Chương 171: 171

Your total comes to 73, 200 points, Mark," Julie Sacredcut said, with a smile.

"I know you'll be happy with all of it!"" I think so, too," Mark said, though he was unsure. Mark was alone with Julie in her office of the Artificer's Guild, while Isoko was outside on the sales floor, trying to make a decision between the 37, 000 point hoverbelt that would last a long time, and which was marketed as 'flight on a belt!', or the 12, 000 point belt which was pretty good at flight, but needed to be taken off before battle.

Mark had splurged but the belt he had chosen was only 8, 000 points, because he didn't want to get complacent. Even with that cheaper option, though, the incidentals added up fast, and the final amount was both deadening and exhilarating. There were a lot of things Mark had discovered about himself in the last year, and it was weird to discover that he hated spending money a lot more than he thought he should.

Buying all this stuff today was like the first time he had signed up for his ablative plate armor subscription, or the first time he had bought a nice spear… and then instantly lost the spear in a battle, so he had gone for the plain spear with alchemical silver coatings instead. It had hurt to lose that first good spear. At least he hadn't spent good money on armor back then. Real armor for non-TT people was fucking expensive and there was no way he was spending money on that sort of stuff.

Even still, the subscription was horrifically expensive. And now Mark was spending money again, and it felt bad again. But look at what he had bought! He had two different magic rings, a hoverbelt for 8k, the spellbreaker of course, at 25k and the most expensive single object here, and one really neat Shaper-specific 'armor maker' that he couldn't wait to get home and try with his adamantium. The Shaper-thingy was 20k on its own, but it would last a while, because he wouldn't be using it in battle at all.

It was a harness that went around the upper chest and, when he activated it, it would help him with both visualizing the armor he wanted to make out of adamantium, and then help him make that armor. And, of course, Mark had to replace his webweave underarmor. Mark's stuff had all been ruined in the fight with Shroomer. He also had an assortment of 'forging with biometals' manuals that were for sale for anyone who wanted one, but they were all mithril-based books.

There had been no off-the-shelf manual for adamantium forging, but Julie had gotten one printed out from the book binding machine they had in the back when Mark had asked for adamantium options. Julie smiled a little as she looked down at the purchases, and then she gestured at the books, saying, "I'll repeat that those books are only the ones we're allowed to sell. You can get better adamantium forging information online, though the veracity of that information is questionable, at best." Mark smiled a little.

"I know. That's what Armsmaster Tulo Khava told me."" Have you done much forging?" Julie asked, with incredible restraint. Mark could tell she wanted adamantium to experiment with, but that wasn't going to happen for various reasons. Just to be sure, though, Mark asked again, "I have extra adamantium that I'd like made into tools for me, if you can do that? I can pay points."

Mark had approached that question earlier in the transaction, when Julie's gaze lingered on Mark's forearms and legs where his adamantium held, and her vector had been threaded with want. But just like the first time Mark had asked—" No no," Julie said, shaking her head.

"I can't. I want to, but I can't.

'No adamantium trading at all'. That's the official law, handed down by Aurora herself last week. None of us really believed it, but…" She added, "I got a warning when I printed out the book for you. Like I said. So I'm steering clear of that. I can't make adamantium stuff for you, or anyone else, not that I even could!" She chuckled nervously.

"I've never worked with the stuff at all!" Mark didn't like that Julie was being pressured when it came to his own adamantium, but… Mark tried, "It's not trading in adamantium. It's trading for labor." Julie's desire spiked… And then she breathed out, shuddering with slight emotional pain.

"Can't do it. Won't do it. Sorry, Mark." She brightened.

"So let's get this all packed up?" Mark picked up the rings, saying, "Everything but these."" I'm surprised you didn't have something like those yet," Julie said, grinning, as she wrapped up the hoverbelt.

"I'm glad I could talk you into the second one." The first ring was a simple Ring of Repair Clothes. It would only really function with webweave, or other skin-tight things, but even if all it did was repair webweave then that would be a great improvement from Mark's current situation. Mark's normal tendency was to end up nude if there was a lot of fire or other burning/melting substances in the air, and he was quite tired of that.

