[Melas] Chapter 113: Tinker Suit (Patreon)

“What even is that?” I asked Gennady, wide-eyed.

“It’s my Tinker Suit!” He grinned, raising the metallic arm with the turn of a crank. It was like a joystick— there were more than one, but he pulled on the longest one. The hand pointed back at the Dwarf, forming the vague shape of a thumb aimed right at his head. “One of my masterpieces! A bit too bulky for my liking right now, but it’s still in its experimental stage!”

“How did you even... when did you…?” I stared at him, then at the Tinker Suit. It was over eight feet tall and five feet wide. It was shaped almost like a box, except for its legs which were short and thin, with knees bent back like the hind legs of a dog.

Gennady sat in its center— or rather, he wore it like some kind of armor? It definitely seemed like he was moving its legs with his own feet. However, the upper body required him to work the numerous controls just in front of him, so his shoulders and arms were free to move entirely. The rest of his body just sunk into the Tinker Suit.

I shook my head as Gennady sauntered up to me in the suit, a mechanical noise being made whenever its feet were raised. “Nevermind,” I murmured.

He came to a stop right before me. There was a slight gleam from the mana crystal right at the center of the Golem-like body. It was the main one— about the size of my head. A Superior mana crystal? Or perhaps even a Greater one. It wasn’t the only one though, just the main, visible one.

“C’mon, lassie,” he snickered, bringing the Tinker Suit’s arms to a fold. “I just saved your life— be more grateful, will ya?”

“Thanks.” I walked past him. I had to squeeze between the massy suit just to get to the other side of the hallway. “However, things are not over here. We have to get back to Elda and the others.”

“Where did they even go? Last I saw, you lot were gathered out at the front, but when I returned, all I saw was a pile of rubble.”

“Further inside,” I said, gesturing at a stairway. “Back to Lisa. To get Jack some medical attention.”

I set a single foot on the first step when Gennady called out after me, “Wait— are you sure we should do that?”

Glancing back at him, I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

“Gah, I didn’t mean it like that.” The Dwarf waved one of his regular hands off. He waved around him as he spoke. “I’m saying that that’s a bad idea. If we all gather around in one small location, then Didar can come down and kill us all in one fell swoop. Instead of dying together, we should split them up.”

I cocked a brow. “Wouldn’t we just die away from each other then?”

“Not if it’s you and me!”

I sighed, glancing back where I came from. “I’d argue against that, but it’s true.” There was a flicker— a flash of light from just over my head. A twinkling ball of light came into existence as a spell circle formed around my forearm. They appeared like stars in the night, dotting the sable dome overhead with their light.

Except these were not just a feature of the sky. They were very much real, created from my magic. Explosive Orbs. Not just one, but many of them. I pre-casted whatever I could. I didn’t stop at just these weaker spells, creating Frost Javelins and even Stone Spears too.

“Come on,” I said, gesturing for Gennady to follow. “Let’s do this.”

—--

“We’re at the top of the world, aren’t we, Jack?”

The boy— no, he was a man now. He barely qualified as one, legally speaking, but he was one. He glanced over at the voice calling his name.

Didar spoke in a more articulate manner now. He no longer had the heavy accent of a Dwarf, typical from living in the streets of a city. Was it because he was considered a ‘boss’ now? Or was he just trying to practice his accent for future transactions with political clients?

Jack didn’t know. He simply nodded. “We’re only the top of our small, little area of Jahar’taw, Didar. However, it certainly does feel like we’re at the top of the world.”

With a chuckle, the Dwarf leaned back on his stool, slowly picking up a mug. “There’s no need to rush things, Jack. Look here, I’ve had a few people reach out to me— there’s this group called the Shadow’s Evangelium. They need us for some smuggling jobs.”

“Smuggling jobs?” Jack furrowed his brows. “I don’t think we’ve ever done anything like that before.”

“There’s a first time for anything, right?” He downed a few gulps of ale before leaning forward. “If we want to really be at the top of the world, we’ve gotta expand our horizons. Do something more.”

Jack considered this for a moment— certainly, he enjoyed what they had now. He would be content if it stayed that way. However, if things did get better? He wouldn’t argue against that.

Getting to his feet, he walked up to Didar and placed a hand on the Dwarf’s back. “Anything you do, I’ll do it with you.”

A small smile spread across Didar’s face. He nodded as he stood up. “‘Course you will. We’re partners, after all.”

