Chapter 83: Wedding Day

Eli Pov 

I woke up from my hammock with a skip in my step. The cloud over my life was gone and my relationship with Salamede was on the mend. The morning after my test at the academy, I was getting up before the rising of the early sun gorging on granola, water and the raw energy of my happiness. Humming around the main tower floor, I inspected the steel struts the I had driven into the four corners of my towers main room.  

My general plan was to get the bones for a much larger tower ready and have the final tower put together in one night. Having the 'guts' of my tower on display when it was being made proper was too much of a security risk so while I was working on the suits actuators and overall design, Cell was in the basement, gradually using earth magic to replace the dirt in and around my tower to the point that the first several yards out from the front door was now smooth, sand colored stone instead of grass and a crude dirt path. 

The only other major external difference was the massive intake and outtake pipes sticking through the right side of the room and out the ceiling, which created airflow to the steel furnace I was almost done setting up. I was getting low on gold and pulling mana crystals from nowhere was out of the question, but with my identity as a quad mage now out in the open, I did have a ready explanation for the bags of holding I had. 

The dwarf smiths' emerald eyes nearly popped out of his skull when I offered him one as payment for more iron, copper, steel and aluminum. When the exchange was done, he promised me several tons of whatever it was I could possibly need as long as the supply trains kept coming in. The first thing I made was a massive furnace. The huge cylinder with hooks on the side was made of graphite and below it was my specially made furnace of thick shafts that would be filled with massive heating coils. It would take a while to make all the spheres needed to power the unfinished�����forge, but Cell was familiar enough with the process that I felt I could trust him to make the spheres on his own. 

In order to maximize my time, I had several bark pieces that would soak in and condense the ambient mana into a large glass sphere. Using a balance that would roughly take in the mana as quickly as it was replenished, I was only really sacrificing a few hours at most for these expeditions to help the peasants considering most of the work needed was held back due to mana shortages. And those few hours were well worth the peace of mind it would bring Salamede. 

My suit was now up to my relative standard of acceptability. While diamond pressured plates were a few days off, the mix of chemicals for carbon fiber were not in the dwarf blacksmiths stock and had to be special ordered. That was to say nothing of the chemical reactor for the acrylonitrile powder and the plastics I would need. Before that I would need to craft an infrared thermometer to use, hmm the burden of bringing science to the world. 

Bringing my mind back to what was in front of me, the suit now had steel plates with wood mixed throughout, instead of a crude cut off in the torso and legs. The wooden parts were now more pine wood made to act more like rubber in between the plates and strands of steel. It was these bits of wood that would stop rust with the water enchantments projecting a repulsion field just above the metal. The helmet was now a smooth circular top with two long smooth plates covering my face that had a resemblance to wings, the general aesthetic being complimented with the helmet being tipped with what looked like a beak at the end near the face.  

Along the neck down to the torso were inter woven steel plates with bits of the rubbery wood below them. These steel plates flowed around the steel shoulder guards that had small spikes rivetted in them to resemble feathers as they flowed in lines along the shoulders to the arms. At certain points, the modified motors for the actuators made the arms stick out a little but the weight was well within the acceptable limits.  

The ranged option of the cross bow was still available, my metal magic now letting me make the more compact assembly on my right arm more lightweight and nearly as powerful as before, but I felt I needed a ranged option that didn't have an ammo limit. Iron balls the size of my fist with handles that would attach to cables at the bottom fit the bill, even if I had to carry the balls in a special hip compartment near the leg actuators. These would also be easier to re-engage with the new arm actuators pulling the steel cable back around a small pole.  

As a safety measure, the balls would only be pulled back until they were a good foot away from my hand so they didn't rip a big hole in the arm armor, even if it meant I still had to watch the momentum. A little practice with the motions and whiplash involved gave me an option that allowed me to keep distance with the enemy but not run out of ammo like I would with the cross bow, whose ammo of small steel bolts I had to keep in a quiver on my right shoulder. 

The actuators around the legs still had the same functions but I added another set of wheels to each so the effect would be more like a proper vehicle and less like roller-skating. After being placed with more finesse and some additional care in the legs, the motors now fit near the knees with less space while additional bracing around the top and a set of several suspension springs around the shaft in front of my lower legs helped make the wheels handles jumps far better. These were powered with the two copper spheres above my bottom, their protection being steel caps woven into the overall design.  

But more than the functions, this was perhaps my first item where aesthetics, aside from camouflage, were paid some attention. The steel was given a smooth surface that showed some craftsmanship in its shine and the wood was colored to give off a deeper red color while the avian motif was continued with the lines of feathers running along the plates and wood pieces that stuck out below the steel joints. The hands also had the points of claws while the feet had some wings flowing from the tip around to the back. The boosters, now eight for a total of four in a line on each side of the back for more subtle control, had shiny steel exteriors with cones on their holes to give more concentrated thrust and send a proper stream of fire out. 

A long spear, with the diamond shaped tip having willowy white plant fibers below the blade to absorb blood and leather straps over the steel body, was off to the left. Its length was similar to that of my body and was the final addition to my new ensemble with a carry strap around the back. The hammer was nice to swing but it lacked the precision I typically liked when it came to my personal weapons. Learning from my lesson in the night battle, I put in two mana lamps on the shoulders that would illuminate the whole area around me with the fire spell within or serve as an emergency mana supply in a pinch.  

My meal finished, I opened the straps on the sides of the suit and shuffled in. At the center of the chest piece was a single plate with the appearance of an eagle flying forward. I thought about making a spot to put Cell in, but I decided to keep him in a pouch at my side when we travelled together. My familiar was doing some work here and there but I got the impression that he wanted to catch up with his familiar friends, so I gave him the day off as I retrieved two mid-sized chests.  

