[Melas] Chapter 123: Introducing Yourself (Patreon)

The MTC was not like a hotel or an inn where I could get anything I wanted when I asked for it (as long as I had gold). I was living here in political asylum, offered protection from the Church and the Dark Crusaders, so I was served food and drinks on a tri-daily basis, but I never had much say about it.

The chef, a Dwarf woman by the name of Zubaira, was very insistent that I ate whatever she made exactly how it was made. She wasn’t a luxury cook by any means, but she believed in the culinary art of cooking a perfect meal and the manners that went with it.

“Ye can’t be havin’ the meatloaf without tha corn, lassie,” she said, emphatically stabbing a fork on the roasted corn. “Also, sit up straight! Yer slouching too much!”

“What am I, in prep school or something?” I muttered as I did what she told me to.

Zubaira scoffed. “Manners matter ta everyone, even a peasant.” She shook her head as she hauled her cart of food away.

“Thanks for the food.” I waved at her as she left my room. Her cooking wasn’t the greatest in the world by any means. The gravy was a bit too thin, and the corn was burnt and flaked with black. But food was food and food was good. So, I chowed down on what I had been given.

It had been a few days since I moved into the MTC. I spent most of the time thus far just relaxing, acclimating to my new surroundings. It was odd, not having to really go out and do anything to feel safer than I already was.

I’d leave my room, and there were already guards patrolling the hallways. Golems made of stone and metal stood in front of various doorways, protecting the laboratories and even libraries all around the vast complex.

I felt at ease. Far too relaxed compared to the past few months, what with Lilith, Didar, and now Estia and the Dark Crusaders. Just knowing that they’d have some difficulty killing me in my sleep put me at a calm. Of course, I didn’t just feel reassured doing nothing.

I glanced around at the walls, inscribed with various magical runes. Elara could probably break into the MTC without trouble. That was just how powerful she was. But I highly doubted anyone else I was worried about— Estia or Lilith— would be able to infiltrate the giant compound. If they did? I made some preparations for them. They wouldn’t be able to catch me off guard with the barrier I made.

Speaking of— I narrowed my eyes as I sensed something entering my room. It pushed the door open, all-too-quietly, and strutted in like it owned the place. I looked up at Luna. The black cat eyed me with its yellow eyes. “Yes?” I asked, as if it would even understand what I said.

Referring to the cat as an it felt weird. But referring to her as a she also felt weird. I wasn’t sure which pronoun to use, so I simply alternated between both of them.

Luna ignored my question. Which, rude by the way. If only there was some kind of cat-to-Human translation spell out there. Too bad it didn’t exist, just like transformation magic didn’t.

Instead of meowing or doing normal cat-things, Luna leapt up to the table and stared at me.

“W-what?” She cocked her head, and I cocked my head. “If you—”

The cat snatched a large chunk of my meatloaf and hopped off the table. I frowned and started to my feet. “Hey!” I dashed after her, but she scurried straight for the doorway. “Come back here!” I pointed, and a spell circle formed at the tip of my finger.

Luna continued running, reaching the doorway, only to suddenly begin floating up. She thrashed in the air as I gripped her tightly with my Levitate spell.

“Give it back,” I said with finality in my voice.

She tilted her head to the side, staring at me while upside down. I glared at her, and the door swung open. Bertrand stepped into the room, pausing. He glanced between me and Luna.

“I believe I have entered at a bad time.”

I sighed and let the cat down.

“I see you and Luna have been getting along.” The elderly man ran a hand through Luna's fur as she purred.

“Very well.” I rolled my eyes, leaning back against my chair. “If getting along means she doesn't like me for whatever reason.”

“She’s a bit brusque at first. She used to bite me anytime I tried to get close to her. Honestly, I think she likes you.” He chuckled as he set Luna to the ground.

I watched the cat scurry off, not wanting to be caught by my magic again. I turned my attention to Bertrand. “So, did you need something from me?”

“Ah, yes. I apologize for interrupting your meal, Melas.” He bowed his head slightly, but I waved a hand off.

“It’s fine. I was finishing up, anyway.”

“I simply wanted to inquire about your progress on deciphering the mana codes behind the Dimensional Storage Box. You have had it in your possession for nearly three months, I believe.”

I tilted my head back. Has it already been that long? Honestly, ever since I had to go through my childhood and being a baby again while being completely aware of everything that was going on around me, I have had a skewed sense of time. “I’ve taken a few cursory looks at it, but never figured out anything too substantive.”

“Ah, of course.” Bertrand didn’t seem surprised. “Yes, we’ve studied that odd box for a very long time, but its design is so… complex. I am uncertain of its origins. It seems like it could be a relic from the time of the Demon Lord.”

“Maybe.” I produced the Dimensional Storage Box. I brought it with me to the MTC. Holding it up, I squinted and peered into its intricate design of magic and mana. “It certainly looks old.” That was my very in-depth analysis of it.

Bertrand shook his head, standing up. “If you make any breakthroughs, do inform me. Or if you need any assistance— there are various papers and books written about the nature of this box. It is very much a fascinating subject to most scholars of manatech.”

“I will, I guess. I mean, it’s not like there is much for me to do here.”

He paused. “You could always look around.” He smiled before hobbling away.

It was all just science and tech stuff, wasn't it? What was there to look at?

