Steel and Mana

Chapter 308 – Enhance

After collecting the beasts that we massacred, it turned out they were not mature enough to have proper monster cores within their bodies. At least, they were not big enough. The creatures were tall and sturdy, yes, but their cores were not developed enough to be proper for powering another mech. Still, I ordered the production of two of them, as I want them to be ready the moment we get ourselves the adequate variants of monster cores. As for their bones, they were like the others, so the rest of their bodies were indeed valuable resources, including their hides, meat, and blood.

When we were back in the castle, I asked my kids if they felt anything while the battle was going on. Leyla shook her head while Arthur thought about it a bit longer, telling us he didn’t hear any voices this time around, but he did feel the hunger in the attacking beasts. When I asked if it was aimed at us, his answer was that it was being directed at the mechs and the Camelot.

“Which means they were aiming to get either the cores or us,” Sasha muttered.

“That checks out of what we learned before.” I nodded, confirming the old records. "They are after magic, be it CC or mages.”

“Well, if they want it, they should try harder to get it!” Yuri snorted, and I wanted to say, don’t jinx it, but… she already spoke her mind.

And they came again. Only after two days did another group of similarly sized and varied beasts arrive. Most of their group was made up of the previous incident’s four-legged, snake-tailed warthogs. Even with a bigger-sized horde, they were not much of a threat. This time, I ordered the Camelot to strike them down, and they were blown to pieces before they could reach the mechs. Although... not much remained to collect afterward.

By the end of the first month, we had eleven attacks, both day and night, and the monster bodies were piling up nicely, refilling our resources, except gaining us proper monster cores. The ones in these were still useful, but… Maybe I just wanted too much. I had to remind myself that attacks like these would have already massacred a lot of men, perhaps even breaking through the Pass in the old times.

“I have been thinking…” Merlin came into my office one morning, holding a thick stack of papers. “With the amount of blood we have at hand, we could enhance our soldiers even more.”

“Excuse me?” I looked up at him with raised eyebrows, stopping to type out my future guidebook of officer training for the Camelot.

“Tattoos! We can put pure enhancements on our soldiers so they can make better use of our Mark II armor. And their weapons!”

“Explain,” I said, standing up to sit on my couch and look over his designs, which were all a hundred different magic formations. I didn’t need explanations of the whys; I had also thought about it before. I just never really had the time and willpower to sit down and start putting it together with everything going around us. And I never mentioned it to him, either.

“I found time; with most projects underway, I was getting a bit bored anyway.”

“You? Bored? Geez… How can you be bored next to Elena?”

“These formations happened because of her.” He said proudly, “I am still teaching her to understand runes individually, and while doing so, I also began understanding the monsters and their bones better. I also studied the Shipslaves, but don’t worry, I am not replicating them!”

“I didn’t think so, I trust you. So? You came up with a lot of variants… Is this a visual spell?” I mumbled, looking at one, that by decoding it seemed to be enhancing… clarity?

“With the helmet and its integration, we could make it so if we tattoo our soldiers, they can control the suit and its functions simply by their thoughts. They aren’t mages, but with monster blood injected into their skin, it would be enough. You see,” he pointed at specific runes, “I managed to decode that this is how beasts work. I identified the runes responsible for reacting with their nervous system, picking up on their host’s will and ideas, and executing the relevant spell. If their bodies are also capable of producing that formation, that is. It totally depends on what type of runes are on their bones.”

“So… if you place the correct formation on our soldiers’ bodies, it would act the same way? Even if their bones are not engraved?”

“They wouldn’t be able to cast a spell.” Merlin chuckled, shifting through his drawings, “They are not mages nor people with cores. However, they could activate formations their body has contact with if the tattoo is compatible.”

“I see.” I nodded, as this was how my Knight’s variant worked, but on a reduced scale. “You mentioned their weapons.”

“Yes.” He continued with excitement, “The bone weapons still have runes, fragments of a way too complex, previous formation. We could engrave them with corresponding variants to complete a fake, simpler formation. In theory, that would also be reactive and could end up giving a new edge for our warriors.”

“In theory,” I repeated, scratching my chin, but I began to see where he was going as I started understanding his drawings more: “The bones of our ice-spitting monster could become frosty… But if it is uncontrollable, it could freeze our own soldier.”

“There are risks, yes.”

“I am not fond of the idea of risking loyal soldiers for experiments.”

“Um… Yes, that part may be… dangerous, but shouldn’t be deadly!” He answered, a bit unsure, making me sigh. This was precisely why I was always working on something else, postponing the idea of risking my men's lives.

“There is one more thing.” I shrugged, putting down his papers, “We are surrounded by a magic wall. With equipping our soldiers… wouldn’t that make them susceptible to it? Disabling them?”Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“Only the suits’ functions. Or the weapons’ enhancements. Not the soldiers. It doesn’t kill mages either; it just disables their access to magic. And our soldiers are still strong without it! They could march through it, and when clearing it, they can engage once again.”

