Streets of the Magic District

Currently making their through the Magic District was a group made up by Blake, his five items, Mari with Os and Bread. They were here on a sudden request from Anthony to meet at the Teleportation Center of Gorz. For a reason, the tinker only put as: 'I have made a great breakthrough in a great question!'

As vague as that was, Blake went along with it. Mostly because there was a part asking/ordering him to bring his items on this little meet. The kids hadn't gone on a big outing with the Smith-Knight in a while was he brought them along, or in Mari's case, those 'women' shouldn't be left alone with her brother.

Blake tried to get the others in on this, but they either refused or had other things to deal with, even Nash his best and oldest bud didn't want anything to do with the Smith-Knight this time around.

"Not sure if you're gonna be useful, kid?" Blake dropped a hand on Bread's hat as they made their way through the crowd. An easy task as the sight of Gram was enough even to make some of the City Watch give way.

"Did Sir Anthony's request state that we are to due battle?" Asked Risabeel, who was a step behind Blake.

"Not really? But when have we not needed to fight on any random day?" Blake asked in return and earned himself a curious look from his Demon sword while Saffire at the back of the group nodded in agreement.

Finally, up above were Baba and Moco. "Now, try not to stand out too much, or you'll give Hubby some problems." The old bag of air was still giving the Merchild tips on how to be a 'lady like her' despite Blake's continued warning of not to do that after the thing Moco pulled out of nowhere.

"Do enough so that he looks at me but doesn't annoy him...right!" Moco whispered with a nod as she flew around Blake in an attempt to get him to pay attention to her. "This is hard!" She whined in her mind when Blake turned away every time she got in his face

"Still needs some work..." Baba noted before going to her favorite Dragon friend. "Care to make a bet?"

"On what?" Saffire asked, keeping her eyes forward even as Baba was resting on her shoulders while the rest of the wind spirit floated lazily in the air.

"Which of us gets 'used' most by our dear Smith-Knight on this little outing," Baba answered with a heavy emphasis on 'used.' "~Hehe~" Another one of her small games to get under Saffire's scales.

The Dragon's usual reaction was swiping a claw at the Ala or blowing her away with some embers. "..." But as Saffire kept looking at Blake's back with Risabeel's coming in and out to block her gaze. "...What's up for the grabs, Air-head?" A rather unlikely response came from her.

"~Oh~" After a bit of surprise, a devious smile came to Baba's face. "Hmm? I didn't think you'd play along with me. So let's be simple, shall we? Loser does whatever the winner wants. That okay with you, Hot-head?"

"So, I can tell you to buzz off and never come back?" Saffire joked as Baba came around to her face.

"We both know Hubby wouldn't be very passing on that...he loves and needs us too much, yes?" Baba cooed while Saffire shrugged. "So, at best I could get you to tell him you love him like I do ~everyday~"

"And that sure worked wonders for you, doesn't it?" Saffire for once poked Baba back with a smirk. "You must be feeling a little jealous that he tries stuff on me, right?"

"..." Silence hanged in the air as Baba rolled that one in her head a few times but smiled all the same. "...Well? Aren't you getting a bit out of hand? Did that little heart to heart really do so much for your confidence, hmm?"

"How did yo-!" Saffire snapped at Baba then wanted nothing more to bite her tongue after the childish look on the Ala's face. "You didn't...until now."

"I'm seasoned, so I can guess when things happen. Not to mention that scale he kept got my mind working in...interesting ways." Baba gave out her reasoning for her accurate guess for the Dragon's change in handling her teasing. "But understand when it comes to playing with the minds and hearts of others, Mama's as good as Succubus." She did a little belly dance in Saffire's face. "Still up for our game?"

"Fine...if it means I can get you to shut up for a month, I'll play." Saffire took Baba up on her bet with her arms crossed as the Ala did the same while floating just in front of her.

"Hey! What are you two just standing around for?! Let's go!" Before a staring contest broke out between them, Blake's voice caused them to look away from eachother and at the others, all waiting from them at a crosssection.

"Good luck, little ~Dragon~" Baba winked at Saffire as she flew off to meet Blake with her arms around his neck, causing Moco to do the same, followed by Mari jumping on his back.

"Hmph!" Saffire chose to blow some smoke from her nose and walked up to the others as Blake yelled at the girls clinging to him for attention.

