Steel and Mana

The forge was already running within the mountain base when I arrived. I could tell before seeing it that it was the case, as everything smelled like hot metal and lubricant oil... and the stench of burnt blood. Yep... I bet they were already using the requested monster blood to fill the cannisters or test the channels connecting the runes that will go onto the mech's frame. Which means, Merlin was doing voluntary overtime... again. Well... All things considered, this was the most metal thing we had done yet, pun intended.

"Morning," Merlin greeted me from halfway up a scaffold, using CC and his own magic to finish etching one of the runes into the arm of the machine. "You look refreshed!"

"And you are not," I answered, stepping closer to the scaffolding. "Didn't I tell you to go home and sleep properly?"

"Right. And I did." He swore, looking down at me, "Thing is, I was excited, so I woke up early and here I am."

"Sure," I muttered, shaking my head.

The latest variant of our mech, well, what would become one, as currently it only had its legs and torso attached, with the one arm that Merlin was working on now, stood before me as I began circling it, checking its shape and form. Its chest cavity was still open, waiting for its core, while its head was also missing, along with most of the shoulder plates and weapon installations going onto its frame. As for what type of weapons we are talking about, I haven't decided yet. But, if this works and it is going to be able to manipulate beasts, I will need it to stay behind, undisturbed, so most likely some kind of long-range weaponry. While thinking about it, Galahad arrived next, and the dark circles under his eyes gave away that he also refused to follow my orders and sleep well. Bunch of rebels!

"I double checked the rune connections," he said, lifting a bundle of rolled-up papers. "I re-checked every curve three times. No gaps, no inversions, we can apply them!"

"Too late," I nodded towards Merlin, "He already began etching them in place hours ago while we all slept. You slept, right?"

"A bit." Galahad nodded, avoiding eye contact.

"I trust our work," Merlin snorted, hanging above us. "I aim high, why don't you?"

"Nothing else we can do," I shrugged, looking at my son, "Come, let's join in. And if any of you complain, I'll say nothing... I told you both to take resting seriously!"

Because mech's frame was already half-decorated, Galahad and I began making the blood channels that would be responsible for the literal energy flow. It was what we needed to establish proper circulation between the formation different 'sectors' and 'loops.' The workers assigned to our group were, once again, led by Kraus, who supervised the construction of the machine as his technicians rolled out thick tubes of translucent piping. We made sure that we could watch the blood flow, and notice any irregularities, at least, for now. Later on, we may cover them or something, but we had to see everything while testing. After the fifth hour, most of them were fitted into their completed channels, going around and inside the mech's frame like actual, artificial veins. Galahad marked each connection point, reinforcing them with clamps.

"Pressure valves set to sixty percent," Kraus reported, tapping the gauge as we began testing the tubes and cylinders, now attached to the machine's back, pumping the very first flow through them. "Any higher and we risk blowing out the joints without proper stress testing."

"Keep it as it is," I said, climbing up to the shoulder platform, watching it go over and head back down to the secondary blood chamber. "We must test with actual monster blood, because we can't tell if we pump anything else into the channels, would they dilute or disturb it. Plus, we have them in spades so..."

"It will be fine!" Merlin grinned up at me, standing with Kraus. "It can take it! Just a few rounds of circulation and it will flow like it was made to be like this!"

"Just don't kill the patient before it's born." Galahad warned him, "A magical reaction or explosion would not be... fun." Yeah, that wouldn't be... But luckily, it didn't happen, and the first round of blood began flowing nicely, showing us that so far everything was going as expected. Galahad, crouched by the mech's thigh, watching the blood flow upwards, suddenly asked, a bit unsure, "Is it supposed to look like it's breathing?"

"The pumps are set to mimic a heartbeat," Merlin nodded. "It is best if we try to simulate an actual body rather than to mechanize it fully. Well, if it works, we can start testing how far we can stretch it until it stops working. For now, we are sticking to mimicry."

With a few more rounds, we had it all checked and completed. There were no leaks, and from one canister, the blood flowed to the next without getting clogged, going back and forth, giving a lovely, red shimmer to the metal frame. I wonder what will happen when we put the core in, though. So, without forgoing the thought of lunch, of course, and forcing the two to take a more extended break, by the afternoon, it was time to slot it into place.

"Bring it further in," I called, as two cranes began lowering the containment pod that was already holding the monster core, attached to its slot, ready to simply slide into its housing as in every other mech.

Stolen story; please report.

"Do we know what kind of beast this one is from?" Galahad asked as he watched it get moved into place.

"Yeah," Merlin nodded, "It comes from Markoth, last year. Originally, this was in a monster that was of a similar height to this mech, maybe a head taller at best. As for its magic, it spews fire at the walls, but then it was obliterated by the cannons before it could get close."

"It should count as a medium-sized one," I said from the top, guiding it in, watching as the core slid into place, and we began locking it and securing its harnesses.

"I didn't know we had a list of beasts now," Merlin said, aiming the comment at me.

"It's just in my head." I answered, "Anything that is small and without a Core is a low-grade beast. Anthying matching our mechs, being taller by two heads, are medium-grade. Anything bigger is high-grade. Simple, and I don't want to go into more details as we already know, most of these bastards vary a lot!"

