Triple Strength

272. Hero: Wiremu

We have a big problem, and progress has stopped. Mayakku and I have made great progress on the right flavours of Spiritual energy and the mechanics of controlling the flow of the Spiritual energy through to six places at once from one Monster Core. We have thin Spiritual silk made from the cactus fibres from the plant monster I mostly burned in the desert. We use the needles to prick the holes in the centre of the runes and leave them in. connected with the silk fibre to the control runes, which are then connected to a monster core. It looks insanely complicated to me. Mayakku thinks if she can crack this, it will make her a Master Enchanter.

The problem is we can’t test it to see if it works as we have no slaves, and there are no slaves available here. It is the Free Republic, after all. I tried to find out if they have some refuges like the Kingdom does. I was told no, but I don’t believe it. The Free Republic takes a hard line against slavery. Even if you are a travelling merchant and just passing through with personal slaves, they will be confiscated, and there is no compensation provided. You do not bring slaves into the Free Republic.

From that perspective, Ruku giving away the two slaves was good. My question was, what happens to these confiscated slaves? I hit a solid wall of silence. Nobody could get answers, not Quinn, Bill, or Dianne. In fact, Bill had to slip away from the guards that were called.

There is one person who could get answers as he is a major celebrity here. That is Wiremu Hunter. Ever since the contract on Slave Taskmasters became known in the Free Republic, Wiremu Hunter has become the hometown hero. He is the local boy who made it big and became a hero in the fight against slavery.

Birth records have identified him as possibly coming from the destroyed village of Kohekohe, a week's ride north of Freebourne. At least a Wiremu was recorded as an apprentice to the local Hunter there before slavers raided the village. This is generally discredited as it only happened eight years ago, and more time is needed to become so rich. There are three other possible claims for him as well. A Wiremu Hunter went missing twenty years ago from Rawene Township. Another Wiremu was known to have been taken by slavers from Kaitaia, but he was probably a Forrester, not a Hunter, as he worked for a logging company. The company is pushing that one and using it for marketing. A Wiremu Hunter went missing in a fight against the Empire eighteen years ago. This one was a Free Republic Defense Force (FRDF) Scout and was born in Whangarei City. The arguments to claim him can get quite heated. Wiremu has become a popular name for new babies.

The problem with identifying myself as Wiremu Hunter is that it cannot be kept quiet. It will announce to the empire exactly where I am. I would not survive that, and it might bring the Emperor himself down on the Free Republic. There is no way the FRDF could stand against the Empire Troops if they came in force.

“I think we should approach his problem through the Enchanting Guild,” Mayakku said.

“Will you get very high in the guild? I asked.

“I am a journeyman-level member of the Kirghiz Enchanters Association, so I have some standing with the local guild as a visiting enchanter. To be honest, I would like a second professional opinion on this enchantment sequence before we try it on a person.”

“Do you think there is someone in this city that could review it?”

“Parts of it. There is bound to be a Monster Core Enchanter here and a Formations Specialist. I doubt we will find a Ritualist Enchanter, but all enchanters deal with the Spiritual Flavour. We might find someone who has been experimenting with them.”

“What if they try to take your work as their own or worse, try to take you to work for them?”

“Cōmpēṟi is a big deterrent for the latter. As for taking my work as their own, I would only demonstrate parts of it at a time. Plus, not everyone is greedy and power-hungry. Wasn’t your plan to release this to the enchanters free of charge anyway?”

“Free, yes, but you need the recognition as the creator.”

“And what about your recognition? This couldn’t have happened without you. Shall we call it the Hunter-Maya Formation?

“Mayakku-Hunter, if it has to be anything. We have to get it working first, and while the design might be free, it is not cheap to build or use.”

“No, but it can be used by anyone with a Journeyman Level of Sense Spiritual. At least, that is what I hope.”

“Go ahead and make contact, but I think I would like to be at any meeting.”

Mayakku nodded and collected Cōmpēṟi to go and make contacts.

Two days later, Tabitha came and asked me for a couple of names for new identities. She seemed a bit cagey about the details, but that is her area of expertise. I would love to watch them being made as it would level my Forgery Class a lot, but there is no chance of that happening. I wanted to use Bryan Forrester after my father, but Tabitha thought it was too close to the truth. I chose Tama Forrester and Mata Toa. The second was not a traditional village name, but nontraditional names were common in the cities. I would use Tama Forrester as my main ID. It was a way to honour my father, which is a big thing in our culture.

Tabitha suggested Dianne was a great disguise while in the Free Republic, and I agreed. Dianne would become Maia Tārore. My mother was from a small village just outside the capital of Freeport, so Maia would be from Freeport.

Tabitha was also starting a new Merchant organisation called “Essential Traders.’ as soon as she had a new identity. Apparently, we are going to be trading in the basics, like food and clothing. All the things an army might need. We would also start a new Mercenary team called the Black Rock.

The next day, Mayakku had an appointment with an enchanter. The Guild arranged it, but we were meeting at her workshop. I accompanied her as Dianne while Cōmpēṟi found a sunny spot to sleep outside.

Laura was a solid, no-nonsense woman with a small workshop and four or five staff. She is apparently the city's leading Monster Enchanter and is known to experiment and come up with different solutions to tricky problems. It was this experimentation that Mayakku was interested in. We were paying for this consultation, but Mayakku hoped to develop a mutual working relationship with the lady.

Once the preliminary introductions were made, Laura said, “You wish me to look over some runes?”

