Chapter 344: Delivery of the Toy, Reunion
The Brass Construct severed the connection and uploaded the detailed schematics directly into the minds of its followers. Deep inside Onyx Hall, the blast furnaces roared with white hot alchemical fire.
The Ash Kin engineers gathered around the central casting vat to process the divine mandate. They poured molten tungsten into a circular mold while mechanical arms fused layers of kinetic dispersers into the cooling alloy.
The engineers added a final casing of star iron to finalize the structural integrity of the teething ring. A gray skinned foreman extracted the completed ring from the mold and dropped the object into a wooden transport crate.
A squad of laborers hoisted the container onto a supply wagon bound for the capital. The transport vehicle rattled over the cobblestones and headed straight for Bastion.
’The boy demands constant supervision,’ Rubedo thought while sitting on his throne. ’His growth rate completely ignores standard biological metrics. At this rate, he might even become a teenager before the Radiant Monarch returns. There are still eight years left before they log back in.’
Up in the orbital sanctuary, Rubedo observed the planetary sensory grid. The supply wagon arrived at the central temple in Bastion to deliver the requested cargo.
Gorak dragged the crate off the flatbed and carried the container into the inner sanctuary. Rubedo tapped his console to open a spatial rift directly in the center of the throne room.
"He chewed through a steel breastplate and a solid basalt tablet this morning," Rubedo stated. "Krug needs that exact item to prevent him from tearing the castle apart. Take it through the portal and deliver it to the courtyard."
Gorak tore the thick wooden lid off the box and pulled the dense tungsten ring from the packing straw. He inspected the forged alloy and tucked the toy securely into his belt. "I will make sure he gets his prize," Gorak replied.
Turning away from the throne, Gorak stepped straight into the swirling violet portal. He emerged from the rift and stepped onto the polished marble tiles of the Gildreath palace. He navigated the ruined corridors and tracked the sound of wailing directly to the courtyard.
Krug knelt on the cracked stone holding the naked boy against his chest plate. Violet sparks danced across his tiny fingers as he actively tried to chew on Krug’s armored pauldron. A minor spatial tear opened above their heads and swallowed a nearby discarded spear before snapping shut.
Gorak walked into the light, his bone-plated exoskeleton expanding to his full ten-foot height. Blue lightning arced across his right arm, illuminating the faceted, violet-tinged crystal pulsing with electrical currents.
Krug rose to his feet, standing eight feet tall and encased in dense obsidian armor plates. Violet fire bled continuously from his eyes and cracked scales. The two locked eyes, silently measuring the physical and magical force radiating from their respective mutations.
Gorak walked across the courtyard and tossed the newly forged tungsten ring onto a nearby stone table. The alloy clattered against the pavement.
Gorak glanced at the alloy ring. "Brass Construct made it dense. It still fails to match the mass of the soup you fed me at the victory feast."
Krug kept his glowing eyes locked on Gorak. "Rubedo consumes all. You digested your past. Make sure you can carry the future of our army."
Krug raised his hand, but he did not touch the heavy tungsten ring. Instead, he channeled the power of his newly awakened gravity core.
The air in the room grew dense. The heavy tungsten ring rose slowly from the crate, floating effortlessly in a perfectly balanced, rotating gravity well above Krug’s palm.
Krug lowered his gaze to the floating object. "Physical strength is a primitive tool. You break bedrock. I command the mass of the bedrock itself."
"You break bedrock, but I command the weight of the bedrock itself."
Gorak clenched his right fist. Crystalline lightning surged across his knuckles to cast a harsh blue glare over the courtyard. He dropped his hand to his side and watched the infant reach for the floating ring.
Krug quietly guided the floating tungsten ring toward the babbling void-baby. The child snatched the indestructible alloy with surprisingly strong hands and bit down fiercely, the kinetic dispersers instantly absorbing the spatial tears escaping its gums.
The wailing ceased instantly as he settled into silence and gnawed on the indestructible alloy. Gorak crossed his arms and watched him chew on the ring, while Krug exhaled a long breath and rested his hands on his armored knees.
The palace architecture remained completely intact.
’We survived another morning,’ Krug thought while watching the violet sparks dissipate into the metal. ’The Sovereign expects perfection, and we will forge him into the ultimate weapon.’
"Heh!" Gorak chuckled. "You haven’t wed yet, but you are already babysitting a human child. You should be aware that raising a human child is much easier than raising a kobold or troglodyte."
Just then, the infant dropped the tungsten ring onto the cracked paving stones and locked his cosmic eyes onto Gorak.
The child reached a tiny hand toward the violet crystal pulsing inside Gorak’s right forearm. And suddenly, a miniature spatial rift tore open directly over the parasitic mutation.
The portal created a massive gravitational force to extract the crystalline core directly from his flesh. Blue lightning and violet sparks cascaded into the anomaly as the infant attempted to consume the magic.
Gorak planted his boots into the marble tiles and physically wrestled his arm away from the expanding black hole.
’What’s this power?!’ Gorak gritted his teeth. ’A human shouldn’t be this powerful, let alone a child who can’t even think!’
Footsteps crunched across the ruined courtyard debris. Gulag strode into the open space and stopped a few feet away from the struggling pair. She pointed a dirt-caked finger squarely at Gorak.
"Three years." Gulag let out a laugh that rumbled deep in her chest. "Three years apart and I find you losing a wrestling match to a naked newborn. Have you forgotten how to fight?"