Chapter 20 (part 1/2) - Threat

  The sensation was strange, like putting on a garment after having been naked for a long time. The weight of the ceramic weapon in his hand, even though it didn’t quite have the shape of a proper gun nor a conventional trigger, still conveyed the unmistakable presence of a weapon.

  The pockets of his tunic weren’t large enough to hide it, so he had to put on his satchel and stash it there to practice drawing it. If he had to face a mage, the motion needed to take less than half a second, fast enough not to allow them to utter a single word.

  Even if it explodes, it should give me a chance to attack them physically.

  Vincent, like any other billionaire with too much time on his hands, had devoted long stretches of his life to training his body and various disciplines. Boxing, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and others. He at least knew the fundamentals of all of them, not just as physical exercise, but because in his past life he had even toyed with the idea of challenging other billionaires to an MMA fight.

  His body was no longer the same. It was worn down, thin, but the mechanics of movement weren’t so easily forgotten. He set the satchel aside and began practicing strikes against an imaginary shadow. If he faced a mage, he needed to aim for the mouth or the throat. From personal experience, he knew it was possible to cast without speaking, but Lily, an extremely competent magister, always used words, which suggested that for complex spells, verbal incantation was still necessary.

  Another good target was the stomach, not only to knock the wind out of them, but to strike directly at the diaphragm, where a large cluster of meridians converged.

  Is it possible to emit energy at the same time as throwing a punch? Probably yes… maybe with the gauntlet.

  Lily had already mentioned martial arts based on the use of energy, and he knew that meridians could be developed within the muscles, but that kind of training would have to wait. For now, with his new defensive weapon, he once again felt secure enough to move around the tower.

  His first destination was the workshop, just to be seen. His fellow craftsmen had already mastered the manufacture of the circles, and the upper floors of the tower were being supplied, along with the research and treasury sectors. The number of workers had increased, and some walls had retracted, absorbing the old binding and printing workshop that had previously bordered the area.

  “I’m glad to see the operation is running smoothly. It seems you don’t need me anymore.”

  Vincent said as he sat down at one of the lathes, deliberately ignoring the work he was supposed to be doing.

  “You’ll always be welcome here, lad… you’re free to bring and test your inventions whenever you like,” Dodoon replied, noticing Vincent beginning to set up the lathe to make more cylinders. “You sure need a lot of those, huh?”

  “These? Yeah… they’re part of a project I’m still working on.”

  “You mean this?” Dodoon said, holding up one of his vaporizers.

  “Where did you get that?” Vincent asked, jumping up from his seat.

  “There are plenty of assistants around here. That kid over there got one and the first thing he did was bring it to me… it’s very impressive.” Dodoon opened the vaporizer into its parts, once again admiring its delicate craftsmanship. “I don’t understand why you’re being so secretive about this. The tower has far more important things to worry about.”

  And that was coming from a member of the tower itself. Was Vincent really exaggerating? Was he worrying over nothing?

  “What’s even more interesting is figuring out how you made it… this level of craftsmanship is remarkable.” Dodoon looked at the cylinders Vincent had made and picked one up, placing it next to the vaporizer. “How do you remove all the excess material from these cylinders? What’s your secret?”

  Vincent glanced around. Many of the craftsmen nearby had their ears perked in his direction; it wasn’t safe to talk there.

  “I’m still working on it. You’ll have to give me more time. I’ll have something ready soon.”

  “Rumors are already starting to spread… I could put out a notice saying we’re working on something. That should buy you a week or two before you have to report anything, and if they catch you, you can say you haven’t delivered anything due to their own bureaucracy being slow.”

  Dodoon looked back, silencing the curious stares of his apprentices. No one would dare speak behind his back; the secret was safe.

  “Thank you so much… I promise I’ll show you how to make them soon.”

  Vincent truly didn’t know how to express his gratitude. He didn’t know the culture… should he shake his hand? Bow like the Japanese? For now, he simply dipped his head slightly in a gesture of respect, and that seemed to be enough.

  “All right, lad. I owe you too. Thanks to you, this little workshop grew quite a bit, they thought I was involved in the creation of your circle.”

  “And you were, in a way. I couldn’t have done it if you hadn’t explained how to use the compass or allowed me access to the tools.”

