Chapter 678: Reputation (1/2)

Chapter 678 Reputation

Ilea looked at the third device while Bralin looked over the mounted Armaments of Lilith.

“I like this one,” Pierce said, talking into a mouth piece. A deep vibrating voice resounded from the piece she held in her hand. “None shall remain.”

“You could come. Dwarven city here. Let me know,” Ilea sent to Feyrair, assuming she could get him inside with Bralin’s help. She saw his mark but didn’t receive an answer, assuming he had found something suitable to train with, not wanting to waste his daily message in case he ran into trouble.

She raised a receiver to her mouth and spoke through it. “I am your father,” said a deep whispering voice with a downright mechanical quality to it. “Think I like the one you have more,” Ilea said to Pierce. “I’ll take it,” she added, repeating the phrase with a giggle.

“Do you want to be a father?” Pierce asked with some confusion.

“It’s a reference from a place far far away,” Ilea said and showed the piece to the dwarf.

“Sure, throw it over, I’ll install the sending piece,” Bralin said. “We usually go for this part here,” he added, tapping the armament below its left arm where a human’s rib cage would be. “Generally hard to reach, let alone penetrate.”

“You want to put it inside the steel?” Ilea asked.

“Of course. It’s living armor. It will simply regenerate around the piece. Just have to make sure it’s not covered entirely,” he said.

“Wouldn’t that create a weakness of its own?” Ilea asked.

“Normally, no. This isn’t just a piece of scrap metal, it’s a hardened alloy with an enchanted core that receives and creates the voice from your mouth piece. Only works with a direct connection of the same mana. I’d say that in this case it’d actually be a weakness, seeing how well made your set is. Does that matter to you? I could also fix it to your shoulder or neck, but any random area spell or direct hit would likely rip it off,” Bralin explained, lifting the armament’s arm with some difficulty. “Can’t believe you have enough mana to power this thing,” he muttered. “What are the openings on the back for?”

“You’ll see,” Ilea mused, handing over the piece. “Under the arm is fine.”

“You’ll sound like some kind of undead lich,” Pierce said. “Were you inspired perhaps?”

“Hmm, well, being an ethereal wisp does sound appealing,” Ilea answered. “But being in an armor like this is better. Bralin, do you have something that could emulate sight?”

“There are various tools that have perceptive qualities but nothing like what I believe you’re looking for. I’m unsure why your set here didn’t create anything to look through for your eyes, but there must’ve been a reason,” he said.

Well yes, I don’t exactly need them, Ilea thought, wondering if her own mana, her subconscious, or the armor itself had weighted protection for her eyes higher than her ability to see.

“Easiest solution is to drill a hole and stick a tube in there,” Bralin said, grabbing a nearby tube to see if its length would be enough. “But your sight would still be very limited. It’s just too thick to allow for a reasonable peripheral vision. If you don’t just want to remove the helmet altogether, which is not something I’d suggest. With living armor… there’s a chance that it will adapt to your wishes if you continue to use it. Depending on how long you’ve actually fought in it.”

“I haven’t used it much,” Ilea admitted, touching the massive titan.

“A shame, really, but not uncommon with the best machines,” he mused, smiling to himself before he looked back at the armaments. “I’ll have to drill the hole first which might take some time. You three can get drinks on the house while you wait. There’s a bar one floor up.”

“Great,” Pierce said and vanished.

Verena walked off while inspecting some of the ongoing work, glancing back to Ilea.

“Give me a second,” she said, a small ashen drill forming as she walked past Bralin. Ilea grabbed the heavy steel arm and held it aloft. “About here?” she asked. The drill now touched the side of her armor.

“Yes,” Bralin said, hesitating as he raised an eyebrow at the drill.

Ilea made the thing spin and slowly pushed it into the steel. That is pretty durable, she thought, her hardened ash slowly going deeper.

“I’ll be upstairs too,” Verena said with a wave.

“Sure,” Ilea answered, pausing to remake the tip of the drill.

Bralin chuckled next to her. “With bloody ash.” He looked at her and back to the hole now large enough to fit the tool.

“Any other upgrades you’d suggest?” Ilea asked.

The dwarf considered but ultimately shook his head. “Nothing I can think of to make this more deadly than it already is. Most of the power comes from you, and the speech module is already creating a small weakness. I’ll tell you what… I will talk with the boss, and try to get a deal. If you win a single match in the Dome… which you will, if you fight, you’ll get replacements for that module until you don’t need it anymore.”

