I could feel the cold coming through the sole window in the room. Though it was staved off by the water heaters that I had installed recently. Charging it every night was a small price to pay for everyone's comfort, and also reduce the likelihood of someone falling sick from the cold.
I had spent the last few weeks taking notes on how the enchantment runes translate to voltage readings that I was familiar with. Most of the time had been spent on the actual hammer of runes, as well as taking breaks when my hands and arms got sore from the repeated movements.
I had not been completely idle either with my spell progression during that time. I had not necessarily created a new spell but I had cleaned up my entries in Lightning Brain mutation and added a new functionality.
Lightning Brain Instruction List:
Lightning Enhanced Movement: summarised list of muscles to be activated using Lightning Infusion to accelerate movement
Series of mental command pre-programmed to activate specific muscle combinations to propel the user in the indicated direction using Lightning Infusion
Lightning Defibrillator: activated when user's heart stops more than 10 seconds or when user's brain falls unconscious
Use of Lighting Infusion with varying intensity on different internal organs depending on the condition specified by the user
I had cleaned up the list of evasive maneuvers that propelled me in different directions into a consolidated summary of movements so that my mutation window did not look like a street fighter combo list. The shortened list made it a lot cleaner for when I needed to add new commands in the future.
I had also taken the time to work on my defibrillator spell during the downtime, specifically when I ran out of plates and Branwen had not returned the previous batch I had sent to her for recycling.
Calling it a "spell" was being generous, as it was simply a different application of the Lightning Infusion spell. I tested the first version by configuring it to give me a jolt when I was deemed "asleep" and it sort of worked. The first night I tested it I ended up shouting out aloud, waking everyone in the orphanage. I nearly gave Marta a heart attack as she thought something had happened to me.
Once I confirmed that it worked, I then tweaked the condition of being "asleep" to being "unconscious". I also added a second component to the instruction to trigger a stronger discharge for when my heart stopped, actually acting like a defibrillator.
I actually had no way to test it after the modification and hoped that I would never need to find out. I briefly contemplated knocking myself unconscious by throwing a huge rock into the air but I was afraid I might actually give myself more than just a light concussion.
The real reason for not performing what would have looked like a Looney Tunes skit was primarily to avoid Marta's wraith. As they said, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. And I did promise her not to take any unnecessary risk.
The next part of solving the energy discharge problem of a railgun involved building capacitor banks. While I could release the electricity myself through lightning spells, my control was not refined enough release it in the voltage required and in the speed that I needed. It was better to use lightning infusion to charge a capacitor before releasing the electricity using them.
I had also decided that for my first version, I would create a coil gun or some would know as Gauss rifle instead of an actual railgun. While a railgun would need an extremely high current and supremely high structural integrity, both of which I had no way of accessing.
While a Gauss rifle also needed quick energy release and strong enough materials, the requirements were much lower and were instead made up for using precision timing. Something I could potentially solve using my Lightning Brain mutation.
To create a Gauss rifle, I needed to make a solenoid, which was created by wounding wires into a cylindrical shape. Which would also mean I needed wires, something that used to be available in a hardware store was non-existent in this world. I had seen thin wires before, but it was mostly used in jewelries, made from more precious metal. I would need to get my hands on the wire drawing plate and craft them out of copper rods myself.
Regardless of which version I went with first, I needed more coin, something I should stop troubling Marta for. It was about time I paid old Garrick a visit.
Garrick POV
Things were rough for everyone since the war with Ironhold intensified three year ago, especially for Marta and the kids at the orphanage. Garrick had tried to do what he could. He had intentionally sold supplies to Marta at slightly below market prices. Garrick needed to make his own living too. He also made delivery runs to the orphanage when no other merchant would do the trip, considering the meagre purchases that Marta could make with her ever reducing stipend.
However, things started turning around since the beginning of this year. For some reason, hunters passing by would donate an entire boar carcass to the orphanage every few days. Maybe the poor kids who were all skin and bones had elicited some kindness from deep down their hearts. But a full boar would have lasted them weeks, if they had rationed it properly. Especially after the tusks and hide were sold.
They were also all in such good condition. He had never seen pelt like that in all his years as a merchant. At least those he had come across as a merchant of his caliber. Most pelts would suffer some damage from the spells unleashed by the hunters or adventurers. Even if the hunter had used magic that enhanced their ability to wield an axe or a sword, there would usually be some cuts on the body.
The only way was if some powerful mage or adventurer had hunted the boar themselves, that could explain the clean kill for someone of that caliber. But then again, if someone like that had taken pity on the orphanage, a single gold coin that was worth nothing to them would have been worth more than the entire boar. Why go through all that trouble of hunting the boar and donating it to them?
And it was not a single boar, there were more than a total of ten pelts that he had helped Marta sell. He even sold some excess meat that they could not preserve or eat themselves towards the end. Then it suddenly stopped when Marta brought that boy to town with her.
