Eostia: Harem Quest

by EostianScribe

The Gods have given mortals the power of The Gamer as a pass time. A hobby. A means to compete and relax. One goddess, however, sees it as a means of salvation; starting with one world. As such, she rolls the dice... (Harem, Citrus and Eventual Dark Content Warning)

96. Act IV-Ch I: A Brand New Enterprise

[ - Author's Note - ]

Whew... First chapter of Act Four, let's go! But first... Story stats!

On FFDotNet the word count (Before this chapter) is 1,616,300 with 1,959 reviews, is in 14 community archives, has 2,422 favs and 2,556 alerts! Views are listed as 796,012... but it wasn't counting views for the better part of two months so it should be much higher... Oh well...

On AO3 we have 1,580,931 as a word count, 3,119 comments, 1,008 kudos, 283 bookmarks and 219,044 hits!

Whew...

So... What's this chapter about... Well, James' large scale project that was mentioned over and over until now is on center stage, a look in at a couple of places and a hint as to what will happen next chapter... Honestly, let's admit it, you wanna see the large scale project so let's stop wasting time and start.

[ - Act IV - Chapter I: A Brand New Enterprise - ]

A nation that rules the seas rules more then one thinks. The paths made by rivers, lakes and oceans by water allows for faster transport of goods, peoples, military force and messages. A nation with sufficient naval power can choke another's economy and bend it's rulers to what whims desired through blockade and offensive action. More importantly, for an island nation such as ours, it provides a key defense ensuring our own nation is neither besieged nor blockaded; or at least ensuring that the attempt to do so is too expensive in ships and manpower to be worth the effort. Only ruling the air would be more valuable but luckily for us man is not meant to fly.

~Sirius Stolos, High Admiral of the 1st Fleet, Plutocracy of Zenith

[-]

"There we go..." I let off, huffing a bit with effort as I set the last crate into place. I had been preparing for this for sometime now... Seventy crates of spell fiber, almost all of it with the same magical signature (I double then triple checked them myself) were loaded on my Cloud Rider; those not of the same signature would have their use as well. The two large spell stones I owned, one from the Spell Sands and one salvaged from that weird steampunk tank, were loaded as well in another crate In addition I had the resin mix needed to secure the spell fiber in excess ready to go and crated up as well; just add water. I had packed up what I needed for the trip and made sure to explain where I was going and how long I'd be gone to my parents; although I left why a secret for now.

Naturally I wasn't allowed to go alone (Not that I had planned on that) and Riri, Makoto, Kelly Connors and one of Gregory's men by the name of Carl Haffock would come along as bodyguards and assistants. In addition Aeris opted to come along with a smile on her face; I didn't ask but I suspected she had an idea as to my plan. "So... what is it you have planned?" Makoto asked as I chuckled lightly.

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you." I said with a chuckle. "Don't worry; it won't be long until we get there and all will become clear." She gave me a look, a flat look of 'Really? Really?' but still said nothing else save to set her travel trunk into the back of the wagon, behind the bench. Once done I would get behind the controls with Aeris by my side and Riri my other side. Makoto, Kelly and Carl would move to the back and sit on the crates (The benches in the back were raised to make loading a bit easier) and soon I drove us out of the manor grounds, waving to the guards as we went.

The weather was fair; snow was still on the ground and the odd flake floated downwards but the skies were mostly clear and the sun was out. As such as I took us up to the air and guided us southwards it was a gentle and smooth ride as I brought us to altitude.

I was grinning in anticipation...

[-]

"Whew!" Miria let off as she ran through the backyard before coming to a spot. It wasn't special and chosen at random for no reason beyond it looked soft enough as she gave a soft hop, flipped to land on her back and laid down; legs and arms splayed out and started to drag them up and down, back and forth on the ground; snow moving aside as she playfully made a snow angel with a grin.

Thanks to the small necklace with a weak but effective spell stone on it she didn't need to change out of her usual outfit to stay warm; she could have come out nude with nothing else on her and she'd be cozy warm. Sure, laying on the snow like this dimmed that warmth a bit as she enjoyed the winter but it was little more then touching a cool anvil.

"Yaaahooo!" Miika cried out as Miria looked over watching her sister jump off the fence of the horse pasture and into a large pile of snow that had been piled up with Aeris' wind magic the other day; a pile large enough that as a puff of fluff lifted up from the point of impact as she was fully buried within as White Peach watched from a distance. The pile shifted before her head poked up from the pile, flying off as she shook her head about. "It's so fluffy!" The young girl declared. Miria chuckled, rolling over before standing.

Honestly, she was sure her reaction was the same... if more subdued; she had gone through more then her sister had... and thankfully only one of them had to. She was amazed at the strange, frozen fluff that fell from the sky the first time and when she saw it she burst into her brothers room and exclaimed 'the world is covered in cotton!' having little else to compare it to. It was the most amazing thing ever!

Her brother stuck his head up off his pillow, looked out the window, said 'it's just snow' and went back to sleep, unimpressed. It was... a contrast that something new and strange to her was common and uninteresting to another; not that he wasn't able to have fun with it as once he was out of bed he taught her of the joys of snowballs as they ambushed their father with fluffy ammunition...

...and quickly understood their mistake as they were buried in a mini snow storm; picking a snowball fight with a Grand Magus was a poor choice.

'Your little sister on the other hand...' She grinned and hopped out of her snow angel as Miika dug herself out of the snow pile she was in, crawling forth like she was on the hunt. Quickly she made four, quick snowballs before kneeling up and making one more. As Miika finally got out of the pile and shook herself off Miria let the first ball fly, letting the light missile soar through the air and impact the side of Miika's head. "Hey!" Miria snickered, picking up her second ball and threw it; this time Miika ducked and quickly moved to collect her own snowball, being pelted in the shoulder by the third throw. "No fair!"

"All's fair in love and snowballs!" Miria replied, rapid firing her last two balls before Miika threw her first ball; the attack falling short as both girls, younger and older, moved to reload. Miria threw first as Miika ducked and threw; this time impacting Miria's hip.

By the time Mokria came out to check on his daughter and his former-now-reconnecting-daughter he found them rolling in a pile of snow, coated in lightly melting snow; the younger being tickled by the older and gave a chuckle with a soft smile. He didn't understand what happened or why; that two sisters so separated by birth and age could connect so was worth almost everything...

[-]

Traveling to South Point took a day and change; we had lunch en route as we went to the coast of the Great Lake and our destination of Port Saint Carter. It was a fairly busy day, which wasn't unexpected; patches of snow were left on the ground but it was mostly cleared off and gone. Wagons were coming to and fro and some even stopped to watch as we landed only for their occupants to wave excitedly as they realized who I was; I waved back, of course, as we rode into the city. I had called ahead to House Seoladair so I had an assured place to rest for the night but I had business in the city to see to first as I drove into the city, slowed by traffic and onlookers calling out and waving before I arrived at my destination; the First Sands Drydock... and I moved to the berth where, still sitting was the battered Buttercup. I parked and I could see a man, Carter Wright, rushing over at a brisk jog. "You came... for a broken ship?" Riri let off, confused as she saw it. Aeris snorted with a small smirk as I grinned.

"I came to rebuild it to something new." I hinted with a grin, the spark of realization coming to her after a moment as the man slowed down before he reached us. "Foreman Wright, my pleasure to see you once more."

"Your pleasure!? Bloody hells M'lord!" He barked out between pants, an honestly shocked look to his face. "Do ye know how many queer looks I got when I said the Champion of bloody Eostia had an interest in the old Buttercup!? Hells, I'm still surprised you're interested!"

"Indeed. I plan on making her into something new." I replied as I held up a finger. "But for what I have in mind we won't need a mast."

"What do you mean you don't need a ma... st..." Carter let off as his look changed; realization hitting him like a punch to the gut, looking to the ship, then me, then finally the wagon... The Cloud Rider... and finally he looked back to me. "Bloody hells... You... you wanna make her fly..."

"Got it one!" I said with a grin as Kelly and Makoto gave me a look of shock then understanding. Carl followed suit as Aeris snickered; as if to say 'isn't it obvious'? "I roughly recall the price, sans mast, was between twenty five and thirty platinum. If that still stands-"

"Twenty!" He blurted out as I blinked. "Hells, Champion... If I weren't putting my daughter's arse through a mage collage I'd pay you to do the work... To make a ship sail the skies..?" He grinned, one of honest, childish glee as he stepped in and grabbed my shoulders. "All I ask is when she's ready to fly you bring me along... That's all."

I chuckled and reached out to pat his shoulder. "Deal." I replied, moving to wrap an arm over his shoulder as I walked up to the ship. "Now; I need to ask a few things. I have something to enchant her with that I need you to stay quiet on, but I need advice on how and where to put it."

"I'm all ears... All bloody ears..."