The other ring, the one Julie had suggested, was a Ring of No-Wealth, Metal edition, which would hide his metallic wealth from all metal-type wealth scanners. There were as many different types of Rings of No-Wealth as there were ways to scan for that nebulous category of 'thing' known as 'wealth'. This particular type of No-Wealth ring would hide all of Mark's adamantium, which would give him a slight bit of anonymity back…

or at least it would stop people from seeing that Mark's amount of adamantium increased at metal-blooded rates. Rings of No-Wealth were apparently a popular item for all the mithril blooded people out there, and it worked similarly on adamantium as it did on mithril. And on goldleaf and plain gold and silver and all the other metals out there.

It was also a solid artifact for tinkerers of all kinds to wear, too, so that they could walk around with their metal contraptions and not be pinged by the most common of wealth scanners. Both rings were not an option on Earth at all. They'd break if Mark took them back. Mark's Shaper armor helper was similar. The hoverbelt and the spellbreaker were the only things that would survive on Earth, but even then they'd have reduced functionality.

Mark would have to leave most of it in his apartment when he went back to Earth for any length of time at all. None of this was cheap, either! Over 7, 500 for the Repair ring and 11, 000 for the No-Wealth ring. It hurt to spend that much, and yet, if Mark wanted to, he could have spent a lot more. Julie added, "There are better wealth-hiding options if you want one; Generalized obscurers that don't take up finger space."" Nope!

These ones are good," Mark said, as he looked at the little silver rings on his fingers." They will break on Earth, just to remind you." Mark grinned a little.

"Thanks."" I'm glad you're happy with them, then. Your webweave reorder will be in by tomorrow." Julie set his packed bag down in front of him.

"Have you considered any sort of signage on your suits?"" I have, actually," Mark said, surprised at the turn of conversation. Julie liked villains, though, so it wasn't that surprising in retrospect.

"But that would be 'engaging in the Hero/Villain Program' and even before Aurora told me not to do that I was already slow-rolling the HVP."" Ah, of course. You were sort of… forced into the Villain role." Mark grinned because what else was he going to do.

"Yup." … Julie hesitated with what she was going to say next, but she decided to say it anyway, "Tartu is planning on ambushing you with a Wand of Destruction. It's not going to be pretty." A moment. And then... Disbelief, and anger. Mark tentatively asked, "Ambush?"" On the 20th of March. Not right away. Even he isn't stupid enough to flaunt Aurora's commands that much. But yes; he is making plans." Anger burbled, but the threat wasn't here. Wasn't knocking on his door.

It was down the road a bit, but it was coming this way. Mark had time. But as Mark evaluated himself and how he felt, he realized he was still mad. Furious. Mark practically spat, "That asshole spent 47 hours in lockdown instead of 48, too, and I'm not even sure he did that because my AI could have been… You know what? It's fine." He added, "It's fine if he is planning on doing something next month. I'm…"

Mark hadn't been planning on anything at all on March 20th, but seeing as February was already here, maybe he should have been planning for the HVP stuff. Tartu obviously was. Mark shrugged.

"I have no plans so far. Maybe I should make some. Got any suggestions— Wait." Mark needed information.

"What's a Wand of Destruction? Is he planning on…" Mark suddenly wasn't sure if Tartu was planning on murdering him, or what. Mark asked, "On murdering me?"" Oh gods no! It's not murder," Julie said, chuckling, and not very nervously at all. In a moment of joyful conspiracy, Julie looked around her empty office and at the open door leading to the sales floor, and lowered her voice to say, "Wands of Destruction dispel effects on a person, which includes all magical items. Weaker artifacts just break.

One of those wands will break the spellbreaker, too, but the breaker is repairable." She waved a hand, dismissive, as though she hadn't just ruined Mark's day, adding, "He might not even use it, but we're allowed to see who buys what at the market and he bought all the kel-essence again — emptied the market again, the prick! — and that means big things. With the mithril purchases and a few other things he got, he's making a Wand of Destruction.

Of course he could be making anything but Wands of Destruction are a common thesis-level artifact, and he's going for his Artificer's Guild accreditation, and that fits the profile of his purchases. I made one of those for my accreditation and I think he's making one, too."

