by Eric Vall
“What about the new automatons?” Aurora asked and hopped up from my lap to get a closer look at their arms. “I see you’ve already assembled the death machetes, but will their magazines be runed?”
“Hell yeah, they will,” I assured her, and this completely turned Cayla’s mood around as the princess clutched my arm in excitement. “One’s going to shoot the lightning laced bullets, and the other will have the fireballs. I think I’ll send the lightning guy to the Oculus, but if the Master does end up taking things up a notch soon, I’m gonna try to make a whole damn fleet of these guys.”
“You could send one to each post,” Aurora suggested.
“Maybe a couple to Cedis,” Cayla added hopefully.
“Absolutely.” I nodded. “The way this build is going, I should finish two in only a few hours, which means if I put in three days worth of work, I could have over a dozen made. The only problem would be the channeling gems, but I may just have to ride Deya to Jagruel and get a whole stash if it comes down to it. I don’t like the idea of leaving you all in Falmount while I’m out there, but if the Elders will spare me even two channeling gems to get these guys up and running, then you’ll be taken care of here in the mansion until I get back.”
Cayla suddenly gasped and shot up from my lap. “I forgot Harold!”
“Who?”
“Harold, dear, please come in,” Cayla called toward the entryway, and a moment later, a somber faced man in a smart suit entered the atrium.
He had impeccably combed gray hair with wiry eyebrows that he must have trimmed regularly to maintain appearances, and he offered a low bow as he came to a stop beside Cayla.
“Mason, this is Harold,” the princess explained. “He was the surprise. I’ve hired him to look after the mansion for us. He’ll be our butler.”
“You got us a butler?” I asked and cocked a brow. So, this was the extra heartbeat I’d heard earlier.
“Of course, I did,” Cayla replied. “A baron should not be sprinting to answer his own door every few minutes, and his ladies shouldn’t have to spend half their day in the kitchen. We’re too busy with training and keeping you sexually satisfied.”
I cleared my throat as I flicked my eyes toward the prim old butler, but the princess just waved off my concerns.
“Harold adheres to the utmost professionalism, Mason, which is precisely why I insisted my father send him here for us. He’s kept my father’s household in order for decades, and I would trust no one less qualified than Harold to keep my baron’s home as orderly.”
“Wait a minute,” I said as I eyed the man in the suit once more, “you’re King Balmier’s personal butler?”
“Yes, sir,” he answered, and his voice was deep and aged, but firm.
I raised my brows. “Then it’s an honor to have you here with us, Harold.”
“The honor is mine, sir.”
“Damn,” I chuckled. “Alright. Well, we don’t have too much going on here, but answering the door would be helpful.”
Cayla sighed and sent me a pointed look, but I honestly didn’t know what to say to the guy. I’d never had a butler before, and now that I did, I had no idea what to do with him.
“What did you do for King Balmier?” I asked so I could hopefully understand his position more.
“At Eyton Castle, I supervised all household staff and personally attended to the king’s needs. My daily duties included surveying the manor, coordinating the service of each meal, managing the wine cellar, maintaining the king’s private quarters, and assisting him in any way he required.”
The man rambled on, but I was only half-listening because it suddenly occurred to me that my childhood dreams had finally come true, and I was actually the Batman of this realm, complete with aged butler who would probably end up more of a confidant and bat cave director.
“I am also accustomed to handling the hiring of any additional household staff,” the butler continued. “I take my tea at one o’clock on the dot each day, and I attend courses with the Order of Pallax each spring in order to ensure I am capable of administering the basic doctoral needs should an emergency arise.”
“It’s true.” Cayla nodded. “I once saw Harold save the life of a maid when she choked on a biscuit in the courtyard. Very heroic.”
“Thank you, my lady,” Harold replied.
Aurora’s eyes gleamed. “Do we all get to be ladies now?”
“Is that how this works?” I asked Harold.
“Mason, this is your household,” Cayla reminded me. “You decide how your servants are to address yourself and your women.”