[-]

We spent a couple of hours planning and plotting. With his expertise I got an idea of what we'd do; starting with removing the broken mast, enclosing the space it used to be in fully and filling it with spell fiber and resin; being central in the ship would offer it some protection. Other bits could be set to the bottom of the ship, between the hull and floorboards and other small gaps, but most if not all would go where the mast once did. As we talked I got a tour of the old ship and it was a bit of a mess, in part of being open to the elements so much for so long, but that's life. As it turned out most of what was once on it in terms of furnishings and equipment was removed for the former owner's new ship or sold off. That means a lot of new things would need to be bought and fit to place.

Thankfully Carter had connections to everyone who could help; aside from the shipwrights to repair and modify the ship there would be carpenters to build furniture, blacksmiths for the anchor, chains and the figurehead for the ship, seamstresses for a few odd things and so forth. I'd spend another hour being led through various shops and being introduced to their owners and workers and, for a fair price (Too fair, thanks to my reputation) I gained all the help I'd need.

Afterwards we'd return to Saint Carter Castle for the night...

Work began in the morning...

[-]

Blazecrown, North of Angglash City
The Black Citadel
Kingdom of Garan
Throne Room

Olga hadn't wanted to return to the Black Citadel so soon, but it was the seat of her power and it was where she could do the most good for the moment. She would in the near future head towards the seat of Eostia's power in Skyguard to visit Celestine to speak more on their mutual problems; what Yuri had told her had opened some doors for them in regards to their future enemies. As it turns out there was four types of Ashbloom, all that could be turned into the poison that effected her. Thanks to the samples they sent to the Eostians Celestine's spymaster had found out that the type of Ashbloom used grew someplace called 'Dominious' in their southwest with samples reaching it's central south. Celestine wanted to keep things close to her chest but in their last call Olga knew she was suspecting something.

That something that could be Celestine's worry for the time being. For now she had her own pressing issues. "Peace!? With humans!? Are you mad!?"

"Calm down, Ludmila." Olga replied as she looked over her shoulder to the woman joining her in the throne room with her; the two were alone to speak candidly... and Ludmila Vocalli was being vocal about her opinion. She had been en route to Garan to start with and crossed paths with Olesia Reclusia on her ways north.

"This is the exact opposite of what you were tasked to do!" The other woman barked out as Olga fully turned to the woman, her cloak pulled fully around her. She stood some five nine in height and wore leather pants and red, leather boots with golden mythril over the front of them. A white, sleeveless blouse with a cutout over her cleavage was held shut with a long, golden clasp with a black corset over it and a red, gold trimmed wrap around her hips that fell to her knee and left the front exposed with crisscrossing brown belts over her hips. Each arm was clad in detached, leather sleeves and fingerless gloves with golden mythril plates over the biceps, back of the hand and back of the forearm. Red eyes glared to her as waist long, straight black hair fell behind her to a point, bangs hanging before her pointed ears.

"I am aware." Olga responded coolly. "Are you aware of Garan's current situation? Or have you been told that I merely invited them over for tea?" A hint of sarcasm entered Olga's voice as she spoke; Ludmila was the Voice of the Council, an ambassador of their will... although she was more of a glorified, self aggrandized messenger as opposed to a true ambassador. "We were defeated in more then one sense of the word. Our choices were peace or our destruction. There was only one good option to take."

"And you chos-"

"Stop. Screaming." Olga said, a stern tone coming to her voice as she spoke. "You would think an Ambassador can conduct herself with some decorum." Ludmila frowned deeply but stayed silent for a moment; once she spoke it was much calmer, if with an undertone of anger.

"And you chose peace?"

"I chose the best option I had." Olga replied curtly. "Eostia is the only human nation we border and none borders the reaches. So long as Garan stands we can control who enters the Reaches and, as such, the path to Nidavellir is protected. Were Garan to fall then the possibility of the humans marching north will exist. And in truth they do not need to brave the reaches now; the humans have discovered a means of flying people through the skies to where they wish to go." Ludmila frowned deeper at that as Olga sighed. "As Eostia is the only one able to do this then peace with them ensues they do not fly over for a visit."

Olga was no fool; the humans would be able to work out powerful bombs that could be dropped over the city state if they choose that route. While the city bore it's own shield to guard it that barrier was set to guard against wind, rain, snow and storms not explosion and fire brought from on high. Celestine would not allow such to happen, of course, but that it could be done didn't escape her.

"You should have ended them." The Ambassador hissed out as Olga gave her a stern look.

"Do you think I spent the last seven hundred years sitting on my throne, filing my nails and selecting what polish with which to paint my toes?" Olga replied with. "Had we not the Dread Field to protect us we wouldn't have lasted a single hundred; a defense that's no longer usable. We have thrown everything at them and have earned for our efforts graves and martyrs. More over our ways cracked the moment a solid counterattack was sent against us for the first time."

"You should have-"

"The opinion of the ignorant is weightless." Olga said, her voice stern and harsh on the final word as Ludmila took a step back in surprise as Olga stalked towards her. "You come here and bark about what should have been done without understanding what is. You bark about what you and the Council wish to be done without consideration of what cannot be done. I could pluck a child off a street within Garan and she would have a better grasp of the situation having been around it where as the Pure Council is separated by the Reaches and more. We could not win. We could never have won. We were repelled by a single human nation; one of dozens. Were we to try there would be naught but whimpering survivors crawling back north to show for it. And I am well aware I was sent to fail by elements of the Pure Council. Well failed I have." Olga told her with a stern look, finally stopping before her. "And I will say this; none could have done better. If anything if any other member of the Pure Council had tried the failure would have been greater. ... You do not know of all but the barest that had happened. You do not know all but the barest of the tactical situation, nor our logistical limitations, nor of those of the Eostians. Should Nidavellir come to wage war upon Eostia the result would be the defeat of Nidavellir and nothing less."

"Y-you-"

"We have underestimated the humans for thousands of years. To carry on doing so is folly."

"... The Pure Council will not accept this." Ludmila said sternly in reply as she stepped forwards. "I must now remove you from your post."

"No."

"I have-hurk!"

"You are a glorified messenger and have no authority over me." Olga said, her hand finding Ludmila's throat as she squeezed firmly but not enough to choke her. "More over Garan has been, in effect, an independent state since we arrived. We owe loyalty to the homeland but we are neither slaves nor vassals to it. The Pure Council have offered no assistance since we left and, as such, have no say in our politics. So if you wish to threaten me you will find a lack of tolerance for it."

"This... is... treason..."

"No." Olga replied finally letting her go with a shove, the Ambassador landing on her ass. "It is reality. And as I have learned, reality dislikes those who deny it."

"Gah!" Ludmila let off, rubbing her neck as she coughed twice. "You... The Pure Council will hear of this!"

"I imagine they will." Olga replied as she turned to walk towards her throne. "And as you speak with them you can tell them this as well; we failed to destroy them thousands of years ago. We failed to destroy them over the past seven hundred years. We underestimated them and overestimated ourselves." As she took a seat she looked back down to the 'Ambassador'. "You are dismissed."

Ludmila stood up and looked as if she would speak back to the Queen of Garan... but in the end she would take a step back before turning and walking out of the throne room as Olga sighed.

Annoying as it was this wasn't unexpected; Olesia's exodus was bound to cause alarm in the north and have a response sent... for the moment it was Ludmila attempting to strong arm her and Garan to return to war... a war Garan could not afford let alone win. Ludmila was briefed of the defeat of the Dread Field, the defeat of their cities, their defeat in battle, the betrayal of elements of the Legion, the flattening of one of their key cities... and she, the Pure Council's chosen stooge, decided that the only option was to carry on in a pointless war.

And while she had called Ludmila ignorant the fact was the Pure Council would be far more so then their lackey; it wouldn't matter if all Olga had left was an army of toddlers to send to the spears of the humans, the Pure Council may expect her to order the charge regardless.

Madness.

Not for the first time she wondered how fit the Pure Council was to rule and found the answer more and more to be 'not very'. What did that one human solider say that one time at the camp beofre facing the Abomination?

Love the land, hate the lord?

The one good thing would be the speed of the response would be years as the Pure Council would likely take their time to come up with a response and longer to deploy it; time she could use to install the means to watch the Reaches for a possible response of the military sort. One thing the Garanians had learned from fighting the humans for so long was to not rest on their laurels; or at least not as much as they had from before. And if the Pure Council sent an army they would find two things awaiting them; a hardened force used to fighting the most annoying and adaptable foes the world had ever birthed and that said foe would gladly ally with Garan in such a situation.

[-]

Come the morning work began in earnest. As it turns out Carter got the jump on things the previous afternoon to get things started; most of the damaged bits of wood on the outside was removed and new planks were being prepped. Planks of wood were nailed down over holes on the deck as a temporary measure for the time being. The first order of the day was to remove the broken mast and close up where it was to make the chamber for the spell fiber. As it turned out what made the mast of the Buttercup annoying to remove was that it was, at least in part, load bearing on all of the decks of the ship so we had to add some supports in, remove the mast and then install stronger supports to make up for the gap to ensure the load was bared.

