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Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Twenty Four
🕑 Added 2024-04-06 13:15:06 +0000 UTCWilliam struggled not to wince as the door to his alchemical storage room slowly cracked partially open.
“Goddesses’ mercy,” Marline hissed from behind him. “How is it worse the second time?”
“Because we added a few things the last time we were here?” William said as he unhooked the tripwire attached to the door before pulling it fully open.
“The potatoes are what’s making that smell!?” Marline hissed as she stepped inside.
“Yep. Never underestimate the power of potatoes and a few warm summer days. Plus there’s a few other things in here,” William tried not to breathe through his nose as he closed the door behind him after stepping inside himself. “Light. One charge. Instant activation. Right hand.”
At his words, the room lit up as his right hand started to glow with an ethereal light. One that revealed… three barrels and a crate.
Glancing over, he noticed Marline staring at his hand.
“What?” he asked.
The dark elf shrugged. “Just seems a bit wasteful is all. Day’s not over yet and now you’re down a spell charge.”
William shrugged. “Better that than bringing a candle in here.”
“Why?”
William’s gaze flicked over to a nearby – sealed – barrel. “Just take my word for it.”
“Well that’s not ominous at all,” the girl muttered as she walked over to the nearby crate.
William smirked as he followed after her. She didn’t know the half of it.
Which was probably for the best. Given how she’d responded to the whole ‘Al’hundra situation’ he doubted she’d take well to learning that the entire room could theoretically go up if an errant spark happened to get inside one of the nearby barrels.
Admittedly, a single candle was unlikely to achieve that, given the barrels had lids on them, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Given just how dangerous just opening the door to this room could be given the booby trap on the door, he felt it was perfectly reasonable to err on the side of caution by not adding any more danger to what was already a fairly volatile environment.
On the bright side, if I ever do fuck opening the door up, I probably won’t have more than half a second to regret it, he thought.
So no, he didn’t feel even a smidgen of regret in making use of a precious spell slot to light the way while they were in here.
Fishing a second key out of his shirt, he ignored his companion’s gags as he unlocked the chest to reveal the collection of mouldy looking vegetables within. Squishing his discomfort, he reached through it to unhook the crate’s false bottom.
Admittedly, said false bottom wasn’t particularly good given that it was trying to mask a space large enough to fit two orbs the size of bowling balls – that glowed – but that was fine. It was simply the last line of defence. One that would only come into play in the event some ne’er-do-well chose to break into an alchemical storage room, get past his booby trap, fail to ignite the contents of the barrels by looking into them, before finally digging through a crate full of rotten potatoes.
Mostly it was there to keep the glow of the orbs from being spotted while they sat at the bottom of the pile.
“Like I told you, safe and sound.” William said as he pulled out one of the mithril cores before tossing it to Marline.
“Ugh!” The girl yelped as she caught the thing. “I wish you wouldn’t do that!”
He smirked, resisting the urge to point out that the orb she was holding had spent about a decade at the bottom of the ocean being used as a scratching post by a ship-sized squid before they recovered it. A little rough handling wasn’t about to damage it.
No, that would require specialized tools of the kind that could only be found in a shard-workshop.
“Are your folks ready to collect yet?” he asked, gesturing to the second orb.
Marline’s scowl turned into a pensive expression as she shook her head. “Not yet. When we spoke, she implied she’d be sending my aunts to collect it in person, but I’ve not heard anything since.”
William nodded. That wasn’t too unexpected. What was, was that Marline had apparently chosen to communicate her ‘acquisition of a mithril core’ over orb.”
Unless…
“You spoke in code, right?”
Given the silver color of her iris, it wasn’t hard to miss the way his teammate rolled her eyes at his question. “Of course.”
The ‘I’m not an idiot’ went unspoken. Because while no one was foolish enough to state aloud that the Crown monitored Orb communications, it was common knowledge that they did.
And while the law around ‘scavenged cores’ was explicit enough that William nor Marline had any reason to fear censure for how they’d acquired their cores, the Crown would definitely have questions.
Questions William – and by extension, Marline – had no interest in answering for a little longer yet.
“Out of curiosity, what’s the cover story for your aunts coming to visit?” he asked.
Marline chuckled lowly. “Apparently I’m madly in love with a boy on my team.”
“Me?” he asked, trying not to laugh.
Once more, the dark elf rolled her eyes. “Yep. And given just how out of character thoughts of romance of any kind would be for me, you could say it caught my mother’s attention. Enough that it wasn’t hard to clue her in on everything else while still speaking in code.”
Yeah, William could see the dark elf’s mother being surprised by her daughter’s sudden infatuation with a boy. Never mind the fact that he was very publicly betrothed to a very powerful family, he was also pretty certain Marline was gay.
Oh, she’d hidden it well enough, but over the last few months he’d managed to catch her gaze lingering just a little longer than strictly necessary here or there. Not on him. Never on him.
But on the other members of the team to be sure.
Honestly, in retrospect he actually felt a little foolish for not figuring it out sooner.
It neatly explained her discomfort at being forced to share his bed for the geass, as well as her general antipathy towards him when they’d met. Even her refusal to shower with the team could be explained away as some kind of… outmoded idea of chivalry on her part.
And as much as he hated to give any legitimacy to the idea of the ‘man hating lesbian trope’, the fact was, there did exist people who preferred the same sex who also tended to have little patience for the opposite sex.
It was an over inflated stereotype, but it did exist.
With that in mind, he was actually happy that Marline had so quickly managed to overcome her internal misandrist mindset after meeting him.
Actually, with that in mind, perhaps it was more a result of lack of exposure to men than anything else?
