World Sphere - 188 - (Patreon)

Chapter 188

The loot from the pirates was terribly artificed gear that would last maybe a decade or two—amateur work at best. There were half a dozen quality dungeon rings and a pair of dungeon blades mixed in. All of them were worth in the range of a thousand gold each. Unfortunately, I was not selling them and handed them to Leda, Tibault, and Neoma for coming along. Bleiz was already decked out in some of my best work, so he did not get a share but took a heavy gold necklace with black pearls as his share.

I replaced silver with platinum for the trash runic items and repaired the runes when needed. After I finished with them, they should all last around a century of use and were fit to be sold in our magic shop. The runic cannons were not special as the aether shield disrupter was a lesser form of my own disruptor cannon. I debated whether to keep them for the Sky Wraith or salvage the mithril from their runes. Since aether cannons needed a lot of aether to fire, almost always, the runes had to be laid from mithril.

It was about 5,000 gold worth of mithril, and in the end, I decided the Sky Wraith could use them more. The trip back to Skyholme was uneventful, just a silver dragon spotted flying lazily and a half dozen other skyships—none on our pirate bounty sheets. I contacted Remy to share the good news when I got in sight of the islands.

“Remy, we are a few minutes away from the Shiny Platinum. It was a successful endeavor.” I spoke when the stone connected.

“Storme, good to have your back. All is well here, except the tailor’s daughter is missing. The one you asked Sana to look into. Elijah arrived yesterday and is combing the city for her.” Remy replied seriously.

“What do Sana and Elijah think it is?” I asked.

“From your notes, a Shifter. They are powerful creatures tier four and higher, and Keothi, the ghost elf who worked on Kiara and Adrial, confirms this. He said he sensed an ancient enemy the day before the girl disappeared. They don’t understand why one would be in Skyholme. They prefer dark and cold places. Relik returned to Llorth to recruit a team specializing in hunting Shifters.” Remy took a breath, “Even he seemed wary of it.”

“Is Freya safe?” I asked worriedly, regretting not returning immediately.

“She is staying with the Duskhunters at their residence outside the Progenitor Dungeon.” Remy’s voice changed to excitement. “The Progenitor Dungeon closed! It is already evolving.”

It was not good news. My revenue stream from the dungeon was now cut off. “Do they know when it will reopen?”

“Anywhere from a few days to a year. Overseer Warren left this morning and will return to Skyholme when it does. How fruitful was the hunt?” He asked cautiously of our finances.

“The Maelstrom was damaged. I have maybe two hundred thousand gold and some trade goods you will need to evaluate.” I replied.

Remy was not too happy with the low sum, and we discussed the trade goods, so I brought the Maelstrom into the Shiny Platinum hanger. Rippon was already in the hangar when we landed and immediately started going over the damage.

“What did you do to my poor girl?! All your fancy runic writings, and it looks like a dragon used her as a chew toy!” I let him be dramatic as he continued to mumble to himself and plan the repairs. After he completed the wooden structural repairs, I added the plating and runic work myself. I left him to it.

Adrial dashed around the hangar, patrolling for rats. Kiara grumbled. “Dumb. Sister. No. Rats.” Kiara seemed to understand the anti-vermin runes were active, but Adrial liked to feel like she was patrolling the hanger and making it safe.

I started to move toward my apartments, but Aelyn was standing in the archway, so I paused, examining her and how deep of trouble I was in. Her arms were as crossed as her face. “Mother. Angry.” Kiara said unhelpfully. I looked at the cat as it was the first time she had associated Aelyn with the word mother. She was pulling knowledge from my mind with the mind link and forming her own understanding of the world. When I felt her digging too much, I was able to push her back.

Aelyn started tapping her foot, and I didn’t think all the jewelry I had put aside for her was going to quell her anger. “Anything interesting happened while I was gone?” I asked nonchalantly, walking toward her.

“You mean while you were off hunting pirates?” She looked at the Maelstrom. “And not doing a very good job of it.” She added snarkily.

I moved in for a kiss, and she shied away. “I am sorry. You know I don’t like formal functions.”

“Loriel is angrier than me. I will let her string you up by your manhood.” I chuckled as we both knew that was not going to happen. Aelyn’s eyes burned into me, so I stopped.

