table.

"Oh. Sorry. Uh." Isoko asked again, "What's up?" Mark had a small think. And then he said, "So yesterday a lot of stuff happened and I forgot to tell you some stuff that Aurora told me, about flight magics. We need to stop in a side room and I can tell you." Isoko's eyebrows raised, her vector turning joyful and focused. And then she looked at her food and finished it off as quickly as she could.

Mark chuckled and rapidly ate his own breakfast, and soon the two of them were out of there, and back to their own rooms. Mark shut the door and watched the outline of the door flicker on. The privacy enchantments were nothing special here, and Mark fully expected no secrets to be truly safe at all, but taking small measures to protect oneself was always the right thing to do. Heck!

It was possible that getting the whole settlement project together onto a boat and having them all interact for a week was part of the plan; of seeing problems arise before they became real problems. Someone —possibly a lot of someones! — were likely doing a lot of spying. But whatever. Mark said, "Aurora wants me to meet with the Grand Mage and ask him about flight magics, first, and if he denies me then I'm to tell him that Aurora will have House Valen teach me those flight magics, instead.

That means you'll be learning them too, no matter what happens today or in the future. But we're going to go through the proper channels, first." Isoko had a deep moment of thinking and plotting, her eyes sliding to the side as her vector went inward, and then flashed out in many directions like the sun flickering behind an eclipse. She was happy, but also worried. And then she focused on Mark as much as she could, and said, "If he denies us then let it lay for a few days. Maybe a week or more.

Maybe ask again when we get to the settlement and have some time to get set up. And then ask him again. There's no need to rush this. Learning even one spell takes a full year at any arcanaeum, and those one-years never get the full spellwork anyway. So we can play the long game…" She smiled.

"But that makes me really happy, Mark. Thank you for including me." Mark chuckled.

"Of course I included you!" Isoko grinned a little. And then she cheerfully exclaimed, "Let's go see the Grand Mage!" She was bouncy, and Mark loved to see it. And then she waggled her eyebrows and teased, "And maybe Tartu didn't badmouth you to his father."" Oh gods," Mark said, wondering what the fuck was wrong with Tartu, but Isoko just laughed. Mark brushed away concerns, saying, "I'm sure it's fine!"" Maybe it's not!"

Mark rolled his eyes and asked Quark, "Can you please make us an appointment with Grand Mage Solari?" Quark chimed, Isoko squee'd, and Quark said, "Grand Mage Solari's AI has returned that he is busy except for in emergencies. Appointments are available after the crossing, and he is not to be disturbed until after they reach Daihoon. Would you like to leave a message?" … Huh. Mark was suddenly unsure of how to proceed. If he left a message…

Mark was sure to encounter the guy in the hallways, and maybe even meet him directly, and then what would he say? What would happen then? Would Solari… dislike Mark for attempting to talk to him? Did… was that a valid worry? Or was this just some new anxiety? Isoko was unsure, too, but when Mark looked to her she rapidly waved her arms across her chest as she shook her head; she was not going to make any decisions for Mark. Mark hummed as he looked at Quark, on his phone.

And then he made a decision to leave a message.

"Please tell him this: Hello, this is Mark Careed, villain name Blackvein. I would like to be able to talk to you about learning some magic. My teammate Isoko Kanno is also interested. Thank you for your time." Mark added, "End message." Quark beeped, then said, "Message delivered." Mark put Quark away and looked to Isoko.

"I gotta meet with a banker, too, which is solo, but I also need to meet the kaiju people and other people." Isoko got a concerned look on her face.

"You gonna sell your adamantium?"" I don't want to, but… Sally makes a good point, you know? I need a good bank— Well. An accountant. These people on the ship sell all the mithril that the mithrilkinetics make. House Metallic is their name." Mark waved a hand, attempting to encompass a lot with just a gesture.