Mayakku pulled out a thin Granite slate from her bag and put it on the table in front of her. I had actually created the slate and copied the runes Mayakku wanted. With my Forgery specialisation, I got the Skill Copier, where I could copy documents and signatures. Runes were a stretch for it, but it pushed it into the Apprentice levels.

The first thing Laura said was, “Where did you get this rock slate? Its Spiritual potential is amazing.”

I smirked because I had told Mayakku that using the Granite would create questions.

“We ran into the spiritually enhanced rock out in the desert and managed to carve out some useable pieces.”

“Do you have any for sale? I can pay a good price.”

“There might be a few pieces I can spare,” Mayakku said. “We can discuss it after.”

They put their heads down and started to discuss the Runes. Mayakku had brought the Monster Core section and the Runes that changed the flavour of the energy. Their discussion mostly went over my head, as I had no idea why she had used the Rosenburg variation rather than the standard Thompson Rune, etc.

The Monster core part was fairly standard, but they came to the flavour.

“I don’t understand what Spiritual Expression you are aiming for here.” Laura was puzzled. The expression must be the local way of explaining flavours.

“There are three. See where I have split the energy here into three streams?”

“Yes, but these are not expressions I have ever used. In fact, those runes look more like they would control the flow rather than become an expression of it. But you have changed them.”

“Indeed. What is not included here is that I combine the streams again after this. I am looking for you to check that the runes will create an expression in the spiritual energy and nothing else.”

Laura spent some time looking carefully at the runes. There was a lot of, “That’s clever,” and “I don’t understand why you did that,” and similar.

They were bent over that slate way past the time we had paid for. Laura did have an inquisitive mind. Once they came to the end of the rune sequence, Laura said, “I have no idea what this would be used for. This is unique, and I levelled my Enchanting just from this discussion. I haven’t levelled in two decades, and here I am in one afternoon, and I still have no idea what I am looking at. What is it for?”

Mayakku glanced at me, then said, “It is part of a formation that will empower a ritual.”

Laura just stared at her as if she didn’t comprehend, “a what?”

“It is part of a …”

“I know what you said,” Laura interrupted. “I have barely even heard of rituals, let alone how you can empower one with enchanting. I am barely a Level 1 Formation Specialist, and you created all this? I should be coming to you for advice, not you coming to me.”

“You have been very helpful,” Mayakku said, “I know can tweak these things to improve it.”

“You must be a Master Enchanter.”

“I am hoping if I complete this, it will bump me up to master level.”

“What specialisation do you have, if you don’t mind me asking.”

Mayakku thought for a moment, “Monster, Formation, Ritual,” she listed them.

Laura reached out and grabbed Mayakku's hand, “There is more because I have never seen that before,” and she pointed to her enchanted claw.

“That is new, and I am still learning…” she stopped suddenly and looked at me, obviously with an idea. I glanced at Laura, but Mayakku was about to burst, so I nodded. “I could possibly convert this,” she indicated the slate meaning the whole formation, “into Flesh Enchanting. It would give so much more control and no need for a monster core.”

“You have Flesh Enchanting?” Laura exclaimed at the same time as I said, “That sounds great. We probably need to make sure this works first.”

Mayakku nodded at me as if that was obvious. She was going to be working on it from now regardless.

Laura came around the table and said, “Master Mayakku, would you please teach me if you can? I am willing to sign a contract.”

That’s right, most Enchanters are under contract to protect knowledge and for the big Trading Houses to have a monopoly. Mayakku was self-taught, except for her basic Enchanting Class. She has done this because she has had access to resources most enchanters couldn’t afford and will only get through contracts to the Trading Houses. She is really the hero of this story. She is amazing.

Mayakku looked at me, so I said, “We will need a contract in the short term. Whether Mayakku decides to teach you is up to her. If you want to know more, here is a basic confidentiality contract with Black Rock Mercenaries.” I don’t think Black Rock Mercenaries legally existed yet, but minor details like that can be corrected through my Forgery or Tabitha’s Adjuster Skills.

Laura read the document, “That's all?” she asked.

I nodded, “For now.” I was getting good feelings from her through the Truth Sensing Skill, so I was not too worried. She signed.

“So what is this for?” she asked Mayakku.

“This is the first half of a formation that should remove the Slave Class from those trapped in slavery.”

Laura steadied herself against the table, her eyes growing wide, “This will change everything!” she exclaimed.

“Indeed,” I said, “But it hasn’t been proven to work yet.”

“You need to let the government know about this. This is big.”

“This is why you will not say anything without permission from Essential Traders.” I tapped the agreement, “Do you want to be a target for every Empire assassin in the county? I don’t, so you will not say anything for now. But we came here for your help because we want to test this and make it available without becoming a target.”

“But…”

I put more force into my voice, “The other thing you should know is that I am a registered assassin with the Mercenary Guild.” The threat was clear.

“Right,” she deflated. She turned to Mayakku, “How did you work this out?”

“With a lot of help. The initial inspiration came from Wiremu Hunter.” Mayakku smirked at me.

“You met Wiremu Hunter? In person?”

“I travelled with him for months in the kingdom, although I didn’t know who he was, initially, as he was travelling under a different name. He is the only reason I am so close to finishing this.”

I interrupted, as the direction of the conversation was making me uncomfortable. “We were hoping the Enchanting Guild could be the go-between to enable testing. The reward for the guild would be free access to the finished product.”

Her eyes went wide again, “Free access?”

Mayakku spoke up again, “I have worked on this for years, but Wiremu has provided all the funding and resources. If this works, he wants this distributed everywhere so nobody has to rely on Slave Taskmasters to remove the class.”

“Wiremu is my hero. He is incredible. Was he really a Defense Force Scout?”