Steel and Mana

Chapter 138 – Mages

For the next few days, we have been closely monitoring Mikan for her safety, but it was clear that everything was working as intended. It was even better because Avalon now had three mages at the ready!

"Maybe we have five..." I murmured, standing, leaning against my desk in my study, and looking at Mikan sitting on my couch, breastfeeding both of my kids.

"You think?" Sasha asked, turning towards me and making me dart back and forth between the two women in my office.

"Yeah, just look at them. They are drinking her up like nothing. If they continue like this, they will turn into a Michelin figure."

"A what?" They both asked me, and I saw Arthur open his eyes as if listening to what I was saying.

"Nothing. What I find weird is that they are even more keen on drinking Mikan's milk now than before. Coincidence? It could be, but it also could be that they love the taste of mana."

"I don't feel drained, nor do I think that magic would be in my milk..." Mikan added, murmuring, but she was unsure of it.

"Me neither," I nodded, "not even if I take a taste test. But who knows! Anyway, that is just a theory!"

"Hmmm...." While Mikan blushed, Sasha simply crossed her arms, thinking. "Yeah, I could not tell it either."

"How...?" Mikan asked subconsciously, feeling even more embarrassed that it slipped out because she sure did not remember feeding Sasha.

"Oh, Leon likes to suck on mine, and when we kiss after, I can taste it! He often makes me drink it like that." She explained without holding back anything, even smiling playfully, making me laugh while Mikan was about to sink into the couch, trying to become one with it to hide away.

"Okay!" I clapped before the conversation would derail any further. "So, Mikan, how's your powers coming along? I called you here to give me the details after settling into your new position!"

"Oh, yes, yes!" She nodded hurriedly, turning towards me, and now I had to fight my basic instinct of not watching her jiggling breasts out in the open being suckled by my daughter and son. Damn little lucky bastards, daddy is proud of you two! "I am going through all that I have learned since I was young and reinforcing my studies. So far, I have managed to use all the basic spells that previously always backfired on me. It is... a marvelous feeling; I feel like I am overflowing with magic!"

"I can see that." I answered, looking... well... not at her face. Damn it. "Khm. So, what do you expect? Can you perform complex spells?"

"Most certainly! Well... After I trained a little. I still feel, um..." She blushed, not because of my stare but because she knew her limits, and it embarrassed her, "Spells need us to be confident in casting them, and I need to build back my courage. I know that... But, with the mana I feel swirling within me, I should be able to do a lot!"

"Well, Mikki-2 did bring me back from death once, and it was with your magic, so I know what you can do. You don't need to hurry; just take it easy and get used to it in your own way. Here!"

"Is it...?" she asked as I presented her with a freshly printed book wrapped in golden-colored leather.

"It is whatever I could gather of Elyzien Morningstar. I have been combing through the books in my mind since she introduced herself. If she had been friendly, I would have given it to her, asking her to explain it. But, oh well, this is even better! I will give it to you; maybe it will help you reach the same level she was so proud of."

"Was she really... that powerful?" Both of the girls asked while I couldn't help but shrug.

"I didn't find concrete proof, only spells, theories, and some detailed works from supposedly her pen. As for proof of all that she touted? None. But I also did not find anything that would question them, so who knows! We can no longer ask her, hehe!"

"I will work hard!" Mikan exclaimed, looking directly at me. I only smiled and nodded at her, feeling that with her around, I could rest assured that my people would remain safe and healthy. Still, I also need to make sure they won't go to Mikan with every little issue because that would create a dependency that would jeopardize everything in the long term.

"Well..." After a momentary pause, I said, "We are still far away from spring, so you have time to experiment with it! I just ask you to take notes and present them to me and Sasha periodically."

"Yes, My Sovereign! I will do so!"

Damn... Whenever she says it like that, smiling so innocently, my mind draws a blank stare, followed by Sasha's teasing giggle, waking me up from it...

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The winter was longer than we expected. By keeping track of the dates, I was trying to introduce the twelve months of my old life, gradually getting my people used to them along with weekdays and weekends. Looking at it and watching the finally melting icicles on the edge of my window, I let out a long sigh as we were already in the middle of April. Since living in this world, winter has never lasted this long, and we have begun feeling its effects.

If not for the amount of beast meat we managed to harvest, we would have had to start rationing food and cutting back on our consumption. Instead, we introduced it to the populace as an emergency as our reserves began running dry in the last two months. Will this turn them into jacked-up macho individuals? Probably not, as I remained defined yet slim. Without extensive training, the muscle development stayed normal. Well... thinking about it, I was sure we single-handedly stopped a beast tide without letting one through, something that would have broken the castle if I had never come here. Lucky Ishillia, eh? They should reward me for my efforts!

