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Rated: 18+ · Novel · Fantasy · #2344908

Power is meant to be used.

He awoke not to sunlight but thunder, annoyed and disoriented in the night with no way of knowing how much longer he could be sleeping in. (So this world rains too...) He thinks better of getting up hoping sleep will reclaim him. He'd been dreaming this time; a reel of everything he had seen since coming here. Of things he wanted to create yet. He tries to force out any thoughts that might latch on and keep him up. Rolling over to face the window he peeks his eyes open enough to just catch a flash of lightning through the sheet of rain hammering the window. Something felt weird with his body but sleep must have managed to eke back in for a time before he could consider it further because in the wave of thoughts and ideas swirling his mind there seemed to be a sudden lightening of the background and when he opened his eyes again the windows framed a dim, gray morning picture but a morning nonetheless. Forcing himself up he immediately moved into some warm up stretches and exercises hoping to uncrowd the lingering mental avalanche that his sleep so treacherously handed him in place of rest. When he feels sufficiently fired up he starts a full workout routine of calisthenics with the run he has of the room. Jumping jacks, push ups, crunches, squats, lunges, and kata.


He tried forcing the thoughts into line enough that when he finished in a heavy sweat he could pop open his journal and quickly start scribbling ideas for what was to come before getting ready with a bath. He heated enough water to wash himself in the most necessary areas, soaping his nethers and washing his hair but otherwise opted to fill the tub with the cool unheated water to soak in. He closed his eyes and tried to find a meditative point while the cold bath proved effective at forcing the substantial heat out of his body. (The ambush. I had nothing to send back against their archers. Numbers could be a problem too.) He puts his focus to separating and analyzing the enchantments he had encountered the night before until he has done all he can with the theory side. (Time to work.)


He climbs from the bath and dries himself, applying deodorant but not clothes. Plunked naked at the desk with his notebook he checks what he'd written and starts with a simple pair of gloves. He is able to shape the supple goat skin perfectly to his fingers with constant on the fly tweaking. He takes out a new page to commit to brainstorming different rings. "So in this world silver is considered a superior magic conductor, right? Obviously it has to be a silver ring, which is perfect because most the rings I had at home were silver." *Are you talking to me?* Not wanting to skimp on the artistry just because these were tools Kire doodles his idea of a silver band with bold gold runes trimmed on. "Well I could just talk to myself, it would probably make for better conversation." For once the taunt seemed to work. *Yes. Of the various properties held by precious and semi-precious metals in this world Silver is the most associated with acting as a mana conduit. It is often used in enchanting for that purpose although gold is also common due to having a higher mana retention, holding a greater capacity for charging.*


"You're talking about what's accepted and what's believed, but not necessarily what is." If Kire had one great thing going for him it was his brains. "How much have people experimented with other materials?" He expected another sigh but there was a pause just long enough to be awkward as if System was gauging their words to not say too much. *These metals were settled by trial and error across several cultures in history and the matter is considered quite academic across most nations.* Kire slams his pen down and jumps in his seat, pointing at the wall as if System sat across from him. "AHA! Caught you, you bastard. If I was off in my thinking you wouldn't waste an opportunity to be patronizing about it. Your non-answers are answers plenty." System kept their lips shut but as with the occasional other expression Kire was almost sure he felt an almost chuckle. "Alas, I don't have time for that much R&D just now and I need to be measured with my output." Committing to the drawing he had done he focuses at a point on the table. *Oh, you didn't notice?* System was back to their usual smug tone but Kire just hummed an 'mhm?' while his attention was tied on the thick silver band and his weaving an enchantment into it. System took every pleasure in stating what was, to them, the fully obvious. *Of course you didn't, poorly and bothered as you are. Your power grew a level. While you slept, naturally.*