Heading out the door into the wide world, the sky was overcast with grey miserable clouds and the lingering morning fog still held sway over large parts of the land. As merry whistle reverberated in the steel suit and I walked down past the few trees covering the direct line of sight from my home to the academy, I noticed a large number of students and staff watching the path to my house. They all gawked when my steel and wood frame came into view, but I paid them no more attention than anything else underfoot.  

Going down into the now distinctly Kelton part of town, I came upon the carriage we would be using. The frame was thicker than most and instead of a canopy, it had thick iron plater wrapped around the sides with a sturdy door in the back. The horses were likewise armored with thinner sheets and now numbered four to a single cart as opposed to the typical two. At the driver seat was a man in simple leather armor and a spear across the back of his bench. 

The small crowd of Kelton men that surrounded the carriage came with spears, wooden hammers, and some crude bits of armor sprinkled throughout the motley mob. Off to the right of this carriage was the Kelton women bidding their men goodbye while the Kelton Patriarch in a larger green suit dolled out several silver coins to a muscular man in proper iron plate armor sitting next to the driver.  

"Ah, just who I wanted to see." A voice to my right called. Turning to my right, I saw Rand coming down between some houses with a small squad of about twelve guards. Oddly, I saw Veronica's mother coming along behind him, looking at me like I was a glass family heirloom precariously placed on a tables edge. 

"I have not fraternized with the men after your warning" I said evenly. 

"I know lad, but you might." Rand said sympathetically. "And I need to make sure that you don't so I'm assigning a few men to keep an eye on you. Just to make sure you don't needlessly talk to anyone." The surrounding guards nodded and moved forward to stay by the side of the carriage. 

I had a flash of irritation but the relieved looks of the Kelton women looking at my minders who would now accompany us stayed my tongue.  

"I am allowed to discuss things pertinent to the mission, correct?" I asked. 

"Yes, just no socializing."  

"All right, here's the solution to the storage problems" I called to the Patriarch as I hefted the chests onto the back of the carriage and strapped them into the racks. 

"Um… I appreciate the thought," The pudgy Kelton man said as he rubbed his brown fur in thought. "But I think we'll need something a tad bigger if we're to fill out our warehouse in just two trips." 

I took the one chest I hadn't yet strapped in, a wide brown thing with plain iron bands, and handed it too him. He opened it and his pure white eyes looked inside with a curious look. Lifting it over his head, his curved ram horns just barely got past the wooden entrance when he gently let the box down. And down. And down.  

It was when he held the box to his thigh that he finally stopped; a big brown box hefted by two hands over a pair of brown pants was all that could be seen of him. Everyone, from the guards to the Kelton's, to Veronicas mother and Rand, went slack jawed as they stood still as statues.  

"They're fucking boxes of holding?" The driver swore explosively, as the surrounding mothers put hands to their children's ears too late. 

The box was then lifted up as the Patriarch came back into view and handed the chest back over to me with shaky hands. 

"Yeah… that should be enough space." He said in a dazed tone.  

"All right, we're wasting time." I said to the crowd as I strapped the chest in and took my spear from the other sand colored one. Most of the crowd just shambled about while the driver took a moment to whistle for the horses to start moving. As the men bid their farewells, I noticed more than one was now taking a moment to rub these mythical boxes of holding that I got Salamede to buy from a poor back alley dealer.  

Our preparations finished, the now expanded entourage headed out over the bridge and through the door of the main gate. I kept pace to the carriages left with my now nominally vehicular movements as the men took turns stabbing some corpse that was shambling about. I would have thought that they would have all charged at the defenses in one big wave and that would be the end of them, but it appears that the undead, while not intelligent, avoided areas where a lot of their kin died and stuck to meandering about the woods.  

Moving through the fog that clung to the road and spilled from the forest, I noticed that the trees were near the end of their time above ground. Their tops had the branches all woven into balls or on the sides as the tree's height was now only two or three times the height of a man. Eventually we came back to the split in the road where the two roads to the Kelton villages met and we took the left path.  

The village had a few homes in the center with several farms on the outskirts. Our main point of interest, the round three story silo, was put in the middle of the town. I would have thought putting on the outskirts would have been better, but the surrounding wooden wall and few weapons scattered about it told me this building was placed here to protect it from thieves or bandits. But the big mob of corpses to the left of the building had been content to leave it untouched as the grain inside was of no interest to the carnivores. 

"All right." The armored man to the drivers right called to the group with his brown eyes looking at everyone and his long brown hair swinging below his iron helm "There's a mob to the left but I typically don't like concentrating on one area. Five men to each of the four sides to keep an eye out. I don't suppose you guards would fan out?" 

The leading man with a white stripe on his shoulder came forward. 

"We're here to monitor Eli, nothing else." He said plainly. 

"Ok. Eli please take the mob to the left and if the people monitoring you would deign to help, why that would be swell." He said. The guard captain tried to sputter some objection, but I just took off down the center of the town. Not waiting for anyone else, I lifted the spear and took off the heads of a few of the undead while the rest worked their way to the granary.  

A mass of rotten flesh surged forward as we moved but the few odd corners in the houses meant they bumped and slammed into each other and couldn't mob us all at once. Compared to the fight at the animal pens, this was pretty easy. At least until the healing magic started coming out of the earth, then this fight would be another proposition all together.  