For that we used a combination of strong, steel supports and good, strong wood. It left a sizable gap as a chamber (That I made sure was waterproofed) once we were done and we quickly moved to install the spell fiber; I was sure once it was known I was here and doing something with a ship someone I didn't like would want to peek in. In order to hide what material we were using the spell fiber I set aside was set into pre-made blocks of resin to make them look more like blocks of spell glass. I would hover into the gap with a spell to light things up and set the blocks into place, one by one. Each time a layer of blocks was made we poured in resin until the layer was mostly filled before moving in another set of blocks. To anyone looking on it would look as if (Well, hopefully at least) I was adding blocks of spell glass into the chamber with little hint as to what it really was. I made sure the chamber with have a removable panel in case I ever needed access to the spell fiber and resin within it.

By the end of the day we installed it all and had just enough resin to do the job once it all settled in. The next day began with more work to fix the ship up fully. Broken and cracked planks were replaced, all the supports were double checked and were, in the few places needed, repaired and reinforced if not outright replaced. The ship's hull would be next with attention paid to keeping it waterproof if I needed to land on water but also reinforcing the bottom of the hull; this ship would be resting on the ground once we were done and not in the water so the sides of the ship wouldn't be bearing some of the weight. To that end additional supports running the ship's length was added and the underside of the hull was thickened. On top of that the ship now bore brass plates under it.

Before the end of the first week (Hell, day five really) the ship was mostly repaired. At the very least it looked ready to sail beyond... well, the lack of sails. Honestly things were going faster then expected; mostly due to the sheer amount of volunteers coming about.

My presence stirred curiosity, then rumor, then investigation with crowds of people passing by to look at the work being done; I wasn't just overseeing things mind you. I had my upper body unclad save a shirt as I nailed boards into place, helped carry and cut wood and even made sure everyone had water to drink as they exerted themselves. I mean it was my ship, I was going to be hands on with it; and many people opted to help with those who could work with wood helping on that end while some just carried wood, nails, water, food or whatever else was needed.

The result was I was rubbing elbows with a lot of common folk that took the time to thank me for my actions in the war, give words of admiration or congratulations as a week after the new year came my engagements to Prim, Kaguya and Alicia were made public and... there was a response...

Because politics...

Naturally most of the Liberalist Houses were calling it a win and a reason to hold me up higher, the Royalists and Monetarists offered quiet approval in public and based on what I knew in private held various opinions between 'this is good' to 'what in the hell?' The Conservatives were questioning (Openly) if I was deserving of all three of them (They didn't question I should take one of the Shields as a bride, but they weren't wrong when they said three was unprecedented) and the Traditionalists...

Hooo boy... I will say between my Games Workshop, my spin off Homes Workshop (Now making the ice cream makers as well as a couple other things I made the past month and change; namely a basic, spell stone powered calculator, a projection clock with an alarm function and a bug zapper that were now being produced) and the voxluxs I was becoming popular with merchants and traders across Eostia and a lot of the Monetarists which helped me build an information network which in turn got me more insight into the other houses then I'd normally care for...

On the lesser Traditionalists; Stolzerlowe, Stonepick and Zigmund admitted I had earned their hands, if reluctantly. By all accounts, behind closed doors, they were frustrated with the Heir of Jetra, Devmond Zigmund, bemoaning 'where's our champion' which must have been frustrating for them. Angelus publicly gave tepid support with an open question of if I was being too greedy while in private questioned how long they as a faction could last; House Noxdecus' rise coupled with the loss of three Traditionalist Houses last year was making them very concerned about their place in Eostia.

Ardon, Doppiodrago and the first of the Triad of Tradition, House Stoneshard offered nothing publicly beyond 'it is his right'; likely to avoid sounding sour in public. Reportedly Baron Siegfried Doppiodrago was so upset he punched his son, Calder, with enough force to leave a black eye and a cracked socket while screaming 'why couldn't you have been dragonborne' suggesting... something more under the surface there... I didn't know enough to say if that was common, uncommon or rare for them but it was worrying. Stoneshard I has less detail on behind closed doors but I imaged 'displeased' is accurate. Roxellia Ardon I did know about by contrast; she was worried my rise would uplift Tiffany to a position to challenge her for the throne of Albia.

(I asked Tiffany on her opinion of it; she didn't really want to be baroness but she would accept the position if it came to her or she had the chance to take it both for the sake of her birth parents as well as for the sake of the Albian people...)

And then there was the other two Houses in the Triad of Tradition.

In House Bludhorn, Alundra was open of her dismissal of my position as Champion of Eostia stating my position was gained more from luck and Celestine's favor as opposed to my own hard work... and it did make her sound a little butt hurt over it. Naturally her eldest son, Kaiden, was much more furious and... ummm... by all accounts bought young, clean shaven, brown haired, male slaves, dragged them to an arena where he would beat them to a ruined state with his bare hands, have them healed, beat them once more, order them healed, beat them to a pulp once more and repeated the cycle until he was bored or tired before finally beating them to death... or crippling them and dropping them in the street.

I had a feeling I could guess what his selection was about...

Alundra's second son, Alexander, seemed to have no real opinion and only said 'good for him' in regards to my engagements. As for Alundra herself if she had any opinions not shared in public she was keeping them close to her chest.

As for Blitzhaus, the long standing rival of my own House, they were more controlled and cool in response in public but made their stance clear; publicly Arnold claimed I was claiming too many brides, regardless of who asked first, and that centering so much adulation and praise to one man diminished the praise earned by other heroes of the realm. In fairness on the last point he wasn't wrong... Of course that was in public...

In private he was furious and was trying to work out a means to replace his dark elf breeding farms; by all accounts he was seeking to find and purchase or enslave as many high elves as he could. High elves didn't demand as high a price as dark elves but they were still expensive. I made sure to let that slip to both Celestine and House Silverglade who planned on giving him a stern talking too; they couldn't stop him but they could make their disapproval well known. He also had a new, human slave in her late thirties who, supposedly, looked much like my mother...

At least he was just fucking her and not beating the daylights out of her.

Dulce gave no shits as Dulce was wont to do but Jaeger was pissed; while he had limited hopes he wanted Alicia's hand in marriage and that I got it was a sore point. On that note Victor was well known for chasing Prim in desperation and now she was hitched to me he must have been beyond furious... what surprised me, however, was his response was fairly calm; by all rumors and reports I had heard his anger was cold as opposed to burning... That was worrying in a way; it meant Victor was maturing faster then I expected. More over he directed his energies into his training and by all accounts learned a handful of new Combat Arts and commissioned his brother to further enchant and enhance his gear with magic.

Speaking of Channer...

While the rest of his family were pissed he was, by contrast, quiet about it and seemingly depressed. I had called him over voxlux to wish him happy holidays and a happy new year and we chatted for a time. We were both glad the war was done and both glad to push our energies to something other then 'make Garanians dead'. I was worried he'd be bitter and upset but he didn't come off that way with me; maybe he was getting over it or hiding it... But a week after the new year started he started to get very active; starting with new studies and experimentation, training hard and learning new spells. What was interesting, to me, was rumors he bought a new slave; a female dwarf who was untrained but had magical talent. He was, if the rumors were true, teaching her how to spellcast himself as if she was an apprentice. I was sure about I felt about it (Slavery is bad being a summery) but I wasn't sure how I felt about him buying a female slave with magical talent for the sake of teaching magic... Something was there that I didn't know about; maybe a replacement for his dark elf slave?

Anyway; at the moment I was in the mess helping adjust the ship's kitchen. There were ovens and ice boxes that were alrerady built but unenchanted, making them cheaper. Seeing as I could handle the enchanting myself I snapped them up and was enchanting them now. Speaking of enchanting, I requested a new figurehead be made for the front of the ship; a bronze bust of a unicorn's head. In truth mythril would have been more fitting for the color but I could replace it later if I wished... and then I'd later learn I didn't need to worry; the smith that had been commissioned had some myhtril left over from another job and opted to make mythic bronze which was twelve parts copper, one part tin and one part mythril; the result was a form of bronze that was a hint stronger and lighter but also silver in color.

And at no extra cost and a refusal of extra payment...

Anyway; the bust would be hollow inside with holes opened up where the horn and eyes would go. My plan was to take that huge, grade two stone I salvaged off that goblin's tank and slip it inside to form the horn and two smaller pieces taken from it to set in the eye sockets, all to act as a magical focus and means of offense. Unlike the Cloud Riders I was prepping the ship for the possibility of combat and my two, large spell stones would play their part in it. The salvaged one was the one that would be on the offensive side of things; it would be powerful enough that it could use spells like Blast Zone (I got that to Level Three), Cluster Flare, Dark Flare, multiple Scatter Bolts and Havoc Rend. This would be devastating given the stone's power and I could use it as a focus to cast Chain Lightning myself with less strain on my mana reserves. More over, I managed to make an additional hundred pounds of spell fiber with Louis that matched it's magical signature (Colored yellow to separate them from the rest) that was packed to the front of the ship and hidden in a bulkhead to give a bit of extra power to it.