"… He's gonna break all the shit I just bought today, isn't he."" Yes." With another joyful tone, Julie added, "But you can counter ambush and then take him for everything, and if you do, it will be glorious! So very glorious! Steal that wand, Mark! It's so fucking expensive! So, so expensive!" She cackled. Cackled! Like a witch, or… or rather like a villain. Mark temporarily forgot his anger, as he was caught up in Julie's mirth. Mark found himself saying, "That's a good villain laugh."

Julie's face heated up as she came down from her joy, saying, "Oh. Uh… Thank you."" Is there a way to defend against the Wand of Destruction?"" Yes, if you can Tactile Telekinesis. So. You know."

"… Ah. Fuck."" I know the feeling!" Julie tried to be comforting and dismissive of the threat at the same time, as she said, "He probably won't even use it on you. Those things would be worth 200k points if we were allowed to sell them, but no one is going to make them. They're Sentinel-gear. They're only useful against other people or, like, especially terrible goblins. That's their main use, and why they're not simply outlawed like some types of artifacts.

But if you can manage to steal it from him then you can pay the 95% HVP tax with adamantium since you get extra from your bro— Ah! Isoko! Did you make a decision on the belt?" Mark had noticed Isoko coming this way, but now Isoko was stepping into Julie's office/salesroom. Isoko said, "I'm going with the 8, 000 point belt because I don't want to get complacent with that solution—" Mark nodded; that was his own reasoning, too.

"— But what were you talking about?" Isoko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That was a good villain laugh."" I was telling Mark about Tartu's plan for a Wand of Destruction ambush! It's a dastardly thing…" Isoko was confused, and then she got mad, too, but soon enough they were packing up Isoko's selections and then walking out of Julie's office, and thanking her for her tip. Mark paused ten meters out the front door. It was just him and Isoko right now, here under the sun outside of Castle South. Isoko stopped and turned back.

"What?"" I'm thinking… She's been really helpful. But… It's weird. I normally trust people, and yet." Mark looked at his bag of stuff, and he knew it would not break under normal circumstances, but Julie had started off their relationship as their caseworker by telling them that items broke all the time. And here now was Julie telling them about Tartu. Again, actually. This was the second time Julie had talked about Tartu being an asshole. Mark openly wondered, "Should I try to make her more of an ally, or…

or what?"" Ahhh," Isoko said, seeing what he was saying.

"I was keeping her at a short distance, but she and her sister are pretty good at what they do."" Exactly!" Isoko said, "Grandma always said that money makes good acquaintances until someone with more money comes around, but Julie is an artificer, so money isn't what she really wants." Ah. Mark understood what Isoko was getting at. Mark said, "I'll be right back." Isoko waited outside as Mark turned around and went back into Castle South, to the Artificer's Guild. Julie was still in her office.

Julie raised an eyebrow.

"Something you forgot?"" Yes." Mark put a small cube of adamantium on the table in front of Julie, and said, "A tip. Thanks for the help." Julie's eyes boggled at the bit of metal, but then she turned professional and smiled gently. She was bursting with joy on the inside, though. With a deft hand she palmed the black metal, saying, "I'm always glad to help, Mark! Let me know if you need anything at all.

Special projects are just a commission or two away and though I cannot work with your adamantium, anything in the entire catalogue of options is available, and for good prices!"" Glad to have you onboard, Julie. I'm sure that adamantium restriction won't last forever and kaiju farming is a few years away, anyway. I look forward to seeing what you can do." Julie's joy seemed to crystallize into something a lot deeper, and yet fragile.

Her mask of professionalism was a fractured thing under the weight of Mark's words. Her voice wavered, "I under… stand." Mark nodded and walked away. He was surprised at himself, being able to say something like that, but it had felt right to say, and it felt even more right when Julie reacted like she had. Mark was two steps past the doorway of the artificer's guild when he felt Julie's vector shudder and her joy return, but it was a subdued sort of thing. Unsure, and yet still there.

Mark smiled and walked on, joining Isoko outside. Isoko walked beside Mark, saying, "She's not an ally yet, but she could be." Mark nodded, thinking about— With much more excitement in her voice, Isoko asked, "So I almost left you behind because I want to take this belt out right now so hurryandcatchmeifyoucan!" Isoko bolted for Castle One, glittering footsteps propelling her fast across the grass. No time to think about allies and stuff like that! This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road.

