With armor in hand he moved through the air with magic that Sepul always warned him again using.

Harlan flipped his gravity to build up speed, the danger with moving parallel to the ground like this was that if something happened it was very easy to get disoriented, especially for Harlan.

Once he was past the plains where the forest was cleared out around Luth he cast hover to maintain some of the speed and righted himself, dodging through the trees with the lithe twists and bends of his inhumanly flexible body.

So long as he wasn’t pulling fast turns, Harlan could move through the air like a hawk, but if asked to make a hard left or right, he was likely to turn green.

He had looked at the idea of how he would make himself less nauseous, but that research had not borne any fruit yet.

He arrived back at his home just moments before Sepul came to drop off the subject, nearly colliding with the archmage who batted him away like a noisy fly.

“Harlan, you should be more careful.”

He groaned as the air was trying to get back in his lungs and his armor was digging itself out of his chest.

Despite his appearance, mana flow caused the body to be beyond human, and Sepul had a very long time to let his mana flow.

After a minute he finally got out of the small crater left by his impact as if nothing had happened.

“Please, come in for some tea, I’d love to show you my home.”

“I’ve things that need doing, another time.”

“Please, I insist.”

Sepul got the message and went to the bunker with him.

Isha was in the room setting out tea and cookies when Harlan opened the stonesteel box and began to explain what had happened.

“So, is this something that people know about?”

“You are a bit too open with your help, what if she was a spy? What if she was captured and tortured for information?”

“I have faith in her. And, just in case, if she did die under odd circumstances. I’d devote my life to killing anyone involved.”

“Naivete it not your strong suit. But no, this isn’t something I’ve heard about. You said this ingot turned so much in just 2 months?”

Harlan noticed that he completely ignored the threat.

“Give or take a week or so, but yes. Could you tell if it is ore or if it is high quality steel?”

“Give me a few moments.”

Sepul was in his more human-like form, faces showing a cavalcade of raised eyebrows and wide eyes twisting his face.

“I must bring this to my friend as soon as possible. This is pure stonesteel ore, no refinement needed, just mixing with the proper mundane metals. Can you set up tests for the other metals? How did you find this?”

“I taught Lugh how to imbibe magic, and he told me it was just like what he learned from Kleon the lich when he shifted his equipment from one magical metal to another. So I set a gem inside of that ingot and set it to randomly output imbibing magic. I actually entirely forgot about it until I was unpacking my things from the academy today.”

“They say a lich does not teach, but you can learn a great deal from them. You haven’t told anyone about this?”

“Not a soul, I’ve not even had the chance to tell Balor yet.”

“Keep it that way. If this gets out, every house that earns their name through the mining of magical ore will want your head. Don’t go buying massive amounts of iron and gems either. People will take notice if you start making everything out of magical metals you’ve never purchased.”

“I admit, I did think about doing that.”

“Perhaps if you keep making wonders like this, we can start culling some of the nobles who’ve thus far been too important to lose, but too troublesome to keep.”

“Be careful, you wouldn’t want to clip an artery while removing a tumor.”

Xol was right next to Harlan, sipping tea that went into his skeletal mouth and yet seemed to go nowhere.

The pair froze, unsure why he could be there.

“Darkness and love demand a watchful eye. I’ve come to seek questions and ask answers. Worry not of my presence, I’ve little use for the petty resources of man.”

He only knew how to make magical metals because his wife told him, and she only knew because Aarde told her.

Sepul decided now was as good a time as any to leave.

“I will take the box and ingot inside to Yggdra immediately, I will call you with his reply on how this should be handled.”

He teleported to the surface first and then gated to his home before going to the palace.

Xol drank the tea and ate a few cookies as if nothing was wrong.

Harlan wasn’t afraid of him, Marigold seemed nice, and if she vouched for him, he would trust her.

“Is this just a regular check up?”

“Your works spark changes, she asks that I give an idea to ensure that spark turns to a roaring fire.”

“Any idea?”

“Whether you warm homes or burn cities, that is not my judgment to make, ask your idea of me.”

“How could I make long range travel faster?”

“Gate shall come to you in time, until then, watch this world, etch its beauty into your heart before it turns to a blur.”

“I mean for other people, how could I make it faster for normal people to move from place to place.”

“What need would you have for such a thing?”

“We have horses and carriages and so on and so forth, but what about bandits? Magical creatures? Normal people end up victims of these too often, and despite having the freedom to move wherever we want in theory, almost everyone lives and dies in the same towns and villages as their ancestors did.”

“Connection from settlement to settlement. This is what is sought for the good of man?”

“Yes.”

