Mana Soul: Chapter 47 - The Prosthetic`Armour - Aela

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Aela looked on with no small amount of amusement as the Prosthetic armour, or P`A, lumbered through the training yard obstacles that were intended to test the driver’s level of coordination. The tenth such driver to attempt the obstacle course that morning, the current candidate was just as disappointing as the last.

Unlike Markus who had taken to the P`A like a fish to water, none of the candidates drawn from the rank of the mercenaries had managed to do much more than make the P`A walk without tripping over. All the same, it was entertaining to watch.

“Do you think I could have a try?” Hilda asked with amusement, “It looks like fun.”

Aela shrugged, “Ask Markus. I think he mentioned wanting you or Phillipe to test it at some point.”

“Really?” Hilda asked excitedly, already halfway over the fence before Aela could make her reply.

Aela grinned as she watched Hilda run across the training grounds and head straight for Markus.

Hilda returned a few minutes later with an embarrassed look on her face, “He said I can try tomorrow,” she revealed sheepishly.

Aela nodded and snickered as she recalled Markus having said something to that effect already.

“Uh, excuse me?” A young man wearing the mercenary's colours but not their uniform had stopped a short distance away and tried to get the attention of one of the passing mercenaries without success. With a makeshift crutch under his right arm and the toes of his right boot dragging as he tried to keep it elevated off the ground, it was rather obvious that he was either quite badly injured or otherwise crippled. However, just by how naturally he moved with the crutch, Aela was inclined to think he had been that way for some time.

“Can I help?” Hilda asked, slowing her speech considerably to make sure she pronounced everything correctly.

The young man smiled in relief and drew closer, “Thank you, I was told to go to ‘the workshop’ so I could be fitted for a new prosthetic. Do you know which of the buildings it is?” He asked a little nervously.

Aela pointed to the workshop, “It’s over there. But they are pretty busy at the moment, lots of fresh orders to fill,” she elaborated neutrally.

“Oh...” The young man visibly deflated somewhat.

“You could try asking Markus to sort your leg out in the meantime,” Aela suggested helpfully, pointing to Markus across the field.

“Oh, I could never-” The young man tried to politely refuse but was interrupted by Hilda.

“Yes! Markus can help!” Hilda agreed excitedly and took a firm grip on the young man’s arm before practically dragging him over the fence and towards Markus.

Tagging along to amuse herself, Aela figured Markus could probably use a break from his disappointing experiment.

Sure enough, Markus seemed quite frustrated by a lack of progress. He had been testing the same group of potential drivers for the past four days and none of them were showing the degree of improvement that Markus wanted.

By her own observations alone, Aela estimated that it would be months at least before the best of the drivers was able to use a P`A well enough to fight the slowest of monsters.

“Hilda, I already told you, you can have a go tomorrow,” Markus stated dismissively while watching a small team of the other candidates assist the latest driver in exiting the P`A.

“It’s not about that,” Hilda replied with good-natured cheer, “This young man’s prosthetic isn’t working and-”

“-And you want me to take a look?” Markus guessed somewhat absently before rubbing tiredly at his face, “Alright, I could use a break from all this...” He waved his arms in the direction of the P`A and mercenaries and then sighed dejectedly, his disappointment rather obvious. Turning his attention in their direction, Markus’s mood improved dramatically upon seeing Aela and he hurriedly made his way over to her.

“This is the young man,” Hilda interjected, bodily pressing the young man towards Markus by his shoulders, “It’s his leg,” she offered helpfully.

Apparently unable to understand what they were all saying, the young man was panicking and couldn’t seem to find his voice.

Markus made a point of kissing Aela first before quite reluctantly shifting his attention to the young man. “Your prosthetic has run out of mana,” Markus commented with a renewed sense of disappointment. Letting out a sigh, Markus’s eyes turned black and silver.

“Wha-OH! AH! WHAT?!” The young man exclaimed, his slate grey eyes opened wide in confusion as his leg began to shake.

“That should do it,” Markus declared a little apathetically, “In the future, you can just approach any of the golems and make a request for a recharge so long as you have the credits.”

“I can feel my leg!” The young man had tears running down his cheeks as he experimentally placed weight on his right foot, “And my toes!”

“Of course you can,” Markus replied somewhat glibly, “That’s what a replacement limb should do in the...first...place...” His eyes grew wide for a moment before grinning maniacally. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of it sooner?!” Markus sprinted off in the direction of their lodgings without any further explanation for his behaviour.

Curious, Aela didn’t have to wait long to see what had Markus so excited.