Ash was it? He recalled Marta calling him that. He had a feeling the boars had something to do with that boy who was unusually tall for his age but he just could not put a finger on it. And those piercing blue eyes, as if he could look through your soul.
He seemed to always be calculating and thinking behind those blue eyes of him. Ash had always unnerved him whenever he visited and caught the boy looking. He was not sure when but sometime in the last few years, he started getting chills whenever he delivered supplies to Marta.
And every single time he had a chill, he would find the boy looking at him from a far. Could the boy have awakened a core with a rare affinity and started killing the boars? But that also did not make any sense as he was barely eight at the beginning of the year. The earliest someone could awaken their core was as early as nine and those were rare. Most kids took the full twelve years before they awakened.
Could the transfer papers have been wrong and the boy was older than recorded? That could also explain his height. Either way it was not for old Garrick to worry about. Garrick had more than recovered the coin from the discounts he had provided to Marta from his cut of the pelts he sold. It did not make him a rich man but it was enough to buy some comforts for this winter.
"Hello there" a young boyish voice called while Garrick was tending to Old Betty.
*HOLY MOTHER OF VESPERIA! Garrick turned around and saw the very blue eyed boy he was thinking about looking at him with a smile.
"You should not sneak up like that on old man boy! You nearly made my heart jump out!" old Garrick yelled.
"Ah. I didn't mean to scare you. Sending you to Jesus was never my intention. I just walked normally, Old Betty seemed to have saw me" Ash waved at the plodder who seemed to understand their conversation and just huffed.
"Where is Jesus? and why will you want to send me there?" Garrick asked, a little bewildered by the boy's response.
"Don't worry about it. I came to see you today because you said if I ever needed your help, I could come look for you here" Ash gave his best impression 'good boy' smile, though he wasn't convincing anyone.
"I meant Marta when I said that, and what could I even help you with? If you need someone to play with you shouldn't there be others at the Orphanage?" Garrick tried to brush the boy off.
"I've got a business proposal for you" Ash said, his eyes sharpening into a predatory glint.
Garrick felt shivers down his spine and momentarily considered turning the boy down immediately. Little did he know that his instincts would have saved him future troubles if he had listened to it. However, it was against his nature as a merchant to turn down someone before hearing them out
"Alright, let's hear it boy. You better not waste my time" Garrick said against his better judgement.
"It is simple really, I just need you to write me a list of valuable ingredients that can be harvested from the Greywoods, especially during winter. Do include any information you know like where it is commonly found, special instructions to harvest them if you are aware" Ash said
"I will get them to you and you can get a cut by helping me to sell them. You don't even need to pay upfront. There's no risk at all to you" Ash added with a beaming smile.
"How would you even get these ingredients? The forest is much too dangerous for a lad like you" Garrick questioned while studying the boy. Could his speculation be true? The boy had awakened early with a rare affinity, but spells of rare affinities are notoriously hard to learn without the right tutor.
"That's none of your concern. This is quite literally free coin so to speak, all you need to do is find the right buyer, which shouldn't be hard if you give me the right list" Ash added. "Anyway its no risk to you, even if I failed, all you would have done is wasted a bit of time and paper"
"Fine, but I'll be taking a 40% cut" Garrick said.
"10%" Ash countered"
"30%, it has to be worth my time."
"You only took 20% for the boar pelt I heard" Ash said again.
"25%, and that's my final offer" Garrick said
"You know, I can always go Sylvia's apothecary and ask her for a list instead. The only reason I'm coming to you is I can trust your discretion to not tell Marta. I just don't want to worry her. But if the deal is too bad I'll rather just go to her" Ash said.
While Garrick was thinking, Ash decided to seal the deal with one final tidbit of information.
"We recently sold Glimmerwasp Nectar to Sylvia at full market price, I am sure she wouldn't mind other reagents and herbs"
Glimmer Wasp Nectar!! Those are notoriously hard to harvest. It seemed like there's some method the boy was using to secure these resources indeed.
"Fine 20% it is" Garrick agreed and took out a parchment to write the list of ingredients.
"I also need you to write down the list of prices by the unit quantity it is sold by" Ash added.
Dammit! Garrick cursed internally. That boy was just too sharp, just when Garrick was thinking of reducing the list prices Asher added one final line.
"And don't even think about giving me a fake number, I will go cross check the prices in town across different shops."
Garrick just signed internally. The boy was probably older than he thought. No eight year old negotiated like that with a seasoned merchant.
"Here you go" Garrick handed the list over. "And don't come back every time you get a little bit of something. Make sure it is sizable lot otherwise some customers won't take them"
"Don't worry, I wouldn't make the trip to town either to waste my time" Asher just smiled and pocketed the list. "I'll see you around old man"
Garrick looked at the back of the boy walking away and went back to tending to Old Betty. Hoping the boy won't get himself killed.