Chapter 23 (part 1/2) - The Trap

  Only one day remained before Takkio returned to the Tower. The next shipment of herbs would arrive soon, and with it, his true enemy.

  Unlike Edgar and the resurrects he had sent to attack him, Takkio was a professional adventurer. He escorted caravans, hunted monsters, investigated ruins. Physical work. Dangerous. Constant. If Lily’s information was accurate, an adventurer not only mastered a wide repertoire of offensive spells, but also possessed an altered body. His meridians were not limited to central conduits, but extended through muscles, bones, and skin. Superhuman strength. Enhanced reflexes. Fine control over mass and momentum. A combatant impossible to defeat for a conventional human.

  Vincent did not know whether they would seek direct revenge. Nor whether they would try to eliminate him preemptively before he could use his supposed power. But if it was going to happen, it had to be on his terms. On his ground.

  “Come. I need you to accompany me. If I ask Lily for help, she’ll worry too much. Only you can do this,” Vincent ordered the trio of husks.

  He did not fully trust them, his nature would not allow it. But they did not have much room to betray him either, being on his side offered clear benefits.

  “Where are you taking us, Vin? This place is a dump,” Charly complained as they advanced toward the bathroom. “Y-you’re not planning to get rid of us, are you?”

  There was fear in his voice, the rumors had spread quickly. To the husks, Vincent hovered somewhere between hero and threat. Defeating three resurrects, three known thugs, had earned him a peculiar reputation in the lower dorms.

  “You said we could keep whatever we earned as long as we gave you five towers. I-it’s Charly who’s been charging seven… even eight.”

  “Hey!” Charly shouted, hitting Ben for exposing him. “What we charge is none of his business.”

  “He’s right, I’m not interested in what you’re making, I trust the price is appropriate. When the market saturates, we’ll have to lower it, tho.” Vincent replied calmly. “I brought you here for something else, I need you to cover me while I test something.”

  “W-what? Be your bodyguards? You’re not calling us to fight, right? We’re no good for that. You wouldn’t make a woman fight, would you?” Tammy asked.

  “It’s not that either. You’d be useless to me in a fight.”

  Charly frowned, irritated by the implication. The other two, however, sighed in relief.

  The trip took longer than usual since they did not know the area. After weaving past debris, cobwebs, and accumulated grime, they finally reached Vincent’s provisional workshop, the bathroom where he hid his fabrication circles.

  “What is this place? And that staff?” Charly asked, pointing at the rod full of crystals standing upright in the middle of the room, perfectly balanced.

  “So this is where you make them, right?”

  Ben was the first to notice the circles, centered around the large accumulation array inscribed on the floor. Thanks to the recent acquisition of the gauntlet and his heavier pockets, Vincent had expanded his production matrix. Now three circles could operate simultaneously. In addition, using wood taken from one of the bathroom doors, he had built a rudimentary mechanical arm. Powered by magic, the arm transferred vaporizers from one circle to the next, fed raw cylinders at the start of the chain, and set aside finished ones at the end.

  The only steps still requiring manual input were the insertion of gems and the final application of flux in the conduits, but even so, it was more than enough to keep production running while he focused on what truly mattered…

  The trap.

  “So this is where all your profits have been going, huh? I didn’t know you could build a golem.”

  “A golem? What do you mean?” Vincent asked Tammy, who pointed at the mechanical arm.

  “It moves on its own. Isn’t that a golem? Or did Lily make it?”

  Vincent did not fully grasp the term, but he understood the idea. A golem was an artificial construct capable of executing autonomous commands. It required a powerful gem and advanced knowledge. After all, energy was made of fragments of soul, and in sufficient quantity it could generate something close to consciousness, however faint. A simple servant.

  “I haven’t made anything that sophisticated. It’s just an arm with instructions engraved into a magic circle made of clay I use as a base. It has no consciousness or decision-making ability.”

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  “It’s impressive… and judging by the lines, you’re powering it with the staff, aren’t you?”

  Vincent could not help but feel proud. Charly, however, cut in before the praise went too far.

  “Alright, alright. Why did you bring us here? What’s the point of showing us your operation?”

  “You’re focusing too much on the floor. On what I manufacture,” Vincent said calmly. “You’re not paying attention to the room.”

  The decrepit bathroom Vincent had claimed as his own did not look much different from any other abandoned one. The stall doors had been removed to gain space, and the toilets were sealed, If they could even be called toilets. They were more like stone channels with perforations.

  The design was more primitive than the bathrooms used by the husks. It likely belonged to an older version of the Tower. The walls were covered in mold, the lighting was poor, and the quartz crystals remained unlit, channeling all the energy they collected into the fabrication circles instead. Only a few beams of light filtered through small high windows, preventing the dampness from fully reclaiming the place.