Returning less than a minute later, practically dragging Sven behind him, Markus hurriedly led the former quartermaster past Aela and Hilda and directly to the P`A. “Here, just climb on in and sit in the chair!” He insisted excitedly, pushing Sven forward insistently.

Thoroughly confused but eager to please, Sven awkwardly climbed into the chest of the P`A and seated himself in the chair as Markus asked.

“Make sure to strap in your legs and chest!” Markus added excitedly, “And put on the helmet.”

Sven continued Following Markus’s instructions without question and seemed to be growing excited himself.

Markus had been talking about the ‘P`A’ project for the past couple of weeks and had only grown more excited now that he was in the experimentation stage. As such, just about everyone staying in the large house with them was well aware of what the P`A was and what it was intended to do.

“Now give me a few minutes,” Markus’s eyes turned black and silver as he began channelling his mana.

Unsure of what Markus expected to be different, Aela was surprised when the P`A suddenly adjusted its footing to better balance its weight.

“Uh...” Hilda seemed just as surprised and looked at Aela, “Did you see that?”

Aela nodded. All at once, she realised what had Markus so excited, “It’s the prosthetics,” Aela exclaimed, “Sven can make it move because of his prosthetics.”

Hilda looked thoroughly impressed for a few moments before becoming quite hesitant, “I want to give it a try, but not badly enough to have my arms and legs chopped off!”

After Markus closed the front hatch and stepped away, the P`A began slowly walking around the perimeter of the training grounds.

As the minutes passed by, the P`A’s already fluid movements became more confident. However, it was apparent that Sven was much better at controlling the P`A’s lower body, specifically the legs, than he was with its upper body and arms. Even so, Sven managed to traverse the obstacle course with minimal difficulty after only a half dozen attempts, making him many times more capable than the mercenaries Markus had been trying to train for just under a week.

Jogging across the training field, Markus pulled Aela into a tight embrace and kissed her fiercely, “You’re amazing! How did you know that would work?!” He kissed her again, accidentally tearing his lip on one of her teeth but not seeming to care.

“I listen to you all day and I have learned some things,” Aela deflected confidently, quite aware that Markus had already convinced himself that her intervention was deliberate and seeing no real reason to correct him.

“Flatterer,” Markus cooed as he kissed Aela for a third time before resting his forehead against hers.

Aela’s unintentional inspiration quickly changed Markus’s recruiting criteria. While he still intended to use the otherwise able-bodied, he admitted that he would have to develop an intermediate training method to accommodate their lack of experience controlling mana powered prosthetics.

In the meantime, Aela and Hilda were requested to put Sven through some basic combat drills in preparation for testing the P`A in a dungeon.

Keeping it simple for now, Sven was given a large enchanted wooden blade while Aela remained unarmed. This test was to see how well Sven could manoeuvre the P`A in order to not just attack but defend against monsters. Next would be Hilda to see how well he would fare against a Warrior and human opponents.

Squaring off against the construct that was easily twice her size, Aela wasn’t all that worried. The P`A had a considerable amount of power behind its movements, but Sven was going to need a lot of practice before he could use it effectively.

“Ah...Are you ready?” Sven asked nervously, his amplified voice projecting in all directions, as he gave the huge wooden blade a few practice swings.

Aela nodded determinedly, “Ready!” She called back and began bouncing on her toes, “Count us in Hilda!”

“Right!” Hilda stood off centre an equal distance between them and raised her right arm, “Three, two, one...FIGHT!” She jumped backwards, refusing to miss a second of the fight.

Playing to her instincts, Aela leapt forwards and towards Sven’s unarmed left side deliberately provoking him to try and swipe her or maybe make an attempt at grabbing her instead.

As she had predicted, Sven stiffly reached out for her with his free hand rather than attempting to strike her with his sword.

Swatting his arm downward, Aela ran behind Sven and kicked the back of his right knee hard. Unfortunately, it was only enough to cause him to momentarily stagger before fully regaining his balance.

Shadowing his movements as Sven attempted to turn on the spot, Aela looked for another opening and decided to see if she could cause him to panic by blinding him. Leaping onto the back of the P`A, Aela effortlessly pulled herself up onto its shoulders and wrapped her arms around the viewing port of the P`A’s helmed head.

Momentarily coming to a halt, it seemed like Sven was panicking just as Aela had planned. However, as the tip of his sword came rushing towards her, Aela realised that she had only made herself an easier target.

Letting go of her perch, Aela tumbled off the P`A’s back and ran towards the obstacle course to gain some distance.

Although somewhat slow to react, Sven was only a couple of seconds behind her, the large stride of the P`A readily compensating for his poor reaction time.