In his experience, that tended to be the root cause of most kinds of bigotry. A lack of experience and understanding combined with some other factor.
So yes, if Marline’s mother knew of her daughter’s – likely hidden - orientation, she’d definitely start to pay attention if said daughter developed an interest in a man.
Again, an engaged man.
To a family powerful enough to crush the diminished Greygrass Household without so much as breaking stride.
“Does she… believe you? That you have a core?” he asked.
It certainly didn’t sound believable. Hell, he’d needed to swear a geass with Marline before she’d come around to believing he could acquire one. And even then he was certain she’d held doubts.
“Who knows?” She said. “We certainly couldn’t talk freely. Still, she knows I’m not the kind for idle flights of fancy, even if our conversation implied as much to any third parties that might be listening.”
Her hands slid over across the smooth glowing surface of the core she was holding. “To that end, in addition to sending my aunts to meet the man I was apparently so interested in, she also said she’d be ‘getting the house ready’, in the event you wanted to visit our estate.”
In other words, they’d be getting the ship ready to accept a core.
The dark elf’s expression turned ruthful. “Though make no mistake. She will want to thank you at some point. Needs to, even, given the service you’ve done for us.”
William was about to say something, but his teammate cut him off. “I’m serious. What you’ve done for us… it’s beyond words. And I’m aware that I’ve not been as vocal in my thanks as I could have been. Especially for a boon of this size.”
William shrugged. “We had a deal.”
She laughed. “I think we both know that you didn’t actually need me that night. You could easily have accomplished it all yourself.”
Perhaps, but it would have been riskier than it might have been otherwise. The boat might have drifted or his decompression spell might have failed, leaving him to surface fully suffering from the bends.
Admittedly, the latter was something he might have been able to work around by controlling his ascent speed, but given just how fast a curious kraken might have been encroaching on the deceased Al’Hundra’s territory, time had been of the essence.
No, Marline’s presence had ultimately been superfluous, but that’s true for most redundancies.
They were useless right up until they weren’t.
…Still, he knew just looking at Marline that she wasn’t about to accept that.
As far as she was concerned he’d done her and her family an incredible favour while asking for little to nothing in return.
“To that end, while I may not be our House Matriarch, I know in my heart that I speak for her now, so listen to me when I say that whatever you need, the House of Greygrass is in your debt. From now until the time our children’s children take their last breath in this world, our swords are yours,” she said solemnly.
Part of him wanted to dismiss her words out of hand. To say she owed him nothing beyond her friendship. But that was the old him. The one who’d been born in a different world under different stars.
The him of here and now was different.
“I accept,” he said. “And though it pains my heart to do so, I will tell you now that I’ll likely have to hold you to that oath before long.”
The dark elf grinned, white teeth glinting in the gloom of the old storage room – as peculiar a place for such a solemn declaration as any William could think of.
“I never would have guessed,” she snarked as her eyes flitted toward the barrels behind him and the nearby crate.
William rolled his eyes as he conceded the point. Marline, more than most, had seen enough of his secrets to guess that his future plans weren’t likely to stop at just breaking off an unwanted betrothal.
Even if doing so without sparking off a civil war is probably the single most complicated part of my immediate ambitions, he thought.
Because it was a difficult problem.
Were this all just about breaking off his upcoming engagement, it would be too easy. All he’d have to do was provide the Crown with something valuable enough for them to consider war with the Blackstones worth the cost of securing it.
A few mithril cores would probably do it, he thought. I wouldn’t even have to part with any of my tech.
And they’d go for it. They couldn't afford not to, given that the alternative would mean those cores would end up in the hands of their political enemies.
The problem was that the current administration would probably lose that fight – even without the duchy of Summerfield switching sides.
Though I suppose they could just kill me and take said cores on the sly, he thought.
That would actually be a pretty neat solution to the problem if the Crown could get away with it.
The problem was that then he’d be dead – and he had far too much he still needed to get done before he allowed himself to die now.
So instead he had to take a different route and tackle a much more difficult problem.
…The problem of making an entire duchy back down from their chance at ascendancy, without so much as a single shot being fired or a drop of blood being spilled.
At least outside of a practice arena, he thought grimly.
All while his family tried to stab him in the back… oh, and without him giving away too much of the technology locked away inside his brain.
Because that’d start off a civil war just as surely as the crown interfering in his upcoming nuptials. The possibility of either side gaining too large an advantage would start off a conflict just as surely as him walking up to Tala and shooting her in the face – as the the side that didn’t receive said technology would move to attack before said tech could become widespread enough that the the tides turned against them.
It was an awful tangled mess.
With all that in mind, was it any wonder that his plans to do just that felt more like walking a tightrope over a pond of hungry piranha than anything even remotely approaching sanity?
“You ok?” Marline asked gently.
“Just thinking about how much of a pain in the ass the next few… decades are likely to be,” William muttered, mostly to himself.
“Wow,” the dark elf chuckled. “Really making me feel great about the fact that my family is now tied to you for the foreseeable future.”
It was actually rather touching that despite saying the words, he didn’t hear even a hint of regret in her tone.
She’d meant what she said. Truly. Deeply. And he didn’t doubt her family would be the same.
“Is your skyship flight capable?” he asked, changing the subject.
To his relief, the dark elf accepted it without issue. “She’ll need a little work, but nothing more than a metaphorical spring clean. Something our people will have done before my aunts arrive.”
That made sense. Even if it didn’t have a mithril core, the hull of a skyship was still a massive investment of money, time and resources. If it was seen to be rusting or falling into disrepair, the Greygrass’s ran the risk of either the Crown or a ducal family claiming the ship ‘for the good of the realm’.