  “Bah, things anyone would have done.”

  In response, Vincent firmly shook his head.

  “One shouldn’t rely on the kindness of others to grow… so when someone like that appears, you should take advantage of it and be grateful. Thank you, master.”

  Despite having many more years than him, even more than the fifty he appeared to have thanks to his race’s longevity, Dodoon held a far more innocent outlook on the world. Perhaps the field of magic circles was less competitive, Vincent thought, noticing that his mentor was not corrupted by the cynicism he himself had developed long before achieving his fortune.

  Dodoon’s goodwill bought him more time, but also an ultimatum. At most, he had a couple more weeks of profit left. The moment he revealed the circles, the business would be over… unless…

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  If I only show them the vaporizer, I could keep my edge in manufacturing… take a parallel market with lower margins… No, Dodoon would notice… but I could make a less efficient version…

  The plan to create a much larger, clunkier, and mathematically more complex fabrication circle would take time, but it would allow him to retain a productive advantage later on… for now, though, he could squeeze as much as possible out of his invention.

  When he left the workshop, Ben was waiting for him. He handed over the money as if it were part of the workshop’s business. With him, he carried a box full of gems, which he delivered at the counter. The workshop was short-staffed, and by presenting himself as Vincent’s friend, Ben managed to get a job running errands for them.

  So he was the one who sold the pipe here…

  After discreetly handing Vincent the twenty silver towers, Ben went on his way. Vincent then headed up to the forge to buy the gems needed to make more vaporizers. There, Phil stood at the shop counter with a smug smile.

  “I know what you’re plotting,” he said without greeting him. “I know what you’ve been working on.”

  Even though he had been “caught,” Vincent felt no hostility from him. Phil had no intention of exposing or blackmailing him. He simply wanted to boast about having figured out his secret project.

  “One of my friends showed it to me. I know you made it because I can see the lines left by the argent-steel sphere. You’re using it as a lathe, right?”

  Once again, he had been found out. First Rin, then Dodoon, and now Phil. His movements left traces, far too many, all of them easy to follow back to him.

  “You’re right… you’re not going to turn me in, are you?”

  Phil thought about it for a moment. It was the right thing to do, but unlike the tower’s upper ranks, he had no real motivation to expose Vincent. His satisfaction came from meddling in other people’s projects.

  “If you promise not to say anything and do me a favor, I’ll explain how it works.”

  That lit up Phil’s eyes, and he did not even notice that he had just committed himself to owing Vincent a favor. “In fact, I’ll even let you come with me to do something veeery interesting.”

  “W- What exactly?” Phil replied, trying to feign disinterest.

  Vincent did not answer. He simply placed a compact manual on the table. Basic Points for the Creation of Magical Prosthetics, it was titled. That immediately piqued Phil’s curiosity. He grabbed it and began flipping through the diagrams without bothering to hide it.

  “What exactly are you going to do? Does it have something to do with the vaporizer?”

  “Well… I need it because of the vaporizer, but not exactly.”

  Vincent replied as he slid a sheet of paper toward him with a list of materials. “I’ll need these things… can you manage it?”

  Aside from fifty silver towers’ worth of materials for vaporizers, the end of the list also included stranger items: a small spool of silver wire, a jade plate, leather strips, brass sheets, assorted gems and… a glove.

  “A glove?” Phil muttered to himself. “Are you making a magical gauntlet?”

  Vin raised a finger to his lips in a gesture for silence. Phil immediately shut up.

  “I can’t do it here, it’s a secret project… but I’ll show it to you when I’m done,” Vin said, seeking complicity. “Still, I’ll need you to explain how to use metalworking tools. These are small, delicate parts. I can already access the forge, right?”

  A magical gauntlet was a marvelous piece of engineering, and anyone interested in the manufacture of magical items had an almost unhealthy obsession with them. Phil no longer had any reason to block his access to the forge. His resurrected status and his collaboration with the circle workshop granted him entry to a great deal of machinery, with the trade-off that he would be exposed to working alongside everyone else.

  “Of course. Dodoon already did the paperwork. Come with me.”