Aela barely managed to leap up and over a reinforced dirt wall before the wooden sword came crashing down and cleaved a four-foot deep gash in the packed earth.

Continuing to run away in order to test Sven’s control and the P`A’s overall potential agility, Aela beelined for the trenches next. While Sven had already navigated this training course a few times, it had previously been at his own pace and not in anything close to real combat conditions. So Aela was rather certain that Sven was going to trip or otherwise fall as he misjudged the distance.

Then Sven did something Aela didn’t expect, he jumped. In one mighty leap, the P`A cleared the forty feet of trenches and landed on the opposite side. Staggering slightly, it took Sven a few moments to get his balance again, giving Aela enough time to adjust course and run away towards the small wooden hillfort. However, Sven had genuinely surprised her and Aela was impressed.

Using the hillfort to block Sven’s line of sight, Aela lay in wait to launch an ambush. Judging the P`A’s approach based on the vibrations through the ground, Aela made an educated guess to determine which side Sven would approach from and prepared to circle around from the opposite direction.

Sven chose a third option, leaping over the fort and landing nearby, only this time he had attempted to pivot in the air and very nearly succeeded in flanking her. Unfortunately, Sven didn’t get the landing quite right, causing the P`A to slip and hit the ground hard, “Ow....”

“Are you okay in there?” Hilda called out anxiously while Aela scrambled for fresh cover.

“Yeah...I think so?” Sven replied with a little uncertainty while the P`A staggered to its feet, “The straps stopped me from falling out of the chair, but I really think some padding would have helped,” he groaned.

“I think it should be my turn now Aela!,” Hilda suggested loudly, “Some quick sparring and then we send Sven off to make his recommendations to Markus. What do you think?”

Aela stood up from her hiding place behind a low wooden wall, “Alright,” she called back in agreement while patting herself down to remove the worst of the dirt. Normally she wouldn’t care so much about being dirty, but she had noticed that Markus had a tendency to be less physically affectionate when she wasn’t at least passably clean.

Wandering off the field, Aela was impressed by the damage the P`A had managed to inflict on the environment. Even though Sven hadn’t managed to deliver a successful strike of his own, he had still demonstrated the raw power that the P`A was capable of.

Sven’s practice against Hilda was much more straightforward. With a large shield and her Warrior powers to keep her safe, Hilda assigned herself the role of a moving target. Hilda would not leave a predetermined space and Sven would be expected to do his best in order to deliver a solid hit with his sword.

Simple in theory the reality proved quite different as Hilda would deflect or batter away each of the P`A’s attacks with her shield. Sven seemed to be improving his coordination with each swing, but it was still quite clear that he was going to need a great deal more practice, especially against moving targets.

Markus soon returned with a much smaller group of mercenaries in tow, each of whom looked positively awestruck by the scene of the sparring match taking place in front of them. It was difficult to determine which they found more impressive, the huge form of P`A and its heavy wooden blade, or Hilda, who was somehow fending it off with only a shield and steadfastly holding her ground.

“A second P`A will be finished by tomorrow,” Markus explained excitedly, “So I want everyone to have a turn and become familiar with how they move and become at least somewhat proficient before this evening.”

The gathered mercenaries just stared blankly at Markus for a few moments before seeming to fully understand what he had just said.

“You want us to ride inside one of these things?!” An older man with a heavily receding grey hairline and a pot belly demanded incredulously, shakily pointing a prosthetic arm at the P`A.

“Of course,” Markus agreed confidently, “Suitable Drivers will be entitled to a substantial pay increase, of course.”

A middle-aged woman with short-cropped brown hair, a slight frame, a long jagged scar running down her face and a prosthetic eye, perked up immediately at the mention of increased pay, “Now you're speaking my language!”

The final mercenary, a much younger man who was much closer to Sven and Markus’s age, with light blonde hair and a strong handsome face, seemed largely unaffected by the promised pay raise. However, he seemed almost transfixed on the powerful movements of the P`A and was trembling with excitement. “Such power!” He muttered with anticipation.

Markus sent a message to Sven from his communication headpiece, bringing an end to his duel with Hilda.

Seemingly no worse for wear after his tumble, Sven was helped out of the driver’s seat and spent a few minutes slowly walking back and forth by the fence. “I think I forgot how to use my legs a little bit,” Sven joked somewhat nervously but with good humour.

With the understanding being that the armour was functioning as a full-body prosthetic, there was a very real chance that might be true. However, Aela decided it would be best not to worry the former quartermaster any further.

The youngest of the mercenaries was next to try the P`A. Markus gave him a basic rundown of what to expect and helped the man strap himself into the chair.