If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. There was flying to be done! Mark hurried to catch up. Soon, they had thrown their stuff into their rooms and put on their belts. Isoko's belt was a belt for a brawny, so it was different from Mark's. Hers had some Tactile Telekinesis-enabled controls in the flight center located on the buckle of the belt.

Mark's belt had some switches that he could press with flecks of adamantium, but the belt was made out of basic steel and Mark knew that flying would toss him around, and he'd break the (relatively) fragile controls. So Julie had hooked him up with a solution; a special glove with wires and sensors that would move him based on how he worked the glove. Mark flexed his hand in the glove, tapping his thumb and pinky together twice.

According to the instructions, that movement would turn the belt on, and sure enough his belt flickered on, lights illuminating down the edges of the metal and around the buckle. It was blue, because that's the color he had set it for. Isoko's belt glowed pink, because that's what she wanted. Neither of them had revved up the belts. They had just turned them on. Mark and Isoko remained on the floor of their apartment. Mark's stomach was already tumbling with anticipation. Isoko was feeling a similar way.

Both of them looked at each other, and they giggled. And then Isoko bolted outside, into the sun, and Mark followed. Isoko lifted just a little, her vector soaring far in front of where she actually was. And then she tilted. Face down, feet up, her face went right into the grass. She was laughing even as she recovered, flopping and rolling and getting back on her feet.

Mark must have pressed the wrong button on his, too, squeezing his glove wrong, because he tilted left and everything kinda went right, and then he was on the ground, too, spinning feet over face, laughing. They'd figure it out! - - Julie sat at her workstation at Sacredcut Manor, at the settlement. The tiny metal cube sat before her, a blot of black atop the steel. It was blacker than darkest night, and it weighed way too much for its size. Adamantium. And it was hers.

It was worth about 12 million goldleaf, but she couldn't sell it. She might have gotten away from the office with it, but if she actually tried to sell it then someone would show up at her door —probably the 'scout leader' and definitely-not-spymaster Yoro Whisperwind— and she did not want that. She didn't want to sell the adamantium, anyway. She wanted— The door opened and Julie almost panicked, but it was just Barba. Julie had sent her a message to come home as soon as possible, and now she was here.

Nothing was wrong! Not yet. Barba looked at Julie, and then at Uncle to the side, and then down at the metal on the table, and she gasped a little. She rushed into the room and closed the door behind her, whispering, "Were you seen?"" Undoubtedly," Uncle said. Julie was less certain, but Uncle was fully certain, and caution was a good thing to exercise right now.

Julie said, "Someone probably saw something before I switched out my general obscurer for a No-Metal torc, but if someone saw then they didn't say anything. Aurora would be here, otherwise."" She's busy," Uncle said.

"She will not respond to every little thing, but we are in a warzone. People see everything here." Uncle Sacredcut was the head of the family, here at the settlement. Grandfather was the true head, back at Crytalis, but Grandpa wasn't here. Not yet, anyway. Maybe not ever! Uncle, Julie, and Barba, all hoped that this settlement would be the new start to their languishing family fortunes, and they were lucky to get this assignment because, yes, this place was a good place to be.

If this place actually managed to become a Twin City to Memphi, like everyone wanted, then the whole family might relocate… Mostly. For now, the only people who lived here in this 'manor' were Barba, Uncle, Julie, and their knights. It was less of a manor and more of a very large workshop, mostly for Uncle and Julie, but this place had a lot going for it already. If this thing worked out, then they'd make the place bigger. Better. And here was their first big break. This little bit of adamantium. This…

monumental amount of adamantium, really. In any normal time, this little bit of metal here would be a fortune, but, this was not a normal time, and there was a lot more adamantium out there than Julie could imagine. A 'whole dragon back' full of the stuff. And a younger talzarki brother who carried around kilos of the stuff. Julie said, "I never imagined he would give it out as a tip."" A tip!" Barba squawked. And then she asked, "A tip? Is that legal? Does that count under the adamantium trade ban, or not?""

We're not sure. Seems like a 'no', for now." Uncle said to Julie, "I'm glad you convinced him to buy a No-Metal ring."" Didn't take much convincing," Julie stated. Barba looked at both of them, asking, "General Aurora really isn't going to show up? She seemed… truly intent on locking down adamantium transfers."" She has more leeway than we thought," Uncle said.

