Time of Change (Emerilia Book 7)

by Michael Chatfield

  “Yes.” Lucy flicked her hair back.

  Josh rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll send the message myself.” Josh pouted as he opened up his interface and sent a private message to Florence.

  There was a yell from behind the raid party.

  “Wood nymphs are attacking the engineers and mages making the road. The people back there are dealing with it,” Lucy said calmly.

  “Looks like the Ashal wilderness is living up to its reputation.” There was a deep rumbling from the rear before all noises of fighting died down.

  “Looks like Malsour dealt with it,” Lucy said, a trace of worry in her voice.

  “Something the matter?” Josh asked.

  “It’s just…you know that Malsour and Induca lost someone they were close with?” Lucy asked.

  “I didn’t but they’ve been kind of withdrawn since they came back,” Josh said, clearly sad for the brother and sister duo.

  “Yeah, well, now you know why,” Lucy said.

  “They say time heals all wounds. Hopefully they’ll be able to get past it. Losing a loved one is never easy.” Cassie’s hand unconsciously found Josh’s and squeezed.

  Malsour and Induca might be POEs but they were good friends with Josh, Lucy, and Cassie. When talking and interacting with them, it was hard to think of them as just programs made up to entertain them.

  Chapter 23: The Sound of Progress

  Kol’s hands pressed into the materials in front of him. The temperatures were strong enough to melt down to a person’s bones.

  In Kol’s hands, the rounded length of metal was smoothed out, like clay in the hands of a master. A blade formed and then a series of runes. Even though Kol was just using his hands, he left behind perfect lines that looked as if they had come from an Aleph factory.

  He reintroduced the metal to the furnace once again as it had cooled too much for him to be able to easily manipulate it with his smithing art.

  He opened his eyes, looking around the upper floor smithy. Here and there were a half-dozen Master Smiths, either working on their own projects, Dave’s projects, repair jobs, or teaching others. There was a group of forty or so Dwarven smith hopefuls. Their background varied as much as their races.

  There were just a few Dwarves in the group. Many of them were working on different weapons and using different materials to get a better understanding. Others had Master Smiths looking over their shoulder to show them something. Others were planning out what they wanted to do.

  They were the next generation of Master Smith hopefuls. Only one in ten thousand had what they needed to make it not only to the level of Master Smith in knowledge of materials but also realize their smithing art.

  There might be one in a thousand that could pass all of the other requirements but never come to understand their smithing art.

  Then there was one in one hundred of those who found their smithing art who had a strong enough Willpower to use Mithril and truly be called a Dwarven Master Smith.

  A small smile crossed Kol’s features as he looked at all of the masters and talent displayed in his smithy.

  Cliff-Hill smithy was the largest smithy under Grahslagg Corporation. Many people started off working there, taking refined materials from the Aleph and Dwarves, creating various items, working on their coding skills and abilities. The smithy in Devil’s Crater made more complex Magical Circuitry or coded items. They were also capable of repairing any level of weapon, up to and including Weapons of Power. They also did custom weaponry and armor from the materials that were supplied by different adventurers and customers.

  Terra smithy was on a whole different level compared to the other smithies.

  Here they hired magical coders right out of the Mirror of Communication classes. If someone had the skill and temperament for it, they could come to work at Terra’s smithy, their food and accommodation paid for. They would work with other Magical Circuit geniuses and there was a chance that they might meet with Dave Grahslagg himself!

  Dwarven Master Smiths also flocked to the smithy, working alongside other geniuses and able to gain resources for working on set projects.

  Terra was the leading innovator of smithing and magical coding techniques. It was the first ever tower made completely from a soul gem base. It empowered and revitalized the people working there as well as increased the strength of their works.

  Terra was vaunted as one of the highest quality smithies around. The Dwarven mountains that had been around the longest had tools that had been imbued with the strength of millions of weapons, absorbing Mana from every Affinity to become stronger over centuries.

  The difference between Terra smithy and these other smithies was that it was easier to gain access to. For set prices or materials, the various smiths and coders within the smithy would be happy to look at different projects.

  Every day, new ideas were being tested out.

  “Master Kol, Frenik has arrived in Terra. You are scheduled to go and meet with him,” Shard said through a private chat.

  Kol sighed and looked at the metal that was quickly becoming cherry-red in the furnace. “Tell him to come up and meet me. I’ll be finished with this in a few minutes.”

  ***

  Frenik looked around in wonder. He had lived in Aleph cities for most of his life, though he hadn’t ever seen them as busy as he saw inside Terra. The streets were packed with people of every race, from POE to Player and hundreds of guilds and kingdoms.

  Walking through Terra was like walking around Emerilia.

  He attracted some attention as his group of centurion automatons moved around him, protecting him from any type of attack.

  Restaurants were doing a bustling business; smells invited Frenik to come and enjoy the delicacies available.

  A behemoth was carrying a drunk person spouting nonsense off to the side.