“This will be interesting as a test sample,” Makus noted with curiosity as he sealed the front hatch.

“Why’s that?” Aela asked with piqued interest.

Pleased by her interest, Markus smiled and was only too happy to elaborate, “Sven had two prosthetic legs and has been using them for just over a month or so. With that limited amount of experience, he was able to use the Prosthetic Armour in a way that I was beginning to doubt anyone else would be capable of.”

Aela recalled the comparatively poor showing made by the other mercenaries and nodded in agreement.

“Well, Claude-” Markus pointed to the P`A to show who he was referring to, “-has a prosthetic right foot, left leg and right forearm. He has had those prosthetics for close to five years, so it will be interesting to see whether he does better than Sven.”

“You think that more prosthetics, or having them longer will make him a better driver?” Aela asked curiously.

Markus nodded excitedly, “Or both,” he added.

Almost immediately proving Markus right, the P`A began taking confident, if somewhat short, strides across the training grounds. Reaching the hanging practice dummies on the far side, the P`A took a moment to secure its footing before slamming its right fist into a dummy and sending it swinging backwards. As the dummy swung back again, the P`A intercepted it with a blow from its left fist, sending it swinging backwards again.

Apparently satisfied, Claude began taking the P`A through the obstacle course. Besides stumbling a couple of times due to not raising the P`A’s feet high enough, he seemed to clear the course much faster and with fewer mistakes than Sven. After repeating the course five more times, it seemed like Claude had gotten the hang of manoeuvring the increased bulk afforded by the P`A.

“I want to try sparring now,” Claude declared confidently while moving to retrieve the large wooden sword.

Hilda looked to Markus for confirmation.

Markus nodded.

Hilda grinned and took up the same shield as before. “Don’t go easy on me!” She warned, “You will regret it!”

“Then don’t go easy on me!” Claude countered confidently, “Where is your weapon?!”

Hilda excitedly looked to Markus for permission again.

“This will be another good test,” Markus agreed and gave Hilda another nod.

With an excited grin, Hilda donned her training armour and took up her axe and shield. “Remember that you asked for this!” She exclaimed and eagerly signalled the beginning of the fight by clashing her axe against the metal centre of her shield.

Similar to Sven, Claude initially seemed to have the same problem coordinating his attacks and combined with Hilda’s active dodging this caused his swings to go quite wide. However, since it was a proper sparring match, Claude made a point of harrying Hilda with his free hand and making short kicks to force her to keep her distance.

Hilda experimentally soaked a few hits in order to close the distance and deliver a few strikes against the P`A’s legs, but the lack of visible damage seemed to negatively impact her morale causing Hilda to retreat again before taking any more hits.

The fighting went back and forth for quite a while before Markus called out for the fighting to stop. “The Prosthetic Armour is getting low on mana and Linette and Boris still need a turn.”

Claude brought the P`A to a standstill and turned its head towards Hilda, “Did I get close?” He asked in good humour.

Hilda grinned and wavered her hand, “Not even half,” she answered boastfully, “We should fight again when you improve.”

“You can count on it!” Claude replied happily as the front panel opened and allowed Markus to help him out of the seat.

“It’s my turn now eh?” The older man grumbled although Aela could see excitement burning in his eyes. “Now, how am I meant to get into that darned chair?”

Markus and Claude both helped Boris into the chair and gave him a quick rundown on what to do before sealing the front panel and giving the P`A some room.

“Now, Boris has two prosthetic arms, so I wonder how he will do compared to Claude and Sven,” Markus explained in anticipation.

“How did he even lose both arms?” Aela demanded incredulously.

Claude gave Aela a complicated look, “He fought a low level Warrior and injured the noble's pride. In retaliation, the nobleman hacked Boris’s forearms off and left him for dead.”

“Why his arms though?” Aela pressed, “Why not just kill him by cutting off his head?”

“Boris was something of a renowned mercenary back in the day. He had a rare gift for being just as adept at swordsmanship with either hand,” Claude explained, “It also made him a downright menace with a shield as well. It was how he injured the Warrior in the first place. Overwhelming the nobleman with a stream of consecutive attacks with both sword and shield created the opportunity that changed his life...Or I suppose what now led him here?” Claude grew somewhat pensive as he watched the A`P struggle to walk across the open ground to the far fence.

“Damned hunk of junk!” Boris roared, “If I wanted you to move like my arthritis ridden knees, I would have asked!” In response to the scathing criticism, the A`P’s shaky stride slowly began to ease into a smooth comfortable gait. “That’s more like it!” Boris grumbled and the A`P rolled its shoulders as it made a new course for the training dummies.

