197. Taking Aim: Wiremu

“So, are you the Royal Commedian or the Royal Assassin?” I asked.

“Bloody sly King!” Tabitha replied, “I said I didn’t want a job, and what the fuck do I get? He knew I couldn’t turn him down and make the nobles sweat. I should have just told them the Black Butcher was coming for them.”

“The King must have some powerful Skills. I didn’t even hear you ask about your pay,” I said, living dangerously.

Tabitha growled. It didn’t have anywhere near the same effect as Modrica’s growl. We congregated in the main lounge at the compound. Skavt had a big grin. Kelda wasn’t sure how she should be reacting. Liten was watching the perimeter. Actually, Liten could be anywhere. That was a sneaky bird. My Spy Class finally went to Journeyman level. It is strongly perception-based class, I wonder if Kelda wants to learn it.

“When are Dianne and Kelda going on a date next?” said Tabitha going on the attack.

“How long have you been Dianne?” Kelda asked hesitantly.

I had removed the Veneer on the head that Dianne had, but I was still dressed as Dianne with the chest piece and corset. I probably looked strange. “I established Dianne back in Beitemark. I have been doing a few Black Books only contracts to build her reputation. It was mostly to level my Spy and Assassin Classes.”

“I thought you were a Hunter and Monster hunter?” said Kelda, slightly put out and not knowing I had other classes.

“When we first met, I was, although I also had the Spy Class. I got the Assassin Class in Obalno.’ I was hedging what I told her, not because I didn’t trust her, but because it felt like bragging. I rushed on, “My Spy class just levelled to Journeyman, so I can train you in it, as it does seem like a good fit.”

“Possibly,” she said hesitantly, “but I have no skills for breaking into buildings or safes.”

“I can train you,” I said, “but I don’t think it is strictly necessary for the Class to have to break in skills. The Spy class is all about gathering information covertly. When I got it, I was sneaking around and breaking into Imperial offices to get information, but now I look back, I was training the class months before as I used my Hearing Aid Skill to listen in to conversations and poke at people's statuses without being caught. Your Observer Class is gathering information covertly. You already have Stealth and Blend and a bond you use to get information. We could try. If your Observer Class levels instead, we know it is too close to Spy, and we concentrate on getting it to Journeyman Level so you can specialise.”

“You two can discuss it on your next date,” Tabitha butted in. “I have to figure out where I fit in the stupid noble system and how to use it to get the information I need, so we can get out of this place.”

“I can help with that,” Kelda said. “You are a Countess, so below you are the Viscounts and the Barons. Above your rank are the Marquess and the Duke. Duke Terrance has two Marquess, neither of whom is in the city. There are two Counts and a Countess, not including yourself, who report to the two Marquess. Each Count has two Barons under them, and the Countess has a Viscount and three Barons, as she has a larger area to manage. In the throne room today, there was Duke Terrance and his key advisor, Count Tharn and his advisor, Baron Anders and Baronesses Welby and Lamont. They were seated in order, the most important nearest the throne. The advisors were in the row behind.”

“So, in addition to Terry,” Kelda winced at Tabitha, shortening his name and ignoring his title, “I need to look at Anders and Lamont. Tharn is on the list because his advisor looked suspicious. Anders is the idiot hothead.”

“Shall I take a couple of those to look at?” I offered.

“No, I don’t think so yet. Kelda can give me the details to get me started. I know how much you love reading, so I won’t stop you from heading to the Lore Society. You are going to have to read widely, or people will catch on to what you are looking for.”

“There is a private room for restricted reading, but word will get out, and I am sure they will report back to the King. I am unsure how much it matters, but I will diversify the reading. It is going to take me weeks as it is. This will stretch things out.”

“Dianne is going to be followed,” Tabitha said.

“Yes, and I will need to find out who these followers belong to. At least Dianne can be a rough Mercenary guard type rather than a proper fancy noble,” I responded.

I got a “Humph” noise in response to that. I took my leave. The Decree should be at the Lore Society in the morning, so now I am getting into basic random armour, and I am going to look for a bow that will stand up to the heat of the lava. It will probably have to be specially made, so I need the right Bower.

My reading so far has increased my Monster lore to Mid Apprentice, which has given me some ideas about which monsters might have tendons that could work for the string and resist the heat and flames. For the bow itself, my Metal Lore has an idea about a metal alloy mixture that might be flexible enough to work and resistant enough to last. But these are guesses, I need an expert.