While the town guards held back the mob with their iron shields just fine, one of the Kelton men to the road on my right screamed. Turning around, I saw he got a big chunk bit out of him when seven of the undead came down the northern road. I threw my spear through the undead that had ganged up on him and pushed his compatriots back.  

Zipping towards the dog pile of undead, I let loose a few bolts into the ones trying to get for his head while I attached the balls of iron to the cable on top of my hands. Several wide twirls with the iron balls at the end of the cables and bits of rotting flesh and the crunch of knees and bones filled the air.

What lay before me was a barely alive man with huge chunks taken out of his chest and legs as his life's blood spilled out into the dirt. Wasting no time, I used a healing spell on him even as he still screamed and twisted on the ground. The men surrounded me and a few of the town guards even made it over. Apparently, the guard's leader started using his brain and sent the rest of the men to help watch the other sides. 

It took a while, but I eventually healed most of him. He was still covered in nasty bite marks and didn't have the remaining muscle to walk on his own, but the puddle of blood on the ground stopped spreading outward and he could be moved. The dead were now thinned out to just one or two making their way down the roads, so I helped walk him down to the wagon.  

'Thank you. Oh fuck that was...' He puked off to his right while I patted the still shaking man. 

'The worst is over now' I said in the spirit connection as we moved past the men in front of the granary shoveling grain into the brown chest. Getting him to sit back down on the wagon bench beside the driver, I used a piece of wood from a discarded barrel to fashion a crude healing item from the brown plank. 

"Here, place it against your body."  

His grey goat head nodded as his bite marks healed at a much slower pace, with the driver staring in fascination. From there it was just a half an hour before all the grain had been stored in the two chests with a little room left over and I had fished my spear back from the pile of undead I had slain by chucking it. 

This was the central granary for both villages, which meant we had gotten all of the food but the men had come from this village and went through the houses getting a few iron tools from the blacksmith, thread and needles from the tailor, as well as other household goods that the wagon now had the unexpected space for.  

There were cheers and pats on the back as we made our way home. I saw the sun fighting for its purchase in the mid-day sky but, sadly, the day belonged to the clouds as the brief flashes of sunlight died and a light drizzle came down as we came back to the town. We passed through without incident as traffic was pretty much nonexistent on the main road now. However, as we went through the road to the Kelton section, it seemed like a giant beehive of agitated activity with some carts smashed and people running about.  

"What happened?" The driver called to a passing guard. 

"A mob of women came by, talking about some Kelton woman taking the quad mages seed. Beat one Kelton woman pretty bad but then a water mage got involved and their both in the academy hospital right now. It's a mess, please go on ahead, sir." The guard said in a tired tone as he went back to taking an upturned stall owners report. 

My heart leapt up into my throat as I looked towards the jutting white walls of the academy. 

"Put the grain in the warehouse and put the boxes on the cart for the next trip" I said absentmindedly to anyone who could hear as I laid my spear down by the warehouse and took off down the cowded road. Going through the academy's main entrance and up to the wooden building leaning against the academy's left wall, I ran up the stone steps while the people in my way made sure not to impede me. As I went through the oak double doors, the first person I saw was Tansen in his typical black robe with a wave of sapphires across the chest. He gave me a knowing look and motioned behind him to the stairs on the left side.  

I followed him up the stairs until we got to the third floor. This section was noticeably nicer than the other floors with white marbles flooring and what looked like gold embellishments in the doors. It was also less crowded with purely artistic pieces like the ceiling being painted a flowing river with scenes of deer, bears, and huntsman throughout.  

We came up to a door on the right and opened it. Inside was a fine room with two plush beds, an embellished window in the front center, and a luxurious red carpet. To the left was Veronica with a bloody lip and bruises along her arms as her mother looked over her with a devastated demeanor even as she was clearly struggling to keep it in, on my right was Salamede. She lay in the silk sheets with only a few bruises. The women seemed to be rather lighthearted as their conversation stopped as we opened the door. 

"Ah, Eli." Salamede said with eagerness in her rough voice. I rushed forward and kissed her, which she returned eagerly.  

After a few moments savoring her, I pulled back and took her head in my hand. 

"What happened?" I asked. 

She struggled for a moment but finally responded. 

"They made the official announcement about you this morning after you left. I was going about my work buying some tools and nails we needed for the various carpenters working on the warehouses, when out of nowhere a mob of the women students and some others surrounded me. They um… Well Veronica helped me as the mob pelted me with stones and-"  

The door opened again as a nurse came through with two glass vials filled with red liquid on a silver tray. 

"More potions for the ladies, I must say-" She stopped dead when she noticed the mass of steel and wood looking at her. From her my gaze shifted to Veronica then to Salamede and back to the potions as Tansen bid the woman to leave.

"Tansen, how did she look before the healing potions covered up the damage?" I asked with gritted teeth as I turned towards the academy head. 

'Eli! Don't get angry. We can't afford Cell going crazy. It wasn't actually that bad, but Tansen insisted we get the best treatment possible' Salamede soothingly said in a spirit connection. I felt Salamede squeezing my fingers, so I took a deep breath and counted for a long moment. 

"Do not worry yourself about those women, Eli" Veronica said. "From the way mother has been sending out orders since she got here, I don't think they'll be much left for you to take from those women."  

"And you agree with that, Salamede?" I asked. She gave a nod as did Veronica. Since they were the ones who were actually hurt, it would be inappropriate for me to hunt down the perpetrators on their behalf. 

It was at this moment that Tansen broke in. 

"Indeed. From what I've heard, Veronica was checking out another Dwarf stall nearby and used a water shield to help Salamede. Hard to believe such a great woman could blossom from such a poisonous vine like Agatha." He finished with a sage nod.  