  Frenik’s eyebrows rose as he saw indentured prisoners walking around freely. They wore collars that wouldn’t allow them to attack people or escape their service. Although they didn’t seem to be overjoyed, they were going about the day with no one batting an eye. No one tried to harass them as they continued on their way.

  Stores were filled with fighters, monks, adventurers, and mages. For every kind of profession, there seemed to be a store.

  Roaming automatons reminded people that although they were free to visit Terra, they should watch their behavior.

  Buildings were no longer just simple box-like affairs. People had added their own flair; they came in all manner of colors. Most of them looked more modern, with clean lines, silvers and whites with clear glass, or in some rare cases, soul gem windows to show off the goods inside.

  Towers rose up into the sky. Transports moved from one location to another, moving goods and people. The skies were filled with traffic. Walkways extended over the roads, people moving through them.

  Parks and growing towers were artfully placed so that the cities didn’t just seem to be lifeless constructs. Greenery curled up walls or was carefully maintained in parks that lay off from the main thoroughfares.

  There were more discreet businesses away from the main roads, allowing someone to get a beer in a quiet location or to have a meal in peace after a long, hard quest.

  Terra had a revitalizing energy; it truly was a place where anyone might be able to find what they wanted. The streets became busier the farther one went.

  Frenik stared at the refinery that was overhead on the opposite side of the city’s ring. It never stopped; the massive facility was in constant motion with materials moving in and out of it.

  He continued on his path, shaking his head at the marvels that were happening in Terra.

  He wasn’t tall enough to see it, but the second section of Terra was already in development and would be complete in just a few short months, ready to take on more people and businesses.

  He made his way to the Terra smithy. People were moving in and out with all manner of materials, weapons, and wealth.

  Terra cou
ld serve any person’s needs, though there were a limited number of smiths, so some of the work was sent off to Devil’s Crater or Cliff-Hill.

  Frenik walked into the smithy.

  “Who the hell does he think he is just because he’s got a few automatons?” someone complained.

  Automatons were rarely seen. Before a few months ago, they had just been legendary machines, but it seemed that Emerilians got used to change rather quickly.

  “Master Frenik, Kol has asked that you meet him up on the top floor. He’s currently working on something. He’s sorry for the delay,” one of the smiths working the front table said. They waved to an elevator.

  “Thanks.” Frenik smiled, and his automatons moved with him into the elevator. After a short ride, he was up in the top floor of the smithy.

  Frenik stepped out of the elevator and stopped moving. His eyes roved around the room, trying to find Kol across the large floor. Instead, they fell on the different items that were being made.

  Excitement filled Frenik as he looked from weapons to armor, to powerful rings and necklaces. Each and every item that came from this floor was worthy of being called the best in all of Emerilia. Although there were a few Weapons of Power, mostly those being repaired, these items were as strong as the weakest Weapons of Power.

  Frenik looked over racks of spears, swords, shields, axes, morning stars. There was no end to the types of weapons; there were even magical staffs and different ranged mechanical weapons. Frenik looked over these items with a reverence. They were weapons of war but the craftsmanship, the detail in each and every one of them…

  Frenik touched them, sinking his senses into them. They were powerful and elegant, with the kind of quality that his forges could only come close to.

  His factories made great mass-produced weapons, but without the individual detail that these smiths could bring, they were inferior. When compared to the highest strength weapons here, his weapons were like comparing a stick figure to a beautiful landscape painting.

  They were both paintings and works of art that only a true master could make; the other was presented well but it didn’t have any special depth to it.

  He slowly reached where Kol stood in his workspace.

  People’s conversations stopped as they walked past, looking in to see as Kol worked.

  Frenik tried to be as quiet as possible, looking at Kol. In his hands, he held a cherry-red sword. Already it had a faint design in the blade and its edge looked as though it could cut through a tree as if it were butter. It was a short sword that belled out slightly before coming into its final point. Kol’s hands moved over the blade; silver that had been resting on the top of the blade sunk into it, disappearing from sight.

  He’s probably laying down magical coding on the inside so only someone who comes into contact with the blade can tell what its abilities are.

  Frenik tugged on his beard, watching as Kol’s hands moved over the metal. Kol tossed in a few different materials from his belt, and then he heated it up again.

  The metal sparked but was again cherry-red in just a few moments in the powerful soul gem-powered furnace.

  Kol ran his fingers over the sword, his eyes closed. He changed it slightly before running his fingers along the edge. The edge became firmer as the heat started to be rapidly pulled from it. By the time Kol was at the end of the sword, it looked like dirty steel.

  Kol flicked the blade; ash fell from the blade, showing a weapon that looked as if it had been polished for days, not a single mark on it.

  There was almost a chill in the air with the metal as Kol turned it in his hand. The blade easily cut through the air with a slight humming noise. Kol put the blade down on the workbench with a sort of reverence.

  “Oh, hey Frenik, sorry about that,” Kol said, noticing Frenik as he looked up from his work.

  “No matter. It was a pleasure to see you work. You still good for that talk about incorporating more Aleph items into the smithies’ supply chain?” Frenik asked.

  “That I am. Come, we’ll take this to my office.” Kol led the way through the shop.