Oh, said parties would pay Marline’s family for it, but William doubted it would be a particularly good deal.
Though it did make him wonder just how many skyship hulls were sitting dormant in warehouses across the kingdom? He couldn’t imagine too many given the sheer cost of maintaining turning them into little more than a money-sink, but he had to imagine there were at least a few more families like Marline’s who were desperately paying said costs in hopes of reclaiming their former noble status.
Other than that, he imagined the Crown might have one or two hulls in storage, ready to be put back into service in the event of a new mithril core discovery.
“Do you think they’ll have any trouble getting here and extracting the core unseen?” he asked.
Otherwise they ran the risk of being intercepted by ‘bandits’ if it was known they were carrying an unprotected core.
Because anything less than being surrounded by a few thousand tons of ship-grade warship armour was considered ‘unprotected’ in this world.
“As things are now, definitely.” Marline said, before gesturing to the orb in his hands. “After you unveil this thing to all and sundry? Less so.”
She eyed him. “It wouldn’t take a genius to connect you unveiling a previously unknown mithril core and Al’Hundra washing up a few weeks ago. The ‘how’ will definitely have them scratching their heads, but the connection will remain.”
Oh, William didn’t doubt it. Just as he knew he’d be fending off some awkward questions in the next few days.
Fortunately, the fact that he’d be in the public spotlight would keep any parties from just dragging him off into a backroom to pry said answers out of him with a set of pliers.
Neither the Blackstones or the Crown could make that kind of move without being blocked by the other.
After the duel though… well, he’d deal with that problem when he got to it.
“There’s no chance you could delay this for a few more days?” Marline asked plaintively. “At least until my aunts arrived.”
He winced. “Would that I could. Unfortunately, I can’t run the risk. Griffith got back to me a few hours ago about my spell-bolt being tentatively approved for use on the Floats.”
The rubber bullets he’d shown off had tipped things in his favour for now.
Unfortunately, the moment he’d handed said weapon over for testing, a countdown on how long it would be until the Blackstones were made aware of it began.
If he wanted his little trick to remain a surprise for the upcoming bout – a bout he needed every advantage he could get in – he needed to kick off the duel as soon as possible.
He explained as much before continuing. “I’m also worried about my mother throwing more wrenches into the works.” He shook his head. “If this is going to happen, it needs to happen now.”
Marline frowned, before nodding understandably. “If you say so. We’ll just have to hope that my aunts arrive soon and they leave before too many people draw a connection between you and Al’Hunda, and them arriving and going.”
He shrugged. “With any luck, your little ‘romantic liaison’ smokescreen will throw things off.”
She nodded, though it wasn’t particularly enthusiastic. Still, Marline’s aunts were veterans, and if they were anything like the girl herself, they’d be very capable.
…Even if technically they’d been part of the generation that had lost the previous mithril core.
He shook his head. He had little doubt they’d spent the last twenty years preparing to make up for that failure.
“Alright,” she muttered. “What will be will be.”
She delicately passed the mithril core back to him, though he was amused to see her almost physical reluctance to do so.
She sighed. “Let’s go see your fiancée and get ready to lose this thing on an incredibly stupid bet.”
He smiled, patting her on the shoulder as he walked past.
“That’s the spirit!”
---------------------------------
The dining hall was never quiet around dinner time.
Unlike breakfast and lunch, which was eaten as quickly as the average cadet could shovel it into their mouths, the evening meal was a much more relaxed affair. One that allowed cadets to unwind a little after a long day.
It even came with dessert options.
Certainly, there was still an evening inspection yet to come, along with a myriad other chores that the average cadet needed to get done, but ultimately dinner represented the end of the service day.
So it was that William wasn’t too surprised by the veritable wall of noise that slammed into him as he stepped into the massive room, long tables filled with cadets of all sorts chattering loudly away to each other.
Naturally, it was strictly divided by colour, with each house sticking to their own. From there it was divided by year group.
The only exceptions being a small back table occupied by a small smattering of instructors whose role it was to ensure that some small smattering of discipline was maintained, if only by dint of them being present.
William was pretty sure said duty took place on a rotation, as he knew for a fact that the rest of the staff ate elsewhere, though he’d naturally never had reason to enter the staff cafeteria.
Still, all that noise fell away remarkably quickly as he stepped into the room. In clumps at first, but it spread like a wildfire as people noticed their neighbours falling silent and turned to see what had caused it. In turn, others looked up as the ambient noise of the room fell away.
In moments, the final voice was silent as the last few cadets finished what they were saying and looked up to see William standing there, his team around him.
But they weren’t looking at him.
They were looking at what he was holding.
A Mithril Core.
And as generally unflappable as William liked to consider himself, he could resist the small animal part of his brain that tried to squawk in panic as he beheld the myriad emotions flashing across the faces that were all now staring in his direction.
Disbelief. Shock. Greed. Lust. Amusement. Curiosity. Anger.
Even the Instructors were no exception, as they seemed stunned in place by what he’d just walked into the room with.
He could all-but feel his team shuffling uncomfortably behind him.
But just as all eyes were on him, he had eyes for only one person present. Ignoring all of them, he strode through the aisles of tables towards the end of the room where the third years sat.
His target hadn’t been hard to find, despite the myriad similarly dressed people around her.
Because the crowd was positioned around her. She was not within the crowd.
It was a subtle difference to see, but it existed.
Tala Blackstone of House Blackstone sat at the head of the Blackstone table in pride of place. A position even more vaunted in some ways than that of an Instructor.