"Tansen, unless you want my foot lodged up the recesses of your ass, keep your snide comments to yourself." Agatha shot back with a stern look even as Veronica looked on with a mischievous grin, ruining the seriousness of the moment.  

"Well we're all in this together, aren't we?" Veronica said, her heart shaped face and blue eyes projecting cheer even as her blond hair was scattered about her white robe. She took a moment to look at my hand wrapped around Salamede's, a flash of what looked like jealousy flared up in her eyes for a moment so fleeting I thought I could have been mistaken as to whether it even existed.  

"To a certain extent." I half agreed as I took in the ambient mana and cast a healing spell from both hands towards both of the women. Far more potent than the wisps of healing magic found in the red potions, the bruises and injury melted away until the two women were spotless.  

"Veronica" I said with a deep bow as the woman in question looked over her hands and felt her face in wonder. "You came to the defense of someone I love when I could not. I owe you a great debt and if there is any service or item I could render you, say it and it will be yours."  

Everyone looked on with expectant looks at the young girl as she bit her lip in thought.  

"You have every element, right?" She asked hesitantly.  

"Yes." I responded. 

"Then you can make bags of holding, correct?" She said with an eager hint in her eyes. Agatha interrupted with a light cough. 

"Dear, even with those elements present, the mental concentration demanded of one person doing that would be-" 

"Yes." I responded without hesitation.  

While Salamede looked on calmly, Tansen and Agatha looked at me with disbelief plain in their faces even as Veronica gave a happy little clap. 

"Thank you! I have a special little bag-" She reached down under the bed into a box with other personal items and took out this special bag. It was a bit larger than a book with red scales and a silk thread running interwoven at the top to allow it to be closed with a knot or tied around something else. 

"Dragon hide" Veronica explained, "With the treated web of a magical spider that should be around the size of a horse if what I know of the breed is anything to go by."  

"I didn't think the dwarves were selling anything like that." Tansen said with a raised eyebrow.  

"They don't. This was a gift from my dad." Veronica said, her face getting a slight shadow cast over it. "It's the only thing I've ever gotten from him. You know scions are so few and he has so many others around. He… um yeah, this one, if you please." 

As she handed me the bag, I noticed Tansen took a few steps back closer to the door as Agatha just rubbed her shoulders in support. When I took a deep breath and sucked in as much mana as I could, Tansen came forward again as the rest of the group looked on eagerly at the creation of this legendary item.  

This was a gift to repay a priceless deed, not some part in a machine I could replace with no thought. Combined with its sentimental value, I meant to go far beyond what I had done for any of the other bags of holding I had made. Getting out of my combat suit and donning a cloth to wrap around my face, I got to work as I put the entrance of the bag into what would be the empty center. 

As I put out the wide construct of various elements circles, squares, and triangles, I noticed Tansen's eyes looking over at the water section, his eyes taken in with the seemingly incomplete spell construct while Agatha looked like she couldn't believe the sheer amount of mana I was using. I had made larger spaces with the grain chests, but the relatively small hole of the entrance to the bag made it far harder to expand the space with less spirit magic to send through the hole. 

After nearly half an hour, sweat started going down my back and forehead as I forced the spirit magic and my magical ability to its absolute limit before I finished setting up the expanded space in the bag. A rush of air into the bag was heard as the spell was finally cast. The handbag had an external size on the smaller side to fit comfortably around the waist or arm, while the inner size now had the storage capacity of smaller wardrobe. 

I handed it off to Veronica, who took the bag with newfound reverence. She looked at it in wonder and stuck her arm through the entrance as she waved her other hand in front of it like a child with a new toy. Tansen gave a light whistle as Agatha just looked at me with furrowed eyebrows.  

"That was incredible, Eli." Agatha said hesitantly. "Taking in mana like most people take in air. To take in mana continually while using spirit magic is something most take years to perfect. Or naturally if they're scions." She said with a final suggestive tone. 

I was putting my helmet back on and managed to keep the motion going with no hiccup.  

"Oh yeah. The test for being a scion is something that's supposed to be done when you're first given the title of caster" Tansen said as he strode forward. "This may be uncomfortable, so I apologize beforehand." Then I felt his spirit magic run through me. We could have communicated but he kept silent as he worked his way to my core and expanding outward. After a few more seconds he pulled back. 

"Nope, no egg." Tansen finally proclaimed. I thought back to my first time using spirit magic and realized he must have been talking about that void I couldn't penetrate in my chest before I had Cell. Agatha tutted with disappointment. 

"I guess that would have been too much to ask for. Still, you must be awfully close. Another item for the higher ups to cry over." She said sadly.  

"What are you-" The door opened to reveal Rand. He put his thumbs in his brown pants under his steel breastplate even as his green eyes looked like a man stepping into a viper pit with seat running down his brown mustache. 

"I'm sorry to butt in, but as the highest local authority of law enforcement, I have to remind you that this is not a dire circumstance. Please do not interfere with the censured when he vacates the building. I am authorized to give one warning, any further incidents will be met with sharing his censure sentence" He said with a pointed look towards me, seemingly more to avoid the murderous looks of Agatha and Tansen. 

"What do you define as dire?" Tansen said as he walked up to the man. 

"People will die if it isn't done is the general rule. This also extends to gatherings to coordinate in emergencies." Rand countered with a slight pull back. 

"Does not the siring of a quad element mage also qualify?" Agatha asked. 

"Him siring has a whole line devoted to it in the order. You know that" He said with a raised eyebrow. 

