“Bile yer heid, yer heid, yer damn stupid heid”, Lucius kept saying as a lullaby, as he was trying to cut a block of wood. It had a fibrous and elastic texture, but also hard, which made it very difficult to cut. To be precise, the hardest thing was to make straight cuts and get several pieces of the same thickness.

If Lucius could, he would have used sandpaper or finer blades to fix the different pieces, but the log was so hard to scratch that he wasn't sure he would be able to do it. He also had no idea how to get the metal parts he needed to fit onto the center deck of the huge crossbow.

That was the weapon he was building.

To tell the truth, he was undecided whether to call it a crossbow or a ballista. Ballistas used ropes to twist their arms. Those machines that torsion, not tension, to throw huge darts. Therefore, Lucius decided not to think too much about it. Unfortunately he didn't have Wikipedia to solve his problems.

“Aye Ka', eh, damn ye. Did you call the blacksmith? Did you show him the drawings? " He asked, exasperated by the other's inefficiencies.

“Lucius, I told you he would refuse! The blacksmiths are all busy with orders given by Lord Karkaster. I am a captain, not the Lord's son. And, in fact, not only did the blacksmith tell me that he didn't understand anything about the drawings you made, but also that you must stop bothering him."

“Ka', bile yer heid, yer and the blacksmith's”, said Lucius, putting down the saw he had borrowed from the aforementioned blacksmith.

“But why don't you ask Verena instead of hiding from her? She is the Earthling with the most influence. Nalith gives Verena more audiences than my superiors."

Lucius snorted.

Kasper did not understand how bothered the Scot was by the idea of Verena treating him like a child with special needs. They had been there for almost a week now, and Lucius had acquired levels only as totally drunk, and almost didn't remember how it had happened.

If he could have asked for her help without receiving her constant ball-crushing nagging, he would have done so. But Verena would have saddled him with her project and would have put on him a great pressure, and Lucius did not like working like that.

"How is it possible that you're always an useless shit?" Lucius said, getting up and trying to shake the sawdust off his clothes. "You dirty liar, I told you, look, bile yer heid, ahhhhh", Lucius put his hands through his auburn hair.

The [Captain], Kasper, had told him that he would help him set up a small laboratory with some material in exchange for an innovative and effective weapon.

"How is it possible that, bile yer heids, you don't have crossbows, but only these fucking bows."

“Lucius, nobody knows what a crossbow is. We have already asked."

“How the fuck could you not know, I say. People want to build guns, but you don't even have a fucking crossbow. Damn ye, what fucking guns do you thik you can build?"

Lucius frantically shook his head, thinking back to the Earthlings' requests. Some of them had suggested building firearms. Lucius, a big weapon geek, knew that the feat would be infeasible.

Even using magic and skills, forging enough metal of the right quality would have been really difficult.

Kasper thought he was helping, when he had suggested: "Let's put Enchantments on it, Lucius."

"Let's put shite on it, too," the Scot muttered to himself, ignoring Kasper's bewildered looks.

An Enchantment increased general resistance, yes, but not structural resistance. All it took was a weakness point, an impurity in the metal, and the gun would burst in their hands.

Also, when Lucius said he needed sulfur and nitrates, no one had any idea what he was talking about.

Lucius got up to stretch his legs, but the desire to walk was gone. He sat back up and puffed out his cheeks to snort.

"Maybe you can make the job easier?"

Lucius understood well why the captain had said so. Around them were lots of paper sheets, pieces of wood and metal scattered everywhere. The lab looked like a battlefield. Only thing missing to make it look like a real battlefield was blood - no, in fact, there was enough already. Lucius had cut himself more than once.

"Kasper, if I can cut this damn wood in small pieces and then glue them together, I'll build a bow as strong, as ye canna say, as a [Charged Arrow] from a skill. Now, if I somehoo get a skill to make these crossbows even better, their arrows will become like firearms bullets."

Lucius rubbed his eyes, red and tired, before going on, in a calmer tone.

“We put the crossbows in the hands of [Archers] or people with classes like that. If you do that, Kasper, these people can use their skills on a weapon ten times better than the longbows you have. Claro? "

"Claro?" asked Kasper, perplexed.

“Oh well, yer a lost cause. Why am I talking to you, tell me why the fuck. How did I end up with you? Ye can’t even help me. Look, let’s go to the Lame Adventurer, before you make me say something really bad."

"Okay, let's go then," Kasper said, even more perplexed.

Lucius clearly saw that Kasper couldn’t understand his frustration. The Vanedenis could not understand what it meant to have dreamed all his life of building a miniature version of Leonardo's giant crossbow. The master from Florence had made huge changes to the famous renaissance weapon and, due to its dimension, it could be used as a ballista. Thanks to the extraordinary kinds of wood in Brig, he was sure to build a terrific weapon.

Everything considered, he could have built three crossbows. A hand-held model, one somewhere in between a scorpio and a ballista, and, last but not least, a huge weapon - Leonardo's crossbow, which had the main goal of terrorising the enemy, more than dealing actual damage.

According to da Vinci's schemes, the width of the bow must have been about 24 meters, a monstrosity.

Lucius snorted and cursed under his breath.

He headed for the door, but it turned on its hinges before he could even touch it.

A woman appeared in front of him. A beautiful woman, the very definition of breathtaking beauty.

The celestial vision had hair of an indefinite color, with iridescent shades between brown and red, a mix that on Earth existed only in photo editing programs. Her face was so perfect it looked fake. It was inconceivable that such a beautiful person could exist outside the pages of fashion magazines.

"Milady!" Kasper almost jumped on the spot to say hello.

Lucius turned to the [Captain] with a very eloquent expression: God, Ka', yer a real jerk.

"Guid mornin'", greeted Lucius.

I have forgotten who this is, bile mah heid. Let's hope she's not angry.

She raised the corners of her mouth so little in response that it could hardly be called a smile, hers. Despite this, Lucius felt his heart plunge into his stomach, then bounce back in his throat. Her green eyes were making him sweat.

"Hello," the woman said.

What's her damn name, I forgot, mah damn shitty heid.

“I see that ambitious projects are being born in this laboratory,” she commented, taking a step forward.

Are being aborted, it would be closer to reality. Bile mah heid, what's her name? Malena? Selena?