Certainly Willaim didn’t doubt that in many ways the Instructors of House Blackstone did actually answer to the heir. Especially now, in her third year. But one from graduation.
“Tala,” he said as he came to stop in front of her table, his voice all but echoing in the silence.
Credit where credit was due, the expression of surprise on his fiancées face had faded before he even reached the table. Now it looked studiously blank as she gazed into his eyes.
“William,” her voice was as hard as iron. “…What do you think you’re doing?”
He actually smiled at that, not least of all because he had genuinely no idea how to answer her question.
At least, not in a manner that would satisfy the girl.
Because it was a question that could have so many meanings.
Still, he had but one answer.
“Challenging you, my dear fiancée. To a duel.” His grin only grew as her eyebrow quirked inquisitively. “Tomorrow. On the Floats. With the rising of the sun. I, William Ashfield challenge you, Tala Blackstone to a team duel. For my right to break off our betrothal once and for all.”
He saw the flicker of realization in her eyes as she heard his words and her gaze flickered down to the core in his hands. But there was nothing she could do as he continued.
“You needed to go this far?” she asked quietly, though it carried quite far across the cafeteria.
He shrugged. “I did. I am well aware of how often my lamentations about our upcoming nuptials seem as nothing to your ears.” He raised the orb up in one hand. “So this time I have brought something that might make them more receptive to my words.”
He glanced around. “And I also made sure to pick a suitably… impactful venue for my throwing of the gauntlet.”
He could tell she wanted to know where he’d gotten the core. How he’d gotten it. Because the notion that he had one strained belief.
But he did have one and anyone with even a hint of magical ability could sense it as he channelled just a hint of his aether into the device – which in turn started to churn out masses of blue green smoke.
More than any mage could produce, for if the average mage’s raw aether output was akin to a kitchen tap, then a mithril core’s was a roaring river.
Not the kind of thing that could be faked as a veritable stream of lighter than air smoke flew up into the air to waft around the rafters before filtering through the open windows outside.
That, more than anything else, was proof that what he was holding was real.
“Well, you have my attention,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Good, because I wager this core entirely and without reservation, my peers as witness.”
He luxuriated in the horrified gasps that spread through the room at his words as he soldier on.
“A mithril core for a mere chance to escape the stigma of being tied to a family of slavers. Because I’ll have no part of it. Not now. Not ever. So, one match. Your team against mine. On the Floats. With our ancestors and the gods themselves as witness.”
As well as half the kingdom, because the viewing orbs would definitely be booked to capacity for a scandal of this size. Even at such short notice, the news would spread and no one would want to miss this match.
It was like something out of a story book, after all.
All that was missing was finding out that he’d been supplied the core by his ‘real true love’.
Still, storybook setup or not, he could see others around him smirking or wincing at his words.
Because to them it didn’t sound like a match. It sounded like an execution.
A team of first years going up against a third year team wasn’t a match. It was a slaughter.
Which was why Tala was stuck.
She didn’t want to accept. He could see it. Sure, she wanted the mithril core – who wouldn’t? - but not so much as to jeopardize her family’s alliance with his.
Because a single core was not worth risking losing access to the combined might of the Summerfield dukedom.
…The problem was that no one but her knew that.
All they saw was a moronic young male from a tiny countship practically serving up a core on a silver platter to her. All she had to do was risk losing a fairly unappealing betrothal. Hell, even if she won, no one would bat an eye if she broke off the betrothal anyway after a stunt like this, taking the core and moving onto a more compliant and appealing match.
No, there was no way for her to refuse this duel. Not without being labelled a coward of the highest order.
A death sentence at her level of politics.
He saw the rage in her eyes as she reached that realization.
“I accept, William Ashfield. And know that for all that I will enjoy acquiring another core for the House of Blackstone, that enjoyment will pale in comparison to the joy I will receive from heaping upon you a much needed dose of reality.”
William just grinned, even as the Instructors finally managed to shake off the shock that had overcome them and started marching as one towards him and his team.
“I look forward to it, Tala. From the bottom of my heart.”
If only because this entire farce would finally be over with…
He had much more important things to do than indulge in childish schoolyard squabbles after all.
No matter how difficult they may well turn out to be, he thought grimly.
Because the dice had now been rolled and he was far from certain as to whether they’d land in his favor.
Comments
MarakEvans
Forgive me Conrad. For I have sinned. I too saw like activity and began refreshing in anticipation of the next chapter.
Harrison F
Maybe it’s not black powder and is a more advanced explosive?
Jon Thorn
So, I love the story. I am engaged, and this is the only author I would ever buy the patreon subscription for when I could just wait for the story for free. So please do not take the number of words I used to heart on what I say below as I am not articulate so I need that many to make a point. - I'd say with the workload he emphasized his team being under, the only think that brings me into the realm of "ah, this is not realistic" is the amount of gunpowder he has made by hand. Enough to kill a massive kraken and scatter chunks of it. A Sea mine doing that without a metal shell to make it act more like a grenade would need atleast the three barrels of powder (about 300 pounds) it would take to scuttle a more resilient ship. Then he has at least two more barrels in his supply closet? The man has while working himself to the bone in a military academy that is shown to have military ROTC training standards, produced 500 pounds of black powder. Even if you discount farming the salt peter, harvesting the sulfur, and making the charcoal with a burner because he had a way to buy it all... that would be like sitting down to grind black peppercorns into crushed pepper every day in a semester, and producing 500 pounds or more of it. (Requires about the same level or mortar and pestal work.)
