The Soldier Mage 20 Chapter 20

Cavlil's eyes caught movement at their extremity and he saw the target go on the move. He followed the protocol and signaled to the other agent across the street. Now that Wilfred was on the move he was no longer his priority and Cavlil started doing his other tasks. Hope this is all worth it one day he told himself.

*Back to Wilfred's Point of View*

Having spent almost all of his money today, Wilfred exited Galerion's shop with mixed feelings. He had found the materials he wanted but even with his discount the price was rather steep. At least he wasn't a cultivator or then he might have cried himself to sleep that night.

From his initial money, there was now only the 2500 copper, 296 silver and 1 gold coin remaining. Back in his former life Wilfred always kept a flush back account just in case there was an emergency. Military pay was decent and he had very few things to spend it on which helped make his emergency fund. He was also planning on buying a house and would have needed a down payment anyways.

Sometimes he thought back about earth and what was going on. It did make him sad that nothing likely came of his death, there would be no sanctions and nothing would change in the region. He did wonder about his family, his niece would likely be rather surprised to be getting everything from his will but he wanted to be a good G.o.dfather. There was no one else really who he could have given it to. He was on good relations with his parents but they were on their pension and doing good. His sister well...there were some tensions there but that's why he gave it to his niece, not his sister.

There was a good possibility that Galerion would be able to sell his battery which bode very well for him. Once he got that money he could really get started on having proper equipment and resources. What he had for now, mostly Red Alkanet Flowers and Dream Shiso, would do well enough. He had also managed to get some recipes from the old man which would prove useful. When followed properly, the recipe allows the creation of a potion which grants Mana regeneration. The effect is dependent on the quality but from the book recipe and the ingredients quality he bought, on average the effect is an extra 8 Mana per second for up to 4 hours. Having spent 4 gold and 214 silver pieces, Wilfred had enough to make 12 such potions. This was on it's own almost enough to solve his Mana problem for his experiment. If he made sure his Mana was low before going to sleep, Wilfred could prolong the potion's efficiency even more. He might need a few batteries but at least it wasn't 100 of them.

As he walked out of the store and into the street a strange feeling crept up his spine and made him shiver, it was as if someone was watching him. Looking around while trying not to arouse suspicion, he was not able to notice anyone staring at him, most people were busy and simply walking by.

A few of the factions are probably keeping tabs on me at the very least. I didn't hear much from them since last time. There was the meeting with Tybias that still hadn't happened, he would likely contact Wilfred at his house some time. Another one that also worried him was Natanyel. He couldn't say he disagreed with the man and his ideas but he couldn't contact him under these circ.u.mstances. If he was indeed being watched, it wouldn't be a good thing to be seen frequenting the rebels, surely Natanyel understood that.

Wilfred made his way home while avoiding the alleys as much as he could to prevent a repeat of last time. With half the the day gone by already, Wilfred wasted no time and used his [Construct Artifact] to make another battery. There was now a total of three in existence; one with Primus, one at Galerion's shop and one with Wilfred. While waiting for his Mana to recover, he went to eat supper with his family and play with his sister a bit. There were also card games invented in this world and it was refreshing to play something new. After his Mana had sufficiently recovered, Wilfred create another battery once again.

Later in the evening he entertained himself with the alchemy book he bought from Galerion. He had not actually had enough money for it, it was priced at a whopping 25 gold but Galerion had agreed to take his payment from the sale of the artifact item when it would sell. He was a greedy old man, Wilfred reflected, but he also had a nicer side.

The book was an older edition not currently up to date for the last decade and it only contained alchemy recipes that would be helpful to a mage. If the book had been any better or also contained cultivator information the price would surely have risen even more. Reading through it Wilfred familiarized himself with the local fauna with the help of sketches located in the book. In total there were 7 recipes described in the book as well as 15 different plants and their properties.

The next potion he wanted to try was called a [Draught of the Oracle]. He was missing two ingredients in order to brew it though. According to the book, this potion would enhance one's Int and Wis stat by 6 permanently. But when he had asked Galerion about it he mentioned that one of the ingredients was very expensive and much sought after as it was also used in pill creation to increase physical strength. Golden Galangal was the name of the rare herb. A shiny mushroom, it only grows in dark and damp locations like caves. When Wilfred inquired about the price his eyes bulged out at the mention of it. A single mushroom would fetch up to 40 gold and they would be sold at auction with cultivators furiously bidding for it.

Thankfully only a single mushroom would be needed for the draught but the challenge lay in finding it. Wilfred would have to find a way to go out of the city and doing so alone might be very dangerous especially since he'd be going in the wilds.

