Steel and Mana

I met with Mirian in our old library, which, compared to what I have now in Avalon, was smaller than I remembered. Still, it was cozy and filled me with fond memories. When I walked in, I quickly noticed Mirian sitting in one of the armchairs reading one of Merlin's books of grand adventure and monster-hunting heroes.

"I can see why your soldiers and citizens will be ferocious when they grow up. Reading this tale instills in kids the idea of being loyal to Avalon and their Sovereign from an early age." Mirian mumbled, not looking up from the book, "You are molding the youth to your liking."

"Aren't we all do it? And is it bad if it proves to be beneficial for both them and me? Their life is filled with opportunities and love, while I get loyal and productive subjects. It is a win-win in my books!"

"I didn't say it wasn't." She smiled, finally glancing up at me, watching as I sat down opposite of her, "I like the idea and am thinking of copying it. Who knew that teaching peasants would be a good idea! Not my predecessors, it seems."

"Snarky. But yes, it is not something to fear as long as you lead with a certain level of integrity and self-imposed rules. I firmly believe that having one leader at the helm is how societies can function to their fullest, which you can see being reflected in Merlin's works, even though I never instructed him to write them as such."

"What if–"

"No need to ask!" I interrupted her, which probably was a first for her, but she didn't get angry. "We are humans; it can go awry, like your bloodline. The best we can do is teach the next generation to uphold our values. I am raising my children to be the kind of rulers who work in harmony with their people. They must think ahead for 20, 30, or 40 years when making life-changing decisions. That is how you can preserve peace, your bloodline, and your power. Of course, I am not a utopist; I know everything will end one day, even my Avalon. That will be then, but this is the now. If we only think about what may go wrong in the future, we will never do anything and try to make things work in the present."

"You are a weird man, Leon the Sovereign."

"I know, I get that sometimes." I chuckled, making her smile while she closed the book and put it on the table next to her chair.

"I will stay for the winter. The monsters attacking you are no joke."

"I appreciate the support. Would it cause issues for you? You know..."

"It will. But I don't care; this is critical for both of us and our survival! How will we cut out the rotten part of my family tree if termites destroy it before we can succeed? Plus, I can experience your home and steal your ideas."

"Thank you for being honest. Please feel free to copy the public stuff."

"Oh, I will, I will! If you would be so kind and show me your factory–"

"Nope." I chortled at once, hearing her click her tongue while leaning back and crossing her legs.

"It was worth a try. So, how much would it cost me to get my own walking machine? I want one."

"What about my howitzers? The machines with cannons, shooting far into the distance."

"I have mages to do that; it is not that interesting for me."

"Haaah... but I could build a hundred of them."

"I need only one expert mage to shield us from their fire." She countered at once, and I knew this was the difference between how we grew up. She knew about magic from the first day of her life; she was a witch. She couldn't see it from my point of view, especially because she was strong on an individual level and didn't have my experience.

"Fine." I nodded, not pushing the idea because it is her loss, and I won't argue about not arming them with potent weaponry. "Sure. You invited me to your ship, I will make you a mech, and you only need to cover the raw materials. Take it as my gift for a friendly and prosperous future."

"Leon the Sovereign..." she murmured, her eyes revealing an honest surprise. "I like you. I want a machine capable of long-range spells like the one your father has been operating."

"I see. That is easy because we have all the blueprints ready and can manufacture a similar one in a year or so. Not including the training it requires to operate it."

"Don't worry about that, I am a quick learner. List what you need, and I will get it for you!"

"The biggest hurdle is having a charged beast core." I explained, outlining what is serving as the main reactor for the mechs, and after I finished, she closed her eyes, thinking and saying something I didn't expect."

"I can get you three such things."

"What?"

"I said, I can get you three. We have more stashed away. Did you think past Emperors, especially the Emperor of Magic, weren't interested in them? There were times when this Pass was being traversed by armies every year! You are not the first to study them. However, I must acknowledge that you made more discoveries than many others combined..."

"I somewhat guessed you knew of them; I just never saw the proof for you having knowledge about such things."

"We are an empire with a history of two millennia. What do you think?" She laughed proudly, playing with her hair. "I can smuggle out three, no more, or the old monster will notice it. They are kept behind closed doors to be used in dire situations... which, with how prideful my family is, they never expect to ever come."

"What do you want for the other two?" I asked because I knew she wouldn't bring them up for charity if she mentioned she could get two extra cores.

"You talked about thinking ahead of decades, and I do agree with you. So, for each core, I want a 20-year contract to be signed, so 40 years in total."

"Of what?"

"Exclusive rights for your inventions, no matter their importance! I want to be the first in line to acquire them with at least a year ahead of any other nobles or regions and two years ahead of any other nations!"

"You want exclusive licensing rights..." I mumbled, surprised because I wasn't expecting something like this.