"Milady Alhena, how can we help you?"

Lucius saw Kasper turn redder than a tomato at the peak of its ripeness.

Alhena, fuck me. Good, Ka', be useful once in a while.

“I was told you commandeered an abandoned lab to work on an idea. Isn't this the shop of that blacksmith who died last year?"

Lucius turned to Kasper praying that God would strike him with a lightning bolt, just like he was doing with his eyes.

“I didn’t tell anything to anybody, Lucius.”

“Och?”

Alhena's smile almost made Lucius sway on his legs. It was as if he had just inhaled a narcotic or a sedative.

Now, what does she want, this one.

"But where would you have heard this rumor?" Lucius asked.

"A [Lady] has ways to find out whatever she wants, my dear."

Observing Kasper's reaction, the Scot deduced that the scoundrel had told the truth. He hadn't been the one to spill the beans.

“Goodie, then. Let's go drink?" Lucius asked, ignoring the woman.

Yes, she was beautiful, but it wasn't the first time he was in the company of amazing women, thankfully.

Unfortunately, Kasper had been raised in the barracks. Seeing Alhena so close up had given him at least five strokes.

“Are you already going? Why don't you stay for a while, instead? I'm curious about what you are building. Who knows, maybe I can even help."

Something clicked in the Scot's mind, one of the most common skills in existence, obtained thanks to his [Strategist] class.

[Sense of Danger]

Alhena was now in his eyes like ambrosia and poisoned nectar. Beautiful, so much so as to make Lucius's body and mind move towards her, or at least try. But, at the same time, the [Strategist] could see in her eyes the malice of a cat playing with a dying mouse.

The bonnier they are, the more doolally they get.

"Alhe', listen here, we are very busy and tired. Maybe we could catch up tomorrow, what do you say?"

Lucius almost lifted Kasper and began to drag him towards the door.

A dangerous frown appeared on her face.

"Busy?" Alhena smacked her lips. “Your Lady is only here to help. Are you going to disrespect her, [Captain], Lucius?"

This is one of those crazies that forbids you to even watch football on TV. Damn ye, what a mess we have gotten ourselves into.

“Milady, how can we say no to a beautiful woman like you. It was just that we were a bit tired, but come on, what problem would it be."

Lucius took several steps back towards the center of the laboratory, before the woman decided to catch them with her own hands and throw them both into prison.

With crazies, you must let them talk as little as possible and only about what you want.

“Milady, I know it is not funny to be here with two wretches like us. However, I guess if you promise to help, there's nothing wrong with that, right?"

Alhena raised an eyebrow.

The [Strategist] assumed that the woman was confused by his change of mind.

Better this way.

"A Lady never breaks her promises," she smiled.

Bile yer heid, but I've already seen this lunatic. Bugger!

Lucius was reminded of the scene from his first day in Brig. He had seen her in the barracks, that beautiful woman, and he had stopped her on purpose to ask her where the toilets were.

The loos, I said. I wish I had said 'the toilets’.

Now, a bad foreboding made its way into his heart.

And, what if this lunatic got mad because I didn't swoon at her sight? Bile yer heid. Typical doolally stuff. Fuck me. What to say now? What to do? If I pretend that I like her, then she'll realise that it isn't true with a skill or some other strange magic, and this lunatic will have me hanged.

Lucius was now faced with a very difficult choice. If he didn't want to risk being hanged for deceiving the Lady, maybe… he could have been a bit of a rascal.

Now that he thought about it, his girlfriend's friends were all like that.

If you ignore them, after a while they think you're a fagot. If it really goes bad, they harass you a little. Here, if this lunatic harasses me and I do some bullshit, her father will hang me. Fuck...

Alhena explored the laboratory extremely slowly, looking around with the feigned innocence of a child.

"Can you explain to me what you are building?" chirped the most dangerous noble in Brig.

His mother, Lady Melith was a [Poison Lady]. And yet, Lucius remembered Verena's words. Alhena had some very rare class, unknown to almost everyone. Not even her family knew all the details about her.

In short, the daughter of Lord Karkaster, the Lord of the city, was dangerous. Unlike her older sister, who could transform into a huge humanoid bear, Alhena was much more delicate and refined.

Lucius shivered after feeling Alhena's eyes settle on him.

"We're building ..." Lucius got lost for a moment in her sweet smile.

Holy shit, I have a son, me. Come on Lucius, come on, fuck.

The Scot cleared his throat. Thinking of his son gave him the strength to straighten his back and look at the woman without lust for the first time since she had arrived.

“We are building a weapon that can be built in different sizes. It can be a substitute for a bow, it can be a weapon to take to the battlefield and even a siege machine. The most important thing, however, is the power of the darts it can fire."

Alhena opened her lips, about to ask a question.

“Besides,” continued Lucius undaunted, taking a piece of wood and placing it in the woman's delicate hands, “you don't need the training you would expect from an archer. You can give a crossbow to anyone and expect that they will be able to pass from side to side a person twenty levels higher than them."

The proximity of the Lady no longer had any effect on him now. Alhena continued to be beautiful, but not an Aphrodite incarnate anymore.

“Then think about putting this weapon in the hands of someone with a class. An archer with ten levels and a crossbow. Not to mention a ballista or Leonardo's mythological weapon, which could kill a warrior at level 40! Well, this is just a guess. But even a warrior made of steel after three or four crossbow strikes enhanced by skills - and, God willing, Enchantments - would end up in pieces. Literally, in pieces. It is not a way of saying. If you shoot someone with a crossbow made of this wood, with an Enchantment and a skill, the dart does not make a hole in him. It makes a piece of his body explode."

Lucius had made some rough estimates of the speed that the darts would reach, and had established that it could be considered similar to a large-caliber rifle. A less advanced rifle than those that were used on Earth in his time, but still a rifle.

Lucius noticed that his shoulders, back and neck muscles were contracted. Sometimes he got too upset. He shrugged to relax his muscles and tilted his back to be more comfortable. He was not a chest-out, belly-in person.

Lucius, now more relaxed, put his hand on Alhena's, who was still holding the piece of wood in her hand.

"If you wanna help, just say it. We'll get a saw and you'll help us cut the necessary pieces for da prototype."

Lucius grabbed a saw and winked.

Let's hawp she doesn't kill me and she buggers off instead.

