Apocalypse Redux

Chapter 142: Preparations for a “State” Visit

“And you bought all this stuff why, exactly?” Amy asked in a tone of complete puzzlement Isaac had only rarely heard from her.

… not that he could blame her, as he was currently shoveling several million euros worth of endangered animal bits and assorted other stuff that was various shades of illegal into her storage space.

“I mean, ivory, seriously? A lion’s mane? And is that a hippopotamus head? What were you going to do with all this stuff?”

Isaac chuckled softly “I bought that stuff well ahead of time to make sure that I got some of it before it was all gone. I won’t need any of this for a good long while, but there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to get it by the time I’ll actually need it.

“And as for why I need it, simple. These are samples of these various endangered species that could very easily be eliminated if some greedy fuck decides they need a quick buck by going on a hunting spree. Never mind what will happen when a few weaker monsters get out into the wild. They won’t be able to do much to humans by that point, but they’ll play merry hell on the ecosystem.”

“But what can you actually do with those samples?” Amy pressed.

“Recreate them.” Isaac stated bluntly “It’ll be expensive, damn expensive, but eventually, we’ll be able to ensure that no species we know exist and have samples of go extinct.”

“… hot damn.” Amy nodded “And I have to hold all this stuff in my storage space why exactly?”

“Because mine is almost full. This stuff isn’t something I can just leave lying around, so I’ve been keeping it in my extradimensional space since no one can look inside. That wasn’t a problem before, but I need a little extra space now.” Isaac explained, the flow of random things petering off. He got up, removed the sensory dampening field from his surroundings and left the meeting room with Amy falling in step besides him.

For once, they weren’t the only people in the corridor. Before, the basement had been their place, their territory, somewhere no one else went. At first, that had been because the rest of the building had been a construction site. That had, of course, changed later on, but the basement had still been the place full of monsters and somewhere to be avoided, at least subconsciously.

Now though, there were other people coming down here to use the summoning rooms. It was a great sign with regards to where the local [System] research was going, but it would also slow things down by a non-insignificant degree because there would be others taking up time in said summoning rooms. Sure, the university was about to break ground on a copy of the basement, but it was still not fun to have less freedom of use than before.

Isaac sighed as he looked around, then continued to speak “There really is a lot of stuff I need to carry on my trip to Camelot.”

“Yeah, but why though? You’ve got Stagmer’s working on a ‘suit of armor fit for a king’, you’re taking a few thousand potions from our stores, enchanted items from Korea’s Dungeons, not to mention food and even booze. It’s almost like you’re treating this like you’re really back in the middle ages, going to meet a foreign king. Are you really becoming the person whose power you inherited or what gives?” Amy asked.

“No, I’m still perfectly in control of faculties.” Isaac stated as he re-extended [Perception Block], then turned a corner to head to the nearest empty summoning room. Once they were in there, he continued. His [Skill] might prevent people from overhearing him with supernaturally sharp senses, but even normal people had ears and could listen in on a conversation happening a few short meters away.

“It’s just that Arthur is a bit … special. Camelot is equal parts medieval reenactment troupe, corporation, paramilitary force and sovereign nation. They play into the reenactment bit a lot to seem harmless, and so does Arthur, but they also really do enjoy that. It’s … how they are. How they were. I’m treating them accordingly.” He explained.

“Ok, that makes sense, but that’s a normal strategy. Why did you refer to Arthur as ‘special’?” Amy asked, already using [Telekinesis] to draw out a Summoning Circle on the ground. After all, they’d been coming here to work, and there was no reason to not do that while talking.

“Because there’s more to it than just an act for him. Arthur Wells, soon to be Arthur Pendragon once he finally talks his way around the British government, is a perfectly sane man. But on some level, he does see himself as the person who will save the British Isles. And for a while, he even managed to do so in the other timeline, until he fell along with the rest of the world.

“He is a man in possession of great combat power, leadership ability and knows when to delegate, but he’s also playing the fool so completely no one in either timeline has been able to figure out just who he is at his core, whether he truly believes himself to be the reincarnation of Britain’s national hero, or merely pretends to think that, inspired by a shared name.”

Amy grimaced “You make him sound so sinister. Like someone who should have gotten [Machiavelli’s Heir] instead of you. Hiding his true self from the world, creating a paramilitary force with basically no oversight …”

“Except it’s not quite like that.” Isaac shook his head “Every organization like them is a paramilitary force in a way, from the Korean Dungeon Guild to, well, us. In a remotely sane world, that would have put all the governments’ hackles up, but the world stopped making sense when the [System] appeared. Nowadays, though, all it takes is a little fig leaf that makes it seem like the force is ‘under control’. For us, that’s the fact that we work for the university. For Camelot, that’s the fact that they’re not acting like a proper paramilitary force, being very helpful where they can be and seemingly being under the control of the government.”

“Seemingly being?” Amy frowned “Sure, they’re powerful, but are they really that divorced from the proper authorities?”

“If they wanted to, they could be running the country. It wouldn’t last long because no one wants to set a precedent for summoners taking over nations, but they could do it. Instead, they’re pretending to be playing at being knights, growing in power and preparing to deal with the mess that our world has become. And mind you, I’m talking about the romantic ideal of the knight, not the one’s from the middle ages who merely paid lip service to the ideas of chivalry.”