The milk jug sized one I found in the Spell Sands was set to the back of the ship in the rough middle, height wise, and also bore it's own spell fiber attuned to it; two hundred pounds worth that I had spread along the sides of the same floor and the ship's bottom in spaces between the reinforced structure, colored red to separate it as well. It would bear three responsibilities; the normal shield to help cut through the air in an aerodynamic manner being the first and an able combat shield to defend the ship from harm being second; layered with four layers to better defend from attack. It wouldn't make the ship invincible but would harden it from attack by a large degree. The third was to generate a cushion of wind under the ship while landing; that would help protect the hull from possible, sudden shocks while touching down. Sure, I could have built some sort of landing gear but one) I was worried it'd look horrible, two) I wasn't sure how strong it would need to be and three) I wanted to finish this as quickly as I could; both to surprise my friends (And foes) but also ensure both no sabotage or interference could come about too quickly.

It was still a risk, of course, no Traditionalist House was that close but sympathizers might have been close. The sheer scale of what I was doing was audacious enough to be dismissed by some but those smarter and in the know, like Alundra van Bludhorn, might have taken serious interest.

(As a side note, syncing spell glass to a spell stone's signature was nothing new but rarely done; as spell glass was brittle using it on weapons and armor was pointless and anything you'd use spell glass for it was usually cheaper to just use spell glass and no stones. More over doing it for smaller stones was like attaching a battery to a smaller, more expensive battery so you only used it on already large stones to give it more power; such stones were often in defensive structures. ... Now that I'm thinking of it, the stone in Noxdecus's Guard Tower could be bolstered with fiber as well.)

Speaking of... "M-M-M'lord!" I heard Carter let off from the deck; I guessed someone important had arrived. I was finishing my work with the oven and opted to move off to the hall, up the steps and to the deck to see who had arrived with Makoto, playing bodyguard as usual along with Kelly, moving to follow.

"At ease, sir." A man said; one I had met. Duke Alexander the Silversail the Second, the Lord of South Point. He saw me as I rose up from the inside of the ship. "Ahhh, Champion Noxdecus! Well met once more."

"Duke Silversail, nice to see you once more." He was a bit shorter then myself, five eleven, but built wide in the shoulders and thick in the arms. He came in a deep blue, silver trimmed great coat with a buttoned up, royal blue shirt under it. A white Jacob's collar was around his neck and the outside of his great coat bore mythril plates over the shoulders and the outside of the biceps, forearms and elbows with plates on the back of his black gloves and over the knuckles. Likely his outfit was an Armor Weave with plates added for additional protection. Explained the knee high, black boots with layered plates on the front. His head bore a circlet; silver in tone but no stone in it, rather just cyan colored swirled designs. He bore a good, handsome face with a black goatee and a long, pointed mustache that stuck out to the sides by about three inches. His hair was kept short but it stuck up and the tips curled every which way suggesting they curled naturally and would do so if grown long enough. An arming sword sat on his left hip; mythril was my guess.

"Well, I was curious as to what you were doing down here in my realm and needed to come visit sometime sooner or later so I opted for sooner." He said as he extended his hand to me as I shook it.

(-)

Name: Alexander Silversail II
Title: The Duke of Sails
Class: Knight
Level: 37
Alignment: Friendly
Reputation: 73
Status: Healthy, Curious, Relaxed

Known Traits
[?]
[Master of Melee] You are a master of any and all melee weapons in your hands. You can use any melee weapon as a Primary or Secondary Weapon, regardless of your class. Furthermore you can increase you Str, End & Dex by one quarter of your weapon's highest damage type.

[Sea Legs] You fight as well, if not better, on a ship then on land. +2% to Dex and Agi when on a ship.
[Gunslinger - Upgrade - From The Mouth Of My Cannon] You have the ability to use pistols as a Secondary Weapon. Additionally, you can use cannons as equipment.
[Dual Strike] You are exceptional at using two weapons at the same time. +5% Dex and Agi while using two weapons at once.

The current and reigning Duke of South Point and second of his name he spent years of his youth under a false name to serve in South Point's military navy at the insistence of his uncle, hoping to instill humility and a hard work ethic into Alexander. Many think it has worked but he's also found a dislike of slavery from all of the flesh smugglers he had run into.

(-)

"So, what is it you are doing with a ship with no sails?" He asked as I chuckled, letting his hand go.

"Well... what do you imagine I'm doing?" I asked with a smile as he looked about.

"If I were to hazard a guess; repeating your trick with the wagons bit... this is a fair bit larger then a mere wagon." He said as I nodded.

"If my calculations are right; indeed, I can do it." I said. And yes; I think I checked them over a dozen times, scared I might have added a zero where it didn't belong or a decimal in the wrong place. It was the reason I opted to program a damned calculator in the first place; to double check all of my double checks. I had estimated I needed a hundred pounds of spell fiber for a Cloud Rider which was an over estimation. I estimated some twenty five hundred pounds would be needed for the ship and brought over three thousand (Not including the ones I brought to reinforce the larger spell stones). Even if my estimates were wrong, even if I underestimated something somehow that should have made up for any difference. "I'm not saying it'll be an easy thing; I will say this is already costly in material before I arrived. But it could well be worth it."

"One could hope... So, mind if I oversee this work of yours... It's rare to see an enchanter work on such a large project." I chuckled and smiled, waving him to follow.

There was work to do indeed...

[-]

Castle Elddale, Duchy of Eldale
Office of Duke Arnold von Blitzhaus

"... Why are you using that... thing...?" Arnold let off as he felt his eye twitch as he watched his daughter at one of the desks brought in so the whole House of the Thunder Home could work out how they would make up for the shortfalls the loss of their dark elf breeding programs due to the Treaty of Mungale. Already they were pooling what female high elves they could find in addition to contacting any owner of a male high elf, half elf or free elf of the above willing to participate their slaves (Or themselves) in the program. The issue was, of course, elves never bred fast and so they'd be dealing with the issues for over a decade before they gained results.

As such he brought all of his children to his office to help crunch numbers, find new ways to bring in profit and ensure they wouldn't fall back to the rank of a county... And while Dulce was highly intelligent her laziness was near legendary to all who knew her... and in her laziness she was using a tool to help her count and to aide her math; a calculator...

...made by James Noxdecus... She looked up to him with a usual, dull look and shrugged. "Because it works." She said before moving back to check the numbers as he sighed and slumped in his own seat... He was frustrated to admit that, yes, it did.

He still refused to use one himself and would have thrown hers out in most situations but if got her to work he could tolerate it.

Just tolerate however...

"I keep wondering where he gets these ideas from..." Channer let off as he sighed, scribbling something down. By contrast Channer was attempting to infuse earth mana into water as a means of a natural, magical fertilizer to bolster crop growth; if it could be done they could make high amounts of cash crops like cotton, tobaccos and hemp. It was giving him a headache but he kept at it and was attempting to utilize hybrid magics as an answer. Indeed, Channer found a rare tome on hybrid magic and was attempting to spellcraft with it to catch up with his friend and rival who had dabbled in the subject and successfully as well.

At least Channer was using his frustration well, channeling it to productive ends. "If our reports are right there could be veins of ores up in our north; near the Arafe border." Victor injected as he set a sheet down. "I've no idea if mining would be worthwhile there based on what we have; we'll need to hire experts to explore the region. Still there are hints we could have mythril sitting there."

"Hmmm... if true then the investigations are worth the risk; we'll find a company with the correct expertise." Arnold said with a grin; one benefit to them with the war being ended was their northern borders were now more open to exploitation. That said they'd still need some guards in the regions to handle the rogue members of the legion as well as any bitter dark elves who would rather the war carry forth. Any possible mines up there would have been unreachable for the last seven hundred years, or at least to any practical operations.

"If I may ask; is this such an emergency that we must be so dedicated to the problem now?" Jaeger asked, looking up to his father from a desk covered in sheets. "I understand the loss of funds will hamper us but it's not as if we lack time to adapt and adjust. More over as trade with Garan begins in earnest will we not reap the benefits? Gain new opportunities?"

"That is not fully incorrect." Arnold admitted as he nodded. "But we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. We have risen to a duchy but Mungale has risen to a county in turn. Had it been on our coattails I might be able to accept it but they have not. More over as we have to adjust for a shortfall they have new investments; far more then our own." Jaeger frowned but didn't argue as Arnold kept speaking. "And it's not just them; Ferra also rises and are neutral to us at the best of days and rivals on the worst... and likely behind their private doors as well. We must ensure-"

And then a paper bird hit his shoulder, turned a bit and fell to his desk as he went silent as did his children; the letter flying in from the open window. Blinking he lifted the red sheet folded into a winged form, unfolded it and red what was there; the writing large but clearly in John Mandeville's handwriting.