Alhena now had a real menacing pout on her face. She withdrew her hand from Lucius's and arched half of her lip.

“I don't think it's a job that befits a [Lady], Lucius. But, if you want, I can give you another kind of help."

Lucius felt the claws of a fake love grip his stomach and submit him to the will of the woman. The Lady's words were coated with honey and voluptuousness, making it almost impossible not to bow to the offer that had been made to him.

Bile yer heid. 'Where is that pure dafty Kasper when I need him?

The captain was almost in a trance, unable to speak. He was so stiff he shivered like a leaf.

Lucius had to do everything alone this time too.

He thought about the only person in his life who deserved his love. Not a woman.

It was the child he had carried for a walk on his back and taught to read to. At night he had told him the stories of ancient Scotland, the Roman Empire and the legends of myths, the only things that were worth dreaming of.

Bugger.

Bugger.

Bugger.

An intense heat was released inside his chest, while a blind faith enveloped him like a warm blanket.

Alhena would have no power over him as long as he loved her son.

Bugger.

Something greater had begun to be born within him.

Alhena backed away as if she had been punched in the stomach.

Lucius woke up from astonishment and opened his mouth.

“Och, aye, of course we need something. We need two blacksmiths, fifty archers, twenty craftsmen skilled with wood and iron. If you find them, I'll give you a gift for the battle. I'll give you all the credit you want. I am interested in building this stuff. I'll give you so much credit that your father gives you all the land we conquer. How aboot it, eh, Alhè?"

Despite his recklessness, Lucius was as taut as a violin string.

He had had a moment of extraordinary heroism, but it had passed when Lady Alhena had eased the pressure. His only concern was that he had been brave enough to have convinced Alhena without antagonizing her.

Alhena closed her eyes for a moment and pulled herself together, sweeping away some of the shavings that had landed on her dress.

The icy expression on her face began to melt as a mischievous smile spread across the angelic face.

“One hundred archers. Five blacksmiths, including one of my father's most trusted. Thirty craftsmen, too. A couple of [Enchanters] for the Enchantments. All the resources you want. I can't wait to get the results, Lucius."

The last words hit the man like a slap in the face. Before he could even think that Alhena was exaggerating, she walked to the door and slammed it behind her without saying anything else.

Now, if I don't do a miracle to these doolallies, they'll skin me. Pure belter.

"Well, now we have a lot of people."

"Ka', shut yer trap, please."

…

Lucius had lost track of the time that had passed since Alhena had placed that enormous responsibility on him. He knew well that the woman had done it on purpose, in order for him to fail and be punished by Lord Karkaster or his [General], Nalith.

The days were all the same and he didn't know if two or ten had passed.

No, seriously, it had been a couple of weeks since he'd started working, maybe a little less. Ten days, maybe. And so ... how long until the battle? How much time did he still have left?

Thirteen days? Fourteen at best.

The scenario that awaited him was already clear in his head. A public execution for having wasted precious resources and several military units.

Even Nalith had threatened to cut his balls off if the hundred soldiers Alhena had placed at his disposal hadn't been really useful.

Lucius was thinking of all this, lying on the floor in the laboratory. He wanted to rest, but he just couldn't.

Lady Alhena had placed at his disposal several warehouses which, in less than half a day, had been transformed into laboratories and testing fields. Space was needed both to build and to test the diabolical contraptions that Lucius designed and helped build.

He didn't know how many hours he had slept, or if he had actually slept. He just knew that he didn't have time to sleep, and by lying on the floor he was wasting precious time.

But he had risked a real nervous breakdown when the characteristics of the Ahalis were communicated to him, through a document bearing the official seal of Lord Karkaster. With lots of secret reports. Practically Lucius was aware of information strictly confidential to Lord Karkaster.

The Ahalis were beasts,half monkeys and half rabbits, endowed with incredible speed, excellent mobility, and superhuman strength.

It would have been practically impossible to hit them with simple darts.

That's why there were so few archers in Brig. Those damn beasts had too hard a skin. To penetrate it, archers needed to be at least at level twenty and to be standing about thirty meters from their target.

When Lucius had heard the description of the enemies, an incredible despair had overcome him.

His crossbows had to be everything he had promised Alhena and more if he wanted to keep his head firmly on his neck.

But all the people around him now made him deeply uncomfortable.

To have the opportunity to work in peace, without everyone questioning his every decision and design, Lucius had decided to keep the laboratory off-limits and to prevent anyone collaborating with him from seeing their families until the day of the battle.

His work plan had also been approved by Alhena, who had sent guards to support him, so that no one would sneak to see their family or girlfriend.

Then, as the undertaking had proved more difficult than expected, the Scot had decided to work on different designs. He was developing plant-based traps, other siege engines, and even fortifications, which would make the job easier for his weapons.

Lucius had never worked so hard in his entire life. And it was Alhena's fault.

He was terrified of failure - even more, he was certain that he would fail miserably. So he had initially tried to do everything himself with Kasper and a blacksmith, without informing too many people.

Instead, now, counting the assistants of artisans and blacksmiths, there were more than one hundred workers on the project. Everyone continued to praise him, saying he was a genius. Those were only empty words.

Those artisans and blacksmiths were supposed to produce things necessary for the army. Lucius, somehow, should have done at least as good as Nalith's men. The main problem was that Brig's archers were all low-level. Lucius was distracted from his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching. The guards around him didn't let anyone pass without his permission, but he didn't trust them enough.

It was another reason why he couldn't sleep. He had to make sure no small noble or military commander invaded his workshop by taking advantage of his rest hours.

"Lucius?"

It was a familiar, feminine voice.

At first he did not recognize it, because exhaustion made him dizzy. But the many levels he had gained in those days allowed him to muffle that sleepy feeling and keep him awake.

"Verena?" Lucius asked, rising slowly, trying not to stagger.

One of the guards, armed with his crowd disperser prototypes, approached to support him.

"Thanks, Meler."

The guard nodded with a very serious expression and returned to his seat, next to the two large metal doors - another courtesy of his craftsmen - that led to the workshops.

"Lucius, you look horrible," said Verena.

“Thanks, Ver. I thought I was Miss Universe, och."

“You've been missing for a week. What happened to you?"

Lucius raised an eyebrow.

