FWFW 3 - 66 (Patreon)

“Are you going to attend the Skybreaker crew’s gala?” Boris asked when Morgan ran into him at the base of his tower’s stairway.

“Tomorrow?” Morgan knew exactly what Boris was referring to but asked anyway.

“Yeah, tomorrow night.”

“Nah, I don’t think I’ll go. I had enough of those people when Issa and I had dinner with that Captain Gella guy.”

“What if Issa wants to go? It’s supposed to be quite a send-off they’re throwing for themselves. Breaking out supplies they won’t need, including some of the captain’s own liquor.”

“Well, the booze won’t interest her, but, yeah, she does like a party. We’ll see what she says. She’s been so busy with her project for Tiladia that we haven’t even spoken about it.”

“Have you seen her work? God, man! She’s talented as hell, and she’s using tools and devices in your workshop that the rest of us don’t even understand. Here’s hoping she’ll give us some lessons as she gets less busy!”

“Yeah, she will, I’m sure. You’ll also learn some of that stuff just by leveling your Class, don’t you think?” Morgan leaned against the bronze balustrade, curious to hear Boris’s response.

“Oh, no doubt! Depending on if our Classes focus on those types of skills. She’s the only one I’ve seen making casts and molds for statue parts!”

“Statue parts? I think maybe I should go see what she’s doing; it’s been a couple of days.” Morgan straightened up and gave Boris a pat on the shoulder. “I’ll talk to you later, all right?”

“Yeah, man, of course. See you later, if not here, then at the party!” Boris laughed and gave him a wink, then turned and continued toward the tower door. Morgan chuckled and stepped onto the staircase, focusing on going to the shop and laboratory on the sixth level. In three steps, he was striding out onto the landing, and the clamor of people working and the smells of various concoctions coming from the lab assaulted his senses.

Morgan figured Issa would be in the workshop, not the alchemy lab, so he turned to the right and walked into that space, his mind reeling from the changes Issa and the earthling artisans had wrought in the last two days.

Workbenches still dominated the center of the vast hall, but Morgan could see and hear the workings of a forge in the far rear corner. An Energy-powered smelter had been set up near the forge. Morgan saw rune-covered, steel machines that he had no idea the purpose of, quenching barrels, stacks of ingots, large piles of lumber of all shapes and sizes, and huge chests, likely holding other materials.

He saw Energy powered table saws, drill presses, and lathes, some of which seemed large enough to craft industrial-scale parts. Morgan whistled in admiration—he’d had no idea there were this many tools up in the reliquary. He’d only opened a few crates, which had primarily held alchemy gear. “Morgan!” Issa called out from a large workbench near the smelter.

“Hey,” Morgan replied, walking toward her. She was positively glowing—her yellow eyes brighter than ever, and her face flushed with excited energy. He knew he was probably projecting a little, knowing she was pregnant and doing something she enjoyed. She was pretty damn beautiful and luminous all the time, thanks to her racial advancements, but he thought there was something more to it today.

“I’m so glad you’re here, Morgan! I figured out what I want for a wedding present!” She stepped up to him, gripping his wrist and looking up at him with her eyes wide and her smile as mischievous as he’d ever seen it.

“Oh? Seriously? No wonder you were happy to see me! Well? What are your demands, m’lady?” Morgan laughed at her enthusiasm, and he had no concern about what she’d ask—if he had it and she wanted it, then he’d give it to her; there was no question.

“Tiladia and I have been working hard designing her a new body. She wants to use silver, and I have enough of that. I used some treasure and also bought some with Energy beads. The problem is, if I want to make a vessel capable of everything I want, you know, showing expression, lifelike movement, self-repair, and most importantly, capable of forming and containing a Core that Tiladia can use to work Energy. I’ll need to make the silver into an alloy, and I’ll need a powerful natural treasure that I think you have.”

“Okay, I have quite a lot of stuff in my ring. What are we looking for?”

“You have a large bar of Amber Ore, right? You also showed me a piece of horn that we both sensed was rich in Energy but didn’t know what it was. You still have those, don’t you?”

“Well, I have most of the Amber Ore—you’re wearing a bit of it on your finger, there.” Morgan pointed at her hand, but then he sighed and dug around in his ring for the rest of the ore. If they ever set a date, he already had the wedding bands ready for their big day, so he lifted out the heavy, mostly whole bar of Amber Ore. He’d learned over the process of having the rings made that this ore was very pure and that Amber Ore was often cut into an alloy.

“I’m sorry, Morgan! I know you wanted to use this to make a sword of your own. I promise—we’ll come up with something better someday.”

“Yeah, it’s okay, Issa. Bloodfang and Hearthspark are both in good shape, and I think I have some growing to do before either of them seems inadequate.” He handed her the heavy bar of lustrous orange-yellow metal, then dug around in his ring until he found the hard, polished, black horn. It was about six inches in length but only about two wide at its thickest point. He felt the Energy stirring within it and knew it was powerful and would cost a fortune to purchase. Still, he didn’t even know what it was or what a person would use it to create. He handed it to Issa, and she took it in her hands reverently. “Sheesh, you already stowed away my Amber Ore?” he teased.

