Exploration- Chapter 41

After writing so much of Tad's crafting style over the past year, I feel like I haven't gotten to write Silas crafting in forever. Not really since he made his armor. There's been some little stuff, but no real process.

That's about to change.

Chapter 41- Finishing Up

Fara didn’t kneel in front of Tad and no one acted surprised by that. Tad certainly didn’t ask her to, not that he’d asked any of the others. Like me, Tad seemed uncomfortable with signs of submission like that, but had grown to accept the necessity. The relationship he had with Fara was clearly different and that alone told me to expect good things from this awakening.

She stepped forward on her own, stopping a pace away from him, posture loose but coiled, like a blade resting in a sheath. There was no ceremony in her movements, no attempt to make this look solemn. Her tail flicked once behind her, and her eyes never left Tad’s face. She was excited but there was more to it. There was a look of ownership, like Tad was hers, not like some jealous girlfriend but like a guard standing watch over something truly precious. They had history and while I only knew a little bit of it, they’d clearly been through a lot together. That breeds a familiarity that nothing else can. I thought about Samvek, Selena, Lana, Jiang, Cece, even Asta. There were similar bonds that I shared with each of them.

“You don’t need to test it with me,” Fara said. Her voice was steady, but there was heat under it. “I’ve trusted you longer than anyone else here.”

Tad swallowed, and for the first time since the awakenings began, he looked unsure. Not afraid. Just aware of the weight of what he was about to do. “That’s exactly why this matters,” he said. “You’re not just following me. You never were. I’d have been lost without you.”

Fara nodded once. “Of course you would. Your head is in the sky too much of the time, but that’s why you needed an attendant.”

The warehouse seemed to lean in again, that same charged stillness settling over the space. I felt something shift between them before any potion changed hands, a resonance already present, already aligned. This wasn’t prince and subject. This was survivor and protector, forged long before systems or courts had taken notice.

Tad lifted the potion and handed it to Fara who took it and drained it without hesitation.

The reaction was instant and violent. The ascendant energy didn’t flood her so much as ignite, tearing through her channels with predatory speed. Fara gasped, knees bending as her claws scraped against the stone, and the air around her warped with pressure. Tad was already there, one hand gripping her forearm, the other braced against her back, anchoring her before the surge could throw her apart.

Sprites exploded into view. Not drifting sparks this time, but swarms of color, red-gold, shadowed violet, flashes of sharp silver and ember-orange, circling Fara in tight, aggressive spirals. They didn’t hover politely or keep their distance. They dove, clung, recoiled, then surged again, drawn to something feral and incandescent in her soul.

I could see how they were pulled to Tad and while they were interested in Fara it was her connection to him that made them come in such numbers.

There was no oath this time, just a shifting that anyone with enough magical sensitivity should have been able to feel. There was a momentary fusing of the two and Fara’s power shot up as her soul seemed to expand. The power flowed back and forth with genuine give and take.

Fara screamed, but it didn’t seem like there was any pain. The rush of the changes in her must have been more than she expected.

Her aura detonated outward, a wild, burning thing that snapped back under Tad’s control just before it could lash out at the rest of us. Her scales glowed faintly, patterns shifting beneath them as her body and soul reconfigured in tandem. I could see it clearly with Spirit Sight. Where the others had been reinforced, refined, or aligned, Fara was being rewritten along lines that already existed but had never been allowed to fully express themselves.

Tad leaned harder into the process, sweat pouring down his face as he shaped the flow with ruthless precision. “Easy,” he murmured, not commanding, not restraining. Guiding. “You’re not losing yourself. You’re sharpening.”

The sprites reacted to that, their chaotic orbit tightening into a coherent pattern before dispersing all at once, like a pack that had decided there was nothing more to see here.

Fara collapsed forward, one hand braced against the floor, breathing hard, shoulders shaking. Tad stayed with her, steady and present, until her breathing slowed and her aura stabilized. Even then, it felt dangerous, coiled, like a predator at rest rather than spent.

The notification chimed, but I barely needed it.

          Fara Shadeless     (Legendary- Equivalent)  Level: 218

            Awakened Lacertian

            Bonded to a Prince of the Fey and tied as his protector of the Void Court. This awakening has boosted Agility and Perception each by 200 points.