Risabeel then left Blake's side to speak with the Dragon. "Saffire? What were you two speaking about that kept you?"

"Nothing important, just more of the old bird's teasing," Saffire grumbled, pinning her eyes on Baba snuggling up to Blake at any chance she got. "Hey, Risabeel? Does that bother you?" She pointed at the sight before them that was now keeping the group up more than the Dragon's and Ala's little talk.

"Oh? Not at all! Baba's playfulness is something I find rather amusing, hehe," Rsiabeel answered in a giggle as Blake finally broke free from the three tiny girls' hold. "Although...at times, I do find it a bit...excessive, to say the least." Then a hand went to her chest after she spoke those words, feeling an odd pulling at her heart. "Saffire...to ask a question in return, do you...often feel a sense of unease when Baba does such things to Sir Blake?"

"Huh?" The Dragon's eyebrows went up. She was not expecting a question like that from Risabeel. "Uh...yea? I guess? I mean, it's hard not to, right?" She wasn't sure how to answer that one herself after everything that happened between her and Blake during her shedding. "Hmm?" Her outlook on the things that went on with Blake and other girls were starting to weigh on her mind more than she liked. "Ugh, Scaleless, this is your fault!" She cursed Blake for making her feel like this. "Come on! I'm getting sick from looking at them like that!" Smoke blew out of her nose as she stormed up to Blake and Baba to pry them apart.

"Ah? Yes, indeed..." Risabeel lost in thought, slowly followed as she eyed the smile on Blake's face while being caught between Baba and Saffire. "...you feel it as well? Then why does that make me more concern?"

Teleportation Center

The Teleportation Center was a large stone building three-stories high and took up half a block. It was made out of white stone with glowing runes etched into every door, window, and any other opening. These runes worked as a means to alert those within to any unwantables. Geodesic domes of varying colors and sizes were placed on top of the building, and from them came beams of light that shot up into the sky at random times.

The name says it all; the Teleportation Center was the hub for all long-distance travel via magic within the Laudonian Kingdom. However, despite the advantages that came with being able to appear anywhere in the kingdom's bonders. It was rarely used by anyone other than the Founding Houses and a select few in high standings.

The main reasoning for this was that while magic is by its own nature, a wondrous and fantastical thing. Very few possessed enough mana and the skill needed to effectively use it to go around the world as they see fit. Laudonia imparticular only had two spellcasters who were capable of doing such a feat, those being Nathalie, The Witch Of The Gaps, and Morgen Le Fay. Additionally, depending on the magic defenses of another kingdom, even they would find it hard to 'pop in' somewhere unannounced. But this was rarely an issue...unless in times of war and strife.

So in other to level out the need for raw magical more and skill, groups of spellcasters who have an affinity for spatial magic are gathered to provide the needed mana. Next, large Port-Stones, sometimes called 'Port-Boulders' due to their size, are placed both at the center and at the location one wishes to go. This was done to keep travelers from appearing in the middle of nowhere caused by a lone caster's mistake.

But such things were costly beyond what most were willing to pay and required allowance from both Gorz officials. Safe to say something that was not often used by the public. It was mostly used to transport building materials such as wood, stone, iron, and everything in between and caused one of the most magical advanced buildings in Gorz to be left as the starting point for manual labor.

"Man, the city sure has a lot of things you don't see in the county..." Blake muttered as he and the others stepped inside as a caravan existed out of a gateway on the side of the building.

"Indeed it does, my fellow crafter!" The first thing the group heard and saw was Anthony sitting on a large pile of suitcases, examination instruments, and books. "That goes there, B5..." The tinker order to one of his humanoid Anthomatas that was handling his luggage.

"Sheesh! I thought you told us to pack light!" Blake walked up to Anthony with a thumb pointed at Gram, who was carrying the group's bags. "You planning on moving into where we're going?"

"Oh? I have not thought of that? But Master Deller would never allow it...ugh..." Anthony answered with his face cringing, and then he shook his head to put on a smirk. "...now, then I am sure all of you are wondering just what or where I have in mind for all of us?"

"Yeah, since you made this guy drag me out of my cave." Saffire came up to jap her elbow at Blake then glared at Anthony to make sure he didn't go on some long business spin.