“'A week? What day is it? Ah mean, what day is it since we aaaaaaa..." Lucius's yamn seemed to go on forever, "arrived?"

"Thirteenth."

When you work as a black slave, time never goes by.

Lucius let out another yawn and looked at his guards.

"How long did I sleep?"

"An hour, boss," Meler said.

"Have they tested the Da Vinci yet?" Lucius held back another yawn and pulled a stamina potion out of his duffer bag. Few people were able to produce them, but he always had a supply offered by Alhena. It seemed that the Lady took a sadistic pleasure in offering him the best resources. He could imagine her satisfied face seeing his head on the pike.

“No, boss, they're still trying to refine the levers to operate it. And they are reinforcing them to prevent them from breaking when an Enchantment will move them."

Lucius pinched the top of his nose with two fingers.

“May God help me. Mel, if yon eejits do bullshit like yesterday, I'll tie them this fucking shite crossbow."

"They know that, too, boss," said Meler, with a contrite expression.

Lucius hardly believed that the soldiers looked at him with respect and awe. He had no idea what Alhena had done to create such a situation.

"Lucius! I came all the way here to bring you someone who can help you out! The least you could do is turn around to look me in the face."

Lucius turned and held back a series of blasphemies just because she was one of those neurotic people.

“Thanks, Ver. Tell me, what did you bring me?"

The woman had evidently learned of his problem with Alhena and that Lucius would soon be a trophy in Lord Karkaster's dining room.

“Mark and Frederic. Engineer from MIT and Mathematician from Stanford University.”

Lucius looked at the two boys, both about a meter and sixty tall, but with an expression on his face that not even Shaquille O'Neal looking at a Snow White dwarf would have.

This time, the curse came slowly and unvoiced from his lips.

“Hi, Lucius. Verena told me that you need professionals to carry out your project. May I know what qualifications you have, exactly?" said the guy whose name was Mark.

Lucius looked at Meler and at the small crossbows the guards had. They fired soft buckshot, but those could still break bones or make people throw up.

The crossbow was smaller than a hand and made with the scraps of their work. Despite this, Lucius estimated that it was already more powerful than a normal Earth crossbow.

Fuck, he had forgotten to put the easels under construction! He was about to cry.

Mark must have interpreted Lucius's silence as shame, because he was about to say something.

“Mark, you know that a degree is not the only thing that matters”, Frederick interrupted him in such a condescending tone that Lucius felt his hands itch, “I don't think it's appropriate to blame Lucius for his shortcomings. He was put in a difficult position."

The eejits all behave the same.

That Mark and that Frederick had the same fucking face as those who had treated Lucius like an idiot all his life. Those who have a strange title in stuff that nobody gives two shits about and suffer from the God complex.

Perhaps he was judging them too quickly, but he had no time for their shite.

Lucius saw the guards frown and begin to get nervous. He did not understand exactly why, perhaps they did not like that Alhena's plan was made public.

“Lucius, don't worry. If you're in trouble, Frederick and I can handle this for you. I wrote my dissertation in ballistics of... "

“Listen, little sod, I have the qualification of bile yer heid and bugger off. Ver, bring these two brain-damaged stoters awa', before I ask the guards to shoot."

To emphasize the seriousness of his words, all the guards took out the ammo they had used to sedate the artisans who had tried to go home secretly.

Lucius was no longer sure what he saw due to his skills and what due to hallucinations for his lack of sleep. The last thing he could think about was pricks like those two.

“Lucius, you need help. Don't be offended. Mark and Frederick are not the nicest people in the world, but they are both very competent. I selected them myself from among all those interested in filling this position."

It was then that Lucius, for the first time in a while, felt betrayed.

Verena hadn't believed in him enough to think he was going to make it - and she didn't blame her too much, since he didn't believe in himself either. No, not only that. She also thought that finding people to do the job for him was a good idea.

She hadn't even thought that it would be more correct if Lucius was the one to select his aides. She had taken two idiots off the street, two idiots who had never got their hands dirty in their life.

“Please, Lucius, I care about you. I don't want Lord Karkaster to punish you for a small mistake. I'm sure you have great potential, but you need time to show it off. Frederick and Mark have studied for years the sciences that you are trying to apply without real expertise."

There was something so wrong in her words that Lucius simply kept silent.

It was not the first time someone looked at him that way, with pity, and it would not be the last. And yet, he would never expect that from Verena. It hurt like a blow to the stomach.

Verena's company had always been pleasant for him, even though she was obsessed with excellence and was very far from his habits. Still, there had been a chemistry difficult to explain, a precarious balance that had kept them close.

Unfortunately, Lucius realised only at that moment that this balance had never existed for Verena. The woman considered him a pet, a project to be completed. Just like any other job.

When she had encouraged him the first few times, Lucius had thought it was a very sweet thing. Now, however, he saw the truth.

There was no sweetness in Verena's eyes, but a poisonous pity. No red roses and blue violets, but putrid rot that the woman wanted to clean off him.

She was simply annoyed by its inadequacy. Lucius made her feel uncomfortable. Just like if she had seen a painting slightly bent and wanted to put it right.

The Scot closed his eyes, feeling something so foreign to him, like he was burning inside.

"Mel, get me something to eat, please."

Lucius had no time to waste.

Meler motioned for a guard to call back one of the attendants in charge of getting food from the market. Lucius had discovered, after days of eating without thinking about it, that their budget also covered all the food they needed.

“Lucius, come on, don't be a brat. Frederick and I are here because we are competent. You are here because you got the dirty end of the stick. We can save you trouble with Lord Karkaster. Do you think it is easy to get a degree from MIT? "

"I said bugger off, little sod."

“Verena, this boor is not the crude but intelligent person you described to us. He just seems like a boor to me," said Frederick.

Lucius noticed an effeminate note in his voice and perhaps also a small lisp.

"Och, listen, you fagot, take your little friend and go get screwed, both of ye."

The [Strategist] turned and started to leave.

"Lucius! If you never accept help from those who are better than you, you will always remain a loser!" Verena cried in a voice broken with hysteria at the humiliation she had suffered.

Some words are able to awaken very strong feelings. saying them once is enough to open gashes difficult to close.

Lucius had never cared about the words that had been addressed to him all his life and he wouldn't have cared this time, too. He wouldn't have cared, if Verena hadn't been there to tell them.

