NOVEL NEXT Weird Fantasy.
"Tsk. That's troublesome."
A figure sitting in some kind of pod was rubbing their chin. That figure was me. I was wondering how I could come up with a solution to a bug.
Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Name's Victor. Victor Leclerc. Not much to say about me. I'm a cat person. I usually go to sleep at 10 pm no matter what happens. Heavy sleeper. Tech prodigies need their sleep after spending the whole day in front of a holo-screen, after all !
I'm currently 33, your average Joe who wants to stay discreet. And for a reason. I'm not very happy with how I look. I try to work out to bulk up but I think men in my family are cursed to look feminine. I don't know how many jars of powder protein I consumed during my sessions but they had little effect.
I'm currently considering dropping it. I feel like I lose more water because of sweat than I gain muscles... At some point I'll become a spaghetti.
Seems like the cliché of noodle-arms tech fanatics is true. At least it applies to me. Damn genes.
I don't have a lot of hobbies. Videogames ? Reading fiction ? Yeah. I had two.
Well, three in fact. Learning about machines and technology. My house is filled with models of tech, droids and stuff like that. Old and new ones. I want to know how things work. Why they were made. And how.
Former employee of NanDroid Pharmaceutics, NDP for short, a company that specialized in replacing lost limbs with nanorobotic prostethics. Each one was a litteral treasure.
That was a fullfiling job. Helping people to get a normal life again warmed my heart. Sadly, our prosthetics were expensive and not many could afford their quality. You can guess what happened. Our company started to decline and voila, no more job.
Now, I'm the lead developer of "Tales of Iron and Magic". A project I'm very proud of.
An immersive videogame I've been working on since I was 14. At that time I was the definition of a geek and otaku. A wonderful pair... But what can I say ? Tech has been so much more available since the end of the 22nd century it's almost ridiculous. I had the money to spare so I bought all the hardware and material I needed to create the game at the time.
That was pretty impulsive now that I think about it. That money could have been used somewhere else.
But who cares now ? The experience I gained from these years of coding and the salary I got during these years working at NDP were worth a lot more that the measly 2000€ I had spent.
I am loaded if you didn't understand what I meant. So loaded I could safely spend my time creating Tales of Iron and Magic without worrying about my bank balance dropping.
The game was part of the role-playing genre, still very popular even in our century. Plus, my otaku side had a huge influence on the starting points of the plot. I was in love with fantasy mangas and novels, not their plot execution tho. That helped quite a bit during the creation of the setting and the lore.
The setting was simple. Dpending of how you started, the game sent you in random coordinates that fit your character's background in the realm. The prologue started off with you encountering a convoy attack; where humanoids were fighting Daemons. The plot then adapted to the descisions you made and created past encounters and events to create a coherent setting.
When I created the prologue back then, I wanted to urge the player into quick thinking. Every death would have a local impact on the story so you had to fight fast. The fewer NPC died, the better it was. Not every time in the story of course. But that was all that thanks to nowadays' hardware, coding was much easier and allowed to create games with lot of freedom. And so Tales of Iron and Magic had an adaptative story.
Even in this prologue, the number of persons and their identity mattered if you didn't save them. The starting town could become a much more difficult challenge depending on what you did.
As the story unfolded, you discovered a world that was tearing itself apart because of beliefs and various superpowers. Magic was a superior power but its use was being restricted by a hegemonic empire, leading to deaths by beasts, bandits and other threats that could easily be avoided otherwise
You, as the protagonist, had to navigate between plots and schemes to rise in power and ultimately, abolish the restrictions by dethroning the ruler of the empire.
Of course, the game also had some PVP elements completely cut off from the story mode. Even though I was young at that time, I knew what gamers wanted.... Everyone in the 23rd century was a PVP junkie. At certain points I even wondered why I bothered to create a story at all.
But weapons and armors didn't come from the sky of course. So what you used in PVP was what you looted in story mode.
The game was now in closed beta. I was receiving feedback from the testers and came up with fixes when they experienced or found something unusual. That was the last line before the game's release. Some tweaks and it was good to go.