“Right,” I chuckled. “Well, then--”
“Make him call me Your Highness!” Aurora blurted, and the princess’ eyes flared. “No, Your Excellency! No, Goddess! Wait … that would be in poor taste.”
“Yeah, probably,” I muttered.
“Harold,” Cayla sighed, “you are to address myself and all of Baron Flynt’s women as Lady, if you please.”
“Certainly, Lady Cayla.”
“Ooo, do me next!” Aurora begged.
“Lady Aurora,” Harold promptly replied, and he offered the half-elf a bow that sent her into a tizzy of giggles. “Baron Flynt, if it is of no concern to you, I am accustomed to simply being addressed as Harold.”
“That’s fine, but as a counteroffer … could I call you Alfred?” I tossed back.
“His name is Harold,” Cayla clarified.
“Yeah, but … could I call him Alfred?”
We all looked at the butler, and the man’s solemn expression didn’t waver by even an inch.
“Certainly, sir,” he replied. “Alfred will do.”
“Shit yeah!” I said with a broad grin. “I can’t believe I have my own Alfred. This day just keeps getting better and better.”
“Is Alfred what you call a butler in your realm?” Aurora asked.
“Only the best ones,” I sighed, and I reached around her waist to catch Stan in my palm since he was trying to get our attention by dancing around on the table.
Then I held Stan out to the butler, and I eyed the old man carefully to gauge his reaction, but swear to the gods, he didn’t even flinch.
“Alfred, this is Stan,” I told him.
“Pleasure to meet you, Stan.”
Stan returned the butler’s prim bow, and I furrowed my brows as I considered how completely unruffled he was.
“Stan’s … our little metal man,” I slowly continued. “He’s kind of alive.”
“Yes, sir,” Alfred replied.
“I told you,” Cayla muttered, and she sent me a smug smirk. “The utmost professionalism.”
“Okay, then!” I laughed and shrugged. “Welcome to the family, Alfred. Am I supposed to give you some kind of tour or …?”
“I’ll see that Alfred is settled and understands the way things work around here,” Cayla assured me. “You just focus on getting those automatons completed, and if there is anything at all that you require, Alfred is right here to assist you at any hour of the day.”
“Me, too?” Aurora clarified, and she sent the butler a cheeky grin.
“Certainly, Lady Aurora,” the man answered.
I smirked as my half-elf fell into another fit of giggles, and Cayla rolled her eyes before she motioned for the man to follow her from the atrium.
“Mason, did you hear what he called me?” Aurora squealed as I made my way back to my stool. “I’m a lady now!”
“I can still have him call you Your Highness,” I offered. “I don’t mind in the slightest.”
“No, Lady Aurora sounds perfect,” the half-elf sighed, “and I love the way he calls you sir. You should keep that.”
“Deal,” I chuckled.
I sparked my metal magic and was about to begin my work again, but then I glanced over at Aurora. She was sitting on the work table beside me with Stan perched on her head, and both of them were staring intently at me.
“We just want to watch,” the half-elf said. “
I’ve never seen you work at this pace before, and it’s fascinating for me since my element doesn’t work in this way whatsoever.”
“Okay, but I’m not taking any breaks,” I informed her.
“Okay, no breaks,” she snickered.
“I mean it,” I chuckled. “I know how your mind works. You are going to get all hot and bothered and then--”
“Fine,” she sighed. “You just took some of the fun out of it, though.”
“This is a marathon building session, so you’ll have to save any questions until the end.”
“As you wish.” Aurora dutifully pressed her finger to her lips, and Stan saluted before he nestled into her braids to get more comfortable.
I couldn’t help shaking my head at the two of them, but then I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, and the massive helm I’d dropped to the floor rose up to mount itself on the metal giant’s neck.
“Mason,” Aurora suddenly whispered, and I opened my eyes just a sliver. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered back, and then I drifted deep into my metal guru state as I gradually picked up speed.