"It's a thing. Not sure how big of a thing, but I get the impression that metal is a big thing."" Yeah. It is. So… I'm gonna do my own thing, and you should go do that. It sounds super important, especially if you're going to tell them you're adamantium blooded— You haven't told them yet, have you?"" No. Aurora read in some builder named Tulo Khava, in some Builder's Guild, because he makes the adamantium weapons, but the only people who know, for sure, are you, Sally, Eliot, my uncles… Lola, David… Er.

Probably a lot of people, actually. But here? Just 5 people. Gonna be 6, soon." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Mark was worried about that growing number, in an existential sort of way, but it was what it was." I'm sure it will be fine?" Isoko said, not sounding too sure of herself. Mark hummed." Anyway. If you're doing that, then I'm gonna go check out the Tactical Unit, under Bert Ironclad."

Mark said, "We need to think about a party bank account, as well." Isoko shook her head.

"Not doing banking today! You have fun with numbers and business like a proper noble. I'm gonna relax at the theater and meet new people. The churches are doing outreach programs and I mean to meet all of our new paladin neighbors. I expect I won't be partying much with many of them, since we're a team, but most of them are going to be distributed out to the brawny teams. That might happen to us, too, occasionally." Mark paused.

"… I should meet them all, too." Isoko laughed once, then asked, "Gonna try something besides glaring?" A flash of embarrassment colored Mark's face.

"So that was a misstep, I admit. I shouldn't have glared at people last night." Isoko smirked. Mark defended himself, "But they were all talking about Addavein! Shit, man… I don't know about him. Why do they expect me to know about him?" Isoko took a moment, looking at Mark, and then she said, "We haven't seen him in a while. He should be done with his nap, right? So I'm worried. Most people are. Keeping track of kaiju-sized problems is an expectation of any big power in any city.

I don't think you got a chance to talk to Nightbolt about that, but that's one of his expectations of you, and the others. And you, especially, should be keeping track of Addavein."

"… Oh. I guess… that's a good point." With less concern in her voice and a whole lot more interest, and only because she was making an effort, Isoko changed the topic, "As for your villainy! The glaring was a good start, but you got any real idea of how you want to play it?" Mark readily took to the conversational distraction, saying, "I like the idea of a tyrant king."" I like that one! But I also liked that goofy thug that you tried for a week."" You liked that one?

I felt stupid, and people looked at me like I was stupid. I'm not gonna be stupid. Nope."" That was the charm of it, though!" Mark just shook his head, having too many words to say about the 'stupid thug' persona that he didn't know where to start.

Isoko said, "Well I'm going to be a princess, you're going to be a tyrant king, and I was talking to Sally and she wants to be a landlord or something like that, so she could probably play a role like that if she chooses to do the HVP thing, and we can all be evil overlords together. Eliot is going to do something similar, I'm sure, but he's still riding high on how much popularity he has right now, so I haven't gotten to talk to him about all of those specifics." Mark had an idea.

"Want to go see the HVP people? There has to be a representative up in here somewhere, right? We could get some guidance, or whatever?" Isoko raised an eyebrow. And then she said, "Nope! I'm not on the clock and am, in fact, resting right now. You're the only one who wants to go at full power, full time." She smirked.

"Which is good for a king!" Mark chuckled.

"The bankers are also still working!"" Evil never sleeps, this is true."" Ah! So you're a terrible villain, then." Isoko laughed. - -" I'm sorry, Mister Careed, but you cannot see the Countess today. She is in casual meetings for the remainder of the trip. I, however, can assist you with any banking needs you might have, until we reach the Crossing, and for the two days inside Endless Daihoon. When we get back to Daihoon then normal operations will resume."

The temporary offices of House Metallic and Bank Metallic were the same rooms, located on L-6, on the fourth floor. They were extravagant, but not much more than all the other rooms in this hallway. Ornate carpets added blues and golds to wooden hallways, that were only wood because the wood overlaid the metal walls to make it more homey. Ornate maps held on the hallway walls, next to screens that displayed views of the outside, like massive windows. There were no actual windows, of course.