(-)

Arnold,
I would highly advise you to rush to Elouan
in Roxford as swiftly as you can make it. I
can not afford to explain given the risk of
interception but it would be to your benefit
and the benefit of your political allies. I
promise that it will be more then worth your
while and the costs of the trip if all goes well.
Signed, John

(-)

He read the letter aloud as he idly wondered if this sheet came from the stack he sent to his friend; thanks to the voxlux the costs of spell paper had dropped drastically to much more affordable prices... and the Crowns (And Vult) were quick to stock up should the voxlux ever prove to be unreliable; or in this case be sent outside of it's range. "Roxford's capital? The famed City of the Starlight?" Jaeger let off with a thoughtful frown. "Whatever would he be asking for you to come there for?"

"Hmmm... If I were to guess it would be in regards to the Connection Canal..." Arnold answered. The canal had been in some state of progress for the last forty years; initially begun by the Kingdom of Roxford who would press hard their workforce and underpay them. They opted to not use slaves (Fools) which was one thing, but much of the underpaid were mages of one stripe or another and they would form the core of a rebellion that started over a decade ago which turned into a full blown revolution against the Roxford Crown and it's nobility. They were considered to have... gone overboard; decapitating much of the upper classes and sending more fleeing the nation. Attempts by it's neighbors to invade and reestablish order was tried but failed; in part because Dominious attempted an invasion of Camafran, one of the most notable to attempt to reassert proper rule.

However as people lost heads for reasons more and more petty a second revolution against the first revolution rose up and after a second, brutal civil war that only ended four years ago that established the current Roxford Republic. By all accounts they sought advice from the Rycall Republic and the County of Pulca to work out how to establish such a government and while Roxford still wasn't popular with their neighbors, hosted few ambassadors and their relations with their nobility-in-exile was lukewarm at best all acknowledged the current government to be a vast improvement and, more importantly, they carried on work on the Canal.

The Canal would connect the Snake's Tongue and Great Atlas Rivers which would bring great wealth to the nation and much needed coin as tolls. For all nations bordering either river or on the Great Sererian Lake (Which included some Eostian states) it would be a boon to both trade and travel both. If it was something about the Canal, as Arnold suspected, then he wasn't sure why exactly John had summoned him as Elddale didn't border the rivers in question or the lake, nor did any of the Traditionalist states... but if what he wrote was true and considering that Eostia had no ambassador in Roxford that he was aware of... "I'll pack and leave tomorrow. Channer, why don't you come along while Victor minds the duchy?"

Despite all of the headaches being able to call Elddale a duchy was still worth it.

"Well... maybe I'll find some inspiration there." Channer said as Arnold stood and excused himself to walk to his room. He would, of course, burn the letter to ensure no risk of someone suspecting something...

...even if he himself did not know what to expect...

[-]

With the bulk of the deck and hull repaired the focus was on furnishing the ship. The obvious focus there would be on the captain's quarters (Or my quarters) but a couple other rooms were converted to bedrooms with two bunk beds a piece. At that moment work had ended for the day and a local pub was filled to the brim with people working on the ship; myself included. I made sure that everyone was bought at least one drink and enjoyed a nice salad and plate of chicken legs and wings that were coated in some sort of buffalo sauce; it didn't have as much of a kick but it was a bit sweet. I liked it, to be frank...

...

I ordered seconds.

...

And bribed the cook for the recipe.

Don't judge me.

"You don't mind indulging in commoner's fare, do you?" Sitting at my table at the Lady and Seaman (Yes, that's a name) with me was Alexander, Duke of South Point. The place had a nautical theme, as you may expect, and the circular tables had ship wheel's etched into them, the back of the chairs were shaped like anchors, whites and light blues were common colors and there was a lot of seafood here; the Duke settled on eating a Lake Trout.

"Mungale is still something of a rural territory; it's not that uncommon to enjoy a meal or two at the guild where such fare is common." I said with a smile and shrugged before sipping a grape juice. "There's good food everywhere made by all sorts of people; it might not fit everyone's tastes but it doesn't hurt to try." He shrugged but finished his plate as I leaned back in my own seat. Makoto and Riri was at the next table over; my table was at the side and a rectangular one with an anchor etched into the top of it.

"Indeed... Indeed; too many of our ilk are... less concerned with the little people of their lands then they should be... That you so easily rub elbows with them is... a testament to your nature." He replied, moving to sip his own wine. "Mmm... I must say; this could be an exciting thing you're making... It could honestly change much in the years to come... You may make Eostia into an air power by the end of your second decade on this world!"

If he only knew...

"It's possible, but I imagine it'll be closer to a decade or two before it becomes common enough, around here." I replied with a shrug. "But to be honest... I just thought being able to make a flying airship would be cool."

The bark of laughter from him was worth the admittance. He was about to say something but one of his aides was weaving through tables and once he had arrived leaned in to whisper something to the duke. I raised an eyebrow as the man sighed, downed his drink in one gulp and rose. "Forgive me, my lad, but I'm being called. Duty of the good ruler and all... with luck you'll have time before then."

"Take care." I chirped with a smile and raise of my drink as he turned to leave. As he did a seat shifted and Makoto and Riri moved to join my table; sitting down and bringing their own drinks along. "You ladies enjoying yourselves?"

"It's an experience, yes." Makoto said with a smile... that turned a bit more serious. "But it is not just for fun, is it?"

"No... No, it's not." I said seriously as I set the drink down to the table. "The Black Storm is still a problem and we'll need to handle them sooner as opposed to later. If I want to do my part I'll need to be mobile and as good as the Cloud Rider is for that it's not enough."

"Well, you are the Champion of Eostia now..." Riri said, a hint of a proud smile coming to her face. "It's to be expected... But... why an entire ship?"

"If my calculations are right, and I think they are, the ship will be much faster and could get us from one end of the nation to another in under a day." I explained. "But once done it'll be a home away from home that can act as a mobile headquarters and a difficult to assail base in the sky. If the Storm causes another war then it'll be a transport and combat platform both. We don't know what the Storm will bring so we have to be ready to use whatever we can to fight back."

"Setting aside the coming troubles... even when I first came to Mungale I never thought I'd go so far..." Riri said with a wistful smile. "From being chained to rising to free skies... Life is up and downs in all extremes, huh?" I chuckled a bit and leaned over to ruffle my maid's hair as Makoto patted her shoulder as well.

"It can be a struggle but I think we can make the world a better place; not just by doing good or fighting evil..." I said, recalling an old thing my previous life's grandfather once said. "The best way to change the world is to set the example to follow."

"Careful, James-sama." Makoto replied with a giggle. "You may blaze the trail so far few might see it." I gave her a flat look as she giggled once more as I sighed.

"Maybe... but the trail will still be there." Riri replied as I, after a moment of thought, nodded. What can I say...

I still had work to do... and examples to set.

[-]

Skyguard Palace, Kingdom of Ken
Sitting Room

"Indeed? We've fully withdrawn from Garan then?" Celestine asked, an open book beside her at the table. A cup of tea sat beside her as the sun beamed down onto them. She had been doing much to keep an ear on the rumors coming from the north for signs of possible trouble but, at least thus far, things seemed to have been settling down.

"We have, yes." General Mallory DuLouvnoir said with a nod before taking a long sip of her tea. She opted to leave her armor off for the day as she wasn't on duty; opting instead for a blue, tight tunic and a set of brown, leather pants tucked into black boots. "We've a few remaining at Queen Olga's request; mostly to help train their new officers to be effective." With the current situation in Garan being what it was they had a lack of competent leadership in their military; mostly in their mid and upper ranks. They still had their General Dreadblade as well as a few Drakepyres as generals to rely on but they needed talented underlings to dictate tasks to.

"Wonderful... We will still need to work hard to maintain the peace won, but that is a gladder task then before." Celestine said before moving to sip her own tea. "Mmm... If it wasn't for that other concern you could go and find a husband for yourself."

"Cele, please..."

"I do worry, at times." The High Queen said with a soft giggle. "So many of my lady knights focus so much on being a knight they sometimes ignore being a lady; and all the joys that holds. And unlike me no one expects you to be celibate... even if such expectations shouldn't be held."

"...Do you try and live vicariously though all your generals?" Mallory asked as she sipped at her drink.

"Just my preferred ones." Said general sighed at the High Queen's reply.

"Regardless..." Mallory began. "A lot of those odd, steel rails were laid down from Ironwall towards Walker..." She said, referring to the capitals of the Principality of Ansur and the Duchy of Steel Lock. "Lulu's quite serious about this 'train' idea of hers..."

"That is true... I do wish she'd slow down a bit on it..." While things were peaceful she was painfully aware of what was coming and was unsure how effective Lulu's train system would be with such limited time to build and that the steel could be better employed elsewhere. That said; even if a short route could be formed it could be useful... "Still... Once brought to scale it could bring so much trade and travel to normal people..."