After his reading was done and having woken up from his daydreams of finding a cave full of Golden Galangal, Wilfred saw his Mana had replenished and created one last battery before going to bed. With a total of 3 and his potions he was close to having enough for his experiment.

Fatigue caught up with him and he overslept that next morning. When he woke up his head was feeling quite heavy and in general he felt very groggy. While his Mana would always regenerate no matter how much and how frequent he used it, there seemed to be some side effects similar to a hangover when he used too much.

"Ugh, I wish they had coffee over here. I think I'll invent that next."

Enduring the pain and knowing that he must continue for the sake of hs project, Wilfred created yet another Mana battery that morning. As he made his way downstairs to the kitchen he heard his mother call out to him.

"Wilfred! Some n.o.bles came by this morning looking for you. I was going to wake you but they said to let you rest. They left you a letter."

"Thanks mom."

After a few years it no longer felt odd to call the woman who was this boy's mother 'mom'. She cared greatly for him and would always do things to help him out like prepare lunch to go if he was leaving or bandage up his wounds.

Wilfred got downstairs and opened up the letter. It was convenient that when he reincarnated into this body that everything language and written wise was known to him like he was simply reading English.

Dear Mr.Lamarche, Baron Lanart would like to extend to you an invitation to dinner tonight at his estate.He insists that you dress casually and would like to discuss some private matters with you. If you should accept, we will be expecting you when the sun has set.

~Graciously, Jonen Bertrand, Majordomo of the Lanart family.

'Ah, I was wondering when this would happen. Tonight huh? I'll put my experiment on hold for tomorrow. What do I do with the rest of the day then? Hmmm."

Wilfred went downstairs again to practice a bit more with his unique skill. He sat down and focused a bit more on the details of it. He could create guns but not swords or spears. He can create magical Mana batteries but not ingredients or raw materials. So what do these have in common...metal? No, the battery is made with plastic and they're all fairly advanced things. Wait. Maybe that's it! What if it's technology.

How could I test it out hmmmm...Oh, here's an idea. Wilfred closed his eyes and focused, imagining the item he was wanting to create. Small and powered by electricity, little propeller and a camera. The motor makes the propeller turn, pushing the air downwards and creating down force so that the drone can lift. Trying to remember everything about the object he then used his skill.

"[Construct Artifact]!"

A small shimmering blue light formed where his hand was extended and took the form and shape of a small civilian drone.

"Ah ha! So that's it. Everything I make using this skill must be technologically advanced it seems. Wow, that's a lot of possibilities."

Looking at the drone Wilfred sighed. I swear to G.o.d, not having that [Inspect] skill argh! Lucky Lucius. How do I make it work...It probably needs Mana, I'll try focusing some in like the battery chargers. Wilfred put his hand on the drone and felt an empty void beckoning to him much like the pedestal when he was first admitted to the academy and it was testing his magic. He let his Mana flow freely into the drone until he couldn't anymore. The void wasn't fully filled but Wilfred's Mana was depleted. Taking one of his Mana batteries, Wilfred drained part of it to replenish himself. Much like how one feels with an empty stomach, the sensation of absorbing Mana was akin to eating a delicious fulfilling meal.

There was a strange feeling with the drone however, it felt like it was part of his body, like an arms or a leg that he could control. And indeed when he attempted to move it, it proceeded to activate the small propellers and lift off the ground slightly. Still clumsy with how it moved, it went sideways and crashed into a box.

"Oops. It's harder to control than it looks.There's no remote or anything and I only have a rough feeling of how it moves."

Wilfred bent down and picked it up, examining it for any damage. It seemed st.u.r.dy enough and there was only some small scratches on the surface.

"Right, I should do this outside."

Using the back door, he exited into the alley behind his house. Wilfred put the drone on the ground and practiced making it hover, strafe and go up. After about an hour of practice he felt like he had the hang of it but that the drone was also almost empty of energy. There was another feeling he couldn't quite describe however. It was very foreign if he compared it to what he usually felt. Like how an arm can go up, down, left, right, retract, extend etc… There was another thing he could do with the drone but it wasn't anything that he felt before. Intrigued, he tried it anyways. Suddenly his vision blacked out and he panicked but he could now see what the drone was seeing. Exiting the same way he had entered, the panic subsided.

"d.a.m.n, that was scary. It was like projecting my consciousness into another body. It felt like my heart was dropping to the pit of my stomach. Well that's how the camera function works I suppose."

Thinking it would be best to hide this inside before anyone else saw it, Wilfred brought the drone back into the bas.e.m.e.nt.

"This is actually fun though. There are a good number of applications for this too. Great spying tool or for scouting.I don't think I can use it simultaneously as I'm fighting though, it'd be like juggling too many things."