Issa wasn’t listening, though, and he felt a little surge of Energy as she cast some sort of analysis spell on the horn. Her smile broadened, displaying her long canines and the sharp teeth behind them. “The horn of a calepsii! It’s alive, Morgan, and full of Energy. This will work wonderfully to build Tiladia’s Core!”

“It’s alive?”

“Yes! calepsii are a kind of sea serpent. They never stop growing, and if you harvest parts of them, you can use them to create some very potent artifacts—artifacts like a spirit vessel with a living Core!”

“Seriously? I imagine it has other great uses, too . . .” Morgan trailed off, his voice growing wistful. He was teasing—if anyone had suffered enough and deserved this treasure, it was Tiladia. Still, he wanted to milk this situation to earn some points with Issa.

“I’m sorry I’m asking so much, Morgan! Don’t you think Tiladia deserves it, though? She’s had her real body stolen and forced to be a slave for an evil wizard! Trapped in this tower for millennia!” Issa’s eyes welled with passionate tears, and Morgan instantly felt guilty for making her plead her case, even if he’d been very mild about it.

“Of course, Issa. Of course. I think it’s wonderful what you’re doing for Tiladia, and I’m so excited to see her. What sort of body did she want, anyway?”

Issa’s face crinkled mischievously, and she shook her head, “Uh-uh. Sorry! Tiladia wants it to be a surprise.”

“Really? I just figured she’d want to look like a dragon again. I guess if you’re making her body out of silver and Amber Ore, it won’t be a very big dragon . . .” Morgan imagined a miniature, dog-sized silver dragon roaming around his tower, and he grinned at the thought.

“I think you’ll be surprised! Also, the body parts won’t be solid silver, and Amber Ore—just the shell, and the enchantments I’m putting within will allow it to take on a more living aspect. That’s why I wanted the Amber Ore—it’s much more capable in that regard.”

“That’s very neat, Issa. I didn’t know you could do that!”

“Well, I can! I’m halfway done stamping the internal rods with the enchantments, and I’ve already made the forms to cast the parts. Now I have your Amber-Ore, and I can start mixing the alloy.” She gestured to the nearby smelter.

“Hey, I just had a thought,” Morgan said. He’d imagined Tiladia in her dragon form with an actual Core and solid body, and he wondered if she’d even have to stay in the tower anymore. “Will Tiladia still be bound to the tower? Will she be able to leave? Do we need to worry about her going on a murderous dragon rampage of revenge?” Morgan half-joked with the last question, but it wasn’t a ridiculous fear—Tiladia had been a member of an elder race, and she’d been terribly wronged. What if she had a vendetta that he didn’t know about?

“You’ll have to release her spirit from the vessel Vormendion has it in—those bits of enchanted glass that swirl around within her misty form. Once you do that, and she has her new vessel, no, there won’t be restrictions on her movement. Do you think there should be?” Issa asked the last question with a scowl.

“No, of course not. She should be free! I just voice my worries out loud sometimes.”

“Well, I agree. If she wants to seek revenge, the only person in danger is Vormendion, and he's long gone, Morgan. Don’t you feel you can trust her? I do!”

“How strong will her new Core be?” Morgan asked, trying a different tack.

“I’m not sure. It could be in the improved ranks because of the strength of that horn, but, Morgan, Tiladia won’t instantly be all she was when she was a dragon. I’m not sure what level or class she’ll even be—she may be at base-zero, even. She might have to level up like a new person. I told her that, and she was fine with it, though! She wants to be autonomous again. She wants to have a real body and be able to leave this tower when she wants to, but she insisted that she likes us and wants to stay with us—she thinks of us as family and this as her home.”

“Well, shit. I can’t begrudge her any of that. Take the horn and take my Amber Ore with my blessing. Is there anything else I can do to help? Anything else I can get to make it even better?” Morgan pulled Issa into a hug, feeling emotional all of a sudden.

“No,” Issa said into his chest. “I have everything I need. I’m going to make her a vessel that will put any of the ones Vormendion crafted to shame. He didn’t have my class, Morgan, and I’m so grateful I got it. I’ll be able to sing true life into it! Especially with this horn you gave her—she’s going to have a second chance, Morgan!”

“How much longer will it take you?” he asked the top of her head, still squeezing her into his chest, soaking in the warmth of her.

“With these tools and with the abilities I gained from the inheritance? I think I can be finished in less than a week.” Issa pushed on his chest, pulling back so she could look into his eyes. “I think we should have a party for her when it’s done. I think we should re-introduce her to the people of First Landing. They should know that she’s a new citizen and a real person.”

“Absolutely. We’ll do it in a week or so. We can announce our wedding too, don’t you think? We can set a date and invite the whole town.”

Issa didn’t answer, she just slid her arms back around his waist and pulled him into a tight embrace, and Morgan could feel, the way she folded into him, that she was happy.