Except for in a few locations, the first 5 meters of the exterior of the ship was a defensive layer and a maintenance zone. House Metallic shared this hallway with House Valen, which was a bit of a surprise. House Valen's forward facing operation was offices for the army and some sort of apothecary, all of which were filled with people, so it was just as public as House Metallic's banking operations. Mark hadn't known that House Valen was a bunch of healers.

He kinda wondered how they were doing, as a house with areas of interest, now that Freyala and Hearthswell were here and offering healing to everyone, and in much better ways than mortals ever could. House Valen's apothecary didn't look very popular, but Mark hadn't checked it out much. Apparently Kandon Valen, Aurora's brother and the person in charge of military operations, was in his offices over there, but Mark hadn't checked that out yet. Maybe later. Maybe not! Mark was here to see the banking.

Mark had gotten in a small line at Metallic's offices, to see a teller, and now Mark sat with the guy, across from a desk, while the guy had a tablet propped up in front of him. The guy also had what appeared to be a script for certain subjects, because Mark had heard him say that exact same 'you can't see Marigold'-spiel to two other people, so far. Mark was prepared to be denied, though.

Mark looked at the guy's name tag, which read 'Georgio', and said, "It's about adamantium-related things, Georgio, and it's important. Historically important." Georgio didn't care. He remained professional as he said, "Would you like to leave a message? Countess Marigold may or may not respond at her leisure." … For a moment, Mark was confused. He had assumed that saying something was 'adamantium-related' would have gotten him… something. But… Ah. Georgio was stonewalling him.

Mark almost asked why the guy was doing that, but Mark just said, "I would like to sell some adamantium—"" We're not buying from the dragon. Ever. Would you like some help in other matters?" Now that was clearly not part of any script. Mark paused. And then Mark nodded.

"Understood! I am not planning on being his go-between, either. I still want a really good personal accountant that will be able to handle millions of goldleaf." Georgio was professional as he nodded and then he tapped away at the screen in front of him, as he said, "Understand that we will not be accepting any transactions that have a hint of being made through that dragon, and the sale of any of his adamantium will not go through us at all. We will have nothing to do with Addavein.

If this is amenable to you, then I can give you the names of two accountants that meet your desires." Georgio stopped typing and Looked at Mark, asking, "Where do you think your millions of goldleaf will be coming from?"" That's between Countess Marigold Metallic and I, but I can say that I won't be selling Addavein's adamantium at all." Mark added, "But I do expect to make a lot of money on this villain-thing that I have going on with the Hero/Villain Program, and it won't all be reputable."

Georgio took that all in stride, though Mark could tell his vector flashed with deep intensity, and some of the people behind Mark in line, at the door, were listening in a bit too much. Georgio tapped a few more times at his tablet, as he said, "I will make sure she gets the message, Mister Careed." He stopped typing, and added, "And you should have a message in your email regarding various accounting services. Thank you for coming by and showing interest in Metallic Bank. We look forward to serving your needs."

Mark stood up, saying, "Thanks for your time." Mark left House Metallic's offices and stood in the opulent hallway for a little bit. The army offices of House Valen had a short line, so Mark contemplated going there, but he decided to do something else. His gaze moved to the right, to the anomaly in the hallway. The apothecary. People inside of the apothecary were all looking at stuff on the shelves, beyond Mark's sight. None of the people coming out of there had any bags at all.

So they weren't buying anything at all. Mark moved toward the entrance. There were shelves in there, but nothing solid… Oh. Pictures? They were selling pictures? Well. No. They were informing people what they would sell, if they were actually selling things. Weird, but okay. Mark kinda wondered what an apothecary even did, when there was magical healing. Like, sure, maybe not everyone had a healer on hand— Ahh! Mark had answered his own question. He simply needed to think about it for a second.