Within a few minutes, I forgot anyone was in the room with me, and my head was filled with the gleaming outline of two massive automatons currently being built up, while chunks of steel reformed itself into stout plates and was bolted into place. I fused copper wiring throughout each metal frame while I tested the rotation of their joints one by one, and as I summoned a pile of slim copper bullets to load into their left arms, I also sharpened the blade of each death machete.
A dull ache began behind my eyes after a while of multitasking like this, but my metal magic didn’t falter, and I was able to secure every part into place and form two modified pistols to be engraved before I finally broke my connection with my powers.
The room pitched sideways when I opened my eyes, and I had to blink several times because my vision was blurry.
“Ouch,” I muttered, and I rubbed my temples.
“Are you alright?” Aurora asked, and her tone was worried.
“Yeah, just worn out,” I sighed, and that’s when I realized the light in the atrium had faded to dusk. “How long was I working?”
“Hours,” the half-elf informed me, and she pointed to Stan curled up asleep on her head. “That was incredible, though. Mason, do you realize how far you’ve come with your magery? There wasn’t a single moment when something wasn’t being done, and I could see the metal reshaping itself as you worked the ball mounts into their sockets. The blades got shinier as you sharpened them, too! It was all so … mesmerizing. You didn’t move at all, not even once.”
“That explains the stiff muscles,” I chuckled as I cracked my back in a few places and stood to stretch out.
Still, two hulking automatons were now taking up half the atrium floor, and all that was left to do was engrave the runes and mount their pistols.
“I’m so proud of you,” Aurora murmured.
I grinned as I came over to the table, and the half-elf slid her thighs around my hips as I pulled her into my arms.
“At this rate, you’ll be surpassing Abrus in your abilities,” she teased, and I rolled my eyes.
“I’m not even passing up Hulsan yet,” I corrected.
“What makes you say that?”
“He was expanding the Master’s fortress from across the foothills,” I snorted, “and he did it without anyone being able to sense his magery at work. Remember in Jagruel when he told us about sending our powers outside of ourselves and directing them anywhere we wanted? That’s the level I want to get to.”
“Gods, that would be fun,” Aurora mused as I looped a braid behind her pointed ear. “I could ignite whole forests and barricade whole cities from the Master’s soldiers.”
“I could bring a mountain down on that fortress of his,” I chuckled. “At least I think I could, I’m not entirely sure how thorough his defenses are, but I’d be willing to try.”
Aurora nodded in agreement as I turned toward the cabinet, and I pulled my engraving kit out before I sat at the table and slid the first pistol over. Then I sparked my metal powers to split the barrel down the middle, and I lined the interior wall with a thin layer of copper.
I was just raising my engraving tool to begin on the trigger rune, but Aurora opened her mouth like she was about to say something, and I paused.
Then she closed her mouth again and furrowed her brow instead.
“What is it?” I chuckled.
“Are you … ” she began, and her emerald eyes studied me carefully. “Mason, are you sure you can’t do what Hulsan did with the fortress?”
“I tried to connect with the stonework when I was there with Deya last week,” I said with a shrug. “Something repelled my powers. I couldn’t even alter the surrounding terrain.”
“No, I don’t mean like that,” Aurora clarified. “I’m talking about projecting your powers outside of yourself like Hulsan did to expand the fortress all that time. Are you sure you’ve never done this?”
“I think I’d notice,” I snorted. “Why do you ask?”
“Because the first time we went to Mors Pass, you summoned Bobbie,” the half-elf recalled. “Remember? We were trapped under that ledge, and the black dragon was coming after us, and you summoned Bobbie to bring the bazooka closer for Cayla. She was miles from there.”
I furrowed my brow. “I guess that’s true, but wouldn’t I notice if I separated from my powers?”
“Unless you’d never done it before. Tell me, did you summon Bobbie and then think for a while, or did you only open your eyes after you finished connecting with her?”