To be honest, I was feeling pretty down right now. It seemed like many didn't like the adaptative story aspect. Many posts and feedback mails were praising the freedom of the game and its realistic ambiance but disliked that it pushed such reality to the extreme, even going as far as altering the plot because of the lore of their character.
True. I didn't talk about the character you created yet. Following the vibe of the adaptative story, the lore, race, physique, traits and background you gave to your character shifted the story to create endings, events and interactions that formed a coherent world.You could say that everyone was playing a different game.
For example; if your character description said you were a former criminal banished from kingdom X or Y, that kingdom would try to kill you on sight if you were to enter their territory. Of course that mean no ability to teleport, rest, buy and encounter important NPC there unless you wanted royal guards and mercenaries tailing you everywhere.
I admit that such a thing felt restrictive at first but in return, giving a proper background to a character you created added various perks such as minor traits, equipements, connections and NPCs fighting at your side sometimes. That helped a lot during the prologue.
The only point of the story that couldn't be altered was that carriage attack. The Beta testers seemed to have realized it quite quickly.
"But you guys only followed the human-centric route... Well that was to be expected."
But enough talking.
I wanted to play too.
My character. My beloved character.
Victoire Dacier.
A pureblood Dark Elf hailing from an Elven territory nearing the Dwarven lands.
That character dated back to highschool. It was my cringe era. Filled with thoughts about fantasy novels and games.
She had a rather harsh background.
She was born without the ability to use Magic and it obviously didn't sit well in an Elven society. Even her parents only cared for her until she reached 30 years old, the beginning of teenager years for Elves.
During these years, Victoire didn't form any connections and isolated herself from her kin. Instead, she secretly met with a squad of Dwarven mercenaries on the other side of the frontier.
She was interested in their activities, such as frequently getting rid of monsters near the border and learned from them. Along the way, she picked up metalworking and engineering as a side hobby under the tutelage of one of the Dwarves.
During that time, she mastered the craft and gradually transforming into a battle crazed maniac who let out her emotions in the heat of battle. Sadly, her behavior attracted attention and her secret meetings got discovered.
Following this, she got banished from the Elven lands for associating with Dwarves and after settling in the Daemonic lands, she rose in fame through the exceptional quality of the equipment that came out of her forges. Rumors went high up in the Daemon King's ears and she was invited as a Master Smith in the royal forges.
Alright, time to log-in. Enough chit-chat.
=
Huff...
"It's been a long time. I wonder where I left off... Let's see."
A quick glance at his breastplate and a semi transparent window filled Victor's sight.
> Victoire Rand <
- 69 years old
- Profession ; Deamon King's Master Smith, Engineer, Brawler, Armed Combattant, Mercenary, Miner, Lumberjack.
- Traits ; Secretive, Distrustful, Cold, Combat-lover, Technology genius, Pionner, Half-machine Otherworldy body; DEV PERM.
Status : Hungry, Lost, Annoyed.
'And that was it. There was no levels, special skill or cheat ability for players. Sure, my character's last trait doesn't fit but that's just me messing around in the dev-server. In any case, everything you build in this game came from your character's customization settings. And once you had a trait, it was bound to you.
There were no shortcuts. No leveling up that drastically improved your strenght mid-fight. The VR diving pods connected your brain to your body in the game and voila, now you had to work hard to achieve what you wanted. But you could also developp traits from different activites. It was difficult at first but not impossible.'
"Alright. Where am I exactly ?"
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention there's no map system either. My younger self was pissed off at most games and mangas with such systems. For a reason. These made games too easy to navigate. and levels made most early game content irrelevant at some point. But not in tales of Iron and Magic. There was no such thing.
Obviously, in a medieval setting, paper and maps were expensive, so not many could get one.
As one of the Daemon King's Master Smith, Victoire had one by default, but it often was used as a table cover in her forges rather than a proper map.