"Ummm..." She hummed, quickly figuring out the foreign word, "Yes. If you invent something, I want it before anyone else!"

"What if we invent something I don't want others to have?"

"Tsk..." She clicked her tongue again, shrugging, knowing I wouldn't agree so readily as she expected, "I guess you could keep those inventions you deem top secret. But the moment you decide to... what did you call it? License? The moment you license it to anyone, I am knocking on your doors with our contract! I get them first, before anyone else. Period."

"..."

"I won't claim all your things. Printing? Soaps? Watches? Meh, I don't care; I can pass on those things. But for example, what clothes do your people wear? I liked them last time, too; I want the designs."

"..." I didn't answer her because those weren't my inventions. I didn't want her to modify the wording and alert her to the fact. Plus, I was calculating what it would entail, and I concluded that she was asking for too much.

"So?" She asked after I remained silent for another minute.

"Too much. I am living next to the path to the Beast Lands. I can get cores when winter like this comes."

"Yet you only have two machines built." She smirked, but I wasn't fazed by her.

"Halve the duration! 20 years for the two cores, and I am not giving you the licensing, but you will have a year ahead of everyone else to buy the license from me to produce your own products. If I decide that I will sell the blueprints for something, you will be the first to be notified, along with a 25% discount on what I will offer anybody else a year later."

"Hmmm..." She hummed, now being the one who fell silent. "Seeing what you did to the Frontier, I expect more to come from you... I want a clause in our contract that stipulates that I have the option to place three offers to extend the duration of the contract before it expires."

"Reasonable." I nodded, and after a bit more back and forth, we shook hands on it. Of course, it wasn't official yet, as it still had to be put into writing, and I knew both of us were thinking about its wording. Haaaahhh... I will need to start raising lawyers! I hated negotiating like this because I wasn't sure if I was doing it right or not. Could I think of all the possibilities that could arise when writing and signing such a contract...? Probably not. Oh well. It will be future me who needs to worry about it if something goes wrong!

...
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It remained quiet for three days before another monster appeared, the same kind of spidery, nasty abomination, followed by two armored variants. With the Judgement present, taking them down was much quicker, reinforcing the idea that my mech would have the Scorc Kingdom's magic implemented as weaponry. When explosive spells fail to do damage in time, we need an alternative solution to penetrate.

As the battles continued, we had much fewer casualties this time around, but I knew it wouldn't remain that simple. There is always something up their sleeve, which made me believe there had to be something else on the other side other than simple monsters. I would understand if they came down looking for food. I would get it if stronger ones appeared from time to time, but this was clearly orchestrated. There was a mastermind behind it, and nobody else could tell me otherwise.

There has to be intelligence on the other end, conducting these 'experiments' sending things down and keeping an eye on them in one way or another. I had no other explanation for why they seemed to react to our defenses and try countering them since my inventions began overwhelming them. My best proof was the Emperor of Magic's explanation, telling Merlin that the mountain keeps away the real dangers, leaving only the weak beasts to come over. So, who says no masterminds are sitting at the other end, and they just simply can't come over? Maybe it's because we wouldn't be able to reason with them... who knows. But by now, I firmly believe in my hypothesis. My most recent proof was the 20-meter-tall headcrab that appeared out of the blue. When the Judgement moved in to attack, it sprung up magical shields, blocking its red beams, splitting them into thousands of smaller fragments, and scattering them everywhere, leaving deep marks on the mountain walls.

"Prepare for another burst!" I spoke loudly, my mech's voice booming in the Pass. We didn't have a radio connection with Mirian because I tried to keep that invention a secret, even if it was detrimental at the moment. I was willing to risk it.

Luckily, she heard it, and I saw the Judgement maneuver, turning around, avoiding the snow-covered, jagged rocks. I was also sprinting forward as fast as the Princess could go. Luckily, the beast ignored my approach and focused on the flying ship. It was raising its disc-shaped body on four of its legs, sticking the rest into the air like a mantis preying on its food. I saw its rounded mouth, filled with hundreds of teeth, salivating, ready to catch its enemy while its shield flickered to life just as the Judgment prepared to fire.

"Surprise, motherfucker!" I laughed, activating the Princess's newest weapon, its gauntlet.

Merlin's design worked perfectly as the spell very quickly adapted and injected itself into the beast's magic, even if it was something that came from within its body. I saw it stumble and tremble before the shields shattered, and the Judgement's beams struck its naked body, impaling its form with multiple beams of light.

Watching it fall down, its legs continued twitching, bleeding blue muck everywhere. Still, I couldn't help but grin, feeling confident while switching to my spear and walking closer to finish it. Beasts or old mages... If I can get near enough, I can turn them into regular, magicless beings. Let's see the old monster of Ishillia resist a punch in the face, then!