"The fuck did ye say?"

His words were a growl.

“That if you don't start working hard and getting help from those who know more than you, you'll always be a loser. You told me that on Earth you had nothing at all. What do you think will be left here after Lord Karkaster has you whipped to death? I don't meddle with people who want to throw their lives away."

Meler got closer to Lucius and put his hand on the hilt of the sword at his side. He motioned him to stay calm and do nothing reckless.

Although, after what Verena had told him, the temptation to punish her in some way was strong. She had seen him as a loser from the start.

Damn, Lucius had been so stupid and good. Even Alastair, his son, had told him that he was too good.

“Ver, who the fuck asked you to come to me? Who the fuck do you think you are? Stop buggering me and go awa' right noo!"

It was time to be less good.

“And who do you think you are to order me to leave? In two weeks I have acquired double the levels of any Earthling here in Brig. Lord Karkaster himself receives me in audience! And you think you can refuse my request!"

The woman's dark eyes had filled with magic and her hand had slipped towards the sword hilt. It seemed that she had no intention of leaving.

"Ver, I don't give a shit that you're like almost at 60. Here I'm doing my job and you don't have to bugger me. If you don't bugger off, I'll shoot you, and don't cry about it later, entiendes?" Lucius answered, furious.

"Boss," said Meler, "just say the word and we cut them to mince. Between us Vanedenis those words could start a civil war."

Lucius thought that Meler could not wait to get rid of the troubles, especially if they were about to bring Alhena's plan to a halt.

“Lucius, I have two classes at 20 and you think a couple of your guards scare me?! I wield the power of magic and steel! I'm destined to get a combined class as soon as— "

"What?"

The Scot was very confused by the woman's words and stopped listening.

Two classes at 20?

What did that mean?

Lucius had two classes, too, and one of them had passed level 30.

What the fuck was Verena saying?

Had he heard wrong? But 20 didn't sound like any other number. Thirty, forty, fifty, sixty - no, different sounds.

Was she mocking him?

Maybe his classes, which weren't combat-oriented, were easier to level up?

It was then that the woman took a step forwards and Meler drew two blades, amidst hers, Mark's and Frederick's screams.

"Fire," were the guard's words.

He had received a very specific order: to keep Lucius safe from any threat. Lord Karkaster's order.

And Meler was no ordinary guard. He was a [Knight], one of the most trusted soldiers of the Marigold family. He was in charge of escorting the young Helitha and training Glieser, Lord Karkaster's only male heir.

If he received an order, that order had to be carried out to the letter.

A flurry of soft buckshot hit the three unfortunates so hard that their bodies moved disjointedly in mid-air.

[Damage Evaluation]

Lucius saw a mist of various colors appear in different parts of the body of the three. It was invisible to everyone else and was able to tell him what damage had been inflicted on enemies. It had been very useful during the weapon testing phase with the dummies - yes, it also worked with the dummies he had built.

Judging by the colour, he could tell the extent of the damage, from broken bones to internal bleeding.

Here, Mark had several broken bones, probably also a fractured spleen. A late shot hit Verena in the cheekbone. Blue mist, damage to an organ.

Verena was in danger of losing an eye for that bullshit.

Lucius was about to block the attack when Meler took him by force while the other guards yelled at those outside the building to come inside. He found himself transported against his will to the innermost part of the laboratory.

"I have to follow orders," Meler said, placing himself between Lucius and the door like an impassable statue.

…

Alhena looked at the vegetables placed in the center of the dining table in front of her with a bored expression, while her mother glared at her. Lady Melith was strict on the rules of etiquette. Nobody started eating before the arrival of the head of the family.

The dining room doors swung open and Lord Karkaster's quick footsteps were heards, followed by those of his trusted butler, Xefer.

“Father,” Selenith stood quickly, like a soldier.

“Sister, you couldn't be more awkward,” Alhena said, standing up calmly and relaxedly. "Father, good evening."

"My Lord," Melith bowed her head, glaring at her daughters.

Lord Karkaster had an obviously irritated frown. The Lord wore his heart on his sleeve and did not hide his sorrow from his family.

"Let's sit down," he said with some stiffness.

As soon as all four were seated, a waiter came to fill everyone's cups and the maids began serving all the dishes for dinner.

Most of the dishes consisted in vegetables, of which Brig abounded. In fact, vegetables formed the basis of every dish, from those of the poorest of the peasants to those of his Lord.

"Alhena," Lord Karkaster said, as Xefer glanced at him with a worried look.

"Yes, father?", she said, smiling.

"Why do people say I want to skin one of the Earthlings alive?"

Just the fact that the girl was pretending to be stupid was making the Lord mad. There was only one person in all of Brig who could use his name regardless of the consequences.

“I don't know what you are talking about, father,” Alhena said. Then she brought a mouthful of mashed vegetables to her mouth. “Xefer, please bring my compliments to Suasser. He really bested himself tonight,” she added with a small sigh. She wiped the corner of her mouth with a finely embroidered napkin and smiled at the Lord again.

"Alhena, not only have you requisitioned some of Brig's finest craftsmen and blacksmiths in my name, but now you are also spreading false rumors?"

Lord Karkaster began to turn red.

"My Lord, please calm down," Melith put a hand over his and warned him too with a glance. “Alhena, please, before you give your father a stroke. What did you do this time?"

"Yet another service to this city," was the only reply from the auburn-haired woman.

Lord Karkaster banged his fist on the table. Heavily. He had enough levels to be naturally more powerful than any Vanedeni. The solid wood table thundered, but it dispersed the blow as if nothing had happened. The kinds of wood in Brig were anything but ordinary.

"Alhena of the Marigolds, when I ask you to explain yourself, you explain yourself!"

Alhena smiled like a fox in front of her prey.

“Allright, father. There is no need to be so rude. It does not suit the Lord of Brig."

Alhena knew she should have been much more afraid that her mother would make her stay hunched over a latrine for three days and three nights. She was a [Poison Lady], far more dangerous than the Lord of Brig when faced with a table full of easily poisonable food.

“I needed to spice up my investment in craftsmen, blacksmiths and resources. It's amazing how much an Earthling can spend when he has direct access to your funds without knowing it."