=
That game was hard, Victor knew it. The enhanced realism and the ever-changing happenings he worked so hard on really paid-off. This was a world of reasonable limits Victor believed. All these restrictions and features were the fruits of frustration when reading manga and novels. Many didn't really make sense, with godlike protagonists, harems, good versus bad and stuff like that.
Coupled with nowadays' limitless technology, he decided to create a game that would depict a more realistic fantasy world. Not just side characters who would be impressed by the protagonist's every action, not matter the action itself, but real people with judgment and intelligence who could be wary and distrustful, even going as far as murdering you in early game.
Initially fearful of the public's response, Victor was pleasantly surprised to learn people were interested in "Real-tasy" as they called his game's concept. A more grounded take on the genre was refreshing they said.
Sure there were still very strong characters in the setting, who could take on dangerous beasts with legion-destroying powers but a single person couldn't erase an entire kingdom overnight.
The game was almost ready. It just needed a date and it would be released. Victor and his coworkers were enthusiastic.
"For how long do I need to walk to reach the city... man... I should've brought a Rei'zah..." complained Victor, or rather Victoire while scratching her strands of snowy white hair.
"Plus... I need to invest into a new saddle someday. And a space-pouch along the way. At least this body's fit as hell. I can endure the walk. But man... how I wish to have those muscles in real life. Besides I really need a new glove."
The Elf clicked her tongue while looking at her left arm. Unlike the rest of her caramel-colored body, this arm was black and silver, with lines and intricate patterns on its surface. That was the weird trait in bold letters in her status window.
A virtual replica of NanDroid Pharmaceutics' military usage prosthetics. An absurdity in this world.
"Tch... wasn't always like that. Should have taken the L and moved on. And why did I have to make it RGB..."
The arm in question had indeed not always been like that. Eleven year ago in game, Victoire still had both arms intact. But an accident at the forge she was working in ended up costing her half of her hand.
Victor still remembered the phantom pain he felt when he got out of the pod.
And so, to avoid ruining his character before the plot even began, he implemented data of his former company's prostethics directly where Victoire's hand was supposed to be.
Was that cheating ? Absolutely. Did it bother anyone ? Absolutely not. So Victor left the bit of data as it was and forgot about it, gradually thinking of it as a part of his character.
Unfortunately, what made NanDroid Pharmaceutics' products so expensive was still in the bit of data Victor had transferred. Its coding. Auto-reparation and strenghtening. The nano-droids inside of the prosthetic were programmed to heal any injuries and fortify themselves anytime the wielder's body or the material took damage.
Coupled with Victoire Dacier's lifestyle, the prosthetic strenghtened itself to unimaginable lenghts for this world.. From scavenging abandonned mineshafts to find rare ores, to mercenary work, defeating trolls and killing her usual racist kin, Victoire Dacier had "lived" throught countless battles and injuries.
Over time, as the injuries piled up, the nano-droids grew from her hand, spreading to her wrist then the elbow and finally to her shoulder after a battle with a flock of harpies. Since then she had setteld for a relatively calmer life. But some duties still needed her to fight.
Of course it took a lot of efforts to conceal such an arm. That was why Victoire wore lots of armor and a glove reaching to her shoulder. Officially, when she was asked about it by the various NPCs she encountered, it acted as a cover for an ugly scar. Which was somewhat true.
Seeing so much armor in fantasy worlds seemed to be an oddity, especially for female fighters it seemed.
Of course, since the AI that helped in creating adapting storytelling was trained with existing material. That mean bikini armor, panties and leggings as armor, along with frills and an insane amount of useless ornaments. That mistake took a lot of time to somewhat mitigate and it still was present now.
"Tch, what a waste. Fucking dumb me." she raged and kicked a rock on the path.
"Keu-hk!"
The fuck? Grass didn't scream 'Keu-hk'.
Victoire swiftly grabbed a halbert and a shield from her pouch.
"Too late missy!"
KLANK
An arrow ricoched on her shield. Hm? The design was...
"Tch. An Elf."
"Oh... don't say that like we aren't of the same species. Your words hurt us, daughter of Silva and Raya Pinus."