"But finding his children. Protecting the line of a priceless mage. Are these not items of dire need?" Agatha said, moving forward to crowd the man with Tansen.  

After a moment of consideration, Rand nodded. 

"Yes, working to protect previously sired children is a precedent that has been accepted as dire." He said. 

Agatha then turned around and walked up to me.  

"Eli, is there no woman who might be carrying your child?" She said as she leaned closer. "A farmers daughter who showed you the upper loft of her father's barn or bakers' wife who decided she might like to try for a crafter's child? It's not an uncommon occurrence I assure you and while some stubborn sorts would be uncomfortable publicly revealing this fact, I promise you, they would be compensated as such that the husband would never think to complain." She took a step closer.

"In fact, it is not unheard of for the daughters to ask for a chance once such circumstances have been revealed. Is there not a single back alley whore you took on any night in any village we might contact?" the desperation came clear through at the end as she now stood within a hair's breadth of my helmets nose.  

"No, I am sorry to disappoint you but-"  

Remembering the local rumors, I made sure to steal a look to Salamede to give the correct impression. Agatha followed my gaze and gave a tired sigh when she found the woman she had been looking for.  

"If you find yourself with child, please come to this hospital immediately and my people will be in contact." Agatha said with a bow before turning around and heading out the door. 

"Don't think being censured means no school." Tansen said with an appearance of mock sternness. "Mid-day tomorrow, come up to my office and we will go over the few remaining requirements for you to become a recognized mage." Looking at Salamede, she seemed to be positively buzzing with excitement at the statement even as the others kept their eyes on me. With a light bow to the two remaining women, he also turned around and left. Rand gave a light bow to the retreating academy head then turned his gaze to me. 

"Ok lad. I commend your efforts but now you need to-" 

"Actually, he'll be with me. Associating with me." Salamede said. Even I drew an askance look at the goat woman sitting up from the bed. 

'You sure?' I asked in a spirit connection.  

'Yes. I- we'll have plenty of time to talk about it soon. But yes, I'm sure.' She said as she took my armored hand. 

Rand took a long moment where he was clearly trying to find some way out of doing what he just threatened to do a few minutes ago. When he had apparently exhausted all of his options, he nodded with a defeated look and went out the door with a "I'll get the paperwork in order" 

"Well, I guess when your mother is here to give you your dress-" Salamede silenced me with a pulling down of the helmet and a kiss that flooded my mouth with her sweet tang. 

"No need," She said in her rough voice when she pulled back. Leaning down, she picked up a small box from under the bed and took out a rather beautiful dress. It was a lighter green than her typical favorite with white embroidery around the edges and special stitching around the chest and thighs showing a custom make designed to fit her, and her alone. 

"The dwarves dropped it off earlier." Salamede said idly even as a jealous look from Veronica remained open with no attempts to hide it from us. "Eli, lets meet up for lunch and we can discuss how we're going to help the human peasants."  

A simple kiss from me was all I could say. My heart racing and my mood bright enough to pierce the overcast sky, I put the rest of my suit on and left the room as Eska and Mia came through the door. I gave the two a passing nod as I left the room. Going through the wall with fine marble floors and oak walls, I went down the empty staircase and as I did so a family came up unaccompanied to meet someone on this floor of the hospital.  

A female student with red pigtails, blue eyes and plush cheeks, her mother who looked like an older version of the girl with thicker eyebrows and a black and green dress, and the father who was an average looking man with a dark brown beard and brown vest with green pants. 

As I passed them, the daughter squeaked and twirled her white and blue student robes. 

"Eek! Are… Are you the quad mage?" She said excitedly. 

"Yes, I'm censored as you well know. Goodb-" 

She thrust her body against my steel and wood suit. I was now keenly aware of my lack of groin guard as she grinded her hips against mine. Her freckled face looked up at me with naked lust in her roguish grin. 

"Please, they won't deny our children's lineage once all that stupid paperwork is sorted out. Now-" She moved to try and work my pants before her father pulled her back. 

"Jess! Show some restraint! We can't afford the talk of you getting his child when he's still under censure." He said in an angry tone, stopping only to shoot me a mean, surly look. 

"Quite right." The mother said with pursed lips. "Go, let's get to the room before the guards smack us with a censure order of our own."  The husband huffed in agreement as he dragged his daughter away by her right arm. 

But when I went to go down the steps, the mother quickly stepped to the side and pulled my helmet down for a kiss. As the taste of spicy wine filled my mouth, she put her hands down my pants to grip my balls. I considered knocking her away, but her tongue played in my mouth for only a moment longer before she pulled back with a lick of her dark lips���and a whisper in my ear. 

"Mrs. Stone, or Jessica at the Dryad's Whistle." She said in a heated tone, making sure to massage my manhood and send a tingle up my spine at every word. "He'll be gone around mid-day to see to his venture in the river merchants." 

"Honey?" Her husband's voice called above.  

"It's the shoe again, dear" She called sweetly before giving one last squeeze around my privates and moving away to go up the stairs.  

 My blood hot and the item of a chastity belt added to my to-do list, I went back towards the Kelton quarter to get on with the tasks at hand. The two chests were still in front of the warehouse by the dock that the Keltons used as a communal storage for their goods. An assembled crowd took turns sticking their hands through them and otherwise testing their odd characteristics as I came up to them. 

"When are we heading out for the rest of the firewood?" I asked as I took in the warehouse with full barrels and sacks of grain. 

"As soon as the humans get back from their trip. I heard it's going to be a while" One of the Kelton women to my left said. Nodding to her, I picked up my chests and headed back to the market with the spear swinging behind me. The time was hard to tell with my early rise and the grey sky delivering a light drizzle over everything, but my stomach said it was lunchtime.  