“I don’t usually just think with my eyes closed,” I said with a smirk. “If my eyes are closed, I’m always focusing on my powers.”
“Then you must have done it!” Aurora exclaimed, and she clutched my arm. “Mason, I stopped sensing your magery minutes before you reopened your eyes. I remember because you had sweat dripping down your temple, and it made me really, really want to have sex with you. I thought you were waiting for Bobbie to get there since I didn’t sense you magery, and I wanted to have sex with you while we had a spare moment, but then you opened your eyes and looked so serious, so I snapped out of it and focused. Then you jumped Deya, though, and--”
“Hold on,” I cut in. “All sexy rambling aside, are you positive I still had my eyes closed, and you weren’t sensing anything? Not even a flicker or a spark of magery?”
“I’m certain,” she replied. “There was no static presence from your magery, and both waiting for Bobbie and thinking seemed like something you could easily do while also having sex with me.”
“But I don’t think with my eyes closed,” I muttered half to myself, and my heartrate quickened. That first day at Mors Pass really had been the first time I’d utilized my magery from so far a distance, and Aurora had a good point about me not recognizing what I’d done if I’d never tried it before.
“Do it now,” Aurora urged. “Send your powers as far from you as possible, and I’ll tap your arm if I stop sensing the presence of your magery.”
“It’s worth a try,” I agreed, “but I’m using my Terra powers because my metal magic is wearing out after all that building.”
“What’s worth a try?” Shoshanne yawned, and I turned to see her and Deya tucking their sheer robes around their glistening figures.
Their hair was extra wavy after spending half the day in the moist jungle, and they shuffled over like a pair of sleepy sex kittens after a day at the spa.
“So tired,” Deya sighed as she slid her ass onto my lap.
“Have you two been lounging in that pool this whole time?” I chuckled.
“Mm-hmm.” Shoshanne nodded. “Will you come sleep with us? We’re so tired now, and we want to cuddle with you.”
I crinkled my brow at the adorable way the healer’s lips puckered as her eyes slid shut, but Aurora answered for me.
“Mason is testing his Terra skills an
d building automatons to defend the realm,” she informed the two women. “He can cuddle with you when he’s done.”
“No, now is good,” Deya mumbled, and she slid her arms around my waist as she buried her face against the crook of my neck.
I just grinned and happily rested my hands on the elf’s thighs and ass, and then I closed my eyes again to summon my Terra powers.
“Shoshanne, the moment we can’t sense Mason’s magery, tap his arm,” Aurora instructed.
The healer let out another yawn in response, and I tried to focus on the task at hand despite the two steamy, snuggly women that smelled almost exactly like chocolate cake.
I realized I was salivating after a minute, but I did manage to send my Terra powers through the soil of Falmount and beyond, and once I reached the road to Serin, I followed it east. I didn’t push my magic outward so much as let it travel on a long thin line along the road, but I could still sense every bump, ditch, and pile of horse shit along the way.
I was nearly to the capital with my jaw locked hard in concentration when both Aurora and Shoshanne tapped my arms, and my heart began to pound heavy with excitement. I could hardly believe I’d done it, but part of me realized there was a distinct difference in how my powers felt now, and I tried to memorize that feeling so I would recognize it again.
Then I kept going further, and when I got to the gates of Serin, I decided to test my abilities at this distance as I felt Simun and Goreth’s boots shifting across the dirt. They must have been tired from a long day standing guard, because I could sense they had their weight propped against the gate, and I couldn’t help grinning to myself as I shifted the ground beneath them ever so slightly.
Right away, I knew the strength of my magery was weakened at this distance, but I did manage to throw the two men off balance and send them stumbling.
I was about to break my connection when another thing Hulsan had said came to mind, and I slowly called my powers back to me.
“Can you two do me a favor?” I mumbled.
“Of course,” Aurora replied.
“Both of you summon your powers,” I instructed, and as I eased my connection with my Terra Powers, I shifted back into my metal magic.