"... How do you know that? No. Who are you? You don't feel like your regular elitist Elf. And besides, for an Elf to come in Daemonic territories..."
"Ohoh! Quite perceptive, aren't you? Well, let's get straight to the point. I have business with you." the Elf stated while lowering his weapon.
"It seems the Council has heard of your... 'talent' to create weapons that rival and even surpass Dwarven crafts. So... despite your disability regarding magic, the honorary members offered you a place at the OakenShield Forges. I am here to bring you back."
"... You want me to abandon everything I built for this? I'm fine with the Daemon King. He's way more chill that you tree-hugging idiots."
"Your insults hurt me! But we won't take no for an answer, Master Smith~ You still are a subject of our realm."
"Enough bullshit."
And as if to declare her intention, Victoire swung her halbert in the trench near the road, where an Elf was crouching. The bladed end of the weapon passed right through the carotid. At least the Elf didn't have the time to suffer.
"Ah~ You bitch. Alright. if that's how you want to play. Let's play. Magi, in formation."
"Yes captain!"
As if on cue, four dark-skinned Elves went behind the leader while gathering magicules.
"Fuck this shit..."
"Nuh-uh-uh ! We'll have to correct that foul mouth of yours once we arrive at the capital. Your parents wouldn't want to see their daughter utter such language ! They're already ashamed to be associated with someone who mingles with Dwarves..."
Victoire didn't respond, she merely concentrated on eliminating that guy. Once he was done, the others would be defenseless and they would run off.
-
'Tsk, that's not good.'
SWOOSH-
Pivers Silvervine didn't want to admit it but this Victoire Dacier was skilled. She was fast, agile, strong. And more importantly she knew how to lead a fight.
Since the beginning of their clash, the young woman had avoided stepping where she could be in the mages' firing range, in other terms, she was using him as a meat shield.
Moreover, she was overpowering him without any magical body enhancement. As a warrior, he was impressed.
Eleves were skilled in the magic arts, but unlike humans and Dwarves, they didn't stand a chance should a fight drag on, they were equally bad in physical fights. That's why they used magic to strenghten themselves and gain the upper hand. But now, that technique didn't seem to do anything. Victoire's brute strenght was not something he could afford to tank. His shield had stood three hits before caving in.
Was this girl an Orc in disguise?
'This is starting to get worrying. We've been dragging this for far too long.' Pivers glanced behind him. The Daemonic main city was not too far away, and judging by the commotion near the titanic gates, the fight had attracted unwanted attention. He was worried about his mages too.
'And why the hell is smirking like that ? Shi- That was close.'
Suddenly, a shadow passed over the fighters. They all looked up and frowned. Of course, there had to be a wyvern at this time.
As it was about to roar, Pivers watched the woman they were trying to capture rolling on the ground. What was she doing? That wouldn't do... anything.
Then the roar came. The Elves felt pain and their eardrums ringing. But for some reason, Victoire was fine. She stood up and sprinted towards the incoming Daemonic individuals. Did she really... dodge a roar? How?
In any case, the situation was too dangerous now that the beast was there. The mages had used a lot of magicules and the Council wouldn't be happy to learn that an esteemed tactical unit got killed by a wyvern. Their assasin already suffered such a fate in an instant and that was enough.
"We're out, cast some smokescreens until we reach the forest."
"Understood!" the mages replied in unison.
As the five Elves started to run, they looked at their previous opponent, she was running towards the gates. And then, to their attonishment, she collapsed in the middle of the road. She was a little far away but the men could clearly see that she was convulsing.
Another roar interrupted their thoughts. The wyvern had caught up and it was looking at the girl as if she was a snack.
Pivers gulped as he saw the beast toying with its prey, kicking and biting it. Even an enemy didn't deserve such fate. Then he stared at the flames that were starting to come out of its jaws. He knew what would happen next. There was nothing he could do. He silently hoped the daemons would arrive fast. A shame a warrior like this had to die in such a manner.
Minutes before. In another realm.
"Hey hey, you really sure about this ? I don't wanna end up in prison because of you."