None of the human stands could feed me but the dwarves were a legal grey area and Rand had told me on his visit that they fell under a foreign relation. The Coalition had never censored a group like the dwarves before and wasn't likely to take the diplomatic risk to do so. I sat down at a wide-open stall with a long flowing bar in front of a stove and ordered the typical steak and beer. While I waited, Salamede finally joined me. 

'Hey,' She said in a spirit connection, 'I've gotten a few items I needed and will get my things from mom's place. A few dozen silver will take care of any expenses she has.' She waved down the cook and ordered some thick mushrooms glazed with spices and honey and a water glass to wash it down. 

'It appears I'll need to make you a suit as well, or at least some concealable weapons. If you don't mind since this all happened to you because of me' I said ruefully.

Salamede stared at the wooden bar for a bit before she spoke in the spirit connection again.

'Eli, I know what we did was wrong in the southern lands, but I can't stop myself from feeling like I discovered something very important down there. I got into it with the mages because I cursed them out. In the past I would not even dare to look them in the eye. Helping out with the undead at the animal farm? I would have left that to the men and been content with it. When those women came at me, I threw the first punch instead of running away.' She took a deep breath despite our conversation carrying no sound. 

'I flew through the trees and killed mages by the handful. The orcs and Frojan looked at me with fear then relief knowing such a powerful being was on their side. I didn't realize how important that was to me until I had to go back to being what I was before I met you and how much I hate it. Eli, I don't want to go back to being a powerless peasant woman who just tries to get away and I would not mind it in the least if you made some weapons for me.' She said with desperation in her voice. I took a moment as our meals were deposited in front of us to rub her leg affectionately.  

'Good. I'm glad something good came of all that work I did.' I said. 'Cell is working on the tower, but we should have enough steel and parts left over to make another suit. Besides, it will be safer in the long run for both of us if I give you some equipment. I'll head down to the tower and we'll see about getting you fitted for a suit.' 

'Thank you, Eli' she said in excited anticipation. 'I'll meet you there I just need to see to some business while I'm still uncensored.' After devouring our meals, we split up and got to work. I went into the tower and finished out a rough suit. I was familiar with her body but not to the point where I could make the joint and most of the front sections without her being there to measure. As I was on the main floor working with that small forest of bark pieces, Cell was downstairs working on the aluminum coils. The metal was delivered while I was gone, and Cell was molding them into the coil design I had laid out for the furnace. 

'How was your time with the other familiars yesterday?' I asked him through the open hatch. He sent me a wave of happiness and a mental picture of them travelling through the woods attacking a troglodyte who had strayed from his pack.  

'Lovely' I said dryly, taking a moment to lower my head and close my eyes. Then I got back to work and fastened the actuators to the inside of the suit legs. Eventually it came together but while I was working on the arm crossbow section, a knock at the door got me up. Closing the floor hatch and walking over to open the door, a very smug Salamede with two bags in hand stood in the doorway. 

'It's official. They put out the notice a few minutes ago. Mother was surprised but she seemed to be understanding.' She said with a smile that scrunched up the white stripe along her nose ridge.  

'On my end I'm almost done with the suit.' I said as I opened the door fully to let her in.  

'What are your plans for this place?' She asked as she set her bags down and walked up to the new suit with wonder. 

'Getting the forge up is the first priority. Once that's done, the metal magic I've been using will be able to mold the liquid steel with far less mana than when it's cold. After that, long beams of steel will be set at four points in the stone base and serve as pins to hold the upper floors in place. Then there's the metal for the connections. I've got a lot of experience in construction but with no tools beyond my eyes I'm going to be absurdly generous with bracing and foundation strength. I'm thinking a three upper story affair with one or two more levels below all given a spider web of steel rebar through the floors and walls.' 

She seemed content with that, but she took my hand and brought me over to the stone block in the middle of the room. Pushing me to sit down on it, she then took her position on my lap. 

'You've got plans for the building but what about the people in it?' She asked coyly. 

'I seem to remember us talking about a dozen children.' I replied in equal playfulness. 

Her ears went down as she bit her lip and her horns swayed with her idle movement. 

'Eli, we both know my garden isn't the only soil you'll be planting your seed in.' She said seriously. 

My eyebrows furrowed as the hair stood up on the back of my neck. 

'I ain't fucking those whores.' I said with as calm a tone as I could manage. She huffed with mock indignation. 

'And here I was trying to keep this conversation proper.' She said as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. 'Eli. I can't be the only woman you get with child. I know you want to wait until you fix your AI chips but, even if you let them in on that little secret, you losing your memory of these new children will take how many centuries? Besides, I assume you'll keep them alive with your healing magic.' 

'Of course!' I shot back indignantly.  

'Of course.' She said with her hand raised in mock surrender. 'What I'm trying to say is that even if they were made …fully aware of the situation, they would still insist on you spreading your seed.'  

'Yeah. I got a taste of that when I left the hospital and a daughter and her mother tried work me over right there in the stairway.' I said ruefully. 

'That's only the start Eli. You have the ability to make the poorest peasant woman go down in legends for generations to come with just a few minutes together. Or a good hour if you want to enjoy the experience.'  

I sat there for a long moment before I responded. 

'I understand. But the big issue is that I need to get my AI chips finished before I go making any big definite plans. I still want to get back to the family I left behind in my universe.'  

She patted my head sympathetically. 

'I know. But what happens if you not siring gets in the way of getting the AI chips fixed?' She asked. 

