Night had fallen, as usual. Reyvik, Volgran, and Brasskert were here to assist Kael with his Tawan training, a session that focused on his inventions, technology, and mind control.
Tonight, however, they were joined by an unexpected visitor: Durmuk, Kael's dwarf boss from the Kallidorra Forgehold.
Durmuk hadn't told anyone that he would be attending this training session.
"Boss? What are you doing here?" Reyvik exclaimed, his tail and ears twitching in surprise.
"Ha? Is there a problem?" Durmuk asked, his eyes fixed on Reyvik.
"N…not at all, boss… heheh…" Reyvik rubbed the back of his head nervously, while Brasskert watched the interaction with a raised eyebrow.
Volgran, true to form, sat silently in the backyard, observing the scene without a word.
Then, suddenly—
Click!
A sharp, mechanical sound rang through the air. At that instant, every light around Kael's house and backyard flickered on, illuminating the night with an almost unnatural glow.
The dark surroundings brightened instantly, illuminated by Kael's electric menthol invention.
He descended the stairs from his room, carrying a black box, several blueprints, and a handful of tools.
Thud!
Kael set everything down on the wooden table with a decisive motion.
"Alright, guys! I've got a new idea for the invention we discussed last night," he announced.
"Ya, human! Dat's what I wanna hear! Anotha amazeng idea from ya brainzz!" Brasskert cheered, practically bouncing with excitement.
Durmuk, meanwhile, eyed the three thick books stacked atop Kael's black box. That was why he had come tonight, those books held the key.
After arranging his tools, equipment, blueprints, and the black box, Kael clapped his hands once.
Clap!
"Okay, everyone, about this invention we talked about last night…" He pulled out a blueprint of a strange, intricate machine.
"Actually, I got more inspiration to build this from these books."
Thud!
He placed the three volumes beside the blueprint, lined up neatly, side by side
Kael began pointing out the parts of his invention that needed improvement. When he opened the book with the X on its cover, the first page revealed an invention almost identical to the blueprint laid out beside it.
Durmuk remained silent, his eyes scanning the sketches within the X book. Last time, when Kael had opened the black box, he hadn't been able to recognize the pattern, but now, he could make sense of some of it.
By comparing Kael's blueprint, originally drawn at the Forgehold and now in Brasskert's hands, Durmuk realized something astonishing: Kael's design matched the one in the mysterious book perfectly.
As Kael discussed his ideas with his friends and assistant Brasskert, Durmuk, the dwarf boss of the Kallidorra Forgehold, stood quietly, absorbed in the book. Questions swirled relentlessly in his mind:
Why does this book contain the same blueprint as Kael's?
Where did this book come from?
Why are the other pages sealed, unable to be opened?
And most importantly… Who wrote this?
None of these questions had crossed Durmuk's mind when Kael first showed him the three books a few days earlier. But now… seeing Kael, one of the most skilled blueprint makers in his Forgehold, drawing a design that perfectly mirrored the one in the mysterious book unsettled him.
Kael was the only one capable of creating blueprints of armor and equipment, with such painstaking detail. Yet here he was, reproducing a design identical to that in the sealed book.
"Kael… ma boy…" Durmuk finally spoke, his voice low and cautious.
"Hmm? What is it, boss?" Kael replied, still holding the blueprint. Brasskert and Reyvik continued their chatter, glancing at each other but paying little attention to the exchange.
Durmuk's gaze lingered on the book and then back at Kael. "Don't ya feel… weird? Who wrote this book? Why can't the other pages be opened? What even is this machine, and why—"
"Sigh… yeah, boss… it's always been haunting me," Kael admitted, his voice heavy. "But… if I keep wondering who wrote it, I'll torment myself to death trying to find out."
Kael's eyes sparkled in the moonlight, reflecting a mix of determination and excitement. "Then why waste my time dwelling on that. Why not… I'll try building this machine instead?"
He held up the blueprint of the device he intended to create, its design perfectly aligned with the one in the mysterious book. Ambition radiated from him, clear as the moonlight that fell across his determined expression.
Durmuk's eyes softened slightly, worrying easing from his expression after hearing Kael's words.
"If ya say so, ma boy…" he said.
Kael nodded.
"Alright! So, what do we gat here?!" Durmuk suddenly burst with energy, practically vibrating with excitement.