"Relax. The plan's failproof. Once we overload the power unit there, all these crazy-ass rich peeps will be in the dark. We can get ourselves something really expensive without worrying about CCTV and we'll be settled for life. Besides we've got a guy in their security center. We just need to avoid the police after the mess."
"Ahhh... alright. I trust you. Let's do this!"
-
Man. That lore is truly wonderful. I can't believe some people don't like to see consequences to actions in videogames. It gives so much more depth. Sometimes I completely forget that's just a game.
But fuck this shit, that's a Rathalo-oops, copyright. Dodge roll the roar and farewell~
| Warning, unusual electrical outpout detected, please evacuate the pod within fifteen secondzZZ--|
Wha-
THUD
"A-AUGH ! GAH ! Khrk !"
What the ?! I'm being electrocu- Evacuate ! Evacuate ! Emergency Evac-
It's not resp- Huh ? I don't... I don't feel anything ?! I was being electrocuted just now. Maybe it's a bug? I'll have to look into the code later.
RRRRRRRR-
SHIT! Can't move !
Please! Fuck... FUCK...
Move !!!
Let me go !
| Would you like to disconnect ? |
Of course I want to, I was being elctro-...
No, I can't leave Victoire like this. She's a proud woman, be like her. Fight.
| Host has disconnected |
| Welcome creator! Live your life in "Tales of iron and Magic" to the fullest !|
Huh- I've been disconnected ? But I'm in the game. And I said no... And what's that message supposed to mean ?!
RRRR-
SHUT UP!
=
"S-sir !"
"I see it, quick guys !" an old bearded man shouted to the dozen of soldiers who were following him.
Each one clad in medium blue-colored armor, they were part of DaemonVille outer district's militia. There had been a report about unidentified individuals fighting near the gates of the capital so a squad was sent to make sure nothing escalated out of proportions. But now there was a wyvern with a woman atop of it. A few seconds ago, she was screaming in the beast's mouth and in the blink of an eye, a pole was embedded in the creature's chest, with the woman shredding one of its wing.
"Leader, ain't that Madam Victoire?!"
"Khrgh ! Y-you're right. Wh-what the fuck is she doing here?"
The militia watched as the beast struggled to get rid of the Madam, who was clinging to its backplates and scales with one hand. She was holding a knife with the other and stabbed it repeatedly in the wyvern's spine.
From up close, the armed force could see the state of the wyvern. It tried to compensate the loss of its wing by flapping the other wing erratically. A halbert reached deep in its torso, surely the pole they saw from afar, and it was covered in blood. Nobody knew if it was the blood of the beast or the Madam's. Maybe both.
Speaking of which, the Madam didn't seem to fare any better than her unwilling ride. One of her eyes was dull and crying blood. Her bewitching silvery white hair was stained with dirt, blood and burnt marks. Her stabs were getting weaker and she was panting hard. One of her legs was bent in a rather akward angle but she was screaming and laughing like a maniac despite her obviously exhausted state.
That was... surprising seeing as the Madam was usually distant and cold to anyone.
Finally, the wyvern barreled in the air and catapulted the woman in the prairie with its tail before flying away.
The soldiers heard a loud crunching noise and winced. Meanwhile, the captain rushed to the place where Madam Victoire was unceremoniously dropped. He frowned at the sight of her, laying in the grass in an obviously very uncomfortable position.
"Mages! She needs healing !"
"On it!"
Several robed soldiers came forward and extended the palm of their hands, a faint green glow signifying Magic was at work.
"Hm ?" Then one of them rose an eyebrow.
"Captain, our Magic's been tampered with. Something is interfering with the healing process. It's as if she's rejecting the magicules."
"Urgh. I forgot about that."
The squad leader grunted while pinching his nose. He looked around and sighed.
"Alright boys and girls. That's something few of us are aware of so don't go spreading it everywhere. I trust you as soldiers of the Deamon realm...