"Duchess Valen is teaching the boy and his friend magic, too…" He had more to say, but he stopped himself. Barba and Julie looked at Uncle, who was still silent and contemplating something. Julie said, "Someone saw what happened, for sure, but I still took it, obviously."" Obviously," Uncle said, and then he plucked the adamantium from the table. He observed it, then he flicked down his jeweler's lenses over his left eye to observe the dark metal even deeper.

"High quality. Pure adamantium. Of course he's an adamantiumkinetic, so yes, it is pure… so very… pure…" Silence. After a deep moment, Uncle set the metal back down in front of Julie as he flipped his lenses back up with his other hand, asking, "So what now?" Barba asked, "Sell it?"" Gods no," Julie said, while Uncle gruffly said, "No." Barba shut her mouth." I'm going to make something of it," Julie said. Uncle nodded. Barba waited. Julie stared at the black metal again.

"… Should I make something for him?" She looked up at her family. Silence. And then, Uncle asked, "In the hopes of more metal, later?" Julie left the question unanswered. But maybe? She wasn't sure what to do now. She had been one of many different hopefuls at the Artificer's Guild, at this new settlement, hoping for big breaks and bigger paydays, and to get to work with materials that weren't so tightly controlled like all of the materials you could buy in Crytalis.

Here at the settlement, and eventually as a node to connect Earth to Daihoon, the trade would flow, and everyone who lived here, who participated, would make fortunes large enough to buy whole kingdoms. Julie had gotten randomly assigned to be Mark's caseworker, which had been a total fluke, but maybe not. When Mark came in the assigning system fritzed and it declared two different people to be Mark's caseworkers. Those people, or others nearby, had messed with the system to create that outcome.

So the system got reset, but because those people could have been victims of the conspiracy to move assigned cases around, they were left in the selection. And then Julie got Mark's assignment. That was her first big break. And then Mark had asked for help with points, and Julie assigned Barba to be his Harvester, which had been the second big break for the family. And now they were here. And Julie was staring down at a small lump of adamantium, with Uncle's question on her mind. What did she hope for, here?

For more adamantium? Or for… for what? To make a strong ally? … Yes. Even with the threat of kaiju looming in Mark's future, yes, Julie wanted to make a strong ally, here and now. But she didn't want to be used, either. She had to play this right. Barba watched. Uncle asked, "What kind of relationship do you want to foster with him? The kind where he gives you metal and you make things for him, which is him using you, or the kind where you get vastly overpaid for your work?" Barba watched.

Julie hummed only a little.

"I'm good with being vastly overpaid." Barba quietly asked, "But you can't sell it?"" Of course not, dear," Uncle said.

"But she can be first in line for monster parts, and you can be right there with Mark and his team collecting those monster parts, and if Mark doesn't desire a mate, then perhaps Eliot does. We all saw him last night at that party. How do you feel about asking Eliot on a date?" Barba paled a little as the severity of the situation started circling her. She went silent. Uncle left Barba with her existential crisis as he looked back to Julie, asking again, "What are you going to make for yourself?""

I never thought I would ever be able to work in adamantium at all," Julie said.

"I know the theories, but… But anything I make would be an experiment. I could use up all of this and not have anything left over for making… anything at all."" You can't sell it, so you can only use it, so do what you can, Julie. I have faith." And then Uncle started rambling off options, "Ring of Ultimate Protection, Anklet of Surety, a simple edge to a Sword of Slicing, a tip for any number of the Great Wands which the Solari scion already demonstrated is possible…"

Uncle spoke of small, adamantium-based items, and Julie listened to those options, trying to decide. Barba spoke up, "I could use a Great Wand. I like the Great Wand option." Julie stated, "I'm not sending you out into the wilds w ith the first thing I eve r make out of adamantium..." She stared at the black metal, adding, "But maybe the next one, or the one after that?" Barba countered, "Great Wands have multiple uses. Just use it ten times before I get it."

Julie frowned a little, humming discontent— Uncle spoke, "Make a Great Wand of Ice Clouds. That's a well known option, listed tens of times in the Grand Archives. Unless Solari is drawing from different archives —which is possible but unlikely based on the distribution of shredding ice clouds as seen in that video— then the Great Wand of Ice Clouds in the Grand Archive is the one that Tartu made.