Found&Lost
Are you sure they're not the alpha readers and us the beta?
cyrgon
Looking forward to reading the finished product! Thanks blue!
kaine
I NEED MY FIX
Blue Fishcake
Practically rewrote the entire thing over the course of thirteen hours but I'm calling it done! Beta readers have it. I genuinely don't know why I struggled with this chapter so much beyond there being a lot going on?
mike wade
NEVER! I HAVE GOOGLE, AND BY GOD I WILL USE IT LIKE A CREEPY STALKER ! * mutters in tongues in a shadowed corner*
MarakEvans
Stop Meta Gaming. Refresh like a nOrMaL pErSoN!
Conrad34xdsa
Considering blue hasn’t liked any post in the last 13 hours or so at this time, he must be in quite the grind.
MarakEvans
(Refreshes page also) (Checks Austraia Time) *Repeat*
MarakEvans
Lol, I meant Blue, never taking a "hit" of deleting a posted chapter.
mike wade
You’re my spirit animal.
Harrison F
(Refreshes page)
BubblyGhost
Woot woot! It's time to use some EARRF INSPIRED GOD GIVEN FIREARM TECHNOLOGY TO SHOW THESE SAVAGES WHY DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM ALWAYS PREVAIL! Oh and sexy ladies too, love the story fish.
BubblyGhost
Damn, bad RNG. We go again chat.
DMR1
Don't be afraid to set in on fire again! We can wait! (we can't wait) We can totally wait!
Groinfist
Technically he already failed his deathless run when he died on earth.
Laenthis Tranchesoleil
Fair enough, tho I have a feeling that like all artists you're being too hard on yourself and that we are going to LOVE to see the result tomorrow :)
MarakEvans
Man aspired for a No-Hit Run, but has to settle for Deathless; can't delete his save game.
mike wade
Touché
Blue Fishcake
Given I've only done that the once, I'm trying not to make a habit of it. Not only is it confusing, it's sloppy.
mike wade
Damn, it must be great to just be able to edit or even straight up delete and replace chapters as an author after publishing them to your audience. Publishing authors have no such benefit. At worse, the chapter you publish that you don’t like, can end up as an omake just like chapter 19 did.
MarakEvans
Waitaminute... did we get trains yet? How can we be steempunking without trains?
Eastman
You could always make a revised version if you come up with something that you like more but take your time
Pwntatochip
I ˥oʌǝ ∀nsʇɹɐlᴉɐ
cyrgon
This might be going against the grain, but for a book finale, take your time! I’d much rather read something you’re happy with and sets up book 2 with a great hook than something you’re not enamored of.
Blue Fishcake
Australia :D
Blue Fishcake
Still puttering away at it. I don't know I just... don't love it. I'm going to give it another go over tomorrow, but love it or hate it, it's going up. Then it'll be straight onto the next chapter, which will thankfully be a lot more straight forward. As ever, thanks for your patience while the 'creative' invariably fails to meet deadlines in true creative fashion.
Borisoff72
I forget why I think this, but I think he said or implied that he's in Australia or New Zealand. I could be wrong about that though.
Oreo-belt25
I dunno, I feel like William is a bit of a Gary Sue. In my opinion, Sect had a deeper plot and characters with better crafted themes and motives. But this series is still young, so there's still time to grow
Oreo-belt25
I'm still waiting on the glorious return of Sect.
mike wade
My god, now he can’t write! The world has truly become a hell scape.
maxM@x
@mike wade - I thought he just broke his glasses in the end. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oLoNGRVeC7Y
mike wade
Is it because the bullet hit the bone?
maxM@x
I think he's in the Twilight Zone.
mike wade
Hey blue fish cake, what time zone do you live? I’m in eastern daylight time.
mike wade
I hope to see William piloting a iron man/mech suit powered by a mithril shard. It would be a great way to incorporate some of the elements from the original poll from before you started steampunk
Blue Fishcake
Abandoned... or evolved. It's bones formed the basis of Steampunk.
cafenacet
I quite enjoy Steampunk so I'm glad to hear we'll be getting book 2. Just curious though, is Skyship abandoned or just backburner?
Laenthis Tranchesoleil
Very glad to hear it I've grown very attached to this series !
mike wade
Assuming they're all the same chapter length, that would be 150 chapters.
The Fire Piper
I'm glad, this is turning out really good! I hope this goes for at least 6 books.
Dankenobi1
There's gonna be a jump in time, the 2nd book will start off with a metal robot stepping on a skull whilst firing lasers, Mark my words
Borisoff72
The twist is that William keeps a some crazy explosions in his back pocket for the sole purpose of pretending he's having trauma bursts at the mere thought of having to marry a slaver.
Borisoff72
Please say he's going to go for more cores so he can make one huge 5-core mega ship that's both a battleship and a shard carrier.
Borisoff72
Definitely two. Grand Finale and then a cleanup chapter, that's the way things work out usually with Blue. However, given the implications of the dual, new weapons and mithril core: I'm going to bet he needs two cleanup chapters. So I'm betting 3. I'm also betting he's going to say I'm wrong and is going to figure out I'm right sometime mid-next week.
DMR1
Are we getting a timejump or are we sticking to the academy for the forseeable future?
mike wade
Yay! * dances like a small child* I look forward to whatever crazy shenanigans William cooks up, and how his hubris will bite him in the ass.
Blue Fishcake
Straight on to Steampunk two! Mark my words, this train is just getting started :D
mike wade
Awww, so is this the end of book one? And if so, what do you plan on doing after? Continuing this, restarting your other two projects, or something new? Either way, I’ll personally keep subscribing, you have my trust as an author regardless what you decide will be worth reading.
