Steel and Mana

Chapter 293 – Hover

“Well… we expected this, no?” I asked, looking at the drawing I recreated from memory, resting on my drawing table in my office.

“…”

None of my wives said anything, but I think I was the least anxious about the results. The sketch was none other than my recreation of the X-ray image of our twins that I memorized. Their bones were visibly decorated with hundreds of runes running along their spines, connecting them to their skull. Examining it, the whole thing looked like a secondary nervous system, one responsible for my children's magical capabilities. We also scanned ourselves, but neither Sasha, Mikan, Merlin, nor I had anything similar. And we looked. Everywhere. So… this was a ‘I have no idea of what is going on’ situation. I wasn't as bothered by it as I took it as a boon. Of course, I was well aware that such gifts can easily flip and turn into curses, but I'd like to think along the more optimistic route. Otherwise, every change will feel and look like something terrible.

“It is not deadly nor dangerous.” I tried to lift up the mood, but Sasha wasn’t having it.

“Our son is hearing voices of… creatures. It IS dangerous!”

“What if they are coming for him?” Mikan asked, amping up the fright Sasha was feeling, making me rub my forehead, muttering under my breath.

“Don’t… Don’t make it worse, my dear… please…”

“I agree with Leon.” Yuri cut in, looking at the others. It is not dangerous because nobody can take them away. It's simple. Anyone who tries dies.”

“I don’t like it… Not a bit!” Sasha murmured, taking the teacup from Luna, who was the smartest amongst us, and bringing them some calming brew.

“Well,” Luna said, placing the last cup before me, “it does give them extra power, no? And it isn’t like they become monsters!”

“Of course they won’t!” Sasha yelped out, coughing, breathing down half of her tea. Damn it, girl?! Are you trying to calm them down or amp them up? Which is it?

“What did Merlin say?” Mikan asked, rubbing Sasha's back, slapping it gently until she finally cleared out her airways.

“I quote: It has to be the Vasa bloodline.” I answered, telling them his exact words. I also thought of the same thing when the results were out, and I asked him to try to get as much information out of his past self as possible. “Turns out, the hunch of the previous Empress was correct.” I smiled, remembering when I visited the capital city and met with Luna... and that psycho. Looking back on it, I was lucky to be not beheaded then and there. Phew! That would have... sucked.

“So… you are a descendant of some ancient royalty?” Luna asked with a chuckle, noticing me gazing at her before her question made me shrug.

“My guess is on Sasha, as she is a witch, and I am not." I answered with a smile, "Or it could be both of us, but it is a moot point to argue about.”

“It has to be Sacchi.” Yuri agreed. “Lancelot was just as ordinary as me.”

“You are not ordinary.” Luna joked, making Yuri stick her tongue out. “And we can check on the fourth little one after she is born!”

True. When Mikan was examined, we could see my growing child in her tummy as we adjusted our machine. It was an experience. What Mikan told us while looking at the same image was that she felt that our growing baby was sure to be a little girl. That's a nice split if I say to myself: two boys and two girls. Now, if Luna could get pregnant… She would have to have twins like Sasha to keep up the ratio.

“Maybe it is Leon,” Sasha muttered, catching me gazing at Luna’s hips, reading my thoughts. “Neither of you is magical, and Luna is still childless. That is also a clue in itself.”

“I’ve got time!” Luna answered at once, raising her hands. “I am not in a hurry at all.”

“Anyway! Merlin is envying the kids.” I added with a chuckle, “He already determined that because of this little addition, Arthur and Leyla don’t need to bother with calculations as much as you do. Their bodies react naturally to the surging magic around them and activate the corresponding runes. They can cast spells quicker, almost instantly, without giving them away. I started to realize why the ancient legends tell us that they were close to reaching the Gods’ realm before being dragged down by the Ishillians.”

“Legends are legends.” Sasha argued, “What we need to be careful about is the monsters on the other side! Those things are real. And that nobody else must learn about this! Understood? I don’t want some foreign wizard getting the bright idea of kidnapping our children to experiment on them!”

“Nobody will even know about it.” I nodded, placating her by giving her the drawing to burn it. “It is only us and Merlin, and be sure that he won’t speak about it. Not even to Elena.”

“Good. The less people know about it, the better!” Yuri exclaimed, standing up and stretching, “I don’t want to kill innocents to keep the secret!”

“You changed,” Sasha whispered, looking at her, finally smiling. Maybe the tea was working at last. At least, that was what I thought.

“Maybe.” Yuri winked back at her, “Maybe I just sealed away the wild version of my mind like Mikki did with her inner demon. See? I am learning from my wifey comrades! We share the same cock, so we are on the same frequency, ahaha!”