As you surely know, eleven years ago, the Madam had an accident where she lost part of her hand. Some of you weren't enrolled back then but soon after, Madam Victoire went in a mineshaft that turned into a dungeon.
The dungeon was supposed to contain an artifact that could restore her hand. Instead she found a relic that cursed her left arm. The curse turned her arm into a golem limb and prevents healing magic from taking effect. I don't know the details of why it negates healing to her whole body but it's a pain in the ass, that's for sure. So understood ?
The others nodded furiously, not because of fear but out of respect for the Madam. She was cold and did not trust anything but metal, her weapons, gold and the King, but her equipment had saved many comrades since she arrived at the royal forges. And learning that she still fought and crafted despite the curse deepened their admiration in her.
"Alright boys. Pick her up, gently. Send a scout to notify the royal medics."
"Yes!"
GASP
"Ahh!"
The medic who was guarding Victoire fell off his chair, startled by the Master Smith who jolted awake. He watched as she was starting to pull out her numerous bandages while cursing.
"Mas-Master Smith! Don't move! Your injuries are severe! You'll worsen your condition."
"No Valcor... my curse is spreading instead. I'll be fine. See ?" she stated as she revealed her naked bod- no. Valcor's eyes were as wide as saucers. The curse had indeed spread during her rest. It was now covering half of her torso and her knee.
"M-madam. This is bad. You should seek a purifier. This is going to get even worse..."
"... Valcor, we've tried every purifier we could. It doesn't work. And I can't stop my activities as a mercenary either. That's the only way I get some of my ores."
"Then give this task to someone else, Madam!"
"You know how I feel about adventurers. Everybody in the castle knows. We can't trust them. I've said it to the king already, allowing the creation of an Adventurer Guild branch in our territory was a mistake to begin with. Now humans have a foothold here. But I'm also concerned about my eye. Can it be saved?"
"N-no. Normally we'd have used healing Magic but..."
"I get it. Don't worry about it. But remember. Don't mention adventurers ever again."
The lizardman nodded, dejected. What the Master Smith was true. Humans were starting to get a little bit too bold and there were more and more each month passing by in the capital. Nobody knew how the authorzation was made but it had the royal crest, despite the king not agreeing.
"Now enough of that. Where is my equipment?"
"Everything has been placed in your quarters. We brought some light clothing instead. But please, rest for an hour at least."
"... Will you be at ease and stop pestering me?"
"Y-yes ?"
"Tsk. Fine, I'll rest."
-
"How amusing~"
?!
"Wha-who are you ? Where are you ?" Victoire turned around ina boxing stance. She came face to face with... herself ? Some sort of ghost version of her was right in front of her, smiling softly.
"Y-you're me ?"
"No, I'd rather say you are me. Dear creator." the spectre stated as a matter-of-factly.
"If you don't understand your situtation yet, you are dead. Bandits killed you with strange electric magic while you were incarnating me. Welcome back~"
"T-the message ? That was you ? But why... Why didn't I... No. You're self-aware. That mean I'd have killed you. I-this is for real? No. That's not..."
"It is. All of this is real. Just like you wanted. Your game as you call it, is as real as it can be. Everything you've built is real. Even me, especially me! Everything you made me do and wrote about me is real." the ghost explained while puffing her chest.
"I... then you... experienced all of it, am I right ? Fuck this, do you hat-"
"I'm stopping you right here, dear creator. I did experience what you said and wrote. But don't make such a face. I don't hate you for that."
"B-but this makes no sense! I fucked with your background and everything in your lif-!" Victoire was silenced by a ghostly finger on her mouth.
"Yet, I enjoyed being alive when you were around. The life you gave me didn't start really good but do you even realize what being under your creator's control is? It's like a god directly caring for you. Everytime you played I felt alive in the back of my mind.
I was the one getting recognized in this world. Not another, me! And besides, how you realize how much you made me grow? I was some pissy poor girl unable to cast Magic and here I am, a smith directly under the Daemon King! I can even take down wyverns, well, not that one before but that was unexpected circumstances.