--


Kire had no training in magic nor even an intrinsic understanding of how it was leveraged. He knew all peoples of this world inherently had mana, but assuming for himself that he had been imbued with some he was clueless on how to touch it. What he DID have was modern knowledge and technological savvy, and the opportunity to draw parallels from magic to other sophisticated things that he did understand. The topic of silver and gold and their interactions with mana was familiar. "Like electricity. The silver gives the bus speed, gold is like the RAM. Orichalcum is a non-conductor. Almost any other material can be used with varying efficiency and compatibility by magic type...Just like Siddithi said with the Golem cores." He has crammed several bookmarks into his notes going back and forth to the notes taken in the library. "So I can do it...Like a computer." He considered the circuits on a computer board and tried to apply the weaving of the enchantment as if he was programming, visualizing it as forked branches and pathways. If someone were able to see magic the way he could through Item Creation a native to Misterra's enchantment might be perceived like a soft tapestry of stitched theory and instruction whereas his was a three dimensional web of circuitry. "It's not wrong if it works," He proudly announces and finally remembers to blink as his eyes start to dry, having just finished baking the enchantment into the core of the ring he had drawn and then fashioned.


He could not activate relics with his own mana but the pervasive magical field that emanated from the earth tended to give most enchantments a natural self sufficiency where they would passively absorb the world's energies. For enchantments that requires a great deal of power expenditure this may not be enough but for the first rings he made it would be plenty. Slipping it on all he would have to do was focus his will on it and it would react-
He jumps with a start at the sensation of the speed ring kicking on and immediately drops his focus. Taking a deep breath and shaking it out he tries again while trying to hold himself calmly. His perception quivers ever so slightly as he transitions to an enchanted state that doubles his reaction time, the accelerated bioelectric impulses of his nervous system registering though his sight as if he had just upgraded to 120 frames per second and was seeing everything in hyper detail. He goes to make some test movements and his arm swooshes through the air, his foot lurching forward. He practices in spurts of 10 seconds at a time, working his way up through the morning to 1 minute at a time as he acclimated to it. He tried some simple acrobatics, zipping through the room in arcs and sweeps with an agility that should not be possible for a human. The minute mark seems to be his limit because it is around that point that his spiking adrenaline starts to cloud the edges of his vision like a black frost which he knows from his past training is the first steps towards tunnel vision and fainting.


Next is the strength ring, pure silver with its etched face showing a rectangular winding track pattern. Depending on how much he put into it he could double, triple or quadruple his muscle output. This was an easy one to test, adjusting his movement similar to how he did with the speed ring and keeping it as simple as gauging the effort of certain lifts with it against how they were without it. The magical reinforcement kept his muscles from tearing under the increased strain but he did feel them being taxed with the burn of a hard workout, and decided this should also only be used sparingly as needed.


What had been the enhanced property of a torc boosting physical durability and resistance now lived in a bimetallic intertwined cord of blackened silver and gold but Kire found he could not test this one as a heavy wave of exhaustion swept into him, slumping him onto the desk with its completion. He'd put a lot of mental strain into figuring out how to make the enchantment reactive to incoming harm and the exertion echoed through his power into his body. "I guess I should be glad I got this far...Suppose the enchanting demands would have been too much for me to even try without levelling up." *You're industrious I'll credit you that. You know yourself well and picked your power accordingly.* Splashing his face Kire finally decides to get dressed to take a lunch break. "Don't go getting flirty with me now System, I think we should keep this relationship professional."


--


His trip up and down the stairs to the dining area had been a little rockier than normal. His body was filing multiple complaints about his experiments with it and the repeated switching on and off of magical fields in his organs. (Reminds me a little of how I first felt waking up in those spacey crossroads.) He had created three magical items already today which was a significant leap over what he had been doing so far but now he wasn't sure how fit he was to take a quest. (Maybe I'll just explore the city more and see what else I can find for supplies and inspiration while I recharge.) It was still raining so he skips the armour but brings his tunic, pulling the hood on and taking to the streets.