Lord Karkaster gritted his teeth but remained silent. It was a secret that many knew, her daughter was managing her family's finances. Alhena might be unbearable, but she was also more cunning and dangerous than a wolf disguised as a sheep.

“You could influence the outcome of the conflict with your stupid games,” Selenith growled.

Alhena's dark eyebrows were always furrowed when the two sister were in the same room. Unlike her younger sister, Selenith had not received any gifts of beauty. It almost seemed as if they had picked her up on the street for how little she looked like a Lady.

“Dear sister, if I were you I would look for something else to fill my mouth with. Nonsense like that is not for you. Oh dear, not even all that meat really suits you,” Alhena added, glancing over her sister's plate,“with that oily skin you have and a chin so full of hair, just like a man's, I'd eat more vegetables if I were you. Who knows, maybe one day they might almost turn you into a woman."

Selenith brought the huge turkey leg she was holding in front of her chin to cover it.

"My class requires that I eat—"

“Nobody asked you, dear sister. Our father is questioning me about Brig's best interests. Ah, and for your knowledge, it's not like I could influence the outcome of the conflict. I will influence it for sure. Not only that, I believe that my contribution will leave you all wondering when this family will decide to take a step back and leave me the reins of financial management."

Alhena was always very subtle with everybody, except her family. Her philosophy was that weaknesses could not be shown among nobles, not even among relatives. Especially with relatives.

“Alhena, you are betting a lot on this Lucius. It's not like you to play with something unknown,” commented Lady Melith as she sipped a glass of red wine from their private vineyard.

Brig was also famous for its wines, among other things.

The worst vinegar from a farmer in Brig was said to be more prized than the best wine from the rest of the continent.

“Mother, I already have my men's reports. Lucius did more for Brig than the entire past generation. I had invested a few coins in his initial project but, after understanding what he is really capable of, I decided to support him by any means. I would also have assigned him more aides, had I not felt that they would only get in the way of his work."

Alhena didn't need to ask anyone's permission to implement new ideas. Many thought that Lord Karkaster was a genius as a politician and merchant, but the truth was that his successes had gone hand in hand with the growth of his second child.

"Prudence has never been your strong suit, Alhena."

"Father, prudence wasn't Lakaner's first thought when he jumped into the water and swam to the sirens' capital."

Mentioning their ancestor caused the Lord to grit his teeth. Sometimes he couldn't tell if his daughter had the makings of heroes or just their madness.

"So Lucius, the Earthling, thinks I'm ready to skin him, if he doesn't create something great for you?"

Alhena nodded with a smile so radiant it would have made even a funeral joyful.

Lord Karkaster snorted and put his hands on his face, counting his wrinkles. He wondered how many of them had appeared thanks to Alhena.

"Do all the Earthlings and our citizens now think that I am capable of killing a person because he did not live up to your expectations?" Lord Karkaster's words came from behind his hands.

"Exactly, father."

Melith put a hand on her husband's shoulder, caressing him gently. She would make an infusion for him.

Talking to Alhena was like reading the contracts the Merchants' Guild prepared for Lord Karkaster. The Lord felt his arms turning to jelly and a bestial anxiety crushing him. It was as if he was always on the verge of losing all his money and property.

Right now, the [Botanist Lord] wanted nothing more than to go to his private garden and take care of his plants.

“Alhena, please tell me what else you did,” Lord Karkaster was so dejected that he decided to put aside both anger and strategy.

“Nothing special, father. Lucius believes that you are at his heels. Beisdes, I believe he was given some wrong information about the Ahalis. Unfortunately, those files bore your seal, father. Therefore, now Lucius believes that the Ahalis are faster and more powerful than they really are. About twice as fast and with tremendous lateral mobility that allows them to dodge bow darts. He may have deduced that this is why we don't have large units of archers."

The Lord did not know what to say anymore.

The poor man slid into his chair and continued to moan as Xefer stealthily handed him a cup of wine with a calming potion.

After drinking some of the tonic, he felt able to speak to his daughter again, who was fiddling with the vegetables on her plate.

“Brig doesn't have great archers because we have a lot of druids and other classes that specialize in close combat. Our family was famous for arrows and weapons produced in the past by the Amante family. Unfortunately, no official heirs remain."

Lord Karkaster explained.

"Lucius doesn't know it, father," smiled his daughter.

“That young man will be suffering like hell, because of you, Alhena. Some people decide to take their own lives when they are put under so much pressure,” Lady Melith said with a hard look.

“Every possibility is such until it is no more a possibility, mother. The results obtained so far are amazing, I have been told. I don't know how useful they will really be in the battle, but it seems that the craftsmen and military units helping the Earthling are more than excited. He has already gathered respect and awe among troops, artisans, blacksmiths and guards. They look up at him as if he were a hero, mother."

Alhena stopped fidgeting with food and looked up to stare her father straight in the eye.

“If he kills himself, it was a bad investment. Otherwise, he will come before me as a man worthy of being my spouse and one of our new heroes."

Lord Karkaster began to cough violently, due to a carrot that had gone sideways. Melith rolled her eyes.

“Lady Goldith has requested that our dynasties strengthen their mutual alliance through marriage, Alhena. I won't force you, but you know how bad it is to offend that woman."

A wave of disgust crossed the young woman's face, the first expression to plague it in that way since Lucius had angered her a week earlier.

“Offend, mother? No, I'm not going to offend Lady Goldith. My intentions, to be clear, are to take that prostitute and that eunuch of her cousin and put them both on a pike. Maybe at that point you will all remember what it means to be a Vanedeni."

Alhena got up and walked away from the table, leaving everyone immersed in silence.

…

Lucius had no idea how he had fallen asleep the night before, while refining the arrangement of the traps. He only remembered bringing a glass of water to his mouth and waking up twelve hours later, completely refreshed, inside Nalith's military command.

The woman looked away from the map of Brig and its environs and rested on him.

The Scots realized that he was on a kind of sofa, similar to a triclinium. He got up slowly and Nalith immediately barked at him: “In two hours expires the Harbingers' ultimatum expires. If you've already given orders to your men, come here. I'd like to hear your opinion."

Lucius froze.

What the fuck did she say?

Listen to his opinion?

Nalith was not a beautiful woman. She was the exact opposite of Alhena, all square and with a jaw that could make a man jealous. She was also taller than Lucius, and not just a little. In short: he was terrified of her.