"It could also be dangerous... Honestly, scaling up Lord Noxdecus's wagons would be better, wouldn't it?"

"James disagrees, really." Celestine replied as Mallory blinked at her, pausing a lift of her cup. "He thinks the trains will be able to haul far more; all of the energy would be just in propulsion forwards and not upwards or attempting to maintain any form of aerial stability."

"Hmmm... Perhaps, but still..."

"I understand... the new can be confusing or frighting or even seem wasteful at first only to prove so helpful later historians point and laugh at those who held it back." Celestine said with a warm smile as Mallory sipped her tea. "You would have no idea how many lords, merchants and more were acting like scared children as the printing press was first made and in it's early stages as opposed to now as all reaps it benefits."

"Hmm, that is fair, I imagine..." Mallory said with a nod. "I suppose I just worry about the future a little, is all. The strength of a nation is always paramount and I sometimes do worry..."

"Eostia has stood for two thousands years, general." The High Queen said with a chuckle. "So long as it's defenders stay true then it can stand for another two thousand at least. Given how able your own efforts are I would set those worries to rest. The Black Storm is to be concerned about and prepared for but not feared. It can be overcome like many challenges in the past have been before it."

"That is fair..." Mallory said with a nod as a knock sounded on the door.

"Enter." Celestine called out as the door opened and Akane Lee, the cover name of one Yasu MacKenzie. "Yasu; how are you? Come to join us?"

"Hmmm, I can stay for a few cups." She said, walking over to find a seat to the Queen's left, sitting down as Celestine set a cup before her and started to fill it. "I came to mention something uncovered; not important enough to rush to you, but curious enough to mention."

"Oh?" Mallory said as she tilted her head, Celestine looking to her spymaster attentively.

"A Roxford messenger is being held in Balanar-" Yasu began with a soft frown. "-under charge of a trespass on a nobleman's forest. Likely trumped up as an excuse to hold him for a short time. We don't know the message or such but what our ambassador has heard was he was en route to Eostia."

"Hmmm... Can we contact Roxford directly to ask about it?" Mallory asked as Celestine shook her head.

"No; the voxlux's range reaches to the east of Camafran. And we lack an ambassador here or there to assist in such communications." She said with a soft frown. "James gifted me one with stones strong enough to reach one with likewise stones, but a common voxlux cannot reach." She said turning to look at Yasu. "Can we get a man to the messenger? Perhaps even free him?"

"Freeing might be beyond us, but I can get someone to him, soon. It should just be a day or two." Yasu said with a nod. "I should have a report in three days. Four at the most."

"Good to hear." The High Queen said with a nod. "Keep me informed... If Balanar is delaying a message to us I'm forced to wonder what is going on..." She'd also need to keep one of their, now few, Cloud Rider's on standby once their current duties were done, just in case... and maybe call James to see if he could improve them if a trip to Roxford was required; given the distances between the Eostian capital and Roxford's it could take five to seven days; depending on how hard they pushed things...

For now she could enjoy time with her friends and helpers... There was time to worry later.

[-]

Evening... And it was done.

Carter was sure that a couple more hours of overtime could get the last of it done and done it was... And it looked good... We were able to get a hold of paint and stain to color the ship; the outer boards was pained a rich, Noxdecus toned blue with the bottom sixth of the hull being painted white save the metal plates now under her. The rails were painted a rich, golden color while the decks were stained a deep, rich brown. The mythic bronze figurehead looked good with it's chin tucked close to it's neck; it bore cyan eyes and a gold toned horn that jutted forth; courtesy of the giant spell stone set inside. It wasn't overly big but stood out easily and shone like polished glass.

On the back I had a series of sixteen spell stones between grades three and two, including those Lulu got me for Nova Aurora, set into brass brackets holding them, all recolored to white. They were set in four lines of four along the back of the ship with the grade twos set in the middle; these were all enchanted with Cannon Stream enchantments to give the ship it's forwards speed. They were spaced out enough to be able to draw mana back in and I made sure to add spells to reinforce the back of the ship to handle all of that thrust. The brackets were a bit large to spread the force out along the back; each the size of a small dinner plate.

More spell stones, closer to lower end threes, fours and higher end fives were set along the sides under the railings in likewise brackets with four on each side and four positioned under the bust with two on each side of the bow. These were less powerful and were meant more for maneuvering then thrust so they didn't need the same level of power. In addition the side stones also bore Scorpion Chain enchantments that could be used to hang onto the side of docks as a means to moor it and weaker Arcane Weapon spells to make bumpers to keep dock and ship from rubbing to one another.

One additional stone was set by the deck, on the port side where the railing was resigned to open; one length of it was set to a hinge and held up on the other side with a pinned bracket with a short, small chain attached to it to keep it from getting lost. I had the pin removed and used a smaller stone set by the bracket to make a pin via Arcane Weapon as well as act as a controller. The other larger stone backed up with ten pounds of spell fiber set under the deck nearby (Colored green, if you needed to know) would control the lifting and lowering of the railing and make a plank or set of stairs that would attach to a dock or reach to the ground. That would allow for access anywhere, anytime, anyplace.

As for the inside; the floors were stained with a dark brown color and the walls a lighter one. A few pictures were hung in the mess on the wall opposite of the port holes, small, spell glass orbs on the ceilings provided more light and it was well stocked with food that would keep, ales, whiskeys, wines, rums (It's a ship, it needs rum) and others, two stoves set up, a pair of iceboxes, cutlery, dishes and more ready to go. Tables and chairs were set up, all with smaller stones I set it to keep them from shifting about when the ship was moving and white table cloths over them all. In addition to furnished captain's quarters and five rooms with two bunk beds each there was another two rooms with two bunk beds and eight hammocks. There wasn't a need for a large crew with how things were set up, but if I needed help there would be places to house them. Additionally we had three dozen more hammocks and places to set them up, if needs be.

In addition there was room for four cannons per side; given the expenses of them I'd likely not have cannons equipped anytime soon but the option was there if I ever got a hold of some. Even without them; the frontal horn would give the ship a lot of offensive potential. A large, twenty foot flag pole was set up in the back of the ship on the quarterdeck (The raised back part where the wheel was) where the Noxdecus version of the Eostian flag flew. Said wheel was replaced with a flying stick, not unlike the Cloud Riders, and bore the same projected map, Echo View and such but also a projection that would show views from the front, sides and back of the ship as well as directly below. A spell stone, set into a bracket inset into the deck, would use Arcane Weapon to make a series of chairs or benches for the driver to sit on if so desired.

I took a lot of time planning this... I took a lot of time adjusting the details, enchanting and working... I was standing on the drydock with Carter Wright as I looked to him and the man next to him. "She looks good..." I let off as Carter nodded to me. His friend, Derek Dulmater, nodded once; a six foot man with a strong build, trimmed red bread and a mullet (Yup) with green eyes looking over the ship. He wore a worn and faded gray greatcoat over a black tunic and brown pants tucked into black boots; the Buttercup's former owner.

"Hells M'lord... I'd never guessed she'd be remade like this..." Derek said before turning to me fully. "So... You know the old custom of a ship changing hands like this, aye? Have a name for her rebirth?" In addition to us there was a small crown of workers who had just finished and a few hanger-ons looking the ship over.

"I do. I'm just waiting for; ahh, Riri... There we are." I let off, seeing Riri walk over with a large brass plate over her head; and when I say large I mean large; it was ten feet long by two feet high and half an inch thick with inch thick letters. No, Riri wasn't that strong; I had it made in Mungale and brought it over with us in a cloth wrap; a trio of spell stones inset to it's back bore a levitation spell to reduce the whole thing to twenty pounds and, once triggered, would hover. In addition there were nail like spikes set to it and, once it was set in place, the stones would help further secure it. Once she was close enough I gently took the plate before I looked to Aeris and we both used Levitate to move towards the port side of the bow. Soon we were positioning it and, using a rubber mallet I made sure to keep hold of, pounded the spikes of the huge plate into place. Spells would allow it to gently bend to fit to the bow's curve and once the spikes were fully in the spell stones shifted their magic to keep it glued to the side. As we flew back I could see Carter and Derek looking it over with grins coming to them.

As I landed I turned to look and smile; the font bore a Celtic hint, I think, with the curves to the lettering. The brass was two toned with the raised, lighter section outlined with a lowered, darker section and inset line. It shone in the dying light of the evening as I sighed; it came in two lines with the upper line maybe two thirds the size of the one word in the lower line. The base plate shimmered slightly for a moment as it's Illusion spell, woven into one of the stones, made it look like the wood under it, making the lettering stand out more as I smiled wider. What did it say?

ETS-MG

ENTERPRISE

Yes... Yes I had to call it the Enterprise... What else was I going to call it? Finally I looked to Carter. "Can we flood the berth? We'll fly in the morning but I want to test the controls and be sure it floats."