Seeing me fall silent, thinking through it, he waited patiently for me to speak again. I was enticed by the possibilities and what it could mean for magicless people in the future. But I was also a bit afraid that we would fall into the trap of creating Shipslaves. Or something worse. We don’t know what the Vasas’s sin was in the ancient days. How far did they go? What experiments did they perform? Were they deformed so much that they had to be exterminated? What about the corpse we found? There were still too many unknown factors.

“Announce it amongst our soldiers. Explain everything, including the risks it entails, and make sure they understand it, not just brush it off. Choose a handful of volunteers and do extensive tests. I want reports of everything that happens, and I want them monitored until we are sure it is harmless, even if it succeeds.”

“Your Father, Polo, Yuri, and Mikan are alright…”

“I know that.” I raised my hand to stop him, “What I am worried about is not synchronizing them with the suit. That part should indeed be done without problems. I am concerned about the weapon part! That… can be dangerous.”

“…”

“Creating a conducive staff for my wives and for you was one thing. You can handle it; you are all magic-sensitive. This is a bit more… iffy.”

“Don’t worry, Leon!” He smiled, standing up with a confident grin. “I will make sure it works out as expected!”

…
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In the Silver Region, Mirian was sitting aboard the Judgement, tapping her fingers on her desk, thinking about what reply to send back to Leon. Their people had just finished connecting Cerna and Avalon through a new communication method, and... she wanted to use it well for the first time, but her news wouldn't be all good. Which frustrated her.

She had a guess what he was after, asking her to try and ascertain how high that anti-magic spell went, but… even with the clouds at her side, hiding the Judgement’s movements, she couldn’t come up with an answer. She did push the ship to its limits, rising up to 6,000 meters, where it was groaning loudly under the stress. The Shiplsaves aboard were constantly trying to wrestle control back to lower their altitude, so it became impossible to rise any further.

Worse, she could tell that the enemy’s spell was still effective at that height. They were stuck. The only positive aspect of it all was that this also affected their enemy, so no Ishillian ship would come over and attack them.

“Miri?” Milan asked, entering her room, “Don’t you want to come back down to the castle? It can be freezing up here.”

“It’s fine.” She smiled, knowing why he was worried, rubbing her bulging stomach. She was close to giving birth now… very close. It should have already happened, but it turned out their child was feeling cozy inside. “I can feel that our son is happy and content.”

“Still… we should be careful and prepared!” He muttered, helping her up. “Let’s go down; we will have dinner, take a bath, and then we can cuddle.”

“That sounds nice. I can decide on my report to Leon later anyway. Don’t you want to go and check on your sister? Maybe she is pregnant, too!”

“She is not.” Milan shrugged. “Mom wrote to me last week; she moved to Avalon and began pestering her about it. I think my sister wishes that she remained in Greyback to control the city.”

“Well, at least you are a good example, fufufu!” Mirian giggled, hugging her most beloved person in the world. “Oh…”

“What is it?” he asked as Mirian’s face suddenly contorted, and he could hear her peeing herself. No, her pee never smelled like this.

“Well…” Mirian smiled, blinking her eyes, “I think we should head to the bath… I heard giving birth in one is… easier?”

…
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……

“Did you call for me, Sovereign?” Elena asked, arriving at my office where I was enjoying a quick break, letting Luna massage my shoulders while I munched on a muffin.

“Yes, I just received a message from Mirian. It is a hell of a way to test out the longest Morse line we have ever built, connecting our cities.”

“Did something happen?” She asked, already thinking about her brother.”

“You could say that, yes. You became an aunt.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, an aunt.” I chuckled, finishing my muffin, “Congratulations! You are now the aunt of Ludwig Ishillia, future prince of the Ishillian Empire. If we win this all, that is.”

“…”

I couldn’t help but chuckle, seeing her blank expression, that her brother had become a father. To the father of a future emperor nonetheless.

“I already told your parents about it; they are going to visit Cerna–“

“You did what?!”

“Hm?” I blinked my eyes, seeing her go white.

“Oh no… Merlin!”

“What about him?” I asked, confused, but then it clicked.

“My mother for sure went to our house, and only he is at home!”

“Well–“

“She’s gone…” Luna whistled, seeing how quickly she disappeared, “What do you think? Is her mother worse than yours?”

“Worse?” I asked, turning my head back to look up at her blushing face, “My Mom is an angel.”

“In disguise…”

“Pft~ Well, get used to her bothering you! You went ahead and prodded the sleeping beast who was satisfied with having three grandchildren to take care of in the winter.”

“And now she is always nagging me to get pregnant because while the kids are with her, we have time to have sex from morning to morning.” She moaned, stopping my massage and rubbing her own lower back. “I can’t do it that much!”

“Because I can?” I countered, making her chuckle, “Anyway, she will relent; don’t worry about it. As for Elena… well, I am staying the hell out of their issues!” I moaned, standing up and stretching, “Let’s go~!”

“Should I pull down my panties?” She joked, following me.

“You have one on?” I asked, looking at her maid uniform’s skirt.

“Well…” She raised it, showing me the answer. “Not really.”

“I thought so… And then you keep complaining…” I muttered, flicking her forehead, “Pervert.”