“Hauh…” Mikan blushed, looking down at her cup instead of answering, while Luna simply giggled, and Sasha only rolled her eyes, ignoring Yuri once again.

“Well!” I followed suit and stood up, ready to leave my office before they started drawing me into something weird. I'd love to... but today was a big day. “Let’s end it here for now. If something happens, Arthur will tell us anyway.”

“Will you go to the bunker? Again?” Luna asked, gathering the empty teacups. “When should I prepare dinner?”

“I don’t know,” I answered with a shrug. “Today is going to be the first hover testing. If it goes well, I’ll be back early. If it doesn’t…” Well… I did not want to think about that possibility.

…
….
……

The airship. Right now, it was like a skeleton, but it was already prepared to test the very first installed monster core. Looking at it, it was massive in size, and from the bottom, its landing, well, claws, were extended, resting its full weight on them. They will be hydraulically operated, and they fold up, retreating into their belly when in the air. It will be the second mechanism we are going to test today.

As for its body, it was like any airship from my memories, from black-and-white images and ancient videos. Only this one won’t go up in flames if it goes down like a certain German variant. The inside, visible at the moment, looked like a massive birdcage, and the different levels and decks had already been established, including where the crew would sleep, eat, relax, and live. Of course, it was still barebone as we were first finishing the CC installations and connecting all the bells and whistles for the airship to remain in the air.

And, of course, the required sub-formations for it to be able to land. As for how would it move? The part that would propel it forward was not yet added to the primary spell as we don’t want it to ram into the walls of the underground facility. Its ultimate test will be navigating it out into the open anyway. Right now, I just wanted it to hover in place.

“We are ready!” Merlin called out as every worker retreated, leaving only him on the airship, where the future bridge would be. For now, he would operate it by himself, something that I was sure would freak out Elena, but… I had faith in him, so I agreed.

“Hit it!” I yelled back, feeling my heartbeat rise, my palms sweat, and my stomach tighten as it was time to see if our plans had played out as we expected them to. Designing something is one thing… seeing it in action is the real deal.

Luckily… It went without any issues. The moment Merlin activated the primary formation, the monster core came to life, almost like roaring, releasing a definitive magical hum that everyone could hear in the cave, even if none of us were attuned to it. Then, with a soft, blueish hue, the body of the airship lifted up as if it were a feather caught in a breeze. Then, the landing claws, all six of them retreated, slotting into place in under a minute.

“All systems function as normal, My Sovereign!” Merlin yelled out to me, maintaining the spell with minimal effort. “I sense no issues nor any deviations from the expected function! I have full control over it.”

With that, he rereleased the claws, ordering the airship to touch down before turning the formation off. As it did so, gradually and surprisingly gently, the airship gave its weight back to the frame while we were looking for any deformations in its internal structure, waiting to hear something snap. Nothing broke, nor did it twist. It was a testament to my workforce and their mastery. What we managed to pull off here was just as magical as the spell itself. The airship was built at a pace I would not think possible, not even in my world, and it had no issues on its first live test. That fact is the most incredible about it, really.

“Estimates?” I asked after I climbed up, following Merlin as we checked on the formations and made sure none of the etched metal, the CC’s holding frame, or anything connected to it wasn't malformed after its weight returned.

“By winter, it will be done and operational. Of course, we will need a secondary flight test after we have installed the second monster core. We still don’t know if there will be interference or not, even if we tested the formations before. All of my trials in the training field show that they won’t cause any problem working at the same time, but… How did you say it?”

“What can go wrong, will go wrong?” I asked, shaking my head. “Please, prove me wrong.”

“I am working on it.” He chuckled as both of us were in an excellent mood. No matter where we looked, nothing showed cracks on the surface. “Well, My Sovereign… It just works!”

“Don’t.” I muttered, “Say it too many times, and something will bug out.”

“Bugs?” He asked, looking around. "What?"

“Not like that… hah, no matter!” I waved away my thoughts. We will continue. Let’s install the secondary core in the following weeks and conduct another test. Then, we can install the weaponry and main systems.”

“Speaking of that…” Merlin glanced at me while we continued our examination, “Are we going to go half and half?”

“No. Two-thirds of the weapons will be magic-powered.”

At first, I wanted to go half and half, using cannons that operated on gunpowder, but then I realized if magic gets disabled, the ship will go down anyway. Still, I wanted non-magical cannons onboard because enemy shields could dispel our attacks, but not a cannonball hurtling toward their battlements.

"About the–" I asked, but he nodded knowingly.

"I will install it myself. Don't worry."

I didn't ask more. The fact we were going to install a 'Death Ray' and do it in secrecy was something I would only reveal after it was done. And not too many people either. That weapon was best to stay as hidden as possible. For now...