And in the face of a Dragon, Anthony kept it short and sweet. "Yes! Right away!" He held a hand up in a pledge to ensure he does not anger this woman then waved his arms inward to get everyone to come a bit closer. "...I have found out where those mysterious ruins original come from."

"That's it? HEY!" Saffire was in a small part surprised by that, but when Blake and Risabeel shoved her out of the way without a word, the only thing she had on her mind was taking off into the air and flying back home.

"Hold on!?! You actually got something on those weird ruins!?!" Blake was the first of the two to speak or yell as he grabbed one side of Anthony.

"Truly, Sir Anthony!?! Were you able to find out who placed myself and Moco within them!?" Risabeel followed right after Blake, taking the other side of Anthony's person and helped Blake in dragging the tinker away from the main group.

This was massive for the two in so many ways. Not only could this get them some answers on what caused Risabeel's lost memories or better them her get them back. But it also might shed light on who turned her into Ore then her left inside of a rundown castle smithy. On Blake's part, they might figure out why in the name of the Goddess was a Smith-Knight since you need one to open those ruins.

"Huh?" Not to mention a cute little thing like Moco was left inside of those all be herself. "What's he talking about?" Sadly after getting beaten/saved by Blake, the only thing she thought about was her Chum. "Chum! Answer me!" Who she was cheeks to cheeks with at the moment.

"Those weird ruins where I found you and your la-ocean! Yeah! Your super big and wide ocean!" Blake answered while pushing her away after getting scratched by some of her scales.

"That's right! Hehe!" Not even catching on to Blake near slip up, Moco settled for hanging Blake's back.

"Ahem..." Feeling as if he was put aside, Anthony got the attention back on him. "...now then, as I said earlier, I found what exactly these ruins are but first a bit of reassurance in our privacy..." He dug a hand into his trench coat and pulled out a metallic glove that he waved around. "There." Doing so caused B5 to stop in its handling of Anthony's things and matched right into the middle of everyone. The machine's head split open to reveal a crystal that began to glow and covered the group in a veil of light.

"Huh? Wasn't the tinker guy there a few minutes ago?" Asked a mage to another as they were making their way to a teleportation room. To anyone looking at where the group was, they only saw a pile of luggage watched by a mechanical servant.

"Eh? Maybe he stepped out." Answered the other mage, who was looking at the pile with a bored stare. "But man, is that guy really taking all of that with him?" They asked a question of their own after looking at everything with some new additions that looked somewhat odd in shape and size.

"Meh, remember that Ovis lord who brought in a fully grown elk from the west a few weeks ago? Now that was weird." The first mage pointed out and earned a nod from the other. "Come on. It's not like we're moving that stuff leave if for the express group." After that, the two got back to walking after that.

"Ah, it looks like that illusion stone I installed is working as intended!" Anthony passed a hand through his hair once the pair of mages were gone. "But I do wonder if it would work on more skilled spellcasters, hmm? A thought for another time, yes?" He turned to the others with a metal finger tapping his chin.

"Yeah, sure, now back to the super important stuff that needed us to get hidden." Blake nodded and along with Risabeel, keeping as close to Anthony as the tinker allowed.

Anthony nodded then put on a bit of an annoyed look. "...but, I shall admit that even with my access and own knowledge to all ancient works found in Laudonia and parts of other kingdoms. I was left rather stumped by these ruins for weeks. That is until, by sheer luck, I came to an answer that these ruins are part of something greater. Something found in myth. Something that every crafter would wish they were a part of. One of the highest peak in all of cre-"

"Get on with it already, carrot top!" Saffire snarled at Anthony. "Grr! And you! Get off me! NOW!" Then at Baba, who was resting her head on the Dragon's shoulders.

"Right away!" Anthony saluted Saffire as if she was his commanding officer in an army unit. "Those ruins were once a part of Golgonooza! The City of Imagination! Built by Los, the God of Craftsmen! That is all, ma'am!"

"Part of what? The city of what? Built by who?" Sadly even with Anthony telling the Dragon and the others exactly what he found out about the ruins, none of them knew a thing about what he was talking about.

"Sir Blake do you know of thi-?" That is until Risabeel turned to Blake for some kind of answer. "Sir Blake...?" And found the Smith-Knight slowly walking backward in a daze.

