It was Rudra! But why did he look Chinese? The last time Nikola had seen him he had looked like an Indian. Well, with tree heads and four arms. He nodded at the Shiva and pointed at the door of his house.

“Perhaps Master Wang would like to tell me what sort of weapon would best suit him?” He said, not willing to anger the strongest Shiva there was. Master Wang, or rather Rudra, followed his gaze and moved to the door. He had been an angel once, as most pagan deities were. Rudra made hunting Asura into a sport. A kraken was not going to be anything for him.

Once inside Nikola placed some tea to boil and he looked around nervously. If Rudra wanted to then he could smite him here and now. Before he hadn’t, not even when India had fallen, because of Azazel. But Azazel was all the way to the brewery’s construction site. Suddenly Nikola felt very vulnerable.

“Are you afraid? Don’t be. Loki tricked me into this form. I no longer have most of my former strength.” Said Rudra and Nikola blinked. What was Loki doing all the way in India?

“When did that happen, Rudra?” He blurted the name and the man raised an eyebrow. “I mean, Master Wang?” Rudra helped himself to a rice cake before answering.

“Twenty years ago. I was hunting down the very same kraken that has been plaguing these shores. But why are you here, Emerald Emperor?”

Nikola didn’t know, so he said so.

“And so, what? You wish to take over the world again starting with this village?” Asked Rudra amused and Nikola shook his head.

“I am trying to live a peaceful life here. And help people as I go. Just like my husband.”

“The vampire?” Asked Rudra and then he pointed at the kettle. “It’s going to boil over.” Nikola turned to look at it and then he cursed. He was soon taking it off the stove and pouring it in two cups.

“Yes, he does a lot of good work.”

“For a creature of the night who can stand even in the sun.” Said Rudra. “One day you will pay the full price for all the magic you do. But we now have a more pressing business, Nikola.”

“And what is that, R…Master Wang?” If Rudra was a mortal man now, he wouldn’t still want to hunt the kraken, would he? That was suicide!

“You will make me a trident that can heat up everything it touches so much it will boil the blood in it’s veins.”

“A kraken has three hearts.” Blurted out Nikola. “That means you will be doing a lot of stabbing until all three give out.”

“Can’t you create something that can do the job in only one blow?”

“Azazel might be able to.” Nikola watched as Rudra’s brows furrowed and he gripped his cup so hard it cracked. “He is your brother, Rudra.”

“Hardly. We were not created in the same generation.” Rudra looked Nikola straight in the eyes and Nikola saw a picture of Azazel stabbing a sword into a fourth head on Rudra’s neck. Wait? Rudra used to have four heads? “He was a loyal soldier back then. And I rebelled alongside the other Shivas and Devas. We were a legion and then Archangel Uriel send Azazel to wreak havoc on us. We only wanted to live in peace among the mortals.”

“I take it you don’t want to see him?” Nikola wouldn’t either, he couldn’t begin to imagine this sort of betrayal.

“I’ll see him only if I knew I was strong enough to end him. He gets to have everything, that Azazel. Is it true you brought his soulmate back?”

“Well, he powered the ritual but yes.”

Rudra drank all of his tea in one go and placed the cup down. “Once I slay the kraken you will use it’s corpse to summon Loki. I deserve to have something good in my life too.”

“But…didn’t you say he tricked you?” And they were brothers, no matter what Rudra said. Not that it was his place to judge someone who might be mortal but still have his magic.

“I had twenty years to forgive him. He was acting on Odin’s orders anyway.” Nikola felt like he shouldn’t ask any more. What went on between angels was their own business. It wasn’t like he himself was the poster child for a good relationship himself.

“You want a trident? I’ll make you a trident. But you will have to be very careful to only touch it’s handle. Least you boil yourself alive.”

“I would also require an armor.” Said Rudra. Then a smile played on his lips. “And a locket for Loki. One which would bind him to me.”

Nikola blanched at that. He was not going to have a pissed off Loki after his head! He shook his head but Rudra unsheathed his sabre and pointed it at Nikola.

“You will do as I command, you second rate sorcerer.”

“You are mortal. And you very well know I am the best at what I do. I can also make the entire village forget Master Wang even existed. With your own heart, at that.”

Rudra lowered his sabre and tsked. “You will find your end one day.” Said the Shiva as he stood up.

“I will make you your trident and armor, but nothing more. And I am not summoning Loki. Last I heard he has a wife. I am not breaking them apart.”

“Sygin is dead.” Said Rudra as he made his way to the door. “Loki angered Odin again and he was chained so a snake would drip poison into his eyes. Sygin held a bowl over them but she had to rest. Loki went blind, nothing permanent, but she still took the full bowl and drank deep when she realized she couldn’t help him. He was released from his punishment after that. His fellow gods deeming that her death was by far crueler than him having poison dripping into his eyes.”