“Do you desire the people to be free in this use? Answer honest, for I shall not take back my words, do you believe they deserve this freedom? Unbound and unchained to do with as they please?”

Harlan opened his mouth to say of course he wanted them to be free, yet the words would not loose themselves from his throat.

“I want a system that I can control. Something that can be available to both common people and nobles.”

“Then vision is in order. I’ve been asked to be as she, so an example to be torn apart to understand shall be my gift.”

Out of his robes he pulled out a small toy and a looping rail which it attached to, then with a hardlight string around his finger he pulled the toy.

“Make not a shallow copy of what you learn, be the master of your works.”

As if he was never there, he vanished into thin air.

Harlan was just wondering if he kept that on him at all times, or if she told him what he was most likely to ask for.

He played with the toy and looked it over until he heard a banging from the corner, he had forgotten about subject 14 who now panicked from inside of his chest.

Harlan got Balor and both of them put on fully white robes that covered their entire bodies along with masks that disguised their voices.

Technically the masks were restricted items, but Harlan neither knew that nor did he care.

Once the box was open in a room bare of anything but a bed, a chair, and a desk, the man stumbled and tripped as he tried to orient himself.

“See, this man has had this body for over a week already but he can’t even stand straight, he is like a toddler who's just learned how to walk.”

“I must admit, it does remind me of my work. What about his senses?”

Harlan snapped his fingers on both sides of the man’s head and he reacted as if they were loud claps, a simple light spell was so bright to him that he had to look away.

The man didn’t have damaged hearing before, but the structure of his eyes and ears had changed and were unfamiliar to the man who was now readjusting to them.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“Just running a few tests. You are going to be living here in this room until you are used to your new body. Once you are used to it, I am going to find you a job, and relocate you into a village far from me, where I will never need to see you again.”

“Ye-yes, the deal, right, the deal.”

“Have you thought of a new name? What do you want to do for work?”

“I’ve thought about this, I’ve been given a chance at life, a new dawn. So-”

“Find a different name. How about Dagian? It also means dawn. Maybe even Dag?”

“Dagian is fine, but I’ve never heard it before.”

“It just came to me, don’t worry about the details. Work?”

“I’ve used my talents with numbers, moving money, to hurt people, I see that now. I’ve had a lot of time to think about where I went wrong, I should’ve learned that my stupid pride was the source of my greed, and that a life where I have a roof over my head and food in my stomach is good enough for me.”

“You aren’t getting a job working with money, because I want you to live.”

Harlan placed his hand on the man’s shoulder.

“But if I hear that you’ve pulled the same trick as you did before, I will have you killed.”

“I’m serious, I want to do what I should’ve done in the first place. I am betting my life on it, I will not fall into my old ways.”

“I do not trust or believe you for an instant. Yet, your conviction is admirable, so I will allow it.

Dagian, new man, do not fail me. Now, we need to get you used to your new body. I will give you a series of exercises which you can do to this end. You will get 3 meals a day, and you are free to sleep as much as you need.”

“Thank you for this chance, I swear, I will be a better man than I was. I was raised-”

“I’m not here for your life story. One, do you plan to stay with the subject?”

“Yes, I believe my own research will benefit from this. Thank you for this opportunity, Two.”

It was on the spot, but Harlan couldn’t think of anything to call each other than numbers.

They showed no affection in their voices and movements as Harlan left Balor with the man.

Harlan stripped from his odd attire and called his mother.

“Hey mom.”

“Hello. Did you finish up with Blackstone? Redwall was a little worried about what might happen.”

“It was fine, Onyx came to pick her up. Should I head back to the mansion?”

“Oh, um, no. We thought it would be better if we just came to your home instead.”

“It’s because of Adina, isn’t it.”

“What? No, of course not.”

“Mom.”

He heard her sigh on the other end.

“Redwall doesn’t like her being around, he just doesn’t like Reinoians. Did you know he tried out being a soldier in his youth? Went right to the front lines, it’s how he met Breken in fact.”

“I imagine soldiers probably have a bit of a worse reaction to her than most people.

Should I send my carriages?”

“No need, Redwall is going to let us borrow his. I think this is actually a good thing, we don’t get to visit your home that often anyway.”

“Alright, see you soon then?”

“Of course, sweetie.”

Harlan didn’t know what else to do at the moment.

He could feel from her mind that Adina was sleeping.

Balor was with Dagian.

His family wouldn’t be there for a few hours most likely.

Dawn didn’t like him sitting around with just his own thoughts.

Harlan often cycled between hyperfocus and a lack thereof, it wasn’t always an issue, but between feeling at fault for the children on some level and being unhappy with Redwall, she knew which one would have a better outcome if focused on.