Exasperated, Aelyn released her angry façade. “Captain Delilah has a message for you from King Nirhaan.”

“Another artificing job?” I asked hopefully. Apparently, I was one of the few people capable of manipulating adamantine and inserting runes outside of a dungeon in the Sphere.

“You will have to ask her yourself. I am still angry with you after spending the entire night making excuses for your absence. Five kings and two emperors were in attendance, Storme. Treaties for trade, mutual defense, dungeon access, immigration, and military exchanges were discussed.” Aelyn said pointedly

“Then I am glad I was not there,” I quipped as we climbed the stairs.

Aelyn spun on me, “You do realize that other than its skyship armada, Skyholme is one of the weakest ruling bodies in twenty-thousand miles? Loriel needed you there to show strength. To show off the mage who had single-handily repelled the Black Marauders.” Aelyn was passionate in her speech, and I didn’t know she cared so much about the islands. “They came here because of that. Too many left with questions about how. They had powerful readers in their entourages and couldn’t fathom how Skyholme managed it.”

“Loriel should have been clearer that my presence was required,” I said in annoyance. Aelyn’s grating look had me shrug lightly. I felt I did more than my fair share for Skyholme. We arrived at the room where Captain Delilah was quartered. I knocked softly, and the door opened.

Captain Delilah answered in her armor. The stoic captain saluted in the Myththorne way, a slight bow and her fist to her shoulder. “You have returned, High Mage. King Nirhaan has contacted me. He wishes to speak with you.”

She removed the adamantine ring and handed it to me. The king’s council wouldn’t let King Nirhaan give the priceless artifact. I had artificed the twin pair of rings, and they had a 500,000-mile range to communicate with each other. I put the ring on and channeled aether to activate when the captain stood at attention.

The connection formed but was chaotic, and I looked down at Kiara, and she broke her mind link to me. The connection cleared, and I heard King Nirhaan’s voice in my head. “Master Artificer Storme?”

“It is,” I mentally thought. “How can I help you King Nirhaan? Do you have another project?”

“I do, but it is not for me. My last use of your services has left me destitute,” he chuckled through the link. “The city of Myththorne needs you. You have heard of the World Walker sightings?”

“I have. One is targeting Myththorne?” I shaded my tone toward concern. I didn’t think I could help against such a creature.

“Thankfully, not as yet. There have been four sightings of the behemoths, and one city has been destroyed.” He replied heavily.

“I don’t think my combat skills could outstrip the adventurers in your city,” I replied cautiously.

“It is not your combat skills I need. The council has voted to use the treasury as a defensive shield. Since the runes would be adamantine, you are the first person I thought of.” He said seriously.

“A shield for the entire city? That seems excessive. Especially with no World Walker currently targeting your city.” I said with confusion. The scale of such an artifact would be immense.

“Ah, I see you are not current with the Adventurer’s Guild’s reporting. The World Walkers are targeting the biggest dungeons in the Sphere. They are capable of destroying the city and sealing the dungeon.” King Nirhaan paused. “The Cavern of the Thunder Witch is not the largest dungeon, but we are certain, based on reports, that it will be targeted.”

“Why are the World Walkers leaving their home?” I asked.

“Someone is teleporting them. Who can teleport a creature that exceeds tier 7 is beyond the scope of the report, and I am not sure I want to know. They will settle over a dungeon and draw out aether through the essence like a straw, sucking the dungeon dry. Usually, the dungeon seals the entrance before it is completely destroyed, but it is a certainty the entrance will appear elsewhere after the Walker is finished.”

After considering, I replied, “I am not sure I can leave at the moment. There is a threat in Skyholme that cannot be ignored.”

“Captain Delilah informed me of the Shifter in your city. I am surprised it left the Endless Dark, but we are prepared to reward you fittingly for coming to our aid. Captain Delilah mentioned the Duskhunter Guild. They should be able to contain your Shifter.” Nirhaan’s tone started to sound pleading.

“My skyship was damaged as well. It will be days before I can I could even think about leaving.” I winced as I didn’t want to say the next words. “The runes do not have to be written in fine script. I am sure Myththorne could find others. They might not be able to work as fast as I myself, but they could do the work.”