“He seems to have just about the same knack as Sven did,” Aela observed with interest.

“I was thinking that too,” Markus agreed, “It seems like experience using multiple prosthetics makes adapting much quicker.”

After giving the dummies a good pounding, the A`P returned to the starting position where Hilda was eagerly preparing for a fight.

“Nah, sorry, not interested in a fight just yet,” Boris called out, “Got to work a twinge from my back after that long waggon ride. Besides, Linette still needs a go and I doubt I’d hear the end of it if I was the cause for her missing out!” He explained a little defensively, “Now someone show me how in the blazes I am meant to get out of here!”

Markus helped the older mercenary out of the chair and helped the woman with the prosthetic eye into the chair in his place. Just as before, Markus gave an explanation on what to expect while Linette buckled the straps and looped her arms through the padded armbands that would prevent her arms from flailing about if the A`P fell over.

“Alright, let’s see what the fuss is all about!” Linette declared as the A`P began carefully walking across the training grounds.

Almost immediately, Aela noticed that the A`P’s left leg was moving slightly less freely than the right. “Markus, do you see?” She asked and pointed to the left leg.

Markus stared for a while and then nodded, “Linette has a prosthetic right foot. That probably makes her more used to moving the right leg.”

Unlike the others, and in spite of the asymmetry of her stride, Linette seemed much more aware of her surroundings. This became more apparent when she chose a slightly better route through the obstacle course rather than just charging straight through.

Just like Boris had done, Linette opted out of fighting against Hilda as well, which had something of a silver lining in that it allowed Hilda to have a try herself.

“I don’t suppose there is any chance of a more feminine physique?” Linette requested hopefully while climbing down from the chair, “I have never felt so heavy on my feet in my life! Not even after springing that thrice-cursed bear trap!” She seemed to be exaggerating, judging by the responses from Boris and Claude who were both chuckling and shaking their heads.

“You can talk to the tinkers,” Aela suggested helpfully, “They could alter the design to be more feminine for you.”

Linette looked surprised, confirming Aela’s earlier assumptions, “Really? You're being serious right now?”

Aela nodded, “They should be rather practised at female proportions by now.” Since she had convinced Markus to make half of the golems female bodies, it had produced some interesting results in the golems that were now being produced.

Even though most of them appeared to be the same, each golem actually had slight differences. Whether it was the hue of the wood, or slightly longer fingers or toes, each golem had something, no matter how small, that made them unique. It was just a matter of looking until you found out what it was.

Linette gave Aela a broad smile, “Hey, you're alright! Thanks for the tip, uh?...”

“Aela,” Aela replied with a smile.

“Aela, right! I’ll try to remember that!” Linette promised, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to impress the virtues of the female form to some tinkers!” She declared cheerily and began making her way towards the workshop.

“I’ll go with you!” Boris called out loudly and began stiffly jogging after Linette while pressing one hand determinedly against the small of his back. “The wrists are too stiff! I need a better range of motion if I am expected to fight!”

Claude watched them go and shrugged before walking after them, “I think the design is fine,” he shrugged and gave Markus and Aela a parting nod.

“Is someone going to help me with the straps?!” Hilda called out excitedly from inside of the A`P’s chest.

Unfortunately for Hilda she didn’t do much better than the first batch of mercenaries had done. On the upside, Markus reassured her that he was working on something that would allow those without prosthetics to practice and develop the necessary skills for the A`P.

Knowing Markus, Aela was certain that he was going to give them little toy dolls to practice with as a proxy.

When the A`P was just about out of mana, Hilda reluctantly allowed Markus to sever the connection and help her out of the chair.

“It is so odd to be so big!” Hilda gushed happily, “Even if I was clumsy, it just made it more exhilarating!”

Markus nodded in understanding, “It’s definitely different,” he agreed, “It’s a shame the damn thing costs so much mana to run though...”

“It will be worth it if a giant attacks,” Aela countered, “Even with the golems around, it is still good to have something big to be the focus of attention. Especially with so much mana stored inside of it!”

“Huh...I hadn’t considered that,” Markus conceded and then grinned, “If the Prosthetic Armour does indeed draw monster attention away from regular humans, then that is a huge plus.”

Aela would have mentioned chimaeras too, but they already ranked below humans when monsters were given the choice for a target. Aela was also aware that Markus already knew that too.

“How long until you think they are ready to test a low-level dungeon?” Markus asked seriously, extending the question to both Aela and Hilda.

“How low?” Aela asked with a shrug. There were a lot of variables to consider, the chief of which being whether there would be enough space for them to move around in.