Then, just as I finished and everything got locked into place, suddenly there was an unmistakable hum resonating through the mech, something that previously did not really happen. Like... ever.

"The heart is online," Merlin whispered. "I think this was a good sign, let me check!" He rushed over, using his magic and also reading the flow from his instruments, "Hm, hm. All good! Power flow is balanced and there is no leakage."

"Check the loops, too!" I yelled, "Make sure the blood doesn't get flowing without order! It could also ruin the pipes and pumps if it forces itself through."

"Nothing," Galahad's eyes darted across the readings on his slate, "Main circuit is holding up, the valves are currently closed, and the pressure didn't seem to change within. I don't know if there is a reaction in the blood, though."

"There is," Merlin said, grinning, "she's alive. I can tell."

"Good?" I asked, being unsure of such news.

"Good." Merlin nodded, "It's stable."

"I'd like to keep it that way." I shrugged, "Okay, let's put everything together, including the cockpit."

And with that, the rest of the day was nothing but playing with Lego, pure assembly, piece by piece. Pretty much zen-style meditation, if you ask me. We sealed the chest plating, then the arms came next along with the legs while I oversaw the installation of the pilot's cockpit, that was made in a way that could be ejected. It wasn't anything complicated, just an emergency formation, turning its weight to zero, and then flinging it out and away. It also needs testing, but... Should work. And if it does, it will have to be applied to all the other mechs, retroactively.

By nightfall, the mech stood complete, and I felt just as proud as when we built our very first model. For now, it was mostly black and unpainted, looking like most of the other mechs with a bit more protruding head and with a backpack of canisters. With them attached, the weapon-flipping mechanism had to be trashed, so there was no way to mount shoulder cannons to flip them into a rest position. Well, that is for later to think about; now we had to make sure the thing itself was working.

"Nice!" Merlin leaned back, wiping his forehead with a rag. "Well, I would even say that she's gorgeous."

"Don't flirt with my prototype," I joked, "Not behind your wife's back."

"You know that I will enter it first," he shot back at me, countering my joke.

"Nope." I grunted, "Believe it or not, neither of you is capable of properly testing it."

"What do you mean?" They looked at me, making me smile.

"I have red hair, you two don't. End of discussion."

...
....
......

There was a little back and forth the following day or so, of course, about who would test the machine. But even Sasha agreed that it will be me. This monster-manipulation did play on the theory behind the Vasa bloodline, and we had it; Merlin did not. And of course, we wouldn't let either Leyla or Arthur try their hands at piloting this mech, so it was either me or her. And because I had already contacted Zah'Ratil once, intercepting his call to Arthur, it was evident I did have some kind of connection to them, more so than the Vasas would agree on. I was even gently sensing beasts in the past... So... I was confident.

What she didn't agree with was who would test the emergency ejection. In the end, it was decided that nobody would activate it, and we would do it remotely. As for the test, it happened outside, about two days after the mech was finished, Merlin being the one activating the release. It performed as intended, as the head-unit got separated without issues, first flying upwards, like a mini rocket, shedding its plating and then, while being weightless, another burst sent it backwards, making it land a few hundred meters away. It was a bit of a rough landing, though, so we had to prepare a new cockpit because it got deformed, even after landing in a pile of snow... but it could save the pilot's life, I think. So it's a worthy tradeoff. But I also wanted to install a directional control that could decide in which direction the head would fly off. We don't want to go into one way only, ending up in another monster's mouth... But I left that to Merlin and Galahad... as I had to focus on the coming test.

Sitting down in the new cockpit, getting sealed into the darkness inside, I took a deep breath, and there was nothing else to wait for. After activation, the rest was coming together as usual, reminding me of the first time I tested the first mech we ever built. But then again, there was a change when the Imaginary kicked in, and I was given full control over the machine.

"Whoa..."

"What is it?" Sasha asked, her voice echoing in my ear as their group watched from a safe distance.

"Vivid." I answered simply, "Everything feels more... definitive. I'm also a bit cold."

"What do you mean?" She asked again, maybe a bit more worried than she wanted to show.

"I mean, I feel the snow." I raised a leg and so did the mech, looking down, "And the wind. It isn't bone-chilling, but I do feel that it's cold, and I can tell which direction it's coming from. Heh... I can even smell things! Weird... Merlin, is this because of the blood?"

"Could be," He replied after a momentary pause, thinking, "I don't actually know, but I have no other idea. Anything else? Anything new?"

"Let me check."

For the next few moments, I kept moving around, testing, trying to get a feel, and what I could tell was that everything felt sharper. When I looked, my eyes and through it the Imaginary adjusted instantly, precisely following the instructions from my brain without me moving the controls. It was linked to my body, as if I was 'jacked in' or wearing some super modern suit that plugged me into the matrix. If this will be the same for all our future Knights... I may have to implement this for all the other mechs.

Or... Even to other things.

"I think," I spoke up again, feeling confident, "What remains is getting me to the Pride... and to let me test this out on an actual monster."