The paving of the roads and sidewalks was immaculate and he could appreciate the blend of old world and sophistication better in the day as the details on the buildings were clearer than during his night time arrival two nights before. Crests and dates marked flagstones on signature buildings and neighbourhoods and there was even a sewer system he caught glimpses of in some areas. Stopping in at a cafe he asked about the latter and assuming he was a tourist they were happy to explain how the Artisan and Merchant's guilds collaborated on so many projects like the sewers and the street lights which gave Glimmerforge its sophistication. "The leadership of the Merchant's guild is idealistic and has big dreams about the future, and the Artisan's guild loves to be challenged and put their hearts into new exciting ideas." The barista had said. Kire could understand that as both a creator and optimist himself and as he sat under a streetside awning with his hot drink-some strange spiced blend unique he did not think existed in his world-he wondered how he might someday fit among such contributions given the power he wielded.


There was clock towers throughout the city and the first time he felt the need to look for one he lightly slapped himself on the cheek. (About time I dealt with that.) He'd owned pocket watches in his own time but not true mechanical ones and he wasn't ready to bring technology like batteries to this world yet. He plots a course around several regular daytime shops and is most fortunate to find there is a clockwork machinist under the banner of the Artisan's guild open. He also visits an Apothecary and buys a handful of different potions to study as well as a smithy to peruse more conventional arms than what he'd found in the Moonlight Market in getting a feel for some of the designs and makes to be found in this world although they mostly stocked tools and kitchenware. There are stables who can broker deals to breeders or sellers for buying a horse although no livestock was for sale on-hand except at a monthly auction and he even finds there is a decent sized training grounds behind the Adventurer's Guild where members can use the space freely or enrol in programs. "Damn, this city really does have it all." *Arguably one of the top cities in the continent, not just Falkner. Although Valderon has taken insult from the notion and has engaged in a rivalry of sorts to outdo their neighbours in grandeur.* Kire stops walking and smiles wistfully. (It really is a fantasy world when rulers are competing to make the best places to live even if it is just a vanity thing. As opposed to...) These days it felt like you couldn't take five steps without tripping over some grand atrocity in his own world.


One last stop he wanted to make for the day was the bank as the three hundred coins he still had outstanding to Siddithi would be a lot to lug around and he should like to be introduced to the financial system proper anyway. Detouring back to the hotel he grabs his rucksack and starts loading it with the coins, cinching it high on his back with a dramatic grunt to make the weight more manageable. "Gods damn, they have big banks but bills don't exist in this world yet? Maybe my first invention should be the promissory note."


While bills did not exist bullion was considered valid for trade and with his guild membership effectively doubling as a government ID (Which is pretty crazy considering they did nothing to verify anything I put on those papers...) he is able to exchange his coins for gold tablets that represented lump denominations with special engravings of authenticity and value issued by the bank. (Serves me for reading schoolkid's textbooks that I didn't learn about this sooner, I probably should have double checked that at the local library.) *You were too busy thirsting for Ogre women.* Kire suddenly snorts a choked laugh and the teller at the bank jumps. "Are you OK, sir?" Kire tries to keep it cool. "Yeah sorry, just remembered something funny. You had to be there." Once he is sorted with a tablet for 200 gold and a tablet for 100 gold to cover his tab he opts to top up on an extra 100 gold bar in case he does more impulse spending. Feeling a thousand pounds lighter walking out than he had going in he wastes his final hours between dinner and market open to lurk by the guild's training grounds watching the other adventurers do their routines.


--


Kire approaches the market from a different angle this time feeling a bit cheeky and wanting to surprise his appointment. He was actually naturally quite stealthy, garish clothes notwithstanding and he took extra careful steps to not splash any of the puddles that remained. The rain had stopped late in the afternoon leaving the park rich with the smells of its greenery and though the humidity stuck to him Kire was relieved to find that the summers here were much more temperate than things had gotten to be in his own world, guessing the average day since arriving had hovered not much more than 20 degrees... A huge relief given his established relationship with summer days.