Ironically, all these years under your control were the ones I could enjoy, these years were the ones where I truly felt alive and not some puppet to a script. So stop worrying about my wellbeing."
"..."
"But I didn't just come here to announce your death. I-Tsk. How can I say this? Uhhhhhh alright. So yeah, we've got a problem. A soul problem. Normally I'd be dead because of your soul, which would be considered a foreign entity by the laws you created. But because I, or rather uhhhh you acted as me for so long, my body adapted to your soul and sees it as a second part of me or us or I don't really know.
That's where lies the problem. We are two in one body. But the soul who has lived the longest will be the dominant one and will assimilate the other. Do you understand where I'm going?"
"I uhhh. Ohhhhh no... You're telling me I'll erase you from our mind? What the fuck is this shitty concept?"
"T-that's what you coded to nerf Mind magic."
"Fuck this shit. And how am I supposed to take over your job? And your memories! And besides I'm not a warrio- HEY! What the fuck was that for?!" Victoire cried out, holding the tip of a dagger in her prosthetic.
"You're no warrior? Then explain how you were able to catch that. You've lived in my body for more than 40 years here. You know it more than I do. We'll be fine. Besides we'll share memories. You'll know every unwritten detail about me, and I'll get to learn about your world. I'll be your guide and voice in our head."
"What's up with this blind trust in me...? I could literally go to a brothel and sell myself there. You are supposed to be distrustful and cold, not like some weird supportive girlfriend! And I am NOT living as a woman for god-knows how long! I absolutely refuse! Being mistaken as a woman in real life is enough for me! I'm not doing that! You're out of our mind, what the hell!"
"Of course I trust you! Do you remember when the Rathal-thing came, you didn't want me to die if you disconnected! That's more than enough! You didn't want ME to die! Me! Not you! That means you saw me as a real person! How can I not trust you?"
"Fuck fuck fuck, this is so wrong..."
"Relax. I'll always be there! As I said I'll be the little voice in your head~"
"Urgh, I don't want to be a woman. Playing as one is fine but not this..."
"Hey, tell yourself you'll have that fine piece of ass and thighs for you alone. Aren't you curious about boobs either?"
"No! Thank you! I've had a girlfriend before! I know what it is! You can't say that! Respect our own body for the love of god! Wait, why'd I say our, I clearly said our-!?"
"See? Already happening! But please, Creator. No, please Victoire. Live however we want."
"I... urgh. There's no reasoning with you. But please, can't we make exceptions? Our body is a temple, can we switch over when we're bathing and stuff?"
"Sorry, can't do. That'll be even worse if it was possible. As a soul my vision extends to our direct surrondings.You'd have the same thing if we switched. Meaning you'd see up here, down here, there too~ all our privates in their integrity~"
"I'm doomed. We're hopeless. Please tell me we're not acting like this in private."
"... No. But..." After a small pause, the soul continued. "It's about time I go back in our mind."
"What? Hey, come back here! We're not done talking!" Victoire shouted. After a few second, the former man slammed her fist in the bed in frustration.
"Damn. What should I do now?"
'You can try going to the forges under the castle. Or fetch some clothes in our quarters.'
The fuck? Oh right. The little voice.
As Victoire strolled in the halls and corridors of the castle, she cool feel the gazes of onlookers and high-ranked Daemons. Murmurs and praises about her already being up despite having suffered sever burns and injuries could be heard.
The Master Smith was a highly-regarded figure in the realm and her skills in battle weren't something to forget either. Even if she was an Elf, Daemons treated her as kin. She was rude, icy, had no manners and she was almost inapprochable but that didn't matter. She was strong. That's what mattered.
Officers and soldiers greeted her, to which she barely responded. Still, not seeing her eternal scowl on her face was a big surprise. But she seemed to be in a hurry, judging from her pace.
A few minutes later, she was standing near an imposing iron gate underground. On the other side were the royal forges. Very few select individuals were allowed to enter such a place. Victoire herslef, the king and his family, the five generals of the Daemonic armies and no-one else. The royal forges of the Daemonic lands were one of the most wanted secrets in this world, one that many attempted to uncover.
