CC5 ~ 20!

~ 20 ~

“What are we doing?” Joe finally broke down and asked the question. He was standing in an empty room with Havoc staring at him; the only thing that had moved in the last five minutes as they watched each other was a long line of smoke that lifted into the air above the Dwarf.

“We are doing nothing. You are about to impress me.” Havoc's words were not a guarantee, nor were they a plea; they were a demand. “I let you go into one of the most highly restricted, most dangerous, and for you… potentially most profitable places under the protection of the Dwarven Oligarchy. You are about to show me that you did not waste your time huddling in a corner the whole time you were down there.”

Joe made a ‘what the abyss’ motion with his hands. “I already told you that I went and did all sorts of things! I found a Guardian-”

“Oh look! I can turn lead into gold and fart rainbows!” Havoc rudely interrupted. “There, I told you! Now you are going to believe me, right?”

“Just…” Joe’s arms dropped to his sides. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”

“Make me something new. At the minimum, I need you to make me something that we can use to conquer a minor fort.”

“That’s unreasonable!” Joe declared without a second thought. “We were going to do a whole bunch of little stuff to start with, weren’t we? Infiltrations, an Uncommon alchemy house, a-”

“No, that was a lie to get you to go along with my plan to dump you in the garbage. I never expected that you’d pull through.” Havoc didn't hold back at all, his voice rising as Joe gaped at him in shock. “Let me explain something to you. You, if you haven’t noticed, are a human. You are trying to get nobility among the Dwarves. Whoever sent you to me had it out for you; they want you to fail. They expect you to fail. Do you actually think we can convince the upper echelon to make you a noble if we try to play it safe?”

“But… I thought everything was based on merit?”

“Think, for pyrite’s sake! Do you think normal accomplishments will get you into the nobility? You’ll get a rank, at best! Unless you manage to pull in a whole fecal load of accomplishments to offset the current nobles directly going against you from the start. Abyss, at this point you’re going to need to capture a minor fort, just so that you don't get brought up on charges for all of the things that I am requisitioning on your behalf! That’s why I gave you this task now.”

“What?” Joe stared at the Dwarf, who gazed calmly back. Joe knew that someone had it out for him; that was the problem with some people who were given authority. Not many people were truly deserving of the authority that they had, and sometimes they would take whatever modicum of power they had and use it maliciously. That was unsurprising… and yet, he was not expecting that Havoc was going to be racking up a giant bill ‘for him’.

Havoc coughed into his fist. “Right. Well. a little bit of background information. The forts are system devices. Even if they are reduced to rubble, in a day, they will be back to their most basic form. All of the upgrades and buildings that we make are gone if we break them in the attack, though we reclaim at least a portion of the resources if we take it. What I’m trying to say is that destroying them directly isn’t an issue. Keep that in mind when you are planning an attack.”

“I want…” Joe stopped himself and shook his head. He could only hope that Havoc had good reasons for doing what he was doing. “Fine. What should we be expecting in terms of resistance? I need to plan for that as well.”

“Contrary to popular belief, the forts that are closest to our territory are not going to be the most well-defended.” Havoc opened his palm, and a small projection appeared above his glove. “Because they change hands so frequently, all of the bonus fortifications and buildings get wiped out on a regular basis. The complacency that has set in within this generation has made things a little worse. These days, border forts are used almost exclusively to gain combat experience; the Oligarchy is barely even trying to take the forts. For… for abyss… when the Legion does take one, they are almost as surprised as the enemy!”

Joe took an involuntary step back; Havoc had been roaring by the end. His veins were bulging, his beard was quivering, and it was clear that this was a sore spot for the Dwarf. “So… what you are saying is that I should go all out; don't worry overmuch about the consequences of destroying a border fort? But buried in that is a hint that I should take more care when I am taking on more well-established things, if I want to be able to loot them or learn from them?”

“Looks like all of those weeks devoted to increasing your intelligence weren't entirely for show.” Havoc huffed out his breath and waved around the empty basement workshop that they were standing in. “This place isn’t reinforced, so try not to blow it up; but if you do, at least it is empty. Now, tell me what you need, and I'll make sure you have it. You only get one chance to impress me.”

Joe considered for a while, comparing the options that he had available, and things that he had successfully accomplished in the past. Finally, he settled on a plan. “The main thing that I will need is something that can kill off the Guardian, which is a plant. Secondary to that is going to be finding a way to take out the defenders. They have lots of magical power, but not much in the way of health, correct?”

“More than you might think. Not as much as a Dwarf, certainly, but look at you. How long did it take you to go from big brain to balanced body?” Havoc made a chair appear, and he sat on it. Joe realized that he wasn't the only one in the room with a spatial device, but he had to hold back before he started asking questions about the size or rarity. Asking someone else for their secrets was the same as asking for their weaknesses, and he had the feeling that Havoc wouldn’t share that information lightly.

“I need something like this.” Joe pulled out a ritual paper, as well as a magically enhanced blueprint paper. “The first one will let me make rituals that can be used like spell scrolls. The second one will let me make buildings, or at least allow me to take blueprints and turn them into rituals that can be enacted anywhere. They are really hard to get, and really expensive back on Midgard. What is that going to look like here?”

Havoc examined the two different types of paper, felt them with his fingers, and assessed their quality. “Something like this is not an issue. I'll send the requisition order now.”

Joe looked at the Dwarf askance, “When you say it's not an issue, do you mean that you are just going to tack it onto my bill? How easy would it be for a normal person—who can't just order people to get things for them—to get a hold of?”

“Do you really need the entire nation to hold you in high esteem? Why not just let a small—very select—group of people think you are a good person?” Havoc chuckled evilly. It took Joe a moment to realize what the Dwarf was really saying, but then he ran his hands over his head in consternation.

“You mean it normally costs reputation with the Dwarven Council, don't you?” Joe had learned that a thousand reputation with any merchant organization could be exchanged for ten reputation with the Dwarven Council. It was always more profitable—and more difficult—to have a good reputation with higher ups. Similar to his experience in Midgard, where having high reputation with the ruling family had made it easier to gain reputation with all sorts of affiliated… anything. Working in the Legion gave him one hundred reputation a day, which meant he could gain one point of reputation each day with the Dwarven Council by literally fighting their war for them.

“If you wanted cheap magical things, you should have joined the Elves,” Havoc chuckled darkly. “Good thing for us that you didn't; our histories show what actual Ritualists can do.”

Joe looked up hopefully, wondering if he was about to get invited to the Grand Ritual Hall. Havoc ignored him and waved at the papers in Joe's hands. “Use those; the others will show up when possible.”

“If we're going to be like that…” Joe decided to fully embrace the suck. Somehow, he understood at a deep level that his accomplishments for the most part would be going to pay back the cost of what he would be making. He was going to have to go all-out if he were going to achieve grand accomplishments that would overpower the negatives of getting there. “I also want powerful Cores, and blueprints for defensive installments. Siege equipment would be nice, but only if they are buildings. Get me anything that you think would be helpful, just like we agreed before I jumped into the landfill.”

“He’s starting to get it.” Havoc’s shoulders started shaking, and soon he was roaring with laughter. “He's finally starting to get it!”

The Dwarf watched on as Joe got back to work, waiting until the human was fully distracted before letting out a small fart. It shimmered away as rainbow smoke before dissipating entirely, while Havoc kept a close eye on the human to make sure he didn’t notice.