            New Class: Void’s Shadow- each royal fey is appointed a hidden guardian who helps to protect them when their chaotic natures inevitably lead to problems. As the Twin Prince is connected to two courts, you were linked to the one which most closely matched your nature.

            As a Void’s Shadow you gain abilities possessed by the fey prince you guard including: Affinity for Void Magic, Soul Resistance, and Overclocked. Your bonus from Tad’s Stand in Front Trait is increased from a 25% bonus to a 50% bonus. You also gain the title Survivor, making you harder to kill the lower your life total reaches.

Void’s Shadow is a Champion class and gains additional stats at each level retroactively.

Her level had jumped higher than the others. I had to assume that the last three hours with Selena had been profitable for her. They must have been pushing very hard to have ended up in that condition. Doing the math became interesting. If she was 50% stronger than her level said then that put her at about 327. If she gained bonus stats for every level, then it was even more. She might just be able to give some of those Order awakened a run for their money in a one on one.

She pushed herself upright and looked at Tad, eyes blazing. Then she grinned, sharp and unapologetic. “Took you long enough.”

Tad laughed, exhausted and relieved all at once. “You were already terrifying. I just stopped holding you back.”

I exhaled slowly, realizing only then how tense I’d been. This awakening hadn’t just been stronger. It had been truer, shaped by shared history instead of hierarchy. This was something that I could build upon. I’d already done something like that with Samvek, but seeing how Tad did it, it convinced me that I could improve on the process I’d used.

As much fun as I was having here, at least a part of me needed to keep in mind all that was riding on my success. This could be a vacation, but it was a working vacation.

Tad straightened with visible effort and looked around at all of us. “That’s it for tonight,” he said. “If I do any more tonight I’ll make mistakes. But I want you all to know that I’m honored to have you on my team. I still don’t know how, but we’re going to figure out how to defeat the Order. Even if I have to make contact with my grandmothers.”

No one argued or added anything to his words. They all knew how overwhelming the challenge facing them and this was their home. I didn’t say anything because no matter how strong I felt, I didn’t have as much skin in this game.

Fara was the first to actually speak. “Good, then for once you’ll listen and take a nap. Those golems are going to be vital if we win, so you have to be in your best shape to make them.”

He nodded, “Silas and I have a bit to talk about, but I promise, I’ll eat and take a nap.”

That seemed to make her happy and she started moving around, apparently making preparations for him to sleep. It was a good reminder of all the people I had in my life who looked out for me.

Samvek and Selena exchanged a look with me and I sent a thank you to both of them with my eyes. It seemed like they got the meaning. Then Selena nodded toward the dungeon entrance. “We’ll take them in groups of four,” she said. “Let them stretch their new limits without drowning them. Fara was really starting to slow down when we finished up and I had to push myself pretty hard to keep the XP coming in for her. The dungeon seems to have adapted again and it was throwing level 280 monsters at us even when it was just the two of us.”

Tad nodded and looked at me. “As long as you’re okay with that, I’d like to send in the four forest elves first. I have some things that I need Clay and Oliver to do for me. Fara needs rest, and Lexa wants to go meet with Arbormaris.”

“It’s fine with me.” I looked at Selena, “You sure you don’t need some rest after that last run? It looked like it was pretty rough.”

She put her hands on her hips with what I’d come to recognize as mock outrage. “Are you saying that I look bad?”

I smiled back at her. “I’m not suicidal, besides, you’re gorgeous so why would I ever lie. I just want to do the same thing you do for me and make sure you aren’t pushing yourself too hard.”

She smiled back. “You’re good at this. Don’t worry, with Samvek there, I won’t have to push as hard. We might even do a run on level 4 first to see how they adapt to their new power.”

“Makes sense. I’m gonna get busy setting up a forge here.”

Then she, Samvek, and the four forest elves descended into the dungeon. Lexa had already disappeared, which was saying something because my senses usually caught everything.