A long silence hung in the connection. “True. But your spell mastery and skill as an artificer would be able to make the runes with much less adamantine and mithril. The truth is our adamantine supply is limited even though we confiscate everything that comes out of the dungeon.”

I thought for a moment, “I don’t even know how to make arrays to encompass a city. Such a working would be immense.”

King Nirhaan responded quickly, “We are purchasing plans for a twenty-three-point array. Each point would only be the size of a small skyship. The central array would be much larger, but I am sure you could write out the runes faster than ten lesser artificers.” It sounded like he was taking a deep breath, “You can have the adamantine communication rings. Leave the one you are wearing on your islands, and I will give you the other when you arrive. That way, if something arises, you will be made aware.”

That offer had me pause. The rings were priceless, and eventually, I planned to artifice a pair, one for me and one for Freya. It had only taken me half a day to make them, but the value of the materials was over two hundred and fifty thousand gold. I cracked a little with my next question, “How will you power the array?”

I could sense the man relaxing through the link. “We have twenty-three modest tier 7 harmonized crystals and a way to siphon aether to them to keep them powered for the array points. We still need a large tier-seven crystal for the center of the array, but we are working on it.”

“And my compensation for the work besides the rings?” I asked while closing my eyes.

He responded without hesitation. “Platinum. One million worth is paid in gold plus twenty-five thousand for each day you work. The million will be paid on completion of the aether shield, but the daily rate will be paid each day.”

This would solve my short-term financial issues and would be safer than pirate hunting. But I was already figuring the work would take a month or more. It would be a masterwork array. Myththorne would have to place guards at every point as the aether crystal, mithril, and adamantine were valuable. That part was not my problem.

I began to think of logistics in my head. I could use the Adventurer’s Guild to transfer my daily pay to Skyholme for Remy. Sana Velin would hold onto the adamantine ring. Freya would be coming with me. I was not leaving her in the city with the Shifter on the loose. It would mean I would not be at the Black Spire when Toblin made his attempts. But I would also have to take Bleiz with me to protect Freya.

“I am interested.” I finally said after processing. “One hundred thousand will need to be paid upfront, and my daily rate will be—thirty-five thousand. I can artifice enough gear to make that amount in a day.” I explained.

King Nirhaan told me to hold a moment while he talked with his advisors and the counselors. It was a good thirty minutes, and I sat down in Captain Delilah’s room. It was meticulously clean, and every piece of furniture was square and perfectly set. I sat down and waited. Adrial sauntered into the room, and the captain frowned at the furry monstrosity that was violating her perfect space.

Kiara stood guard in the hallway, her tail twitching irritated. I guessed it was because the mind link was no longer established, and she was not happy. Finally, King Nirhaan’s voice filled my head. “We are prepared to offer you forty thousand a day if you can start in no less than two days and finish in twenty-four.”

“I haven’t even looked at the runic script yet. I can’t promise that. Also, I was planning to take four hours a day off to exercise my phantom cats in the dungeon while my aether replenished.” I replied, continuing the negotiations.

“If a World Walker is spotted, we will only have about a week before it reaches us—at least, that is the current timeline for how far from a city they appear. We don’t even know what variant will arrive. Urgency is paramount. One World Walker has been appearing every other day.” King Nirhaan relayed his necessity.

“I will do my best. Please prepare everything you have on the World Walkers and this series of events so I can review it. I will be there as soon as I can. Transfer the hundred thousand to Skyholme.”

“Excellent. There will be a contract for you to sign at the Adventurer’s Hall when you collect the funds. Thank you, Storme.” He ended the connection. I was not even sure if this city's shield plan would work. All I could do was complete the schema they had obtained.

“Looks like you are going home, Captain.” A flash of relief crossed the elven soldier’s face.

I returned to my apartments with the cats and Aelyn, who immediately started packing. I should have assumed she was coming. “Can you go talk with my mother and Freya? I am taking Freya with us. I don’t want her here with the Shifter on the loose.”

Aelyn looked at me and then at her bags. I nodded to affirm she was coming, and she left to prepare Freya. Next, I called Remy to the apartment. I placed the two hundred thousand gold on my dining room table and all the artificed gear I had made and repaired during the trip.