“Oh.” I watched as two golems brawled with each other in the center of a ring. This was the testing facility of the MTC. I didn’t stand in an arena, but in a room with targets, explosive areas, and a fighting ring. This was how they tested the efficacy of their Golems in combat.

Right now, a Steel Golem was embroiled in a punching fight with a Gold Golem. I wasn’t sure what the point of a Gold Golem was— it was an experimental Golem, apparently. One that was built specifically for brawling fights. And it was beating the Steel Golem.

That much wasn’t too big of a shock to me, considering Steel Golems were designed to be built with weapons. Taking that away from it was practically maiming it. I found the clanging of their metal arms more distracting than anything else. A single Engineer watched the Gold Golem pick apart the Steel Golem.

“Yeah!” he cheered. “Can’t believe tha actually worked!”

“Does that not usually happen?” I raised a brow.

The Dwarf jerked and spun around, pointing at me. “Wha— when did ye get in here?”

I blinked. “For the past hour or so.”

“Wait, someone has been here this whole time?!” The Dwarf Engineer’s eyes grew wide.

“Uh, yes?” I shrugged, looking around me. “Am I not supposed to be here?”

“No, no. I just… how did ye even get in here without me knowing?”

“Through the front door?”

It was a series of questions which only prompted more questions from the previous question. After a certain point, there wasn’t really anything significant to be said. The Engineer shook his head, rubbing at his temples.

“I think I recognize ye. Ye must be that girl they brought in… Melas, right?” He offered me a hand.

I shook it. “Yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you…?”

“I’m Aniyar.” He was rather mild-mannered for a Dwarf. I expected him to be boisterous, like Gennady. But after he shook my hand, he stepped back, almost receding away from me. “I’m just an Engineer, working on Project Gold.”

“Project Gold?” I raised a brow.

He nodded. “Yep. It’s a project for three new lines of Golems— Bronze Golems, Silver Golems, and Gold Golems. I’m one of the main ones in charge of the Gold Golems.”

“Oh, that’s very interesting.” I glanced over at the Gold Golem, standing triumphantly over the broken Steel Golem. “So, you’re the one who rigged it to do… all that?” I made a vague gesture.

“I am.”

“That’s amazing.” I smiled. “The fluidity of the Gold Golem’s movements is far more natural than any other Golem I’ve seen. Iron Golems are stiff, but they’re very strong. Steel Golems are more natural in their movements, but they’re usually weaker. It seems like you combined the pros of both into a single Golem.”

“You think?” Aniyar blinked. “How do you know all that?”

“I do,” I said, remembering my past battles with Iron Golems. “And I’m right, aren’t I?”

“You are.” He paused, glancing back at his Gold Golem. “So, are you interested in Golem-making and tinkering?”

“I was just taking a look around the MTC. I stumbled across this room, and thought what you were doing looked interesting.”

“Well, this room is used more than for Golem testing.” He gestured at a table full of gadgets to his left. “We like ta try out any new, experimental weapons here. It’s called a ‘testing room’, but it’s more of a ‘crazy experiments’ room” He gave a nervous chuckle, and I nodded.

“I see.” I glanced back to the exit. “Do you know if there’s any ‘food’ room?”

“Like the recess hall?” Aniyar cocked a brow.

“Yes, exactly like that!” My eyes lit up.

He shrugged. “There’s one in the east building. We’re in the west building. So, you’ll have to go straight across the foyer.”

I nodded. “Thank you!” I hurried out the door, before pausing and glancing back at Aniyar. “By the way, it was nice meeting you! See you around!” I waved at him and was off.

“Come back anytime— we’re be testing our Silver Golems next week!”

I gratefully accepted the slab of ground meat the lady at the recess hall poured onto my bowl. I grabbed a spoon and found a seat as I dug into my meal. “Delicious…” I was satisfied.

The MTC was a peaceful place. There was not much for me to worry about. Walking around the complex reminded me of going around the community college I attended for that one summer session while still in high school. It really was designed like a college campus. But that made sense. This was the leading place for technology and innovation in Jahar’taw.

Here, I was safe. Here, I could walk across a large courtyard and enter a building full of laboratories and for testing equipment. There was another building with a vast library to sift through. There was another building for the construction of the actual tools that were to be used— almost like a factory.

I could remain idle. I had been idle for a bit. But that was only a reprieve from that hectic night not too long ago.

“—after the events of last week, the have been reports of a rise in terrorist activity…”

I glanced up at the television as a reporter spoke over the scene of a destroyed factory. It looked like the factory where I met with the Dark Crusaders many times over. There clearly was a battle there. A crowd was gathered around it, and I thought I saw some familiar decorated knights standing around the debris.

I clicked my tongue as I set down my spoon. I came here to be safe. To be protected. But most importantly, so that my friends were not embroiled in any trouble I threw myself into.

Now that that was settled, I had to do something. Not about Lilith. I couldn’t do anything about her. But Karna. There was a misunderstanding. I knew he wanted to kill me, but we had been friends once. If I could just talk to him— maybe we could resolve this issue.

And maybe the Dark Crusaders wouldn’t be so vehement about killing me anymore.

I sighed as I raised my spoon, only for a black figure to snatch it from my hand. I watched as Luna stole my spoon, scampering off to the other side of the recess hall.

“Jerk.”

Author's Note:

Apologies for the late chapter. This chapter was a bit SoL, which is my weakness, so it took me forever to finish it. But I had to introduce the MTC for a bit before proceeding. So, hopefully it was fine.