Steel and Mana

Chapter 78 – Returning Peace (End of Volume I)

"I should really establish a proper testing area in the future. Maybe one hidden within the mountains." I murmured as we were a few kilometers away from Avalon, standing on an open field at the foot of the mountains.

"Hollowing out a cave, reinforcing it... It would take a lot of effort, and the biggest issue would be how to illuminate it?" Merlin murmured in his head; he was already coming up with the resources and manpower to achieve it.

"It was just a random thought!" I waved, chasing out my thoughts and returning to the reason we were here.

We finally deconstructed the formation that was in Ignacio's hand. Engraving it onto a stone tablet, it was time to activate the spell and test its effect on a sheep we brought along.

"Do you think this is safe, My Lord?" Oleg asked as we walked a little further back, letting Merlin handle it.

"It should be." Sasha answered, watching with curious eyes, "We confirmed all the runes within it multiple times, referencing them with the glossaries we, well, Leon, have written down. It is an illusionary spell that should not affect the user."

"That would defeat the purpose." I nodded, agreeing with her, "Otherwise, why would a mage use it? We just couldn't determine its effects. We wonder if this one places someone under control, causes them to forget things, or makes them tell the truth. All of those are possible outcomes, but we will only know after testing because we have yet to be experienced enough to recognize the exact combination."

"Why on a sheep?"

"We can't test on people; if it is about control, it should affect any living being the same." I answered, thinking I should have kept one of the saboteurs back for this test... but it was too late for that.

"I'm starting!" Merlin shouted, activating the tablet without using his reinforcing ability, making me smile proudly. He is improving day by day; I wonder how strong he will get later on.

When the tablet came to life, it lit up in a faint, pinkish color before breaking apart with a resounding crack. Well... that was anticlimactic. Nothing had happened. The sheep continued to stand there, grazing the grass, ignoring us, and Merlin was just as baffled, looking at the two halves of stone in his hands.

"Um... did we make a mistake?" He asked, turning towards us, looking just as unsure as we were.

"You stay back!" Sasha exclaimed in a way I used to, making me look at her before chuckling and nodding, watching her walk closer to Merlin. She barely got within 5 meters when she stopped and exclaimed in surprise, jumping a little. "What is it?!" We all asked, including Merlin, who looked just as frightened.

"This is... incredible!" She took a quick step back, tilting her head, then hopping forward, laughing, walking around, looking at Merlin, making all of us baffled. "Come closer; you will understand it!"

When we arrived beside her, I almost fell back from surprise. Coming into the invisible range of the spell, Merlin was no longer just a young-looking boy. No... oh no! He was like a golden, shining god, exuding incredible energy from within, something that would make most people kneel. Holy shit, he looked cool... super cool! Even though he was shorter than me, I felt like I was looking up at him.

"What the...?" Oleg asked, finding it hard to believe. When Merlin spoke up within that circle of influence, his voice sounded like an ethereal boom coming from everywhere, louder and deeper than his usual tone.

"What is it?"

"Even his voice is being affected." I whispered, confusing him.

"It isn't him that is being changed but our perception of him." Sasha corrected me at once.

"What? What happened to me? I don't feel it..."

"The spell created an illusion, coming close to you; right now, you look like the incarnation of one of the Six Gods!" My wife explained with great excitement. "The question is, is it area-bound, or is it stuck to you?"

"I hope it isn't permanent!" Merlin cried out because he knew that would introduce big problems for us.

"Shouldn't be. Otherwise, his grandson would have been seen as a living god and wouldn't be able to hide. Merlin, go towards the sheep; let's see if the spell is bound to you or to the area it was activated in!"

As we watched, he approached the animal, and the moment he got close to it, the sheep began crying out after seeing his transformation, running away in fear.

"It is stuck to him." Sasha nodded, crossing her arms, thinking the same thing I did. The moment we were 5 or so meters away from Merlin, he returned to being normal, no longer affecting our minds. It was as if an invisible bubble surrounded him, distorting our perception of his whole being.

We had to wait almost an hour for it to finally disperse. Was it because, drawn onto the tablet, it was bigger? Or was it always this potent? Hmm... Anyway, next time, we tried it with Sasha activating it, and this time, she looked like a powerful goddess for another hour, confirming that it was an illusion spell through and through. Well... I mean, she does look like a goddess anyway, especially when she wears nothing...

"I don't think it would have worked on you." Sasha said jokingly as we were discussing what each of us saw, making sure we had seen the same changes and it wasn't different in any detail.

"Probably not." After thinking about it, I agreed, "But it would have made me doubt what to do. If his grandson looked like a shining golden god, I would have trouble deciding what to do next, being unsure if I could even ambush them. So, I am glad it did not happen!"

"I wonder if I can modify it..." Merlin murmured, drawing on the ground with a stick, leaving certain spots empty for a different rune, "It could be a good tool to be used by Yuri and her Black Ops squad. Or even in interrogating others... using it to drench our enemies in fear can make things much more easier."

"I would also look into expanding its sphere of influence." Sasha added, watching him draw, "For now, it is too limited. What if we could enlarge it to a scale that covers the whole city?"

"And we could hide it!" I snapped my fingers, "It doesn't need to make Avalon look glorious or scary. It would simply make the city invisible to the naked eye! Then we wouldn't need to worry if someone discovers us!"

