Chapter 494 – More Testing.

“How in the blazes does it move like that?”

“Aye, it’s leagues better than the old models… Ye tellin’ me Master Wayland made it all on his own?”

“Well, o’ course! The Boss is the best smith alive, figured it all out himself – though, mind ye, I did lend a hand!”

“Ye reckon… it could take the place of an eye?”

“An eye? Ahh, not so sure ’bout that… but it’d sure do better than that ol’ peg leg ye’ve got!”

A group of dwarves huddled around Bernir, examining his runic prosthetic arm. Several days had passed since they began working on the runic power armor. Eventually, they noticed that, while his arm was fully mechanized, it moved no differently than a regular arm. Typical golem-hand replacements were slow, usually only capable of clamping down on objects.

“Hey, are you done resting?”

The group’s chatter was abruptly interrupted by the arrival of Roland, fully dressed in his mage robes. In his right hand, he carried a suitcase that previously contained all his workshop tools and apparatuses. Clearly in a hurry, he didn’t wait for the dwarves to respond before setting it down and letting it unfold. The exoskeleton of the power armor was finished, though it still lacked most of its outer shell.

“We’re ready, Boss,”

Bernir called out while putting back the glove he covered his metallic hand behind.

“Great. Follow the schematics. I’ll be back later.”

The internals of the power armor hovered in the air for a moment before being relocated onto the ground plate. The dwarves watched as it sank into the metal floor, folding back into the shape of the briefcase. Roland swiftly grabbed the case and hurried out of the workshop as he needed to collect data from his brother, Robert.

‘Bernir seems to be getting along with the dwarves at least.’

It didn’t go unnoticed that the small group of craftsmen appreciated his assistant’s expertise. Despite being only half-dwarf, years of working alongside a runesmith had made him the perfect helper. Initially, they were skeptical and some even reluctant to follow his orders. However, after spending time with him and witnessing his skills firsthand, they accepted him into their group.

They couldn’t help but marvel at his runic prosthesis, especially since some of them were missing body parts as well. This sparked a question: could his technology replace other types of organs? While crafting a prosthetic limb was one thing, something as complex as an eyeball was another matter entirely. After that came other organs like the heart or lungs, would something like that be feasible? It probably wasn’t impossible, but it would require quite a lot of further research, research he had no time for at the moment.

‘I should focus on Roberts’s issue first, I didn’t expect those bastards to use something like that, could it really be those things?’

It didn’t take him long to reach the De Vere estate. Since he had taken on the role of Robert’s squire, he was granted permission to visit him. Robert was allowed to train and even temporarily leave his cell. Those in higher positions were sometimes allowed to leave entirely, with the condition of appearing on the date of their duel. Failure to appear would result in an automatic loss and immediate conviction. However, after several individuals fled to avoid punishment, the rules were changed. Now, prisoners could only train in sealed-off locations, like underground dungeons, with all exits guarded and secured.

‘That’s the location? They are keeping him hidden…’

As he was let through the main gate and escorted toward Robert’s holding cell, Roland glanced into the distance. One of his hidden golems, stationed far away, was monitoring a certain knightly individual. The knight’s movements were swift, his swordsmanship precise. He was sparring with the Grand Commander in preparation for his duel with Robert. At first, nothing seemed unusual, but Roland quickly noticed something was off as the knight’s movements were far too refined for someone of his level.

‘ Blood crystals, huh? I didn’t expect to see them here, let alone used by knights’

It appeared that Count Graham wasn’t leaving anything to chance. He had allowed one of his men to use the forbidden blood crystals, notorious black-market items that heightened a person’s skills without the need for training. They were rare and frowned upon by most, but undeniably effective.

‘His movements are much better now than before. This is going to be tricky.’

Roland’s runic power armor was still largely untested, and he had no idea how it would perform against a true tier-3 opponent. To make matters worse, the knight’s active and passive skills had been significantly boosted by the blood crystal, even though his overall level remained the same. While Roland wasn’t sure about the side effects, one thing was clear – the knight would be a far tougher opponent than he’d originally anticipated.

‘They are cheating, but not like I’m doing things fair either.’

Even though this was a dire matter, it didn’t mean that things wouldn’t go his way. Even now, his golems were constantly recording the man’s movements. In Roland’s mind, the person who came best prepared would be victorious. The armor he created for Robert was just one piece of the puzzle; gathering information about the knight in question was the other. He would record the knight’s movements and patterns, then develop a battle plan. This plan would complement the MPU and enable Robert to anticipate his opponent’s every move.

Eventually, he arrived at Robert’s new holding facility, something that was a lot more fitting for a noble. The large metal door creaked open to reveal a spacious, though sparsely furnished, chamber. Robert Arden stood in the center, engaged in a series of rigorous exercises, his movements fluid and precise. In his hands was a large blunt iron sword, far too light for someone of his stature to use for training.

“Sir. Robert.”

Roland called out, his voice echoing through the chamber. Robert paused and turned to face Roland, his face that was previously quite serious going soft.

“R… Mister Wayland, it’s good to see you, did you know that they use this place to train their guards, the monster blood on the walls hasn’t even dried up, it reminds me of home…”

After glancing around, Roland also noticed that this area was similar to the little underground training facility in the Arden estate. It was there that he had to fight Goblins when not even ten years of age. It seemed that all nobles had similar places hidden away. Some were just used to torment their children in hopes of them getting battle classes and it usually worked. From all of the boys in the Arden family, all of them ended up with battle classes.

“I see, I’m glad that you seem to be in high spirits, Sir. Robert. We don’t have much time, so we should begin with your training but first…”

Stolen novel; please report.

Roland could see multiple dots around this area, some even belonging to mages that were watching them. While Graham needed to give them a place to train, it didn’t mean that he couldn’t place his people around them. His ability to sense hidden spells was great, so he was sure that people from outside were listening in. To alleviate this problem he just took out a metallic plate and placed it on the ground. After a moment it exuded a hard to see pulse that shifted into a shroud of darkness that engulfed the entire room.

“To the mages outside, don’t worry, this is not an attempt to escape, you should recognise this spell and that it’s just for privacy.”

Before the barrier of shadow took shape he made sure to speak out loudly to the people observing them from outside. They weren’t doing anything against the law by blocking out their presence, only if they tried to escape would they be violating the rules. The mages’ presence was undeniable but they did not rush into the cell to stop them, they knew the rules as well and were probably ordered by someone above them to stand down.

“This barrier… is something wrong?”