“And now they sound like a bunch of lovable rapscallions, not a serious group.” Amy remarked.

Isaac just laughed “People are complicated.”

“I suppose so.” Amy shrugged “Now I’m really bummed out I can’t join you, though. I’d have loved to visit Camelot.”

“What are you doing instead?” Isaac asked.

“Bailey is sending me to New York for a conference.” Amy sighed.

Ah yes, that conference. It was one of many ‘there’s a [System], now what?’ type conferences that had been held this year, but this one was actually being conducted by people important and influential enough that someone from the team should make an appearance. Not necessarily the professor in charge of the whole thing or the honorary doctor who was their biggest claim to fame, it wasn’t that important, but someone had to go and apparently, Amy had drawn the short straw.

“I see. Have fun.” Isaac told her “Hopefully, you’ll get the chance to enjoy yourself in the city and not have to spend all your time working.”

“Here’s to hoping.” She mimed raising a glass as a toast “See you around, I’ve gotta go pack.”

***

“Magnificent.” Isaac stated simply as he looked at the suit of armor Stagmer had set up on the armor stand in the corner of the blacksmith’s shop.

Silvery plates over chainmail so fine it could flow like cloth, a visor that provided a high degree of protection while still somehow granting a good look at the person wearing it, ensuring that this armor’s bearer wouldn’t turn into some anonymous tin can.

“So, what do you think? Anything you’d like added or changed?” Stagmer asked.

“Nope. ‘Magnificent’ is all I have to say about this. How much do I owe you?” Isaac responded.

“Can I be honest with you?” Stagmer asked, drywashing his hands.

“Of course?” Isaac told him, not entirely sure what he was about to be asked about, or asked to do, for that matter.

“Thank you.” Stagmer took another pause, taking in a big breath to buy a little more time “Idon’tknowwhattochargeforthisstuff.”

He paused, again, then repeated himself more slowly.

“I honestly have no idea what to charge for this. It’s weird coming from a blacksmith, I know, but this gift you gave me … I’m one of the best blacksmith’s in the world, damnit. What the hell is any of this worth. I … I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap, I’m just a little wound up. I got some crazy offers, crazy letters, just crazy messages in general.”

The blacksmith sighed and wiped some sweat from his forehead. It wasn’t something that could have come from the ambient heat, though, a [Blacksmith] had [Skills] and the Fortitude to withstand the heat of the forge directly, and said forge wasn’t even in the same room as the two of them. Clearly, he was very uncomfortable with this conversation.

“Normally, something like this would cost around fifty thousand euros, materials included. But this is a set of plate armor made using mostly magic, and made from magic metals, and I’ve never anything like it. I don’t know if anyone has ever made anything like it. So, as the closest thing to an expert on this stuff that I know, how much do you think this is worth?”

… and that would have been why Stagmer had been so damn uncomfortable. Asking a customer to name the price was … unconventional to say the least.

“Honestly? I’d say that is worth around half a million euros. According to a complicated formulae an economist professor created for us, you can generally double the sale price of your goods for every Evolution you’ve got under your belt, at least until the average Level starts going up. And as the holder of a unique legendary [Class], you can tack on a significant additional fee of increasing the price two and a half fold.”

“Wow, in that case, it’s a good thing you’re getting that armor for free ‘cause that’s a lot of money.”

“I didn’t ask for that. Good craftsmanship needs to be rewarded.” Isaac responded.

“And it has been, a hundred times over. XP for crafting, the leftover material from this work, my very [Class] … you’ve done so much for me, I can’t take your money on top of all that. Now, if I worked for you exclusively, I would need to be paid, but I don’t. I do so many things for other people, and I get paid very well for those things.

“But whenever you walk through that door, I get excited because I know you’ve got something cool for me to make, some awesome new material to play with … I love working for you. You owe me nothing for that suit of armor, I owe you.”

Isaac awkwardly scratched his neck at this proclamation.

“I’m glad you enjoy your work, and I’ll always be happy to work with you. This is a great gift, thank you.”

He reverently reached out and touched the armor, causing a [System] screen to pop up.

King’s Armor

A suit forged of the finest metals, made as a gift for a king.

Created by the heir to one of the greatest blacksmiths in the world, the greatest living blacksmith, consisting of mystic metals gained from monster infested Hunting Grounds, it is the strongest set of personal armor that is currently in existence.

“Perfect.”

Then, he pulled the armor into his storage space and turned to face Stagmer with a grin on his face.

“You’ll probably see this suit on TV one day. Now, I was wondering if you could make a set of chainmail as fine as what’s under the King’s Armor for me. The important thing for me is flexibility. Would that be possible?”

Isaac had been aware of the possibility of weaving chainmail so fine it wouldn’t hold him back in the least, but he’d expected it to take quite a while longer for people to be able to make it.

Stagmer mirrored his grin as he replied “Sure thing.”

“I’ll make sure to drop off some more materials later.” Isaac bade him goodbye and left his armor.

Of course, he’d actually add a lot of stuff to that material shipment as payment, but it wouldn’t have been something as crude as money. But he couldn’t just accept everything he commissioned with his favorite blacksmith as a gift, that would have been just exploitative.