Finding Siddithi's stall he drifts in from behind to slide up beside it, standing there quietly like a spook until someone noticed. The man himself was entertaining another guest much as he had to Kire the night before, sweeping his hands over the selection and encouraging them to find the one that called out to them. One of the assistants finally noticed Kire with a start but did not out him yet and he put his finger to his nose in a shushing gesture and winked. She returned the gesture and turned away pretending to have never seen him. Eventually the other satisfied customer is packed with a new trinket and on their way and when Siddithi turns to see Kire he mocks heart palpitations. Kire begins their playful theatre. "Siddithi, my fondest friend! So many hours I have waited here in the rain with my heart breaking ever more by the minute as I watched your infidelity, locking eyes with that customer so passionately!" The merchant puts his hands up in surrender and bows three times. "Kire, my most esteemed business partner! When I had been open for one minute and did not see you I had thought for certain a Gryphon had snatched you up, for surely no other thing could keep you from destiny, and in my grief I buried myself in my work!" The men paused, laughed and clasped hands in a firm shake.


Kire presented the gold tabs and Siddithi offered to return the pouch of small gemstones he'd left as collateral but he waves it off. "Consider it a gift for you, or if you must, a deposit on future transactions. I will not be in Glimmerforge long but I am sure I will be back in the future and I will remember that Siddithi has the most exciting wares." Siddithi briskly waves a finger and makes nicking sounds with his tongue. "Siddithi, I, cannot simply accept a gift and not reciprocate!" One of his assistants was tending to a kettle to prepare tea for the night while the other wafted about the entrance to lure in more prospective guests. Easing out of the drama for a moment Siddithi's pointed finger drifts around the tent as if trying to remember where he put something. 'Ah', he slides a narrow box out a shelf under one of his tables and opens it as he presents it, explaining as Kire takes it.


"Admittedly the gemstones are not worth a great deal except for their cut which Siddithi, I, presume you were carrying to be used in jewel-crafts." The merchant was not shy and reaches out to take Kire's hand and holds it up revealing the three new rings he wore. "Because these are clearly a means of your own trade it would be remiss of me to not give you a token in return." The box held a wide silk band and though the material was very fine Kire could read as he touched it that this too was enchanted. Siddithi continues: "This tie will open your eyes as those of a Lynx! Darkness will be dispelled in your sight. A regrettably stigmatized enchantment as it is often believed to be marketed for burglars but it is also invaluable to Adventurers who find themselves in deep, dark places. Should the moonlight ever be hidden behind the clouds, you will be able to make your way home still." Kire ties it loosely around his wrist and focuses his will into it as with activating his rings. He squints as the lighting in the tent shifts and becomes too much and he steps back to turn his gaze out into the park. Finding the darkest and most neglected corner he tries again, the pitch blackness peeling back into a greyscale where every branch of the shrubs was distinct.


"It is said with gifts it is the thought that counts, and I believe this will be of far more value to me than you know, Siddithi." Another customer had approached the stall and before Siddithi turns to them he waves with a curtsy. "Please let it help you find your way here again."


--


Fast forward to next morning and Kire is back to waking up in time with the first light which hadn't even made it through the buildings to his window. In the still dark room he dresses light and decides to take his exercise to the road on a jog to the guild hall training grounds. It was a misty morning still damp from the previous day's rain and inspecting the obstacle course he had to wipe down some equipment of lingering wetness to make it safe for use but otherwise he wishes for nothing but perhaps some music. Climbing, vaulting, crawling, rolling, weaving, balancing. He throws himself into these with vigour imagining all the things he might encounter in whatever this story wrought and wanting to not just be prepared but over prepared. A stubborn perfectionist, his talents when he chose to hone them were always to an unrelenting standard as he would not let himself settle for less and made for a harsh critic when it came time to perform despite his otherwise laid back attitudes. Whenever he stumbled once he would forcibly repeat the exercise over and over until he was satisfied with his prowess.


