Stone Raiders' Return (Emerilia Book 6)

by Michael Chatfield

  Cassie’s fingers found his and she looked at him proudly.

  “Yep! Now, just need to get that damn city turning. I’ve got the gardens being worked on, but I want to leave some of the development to my students as a project,” Dave said.

  “Teacher Dave—that’s going to be weird.” Malsour chuckled.

  “Thanks, man. I’ll remember that, jackass.” Dave grinned and watched the miner as it continued to move steadily forward. Lasers from around its body started to cut through the rock; more gravity funnels poured materials into the following cart. Three more miners were off to the side, waiting to go through the teleport pad and help with carving out the power station.

  “Well, we’re going to have to figure out a name for this city sometime. Just calling it the guild hall isn’t going to swing it,” Cassie said.

  “What about Earth? You know, our home before this? Too weird?” Dave looked at them, seeing their less than enthusiastic reactions. “What about Terra?”

  “Terra doesn’t sound bad—kind of like it,” Josh said.

  “Not really all that much thought behind it, but it works.” Cassie shrugged.

  “We’ll put it to a vote. Don’t want Boaty McBoat Face,” Josh said.

  “Who the hell would name anything Boaty McBoat Face?” Malsour asked, puzzled.

  “Have I got a story for you!” Dave said.

  Josh snorted, leaving the teleport pad room as Dave told Malsour the story.

  Cassie put her arm in his as they walked. “Something on your mind?”

  “Just, all of this, it’s—well, it’s way more than I ever thought would be possible. We’re basically making a damn empire for ourselves. It’s pretty crazy.”

  “And exciting,” Cassie added.

  Josh smiled and looked over to her.

  “That it is, love.” He bent over and gave her a kiss. “Dinner at the tavern? I heard that it’s to die for with the cooks all being masters at their skill.”

  “Oh, you romantic.” Cassie giggled as they walked on.

  ***

  Alkao stormed through the government buildings. Anyone who saw the look in his eyes moved out of his way, sticking to the walls.

  You need to do this—no, you HAVE to do this. Alkao firmed his grip on his sword as he walked.

  Guards opened the doors to an office with a single desk and a large window that looked out over Unity and Devil’s Crater.

  “Alkao?” Anna sat on one of the twin couches in the room, cleaning her blade while looking over information on her interface.

  “Anna’kal, I ask if you are interested in going on a date with me.” He said the words so fast that he couldn’t back out of it.

  Anna’s wolfkin eyebrow arched in amusement and the corners of her lips curled upward.

  “Friggin’ Party Zero,” she muttered. Alkao barely caught the words.

  The guards closed the doors. Alkao would have seen the excited and confused looks of those in the hallway, but all his attention was on Anna as she rose from the couch, her tail swishing back and forth.

  She twirled her sword around. “Why do you want to ask me out?”

  No room to back out now!

  “You are smart, strong, sexy, and I can’t get you out of my damned mind. When I’m with you, I want to do anything to keep you around, to continue talking, even making myself look like a complete idiot.” Alkao scratched his head awkwardly. “I wanted to stop hinting at my feelings and put them out in the open. That way, there are no problems between us.”

  “Okay,” Anna said.

  Alkao looked at her, her face unreadable as Alkao’s stomach dropped. After a few moments, he brought himself upright.

  “I’m sorry for wasting your time. I will never talk of these matters again.” Alkao turned. There was a whistling through the air. Alkao turned and ducked, his training instinctively kicking in. He always believed that if he was leading an army, he needed to train as hard as, if not harder than, the lowliest private.

  He turned to find Anna flying through the air toward him. He stumbled backward, crashing through a table, and fell on his ass.

  “I’d like that.” Anna smiled and kissed Alkao’s lips before she jumped off him, a wicked grin on her face as her tail whipped back and forth in an excited manner.

  “Could you have told me that before I broke the damned table?” Relief flooded through Alkao as a weight felt as though it were lifted from his shoulders.

  Anna gave him a hand to help him up. “Well, if you play your cards right, then we might break a lot more than a coffee table with me jumping on you.” Anna wormed under his arm.

  Alkao’s blood drained from his brain as he forgot how to reply.

  “Now, I’m picking where we go for our first date.” Anna pulled away, capturing his hand in hers and towing him toward the door. Alkao half stumbled, still in a state of shock.

  ***

  “I’ve got to go soon; got a lesson to teach.” Dave sat down at his seat with the Council of Anvil and Fire.

  “Good to know that you enjoy my hosting of the bi-weekly meetings.” Quino’s smile took out any bite in his words.

  “Dude, aren’t you coming to the class?” Dave asked.

  “Okay, so getting along with matters at hand. Materials have been distributed—you’ll see that in front of you. We’ve had a number of people express an interest in working for the Cliff-Hill smithies; they’re interested in learning these new techniques and expanding their horizons. The Aleph have made an agreement with us to transfer students between our groups. We will be doing twenty to start, all volunteers, but anyone who wants to go above those numbers is free to do so! The Aleph will also be making various parts for us: artillery, shields, and consumable ammunition. We are looking to follow more in the Aleph’s steps of setting up factories while also keeping our ability to make singular items at a much higher quality level. Cliff-Hill smithy is acting as a test bed in that capacity. Anything that they will learn, they have agreed to share with us. Dave, it’s been said that you have a new income of raw materials?” Quino rattled off.

