Machinist of Mana Chapter 89 Trinkets

“Hello World”

Yes, that old archmage and the insane goblin weren't the only ones of us. She'd known, I'd known on some level, but there it was. It was confirmation that I was now seeing for myself too, a clear message to those of us who came after. Sadly it didn't tell me everything, there were still so many questions.

Why? Why had we been pulled into this world. Why had we been chosen, if chosen we were? Was there some greater meaning to all of this? I didn't know, nor did I know who could answer them yet. Perhaps nobody could, perhaps none knew for sure the reasons or methods, perhaps they did. In the end it was just curiosity, as the answers were unlikely to help with my real problems.

No, it was better to focus on the things I could do, and needed to do now. One of those, now that my core was done, was to begin again at making items, but not any old items. I needed defenses, offenses, protections for people and places, all the best.

Some of these I couldn't manage right now, not because I didn't want to of course, but because there were some stark limits on what I could do with the first level of the core. The higher levels of it would allow more complex spells, the sort of things that would be best for difficult applications, but even this one was useful.

On offenses I already had a book of basics. Our class on the subject covered some of these by necessity, simple elemental attacks, force applications. Most of these wouldn't be as good as a modern weapon, but there would be some variety there that I could add, variety I badly needed.

Defenses were a little harder, as they were by their nature complicated. I could at the very least make a few basic shielding items, their potency would be minor, but they would be better than nothing. Something like a basic shield should be able to stop a bullet or two before the mana within was run out, though I doubted I'd get much more than that.

Vehicles would come soon too, I already had the runic scripts for those after all, and none of what we were using was particularly complex. It might take awhile to create one that could hold the amount of mana I'd need it to for any long flights, but I could in theory do it on my own.

I walked out of the room and into my own workshop, a spring in my step. The staff seemed to keep out of the way, preferring to remain unseen for the most part. A lot of household workers were like that, keeping hidden while they did their work, or at least outwardly so. With my senses I could hear every person within thirty feet or so, identify each one by their footsteps. I knew which maid was where, when they ducked into rooms as I approached, where the butlers were.

My shop had been prepared with a few items for me to enchant. These weren't anything more than basic pieces, the most basic, copied over from textbooks on how to do it. Making an item was different than I thought it would be, more meditative, almost pleasant. Perhaps for some it would be boring, but the simple creation of it seemed to me almost like machining itself, the exactness and timing letting the world flow around me.

My first piece was nothing to brag about, a simple shield charm, held in a unadorned bracelet. The runes were hidden on the inside, ready to charge. It still took me a few hours to make, but it had a purpose. After a brief test I left it to the side, fully charged.

Then I went about a second piece, this time a weapon. Rather than make anything through the magical tools I turned towards my shop, turning a small metal wand was easy as pie. People had done these as toys for children after that certain series of books, and while mine was made of a low quality silver alloy rather than wood it took on a similar shape. Adding a simple fire-bolt type spell to it was no trouble either.

I went over the metals I had, looking closely at each as I considered other projects. It was a well known fact that certain materials tended to be better for enchantment than others. Metals were better than anything that didn't come from a magical creature so far as I knew, and among them there was a hierarchy.

It followed closely with electrical conducting properties, not exactly but close enough for my work. Gold and silver were of course the best metals to use, though incredibly expensive, aluminum was too, though I'd only seen and heard of a few used pieces, all called sky-metal by the natives. It too was an incredibly rare substance. Silver and its alloys were the go-to for most people, and would do for me.

“Lord Percival, it's nearly time for supper,” came a small call from the doorway.

I looked up to see Kaylee there, standing framed by the portal. She was always the one sent for me because of how much the staff knew I preferred her over others. I really didn't like being disturbed, but with her I couldn't bring myself to be even a bit peeved about it.

“Actually I was hoping to see you Kaylee, could you come here for a moment?”

“Did you need something sir?” she asked as she stepped inside, looking at the room. Nobody but me cleaned this room, and it showed, being far dustier than the rest of the house.

“Yes, take these. I'll get around to making some for the other staff who can use magic, but with current events it would make me far more comfortable should some of our people have a way to protect themselves if the worst should come to pass.”

She looked at the two items on the table, eyes bulging. “My lord, I don't have the money for something like that...”

“Consider them part of your uniform them, I think we pay for those...” I mumbled the last part, actually unsure.

“You do not lord Percival,” she corrected quietly.

“Regardless, we still need staff who have at least something should the worst come to pass. These are for emergencies only though, you're to run should something happen understand? I'll explain how they work,” I did, briefly, there really wasn't much to it, point the wand and focus or push a bit of mana into the bracelet to activate a several foot wide shield.

“I...” she began.

“It is the job of the strong to protect the weak,” I said, not quite quoting an old ruler. “And the duty of those in power to shield those under them. So take them, please.” As I spoke I pushed the items into her hand and turned leaving the room.

As I left I clenched my jaw. I was a coward for not telling her the whole truth, that those were because of who she was, because as her brother, half or not, it was my duty to keep her safe. What if I did though? Could I actually change anything for her for the better? No, no I couldn't, not yet, not until I gained real power. I would gain that power though, enough one day to tell her the truth, to make people accept her as they should, until then this was the very least I could do.