“You angels are far crueler than what the priests say about you.” Said Nikola. Maybe he could reach out to Loki? The Nordic Gods burned their dead, didn’t they? And Sygin was a nymph, not a fallen angel. There was no way he could bring her back. If there had been a chance Loki’s face would have been the first thing, he would have seen upon waking up on the beach.

“We are gods now.” Said Rudra simply. Nikola shook his head. They never will be, no matter how much the mortals worshiped them. They were soon outside and Nikola made a show of bowing to Master Wang in respect.

“It’s so good that you have agreed to take care of the kraken, Master Wang.” He said as a goodbye and Rudra just waved him off. He disappeared into the adoring crowd and Nikola went back inside and headed to the forge. He checked if anyone was around and when he didn’t see anyone, he picked up some dirt and begun to create different metals. He would need to experiment in order to create the perfect equipment for an angel.

A whole day of melting down metals together left him with a pure black trident with silver details. He begun to engrave runes on the silver as the smooth black metal was impossible to engrave, so sturdy it was. He was halfway done when one of his customers came to pick up his sword. Nikola looked at him in confusion and then remembered that he had promised to engrave it. He made apologies that he had forgotten it in the shop and so he was soon rushing there. In the candle lit store, he found grandpa Cao’s granddaughter running her fingers over the bundles of fabric lovingly. There was a ready robe on the counter. Nikola felt bad about forgetting about her and wasting her entire day so he quickly put on the robe and went to the only surviving mirror in the shop to take a look at himself.

The craftsmanship was superb. He didn’t see the stitches. He made a turn in front of the mirror and noted he rather liked this robe more than his other ones.

“I’ll buy it off you…” He paused, not knowing what to call the woman.

“Tao Jiao. And I would prefer if you give me the value of this robe in fabrics so I can make more. And…do you mind…wearing this robe tomorrow and telling everyone who made it?” Tao Jiao looked hopeful as she said it. Well, that was simple enough. He could easily do it.

“Of course, Madam Tao. You may pick all the fabrics today and make me robes for their worth. I trust you will have many customers soon.”

“And I want to make robes for Bjorn too.” Said Tao Jiao blushing. “It’s just that all the maidens are swooning over him. They would surely ask him who made his clothes.”

Well, Nikola hadn’t known that. How was Azazel going to take the competition? Or was he so full of himself that he didn’t even see it? Probably the latter.

“I can call him over so you can get his measurements.” Offered Nikola and then he remembered for what he had come here for. He took off his robe so he wouldn’t dirty it before tomorrow and got the sword he had sold today from behind the counter. “You just wait here and I will have him come over. And Basil too. He needs robes as well. Just show him mine and he will place a large order.” Azazel had been making a killing from his commissions. He could afford to buy his own clothes.

“Oh, that is very kind of you!” She looked ready to hug him, her smile practically lighting up the shop. Nikola left her as she was considering what fabric would best suit her new customers. Nikola went to the brewery construction site. It now had a roof and two walls and the people were building the other one and Nikola could see that some craftsmen were making the door on the side. As soon as he saw Azazel and Bjorn, he called them over.

“We have a new seamstress in the village whom I will support. She asked that Bjorn come to her for new robes. And I talked her into taking your order too, Basil.”

Azazel looked put out that he wasn’t the seamstress’ first choice for a model. His new meat sack was drop dead gorgeous. He had caught Bjorn checking him out more than once.

“Where is she?” Asked Bjorn. “We still have work here, Niki.”

“In the shop. She is waiting. It seems you are quite the hit with the ladies, Bjorn.” Nikola had added the last part on a whim. He watched as Azazel’s face darkened at that and he smirked. Bjorn was more muscular than Azazel and had the high to make it all look regal. Nikola had kept his original look. Azazel had to scare women away from his soulmate before too. It seems that now history would repeat itself.

Nikola left them then and made it to the forge. He then proceeded to engrave the sword right in front of his customer’s eyes. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t notice that there was a man waiting at the entrance to the forge. When his customer left the man stepped in. He looked troubled.

“Trader Nikola, I am the village’s blacksmith.” Nikola sighed. He had branched out too big and now he was putting people out of business. But competition was what made a business great. And it’s not like he made carts or horse shoes. This man could still feed himself. The man bowed; his hands clasped in front of himself. “Please take me on as your apprentice!”

Well, this wasn’t what Nikola had expected at all. But when was he going to squeeze the time for this? Sure, until Su Niu came back with his wagon, he would have to keep the shop closed. He had the full intention of selling paper figurines on the streets.