It's one of the least expensive options, using the least amount of adamantium, and I doubt Tartu got more than this amount of adamantium here. Aurora took almost all of it." … Not a bad option, Julie thought. Barba softly said,"I'd like to freeze a monster and be able to run away." Julie would like that, too. Julie asked Uncle, "You ever made one before?"" Nope, but you graduated fourth in your entire class, Julie. I have faith."" I do, too," Barba said. Julie breathed deep, and then she picked up the adamantium.

"A Grand Wand of Ice Clouds, then? Sounds... viable." Uncle added, "What you really need to think about is what hap pens when you b ecome a Grand Artificer, and what the Empire will demand of you and yours. That is for the far future, but stepping further down this path will eventually land you there. You would rise to become the next head of the family if you do this correctly, Julie." Julie's heart soared a little.

And then Julie breathed deep, stood up, and plucked the metal from the table, feeling its weight and hardness in her hand, as she openly decided, "I could be an artificer for the Empire. I have no problem with that." Uncle gave one of his rare little grins, and then he walked toward the door, saying to Barba, "Let us speak of any possible romance between you and Cybersong. You didn't inherit the family magic, but it's a close thing, and such a match between the Cybersongs and the Sacredcuts might prove fruitful…"

Barba's eyes were wide as Uncle talked, and she forced herself to listen, as the two of them walked out of Julie's workshop. Julie didn't think anything was going to happen between Barba and Eliot, but they were rather close in age, and… Well. If that worked out, it worked out. Barba would have preferred being ignored in Mark's harem, though. Being the main wife to Cybersong was probably not in the stars. Julie focused on the metal in her palm. - - - - Flying was funky, but also a lot of fun.

Mark was already capable of a bit of flight, even if it was more like 'invisible tentacle walking' than actual flight. So right now, as he floated above the grasslands of the settlement, with his adamantium forming fans and stabilizing rudders, the wind in his hair, the land about 50 meters below, Mark was kinda used to this. But not really. It w as so much better to fly free. Mark absolutely wanted to be able to do this, for real.

To soar, to sweep across the plains, to play in the clouds that were still so far above them. Isoko was enjoying her flying time, though." WOOOOOOOOO!" Isoko screamed, as she whipped across a low tree top. Isoko's joy was like the sun to Mark's moon. She whooped and hollered and zipped back and forth and spun loops before she twisted out of control, just briefly, giggling hysterically, before she got herself back under control and then she leveled out.

Only to go sweeping down to the ground, just meters above the long grasses, platinum-shimmering hands touching the blades of grass, before she spun back into the sky, dropping her platinum sheen, the control of her weight doing a lot more for the control of her altitude than any sort of button pressing could ever do. She was not in full control of her flight at all. But she wanted that control. She wanted this freedom. Mark kinda just hung out, doing smaller loops, flying high and hanging out, and then flying low.

He looked out across the wall of the settlement, at the Shine to the west, the forests to the east, the hint of the shroom forest far, far to the south, where kaiju bones stuck up from the ground and the mushrooms were barely seen. To the north was open country. Down below were grasslands separated by distant roads and tram tracks, with a river running through it all and a big lake in the center, dotted by islands. Farmlands held over there in the west. Mostly, the settlement was grass.

Buildings held here and there like seeds planted in soil. Some of those buildings were blooming with life, with expansion, but most were there to be there; to hold people until the people figured out where they were going and what they were doing. Eventually, the apartment castles of the War Quarter would be remade into actual war buildings and also evacuation centers. Eventually, all of those grasslands would be filled with civilization— Isoko floated up next to Mark, grinning, asking, "Wha'cha thinkin 'bout?"

Mark looked out at the land, and said, "I'm thinking this is a great home." Isoko was radiant.

"It is, isn't it."" I always wanted to grow up and have the power to go anywhere and do anything, and I think… I'm not there yet, bu t... We're gettin g there, Isoko. We're getting there." Isoko grinned, giggled, and then did a loop through the air, before flying off fast toward the west.

"Bet you can't catch me!" And then she was racing through the sky, glittering with reflected rainbows on platinum skin, dropping low, grasses parting under her breeze. Mark spun up his propellers at the speed of a slow fan, fixed his rudders as well as he could, grinned, and gave chase.