Blue Fishcake
Will probably be tomorrow. Not any particular reason, just end of book stuff.
DMR1
Since you mentioned carrots, now I'm thinking of a propaganda play where when people ask how they got the accuracy to go with the range, our stalwart cadet makes a joke about how the standard fare from the kitchen includes more carrots, causing a sudden increase in carrot consumption across all teams.
The Fire Piper
Today's bet! Will the next chapter be today, Friday, Sat or Sunday? Winner gets one mithril core! 😉
Harrison F
….
Kaywye
Okay, so, as usual, I am late to the party. Just binged the extra chapters, and now I'm freaking annoyed that there isn't any more. I need to find out what happens next! You are an amazing writer. Thank you for the chapter, the characters, and the entire universe you've created. I have theories upon theories on where this could go...now I just have to see where you take us.
Blue Fishcake
I like to think that *generally* I'm pretty decent at ensuring my work maintains a reasonable pace :D
MarakEvans
As the reader, we are privy to information about William that Lady Ashfield isn't. I believe this would be Rhetorical Irony... or something like that? Narrative Irony?
Jacob
I didn't think "Drama...?" needs the question mark
mike wade
Not enough time. It’s only hours away.
DMR1
Wait, I forgot the entire chapter of a certain intructor fantasizing over a certain boy who is about to be free from his betrothal.
Found&Lost
I doubt if it'll be 5 chapters. I could see 1 maybe 2. Of course Blue knows that'll screw with the suspense, so he might just go with the 2 set up chapters he's already done and jump in.
DMR1
If Blue *hates* us, we're going to have several chapters that cover the insanity between dinner being done, being called into the office by Instructors, at least TWO separate orb phone calls, and then a pre-duel story giving us 5 chapters before the payoff. And of course that moment where everyone is back in the dorm after dropping the challenge where everyone remembers that in all the excitement they forgot to eat. And maybe even one crown level conversation about the absurd machinations playing themselves out at the Academy. Does anyone want to take bets?
CW
I've got bets on at least a mustering of the guard and several broken windows when the barrels of powder bring the building down.
DMR1
Oh, without a doubt she can't have forseen this outcome, it's just funny as hell that this is the case.
Dankenobi1
Youre right but on the other hand her letting him do completely as he wished would be extremely uncommon, and after she usurped him in favour of his half sister he may harbour ill will to then house
Dankenobi1
I'm also willing to bet a carrot will be involved somehow, you can never trust em
Hunter
Well now hold on a second… if his mother claims he took it from their home like she did with his spells, can you imagine how incompetent they’ll look for somehow losing a core AND ONLY REALIZING NOW?!… and if they DONT claim to have had it stolen, then they’ll look like they supplied their own son the means of breaking the marriage…
DMR1
Hmm. You know what I really wanted to see? The reaction of his teammates when he walked into their dorm and said: "Come with me, I'm dropping this challenge. By the way, check out this cool bling I'm holding!"
DMR1
> He luxuriated in the horrified gasps that spread through the room at his words as he soldier on. "He luxuriated in the horrified gasps that spread through the room at his words as he soldiered on."
Conrad34xdsa
Tala: Hey William! William: What? Tala: Flashbang!
Blue Fishcake
Fixed. thanks :D
DMR1
I just realized the most hilarious part of the situation here. His mom is seeking an alliance of power when had she just let him do what he wants, as the leader of his house he'd likely have established them as the heirs to the crown. Instead she keeps jumping in his way and making it get to the point where he may start his own house, and she's going to be standing on the sidelines one day trying to figure out where she went wrong.
Jacob
I'd be very amused if Blackstone tries to secretly promise their impending winnings to house Greygrass as a bribe to get them to make Marline throw the match. Ironically, Greygrass's refusal might make Marline's cover story about falling in love with William appear less suspicious.
DMR1
> And they’d go for it. They could afford not to, given that the alternative would mean those cores would end up in the hands of their political enemies. "They couldn't afford not to"
Jacob
I'm sure he already has plans
Galven Star
"AGAIN?!"
cyrgon
If (and this is a big IF) he wins, I wonder what he’ll do with his core? Another round of “what’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is mine” with his mother? After all, no one needs to know that William obtained two cores—and depending on how sneaky he wants to be, Will could announce that he gave his core to Marline’s house to take some of the heat off. Might add fuel to the fire of Marline being enamored of him, though… 😉
MarakEvans
*Hypothetical* Someone "steals" the prize after Tala's win. House Greygrass gets implicated. William might need to go fishing again. Blackstone gets more pushy about extracting William. Ashfields freak out. Crown freaks out... Drama...? Hmmm.. *end hypothetical*
MarakEvans
Shhh... don't tempt the fates.
Dankenobi1
I bet we will next week
Dankenobi1
https://youtube.com/shorts/WoPpEVfDoHg?si=U8zU6KQRI8lgd1B2
Dankenobi1
Look on the brightside, this one came out late, so you have to wait less than a week for the next
Dankenobi1
Would be an interesting plot twist, but would be really unsatisfying
Gjim
Curious how this is going to go sideways on him. Chances are he wins, and earns himself a small victory only to fall victim to someones machinations.
Third Ailing Primate
But what if William actually does indeed lose the match even with all the technological advantages? 🧐
GoshDarnYouPlucium
Yeah, there’s been so much buildup to it that it honestly just wouldn’t feel right otherwise
The GrandMage
Begrudging respect and introspection on how their own politics are harming them would be good. She doesn't like Orcs, too much family history there. But I'm not sure what all is available. Can they just be defensive against them, or does the war involve a need for land expansion by the kingdom? Either way, she's losing a fiancee who keeps rising in value the more he tries to escape her. It's obvious that both their families have fucked up in a fundamental way.