“Claude seems just about ready,” Hilda replied, “But the other two? Eh...” She waved her hand uncertainly.

“We will see what they are like after some combat practice then,” Markus agreed, “I’ll see you at dinner, I have some training tools to organise,” he gave Aela a quick peck of the cheek before briskly walking off in the direction of the workshop.

Left by themselves again, Aela and Hilda decided to continue sparring a little more before heading inside for a bath.

Helping the trio of mercenaries train in their Armoured Prosthetics quickly began taking up most of Aela and Hilda’s time. Their extreme resistance to physical harm made them prime choices to make up close observations and provide advice or criticism while the mercenaries honed their combat abilities.

As a sort of reward, Aela and Hilda would be the instructors that followed the team into their first dungeon and rated them on their performance. Being in a position of official authority was somewhat new to Aela and she found that she actually rather liked it. Different from the varying degrees of respect she received as Markus’s partner or her mother’s daughter, the respect now shown to her by the mercenaries was consistent deference.

Granted, Hilda shared in this same respect and didn’t seem all that fussed over it, but Aela supposed she must be quite used to it with her background and noble title.

Boris and Linette both proved capable of adapting to fighting using the A`P’s. After another week of training, and the completion of Linette’s customised female formed A`P as well as the completion of the weapons each mercenary requested, Markus agreed that it was time for a field test.

Donning her best armour and borrowing Markus’s spear, just in case, Aela was about to leave for the meeting point in the training field when her tablet chimed letting her know that she had received a message. Removing the tablet from inside a special hard leather pouch at her hip, she took a moment to quickly read what it said.

[Peabody: Good morning Aela! I hope I have managed to catch you before your auspicious outing to the dungeon! As you may know, part of my duties is to ensure that the golem self-designated as Mark provides worthwhile contributions to the cause in exchange for its continued existence.

It is in such a capacity that I am making contact with you now. Two experimental artifices have been made available that should prove most valuable to the Creator’s concerns. Both require testing on an already identified and controlled dungeon.

The first artifice can theoretically deny a dungeon core from regenerating a boss monster and other monsters while keeping the portal intact.]

(There was an image of two hollow bronze hemispheres inlaid with tiny glass beads below the message. Each half looked like it could be screwed together to form a complete sphere again, so it seemed rather obvious that it was part of the intended function. In addition to the bisected sphere, there was also a clawlike device that looked like it was intended to hold the two halves of the sphere together and prevent them from being tampered with.)

[Peabody: The second artifice is intended to work in tandem with the first. Although they appear quite simple, the extending rods are intended to expand or contract the entrance of a dungeon as required. The artifice can be temporarily activated without control over the connected dungeon core, but it will face resistance and is not advised to remain active for more than a few minutes in such a situation.]

(The rods Peabody had referred to seemed to be exactly that. Three different images demonstrated how a pair of rune inscribed copper rods could telescope outwards in either direction to become much larger. The centremost section of each rod had a large topaz inlaid into the bronze. The rods also had a number of small bumps that prevented the rods from collapsing on themselves after extending. Or at least that is what Aela assumed they were for.)

[Peabody: Do you have any questions? I know this is incredibly last minute, but Mark took a great deal of ‘motivation’ to complete this project.]

“Does Markus know of this?” Aela asked suspiciously, already convinced she knew the answer before asking the question to confirm it.

[Peabody: The Creator has been informed, but I believe he is still busy reading through reports from Lady Irongate.]

“Are these artifices dangerous?” She pressed, sure that there must be an angle that the merchant golem was attempting to take advantage of.

[Peabody: They are as safe as any other artifice. Even assuming they are destroyed, it will not have any real effect beyond losing their ability to function.]

“So why me? Why now?” Aela demanded suspiciously.

[Peabody: Because the Creator is needed elsewhere and golems are forbidden from entering the dungeons. This, combined with your imminent entry to a dungeon provides an ideal opportunity. If you believe that testing these artifices will compromise your mission, then it can’t be helped. I was just trying to make the most of the opportunities presented and further the Creator’s goals.]

“How do these artifices help Markus?” Aela asked warily.

[Peabody: The prisoner self-designated as Cara has refused to share her knowledge of Guardians without proof of steps being taken to establish communication with her people. Of course, we believe this to be a ruse intending to provoke our intervention in her people's war. While fighting on the scale implied by her repeated testimonies is untenable at this time, accepting refugees to serve as labour is quite acceptable. To this end, dungeons must be pacified and their surrounding environments explored in order to confirm the validity of migratory travel through dungeons, and to locate a dungeon connected to the prisoner’s homeworld.]