"I'm coming, a moment," said Lucius, his voice still thick with sleep.

He took a deep breath and stretched. By now the die was cast. He had worked hard on weapons. He believed it would be impossible for them not to influence the fight in some ways.

The Ahalis were terrifying creatures, but Lucius believed that he made his weapons' firepower so great that it eliminated the problem.

Lucius looked at the fortifications that he had made the craftsmen build. He had done this because they had set up and built the traps so quickly that they had even had time to build a series of trenches.

Nalith had expressed skepticism towards what were heaps of wooden blocks and sacks of sand and dirt.

"What ye wanna ken?"

The look of the [General] foreshadowed that the man would be beaten again before the end of his stay in Brig.

“Explain to me your strategy again. You only have two hundred men and you have monopolized the battlefield."

Brig's strong point was a very heavy infantry, but also not very orderly. [Druids] were not [Soldiers]. Lakaner's descendants had never been in the military. They had supplied the entire continent with food, alchemical supplies, and materials, but they were not warriors.

But they were still Vanedenis. In fact, Lord Karkaster's generation had dedicated itself to transforming the [Druids] into a far more lethal weapon than they ever were, with the only exception of Lakaner's [Gardeners].

“We dug some trenches to get our archers to move quickly. In some tactical points the scorpios will be assembled. The trenches are full of traps. When the Ahalis will be about to reach the first attack points, the others behind will cover the retreat. There are five hundred meters full of holes, traps and two hundred [Crossbowmen] of various levels and with numerous class variations. If my plans go as planned, they'll take out about four hundred enemies before they have to run for the walls. Then, the [Druids] will stop the enemy advance just behind the trenches."

Nalith kept nodding for the whole explanation.

"Well, I'll go then."

Lucius turned his back.

"Where?" thundered Nalith. "I need those in a strategic role to stay here in the command center in case other decisions need to be made."

"Listen, Na', do not bugger me, you too. I have a lot of skills that are useful to activate traps, and that sorta stuff. Besides, we trained together, me and the lads, so I have to go to give support. Then, och, Alhena is full of warrior levels."

…

Lucius watched the huge armored bodies of the Ahalis in the distance from a piece of enchanted glass.

"Mel, remind me why the fuck I got down here," said the Scot.

Meler didn't flinch as he checked that his armor was securely fastened. A guard was needed to prevent Lucius from being assassinated. The female Ahalis, specializing in stealth and assassinations, had always been a huge problem for Brig.

"Because you have skills that can change the outcome of the battle, if you are with the craftsmen and archers."

Lucius took another look at the handful of craftsmen mixed with the soldiers. The soldiers of other people would have shat their pants for fear. Luckily those were Vanedenis.

"Bugger, Mel, if they kill me I will come to haunt yer house, be careful."

Meler held his stoic frown and nodded.

Lucius was in the first trench, making sure everything was in the right place. He and his aides had mounted ten scorpios on the first line alone. Most of the craftsmen had acquired the classes like [Engineer] and [Carpenter]. Some had interesting variations like [Siege Engineer], and one of his assistants had earned the class of [Machinist]. While the former possessed skills that made machine building more precise and less prone to errors, the latter possessed skills that made the machine run smoothly.

The three weeks with Lucius had generated so many classes that organizing them in the most coherent way had taken several hours. He had to request a complete list of each skill in order to best coordinate his subordinates.

The Scot looked at a list on parchment with the names of the people around him. They could do it. They had a large escort in order to avoid the enemies with stealth skills to infiltrate their lines and kill them one by one.

Counterintelligence. Bugger, thought Lucius looking at some [Druids], dressed in darker than usual clothes and accompanied by owls, crows and other creatures of the night.

If his plans worked, they wouldn't need their escort. In fact, the [Protective Strategist] had a number of skills that could affect not only the battlefield, but also the efficiency of the traps he had created.

Lucius looked at the medallion he had made and hoped that his and the others' worked. His own would have been enough for him, since he knew best of all the mechanisms to arm their traps.

"Arthur, go with the thermal sights," said Lucius.

The man had come after Verena to ask if he could work with him. Unlike the woman - of whom he had neither heard nor wanted any news - he had been perfectly humble and reasonable. Now Lucius used him as an assistant, despite him having a shitty name.

Arthur nodded to all those in charge of the machines and to the archers, who put up Lucius's greatest invention.

Since, starting from [Freemason], he had become [Inventor], Lucius had received many skills. The most powerful was undoubtedly the one capable of making him view and build 3D models in mid-air as if they were real. He felt like some kind of Nikola Tesla thanks to it.

[Vision of the Inventor]

But the most brilliant thing had been two skills he had received when the class had reached level 20.

[Associative Memory]

[Photographic Memory]

The first allowed Lucius to easily create links in his head between apparently distant things. The second was not literally a photographic memory, like in films, but it allowed him to remember everything. Sometimes they were vague memories and Lucius had been forced to experiment to reconstruct what he wanted, but that didn't mean it was useless.

While still on Earth, the [Inventor] had watched a huge amount of documentaries about the strangest things. He loved to try small science experiments with his son and build the most extravagant things.

His curiosity had prompted him to understand more about skills in general. For example, he had Meler explain the principle behind skills like [Stealth].

Except for very high levels, it was a play of light and shadow, combined with a great reduction in one's aura and presence.

In fact, the higher the caster's level, the less information was available. Information on assassins above level 50 was very scarce. According to Meler, there was some sort of alignment between them and the world around them that made it nearly impossible to detect their presence.

Lucius believed it would be fantastic to be able to locate a super-high level assassin to neutralize him with one of his brand new crossbows. But, since he had other concerns now, it was good to start from the bottom.

The sights on the crossbows and scorpions were two pieces of very thin glass and, at their side, different blue and red [Lights], tiny but powerful. Very powerful.

On the side of the wielder they were shielded by reflective black stone, to avoid being blinded.

If Lucius's theory was correct and there were assassins able to hide even with the sun high in the sky, his thermal sights would have to reveal either their body or the lack of heat in a certain area.

Wheter very high level assassins could really hide their presence even at the thermal level ...

Well, he had brought Meler with him for a reason.

"The battle will start in minutes, boss."

The [Knight's] stern voice reached Lucius's ears.