Few other people came about for the couple hours he was there, trekking back to his room for another bath after which he returned to the proverbial drawing board. "One more ring I think...Offensive. Flamethrower." While Kire's time on the course was spent imagining cliff walls and fallen logs his runs to and from were spent visualizing equipment upgrades. This one he doesn't need to draw out first: The silver signet ring had copper embellishments and a large ruby in the face with two smaller beads of gold to either side of it. He reviews the fire projection enchantment from one of the wands a couple nights before and 'reprograms' the spell to do away with the limiter it had been structured for. (The volume of flame is important but the force it will be cast with more so. If I'm getting my theory right it should be able to soak up enough energy to be fired twice a day but unfortunately I can't very well test it here, so that will have to wait.) He also starts on a new pair of proper steel bracers with a mounting bracket on the underside of each one and he puts them on to go over sizing and adjustments, adding curves here or thickness there and streamlining the fasteners.


Now he busts out the books. "That's today's warm up concluded, I think." Cracking his knuckles he makes sketch after sketch checked against measurements of his arm and bracer. This would be his first great distinguishing tool beyond the trinkets he had conjured so far... A proper feat of fantasy engineering. With a handle on how to make basic enchantments crossed over on mechanical workings he pores hours into choosing which elements to use in which fine pieces of its inner workings. Where high tensile strength was essential, the pins in the reel would be tungsten. Can't be too brittle though; the reel itself where the wire was anchored would be titanium along with several other fine cogs and switches. High carbon steel was sprinkled into the control mechanism which for aesthetic purposes held a bronze pin with rounded cap protruding from the housing which didn't need to be any tougher than oxidized aluminum. The wire was the trickiest part and he had to remember to close his eyes to not dry them out again with how long he ended up scrolling his options. (That's the one. At this thickness I should be able to house...30 feet.) A flared collar capped the cylindrical device to protect the hand from any whipping about on retraction and with one end of the cable firmly anchored into the reel the other was capped by a square-profiled spike of regular steel with hooks coming out two of its sides.


He latches the device to his right bracer and admires it. The cylinder totalled sixteen inches in length with the protective collar just ahead of his fingers when clenched in a fist and its opposite end protruding a few inches past his elbow. He moves his arm in wide circles to get a feel for the added weight and resists the urge to push the control pin that was hooked on the inside of his arm. The outside of the cylinder had an open port to reduce material weight that revealed the coiled cabling inside. "Guess I can't test this in here either," he hums, but also realizes he has wholly skipped lunch again. Dressing for adventure and with new bracers on he dips for lunch and a reunion with the training grounds.


--


A few people side-eyed the new guy in the bright tunic standing alone but while the grounds were considerably more populated he still managed a reasonable distance and feeling of privacy in one of the back corners. (Might as well get the ring out of the way first, see if it performs as hoped.) He holds his left hand adorned with all four rings straight out in front of him. Clenching into a fist and giving and extra fidget of the fingers to make sure the ruby was properly facing forwards he braces himself and wills the ring.


One of the nearer folks in the yard screamed in surprise and threw themselves to the ground. They hadn't been anywhere near the path of the blast but Kire couldn't blame them because he probably would have done the same in their shoes. The 'push' vector he exaggerated in the enchantment did not disappoint as a short lived but spectacular cone of flame erupted with jet-like force. One of the instructors for a class some ways down jumped up to yell at him. "Hey! Practising magic isn't against the rules but don't be doing anything too destructive!" Kire holds his hands up in surrender and yells back several apologies for the glares he was catching. Checking his hand the gloves he'd made did the trick not burning his own fingers from the heat that had come off it but he'd felt it pretty sharply nonetheless. In terms of checking the range of this new weapon...He walked along a track where the grass had browned and wilted from the proximity below his infernal release and counting steps he estimates it had managed to singe a good eight metres. (Yeeppp yep yep yep. That's enough of that but ah...Good to know it works. Now for the tricky one.)