All he needed was a little push.

“You don’t need to worry about it so much you know. The orphanage in Yor was just a place, not like the children were headed for anything but these lives anyway.”

“I know, but they would’ve been forced out at 16 or 18 with skills to work better than what they have right now. I don’t regret that my actions stopped it from staying open, but it is somewhat my fault that they are on the streets now.”

“Bad things happen when good men do the right things sometimes. The other option was letting an evil man do good things only to further his evil actions.”

“Maybe I could find out where they all went, there couldn’t have been more than a few dozen of them there at any given time.”

“And do what?”

“I don’t know, I could make farmland outside of the walls, give them a pointless task that justifies giving them money and a place to stay. I did it for those 3 boys.”

“You’d be running an orphanage yourself, not in name, but in spirit. Do you really want to do that? Who is going to be willing to wrangle them? What about when they start causing trouble?”

“Why are you so against this?”

“I’m not, I just want you to think it through. You don’t want that place outside of your walls to get any bigger, but if you put 50 or 60 children there they need someone to watch out for them as it grows into something too big for you to really watch over. Do you have people who you trust to do and also have the free time to do it? Isn’t this exactly the problem that the kingdom has with getting people to run the orphanages in the first place?”

“Golems?”

“Sure they could defend them, but that isn’t what they need.”

“Advanced golems then? They could think to an extent, make some choices, give advice that I tell them.”

“That is a dangerous game to play. You still don’t know for sure that your new method of soulsmithing actually makes just an automaton.”

“It has been months since Ava got her armor, there is not a chance that it wouldn’t grow a proper mind if it could by now. The thing that broke the first soul I ever made, that shield, was my own personality mixing in with it. If that hasn’t happened yet, then I doubt it will happen now.”

“Flesh golems?”

“Gods no, making new people, even if they just looked like it, would make me look like a monster to everyone.”

“Sorry, I just thought since Balor and you are looking into putting him in a body, it might be a good first step to see the risks.”

“That… I might make one, but not publicly. I’ll think about the caretaker golems, but they won’t be skin and bone. I guess I should also run this idea past a few other people to make sure we don’t sound insane.”

Harlan first ran the idea past Redwall, then Blackstone.

The issues with the baron slipped into the category of shitty behavior that wasn’t as important as what he was doing at the moment.

Both of them were going to be honest at least, and both of them shared the same worries.

If they are based on him as he would like, then what happens when the children get hurt? What if they hurt each other? If it was Harlan, he could judge the situation and use force as needed, but if the caretakers are too much like him yet lacking in nuance, then things would get bad very quickly.

Outside of those worries, there wasn’t logically anything wrong with having smarter golems that could look after the children.

After some talking, they still didn’t exactly like the idea, but it was likely better than letting them wander around the county until they either died, found work, or turned to crime.

The army had started to be a bit more selective in their recruitment, so even that option wasn’t really open to most of the people from the orphanage.

Currently Harlan was drawing up the plans for the golems.

With these ones which had far more autonomy than most of what he made, they needed a far longer list of things that they shouldn’t do than things that they should do.

Design wise he thought about basing them on his armor, but that was going to be scary looking, and while it was good for his armor, it would be less so for something that watches over children.

He showed off some human looking designs to other people, but everyone agreed that making a person out of metal was bizarre and unsettling.

He actually liked the idea of a face that could shift to mimic human expressions, but everyone else saw it as a mask that could talk, setting off a primal fear of something being off with it.

Harlan shelved that for now, quite literally, he made a prototype and turned it into a surveillance device and display piece in his office.

He still had a little bit of time, the test with the flesh golem didn’t require him to watch it after he made it.

Harlan made a simple body out of stored deer flesh, making it look as if a lost race of beastkin sprung up in his home.

It had no heart, no lungs, no brain, it was a mess of simple nerves that would just interpret the signals the body sent and understand them as hot and cold, hard and soft, strong and weak.

For now Harlan set it in a room with a few tools, some books, and the supplies to make a birdhouse along with simple instructions on how it might walk, speak, and look around.

He was testing the possibility of a mode which the golem would freely learn by itself yet with a few restrictions such as not being allowed to harm people or intentionally damage the room.

If the creature could overcome these restrictions, then it was too dangerous to be allowed to live, if it could even be called living in the first place.

Harlan looked at his watch and realized his family was most likely going to be there in a matter of minutes and he hadn’t even started work on Redmond’s armor.

It would be at least a few days before Amber’s would be done, and he had no idea how quickly Blackstone’s sets were going to be finished and sent over.