Stormtrooper
Hot dang my BlueFishCake fix has come in and over delivered again.
Stormtrooper
That is exactly what she's after.
Hughes Andrew
Will’s mom is the count of Ashfeild, and is trying to gain control of the duchy of summerfield. I think.
mike wade
More like “collapsed building on your head” kind of trap. Assuming the blast doesn’t outright incinerate your corpse first.
mike wade
They definitely do. Otherwise he and Marlene would of either gotten really sick or even died after leaving a crate of potatoes rotting in a sealed room for an extended period of time. But if I were William, I’d deactivate them while away. The staff are forbidden from entering, so the only ones who are going to get a lung full of nightshade would be robbers, assuming his other traps don’t get them first.
Stultus
Is it Summerfield or Ashfield?
Borisoff72
"On the bright side, if I ever do fuck opening the door up, I probably won’t have more than half a second to regret it" So definitely fatal then, and probably something that will 100% destroy the contents of the room as well, just to be safe.
mike wade
I think there weariness of his team will always be second their utter terror ofhim pulling mithril and new weapons out of his ass for the express purpose of fucking them over. I’m certain they’ll preform well, but they’ll always be playing second fiddle to his fuckery.
MarakEvans
School Staff that got bribed to raid William's things. Plausible deniability. No obvious house involved. Could be foreign or domestic. ... so we talking Shotgun trap, frag nade, stink-squirter, or glitterbomb?
MarakEvans
Isn't her house's skyship stuck in a Forrest? Would be a good insult. "Flightless GREENgrass"
MarakEvans
Same
MarakEvans
Someone might miss. Someone might dodge. Someone might mag-dump. But what if... Tala has a fistfight with William anyways? Drama?
mike wade
I have money on the spuds taking out at least two wankers.
MarakEvans
I suspect the alchemical facilities already have countermeasures in place involving gas ventilation. Didn't they already have an incident with a graduated student's unattended property? Some passive measures like filtered vents or active air circulation would be considered in the aftermath.
Jason Dortch
I am betting on Marlin getting to talas core in a bit of ironic fate. Would go some way in keeping house black stone wary of Williams new house many chapters from now knowing he has a competent crew.
MarakEvans
@Lanze Whimsical, but not a bad way to go. Personally, I'd prefer begrudging respect. Says more about William with Tala respecting him. @TeFiLeDo Agreed, would be contrary to much of her family's alignment. But that could be used to impact decisions within Blackstone and Ashfield. Later down the line, William may provide Tala with a convincing argument. She may then influence or steer the Blackstones or Ashfields.
MarakEvans
*hypothetical* Will: You wanted to see me, ma'am? Griffith: I've had a lot of extra work thanks to you. *gives Will the stink eye* Will:*confusion/identifying the instructors change in disposition* Griffith: Al'Hundra.*still giving the stink eye* Will:*nods in realization and confirmation* Griffith: You owe me a night and a trip to the town. *end hypothetical*
DMR1
"Certainly Willaim didn’t doubt that in many ways the Instructors of House Blackstone did actually answer to the heir. Especially now, in her third year. But one from graduation." > William "And as generally unflappable as William liked to consider himself, he could resist the small animal part of his brain that tried to squawk in panic as he beheld the myriad emotions flashing across the faces that were all now staring in his direction." > he could barely resist the small animal part of his brain
MarakEvans
Could be an execution a few meters above Tala's Float... depending on how quickly the "clay-pidgeons" deploy.
DMR1
Meanwhile, messenger orbs everywhere: "He did WHAT?!"
White Neko Knight
I love that the comments seem split between "I'm looking forward to the next chapter" and "I wonder how many people are going to die from rotting potatoes."
mike wade
It would be hilarious if would be thieves disabled the boobytrap, just to be killed by the solanine gas from the rotting potatoes.
mike wade
For the fight, I think I might be a slaughter or a photo finish.
mike wade
Bet you that decrepit old secretary will have Vietnam flashbacks about the old student putting actual shit in the room , and then get blasted to kingdom come.
Laenthis Tranchesoleil
Oh this chapter was GOOD ! But now I'm even more eager for the next one :( Curse you and your addictive stories BlueFishCake, I can't help but crave the next dose, and every new one leaving me more desperate for the next !
mike wade
Gas based weapons are terrifying. You see a guy waking just collapse, then another guy goes to help then immediately collapses when he gets near. It’s why they always sent slaves or servants down to the root cellar.
Jeremy Grundy
I would like to have seen his team’s reaction to him showing up with a mithril core key chain and then telling them he was going to gamble it away.
Overclocked
That is disturbing
Borisoff72
Anyone willing to take some action of the fight? Not you, Blue. If not on the fight, anyone want to take some action on who will fall victim to Chekov's booby-tapped door?
werotan
there go 2 fast food meals next month now I'm hooked
Footbraclet
And now I have to wait another week, AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!