"Aye, aye. One moment." He said before to stepping to the side before giving a loud whistle and gesture of three fingers moving up. Someone closer to the drydock's end nodded as I moved to lift up with levitation and floated over to the deck of the ship and landed on it, moving to the controls. I was able to see the man reach a lever by the end of the Enterprise's birth in the drydock. A pull saw the gate holding the water out shudder before slowly lowering. After a few seconds water started to spill in, faster and faster as the gate lowered more and more. Soon the water was licking at the bottom of the ship and then the end of the berth before starting rise up in the berth. Slowly, bit by bit the water level rose bit by bit. It took a few minutes but soon I could feel the ship rise up with the water. I made it a point to wait some five minutes before activating the ship and taking hold of the controls, set to a flat surface with an angled one in the back that bore the various stones I used to project things like my map and such.

Oh, and to each side was a cup holder. You gotta have at least one cup holder.

I slowly moved the stick to the left gently and waited for the response; it took no time for the ship to start to turn in the water. Good. I did the same, turning it to the right until the ship was straight ahead again; once more it responded as I wanted it to. Okay then... I took hold of the throttle; a horizontal handle to the left of the stick with a slight tilt up on it's right side to make it a little more comfortable to hold. I pushed it forwards then back to test the thrust and it would send the ship back and forth gently. Finally, I twisted the handle in my right hand to the right and the ship pushed to the right before doing the same to the left; it shifted to the right and then to the left. This time I kept moving to the left, the port side, to get closer to the dock and, once close enough, deployed the Scorpion Chains via a control stone at the top of the stick; rounded balls of mana forming before firing at the side of the dock and pulled the ship in. Another Arcane weapon spell deployed from those same stones to make hanging, large balls to act as buffers between the ship and the dock, holding snug without letting things rub together. I parked it and moved to the railing's gate, a finger pressing down that lowered it before deploying the plank so I could walk off, moving over to Carter. "Well... It works..." I said as I smiled. "Or at least that part does... We'll have to take her out in the morning for a flight and see what shakes loose; hopefully nothing."

"So... Morning's the big day..." He said as I nodded before looking to the ship. "Well then... I can't wait..."

[-]

Soon the morning came... Dinner last night and breakfast today was hardy and tasty. It was maybe nine o'clock when we arrived back to the drydock in my armor with all my gear (The original half cape gone and replaced with the cape Alicia gifted me), riding the Cloud Rider into Port Saint Carter and... there was a crowd already waiting for us... on the ship...

I had a feeling of deja vu... I walked over to the ship's side and looked up to where Carter was standing. "Carter! Why is everyone on the ship? I haven't given her a proper test yet!" After all I wasn't sure how safe this thing was yet!

"Sorry, M'lord!" He said, rubbing the back of his head. "I let them know of your concerns but... Well, everyone trusts ya know what you're doing!" My eye twitched as I felt Makoto lay a hand on my shoulder.

"You are well trusted, you know?" She said with a smile. "Nothing will go wrong; you've seen to it."

Well it's not your fault if things go wrong, is it!?

"Let's go!" Riri let off, rushing to the gangplank and up to the ship with Makoto quickly following. Aeris giggled, shrugged and walked to follow before I sighed and moved to walk onto the ship as well with Carl and Kelly following. Once on board people parted so I could get to the controls, taking a moment to form a chair to sit in; just a simple one with arm rests. Once seated I looked around to the crowds looking over to me.

"Okay everyone; try and stay relaxed and if anything happens do I say! Let's get underway!" Once I said that everyone gave a cheer as I ended the gangplank and dock chains as they vanished to nothing. The railing shut closed as I pulled the ship from the dock and, gently, gave some thrust to guide us out of the berth before moving to aim us out to the open lake. Once we were away from the docks I gave some more thrust, the Cannon Stream spells at the back of the Enterprise doing as I had hoped and bringing us to a speed most ships wouldn't be able to even with a strong wind... and I didn't hammer it down either...

"Why aren't we going into the air?" A child, a younger girl asked, leaning over the railing on the starboard side as a few people looked about as she spoke. I was quick to answer.

"Major cities have enchantments around them to cancel out Levitation spells over a certain height." I called back to her. "If you were to try and fly over the walls you'd come crashing down well before you could get the spell back up." That answered the concerns and people smiled back and enjoyed the ride until we were clear of that field.

(In case your wondering; the amount of power needed to cancel the Enterprise's spell was significant. You'd need to launch a medicine ball orb of spell glass up at her to do it. More over I added an enchantment to detect these fields and I'd also adjusted the Cannon Stream stones to be able to fire at an approaching field if it was in the air. The ship's shields should have also preventing anything from landing on it and deploying such a field; should being the key word... If the Anti-Levitation spell went off it would temporarily prevent casting for a few, critical seconds; how it worked was lost to time, but the spell itself was still known.)

The 'U' shaped walls had the ends stuck out into the lake and it didn't take long to clear them. Looking back you could see people gathering at the docks and some onto the walls, as if curious about what was up with the mast-less ship as I looked to my little control panel. It wasn't just them; various ships were sailing to and fro from the port and you could see sailors, fishermen and passengers moving to look at what in the hell was sailing by them. One small stone was glowing red before but had now stopped; a warning that it was in an anti-Levitation field when it was lit (Red for inside, yellow for approaching). Now clear of it I could take her up; even so I choose to sail another couple of minutes before turning the Enterprise port wards slightly before gripping the throttle. Finally I pulled back, bringing us up to speed... and in a quarter turn the ship kicked up to over twice the speed of the Cloud Riders!

Ooooh yeah!

The people on board let off a collected gasp or yelp of surprise at the sudden increase in speed. Much as I wanted to not have a lot of people here for safety reasons the reaction was fun to watch. Doubly so as I squeezed on the control's trigger and started to pull it back gently; the result being the Enterprise would rise higher and higher in the water before it finally rose above it; the sound of water droplets hitting the lake being the first sign we were in the air. I kept the rise gentle as one man looked over the side, almost too far, only to stand back up and bark out "We're in the air! We're flying! We're flying!"

That made everyone give a cheer as we powered upwards slowly as I kept my magical senses on to sense for any issues from my ship. Sensing none I brought us up higher and gave the throttle another pull to bring our speed up even higher. Once the throttle hit a third of it's total speed we were zooming along like someone bought a brand new sports car, took it to an empty highway and see what would happen when pedal meets metal. Once we were well up I made a slow turn to bring up over and around Port Saint Carter for a full rotation over it before slowing down and turning to the right to do the same, giving those on the other side of the ship a chance to watch. One more rotation and I aimed up due south; over the lake and up even higher as I pulled the throttle back towards the half way mark.

Needless to say we reached much higher speeds.

For a moment I looked over the crowds to see the reactions to such a trip. Men were smiling wide; the glee of a child within coming out as a simple, childish wish, to fly, came true. The women held less glee but more of a look of wonder; as if amazed by what was happening now, as if they've entered a new world for a time. The children bore a look of both, gleeful joy and profound wonder as they looked around and over or under the railings as I gently banked the Enterprise to port for a moment until Port Saint Carter came into view. Despite how short a time we've been flying we made serious distance from it; so small from here you could hold it in your hand. And this was at half speed...

Oh yeah...

This... this was amazing...

Makoto would later tell me the most memorable part of the flight, for her, was how I smiled from the moment the Enterprise took flight; the smile of a fun loving child enjoying himself.

Achievement Unlocked: A Dream of Flight
Take 100 or more people on a flight at once.

Achievement Unlocked: I'm On An Airship!
Created and flew the world's first, true airship.

[-]

By the time lunch came we landed and sailed back to port. We let everyone disembark and I took notes of a few things I could improve on. That said I was happy with the performance and to those who worked on the ship in one way or another I gave a few coins out; mostly silver but to Carter I gave a full gold. "Thanks for all the hard work..." Speaking of Carter; I was talking to him one last time and shaking his hand, the crowd still gathered about and watching.

"It was a joy making her sail the skies... Damned if it's the fastest thing I've seen, ever." He said with a wide grin as I chuckled. Indeed, the Cloud Riders could outpace a harpie in the air and the Enterprise could blow the wheels off the Cloud Rider. Speaking of; we flew the Cloud Rider onto the deck of the Enterprise to carry it back with us as I shook Carter's hand.

"I'll keep you mind if I need to modify another ship." I said with a grin, giving Derek's hand a shake before turning to my ship... My airship... I felt giddy... Don't judge me... "For now, take care." I said before walking up the plank, Makoto and Riri following me; Carl and Kelly were already on board. Once we were up the Scorpion Chains mooring the Enterprise and gangplank vanished, the railing shutting as I turned to wave before the ship started to pull from the dock. Aeris wanted a turn at the controls and I saw no reason to deny her; the crowd waving back to us as she guided the ship out to the lake. Once more the Enterprise sailed out, sped up once clear of the field and took to the air, turning northwards as I walked to the front of the ship, setting my foot up on the railing where it met the bowspirit as I looked to the boundless skies as we started to soar once more... A flash of white coming as the camera panned back to showcase myself, cape flapping behind me before pulling in front of the ship before that announcer voice called out once more.