When Remy arrived, his eyes bugged briefly. “I haven't had time to finish inventorying the pirate cargo, but I think it is substantial. Between 45 and 50 thousand. I know the best markets to turn it over, but since it is captured goods, it will be taxed by Skyholme unless you can…”

He let it hang in the air, and I shook my head. “I don’t think Loriel is going to be giving me any breaks. But I am leaving again. This coin and another hundred thousand are going to have to last you for a month. So don’t let Sana get too out of control.”

Remy looked at the pile and began thinking. “Three hundred thousand gold. Talia is generating about a thousand gold a week in the low-land dungeons. So delving operations is self-sustaining. That amount of funds should be sufficient for two months, but I can slow down the construction.”

“No. Don’t slow anything. I should be sending twenty-five to forty thousand daily.” He brightened as I stated the sum and explained the contract. It was a good two hours before Remy was comfortable with his duties, and I went to visit Sana at the Dungeon Academy, where the two cats were acting as my guards, Kiara in her black coat.

The mages were hard at work on the project, and skiffs were delivering an endless supply of stone. The construction looked more of a mess than anything else, as the central block had been completely leveled.

I found Sana talking with Elijah. He greeted me, “Storme! You have quite the project! I look forward to teaching here when it is finished.”

“I thought you were hunting the Shifter.” I asked the monster hunter.

“We are sure it is not in the city. Keothi thinks it took a skyship to the capital island. The search has shifted there, and Loriel has posted a bounty of twenty-thousand for its head in the Adventurer’s Guild. A mistake, but she ignored my advice. She is going to attract gold and platinum adventurers to Skyholme for the purse, but some don’t care about collateral damage.” Elijah leaned on his axe. “Do you know when Gareth will be back? I could use some exercise.”

“He has a benefactor in the Principality of Marstom now. A princess at that. He was working on expanding his delving team,” I replied, not wanting to get into my strained relationship with my best friend.

“Good thing he is away. I could see him trying to hunt this Shifter himself. This isn’t a dungeon. Hunting monsters in the Sphere is unpredictable.” He eyed Kiara and Adrial, who were sitting behind me.

“I am actually here to tell you I am leaving. Myththorne has contracted me to build a city aether shield. They believe a World Walker may be released on their city.” I handed Sana the adamantine ring. “I will have the sister ring when I reach Myththorne so you can contact me. I am taking Freya with me.”

“Scary thing that. The fact is that there is something powerful enough to transport those behemoths and use them to target cities.” Elijah shook his head, “Out of my pay grade.” Elijah patted my shoulder and walked off to leave me with Sana.

“Don’t worry, your construction project is funded,” I started.

Sana arched an eyebrow, “That was not my first question. My first question is where were you at the gala?”

“Not you, too?” I bemoaned.

“Me too? I think you need to evaluate your priorities, Storme. You need to ask yourself: Are you a High Mage of Skyholme, or are you a mage who lives in Skyholme.” She inspected the ring before putting it on.

I didn’t feel like getting into an argument, so I replied snarkily, “I would be happy to hand over my title to you.”

Sana laughed, “Oh, Storme. I have already been a High Mage of Skyholme. But if you are offering, does it come with the Black Spire and Shiny Platinum?”

As she laughed at my consternation, I talked. “I am taking Bleiz with me. Can you keep an eye on Toblin and my mother?”

“With the dungeon evolving, I have some free time.” She said sarcastically. She was very busy with the construction, organizing the curriculum, and recruiting teachers and students.

“Great,” I said and turned and walked away.

I had one more stop before I could leave. At the Shiny Platinum, I found Rippon working on the wood with his shaping magic. He didn’t want to be rushed, so I told him he could come along to Myththorne. “I am too old to travel the Sphere, Storme. But in order to do this right, I don’t have any choice.”

We landed at the Black Spire, and I talked with my Wolfsguard first to let them know I was going to be gone for a month or so. Then I found Bleiz—or I should say he found me. He didn’t like leaving the gnome unattended but agreed to come for Freya’s protection.

When I visited the Duskhunter residence, Freya was ecstatic to explore the Sphere. Bleiz mumbled, “Maybe I would prefer watching the gnome instead.”

Eight hours later, I was lifting off with Captain Delilah, Freya, Rippon, Bleiz, Adrial, Kiara, Aelyn, Neoma, and Tibault. As we raced toward Myththorne, I wondered if I was making the right decision.