“Why do those refugees matter?” Aela asked in confusion. Not nearly so callous as to leave people to die when it was otherwise preventable, she still didn’t understand why the Guardians were so important.

[Peabody: Even if Cara reneges on her agreement to share information on the Guardians, it is very likely a reasonably common or at least known process amongst her people. Securing more of her people increases our chances of learning the methods for their creation of Guardians. Mark has suggested that learning how Guardians are made might be the key to developing a solution that would allow yourself and Creator to conceive children. This is only a hypothesis, but there is no true way of knowing without acquiring the knowledge first.]

Aela had to read the message for a second time before she was able to believe she had read it correctly. Saving Cara’s people might be the solution to their conception problem? If that was so, then Aela would be going against her best interests if she refused. “Where are the artifices?” She asked hesitantly. Aela was already running behind schedule and felt it was probably undermining her authority.

[Peabody: Both artifices are available for collection from the tinker's workshop.]

Aela replaced the tablet in its pouch and headed downstairs after collecting the rest of her gear. Just as Peabody had said they would be, a golem was waiting outside of the workshop with both artifices.

Placing them in her pack, Aela then headed over to the training grounds where Hilda and the three mercenaries were waiting for her. Markus had given each of the drivers a sort of key that could be used to turn their connection to their A`P on and off on their own. This was largely intended so Markus and the golems weren’t required to repeatedly establish and sever the connection.

After inspecting the trio of A`Ps primary mana storage crystals were full, and double checking that the spares carried by Hilda were the same, Aela helped each of the mercenaries into their A`P’s and strapped them in. Aela was responsible for carrying the Communication Array and empty Mana Storage Crystals for collecting dungeon mana. However, given the mercenaries' choice in weaponry, it was unlikely that much mana was going to be collected at all.

Linette had opted for a large curve-bladed spear, Boris had pressed hard for a spiked shield and shortsword, and Claude had only asked for a longsword. Each of the weapons had been a huge collaborative effort of all the available smiths. Even so, Claude’s sword in particular was almost guaranteed to be riddled with defects that would see the weapon snap without its enchanted reinforcements. The same was possible for Linette’s spear and Boris’s shortsword, but the smiths had been much more confident in the relative scale of their metalwork.

Travelling through the bustling gate of Arngier garnered a great deal of attention and impressed stares from the humans and chimaeras alike. As much as the mercenaries enjoyed the attention, Aela and Hilda kept them moving.

“The dungeon we are heading to is roughly level fifteen,” Aela explained through the communication artifice, “This means that the monsters are comparatively weak, but you still shouldn’t underestimate them. A goblin from a level fifteen dungeon can be far more dangerous than an orc. The extra mana invested in each monster can make them faster, stronger, more durable or even give them special abilities.” Aela was basically repeating a speech her mother had once given her, altering it only slightly to fit the level of the dungeon.

“We have to worry about goblins?” Boris exclaimed in surprise, “Then what is the use of this confounded hunk of wood and metal?”

“One goblin isn’t a threat,” Hilda replied, beating Aela to it, “A dozen probably won’t be either, but a hundred? Two hundred? Who can really say? Arrogant adventurers die, the wary and cautious survive.”

“It’s like fighting peasant levies, Boris,” Claude interjected, “One or two aren't a real problem. But if you don’t rout them quickly one of them is bound to get a knife into someplace you wish they hadn’t.”

Boris remained silent for the rest of the march to the dungeon.

With the hunters occupying the worksite at the mouth of the great valley, this left the dungeons firmly under the control of Markus’s golems. Magically reinforced wooden walls had been erected around each dungeon, creating kill zones that would allow the golems to put down any monsters that attempted to breach containment.

After the golems opened the gate and allowed them entry, Aela found that Peabody’s intervention might prove more helpful than she originally thought. The dungeon entrance was big enough that the A`Ps could squeeze through, but they would be in a compromised position while doing so.

“Hilda and I will enter first,” Aela declared confidently, “I will either send you a message or come get you when we are ready.”

“Sir!” The trio of mercenaries replied respectfully in unison.

Hilda gave her a questioning look but accepted Aela’s decision and took point.

Following Hilda through the dungeon gateway, Aela immediately scanned their surroundings for signs of danger. They were in the middle of a forest clearing and it was pouring with rain. The monster detection enchantment in the lenses of her helmet showed no signs of monster mana in their immediate vicinity, so Aela retrieved the gateway expanding artifice from her pack.

“What are those?” Hilda asked curiously, glancing back briefly before returning her attention to their surroundings.

“An experimental artifice that is supposed to make the gateway bigger,” Aela replied somewhat sceptically while extending each rod to the desired length. After driving the rods into the ground securely, Aela stepped back and waited to see what would happen.