His face softened as he glanced at Durmuk. "Alright, boss. This is what I plan to do. And… since you're here, can I ask for one teeny little favor, pleeease?" Kael's hands formed a dramatic begging gesture.
"Hmm? What ya want, ma boy?" Durmuk asked, stroking his long beard.
"Can I… have some materials for this machine? Pleeease?"
Durmuk let out a resigned sigh but smiled. "Alright, ma boy. What exactly do ya need?"
"Yay!" Kael cheered, his friends sharing in his excitement. Reyvik grinned, a straw casually sticking out of his mouth.
"But! Ya need to understand, ma materials might take some time to get to ya, depending on demand," Durmuk added, making his conditions clear.
"Alright, boss. I'm counting on you." Kael gave a confident thumbs-up, his determination shining in the moonlight.
"So first, I'm gonna start building a mock-up for this machine," Kael announced.
He pulled out a few simple materials, wood, aluminum sheets, and some basic tools. Slowly and methodically, he shaped each piece, step by step, carefully forming them into the parts he needed. One by one, he attached the pieces together, assembling a rudimentary version of the machine. It had two wheels: one at the front and one at the back.
Hours passed as Kael worked tirelessly, his hands moving with precision and focus. Above them, the fifteen moons of the realm rose together, their combined light casting a surreal glow over the backyard. The radiance of the moons mingled with the bright illumination of Kael's electric menthol lamps, bathing the space in a luminous, almost otherworldly light.
Then Kael let out a long sigh. "Fuh! Finally… it's done." He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Brasskert did the same, brushing his hands after helping Kael finish the mock-up, while Durmuk's gaze lingered on Volgran's massive frame, who simply stood there silently, observing.
"Boss!" Kael called, breaking the quiet.
Durmuk snapped out of his daze. "Yah, ma boy!"
"Here, boss! The mock-up's finished!" Kael gestured proudly toward it.
Durmuk nodded, a faint smile tugging at his lips, and walked over to the wooden table where the completed machine now stood, examining it with careful eyes.
Kael presented the mock-up to Reyvik, Durmuk, and Volgran, moving his hands across each part as he explained its function.
Durmuk, Reyvik, and Volgran observed silently. They nodded occasionally, but most of the time, they simply watched Kael and Brasskert, who chimed in to help, demonstrate the design.
Finally, Kael stepped back and wrapped up his explanation.
"So, in short," he said, pointing to the assembled mock-up, "this machine allows me to travel faster than the average Might-user can fly, but only on land. No flying, no dashing. And mind you, it doesn't require a single ounce of Might from the rider!"
A stunned silence fell over the backyard.
Then Reyvik spoke, his tail and wolf ears twitching with curiosity.
"Hmm… So what you're saying is this will move faster than any cart that uses Might abilities, without draining the user's Might energy?"
"Yeah," Kael replied, a small smile tugging at his lips. "If that's the way you want to put it…"
Might Energy is a person's capacity to wield Might. The higher someone's Might Energy, the longer they can sustain its use, the more elements they can control, and the more efficiently they can manipulate them. Typically, a person's Might Energy is influenced by their parents' levels, which is why nobles of every race often possess the highest capacities.
But the world isn't cruel, anyone can train. A commoner who works hard and hones their abilities can grow their Might Energy strong enough to rival, or even surpass, a lazy or mediocre noble who doesn't put in the effort.
"Basically, ya wanna say that this machine lets ya travel without draining ya Might energy?" Durmuk continued asking the same question, stroking his long beard.
"How is that even possible, Kael?" Reyvik asked, his ears twitching in disbelief.
Volgran, as calm as a mountain, simply exhaled, his massive frame unmoving.
"Yes… but not without using any energy," Kael explained.
"I want to use this… as its fuel." He tapped a medium size, cylinder-shaped battery as big as his forearm that he had discovered in the black box a few days earlier.
"That thing, huh?" Durmuk said, narrowing his eyes, trying to grasp Kael's plan.
"Yeah, boss… it seems small, but it produces an incredible amount of energy. I'm not even sure if it has a limit." Kael lowered his gaze to the battery, almost reverently.
"If that's so…" Durmuk murmured, thoughtful.
"But! to build this, I'll need a lot of materials, boss. Metals, plates, rods, sturdy rubber, a hea—" Kael continued.