With a little bit of a smile at figuring out something that was incredibly obvious, Mark ignored the apothecary and walked down the hall… But then he turned around and went back to the healing shop and stepped inside. An older woman shopkeep stood beside a desk and the walls had pictures on them, arranged as though they were on shelves. People, in twos and threes, were looking at the walls. They were mostly young people, like Mark, and he was pretty sure they were all brawnies, and warriors, too.

One guy noticed Mark, and he jerked, causing his friend to turn and look Mark's way, too. They both decided to ignore Mark, as countless other people had already done today. Mark wondered if he had glared too much last night… But? This was fine. He was going to do the 'tyrant king' thing for his villain persona, and maybe… Maybe he would even take out his adamantium and float it around his head like a crown. That'd be neat! Anyway, this was not an apothecary.

They had pictures on the walls, arranged in a shelf-like manner, that showed potions and poultices and rocks of some kind, and herbs growing in pots, and bottle after bottle of pills. Explanations of the products were written in small handwritten font below the photo. Everything was in color, and everything was arranged like this was a real shop, but this was not a real shop at all. By the entrance, Mark read the only sign in the place. What you see here is a rather standard facsimile of a House Valen Apothecary.

Magic doesn't work as well on Earth as it does on Daihoon, and one of the reasons for this is mana pressure. The Veil separates Earth from Daihoon, making sure all ambient mana goes to Daihoon, instead of lingering on Earth. This mana pressure ensures that magic functions well on Daihoon, but degrades fast on Earth. The Veil is not perfect, at all, but it does ensure a few facts of life: Monsters on Earth are weaker compared to monsters on Daihoon. Magic on Daihoon is a lot stronger than on Earth.

The differences of tiers is exaggerated on Daihoon. You might have been able to get away with a tier 5 sword swinging at a tier 9 monster on Earth, but the same is not true on Daihoon at all. And on Daihoon, you have magical items all over the place. These magical items bridge the gap of tiers, but in smaller, more mundane ways, these magical items are exactly the same as appliances in your kitchens, and bandages and antiseptic in your cupboards.

Imagine this apothecary on Daihoon the same as a grocery store pharmacy aisle. Bandages are the same, but instead of antiseptics, as on Earth, you would buy potions and poultices on Daihoon. Mark nodded a little, and then he looked around. As he read descriptions under photos of products, he mostly ignored how the people in the room gradually all noticed him, and focused on him. One pair of women walked out after they noticed him.

One trio of guys, who had been talking with the shopkeep about 'mana density' and 'product expiration timeline', wrapped up their conversation and walked away as quickly as they could, though one of the guys wanted to stay and continue to talk with the shopkeep. And then the rest of the people walked out, though they tried to be calm about it. Their vectors showed great relief after they left, though. But the shopkeep was still there.

She was an older woman with greying hair and a comfortable softness to her vector, even when all the other people left, which caused her to sigh. She seemed sad that the groups had all left. She had been talking eagerly about healing products until Mark had shown up. The shopkeep asked, "Got anything I can help you with, Mark?" Mark flinched. He turned and said, "It was not my intention to drive them away. Sorry about that." The woman waved a hand toward the door, saying, "They'll be fine.

This is just a primer to help people learn where they need to go to get the healing when healers aren't present. What brought you in here, though?"" Well, actually… exactly that. We have enough healers in the settlement, right? That was a pretty top priority, according to what I spoke of with Eliot. Also, I had no idea that House Valen was a healing house." Mark added, "Also, uh, pardon me. You have me at a disadvantage, as I do not know your name." The older woman arched an eyebrow, and then smiled a little bit.

"Elaria Valen. A pleasure to meet you, Mark." Without a moment of pause, she looked at the door and asked, "I'd love to tell you all about the history of the House and our experiences with healing magics. Would you care for a cup of tea and a sit?" Mark smiled a little.

"Sure! I would love that— Ah. Er… I had planned on getting… to a lot of different places, before the Crossing, before everything shuts down. Can I take up the offer later?"" Of course! See you later, Mark. Nice to meet you." Mark kept his smile going.

"Nice to meet you as well, Elaria."