“You’re a dreamer. No bow can survive volcanic temperatures, and that’s final. If you want a metal bow, you best consult a blacksmith with specialities in Spiritual Metals and Flexible Alloys, but there is nothing you can make the bowstring out of that will survive the heat.”

This was the most helpful bower yet. The rest just told me to go away, some of them not very nicely.

“I saw the army had a fire affinity user firing flame arrows. What is that bow made of?”

“What colour was the flame?”

“Mostly red, touching into orange.”

“Right, that sounds like Lieutenant Kelda, she is quite powerful, but that is still only about half the temperature you are asking for. Red to orange fires burn at around 1000°C. I made that bow, and it cost a fortune. The army wouldn’t pay for it. She is nobility or something. The bow is made from Ironwood and coated in specialised formulae, which is my secret. The String is from the tendons of a Fire Elk, interwoven with Field Troll's tendon, all treated in a special mixture of my design to add to the resistance and self-repair. Without the assisted self-repair, you wouldn’t get 20 shots from it.”

“Do you have some of the string I could buy and test?”

“I keep a couple of spares for her, but the material is hard to get for more. The Fire Elk was imported from the Elven Forests. If you want to test it, you can do it here. I am not letting you take it to an alchemist to work out my secrets.”

“What happens if I break it?”

“If you break it, you pay for it. Normal wear and tear will self-repair over time.”

He took me out back, and I tracked him with Thermal Sensing as he opened a safe and retrieved the bowstring. He got a standard bow and strung it, and brought it out. I insisted on testing it in private, and he let me.

What I wanted to know was the temperature of my Granite Armour. The lava is used at the joints, but most of the armour is Granite. If I can get the Granite cool enough on my fingers to pull the string, I won’t need to get somebody to invent something new. This would also need to be the granite near my face for aiming.

I created armour on my hand and touched the end of the string to it. It melted straight away. I kept trying to localise my use of Thermal Manipulation (Mineral) to cool only enough area to use the string. When I finally got it cool enough to be able to fire an arrow, my Thermal Manipulation (Mineral) levelled to Journeyman. I could fire an arrow wearing my Granite armour. The wooden bow would be too fragile, but I could make the bowstring work if I kept it away from the lava. Lava arrows will never work, but with the right bow, I could have lava arrowheads, probably.

I called the Bower back in. “I will take the string. Do you have a recommendation for a suitable blacksmith?”

He looked at me funny, “You must be a noble too.” He named an eye-watering price.

“Actually,” I said, “I am a noble, but please keep this quiet. I am a bit sweet on Lady Kelda and want to surprise her with a better bow. Please?” I Roleplayed a lovesick rich noble. Actually, I hoped I did, as I had never met a lovesick rich noble. I could almost see the Bowers' eyes roll, but he would not turn down a noble’s coin, even if he thought I would never get a bow made. Now what will I tell Kelda if she hears a noble is making a bow for her… maybe I could make two?

The blacksmith was intrigued by the challenge of a flexible metal bow. High-level classes need new challenges to level, so he was looking for a level or two. He was less enthused when I asked to help him. I was a Level 1 Metal Worker, but my Metal Lore was in early apprentice, so I knew some stuff.

Metal Worker was like Quarry Worker and only gave three Attribute Points per level. One was assigned to Physical Strength and one to Mental Agility. Surprisingly the third one was free for me to allocate. Quarry Worker had no free points. I negotiated the price, and we agreed to work in the evenings when I was free. I am sure the price was higher because I was helping, but what I wanted was to know the mix of metals in the bow, as I was going to have to repair it. Assuming we could even make it.

It was going to take a while to make, and the first thing was to get the right metal. Steel was flexible enough, but its melting point was too low. Tungsten was the only metal with a melting point high enough, but it was brittle. It was also hard to work with because of that high melting point. Then there were the Spiritual additives to increase the properties. This was going to take a while.

I set a plan for reading in the Lore Society that would get me what I needed. I would spend most of each day there. The topics I would start with are Classes and Specialties in general. This would naturally lead to Advanced Classes. Metal Lore, particularly regarding smelting, alloys and additives, Spiritual and otherwise. This should help with the bow and be able to be used on the road. Then there will be Monster Lore, Elemental Lore, and Mineral Lore. I want to also look at Bonds, normal animal bonds, Elemental Bonds and eventually, the Slave Bond. When I get to Advanced Classes, I will read about classes around Bonds, Metal Work, and the Slave Class.

I am sure the King will be getting a list of everything I read. I am unsure what this would tell him as I think about the list. I am sure as I get into it, there will be other areas that come up that I have no clue about. I don’t have years here. I only have months, so I do need to focus my aim.