  Crossing the large wrought-iron arch that separated the forge from the tower’s corridors, and passing through the glass wall, one could admire from the very first moment the skill and craftsmanship of the forge’s members. This entrance was crowned with iron flowers and other metals, all worked by hammer, without the tricks of magic. They looked far too rough for that.

  It seemed to be a custom that, upon reaching a certain level of skill, one would weld a flower, whether on the door, on the scattered glass walls, or on the metal columns. Magic prevented the smells and heat of the forge from leaking outside, so the sudden change in climate and light, along with the abstract flowers growing from the dense forest of columns, made the place feel like a jungle of iron.

  Multiple forges spewed fire nonstop, heating metal plates, glass, and ingots. Springs, lenses, and gems were worked there as well. The tower was a major supplier of delicate parts, exactly the source Vincent needed for his inventions.

  Once they had moved a bit away from the heat, Phil caught up with him in a more compact work area, with more utilitarian tables covered in vises for holding pieces, adjustable hanging magnifying lenses mounted on metal arms, and magic circles engraved directly into the tabletops.

  “Come on, this table is free. You can use the tools on that rack. If you take them out of their work area they’ll start screeching, so don’t even think about stealing anything.”

  “I wouldn’t dare!” Vincent replied indignantly. He already knew stealing was wrong. He only intended to borrow them.

  “Over here you’ve got a tub of water and another of quenching oil, in case you need them. From that discard pile you can get some metals to work with, but don’t expect anything valuable… you can only take them with you if you turn them into something.”

  Vincent nodded, looking over the various shelves, buckets, and auxiliary tables in the workspace. Something caught his eye. Off to one side, against a column, stood a very delicate circular display rack with several shelves, completely out of place among the otherwise utilitarian but beautiful workshop equipment. Noticing his curiosity, Phil walked over to the display and opened it.

  “And most importantly, here are the golden eggs. Stock is low, and you can’t take them without authorization,” Phil said, casually grabbing a golden egg and lifting it. When he gestured for Vincent to do the same, Vincent found himself unable to remove them or even move them from their shelves. “You don’t have permission for that kind of power, so you'll have to settle for silver or carved jade ones… though from the looks of it, there aren’t many left.”

  Vincent changed targets and picked up a jade egg with silver engravings and colorful gemstone inlays. This time he was able to lift it, and immediately felt a powerful pulse of energy emanating from it.

  “I assume this gets set in like a gem to power the tables, forges, and the like, right?”

  “I can tell you learn fast. Yes, you’re right.”

  Phil took the egg from Vincent’s hand and carried it over to the empty worktable. The table had several circles and multiple slots. Phil placed the egg into one of them. “This acts like a battery. The rule is not to hoard all the eggs in the room, so everyone can work.”

  As soon as the egg slid into the slot, it lit up. It was far more power than Vincent could ever conjure, even with his makeshift array. He did not know exactly how it worked, but from the few runes he could read, including the heat symbols, Vincent could tell it would function as a forge.

  “If what you need is to work with small parts, this is more than enough. You just have to hold the piece with tongs and place it over the circle...”

  Phil picked up a piece of brass from a nearby scrap pile as a demonstration. Within seconds, the metal began to glow with a faint red sheen. He then grabbed a small hammer and struck the piece against a tiny anvil embedded in the table.

  “The circle only heats basic metals. The tower’s tools use a special alloy that the system recognizes, so they don’t heat up.”

  So it’s not convection… magic really is convenient.

  “You can adjust the temperature by changing the egg slot. You also have other useful circles here, but if you can’t read what they do, you shouldn’t be using them.”

  “I see, I see… thank you very much for showing me how to use it.”

  “Thanks?” Phil replied. “Don’t thank me, tell me how the vaporizer works.”

  “Ah… about that.”

  Phil’s expression immediately darkened.

  “I can’t show it to you right now because I’ve run out of vaporizers. But rest assured, I’ll explain everything once I make more. I’ll even give you one as a gift.”

  That seemed to satisfy Phil, who still wore an irritated grimace, though one eyebrow remained raised in expectation.

  “Fine… I’ll let you work. I expect you to keep your promise. Remember, I can reveal your secret.”

  That threat didn’t sit well with Vincent, but he knew Phil wasn’t serious… no. The real threat was still yet to come.