"Hmm?" Which left a guard on patrol to stare at a head of blue scales belonging to Moco sticking out of thin air. "Wha?" On a closer look, they found a second one of red hair in front of hers.

"Hiya!" Moco waved to the guard before opening her maw. "Wake up! Chum!" And used it to clamp down on Blake's left arm.

"AAAHHH!" Blake instantly got out of his daze and threw himself back inside the illusion.

"Fucking magic..." The guard muttered under their breath as they got a move on.

"Stop biting me like that!" Back under the veil, Blake was yelling at the smiling face of Moco while trying to see how far her cheeks can stretch. "And you!" The next thing he did was snap his head at Anthony. "You better be serious about this." Then a finger was firmly pointed at the tinker's chest. "Cause if you're not, then that master of yours better get a new student." With those words, Blake made his already confused companions even more out of the loop.

Anthony blinked twice as the person before him wasn't that simple-mind countryman but someone as stern as his own master. While not as well trained as the tinker himself, he actually saw Blake as an equal in terms of crafting. "Master Deller's words on your master would fit you well right now..." He thought when the stories Deller told him about his master's old rival flashed in his mind. Most of them ended with Reiner being either an idiot or genius at the oddest of times. "Ahem, I would have you know that the matter of calling you here, going through the needed processes of acquiring a teleportation permit, digging up a few old texts that weren't exactly public. Would never have happened if I were not as you say; 'serious about this.'" He sent a stone-face gaze on Blake as the smith did the same.

"Good!" Blake nodded to those words, then dropped his finger to his side as he passed his hand over his hammer. "Cause that's some heavy stuff, man. I mean, we were talking about crafter history here. Fuck! Crafter myths!" He threw his hands with a look that said he wasn't all that convinced by Anthony yet.

"I can understand that, but I have done my research, smith, and those ruins only make sense if they are or were a part of Golgonooza. Which directly leads to Los. Even you must have come to that answer after I brought up the Crafting God." Even Anthony wasn't convinced by his findings, and that was after a good day of going over everything one more time. "And think about it! You can open them as simple as a tap of a hammer, and we both know that is due to you being a Smith-Knight. Now then, Smith-Knights are still not fully understood by anyone just like Los and Golgonooza. But while the ruins you have encountered so far have not bore much fruit, other than a few of your fine companions and that rare iron tome your mage owns..." He paused when the thought of seeking Nathan out to get a look at his Iron's Call. "...there happens to be a place that has a fairly large piece of Golgonooza that while thoroughly looked at by archaeologists for years. There are quite a few anvils that need a 'good hammering' if you understand me?"

"Wait? Are you talking about the Valley Of Los?" Blake asked in such a surprised tone that it sounded like he was asking for urgent help from on high. "Oooohhh! We're going to the Valley Of Los!" He screamed then slapped a hand over his mouth. "We're going to the Valley Of Los..." He whispered through his fingers as Anthony nodded, and the smith's eyes widened. "We are goin-Gaugh!"

A blazing fist of red scales came down on Blake's head and put him on the ground. "Shut up! And make sense already!" It belonged to Saffire, who was steaming from all over her body in both rage and total bewilderment after hearing random words that didn't make any sense.

"Yes, that is very much needed right now..." Baba held up a hand, asking the two crafters to stop with their banter on the behave of the others.

"Ah? Yes, that is true. Only those seasoned in the world of crafters would know of what Blake and I speak of...forgive me...it is rather important information to us..." Anthony took a deep bow of his head in apologizes. "...hmm?" When he came back up, his eyes fell on Bread of all people. "If you wish to become a crafter, you should keep what you are about to learn to heart, boy."

"S-sure?" Bread looked at Anthony with a curious look. "Huh?" Then came the familiar feeling of a hand going to his hat. "Ugh!" He found Blake with a bit more red in his hair caused by the ongoing fire on his head.

"Ow, ow, ow o-there!" That Moco patted out as the smith stood back up.

"Ears open kid, if there's anything you need to keep in that head of yours, it's this kind of stuff," Blake smirked as he went to stand side by side with Anthony and looked at him as if asking to go ahead. "Cool..." After a nod from the tinker, he began. "Listen, friends, and the little shit I call student this is how the art of crafting came to be in the world..."

Chapter End