Master Mages Marriage - 48 Devices

Frustrated, Nikolai tore through the semi-refined magical devices he ordered brought to his office, muttering incoherently and searching for something usable. Natalia’s interruption while annoying wasn’t as irritating as her desire to stay and chat over drinks. The woman’s presence would have been a damper on any sort of romantic mood with her off colour jokes and a penchant for violence of the cane variety. But Elya was terrified of her great aunt’s judging gaze and being scrutinised in her revealing clothing had her dashing away with mumbled apologies for her attire, leaving Nikolai alone to endure Natalia’s knowing smile and pointed remarks.

Another magical artefact was tossed into the increasing pile of incomplete devices when Nikolai saw the stress fractures in its spell structure. Over the last year, he began many projects to refine artefacts and weapons for himself, the Ministry of War and the Emperor based on their varying needs.

Ancient fragments dissected for investigation, prototypes of massive spell constructs, staves of power for Mages, he had it all. Unfortunately his procrastination and desire to study all the projects at the same time meant there was nothing he could immediately bring to bear on his problem. Unlike the earlier battle, a Disintegrator wouldn’t serve much of a purpose.

Petrov’s tentative plans called for concurrent strikes against numerous buildings across the town. Any place identified as a potential warehouse, a hiding place or even indirectly associated with Stardust trade was marked for attacks. Unfortunately the number of targets was far greater than the number of soldiers presently under his command even if you included the Knights of Chernigov stationed within the town. Dozens of minor Houses and merchant families were implicated, and the possibility existed that their attack would lead to a minor rebellion.

Nikolai had swallowed his pride and sent a letter to the Arkh fortress. Its commander, General Valda Orlov, was a strict man who’d fought his way up the ranks of the Imperial army on his own merit rather than relying on his Houses name. A difficult task especially when he was treated as an outcast for becoming a common soldier, instead of gaining a key position in Court as was expected of the Orlov second degree branch family descendants. The Emperor himself had bestowed the critical post after they took back the town of Konstanz during the war.

Despite their overt allegiance to the Son of Heaven, Nikolai and Valda fought constantly. Arguing over resources and funds, the Emperor sent many letters through his Hands to maintain the peace. Nikolai was irked by Valda’s superior attitude. The man only believed a true soldiers words were worth anything, and since Nikolai had only been attached to the army, he didn’t qualify. On the other hand, he was sure Valda’s dislike stemmed from Nikolai’s position as Count of Volhiniya. Coupled with the Emperor’s secret orders, Valda’s forces fell nominally under Nikolai’s control. Which the General detested.

Still, his grudging response allowed for a half Legion to surround the town to free up more of the guard. That was another fifteen hundred troops in place to be called upon in the event of an emergency.

Muttering at a faulty focus crystal, Nikolai placed the spell construct he was studying aside. This particular piece had been unearthed in some ancient ruin and kept within the Emperor’s vault with a small note describing the sensation of drowsiness one felt if energy was passed through it.

Nikolai had stumbled across the construct in one of his sweeps through the vault and pulled it out for research. He’d discovered the construct generated a field which, if fully powered could force people to fall asleep. Poor Jarek had lost consciousness too many times to count until even the normally cheerful and inquisitive boy outright demanded to be notified so he wouldn’t have to face Nikolai’s random experiments with the device.

It would have been useful in suppressing their enemies. Unlike the previous battle where they had to purge their enemies to make a statement in the face of Dark Magic and slavery, the drug dealers simply had to be apprehended.

He toyed with the idea of jury-rigging a few of the spare unattuned crystals he kept to provide a proper energy source, but the construct could react disastrously and create all sorts of terrifying side effects. If it even worked at all. It wasn’t worth the trouble.

He set everything aside for a moment and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples to soothe the throbbing pain which threatened to explode into a powerful headache. There were people like Suri and Chen who lived without any worries even if they hadn’t slept for a few days, acting as if everything was alright, only to sleep for days once they were able to.

He wasn’t that sort of person. Changes to his sleep schedule would make him suffer from terrible headaches as the day progressed. Casting a spell through the pulsing in his temples, Nikolai created a few chunks of ice which he promptly tied up with a handkerchief.

A makeshift icepack.

It did little to help.

“Jarek! Where’s my medicine?”

“In the second desk drawer Khan.” The boy’s head popped up over the desk. His apprentice had been going through some of the simpler devices, creating a respectable pile of functioning items.

“I looked there already and call me Master.”

“Behind the paperweight. It always slides back.” Without waiting for a response, Jarek returned to his duties.

Nikolai grumbled at the boy’s attitude, but managed to pull out a packet containing ground up poplar bark. It worked wonders on the pain but left him feeling quite drowsy.

They worked in silence forgetting the time and before he knew it, Nikolai looked up to see the twin moons rising in the distance. Scratching at suddenly dry eyes he leaned over the desk to see his apprentice dozing off amidst neatly sorted piles. Little slips of paper had been placed to indicate what each group of devices were.

With a soft smile, Nikolai lifted the boy, grunting under the weight. Jarek was undergoing a growth spurt gaining a few inches over the last year. Tottering out of the door he handed his apprentice to the boy’s bodyguard with instructions to circumvent the noisier parts of the mansion to reach the boy’s chambers. As both Ataman and apprentice, Jarek’s situation was a unique blend of authority and submission, which meant Nikolai was forced to prepare suitable quarters for a General under his command. To temper the prestige so the boy didn’t grow with an inflated opinion of himself, his mother lived with him, making sure that his personal life was strictly controlled.

Luckily, Jarek was diligent and easy going, a pleasure to teach, although he remained shy in the face of strangers. Jarek still found it difficult to behave normally in front of Elya, stuttering and constantly fidgeting. Nikolai still felt some sympathy for the awkward boy, memories coming to mind of his own teenage years, as he realised girls were far more different and interesting than he’d ever known.

With the departure of his apprentice, Nikolai studied the two devices which he believed could be completed in time. The first was a small mirror following a which he’d cobbled together after Galicia. It was capable of looking through walls if fed with enough energy. This version contained refined spell structures and greater functionality, able to penetrate even thicker walls. It would have taken another two weeks to finish the device but he could use some techniques he’d developed for the initial design to get it ready in a few hours.

The second was an almost complete Imperial Shield. A talisman capable of generating a bubble that was able to withstand a fully powered strike from a Thunder Lancer. This particular piece was missing some spells which regulated the magic so it was only possible to a crescent barrier in front of the user. Nikolai had no way to fix it, but with a few tweaks it would at least remain stable for several minutes before having to be regenerated.

“Milord. Commander Petrov requests an audience.”

Distracted, Nikolai waved, telling the guard to let Petrov in.