"With a war behind the Alliance what emerges is a strange, new peace... A strange new era of opportunity and chances. While a dark storm of hate and rage looms in the distance it's people can, for a time, enjoy what's it won. And those within are inspired to innovate and build new things in new directions!"

For a moment my vision shifted as the 'camera' turned to the side, focusing on a nail being driven to the ground before I saw what was a railroad being made with halflings at work under a warm sun. "Many seek to take hold of the future by innovation, by investment or by hard work. Already change is in the air and an excitement blesses the realm from east to west!"

The camera shifted once more to watch the Enterprise sail by, focusing on it's name plate before turning to watch it sail into an almost clear sky. "While trouble shall always await a new brand of hope rises in this time, this era! And at it's helm soars a new Champion of Eostia, boldly to the skies and beyond!"

Act IV: Brand New Dawn

[-]

County of Mungale
Mungale Manor, Near Argon City
Kitchen

"Thanks for the tea, Countess Saxon."

"Did you use my title just to use it?"

"Well of course!" Prim let off, sitting at the table. She and Alicia had arranged to meet in Mungale for two reasons; to surprise their betrothed and to have him enchant Alicia's new weapon with Lulu arriving at the same time with said weapon; as per their arrangement... only to find said man not present and being told he had left for a city in South Point a week and a half ago.

"I'm a little disappointed he's not here to greet us, but I am glad for the hospitality." Alicia added, sitting to her cousin's left as Lulu sat by hers. Joining them was the full Noxdecus family (Minus James) and one Miika who was happily eating a cookie with a game before her. She would look to Merlin with a soft, worried look. "Did he say how long he'd be? Or why?"

"On why, no. He said it's to be a surprise." Merlin answered after a sip of his tea. "I have an idea what he's doing, but I want to wait for his return to see if I'm right or not. As for when; he called earlier and said that, with luck, he'd be here this afternoon. We might even see him within the hour."

"Well that's good to hear!" Lulu chirped out as she poked a projected spot over the Connect Four board and sending a red disk down. Miika would reply, after a moment, with sending a blue one down to it's own place. "I wonder what he was doing..?"

"Hmmm, I dunno..." Miria added with a shrug, watching the game being played idly. "I mean... I know he saw something in that city that interested him but I forget what."

"Let's leave what he's doing aside until he's home." Saxon said, clasping her hands together before looking to Lulu. "I hear James' interested in that project you've been making!"

"Yup! Truth be told I was hoping to get some of that spell fiber of his so I could start working them into my first trains." Lulu said as she rubbed the back of her head. "And to see what he thought of my new piece of forging! Partly to see what he can do with it."

"So what's so special about these trains?" Saxon asked as Lulu grinned once more.

"Well; they can't fly but they can use steam boiler engines to pull tremendous amounts of weight! Like my current model could haul three whole ships of weight!"

"She tested it. By having me use my magic to power it." Saxon looked to one of the other tables in the kitchen where the girl's entourage sat; Carmen Shard, Agni Pralay and the speaker, Edda Greenfield who gave a tired sigh. "She built several cars for the train to pull and loaded them until the weight of three ships and standard cargo was behind it... It somehow pulled it all... I swear, it was so long..."

"He he he!" Lulu let off as Miika gave a long gasp.

"That sounds like that train is really strong!" The young girl let off as Lulu grinned wider.

"Yuuuuup!" She let off... ignoring the fact she lost her game. "James can't beat that! That it needs rails is a downside, I'll admit, but we'll start with connecting all of Ansur and one everyone sees what it can do..."

"Well, if the train is all it's cracked up to be then my boy will be hard pressed to match it." Merlin said, his next words cut off from his voxlux. Setting his tea down he slipped his device out and answered it; seeing one of their men on patrol. "Greetings. Problem?"

"I, errr, I'm not sure my Count." The man, a simple regular, said as he looked to him from the projection. "I don't want to be alarming it's just... well... I think your son is involved sir." That got the attention of everyone in the room as they looked at the devices. "There's a ship heading your way..."

"...A ship?" Saxon let off in a confused tone.

"A flying ship, M'lord." The guard added as the room went silent... and as Merlin smiled.

"So, I was right..." He let off with a grin. "Thank you guardsman. Carry on." He said before ending the call and standing. "Shall we see what he's made?"

There was no arguments as they all followed him out of the room then the manor and then it's wall, stopping only by the snow dusted road as he turned to look south as he smiled and used the Telescopic Vision spell. "Well, I'll be..."

"Whoa..." Prim followed as Edda and Carmen also gawked softly. Soon, for those without magic, it came into view...

Rocketing into view!

The sheer speed of the ship was amazing; one moment it was closing in and the next it had zoomed by, forcing everyone to turn about and gawk as it finally slowed and did a lap around the manor before finally coming down outside of the manor where they would rush towards. It would slowly lower down with Makoto, Aeris, Riri and the guards Kelly and Carl waving to them as it chose where it would land. As it came down to land a burst of wind shunt out of the bottom, sending snow flying away of it as it finally settled down outside of the manor's walls. Finally as it settled James would walk to the side of the ship's center, arms spread. "Well, what do you think!?"

[-]

"Well, what do you think!?" I let off with a grin. I was surprised that Alicia, Prim and Lulu were here (Doubly so Lulu) with their guard but I didn't mind. "We got Mungale on the Territorial Naval List!"

Yes, there was an official registry for ships of each state; that was part of the ETS deal. And yes, I sent a registration to Skyguard; legally speaking it was (On paper) a naval vessel that sailed water but that's fine; there's no listing for airships (Yet) after all.

"You outdid yourself my boy!" My father said with a chuckle. "Or should I say Captain? Permission to come aboard?"

"Granted!" I said, pressing on the stone by the gate; letting it drop and deploy a set of stairs via Arcane Weapon. Prim was the first to rush aboard and, once up on the deck, jumped to hug me; although with the usual lack of force and height. I still hugged back and reached out to pull Alicia to me as she came aboard next. Lulu followed and right away ran about the deck to look around. Then my father stepped up as my mother followed; Miika and Miria following as the rest followed them in turn.

"It was so fast!" Prim let off as Lulu moved to the controls, Miika following. Mokria wandered out of the manor walls, likely hearing a commotion and investigating before doing a double take.

"It went zooooooom zoooooom!" Miika let off as I snicked softly.

"It has the same controls as the Cloud Riders." Lulu noted as she moved to the back, hopping up to lean over the railing to look at the back. "And that's a lot of spell stones!"

"You got me some of them!" I shot back with a chuckle. "I wanted to be sure this thing was fast; we left Port Saint Carter at about noon today."

"You made it here in three hours!?" Edda Greenfield barked out as I chuckled. "That's insane!"

"Hey, it works." I replied with a shrug and a smile. "And with this done I think we can use Enterprise to bring the spell fiber you need to Ansur soon. I'm surprised you guys were so surprised; no rumors came up here?"

"I mean there were rumors you were doing something down their with a ship but I didn't think you'd try making something so large fly." Prim said as she moved to the front of the ship to look over the railings. "Just... wow..."

"Come on." I said, gesturing to the ship's doors that led inside. I showcased the major rooms, the captain's quarters, crew quarters and mess, all in the first floor under the deck, gun positions on the second deck under that, the hold at the bottom, other storage rooms and so on. Mother insisted on using the ship's kitchen to cook a meal and 'break it in' (And I was sure Prim was eyeing the bed in my quarters for similar reasons) as I pulled Lulu away from the drinks selection; telling her she couldn't drink it all.

I didn't think she could but I imagined it wouldn't stop her from trying.

In the end we would eat well on board; the sinks bore a Conjure Water spell for all the water we needed (Likewise the showers on board) as mother cooked a simple chicken pasta dish. I took Prim and Alicia to bed with me... and Prim dragged Carmen in as well... There was a night of fun to break the bed in...

Honestly... I already loved my ship.

[ - Author's Note - ]

And there we are! The ETS-MG Enterprise is here and ready to fly! And boy will it be in use next chapter! You'll see!

Side note; am I the only one to imagine From Sky to Berk playing as the Enterprise first took flight? Or did you have another theme in mind for it?

We get to check in on Arnold, Olga, Celestine and Mallory and see some love between sisters... And man was it fun to write about that ship. I had several ideas on how exactly the Enterprise would function and what it would have on it. I wanted it to feel like both a big deal and a major game changer in several ways. I wanted to make it feel like once everyone hears about Enterprise it'll make people either gasp in awe or sweat in horror.

Needless to say Vult will need to... account for this...

So what's planned for the next chapter...?

Road trip!

Just... not as long as Act Two...

As always make sure to drop a comment, tell me what you liked, didn't like, wanted to see and so on! Also; what would you have called the ship? I'm sure there's a lot of good ideas out there as well. Drop it all and let me know!

Until next time!

~Eostian Scribe