“I simply don’t have the time to…”

“I come from a family of blacksmiths but I have never seen swords with the quality you and your uncle can make!” Said the blacksmith, head still held down. “My son is going to be a blacksmith when he grows up. I wish to be able to teach him how to create your masterworks. Not just the same old techniques.”

“I am working on a commission right now.” Tried Nikola again. He made all his weapons with magic. And he wouldn’t be able to do so with an audience. “I won’t have any metal left over to teach you.” He pointed at the trident he had made for Rudra. “I made this just today for Master Wang.”

The blacksmith turned to look at it and then he went to touch it. Nikola had still not put the finishing touches of the enchantment so there was no danger.

“I was the one who melted down your spear.” Said the blacksmith as he ran his fingers over the trident lovingly. “It was a masterwork. A relic from Atlantis. And this trident has the same feel. Don’t try to lie to me, young man. You, or your uncle rather, had studied under an Atlantean master.”

“My family moved from the island to Troy shortly before the flood.” Nikola watched as the blacksmith picked up the trident and gave it a couple of spins. He wasn’t half that bad, actually.

“Master Wang thought me how to use the weapons I create.” Explained the blacksmith and then he turned towards Nikola with determination in his eyes.

“I’ll work for you if you teach me. Then you will have more time for yourself.” Nikola considered it. He could always place his enchantments after the weapons were made. And this blacksmith had his own forge where he could take his normal commissions. The villagers won’t be left without basic necessities.

“Ok.” The blacksmith ran up to him and hugged him. Nikola patted his back awkwardly. Then he went to the smelter and begun to put ores in it, showing them to the man. They worked for the reminder of the day and then Nikola send the man off with the promise that he would be able to work with him some more after the second bell chime after noon. He planned to just make more metal bars for the armor tomorrow. He could already imagine it. Of black metal, just like the trident, with silver accents. He was going to make Rudra a Chinese armor with dragon claws at the shoulders. If Rudra liked it then he could make him something in the Indian style in the future. But for now, they needed to keep up appearances.

A month passed with Nikola selling paper figurines in the morning and working on Rudra’s armor with the blacksmith in the afternoons. During the weekend he and Wei Caihong would dance for the crowds and Wei Caihong had gotten so good at the various dances Nikola mixed in during their routine that he was the one doing the leading now. The female trader came back from the closest town with a heavy bag full to the brim with coins. The morning she came Nikola was giving lessons to the children around him on how to fold paper. It was a little something he had taken up to doing when word had reached him that Su Niu had sold the paper figurines already and thanks to them, he had received an invitation to the imperial palace to show off his blades.

Xu Jingfei, his jewelry caravanner, placed the bag in front of him proudly. She was wearing silk robes now and had a silver comb in her hair. “Gege, the magistrate of the town wants a silver necklace with an engraved lotus jade piece. Can you do that?”

Well, Nikola could, but his main caravanner hadn’t came back yet so he needed to wait. He told Xu Jingfei that and she grinned and pulled out a piece of jade as big as a fist.

“The magistrate sends this. You have some silver left, don’t you?” She was showing him a toothy grin and Nikola nodded. The blacksmith had silver and he had agreed to share his resources with Nikola for as long as he apprenticed under him.

“Send a letter to the magistrate that I will be taking up his offer.” He took the jade and looked it over. Then he suppressed a groan. It wasn’t jade at all. It was Serpentine. He would be throwing the useless rock into the ocean and just make the new necklace completely from soil as he normally did. “I will need two days.” Xu Jingfei made a step back.

“You can work that fast?” Nikola had never seen actual jewelry be crafted before. His handy spell had filled his coffers and no one, bar Penemue and Azazel, had known about it. People thinking that the Emerald Emperor had a hobby of crafting things and accelerating the process with magic. It was how he always had money for public commissions. And charity. Xu Jingfei was still looking at him expectedly.

“Yes, can’t everyone?” He replied as humbly as he could. The caravanner’s eyes shone and she took out a list.

“For when Su Niu comes back. The noble ladies want you to deck them in gold, silver and jade.” Then she unfurrows the scroll and Nikola’s eyebrows shoot up at the sheer size of the commission.

“You negotiated for all of this?” He asked in amazement. This would keep him busy. If he took two days for each jewel then it would take him months of work! “From a single town?” Xu Jingfei laughed nervously.

“I send some of your best pieces to the capital as a gift to the emperor’s favorite concubine. She then showed them off to the entire court. This is from all across of China.” People begun to murmur after that. Some were even exited at the prospect of people coming to their village to give their commissions in person. Nikola looked at the scroll again. He would have to start immediately.