"Yeah, yeah, ma boy. I gat it. This thing's gonna take allot. I don't know if I can get ya everything, but I'll try," Durmuk replied, running a hand through his long beard.
"Great! Thanks, boss! I really appreciate it. I promise, once this machine is done, it'll bring a revolution to this realm!" Kael said, his eyes alight with determination.
Durmuk let out a small chuckle, shaking his head. "Yeah… that better be the case, ma boy.
And yah tell me this ma boy, how long do ya plan to take to build this mightless moving thing?" Durmuk wondered.
"Well…I estimate this machine will be finished by the end of my training, which is two years from now," Kael explained confidently.
"HA!… that's a long damn way to go, ma boy," Durmuk said with a small smile, tapping Kael's shoulder.
As they spoke, Reyvik's ears twitched with sudden realization.
"But… this isn't actually for combat, right, Kael?" His question came unexpectedly, catching Kael off guard.
"Yeah… about that…" Kael began, rubbing the back of his head. "I actually don't know how I can use this in my training… or even in my path to becoming a Realm Protector. It just… happens to be on the first pages of this X-covered book, and somehow it aligns perfectly with the invention I've been trying to figure out for months, how to get to the Kallidorra Forgehold without walking."
He gestured toward a large pile of twisted metal, hidden beneath a cloth near the side of his house. "I've tried building the machine… but it keeps exploding."
Reyvik nodded, understanding Kael's explanation.
"Well, ya are correct, Humanzz. It just caught your attention, huh?" Brasskert, the short gnome, stood on the wooden table because he was too short to reach the ground.
"But Humanzz, ya have two other books too, don't ya?" Brasskert pointed at the two books with Y and Z on their covers.
"Ha! You're brilliant, Brasskert!" Kael exclaimed.
"Told ya many times, Humanzzz! Hahahaha!" His short figure burst into laughter.
As Kael reached for the books…
Suddenly, a voice cracked from inside the house.
"Kael!! It's late already! You've got training tomorrow, remember?" Elvareth's warm, middle-aged elf voice echoed through the house.
Kael heard her but, though alert, he ignored the warning.
"Yo Kael, Lady Elvareth is calling you," Reyvik reminded him.
"Nah, just let her, Reyv," Kael replied, turning his attention back to the Y book.
"Hmm… what do you all think about this? Even though only one page can be opened, it surely caught your attention, right?" He pointed at the blueprint inside the book.
"Hmm? Why are you all so quiet?" he asked, noticing their strange expressions. His friends were simply staring at something behind him.
"Hey, why so quiet?"
"Here, boss, lo—"
"Ouch! Hey!"
"I said, it's late, human! Late!" Elvareth's hands yanked on Kael's ears until they turned bright red.
"Alright, alright! Let me go, old elf!"
"I will not, human! Not until you pack all these weird tools back into your room!"
"Alright, old elf…" Kael muttered, still carefully gathering his tools while his ears remained in Elvareth's grip.
"Okay, guys… time to leave," Reyvik said, turning to the group.
"Volgran!" he called, wagging his wolf tail.
"Okay!" Volgran's deep voice rumbled as he lowered a massive hand to the ground. Durmuk, Reyvik, and Brasskert climbed onto it.
"Alright, Humanzz! See ya again!" Brasskert shouted as the others waved. Volgran carefully carried them on his shoulder platform and moved off to the side of Kael's house before disappearing into the night.
Kael continued packing his tools and equipment until the backyard was clear. Only then did Elvareth finally release his ears.
Clack! Kael pulled the lever, retracting the stairs behind his bedroom door.
"Alright, it's all done, old elf! Let me go!"
"Heheh… alright, Kael… yawn… I want to sleep, but make sure you eat first," she reminded him.
"Yeah." Kael's stomach growled loudly. "I'm starving."
Downstairs, a table was piled high with food, mostly meat-based.
"Fuh! That's what I wanna see! You're the best, old elf! Time to eat!" Kael cheered, digging in until he was completely full. Then, satisfied, he returned to his room.
Full and heavy-eyed, Kael gazed out the glass window at the stars, as he always did before sleeping. Countless colorful stars sparkled across the sky, a reminder of the vast realm he dreamed of protecting.
Another day of training had ended… and with it, Kael had taken one more step closer to his dream of becoming a Realm Protector.