Clay and Oliver were still standing near the worktables when Tad finally spoke again, his exhaustion worn openly now that the awakenings were finished. He didn’t waste time on preamble. He simply asked whether they could source ten thousand pounds of iron and move it to the warehouse without drawing attention. The question was blunt, not because Tad was being rude, but because he knew that it was going to be difficult given the presence of the Order in Basetown.

I imagined that in a modern world 10,000 lbs. of iron wouldn’t be all that difficult for a company to get, but it sure seemed like a lot for the level of technology they had here.

I stepped in before either of them could answer. “Make it eleven or twelve thousand,” I said. “Forging something that big is going to involve mistakes, trimming, and losses. I’d rather have excess than realize halfway through that we’re short.” Tad nodded immediately, already passing the adjustment on to Spot through whatever silent channel they shared.

Clay grimaced, doing mental math, while Oliver exhaled slowly and rubbed at his temple. “That much iron exists,” Oliver said, careful and precise even now. “The difficulty isn’t finding it. It’s moving it quietly. The Order has eyes everywhere, and iron in that quantity doesn’t exactly disappear.” He paused, then added, “We can do it, but it’ll take hours, not minutes.”

“That’s fine,” I replied. “We’re not racing the clock tonight. Tad needs to rest and honestly, I thought it might end up taking days. I apologize but I simply have no real idea what is normal for your world. We just need to avoid announcing ourselves.”

Clay nodded at that, resolve firming in his posture. He’d been a guild master long enough to understand logistics, and this was exactly the kind of problem he was good at solving. He and Oliver exchanged a glance and he shook his head, “Otherworlders.” There was a smile on his lips so I knew he was playing.

They left shortly after, already discussing routes, storage yards, and which merchants asked the fewest questions. Clay clearly had more knowledge of Basetown as Oliver hadn’t been active here for twenty years, but he could also move around and use his official position within the empire as Grand Mage to ensure that merchants stayed quiet. Watching them go reminded me again that not every contribution came from raw power. Some battles were won before a weapon was ever raised. Once they were gone, the warehouse felt emptier, the echo of their footsteps swallowed by the stone and wood.

I turned back to Tad and gestured at the cleared space near the center of the warehouse. “I’m going to need a forge,” I said. “A real one, not a camp setup. I need space to lay out a twelve-foot body, overhead clearance, and a drafting table where I can work through the design before I touch any metal.” I hesitated, then added, “If Spot can manage controlled heat zones and stable airflow, that would help more than you know.”

The hardest part here was that the Crembori had built my forge back on Earth. I might have the blacksmithing and metallurgy skills on my status sheet and as far as that went, I could do the job. But because I hadn’t learned those skills the old fashioned way with a bunch of study and painstaking practice, I didn’t understand all of the set up that was necessary. I knew what I needed it to do, but not how to make it.

Tad didn’t hesitate. He placed a hand against the dungeon’s influence and closed his eyes, posture shifting as he relayed instructions. I felt the response almost immediately, a subtle change in pressure and temperature as the warehouse floor thrummed beneath our feet. Spot wasn’t just listening. It was eager.

The dungeon expanded upward this time instead of down. Stone flowed like wax along the far wall, reshaping itself into a massive furnace structure with vents, channels, and a hearth large enough to swallow a truck. The heat was present but contained, steady and even, nothing like the wild breath of dragonfire. There was something both old and new about the forge. Obviously, when I’d put part of myself into the core, it had also gotten a look into some of my memories because this forge looked far too high-tech for Basetown. I couldn’t wait to use it, but that wasn’t all.

Nearby, a raised stone table formed, smooth and perfectly level, its surface etched faintly with geometric guidelines that made my fingers itch to start drawing. There were going to be many stages to this project and if I admitted it to myself, the visionary stage was my favorite. Some people were great at details, but that wasn’t really me. I was better at grand gestures and dramatic flourish. I lived in a dream and the world around me always seemed to be struggling to catch up.

I walked the perimeter slowly, taking it all in. The forge felt right, not just functional but intentional, like it had been built by something that understood purpose. I asked for a drafting table, and a moment later one rose near the forge, its surface angled just enough to be comfortable. Charcoal, chalk, and measuring tools followed, laid out with meticulous care.

Yes… this would work nicely.