“I thought match fixing was the most important rule,” Ilea mused in a dry tone. She went into her armor with the mouth piece and talked. “I find your lack of faith, disturbing,” she said, turning her massive steel head towards the dwarf.

“I trust in steel, not faith,” he answered. “And your steel will make us a lot of gold.”

“I get half of the winnings,” Ilea said in her deep and vibrating voice, her intimidation gaining at least a few bonus points with the voice module.

“I suppose that’s fair. But only if you’re announced as a sponsored fighter by this forge. Otherwise we might run into trouble anyway if you want part of the winnings not bet by yourself,” he explained.

I’ll bet plenty myself, Ilea thought with a grin. Maybe not everything or I might cause the whole town to come after me.

“How much can I reasonably bet before I’m hunted instead of paid?” she asked.

Bralin laughed, now back in his own machine. “That’s a hard to answer question. I suggest you have your friends bet in your stead. When would you be up for a fight? And what would you like to be called?”

“I’m up now,” she said. “And let’s go with Lilith. Have to spread the name,” she said, as if it was inevitable.

“Lilith, that works,” he said. “Care to have a drink too?”

“I thought you weren’t attracted to humans,” Ilea answered, vibrating impacts resounding with each of her steps.

“I’m attracted to steel,” he said, just watching her for a moment. “Who made that thing anyway?”

“A friend. Who knows, maybe I can introduce them to you at some point in the future,” she said. “What’s the look for anyway?”

He shook his head and followed. “If you could move a little more naturally, I’d take you for some legendary flame butcher, or soul warden.”

“War machines of olden times?” Ilea asked, still sounding like some kind of A list villain somehow worse written than what most indie productions manage.

“Indeed. There are those that come close in this day and age, but there has been peace for centuries,” he said.

“You make it sound like that’s a bad thing,” Ilea answered, entering through an oversized gate and into the most spacious bar she’d ever seen. It looked more like a storage hall really, but the wood, warm light, and stools added a nice atmosphere. Stools both dwarven sized and well, war machine sized.

Bralin laughed. “Ah well. It’s not, but it’s less interesting, wouldn’t you say?”

Ilea sat down on a reinforced steel bar stool, the heavy pole under the seat groaning under her weight. She decided to tone down on the increased heat generation.

The barkeeper was in a war machine too, various tools and additions to his suit that belonged to the bar itself. He whistled when he saw her, his clean shaven and scarred face currently uncovered. A metal face shield hung from the top of his helmet, put aside for now. “Haven’t seen a beaut like aht n ages,” he murmured. “An not a dent on er.”

“It heals,” the deep void of the titan replied.

“I wan no trouble, misher,” he said. “What can I geh ya?”

Ilea ordered a few of their ales, hoping a hidden dwarven city based around war machines, arena fight, and digging an ever deepening hole to the very core of the world would have some capable brewers.

She transferred out of her armor and sat down on its shoulder, enjoying the looks of the few patrons and the barkeeper.

Her ale expectations weren’t just met but blown entirely to the moon. Each tasted incredible in their own way, the diversity surprising already but the fact that she loved all of them was the real shocker.

“You’re getting a lot of attention,” Pierce mused. “Ever been with a dwarf?”

Ilea smirked. “No. And I don’t plan to pick up someone that is drinking in a pub at…,” she glanced around, finding a mechanical clock on one of the walls. “Eight in the morning.”

“What does that say about us then,” Pierce mused.

“We’re excluded,” Ilea said. “Or do you still adhere to a normal sleep schedule?”

Verena chuckled. She had a wide grin on her face, swirling a whiskey glass around. “This is the best vacation I’ve had in a while. Thanks… Lilith.”

“The Pit has a lot to offer,” Bralin said as he relaxed on a massive bench, leaning his armored back against the wall.

“Speaking of which,” Ilea answered. “The massive hole, can we just go down there and kill a bunch of monsters?”

He shrugged lightly, taking a sip from his pint. “You can. But I suggest signing up with the guild first. If you happen to finish any jobs or find treasures, it’s a much simpler process to get paid. Granted, you’d make more if you had a lot of connections and sold everything yourself but you don’t strike me as someone who’d be interested in that.”

“Yeah, the guild sounds better. We can go there after,” Ilea said.

“I can take you there. It’s not far from the Dome registration,” Bralin said and downed his drink. “I’ll check with the boss and be back in ten, twenty minutes. Sound good?”

Ilea smiled. “It is… acceptable,” she said, speaking through her receiver. She sipped on her ale. “God I like this shit.”