"That..." They looked at me, and I already knew what they wanted to say. Yes, yes... that kind of spell is not something we can dream of. I don't think that it would be possible even if we had the biggest CC known to men.

"I know... The scale of something like that is not something we can afford! But aiming high is not a sin."

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As time went on, we finally had peaceful weeks ahead of us. The second attempt at the temple was coming along nicely; with the vigor of people jumping in and wanting to help, it was already at the stage where it was being decorated by Perth. He also asked to be allowed to carve the dead workers' names onto one of the inner walls, forever encasing them in Avalon's memory. Of course, both Mikan and I agreed, announcing it to the public. I was with her right now in my study, looking through the article she wrote for the soon-debuting Avalon News, detailing her views of the Six Gods and their teachings.

"I find no issues with this, so I will send this down to be printed."

"Thank you, My Lord." She smiled at me over her new glasses that arrived only two days ago.

The church's delegation that delivered it to the old town didn't notice anything weird, and by Mikan's words, they were hurrying to unload and leave, disgusted by our barbaric land. Good. Maybe I should spread some nasty rumors, eh? Anyway... I was now in a dilemma. The glasses were something very important and valuable... but I also needed pure glass.

"Still haven't decided yet?" She chuckled, seeing my wondering expression. With her glasses, she could finally see better, and just as I expected, she fell over much fewer times. Well, unless her chest blocked something out of sight and she tripped over it.

"Mhm, I think I will keep half of it back for unique cases. With the 20 you got us, it would be too few to make enough flasks for an alchemy shop anyway."

"What about the other half? You have an idea?"

"Yes. I already discussed it with Sasha, but it will take time to perfect it. She is now studying the glasses, their shape, and the glass's focal point. She is developing methods to replicate the convex lenses and even improve on their design. She can mold them easily because she is immune to fire and heat, so I entrusted her with an important task... I want to create a microscope."

"What is that?"

"An object that will let you see tiny things if you look into it. I don't know what use we will have for it yet, but I want to gift it to my first alchemist. Maybe it will help her with future projects!" I shrugged, smiling while stretching in my chair. Just as I did, the door opened, and Luna walked in, bringing us coffee and snacks.

"Master," She started, swaying her hips; the little foxy knew full well that tonight would be her turn to be the main character in bed. "Minister Paxon sent a message that the initial tests are a success. They can open and close the new castellums, and the purifiers work perfectly! They began installing the pipings, and they will be able to connect them to the palace before winter!"

"Is that the... central heating system?" Mikan asked, looking at her and then turning towards me.

"Yes, it is!" I smiled proudly, sipping on my drink, reaching out, and gently patting Luna's buttocks. "Thank you, my dear~ I am glad the first tests went smoothly!"

"I still find it hard to believe you came up with it, implemented it, and without any magical abilities..."

"Why?" I asked with honest astonishment, watching her surprised, golden eyes.

"I need to work harder to change my thinking..." She murmured, forming an authentic smile while looking into my eyes, which was interrupted by Luna standing between us and offering me cookies. I think both of us knew she did it intentionally, as I saw the jealousy in her mismatched eyes.

"Maybe you are right, Mikan." I answered, letting my maid put the cookie into my mouth before she returned behind me, massaging my shoulders. "You even failed to accept that your eyes were bad because mages can't have 'defects,' as you told me. It is time to open up your mind more and let loose your imagination! Don't be afraid to experiment."

"Master..." Luna interrupted, clearing his throat, making the usually shy Mikan laugh, covering her mouth, changing the topic.

"About the newspaper, I am really curious about it... I can't wait to buy one, but I have been thinking. How will it be profitable for you?"

"It won't. That is not why I established it and recruited people for it. It will cost one 'silver' coin, so almost everyone can pay for it, and we will only accept our new coins. It is time to begin the conversion, and it will be one of its best motivators. We will post articles in it every week, informing the people of what is happening in Avalon and what the news is; they will never be clueless about what is happening and why."

"What about these... advertisements? If you raise their prices..." She murmured, making me smile.

"If I raise them to one gold, it would maybe, just maybe, be profitable. But that is not the goal here. The first issue will be filled with advertising the openings in the military, regarding the city guard, and some of the books that we printed. There will be a whole section dedicated to how the advertising is going to work, and we have set up the proper department for it. Avalon News will be the base for what everyone else will have to follow if they want to print their own newspapers later."

"I am amazed you are letting them do it. In the capital, there are no newspapers, and all information is spread through brokers for a high price. This? This is unheard of!"

"She is right, Master." Luna agreed, echoing Mikan's words, "The Royal Decrees are the only things that are printed and distributed in the city, but only nobles get them. They are tasked with informing the others below them and so on. Otherwise, it is very lucrative to deal in news and secrets, one of the favorite weapons of the local nobles! It is worth more than gold to know something others don't. Printing out a weekly paper? For this cheap and telling everyone what is happening? They would call you crazy!"

"Weird... It is the best propaganda method... Maybe those syndicates you told me about, these Secret Brokers, are too powerful for their own good." I whispered a word that they were already familiar with because of a previous explanation. "I will make sure that no more saboteurs arise from within my people, and they will stand united. Because if they do, there is nothing we couldn't achieve!" I couldn't help but stand up myself, walk to my window, and look towards the bright blue sky, smiling. "I bless my luck to be born here and not anywhere else. I am free of those thousand-year dogmas and idiocy. And..." I looked back over my shoulder, watching the two girls, "We are just getting started."