  “I do; I put all of my gold into Mine Manager so that we would have a resource pool not from the Aleph and the Dwarves, because I know most of this council’s resources are already spoken for, and you are in deals with the Aleph to increase the amount of resources you can use,” Dave said.

  “The Stone Raiders have been storing a lot of resources. Should we be worried about a market drop?” Quino’s voice was serious.

  “Josh knows markets; he will release it so that the markets don’t crash. Also, we have most of those materials already spoken for in different projects,” Dave said.

  “Awesome. Okay, any other issues or problems?” Quino asked. “Nope. All right—see you in class!” He grinned and disappeared.

  Dave rolled his eyes as he exited the conference room, using his interface to change to another. He appeared in a massive auditorium.

  Already, people were there, talking to one another in different groups. Races from all over Emerilia and those with hundreds of different garbs depicted their allegiances, country, or kingdom.

  Thankfully, he had also set it so that they couldn’t see him until he wanted to, kind of making a veil between the class and his stage.

  Dave moved to the front of the classroom. Sitting at the desk that was off to the side, he opened up his interface, posting different windows around him. He tapped his chin in thought as he looked at the different runes and information.

  His level caught his attention.

  Level 222

  You have reached Level 222; you have 366 stat points to use.

  He moved around. Feeling that he was okay, he moved to his stats and started allotting points.

  “Intelligence—let’s move 20 there; 20 to Endurance and another 20 to Agility.” Dave updated the stats.

  Character Sheet

  Name:

  David Grahslagg

  Gender:

  Male

  L
evel:

  160

  Class:

  Dwarven Master Smith, Friend of the Grey God, Bleeder, Librarian, Aleph Engineer, Weapons Master, Champion Slayer, Skill Creator, Mine Manager, Master Summoner

  Race:

  Human/Dwarf

  Alignment:

  Chaotic Neutral

  Unspent points: 306

  Health:

  26,300

  Regen:

  11.06 /s

  Mana:

  8,180

  Regen:

  23.55 /s

  Stamina:

  3,240

  Regen:

  22.00 /s

  Vitality:

  263

  Endurance:

  553

  Intelligence:

  818

  Willpower:

  471

  Strength:

  324

  Agility:

  440

  Dave closed his eyes as the feeling of power passed through him. It lasted for a few minutes before it dissipated.

  “I’ll sleep good tonight.” Dave snorted and moved his hands around to get used to the new Agility and Intelligence stats. His Endurance was so high that he needed only four hours of sleep a night. With everything that was going on, he felt as if it was going to be needed.

  A massive metal man appeared in the room, drawing everyone’s attention.

  Dave was brought out of his thoughts by the sudden silence.

  “I know—I’m usually shocked by my own handsomeness in the morning, too!”

  “Steve, what are you doing in here?” Dave asked, breaking the veil.

  Steve jumped off what must’ve been a twenty-meter high landing, down to the front of the stage, leaving a massive crater in it.

  Dave shook his head and then rested his temple on his fingers.

  “Huh, this place does break like the real world.” Steve got out of the crater.

  “Is this the Steve?” Quino said, appearing faster than a raincloud on a bad day.

  “Steve, Quino.” Dave waved between the two of them. The floor repaired itself, the conference room working.

  “So, you’re the automated man? Damn, those Aleph are a smart bunch!” Quino looked over Steve.

  “Hey, watch your magical senses, pervert!” Steve complained, crossing his legs and placing his hands over his groin.

  “You don’t even have two shiny metal balls,” Dave said.

  “Got more balls than a Orjin whale!” Steve shot back.

  “Gross. So why you here again? Other than seeing if the Mirror of Communication conference rooms can break?” Dave asked.

  “I came to learn. I downloaded all the information in your book, and while I can see where many of your solutions come from, I’m interested in learning more from the master himself,” Steve said.

  “Any particular reason?” Dave asked.

  “Might need it sometime. I am made of Magical Circuits and gears. Kol opened my eyes to that,” Steve said.

  “You see the old geezer?” Dave asked as he looked over to Quino talking with Endur in excited voices. You’d swear they were oversized, hairy, excited schoolgirls talking about their crush.

  “Yeah, he’s working on getting the DCA fitted with their armor and repairing the high-leveled weapons of the adventurers coming through. I’m in the city right now,” Steve said.

  “Nice!” An alarm went off on Dave’s interface. “We’ll catch up afterward in the Aleph Guild Hall. If you enjoy this, then you’ll enjoy what we’ve done.”

  “See you afterward.” Steve went to find a seat. A big group of Dwarves battered Steve with questions, Quino leading them.

  Dave rolled his eyes; he stood up from his desk and moved to the lectern in the middle of the stage.

  He’d hated presentations when he was a younger man, but he’d had to get over that fear with Rock Breakers. Here and now, he was excited to open minds and teach everyone a passion that had driven him to this very spot.

