Magical Engineering

Chapter 235: I, Alex

AlexThey had taken William from me. The thing with its stupid, horrible grin, the one that seemed so friendly at first. It had just asked, and I had given it my son. I would never forgive myself for that.

It didn’t matter to me if it was a because it had some sort of mind control, reality-altering, or whatever. I should have been able to fight against it. Something inside of me should have screamed at the words in my head. But no, instead, I had done the unthinkable. I had handed my son, my only child, over to a nightmare.

Dad, John, and even Maud had tried to comfort me. I’m sure if I had explained it, Dad at least would have understood, but I couldn’t even get the words out. Comfort didn’t matter. Nothing mattered other than one singular thing now. Not my guilt, not my failure, not the horrible crying William had done as I placed him into those barbed hands. The only thing that mattered was getting him back!

I numbly collected my few items that mattered enough for me to bring. I had only unlocked my own System storage days before this had happened. The whole concept of levels and cores was still incredibly alien to me, despite the fact that I was experiencing it, but now I wished I had worked at it. If I had been stronger, I might have been able to fight the thing.

A much more logical voice deep inside me said that wasn’t true. That Dad or Mel might not have even been able to fight it, but my rationality wasn’t working at the moment. I doubted it fully would again until William was back in my arms.

Everything had changed when my son was born. The entire world had taken on a different meaning. I had someone who depended on me for everything, and I had failed him. The thought was stuck in my mind, and I had no idea how to block it out, or even if I wanted to.

I almost certainly deserved to feel the pain that came with it. Perhaps the constant reminder would help push me toward what I would need to do. Mel was a powerhouse, and I had seen him train Dad and the others. Well, it would soon be time for him to train me harder than they had been.

With that new thought taking root, some of my faculties for long-term thinking were returning. Good, I would need those. I had to plan out the steps on how to get stronger. I had another ten minutes or so before I needed to be at the gate. So that meant finding Karlinovo and grabbing whatever spare class and mana orbs the man had on him. There wasn’t enough time to be picky, but I needed something.

I ran to the workshop and down the new flight of stairs in there, catching Karlinovo working at some machine with the other two scientists who were usually with Apollyon. “I need the most powerful mana and class orbs you have right now!” I said, making sure it didn’t sound like a request.

“Of course. Just grab everything in those two drawers. Powerful is kind of in the eye of the beholder, but something there should work well for you as a combination. Just make sure you go over them with Mel,” Karlinovo replied, pointing at two large drawers in a cabinet.

“Is there anything else that would be useful to bring?” I asked as I quickly moved to the cabinet and started to empty the drawers.

“Take the big sword. It’s not overly powerful, but I’m just going to break it down if we keep it here. Mel might be able to find a use for it. It’s in the magical weapon locker next to the cabinets,” he answered.

I wasn’t sure what he meant by big sword until I opened it. The thing was huge, nearly the size of a person. How had someone used this? No, that was a stupid question. The obvious answer was magic. I had seen enough of it to know that, and I wasn’t about to let my depression and rage cloud my reasoning again yet. That would just hurt me in this chase.

I placed it in my System storage along with everything else, nodded to the men, and left the room as I had nothing else to say. Small talk wasn’t something I was capable of at all at the moment. I doubted these people were interested in it, even if I were.

As I walked up the stairs, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and swallowed hard, trying to force down the fresh wave of tears that had almost started. Tears were not helpful. I could cry later. I needed to get to the gate. I would not let the others wait for me.hing, he owes me for what happened the last time I was on a trip with him. For another, chaotic space is getting more and more dangerous, and I’m sure he’s having a bitch of a time getting much of a crew willing to sign on. We show up and tell him what we need. He’s going to be too busy drooling over the idea of us as his fighters to realize exactly what we’re asking. At least I hope he is,” she answered.

“What’s chaotic space like? Everyone keeps talking about it like we are going to hell or something, but we made it through the highways, and those were built through it, right?” Maud asked.

I had actually been curious about the same thing, but hadn’t been able to vocalize the question. I swallowed hard for the millionth time, trying to focus on the conversation. This could be important. Even if I wasn’t capable of fully participating at the moment, I was still entirely able to learn. I just had to force my brain to process the information, whether it wanted to or not. How the hell had Dad managed to do this when he first left the world?