—--

Jack woke up, feeling a sharp pain jolt through his body. It was like he got stabbed by a thousand needles, all at once. He winced as he tried to get up— because of the pain he felt all around his body, and also because he was strapped down onto a bed.

“Is he alright?” a female voice asked. He recognized it immediately. Lisa.

The young woman peered over at him, eyes full of worry. Someone pulled her back. It was from another woman, but more laid back and with a slightly deeper intonation to her voice. “Relax, Lis, he’s fine. That healing potion we used was potent, and we made sure to remove any shrapnel from his body, cleaning the wound before we applied it.”

Forcing his eyes open, Jack saw the two women— Lisa and Elda— standing over him as he lay on a table. He was covered in bandages, which were also partially tying him down, preventing him from getting up. He groaned, and Lisa hurriedly placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Jack— don’t strain yourself too hard. You were caught in a big blast. Elda says she can’t believe that you even survived it.”

That was right. Jack had been reckless. He had foolishly charged out, forgetting how much of a backstabbing scumbag Didar could be, and how the Dwarf was willing to hurt his ‘allies’ to get what he wanted.

“That bastard…” he managed to get out. “I’ll kill him.”

“Relax.” Lisa ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm him down. “You don’t want to hurt yourself so soon after recovering. Especially not right now.”

He blinked, glancing around the room. Where was he, even? Didn’t they send Lisa to the vault— it was a built-in bunker in the center of the warehouse where Gennady kept his gold and other precious minerals like mana crystals. The doors and walls were heavily reinforced, so it would have been incredibly difficult to break in.

And yet, here he was. “W-why am I here?”

“You got yourself hurt, dummy.” Lisa shook her head. “Elda and Sevin had to drag you back here.”

“And he’s pretty damned heavy,” the other woman snorted.

The young woman shot her a glare, before looking back at Jack. “Didar and his men haven’t gotten this far into the warehouse yet. We’ll be safe for a while. So, just rest up first.”

Her words were welcoming— her voice soothed the aching of his body. He wanted to just melt into the table, staying completely still for the next few weeks, pretending his problems didn’t exist. And he almost did.

But a blast snapped him awake. There was another explosion. Not anywhere close. However, it shook the ground, and it loosened the bandages holding him down. The man pushed himself up with a grunt.

Lisa and Elda had moved off to the side. Neither saw him struggling until he was already sitting on the table. The younger woman rushed to him as he took in his surroundings. He saw Sevin sitting in a corner, hunched over and biting his thumb.

Mason and Avery stood over the front of the room— the reinforced, metal doorway was covered in mana crystals with runes layered over them. They were not the only glistening objects in the room. There were many more of the gems, limned with energy, scattered about in cupboards and shelves, contained in glass jars, or simply displayed in an ostentatious manner alongside some interesting mana tech.

These tools didn’t seem to be very useful for the current situation. There was an odd-looking car. At least, it was shaped like a car, but it had a massive shovel on its back. There were also a few poles with rectangles on their ends, with bags attached to their sides.  Other such things which looked like they were useful for day-to-day life— perhaps even innovative— but not for the battle that was to come.

“Damned Dwarf. Couldn’t he have kept some of his weapons in here?” Jack shook his head as Lisa helped him steady himself. He frowned. “Actually, where is the Dwarf? And where is the girl too?”

Lisa hesitated, not meeting his eyes. She started, “I—”

But was interrupted by Sevin. “We don’t know.” The young man approached the pair, his lips drawn into a thin line. “Neither of them have returned. It’s been almost an hour. And… we’re not sure where they are.”

Jack narrowed his eyes. Again, the ground shook. Another blast from far off. That had to be—

“I think we should find them,” Sevin said, looking over at Elda and Lisa. “They should be back by now.”

“It’s safer if we wait. If we open this door, we’ll be exposing ourselves to whatever trap Didar could’ve left outside for us.” Elda crossed her arms, gesturing at the vault exit.

“But—” Sevin sputtered some kind of a response.

Jack didn’t listen to it. His mind flashed with a memory. Didar, his companion, his partner, betrayed him.

He left Jack to suffer the consequences of his betrayal. Letting others rot while he rises up to the top. As usual.

That was not Jack. He would never do such a thing. He wouldn’t hurt his allies for his own benefit. He swore against that. That was why he started forward. That was why he brushed past Sevin and Elda as they argued.

The two stared at him as he stalked towards the door. Neither said anything, but Lisa ran after him.