  “Hello, everyone. Please grab a seat. My name is Dave Grahslagg. I created this little skill called magical coding and I think it could change Emerilia as we know it. I hope you’re ready for it!” Dave looked at those faces and dozens of races representing hundreds of cities, towns, and villages. They were Emerilia, from the highest Player to the lowest POE.

  They were his brothers and sisters, the prisoners of Emerilia and the future of the Human race. Dave’s eyes drifted over them as he smiled.

  “Well, let’s get started, shall we?”

  Chapter 4: Date Night

  Dave worked the armor into its correct form. He put the hammer down, pulling the heat from the metal, and settling it back into a wearable state. He placed it on the bunny Beast Kin soldier.

  “How does that feel?” Dave asked.

  The bunny moved and turned, checking its movement and the new knee armor Dave had given them for their larger knee joint. “Damn, feels comfortable.” The bunny moved through a few practice movements.

  “Check it out for an hour or so. If you like it, then tell your lieutenant. If not, come back here and I’ll fix any issues,” Dave said.

  “Thanks, man!” The bunny got out of the way of the next soldier coming in.

  “Well, you are one big bastard, huh?” Dave looked up at the gorilla Beast Kin.

  “And you are small, but thick,” the Beast Kin said.

  Dave laughed. He moved to the racks of pre-made armor and grabbed the different parts he would need. “I’m guessing that you like being able to take a few hits and smash through those fighting you?”

  “I have this body. I might as well use it.”

  Dave nodded and started to form pieces of armor with the blowtorches and anvil behind him.

  “Why are you already altering it? Don’t you need to size me?” the gorilla asked.

  “All in my head,” Dave said, his hammer falling rhythmically on the armor. “I have a high Intelligence stat, so doing something like looking at another person and figuring out their dimensions isn’t that hard. From there, I just shape this as best as I think, then give it to you, do some personal alterations and then good to go,” Dave said.

  “Master Dave is a machine,” another smith veteran said to Dave’s right, where they were hammering out their own armor for their customer.

  “That is impressive,” the gorilla said.

  Dave picked up on the sadness in his voice. “You ever thought about becoming a smith?”

  “I did at one time, but I am all strength and no form. I can hammer metal flat easy enough and I want to do the detailed work, but I’ve never been able to,” the gorilla said.

  Dave looked to the gorilla with a frown. “Hasn’t anyone ever taught you?”

  “Well, no. I am too big and clumsy. I make a lot of problems in the smithy,” the gorilla said, as if the idea was idiotic.

  “But you hammered metal out?” Dave asked.

  “It was the closest I could get. Having someone to make metal sheets is rather useful.” The gorilla sighed. “I wanted to do something with my life. I’m big and strong; I can fight or labor. If I fight, then I can maybe do something with my life and attract a mate.”

  “Well, I don’t see why you can’t learn smithing. I know that there are a bunch of Demons and other Beast Kin doing it. I don’t see why you couldn’t. If you’re in a military contract, then I know that Devil’s Crater is in need for skilled armorers to keep this stuff in the best condition and perform repairs on it,” Dave said.

  “You think that they would have me?” the gorilla asked.

  “I know that here, with Cliff-Hill smithies, we will accept anyone who is willing to learn the craft. We have an agreement to teach Devil’s Crater armorers. You could get in through that program, if you want to talk to your lieutenant?” Dave said.

  “Uh, I think I might do that.” The gorilla rose from its squat.

  “I never caught your name,” Dave asked.

  “George.” The gorilla smiled.

&nb
sp; “Well, hope to see you around the smithy more, George.” Dave smiled and held out a hand. George took it, shaking before leaving to find his lieutenant, his new armor slung over his shoulder.

  A whistle blew in the distance, the afternoon shift being replaced by the early night crew. The Cliff-Hill smithies never slept. The DCA platoon marched off, a new one arriving and moving to the smiths, ready to start fitting their armor.

  Dave cooled off the pieces he’d been working on and put them back on the various piles around the smithy. He sat down at a workbench and took out a carver and a soul gem covered in a thick ebony band.

  Kol found him not too much later, sitting down at his own workbench, drinking from his canteen and wiping the day’s sweat from his brow.

  Dave cracked his back and smiled, remembering his class the other day. He opened his skill menu finding his Teacher skill.

  Active Skill: Teacher

  Level: Journeyman Level 9

  Effect: You can teach people skills that you have prior knowledge of, up to your level of ability. Your students are 10% more likely to understand what you’re teaching them. Teaching on subjects you have a higher knowledge on will yield higher results. Teaching skills you have mastered or created give higher chance for students understanding your lessons.

  “So, seems that the effectiveness of the skill only increases when it goes up by entire grades. So, I will probably see it only increase when I make it to Expert level,” Dave said.

  If the level was to increase every time, then he could essentially speak in a different language and people might be able to understand him. With teaching, it was not only about the information but the way it was presented, putting a lot of pressure directly on the teacher. No stat or boost could completely solve this.

  Dave stepped into a part of the smithy he had made his own. He dismissed the skill screen and pulled out a soul gem wrapped in ebony metal.