“Confusing. Chaotic space is both beautiful and terrifying. I’ve seen shit that drove me past my breaking point. But I’ve also been to worlds where waterfalls smell like rainbows. The thing about chaotic space is that the normal rules, as few as there are, don’t apply out there. There are pockets of wild mana everywhere, and those can attract monsters most can’t even dream of, or they can stay hidden and slowly allow a civilization to form around them,” Yorela answered.

There was a sense of longing in her voice that even I noticed. She may say it broke her, but she wanted to see it again. We had talked about chaotic space before, but only in the most surface-level of topics. She had always backed away from going deeper before now. And while I didn’t know exactly what she had experienced, I knew it was bad. One day, I was sure I’d be able to feel grateful for her being willing to do this.

“So that siren we fought. Should we expect more of them?” Maud continued her questions.

“Hopefully not anything like that. I’m not even sure really killed it after it shredded the traveler’s gate defenses and fully manifested in the city. Killing it in chaotic space would be even harder.” Yorela’s voice had gone grim with that answer.

“Wait ya fought the damned siren again? When we get a chance, I need a full catch-up of everything I missed. I need ta especially know where yer all at. Fer one thing, why does Alex’s core seem a bit off?” Mel said, his color shifting to a dark blue.

“I’ll cover it all. I promise,” Maud said just as Yorela turned off the street toward a gigantic yellow building.

Over one of the largest doors I had ever seen was a sign with the words ‘The Drunken Oaf’. Despite the door’s size, Yorela was able to open it with ease, and we all followed her into a well-lit room. There were a couple of dozen tables, mostly full of giants and a few other species I didn’t recognize. Some of them might have been Dwarfs, but I just hadn’t been around enough other species to be sure.

Yorela led us to a smaller table in a corner and then turned and yelled toward the bar. “Hey, Grum, when you’re done being a waste of space behind that bar, how about you get your ass over here and answer some questions for me?”

“Who the hell let an Olkerfin in my bar? I had one damned rule, don’t make me look at Yorela’s ugly face ever again, and my damned waitstaff can’t even do that for me?” He yelled back.

Despite the volume and contents of the words, both of the people exchanging them were smiling. Grum hopped the bar immediately after his return yell, and, grabbing a large chair on his way to us, dragged it up to our table, taking a seat next to Yorela. He waved his hand to a giant in a uniform that matched the color of the building, causing the huge man to quickly lumber his way over.

“Get us all a round of the good beer. Oh, and grab one of the boars too, and maybe a wheel of the cheese,” Grum said to the man before turning his head back to the table as they walked away. “So what brings your grumpy ass to my bar? It’s been years!”

“We need to find Squiddy, quick as we can. It’s an emergency, and the longer we wait, the colder the trail’s gonna get,” Yorela answered.

“Damn, that bad, eh? Alright, I won’t ask. I can see that look on your face already,” Grum replied before turning his head again and yelling. “Troelsk, get over here!”

This time, a small form flew toward the table and landed directly in front of Grum. It was barely bigger than a housefly. “What’s up?” it asked in a weirdly buzzing tone.

“Need you to go figure out where Squiddlen is right now. Do it as fast as you can,” Grum replied.

“Fast ain’t gonna come cheap,” the fly creature countered.

“Don’t care. I’ll pay it. Just get us the information as quick as you can.” Troelsk took to the air after Grum’s words and vanished through a nearby window.

“Thanks, not sure I could have afforded Troelsk’s prices without your help,” Yorela said the moment the fly was gone.

“Yeah, well, I owe you a lot more than that. You held that thing off. None of us, save maybe Squiddy himself, would have made it out there alive if you hadn’t. Honestly, kind of surprised you’re willing to go back, but I won’t press,” Grum replied just as a group of drinks were slammed onto the table.

“Thanks, it’s not my story to tell, and honestly, the less you know, the safer it is for you. As for Squiddy, well, I think I’ve finally forgiven him for getting me out of that alive. I don’t have the dreams as much anymore. Hell, sometimes I even sleep through the whole night now.” Yorela grabbed her mug and downed the entire thing in a single gulp after her words.

I felt my fingers pressed hard into my palm at this forced moment of normality. I wanted to scream, but I knew that wouldn’t help anything. We had to get through these moments even if I felt like I was going to burst. Reaching out and grabbing my mug, I forced myself to take a long drink. The pressure in my other palm decreased just slightly with the act.

I could do this. I would do this. I would bring William home.

Mana Beasts, My Friends from the writings of the Nameless Druid