'I don't see how it could. The dwarves are providing all the raw materials I need, and I can probably have one of them cut into my head to re-attach the connector when the time comes. So, I don't think I need the magical worlds approval in any real capacity' I responded. 

'Do you really only have eyes for me?' Salamede asked in exasperation. 'Is there not one other woman in this whole town you wanted to take to bed? What about Veronica? She's a nice person and you get along well.'  I scrunched up my nose in disgust. 

'Ew, don't even joke about that Salamede. When I look at her, every fiber of my being screams 'daughter', besides the fact she's infertile. As for the other women, no. They were all horrid to me, either directly or encouraging the men to be asses to me for them.' I said as I ignored the painful memories. 

'We can work with that' Salamede said with raised eyebrows. 'The students were awful to you. Everyone knows what kind of relationship you have with the rest of the pupils so why not make bedding their mothers and giving them some siblings a part of that relationship?'  

I stared at Salamede but her bit lips and mischievous expression made it hard to know how serious she was about that.  

'I told you how I feel about sex outside of marriage.' I responded firmly.

She got a serious look as she took a deep breath.  

'But what if the woman needs your seed in order to survive?' She asked.

'Pff, that's a mighty odd disease.' I scoffed back.

'It's not just diseases. If a woman gets put on death row unjustly, but we can't prove it, the only way to keep the noose off her would be to get her with child. Or if a low noble women��s husband ruined her families honor. She could lose everything and have her children thrown out into the streets where they would almost certainly starve.

The bags of holding are a good source of money, but one-time lump sums can be stolen or taken due to previous debts. However, money for breeding stipends is different. If a poor noble woman has no income aside from a breeding stipend, anyone who tried to collect that as repayment would get a beating in the town square from the local guard. A woman getting a quad mage sired child? There are too many ways getting such a child would be a life saving grace for me to think of them all.'

Thinking it over for a moment, I sighed before I looked her straight in the eyes as I stopped my little game of squeezing and groping.

'Salamede, even with all that… If such a circumstance arose and I still did not give her child, would you think less of me?' I asked with a bit lip.

Those pure white eyes stared at me for a moment before she answered.

'Having a spread of mage children leads to more guards to keep the women safe and subsequently merchants for the local people. There have been entire villages who were saved from starvation with a quick stop from a single male mage. I understand it was probably different in your world, but here a male mages generosity is defined more by their willingness to push through and sire as often as they can, even as their other achievements add to that generosity.

You refusing to sire will be met with bewilderment and anger, since it will mean lost opportunities for so many people. While I certainly don't think less of you for not rutting every woman in sight with wild abandon, I rather like that bit of discretion, I hope you will not be upset when I say that I would think less of you if you let a woman die or family starve because you were uncomfortable with siring. I know that's not totally fair to you, but certain attitudes and beliefs are hard to let go of'

'This dick of mine is getting me in trouble, and I haven't even been using it.' I said tiredly.

That got a light laugh out of Salamede before she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around my neck

'I know… but what about multiple wives?' She asked. 

'What? Pff. No. I wouldn't-' Salamede took that moment to grind against my loins. She took a long stroke with her back as she rubbed what was now a full erection with her groin.  

'Tsk, tsk. Eli, you need to be more honest. He was getting stiff when we started talking about making children and immediately withered when the rest of society came into the picture. But that talk of multiple wives perked him right back up.' She purred seductively as she made sure to look me in the eyes as the soft glow of the mana lamp above showed her lustful gaze. 

'What do you want me to say?' I said before I took a moment to bite my lips as she did a particularly long stroke. 'The prospect of being surrounded by multiple wives who love me and will give me a whole school's worth of children has no appeal? That it holds no interest for me whatsoever?'  

'Of course not. Kelton men often have multiple wives. Those women often took no small amount of pleasure in reminding me that my previous husband couldn't find any other women who would touch him.' She said as her face came to within kissing distance. I closed the gap, but she kept talking through the spirit connection as our tongues waged their long battle. 

'I believe human women typically don't like such arrangements, even if they tolerate some indiscretion on the side. But for us Keltons, the man having more wives only means others have approved of our choice.' She gave one long last kiss before pulling away with a loud pop as our lips separated. I swallowed before speaking again. 

'Really? You wouldn't mind if more wives came along?' I asked with a raised eyebrow. 

'You're assuming I won't be actively looking out for more women for you to take. I think the biggest black mark on our relationship will be everyone thinking you've already bedded me before we got married. The older women reprimanded me a few times for being so 'free' with my body but now that your abilities are being displayed, they were giving me tips on how to properly sate a man when I was cleaning up.' Salamede was now moaning with her strokes against my manhood even as she leaned forward and bit my left ear playfully.  

'Oh, did they now? I'll have to see just how their advice panned out. But how would our marriage happen with us censored?' I asked with heat in my words like the heat in my cheeks and pants.  

'There are multiple ways to do it and the patriarch found one that will fit our unique needs. For us, there will be a circle of rope with the pieces of paper tied at both end with our two promises written on them. We need to step in the middle of the circle of rope and once he proclaims us married, the rope is hung on our doorstep. But that will have to wait until we get back from our run with the firewood.' She said with an excited breath as I squeezed her bottom. 

'It sounds like a quick ceremony, are you sure we need to wait?' I asked impatiently. 

'Two problems: Marriages are seen as something to bind the wider community together and putting our wedding above something the community's needs will taint the marriage. The other problem is that you have not proposed to me. I don't know how it's done by your people but that's typically- eek!' She yelped as I lifted her up and placed her on the rough rock I was sitting on. Shoving my tongue down her throat and pushing my leg between her thighs, I made my proposal as our oral duel continued. 