“Jack, what are you—”

“I’m going to find them,” the man said simply. He glanced back at the others— Sevin and Elda— who had broken off from their argument. Both wanted to speak, but he didn’t let them. “I dislike that mad Dwarf, but he’s the one who gave us a place to stay here in Jahar’taw. He’s the one who covers our asses when we get in trouble. And if he’s really the lunatic I think he is, he should have some kind of hidden passageway leading to this vault which he can take, in case of situations like this.”

Jack glanced over at Elda, then waved over at the rest of the room.

“However, he hasn’t returned, has he?”

The woman bit her lower lip. “Maybe he got caught up in something.”

“And that’s exactly the problem,” Jack said.

Elda shuffled her feet uncomfortably. Lisa reached out to grab his arm. He looked over at her.

“Lisa, we can’t just stand idly by, knowing that that girl is out there, possibly in trouble right now.”

“I… I know,” she sighed. Shaking her head, she loosened her grip and met his gaze. “I know I can’t. But what about you? Why do you want to help her?”

Jack hesitated. He remembered the anger— the betrayal he had felt from Didar. And the fear when the Nuckelavee himself, the founder of the Shadow’s Evangelium, nearly had his head. But a black-haired woman stopped him.

She pleaded for that Demon to stop. Begged him to listen to Jack’s words and let him go. Did she believe Jack? Or did she just pity him? Whatever it was— it was enough.

“Because her mother saved my life. When Didar left me for dead. And I’ll be damned before I let the daughter die to Didar now, because I refused to act.”

—--

“Watch out!”

I yelled at Gennady as I ducked behind a wall. The Dwarf hobbled over, still in his Tinker Suit, raising its bulky arms to cover him from the rain of fire. The spell bounced off his protections, and I poked my head out.

I saw the spellcaster standing behind the line of gunmen. They trailed their rifles my way, firing in rapid succession as I raised a hand.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The bullets trickled down from the barrier’s surface. I gritted my teeth as I pulled back, only managing to send one Frosty Javelin out. I felt my control over the spell weaken— and disappear. Dispel Magic. But not from me. From the enemy.

I sidled myself next to Gennady, using both the wall and the Dwarf’s massive Golem-body for protection, taking a brief reprieve. “Fuckin’ that plan didn’t work out,” he cursed.

We had tried to draw the attention of a small group of Didar’s men. We attacked a dozen of them who were shuffling in through another side entrance they had broken, before trying to slip away. But as we ran down a corridor, back towards the main entrance with the collapsed hallway, we ran into another group of them.

They encroached on us, chasing us close to the courtyard of the warehouse. And that was where we were at now. A group of riflemen and a spellcaster were stood off to the side, out in the courtyard, and another had us flanked from a garage area.

And Gennady and I? We had to make do with what we had. And that was magic— I created Earth Walls all around me. A shallow forest of stone pillars rose from the ground, making it slightly more difficult for them to hit us. But we were cornered. Surrounded from all directions.

I clicked my tongue as I reached into my pocket. I pulled out a Cluster Bomb, activating it before tossing it at Gennady. “Spellcaster!”

The Dwarf saw me throw it his way. He struck it hard, knocking it in the direction of the spellcaster and riflemen. The Cluster Orb detonated into various small explosions, buying me just enough time to peek out and send a Stone Spear at them.

It impaled the spellcaster, dropping him before he could even react. I sighed in relief as I retreated from the return fire.

“‘Spellcaster? Couldn’t you have given me more of a heads up than bloody spellcaster?”

“Now’s not the time!”

The blue bolts of energy struck at my walls from behind, while the metal bullets pelted it from the front, breaking my lines of defense down slowly as I desperately tried to build it back up. I could use Geomancy to reinforce the earth, but that would only be a waste of time, and be an unneeded distraction.

I began conjuring a Fireball. “Alright, now that he’s gone...”

There was a clink. A round object landed next to us. My eyes grew wide as Gennady glanced down at it. “What is—”

I kicked it as hard as I could. The only other thing I could do in time was cast a Force Barrier… cast a Force Barrier and pray.

I prayed that that jerk god really wanted to keep me alive. And that possibly Elara was going to save me. Because what came next was a flash of bright, red light. It blinded me. It forced my eyes shut. A heat engulfed me.

The same explosion— same tool that had taken Jack out— was launched at us. And I didn’t want to open my eyes to find myself dead once more.

Author's Note:

Finals are harder than ever because I'm supposed to be graduating. Sorry.