Near the end of the obstacle course on the grounds was an independent structure of wooden beams and metal bars that challenged its takers to leap, climb and balance from one tier to the next but all Kire needed from it right now was a single crossbar 20 feet up. He lifts his right arm and hooks his finger on the knobbed control pin that was held into its seat by spring tension. He pulls it back against its spring, pushes it to the side into an open groove running down much the length of the cylinder, and releases it. With the spring snapping the pin to the front it triggers the magnetically fired harpoon head giving a slight whistle alongside the high pitched unwinding of the reel within its chamber. The grappling hook does clear the bar but Kire lets it run its length fully until gravity eased it down to settle slack over the other side. Not wanting to risk any accidental escalations he pulls the wire back by hand until it is slumped on the ground and tugs the pin back into its rear position which engages the carefully enchanted motor to call its line back in. Through its exposed port he watches the sliding wire guide run up and down evenly respooling the steel thread until the barbed projectile had thunked back into its dock. The next test is to launch it again, the pin snapping forward to fire the head but he pulls it to the side in another groove mirroring the parked position and it hits a brake in the reel stopping the wire at only half its length. Retract. Fire. Retract. Fire. Retract. Moment of truth.


The mechanism was holding up and his gut felt like a butterfly conservatory thinking about what he was about to do next. (I can't very well NOT, this is the whole purpose of it after all.) This time when he launches his hook he times it to a curve of his arm in a stunted micro version of casting a fishing line. The forward momentum loops the hook over the bar-brakes-and he grabs the wire between two fingers to give it a quick shake looping it into the hook and carefully inching back the pin just enough to eat the slack. Deep breaths. *What's the worst that can happen? So what if you mess up, it's only a 20 foot drop. A couple broken legs, cranial traumatic injury, a U shaped spine...Big deal, You can make yourself the finest wheelchair to spend the rest of your life in!* Deep breaths. (Thank you System. I appreciate that.) Pull.


The reel hisses with the load but has plenty of force to spare. Kire is relieved the ascent is as slow as it is at first with inertia coming to terms against his weight but he does pick up speed until he jambs against the loop where the hook is and a secondary e-brake engages from the resistance. He lets out a way too loud groan-sigh of relief with that single possible point of failure having been his biggest fear in all this and somewhere below there is a frantic 'What the fuck?!' (Well the stop wasn't very gentle but at least I did stop.) *I had twenty silvers on you braining yourself on the bar and going over it like a leaping fish.* (You didn't bet shit because you have no friends to bet with!) He unparks the pin and slides it half an inch to let the reel relax under resistance to descend at a much slower pace until his feet were mercifully back on the ground. With enough slack he takes to shaking and swinging the wire which lasts a few awkward moments until he can finally jostle the hook off it before retracting the line proper.


(This is going to take a looot of practice.)


--


Once he was satisfied with his handling of the device and feeling confident in his growing armaments he scrolls the quest board before he makes his way back to dinner. The ride he planned to take back left in two days so while looking for a challenge but nothing too involved one of the guild employees brings up a new posting. "HUNT: HAMMERTUSK BOAR" (A fully grown Hammertusk Boar had emerged from Eldergrove to attack a homestead, causing significant damage and wounding several people before retreating back to the trees. Three star difficulty, parties with beast hunting experience recommended, pay is 40 gold...Seems awfully high compared to what I've taken so far.) He promptly takes the job number figuring it was as good as any and checks it out at the reception with the intent of starting at first light.


He has some hours of the day to kill and spends it asking around for intel on the attack and if there was any rides out to the farmstead. With repairs already underway on the victimized infrastructure there was several loads of material and aid slated to go and he books his passage on the earliest run. All that and dinner out of the way and there was nothing to do but hurry up and wait...Which he did from the comfort of his rented bed, propped up on pillows with his journal.