The Scot first turned to say a prayer towards the sky, then thought better of it and shifted his gaze to the two huge machines that were stationed on the walls. Here, those were better.

…

Lucius's ears whistled after the sudden attack.

He didn't know how to feel, it was all clouded up in his mind. He had no wounds. However, he was covered in mud and dust from being in the trenches.

He still couldn't believe the outcome of the battle.

His crossbows and scorpios had worked. And not only that. His weapons allowed an instant victory, without even going to the battlefield.

As the first Ahali charge approached, it was clear to Lucius that the information provided by Lord Karkaster was exaggerated.

When he had seen the Ahalis end up in pieces and not being able to dodge half a dart, he had changed his mind. Lord Karkaster's information was completely wrong.

He had understood in that moment that behind every step he had taken there must be Alhena's hand.

He wasn't happy at all to think that he'd lost sleep for nearly a month, had an ulcer and shortened his life by at least a decade.

His tripod crossbows had made rain death as the seconds ticked away. They had an effective range of one kilometer, even two with the right skills.

The traps had impaled all the female Ahalis who had charged towards the trenches. The enemies had also tried to use numbers to overcome the obstacle, but they had died by the thousands.

Each crossbow shot was able to pass through an Ahali more than a hundred meters away and plunge into the one behind.

It had been a massacre.

Lucius hadn't even needed to pull out [Leonardo's Crossbows]. The same design, miniaturised into ordinary crossbows and scorpions, had killed all the beasts that had tried to attack the Vanedenis.

But the first line of Ahalis, undeterred, had reached the trench. According to his calculations, about a fifth of the total assailants had died at that time.

He had personally activated the traps with [Remote Triggering] between the trenches, triggering mechanisms with darts and fine, flammable dust, which he had used to create explosions.

It would have been nice to have gunpowder to make some homemade bombs, but the results had already been more than satisfactory.

All this had led to the attack they had just suffered.

The Ahalis were in despair and had attacked the trenches with everything they had. Lucius was immediately forcibly removed by Meler and taken to the command center alongside Nalith and several guards, including Selenith.

His engineers had slaughtered all the remaining attack force thanks to Lord Karkaster, who had descended into the tunnels himself. The man had blocked any attempt at sabotage and kept his men safe. He and a few other members of the elite had been able to maintain the status quo and bring the battle to an end in no time.

Any Ahali who tried to defect was easily shot down with crossbow and scorpio shots.

The rest had been chased by the cavalry and Lord Karkaster, who had taken several of Lucius's [Crossbowmen] with him and finished the job, had killed the entire Ahali military command.

Although the Vanedenis had already won, one [Assassin] had managed to overcome all the traps and infiltrate the general command.

To be able to do such a thing he had to have a very high level. At least on par with Lord Karkaster.

Bile their heid.

Selenith had taken a form that would terrify him in his next nightmares. The noble girl had been hit and was bleeding profusely from two deep wounds, one in the side and one in the abdomen.

But she had managed to neutralize the [Assassin] by cutting him in half, from the torso to the groin.

Oddly, it was an Ahali man who had infiltrated the command, not a woman. Given their build, Ahali men weren't well suited to stealth jobs, but this was the very famous exception to the rule.

Lucius's face was splattered with blood and his ears were ringing as if he'd put a boiling teapot inside his head.

All the guards had been killed or were on the ground about to bleed out.

It had all happened so quickly that Lucius hadn't been able to do anything.

He could have aimed a shot with one of the crossbows he carried with him, but he had neither had a chance nor the need to. Lady Selenith had ended her assailant's life in seconds.

But Lucius's slowness had cost Selenith two deep wounds and Meler's death. The [Knight] was lying in front of him, his throat open and no more blood in his body. He had launched himself in front of Lucius to save him, loyal to duty until the end.

During the three weeks in which Lucius had worked with the [Knight], the two had not interacted much. He had been busy working and Meler protecting him.

Looking at the corpse, he felt a sensation of incredible weariness assail him. Even though the night before he had rested for the first time since starting his work, he still felt the urge to throw himself on a bed and cry for a while.

His mind was clouded in the midst of a haze.

He could no longer distinguish faces, scenes, images.

He only heard Nalith's steady voice shouting orders to people outside her tent. She said to get out of there, to reach the city. He could hear it loud and clear, the voice of the [General], amplified by very advanced skills, levels and aura.

Yet, Lucius remained motionless.

During the weeks of preparation, he had never thought about what the weapons he was building really were. They were defence weapons. They would kill the enemy. And all the Vanedenis people would come out of the battlefield unscathed. It would have been a long-distance battle.

He hadn't realised that he could have seen death in front of him, smell the stagnant stench of blood filling the air.

It was like standing in the middle of a cloud that smelled of iron, heat and guts.

Lucius leaned forward and threw up his breakfast. Only Nalith's timely catch prevented him from falling on his face in his own newly escaped fluids.

The woman helped him to kneel, while he continued to empty his stomach on the ground.

After a few minutes, only air and moans escaped his throat.

Lucius's face was purple, red and streaked with tears.

Lord Karkaster, who entered the tent shortly after, found him in these miserable conditions.

But the Lord obviously had no interest in meeting him, he just wanted to make sure his daughter was fine.

Lady Selenith was prone on the ground, suffering but still conscious. With the last shred of strength she had left, she pointed to Lucius. Then she passed out.

Lord Karkaster gave orders to take his daughter to the infirmary and to cure her by any means possible. Only later did he approach the man who had made possible their victory over the Ahalis. He certainly said something, which Lucius did not understand. The ringing in his ears was still too loud.

The strategist and inventor, savior of the city of Brig, fainted.

…

Alhena watched Lucius, completely unconscious, as he was carried away from the tent by some guards. It would have been essential for him too to be under the close observation of a [Healer].

Lord Karkaster approached her gravely.

"Your sister was injured and poisoned."

“If there's one thing we don't fear in Brig, father, it's poisons. Our mother will take care of her. Her wounds have already been treated. Her [Druid] constitution is tough enough to ensure her survival."

The Lord nodded. Alhena's words were true, even if they did not completely dispel his concern. Sighing, he admitted to himself that things could have been much worse.

"Lucius has won the battle of Brig, Alhena."

“Yes, father. Lucius has won the battle of Brig,” she replied with a smile.