'Marry me! Marry me and bear my children, you beautiful woman.' I demanded as I pushed against her, fully pinning her to the rock. 

'Yes!' She said breathlessly as she pulled me closer with her legs and took my head in her hands. We spent a few more minutes savoring each other before we had to get up and get to work if we wanted to be of any use during the firewood run. 

'It looks good, husband.' She said as she slid along my side to take in the suit. It had the same steel plates with the wooden under plates and some artwork with feather overlay. 

'Thanks, but I need you to get in it so I can finish up the joint sections.'  

Salamede jumped off me and worked her way into the suit with a few movements of her arms and legs. The portions around the shoulders and thighs were left bare while the arm, leg, back, and chest portions were finished. Then I got to work doing the fine molding of the steel plates and the wood beneath around her shoulders, stopping only when it pinched her arm once. Once that was done, I put in the last few pieces needed on the lower section. 

'You seem pretty skilled on that portion' Salamede commented coyly as I worked around her thighs. 

'I'm going to be getting even better on working this section later tonight.' I shot back. 

Surprisingly, she just bit her lip and looked at me like I was something delectable that was put on her plate. I gave a light cough as I finished up the last few plates.  

'All right, we're finished.' I said, looking her up and down. Her helmet was similar to mine with the face of a hawk going down the front of her head with padded shoulders and small blades running down the sides as steel and wood moved with her body. Her horns had two special holes for them and a hawks beak nose running down over her snout. It also had the general curves of the suit accentuate the more feminine aspects of it occupant with slimmer legs and more attention to detail on the slickness of the overall surface. 

The weight was heavier than the vine suit, but she still seemed capable of moving around with minimal restraint. Going outside, she got a few swings and jabs in with the spear. We didn't have time to install the actuators for the swinging iron balls, but this wasn't going to be a particularly dangerous run. She took off with the four boosters I installed along the suits back. While she did actually trip and fall once, she eventually got it down to where she could go at a horse's gallop without much difficulty.  

Now that the state of her suit up to working order, we headed down to the Kelton quarter with a chest slung over each of our backs. As we moved down the path with our wheels down and the boosters in the back giving a light shimmer from their heat, now coming with multiple degrees of thrust in each, I noticed some of the students going along the path towards the classroom tower. The men looked on with expressions of wonder or jealousy while the women had gazes of open hatred and contempt for the distinctly female form of Salamede beside me and I wondered if any of them had been involved in the attack on my soon to be wife.  

Going through the houses, we had to slow to a regular walk as the crowd of Kelton's clogged the street. Women and men were moving portions of grain to the pens of animals and into houses while younger ones assisted skilled craftsman with various mending, carpenter, and blacksmith tasks. They all made way for us though, as even in the grey cast sky our armor had a shine to it that only accentuated the slight height advantage we now held over them.  

When we came to where we met up with the guild carriage from last time, I saw the carriage from before getting put in order as the men assembled around it with their typical collection of poor armor and 'weapons'. The prospect of sending them out in the future when the dead would benefit from the healing magic would basically be a death sentence and they would eventually have to be given proper weapons and armor or the new couple on the block would have to do any future runs solo. By the carriage with jutting sides of iron sheets and a sharp sloped roof were the usual party of women and children bidding their men goodbye and the driver and the guild minder in the driver's seat.  

What was different was the patriarch in the blue suit running up to us with his portly frame of brown fur showing some sweat as he moved through the crowd.  

"Good, good. There's not a lot of time to explain. We'll be ready in fifteen or so minutes, but the guild needs this carriage back within an hour." He said irritably. 

"An hour?" Salamede exploded as she set her chest down "That's almost half our time in travel alone. Are we that short of coin that we could resort to such a terrible deal?"  

"Yes and no. We had the funds for a full trip, but the local government will be commandeering them after an hour, so the guild is letting us use this one at fraction of the original price in compensation." He said with arms raised placatingly.  

"What for?" I asked irritably as I set my chest down. 

"The military base the more southern villagers went to, the one between here and the Hub at the highway, is overcrowded and strapped for resources. With the mayhem in the south all the supplies there got put somewhere else and they were already full up on a back log of displaced soldiers. With all that, the local Duke of the region has been instructed by the Central government to move the civilians here."  

"Here?" Salamede said in disbelief. "There's no room, the river is almost a running sewer as is, and food is scarce enough." The Kelton man ran his hands down the horns along the back of his head and I could see that just because he was behind the walls, that didn't mean he wasn't being worked to the bone as well. 

"Yes, here. The decision has been made and the leg work is already in motion. We will just have to deal with this fact." He said solemnly.  

"Housing" I said as I handed my chest off to Salamede. "A bunch of homeless starving people running around isn't going to be good for our community. Since I don't see any work crews moving bricks and boards, I'm assuming they haven't started on that part yet."  

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. 

"The local office has already put aside a plot of land to the left side of town towards the back, but no, they haven't started work yet." I nodded and looked towards the academy before explaining my plan.  

"Ryan owes me a favor. He'll start laying the needed foundations and doing the brick work while we run for firewood as quickly as we can." I explained. 

"A scion? Doing housing work for refugees?" The patriarch asked skeptically, with even some of the surrounding listeners looking dubious.  

"He'll do it. If he tries to go back on his word, I'll flay him alive." I said as turned towards the academy, not even staying to take in the shocked and sputtering faces. Salamede then led the people back towards the carriage as the crowd moved aside for me.