The equipment that came out of its furnaces was priceless to someone wielding a weapon.
It wasn't restricted per se. The King allowed commerce. But with a low supply and high demand, prices were soaring everytime a new model came out.
Some tried to replicate these equipments and failed miserably to do so. Something in the alloys, the technique, the processes was just impossible to reproduce. And nobody knew why. Only the Dwarves who trained her, and now were under her command, knew.
"Victoire! You're here! We'v heard about the attack! You sure you're fine?" exclaimed an middle-aged Dwarf in a sweet tone. That was Bamur, the one who initially had the idea to train her when seh was a young Elf.
He hadn't changed one bit even after 50 years. Brown beard that ended in two braids, thick eyebrows, callous hands from a life wielding a hammer and weapons. 140 cm. Yep, still the same Bamur. Well... the three others Dwarves were pretty much the same. They were twins after all. Apart from Agrem, that one stood out with his 160 cm. He was considered a giant among his kin.
These four were the only ones Victoire could be comfortable with. They had known each other for a long time. And it was partly thanks to them that she was now a renowned figure.
"Bamur, Bagor, Agrem, Arko. Good to see you. Don't worry about me. I'm fine. The curse helped me... again." she stated while looking at her otherworldly hand.
"Ma ma. Can't we see a little smile once in a while? You're hurting us. At this rate you're never going to score a girl. It's a real shame for you." Agrem joked.
"I-n-no! E-enough of that! Quit joking! Re-activate the forges and the machines. By the way, did you repair the golem I sent last time?"
"Yep, it's in service. it's already working, see?"
Victoire nodded. A warm feeling was spreading in her chest. Pride. Seeing all that heavy machinery in action was filling her with pride. Hydraulic presses, pressure nozzles, blast furnaces, automatic ore sorting, automatons, monster part processors and much more.
Those were the secrets of her forge. A forge that held formidable foreign machines.
All of this was standard and even outdated equipment in Victor's world. But they were hundred of years early in this one. but that didn't mean Victoire and her Dwarf troup didn't work. On the contrary. Their finest custom pieces of equipments were all handcrafted with the upmost care. And on top of that, was the maintenance of the machines. This heavy equipment was precise but difficult to handle and to avoid wear-out, the five smiths treated them as their most precious possesion.
"Guys. Do you remember why I went away?"
"Yep. You wanted to know why our supply of Zamirite was cut off. How did it go?"
"Good. Some kind of beast had settled in the mineshafts. I helped the miners to get rid of it. It was a hassle but now we should be fine. I plan to go back in a few days to see if everything is going smoothly. Do you want to come?"
"Nah. I'll pass. How'bout you guys?"
"Nope."
"Meh..."
"Why?"
"Aight. We haven't received any commision since then I guess. How many batches do we have left? I want to take some crates to sell along the way in RickRockVille."
Snort
"That name tho. More seriously. I think we've got a dozen shields. Seven halberts, blade made out of a RockSplitter Boar tusk. Several composite bows with wyrm tendon as the string. And as you instructed. We managed to create these... weird curved swords. What's so special about them? We tested the batch and they're horrible. We even broke a few of them. We smelted them again but their sharpness is atrocious."
"Hm... Don't worry. I know that there are some clients out there. Some like exotic weapons to display I mean. Speaking of which, did Lord Laviente appreciate the gift?"
"You bet he did. You should have seen his reaction when he saw the chainmail didn't melt. It was hilarious!"
"Good."
Victoire silently thanked... Victoire for the bits of memories she could use. She started to let herself drown in her thoughts. So much had happened today. And it wasn't... bad at all. Finally. She could be honest with herself...
Somewhere else in the realm, an individual dressed in weird clothes was starting to wake up.
"Huh? That's not Astra Online. The fuck is this? Did they delay the shut-down? This feels super weird to see my character in 3D. Hm. There's no log-out button. I have acces to my stuff but what am I supposed to do ?"
"Someone! Heeeeelp!"
Alright! Time to take action!