As the sun stayed out for longer and longer, the snow finally began melting, although the temperatures were barely above zero. When we were ready, I immediately began moving the completed tractors over to my uncle, letting my ministers handle the transactions to the best of their abilities. We created a dozen that would be transferred to Elliot, while another half a dozen would be employed locally. While they were teaching people and introducing them to their newest toys, I finally took the stage for the main project. Something that would take years to complete.

With the last monster appearing, my main priority was building the first mech, which would be more than just affixed cannons to a wall. I needed a mobile platform, one that would also be capable of defending against a magical attack. Looking through all that was happening to us, I felt like I had everything to make it.

The first step I decided on was to build its base, the two legs, and the torso, copying the fake Godzilla we slaughtered. It will require an immense amount of resources compared to what we built before, but I was confident in making it into a reality. Right now, I have appointed Kraus as the head of the operation, and they will work together with all the other blacksmith groups to make different parts of the machine.

It will incorporate not only everything we have developed so far, including dynamos, gyros, and gimbals but also developing the hydraulic systems. After being entrusted with the assignment, Marca came up with different liquids that we could use, so it will be our job to build the first prototypes and start testing which one we will employ. I know it won't make our first mechs fast or quick, but that was not the goal right now. I wanted a machine that could go where I needed it to be and rain down death on the beasts. Or Ishillians...

I am breaking up my blueprints into different parts. While they begin working on creating the legs, Merlin, Sasha, and I will work on designing the magic behind our weapon. As the snow melts, we will try to recover the dead beast, harvesting everything we can from it, including its scales. Those will be given to Dorian, and see if he can turn them into armor or something similar. Even if not, I was still considering using it to build the mech. What we will create first will be like the skeleton of a giant body, which will have to be covered with skin. Or armor, in this case. It will also make repairing and replacing the platings easier if it gets damaged in battle. Being modular is what I was aiming for.

Then, there were the formations we would use to fuel it. Throughout the winter, whenever we could, we collected the monster's frozen blood, keeping it like that, hauled back to Avalon. I was using it to create a magic staff for Sasha, Merlin, and Mikan. All of them received their own, but it was an exercise for me to test how to work with it and how many times I could reuse it before it became worthless. We will 'tattoo up' the machine and use the same methods the beasts use on their bones to make it capable of testing magic. I also had an idea of connecting the different formations within it with tubes, letting the blood circulate back and forth between them, linking them together... but that still needed testing. As it was only a theory.

I told Merlin what type of effects I was looking for early so he had time to think about it while winter was still going on. Besides having an energy core and fueling it with energy, I wanted the prototype to be able to cast disruption magic. I wanted it to have the power to aim and cancel an enemy mage's spell. Seeing how it helped us bring down the behemoth, I knew it was invaluable, an asset I must have on the battlefield.

For now, no more magic would be introduced as making these alone is a great challenge that will require who knows what and how much testing. As for attacking weapons, I did not think about it for now, but when I had free time, I was doodling enlarged cannons attached to them as arms or onto their shoulders... Who knows. We will see when we get there.

As for free time, I did not have as much as before because the two little devils very quickly became crawling menaces. They were only a few months old, the little bastards, but I was suspecting that maybe Houdini had reincarnated as my children. Why? Because I woke up one day to Sasha yelling next to me in a panic that they were missing from their crib. I won't lie; for a moment, my blood had stopped flowing, and I felt panic gripping my balls, jumping out of bed as if it were on fire.

We didn't know which of the two decided that it was time for a midnight exploration, but somehow, they got out of their crib. Luckily, the closed door was still a bigger obstacle, and we found them by simply looking around the room, noticing that the bathroom door was fully pushed open, and they were having a boring adventure there.

Both of them were sitting on the floor, looking around, confused about what to do next, as there was nothing to really play with in there. It was not the only time it happened, so one day, having enough of their escapades, we were only pretending to sleep and kept watching them. What we saw was something incredible.

Arthur was on all fours in their crib while Leyla, with weak, wobbly legs, stood up, climbing atop her brother's back, and he pushed her up on the edge of the crib before standing up himself. It was then his sister's turn to reach down, helping him pull up until they were both sitting up on the crib's side. They began slowly climbing down and soon be on their merry way.

"What the actual fuck..." I whispered as silently as possible, making Sasha nod. Now, we were merely watching, curious about their next step or where they were heading.

"They are not normal..." Sasha mumbled, and this time, I nodded as I observed them try again, the same way, reaching towards the doorknob, but it was still too high for them.

Then came another surprise because they began making noise as if they were speaking, and in the end, Leyla tried climbing onto her brother's shoulders while he was on his way to stand up.

"Okay, that's it!" we both shouted, climbing out of bed, scaring them as they fell on their butts, pointing at the other as if saying it was not their idea.

I knew it then and there... my kids were magical for sure. They were far away from being even a year old, and they were doing some spec-ops shit while we slept? Should I be worried about how they will be when they reach puberty?