Robothaus
I think you flipped between Marline's house being Greygrass and Greengrass in there
mike wade
I hope we see every play by play. So far we’ve only seen glimpses of the float battles. I’d like this to be our first extended combat scene.
aj0413
I know you like to incorporate a twist in your stories, but please just let us have this one straight. I want to see the stupefied look on their faces when he beats Tala decisively and Will once again affirms he’ll break no bread with slavers
TeFiLeDo
I doubt that will happen. Tala would need to abandon the well-established political positions of her family. In addition to that, she would have to accept not being in charge, which would be quite new for her (except for the crown and her parents, but that is obviously different).
mike wade
Oh shit, does he know that rotten potatoes in a confined space is a death sentence?! Rotten potatoes in cellars have killed entire families. Potatoes produce nightshade gas, which displaces the air. So when you walk into the room without airing it out first, you pass out from the lack of oxygen, then the nightshade finishes you off. Does he have a way to vent the room first? Edit: potatoes are part of the nightshade family, and when they rot they give of Solanine gas. Solanine is incredibly toxic even in small amounts. A single bag of potatoes has the potential to kill scores of men in the right situation. Think a pile of bodies as they all succumb to the gas.
Justin Drake
Tyftc
mike wade
It will by default after this, it’s just a matter of time.
Dancingrage
Think that's a girthy sound, just picture if it ever gets out that he killed Al'Hundra!
mike wade
Probably, though it’s probably not going to be very useful with less than a day to plan.
Lanze
If he wins, I really hope things aren't bad between him and Tala. Like obviously it will be for a little while, but I'm always disappointed when a narrative only uses a character as a villain and then utterly dismisses them when they are no longer needed. It's cliche, but the "villain being befriended after their defeat and joining the heroes party" **when done right** just makes me sooooo happy lol
Andrew
Thank you!
Duncan Sharp
Holy hell what a chapter! A grammar recommendation and a punctuation problem to point out before I forget. First: if I ever do fuck opening the door up I recommend: if I ever do fuck up opening the door Second: William nodded. That wasn’t too unexpected. What was, was that Marline had apparently chosen to communicate her ‘acquisition of a mithril core’ over orb.” I didn't add that quotation mark at the end. That's from the chapter.
mike wade
Was it Griffith who was on lunch duty? Because I hope to god it was her. Because if it was I’m thoroughly shocked that the cafeteria didn’t flood out from her loins.
The Fire Piper
"But that was the old him. The one who’d been born in a different world under different stars." What a great poetic line!
mike wade
He just plopped his metaphorical dick onto the table. And holly shit, I think I heard it crack from the weight of his balls.
Dancingrage
Someone was going to say it, I just had to check to be sure!
Delakar
I will say it is extremely likely that Tala will be forwarded about the guns. It would be really easy for any professor who wanted to curry favor with her family to warn Tala that the match is a trap. Even if they can't explicitly explain why, a simple warning that William team will be using a new form of whatever those guns are called in this world that will be X-times more effective in range and power.
The Fire Piper
Ooooh here it comes!
David Ellis
Nit: "They could afford not to" probably should be "They couldn't afford not to"
Carlos Torres
I can't wait for Griffiths reaction for when she connects the dots.
Slade
This is gonna be a brutal fight
Blue Fishcake
Always helpful :D
Blue Fishcake
Oof. I'll be sure to give it a second read tomorrow. Now, I sleep :D
MASC
Looking forward to seeing his mother’s reaction to the news and Griffith realising why Will wanted the spell bolt to be used on the floats as his reward was so he could go independent as his own house.
Luke Payne
Great chapter, although reading it tells me it needs more time in the editing room, couple of errors in it.
MockingBird
I'm really loving the politics, and scheming you've put into this. I'm exited to see the fight, but more so the reaction when they realize where he got the core from.
Beep
Hoooookay this chapter absolutely did NOT disappoint now that I've read it.
Baron Von Mott
It's so cathartic to finally reach the parts where William can start schooling all the arrogant people who underestimated him!
Found&Lost
No problem! Are the edit suggestions helpful? I don't like being a grammar nazi, but you might publish.
Blue Fishcake
Fixed, thanks :D
Larynx Punchworthy
I love how neatly William outmaneuvered Tala, and that she’s only now realizing that he had some sort of plan, rather than simply being an impulsive young male. I love the hidden depths trope so much
Ryno Botha
Really looking forward to the next chapter
Found&Lost
Oh, William didn’t doubt it. Just as he knew he’d been fending off some awkward questions in the next few days. He'd BE fending off?
Aresswe
Great chapter loved it
Addeand
I really like the chapter, with one dumb nitpick; rolling dice sounds really TTRPGy and in similar situations you'd almost always see "cast" as the verb in the sentence. Since it's a riff off of a Julius Caesar quote.
Redacted
alea iacta est
Andrew Lechner
That is an excellent way to put it. Though this could easily see the Blackstones conducting their own crossing a well if something goes wrong.
Jett
Welp, William's crossed his Rubicon. Now he just has to win.
Andrew Lechner
It is anything but. This is probably one of the worst cliffhangers you've written, and certainly the worst of this story. I can't wait for what's next!
Andrew Lechner
Oh, he is jumping right into it. Every eye in the Kingdom will be on this duel and will shatter if anything goes too wrong during the duel. William has his storybook event, now he must merely give it a happily ever after. Or drown the nation in a deluge of blood, option, options...
Blue Fishcake
Oof. You had me in the first half, not going to lie. Was super worried it was dry and boring :D
Brian Roger
Oh boy, we finally have arrived on the cusp of the duel. How long before we get to see it and the outcome?
Nicholas Crowley
Duel! Duel! Duel! Duel!
Wotün, the Butterlord
Thanks for the chapter! And damn, Beep beat me to the punch! He really dropped a bomb at dinner, here. You could've probably heard a fly fart after that exchange. Plus, I can only imagine the varying levels of speculation as to who gave him the core; especially after the codified messages sent to the Greygrass family from their daughter.
Beep
This sure is one of the chapters of all time. Yeah okay I haven't read it yet, I just couldn't resist the urge to comment first.