  Frenik followed him into an office. Two automatons followed him in, and the others stayed outside.

  ***

  Kol looked to Frenik, sizing the man up. As Dave had made his workshop, he had brought Kol in on just who Bob really was, the creation of Emerilia, and the Jukal Empire.

  He’d also brought him in on all the plans he had for the projects that the Dwarven Master Smiths were working on.

  It had been a lot to take in but Kol had always thought that Dave was thinking in the long term and he’d had his suspicions of what the projects that Dave was handing out were meant for. He also had magical coders from all over Emerilia working to solve issues to coding problems that he’d had.

  Now Frenik was another part of this massive puzzle.

  Kol opened a private chat with Frenik. He didn’t want any part of this conversation getting out. He already knew that Terra’s protection was great but the private chat system was nearly infallible.

  “I didn’t think discussing the number of factories we can have working on cutting down materials to specifications to make them easier to forge would need a private chat,” Frenik said.

  “They don’t. What I have to ask of you is something that no one else can do and something that we’re going to have to keep a secret.” Kol gave Frenik a serious look. He waited for that to settle in before he continued. “Dave has brought me in on a project. Simply put, I have never heard of something the kind of scale he’s thinking. Also, most of it is in the developmental stages and we only have a rough idea of what we’re going to need. However, from that, we’re going to need a lot of different components and all of them need to be identical. Having this with master crafters is just not a possibility, but your factories have proved time and time again that they can make things to a high grade repeatedly. We need that.”

  “What are these components going to be needed for?” Frenik asked, curious.

  “For that, I don’t know if I can tell you or not yet. What I can do is give you a bunch of plans and ask if you can complete them in a certain period so that they will function and that I can get them in the quantities I need.”

  “I can let you know, but I’m going to need to see them. If you want, I’ll make an oath,” Frenik said.

  “As much as I trust you, it would be best, just because of the pressure it would exert on you to warn you if you’re close to revealing something.”

  “Understood and no worries,” Frenik said with a disarming smile. He knew that Kol wouldn’t take these measures unless he absolutely felt the need to.

  “Frenik, will you swear that you will not tell anyone what the purposes of these plans are? You will not hint at it and do everything in your power to make sure that people don’t come to understand what they would create?” Kol asked.

  A prompt appeared in front of Frenik, the box repeating what Kol had asked.

  “I agree,” Frenik said.

  Now Kol would be warned if he broke this oath.

  “Thank you,” Kol said, breathing a little easier. “Now, there are three main projects. One is a missile. Basically, think of it as a seeking Mana bolt attack but with a grand working bomb and harder to hit. Another is a self-contained ship to fly around Emerilia. There’s going to be tons of components but we’ve got the basic ideas figured out. Then the third is called a Band-Aid—Dave hasn’t come up with a better name, and he hasn’t finished it—but essentially, once this thing is worn by a Player, they won’t mysteriously die at the end of their Player cycle.”

  “He has something that could actually be capable of doing that?” Frenik said in excited tones, leaning forward.

  “Well, he has the idea and the plans, but we simply don’t know if it will work or not.” Kol sighed.

  Frenik sat back in his chair. A ship that could fly through the air—it could remove roads altogether. And missiles—it sounded as if they would be capable of
destroying cities and would be extremely hard to fight against!

  “Okay, what components are we looking at and how many?” Frenik pushed down on his excitement.

  “Have a look.” Kol sent over complete blueprints on the projects. The ship was a list of parts. Dave had created a mock-up but they simply didn’t know how big everything was going to be, so relying on the exterior mock-up wasn’t the best. The Band-Aid was a complex series of thin coded plates. Making them so small would be hard, but possible.

  Frenik slowly looked through them, muttering to himself and making notes on his interface. “I’m going to need some help on some of this stuff, but I think we can get it done. Once I know how things would work out, I can give you a time estimate. I can do this by myself in a few days or I can get Shard to do it in a few minutes.”

  “You can use Shard. No one’s getting into his Magical Circuitry—Dave and Bob checked,” Kol said.

  “Good to know that he’s secure. Who’s this Bob?”

  “Grey God,” Kol said.

  Frenik’s eyes widened. He thought that he couldn’t be shocked anymore.

  “Trust me, I know—the more I learn, the more I find out I don’t know anything. It’s a bit overwhelming at first.” Kol shrugged.

  “Well, thank you for trusting me.” Frenik sent off the information to Shard.

  Shard asked to join the private chat; Kol allowed him.

  “We can complete these projects within eight months. We might need more time with any later components you make due to other people taking up factory lines,” Shard said.

  “Perfect. Then I’ll leave that to you,” Kol said.

  “Thank you.” Frenik stood. Kol did so as well, and they shook hands. Both of them felt that their actions would have far-reaching effects, but right now, there were too many questions and not enough answers. So, what that effect might be, neither of them could fully imagine.

  ***

  Ela-Dorn slid in the last coded plate. She pushed the rack into the large arch of the machine she’d been working on for the last couple of weeks.