Ever so slowly, the gateway began expanding outwards towards the bronze rods, as if an invisible giant was trying to squeeze through the hole.

“Can you hear me?” Aela asked, “Claude? Linette? Boris?” There was no reply. “Let’s go back and get them,” Aela insisted, immediately rejecting the idea of leaving Hilda on her own.

“Right behind you!” Hilda agreed, matching Aela’s stride as they quickly passed through the portal again.

“Just to be clear,” Aela turned to the waiting mercenaries, “You did not hear me?”

The three P`As shook their heads.

“Everything was quiet on our end,” Claude confirmed confidently.

Aela turned to one of the nearby golems, “Inform Markus that communication is blocked by the dungeon gateway, but works inside.”

“I obey,” the golem agreed obediently, “The message has been sent.”

“Alright, Everyone move through the gateway and enter the dungeon. Hilda and Claude will go first, then Boris, then myself and Linette,” Aela called out authoritatively.

As instructed, everyone made their way inside the dungeon.

Seeing the A`Ps moving to form a rough perimeter, Aela was glad to see that they were all taking things seriously. “The ultimate goal is the dungeon core. Your mission is to locate it and fend off all counter-attacks made by the monsters attempting to liberate it.”

“Right, let’s scout the area then,” Claude insisted, leading the way into the forest.

Boris and Linette both followed his lead and were only a few steps behind.

“We shouldn’t let them wander off on their own,” Hilda chuckled, motioning for Aela to follow.

“There is no telling what trouble they could get into,” Aela agreed with a grin.

They both had something of a low opinion regarding the mercenaries' lack of monster-fighting experience.

“Contact!” Linette barked through the communication artifice as her glaive scythed through the branches of a tree and sent two large chunks of bloodied meat toppling to the ground.

Taking into account the level of the dungeon and the momentary glimpse of the monster’s body as it fell from the tree, Aela was prepared to take an educated guess on what they were dealing with. “Bugbears!” She directed her attention upwards into the canopy and began to register monster mana signals partially concealed by the tree trunks and branches. “Big and hairy, they like ambushing from high places, like trees!” She warned them just as a volley of stone-headed arrows clattered against the head of Claude’s A`P.

Roaring and thumping their chests, the hairy orc-like goblinoids didn’t seem to care that their ambush had no visible effects. Instead, dozens of them began swinging out of their hiding places and converging on the trio of mercenaries, whooping and clutching at crude stone mauls.

With the longest reach, Linette was able to act first, dashing another bugbear in two and sending another four crashing to the ground along with the top of the tree they had been climbing in.

Claude seemed to have learned the trick and gave a tree a powerful kick that shattered the trunk and sent another half dozen bugbears tumbling to the ground. Stomping the nearest bugbear and caving in its ribs, Claude then kicked another in the gut as it tried scrambling to its feet, sending the unfortunate recipient careening a few dozen feet backwards before being impaled on a tree branch.

Boris was less subtle but more patient. Waiting until the bugbears began leaping down towards him, he stepped aside and impaled the first bugbear by catching it on his spiked shield. The second bugbear joined the first as it was caught mid-flight and slammed into the trunk of a tree and Boris impaled the third bugbear on his shortsword.

As pleased as Aela was to have her theory regarding monsters prioritising aggression against the Armoured Prosthetics, it didn’t mean that the bugbears were ignoring her and Hilda outright.

Standing seven feet tall and wearing crude wooden armour, a bugbear landed a few feet from Aela and leered at her with its bat-like features before raising its primitive maul high for an attack.

Deftly intercepting the shaft of the maul, it splintered under a slight application of pressure, sending the head of the maul flying as Aela rammed the head of the crystal spear through the bugbear’s exposed groin four times in rapid succession before kicking it away with a powerful kick.

Hilda ended her own altercation much faster. Taking a long-handled grip on her axe, Hilda deftly dodged the incoming maul and decapitated a bugbear with a vicious backhanded strike.

Bugbears that had been manoeuvring in preparation to attack them suddenly seemed to reconsider, redirecting their aggression towards the much larger A`Ps instead.

Aela and Hilda shared a knowing glance with one another before settling into a defensive position of their own while still keeping an eye on the progress of the mercenaries. Fighting monsters was one thing, but the real test would be whether they could find the dungeon core before the monsters began to respawn reinforcements. This was only made more prudent by the fact that the mercenaries had a limited amount of mana to work with.

Able to sense the general distance and direction to the core, Aela was genuinely curious to see how the mercenaries would go about trying to find it.