“I can make some of these before the caravan of Su Niu comes back. The blacksmith will supply me with the metals.” Xu Jingfei squealed at the prospect that she could make another trip to sell jewelry soon. “But not of everything. I don’t have any jade. Put the most important silver and golden orders in a scroll and I will start working.”

A child went next to him and tugged at his sleeve.

“Gege, do you need help making the jewelry? I have quick hands.” Nikola didn’t want to let this child down who was just trying to look out for his future. But he honestly had no idea how to make jewelry without magic. But he had something else to offer the boy instead.

“How about this? I need another apprentice at the forge to make weapons. You can help after school.” Weapons were by far cheaper to make and the kid could branch out. The boy looked down at his feet.

“Gege, can I live at the forge? I won’t take so much space.” Nikola looked around, expecting a parent to step forward and scold the kid. But when no one came his eyes softened. This was an orphan. The orphanage was in the process of being build with Nikola’s contribution of five hundred gold coins. But winter was coming and if he could shelter at least one child then he would.

“You can live in my house. There is space enough in Wei Zhaohui’s room for another bed.”

The boy looked up and there were tears glistening in his eyes.

“I’ll be the best apprentice ever! I won’t disappoint the kind master.”

“What is your name, kid?” He asked and the boy spoke.

“Han Shanyuan, Master Nikola.”

“Just Nikola is fine. Or you can call me Niki.” The boy smiled even more and then hugged Nikola.

“Thank you for giving me a chance, Niki.”

The crowds begun to mutter what a kind person Nikola was, taking in orphans.

“Shouldn’t you be at school?” He asked Han Shanyuan and the boy shook his head.

“We had exams today and teacher Wei Caihong let us go once we were ready. I am in the same class with Wei Zhaohui. Is he your apprentice too?” Well, Nikola had never thought about teaching Wei Zhaohui a craft. The kid had already undergone the ritual to unlock his magic and Nikola had thought him how to make jewelry from mud. That could feed him for the rest of his life once Nikola and Wei Caihong left him the shop. But the villagers needed more than just jewelry. He planned to teach Han Shanyuan all the crafts he knew. Maybe the two of them would supply the store together in the future?

“I am teaching him how to make jewelry.” Said Nikola and he watched as Han Shanyuan’s face fell.

“Of course. He is your son. It is only logical that you teach him the best of your craft.” Nikola thought about teaching this boy magic too. He touched his head and gave it a pat. But there was no trace of magic in his body. There was nothing to unlock. Even Wei Zhaohui had little magic in him. He could only make three necklaces before tiring. But his control was superb. Which was all he needed to become a healer.

“You see me? I have a huge commission and no materials. I’ll lose customers that way. I can afford to since there are other things I can sell. But you won’t have the same luxury. Now, are you hungry?” The boy’s stomach growled as if on cue and he looked down in shame. “Why didn’t you have a steamed bun?” Asked Nikola. He had hired some women to help granny Nuo Nuying in the making of the buns. There should be enough for everyone these days.

“I fed it to Han Fengfan, my sister. Can she…live with us too? She is just a baby so she won’t take much space and I will do her share of the work too!” The boy ran to the edges of the crowd and he picked an adorable baby from the street. He carried the girl to Nikola and he blinked. So much magic! This girl couldn’t be fully human. Even Nikola had to undergo rituals to get at this level of magic and here was this little girl practically oozing magic. If he left her unattended, she was going to get herself hurt. Or those around her.

“I’ll take you both in.” He took the little girl in his arms. She smelt bad. Had she soiled herself? She needed a bath and new swaddling. Han Shanyuan clapped his hands and then he leaned in and kissed Nikola on the cheek.

“You are the best, Niki!” Nikola pulled out a piece of paper and quickly wrote down the order for clothes for the little girl and then added an order for Han Shanyuan’s too.

“Run off to Tao Jiao and give her this. Ok, everyone I need to go feed and wash the little princess here. See you all tomorrow.” The children who were still folding up their paper figurines groaned. Nikola commented the ones who had done well and he bought their figurines for a silver coin. These children ran off to the sweets shop with their winnings and the other children followed them, hopeful that they would share in on the bounty.

As he walked, he kept talking to the little girl in his arms. She was such a treasure, not crying once. He took a small bucket and filled it with water and he then put his elbow in to check it’s temperature. Perfectly heated. A quick check on the girl who couldn’t have been more than a year old showed him that she hadn’t been changed or washed in quite some time. She even had a rash.

A soak in the water took care of the filth and a spell of the rash. And then Nikola put her in one of his cotton robes and he tucked her in good, ready to tell her a story that was hopefully not taboo and feed her some sweetened milk. And have something prepared for Han Shanyuan too. The boy needed to eat more if he was to have enough strength to hammer away at the metal.