*Does your mind ever take a break?* System almost managed to sound like a concerned friend. "Look man, I'm not from around here. I don't have a life. I don't have established hobbies here, or friends or family, no home or history or even a real job. Five proverbial minutes ago you were all tits a-giddy that I was actually taking on quests and playing to the bit, now you gonna give me mom talk about my work ethic?"


*Oh no, I know you're thinking hard about work to avoid thinking about the rest. Still a good way to crash and burn.* Kire closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. "Yeah...I know. I haven't had a vacation since I was seven years old and this seems like a lousy place to start." He gets out of bed and goes over his things; His equipment was all nearly sorted and folded on the desk, his clothes all washed and hung to dry near the small heater. "I guess I have to admit it feels like I might as well have smashed my head off that bar. My brain has as good as overheated into a soup." He stood in the middle of the room regarding everything with his hands on his hips just trying to place himself. *You'll need to relax eventually. Maybe go find yourself a blushing waif.* Kire had started undressing instead and snuffed the candles. "Honestly about all I feel up to is sleeping. Gotta be up early anyway."


Resting a water bottle and the time piece he had picked up while shopping and modified on the bedside stand he rolls in and closes his eyes. Sleep does not come easy. His first thought was to review what he had read about Hammertusk Boars in the library but he finds his mind drifting back to his friends from his own world. The pang of loneliness and not knowing pulled a surprise sniffle from him and he felt a hot tear on his cheek, but sleep made its timely intervention as the intense day of creation and training took its toll.


--


It was still dark in the room when Kire fastened himself together-Brisk and businesslike he gets to the rendezvous point and helps out loading the supplies. The larger structural lumber beams would be worked out in the field on-site but there was still nearly a full cord of wood along with several hundred metres of cordage, a skid of bricks, bags of plaster and some food. Having pulled his hair back and tying it into a bandana to curb the sweat he slaps the bricks calling up to the lady up top tying things down. "Damn thing really did a number on them huh? Posting said there was damage but it looks like this little piggy must have huffed and puffed and blown their whole house down." The other labourer had a grim expression and only flicked here eyes over to meet his for a second. "More or less. Crushed several fences, trampled crops, rammed through the barn and almost took the entire thing down. Clipped the house too. Two horses and a bull dead, five people wounded. It's extremely rare for a fully grown adult to be encountered out in the open since the nobility does regular hunts to keep their population down and to try and cull them before they reach this size, but they're damned bad news when you do find one."


Kire recalled the field guide. Despite their name it wasn't just their thick, forward sweeping tusks like battering rams anchored to their skull rather than their jaw that were the problem but said skulls were massively armoured with protruding bone ridges as well. They were substantially bulkier than even the so-called giant boars of his own plane with much shorter snouts to not get in the way of the impact area when they rammed their prey or anything else that moved and a lot of things that didn't.


With everything finally ready to go he slumps himself on the wagon and closes his eyes with his hood up for the forty five minute ride trying and failing to empty his mind. (The hide on their back is three inches thick, with a six to eight inch layer of fat...)
Over the low din of the horse's hoof beats, creaking axles and chattering workers he opened his eyes when the audioscape changes. Standing up and stretching his back the view is of teams of workers organized into groups throughout the field ahead. Large two-person saws were at work, the hammering of nails and shouts of team leaders timing pulled ropes. The fences had already seen a good deal of mending but otherwise it just was as the lady had said; The house had been clipped in the corner and given some new ventilation where a hole big enough to climb through had been left as a token of the boar's affection. The barn looked like it was barely standing and angled beams were being drawn up to its sides to shore it for stability while new supports were added and old ones fixed. He hopped off to walk to the last couple hundred metres and get his blood flowing again.