Thinking back on when he exited the shop and felt like he was being watched gave him an idea. Now was not the right time as he had invitations for tonight and it as already late afternoon as he had woken up past noon. Clocks were not a thing yet in this world so time was a very difficult thing to gauge. Wilfred decided to head out right now in case it took longer than he thought to get there. Included in the letter were directions to the estate and Wilfred decided he would stop by Galerion's shop on the way to see if anyone had been interested in the Mana battery.

Wilfred grabbed some meat and bread from the pantry to put in his bag and headed out. With his money getting a bit low he didn't want to stop to eat on the way and spend more money that way. It would have been a small amount, likely a handful of coppers but why waste them.

While waking to Galerion's shop he couldn't help but shake that same feeling that he was being watched constantly. The drone would be useful in helping him spot who was following him he thought. He'd let it out of his bedroom window upstairs and then go down through the door. He'd walk a bit and switch to it's visions seeing who would try to follow him. The best way to see if someone was following was to do three right turns as that was the least efficient way to go somewhere. Right now he was too busy for that but after this meeting and after he completed the project he had in mind, then he would get around to seeing who's following him.

Reaching Galerion's mystic emporium, Wilfred noticed that he quiet shop was packed full of people and they seemed quite excited, waving their arms as they spoke or rather, yelled. Wilfred made his way inside, squeezing in between people until he reached the counter. There was a heated discussion going on.

"I DEMAND you cancel that sale and sell it to me instead! I'll even offer more than she paid!"

"No! I'll pay even more! Can you not get another one? I want to have the next one!"

A flurry of angry shoppers bombarded Galerion with requests and the old man was moving his head left to right trying to address whoever was speaking but they kept getting drowned out by someone else speaking even louder.

"CALM DOWN!"

Galerion shouted with an enhanced voice amplification spell, shaking everyone and everything in the store. It was like someone used a megaphone directly to everyone's eardrums. The shop then became quiet as people rubbed their ears and paid attention.

"Now as I tried saying before, there's only a single one. I didn't make it, the creator came to me to help me sell it. The next time there is one in the shop, I will hold an auction alright? Now if you're not buying anything, VACATE THE PREMISES!"

Dejected and with sullen faces, the shoppers exited the shop inthrongs and only Wilfred remained with Galerion.

"Thanks for not telling them about me."

"Bunch of vultures, they'd have swarmed you and ripped you apart by pulling on you in every direction and that's just bad for business."

"So I take it the battery sold?"

Galerion nodded and fetched a large pouch.

"Exactly the price I asked for and the buyer didn't even try to negotiate me down. Which can only mean I didn't price it high enough."

Galerion looked really sad, like someone had just killed his dog.

"In that pouch is your 280 gold as we agreed, minus the 25 gold for the book and minus 2.5 % for your friend's inspect fee."

Wilfred opened the pouch and began counting the coins on the counter. It wasn't that he didn't trust Galerion it was...well actually no, he didn't trust Galerion for a single copper coin. 248 gold coins, 62 silver coins and 25 copper coins, just like they had agreed. Wilfred didn't recall that the fee for Lucius would be taken off his share but since it was for Lucius he didn't mind.

"So when can I expect the next one, one month? We'll make even more with that one, I can't believe I didn't price it correctly, d.u.c.h.ess Helewisa got the best of me. I'm surprised she even knew it was being sold, she must have people combing the market looking for magical items."

"I'm not sure on the date for the next one but I'll keep you informed. Who's the Helewisa?"

"You don't know? Also always refer to her as d.u.c.h.ess unless you want to spend some time in the dungeons. She's one of the highest ranking n.o.bles in the Kingdom. Her husband is a cousin of the King and she loves magical items. She's also a mage and her her husband is a strong cultivator, around level 40 last I heard. They're the ones that have the contract with the Great Elven Pact to buy Zoidsapite. I suspect she'll want to a.n.a.lyze this thing to death because it might affect her monopoly."

Wilfred gulped, had he just gotten on the bad side of one of the strongest n.o.ble couples in the Kingdom? Seeing him a bit shaken, Galerion rea.s.sured him.

"Don't worry, I keep my sources secret. The d.u.c.h.ess can be very amenable, I speak from experience. Don't insult her though."

"Alright, thanks for the warning but I've got to go, I've an invitation tonight."

Wilfred left the shop not knowing which way to feel about all of these events. On one hand he was now very well financially but on another he perhaps had infringed on someone's business interests and he knew what happened with that on earth which was a rather civilized place to do business compared to this world. His worries would have to wait however as he was expected tonight and hopefully would make a friend out of this n.o.ble.