  Like every unproductive room in the Tower, it was infested with arteries. They sprouted from the floor, crossed the walls, and snaked along the ceiling. And that was exactly what Vincent wanted to show them.

  “It’s full of arteries. That one up there looks loose, it could fall on someone’s head,” Charly protested as he watched Vincent tie a rope around his waist.

  Vincent opened his satchel and pulled out the gauntlet. He put it on carefully, adjusting each finger one by one.

  Ben, who understood better what he was seeing, was impressed. The other two widened their eyes as well. Even without grasping how it worked, they could sense the value of the embedded gems.

  “Don’t you remember how we met?”

  Their faces went pale.

  The intention became clear when Vincent handed Tammy a pair of reinforced belts.

  “No, no, no… you’re not thinking about…” Tammy shook her head.

  “You’re insane! Do you want to die?” Charly added. “Don’t do it now. We’re making good money. If this keeps up, I can get out of here before I start going gray.”

  “It won’t be like last time,” Ben intervened more calmly. “This time it’s different. That’s different,” he said, pointing at the gauntlet.

  “So you know what it is,” Vincent replied, raising his hand to show the palm.

  The value of the gauntlet became even more apparent up close. The carved green stone, the embedded gems, the silver lattice. In this world, aesthetics and synergy elevated value beyond the mere sum of materials.

  “It’s a magic gauntlet.”

  Tammy turned even paler. Gauntlets usually contained abundant gold and were crafted by specialized artisans. If Vincent had made one on his own…

  Charly did not grasp the technical magnitude, but he understood that it was expensive.

  “And that gauntlet… you made it yourself, didn’t you?” Tammy asked in a low voice. “You… who are you?”

  Slowly, the three of them reached the same conclusion, each at their own pace. They were not standing before an ordinary man...

  “You’re human, right? I mean… from Earth,” Charly asked cautiously.

  “I am.”

  “How are you so deeply versed in magic? How can you do the things you do?” Tammy pressed.

  “His memory… it must be perfect,” Ben murmured, more to himself than to the others.

  The others looked at him, then at Vincent. He shook his head.

  He had no intention of telling the full truth. But conveniently, it was not a lie either. He had lost many memories while settling into this world.

  “Not exactly. But I remember the technical side perfectly. I used to be an engineer… and a merchant as well,” he replied, concealing the true scale of his past.

  “Perfect memory… an engineer…”

  Tammy stepped forward and, to Vincent’s surprise, knelt before him. Her forehead touched the floor. Vincent had a superiority complex, yes, but being revered like a deity made him deeply uncomfortable.

  “What are you doing, woman?” Charly shouted, annoyed.

  “This week, for the second time since I opened my eyes in this world, I have hope of leaving this place. Before understanding the Tower’s machinations, I was ignorant. Now I can see. Now I understand that only by following you will we escape.”

  Tammy maintained her bow.

  “I beg you to allow me to accompany you in whatever you plan.”

  Ben began to kneel as well, but Vincent stopped him with a sharp gesture. It was too much.

  “This sort of thing isn’t necessary. I’m not looking for a retinue. I’m looking for competent people,” he stated as he helped Tammy back to her feet. “Our deal will stand as long as you’re useful to me… and don’t betray me.”

  He said the last part while looking directly at Charly.

  “Don’t look at me! I’m not stupid enough to betray the goose that lays golden eggs. And precisely because of that, I can’t give you my loyalty if you’re planning to go head to head against Takkio and his thugs. If you make me fight, I’ll run.”

  “You won’t be here for that. I already told you you’d be useless in a fight,” Vincent replied calmly. “I plan to face him alone. You’re going to supervise an experiment… and I need a test subject.”

  The trio looked at each other. Then at the arteries. Then back at Vincent.

  “You trust me, right? Nothing will happen to you. For now, start the preparations, find the smallest artery and reduce its flow.”

  Unconvinced but obedient, they began working on one of the pulsating, energy-charged arteries. They knew many resurrects used them as a training method, provided they could withstand the magical load.

  Tammy examined several and chose one embedded in a side wall. Ben pried it slightly away from the surface with a stick while Charly tightened belts around it to reduce the flow. A small reddish bulge formed where the belts compressed most tightly.

  It was ready.

  “Now I have a task for each of you.”

  Vincent handed Ben the end of the rope tied around his waist.

  “Ben, hold this.”

  Then he turned to Charly.

  “Charly, take the stick and get ready to strike me.”

  “Gladly, boss,” he replied with enthusiasm.

  “Hit my hand. Only separate it from the artery if I can’t disconnect myself,” Vincent clarified when he noticed his tone. “And you, Tammy, take this bottle.”

  He handed her the meridian restoration potion.

  “If I lose consciousness, administer it to me. Can you do that?”

  Tammy nodded without hesitation.

  Their positions were set. Vincent adjusted the gauntlet and took a deep breath.

  This is insane. But if it works…

  He was about to tap an artery again.