Asking his way around to the client the land's owner is found inside the house being all but forcibly held down in bed. His leg was splinted and in the process of being cast by someone Kire thought he might have seen at the apothecary the other day. The mistress of the home was holding what he guessed was a butter churning plunger and looked ready to use it to keep the patient from trying to escape. "You're from the guild, huh?" The farmer winced and grimaced while the apothecary worked. "When you find that pig make sure to tell it I sent ya when you send its prickly fat arse to hell!" "Jameson, stop moving and calm down. You'll heal better without all the fussing." The healer, a Halfling woman, had a soft but firm voice that had surely been honed on many such obstinate patients.


Kire was about to do a ridiculous mock salute but thought better of it considering how livid his client was already. "Yessir, I'll even charge the shit-brick house interest for your animals." Passion lit the farmer anew who looked ready to jump out of bed and lead the charge himself with trumpets blaring but his wife readied the plunger and he managed to grit his teeth and stay prone with a wetness coming to his eyes. "You...You do that." The struggle of a stern old man trying not to let go with his feelings. "You get that bastard good."


Back in the yard he makes the rounds talking to the less busy workers for details, just trying to be thorough. Following the hoof-tilled soil towards the property line fence he hears a familiar voice calling and turned to see Arnes jogging up. "Kire! You here about the contract on the boar?" Kire couldn't help but smile. Alone in an alien world any familiar face was quite uplifting, he just discovered. "Ahoy old timer! Caught me in the act. I was just about to follow that quaint little path of devastation and see if I can't find where this great wild wanker ended up. Hopefully it won't take several hours." Arnes furrowed his brows and tilted his head towards freshly mended fence. "Ennnhh I don't think it'll take very long. We fixed the fence but the forest will tell you everything you need to know about exactly where it ended up. Good to know there's already people on it, the folks here have been scared witless of it coming back. Well except for crotchety Jameson...Got hurt trying to protect the barn like a damn fool and despite his broken leg hasn't stopped trying to get up to work the repairs since. I think Elaine is ready to prescribe heavy leather straps to fasten him down with, if she were any less saintly probably would have already."


Kire could have guessed that was what was up. Some people just hit a stereotype so hard and the bedridden Tasmanian devil of a man even had an appropriate name for reasons Kire could not explain to anyone born of Misterra. "Well on the point of making sure it doesn't come back, I'm going to pound dirt and get this little piggy to market. Actually hold on a minute-Why are you here?"


The dwarf took a swig from a waterskin, shading his eyes for a moment. "Ah, I should really get a hat. Actually they and I are neighbours! For all my time behind the reins I do get some leave here and there, is why the long layover until we return to Thornwick. Got a few days with the family just down on the next lot over. We could hear the carnage from there and met a runner on the road coming for help." (Small world but I guess it makes sense he would live close enough to his job.)


"Y'know Kire, if you're back at a decent hour today why don't you come over for dinner! With all this helping out neighbours my kin have gone overboard and I fear there is a conspiracy to make way too much food tonight. Ye're a growing boy yet. Your next quest: Save us from food spoilage!" Arnes laughed and clapped a hand on Kire's lower back. The younger but much taller human put on a bold smile and plunked his fists on his hips with his chest puffed triumphantly. "A perilous task sir, but I shall see it through! Don't work too hard today Arnes, you've gotta stay awake on the road tomorrow."


As he turned and strode for the treeline Kire's composure faltered with a storm of strange feelings. He was touched by the friendliness and hospitality he had been so readily offered and his heart wobbled trying to take it in. His smile returned genuine and he vaulted the fence, landing in a sprint through the shaded lesser trees of the forest's fringe where a clear path of destruction had been laid like a grand cannonball had been fired into the bush.


Back in the field Arnes got back to his team and they readied to get back to work from their break. Ennes' gaze lingered in the direction of Kire's departure, squinting in the sun. "Is the rest of his party on their way to meet up with him?" Arnes shrugged. "He didn't say anything about it. When I saw him I kind of assumed the brothers would be showing up too." Ennes returned the shrug, "He's probably just scouting ahead of the rest of his party then." They got back to the task at hand, pulling ropes over their shoulders between their team of six to drag a freshly sawed beam to the barn.

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