Hi peeps.
As promised the next chapter to Jayda and Astra's adventure and their last chapter in the capital for this journey. I hope you enjoy it, please comment, however as usual, this has basic editing, don't be an asshat.
Have fun!
Chapter 7: To punish the greedy
Jayda and Astra walked into the guild, the auction was currently underway and as the royal guard were protecting the venue, they had just delivered the items and left them to it. The auction was planned for a week, a day in and they were summoned to the guild.
They got into line and waited for their turn, when it was, they put their cards down, "We were summoned," Astra told them.
"Right this way please," they told them as they closed their line, Astra and Jayda collected their cards, and followed the staff member to Matt's office.
Astra and Jayda made themselves comfortable before Matt started. He handed them a request form.
"The king really wants them alive," Astra remarked 5 large silvers was a big reward for capturing people.
Matt nodded, "He plans to turn them into criminal slaves, give them a taste of the misery they inflicted on others."
"Easier to kill them," Astra told him, as Jayda had proven, slave curse marks could be removed if you knew what you were doing.
Matt handed another slip of paper directly to Jayda.
Astra read over her shoulder, "Damn... he is serious."
"He has also made a deal to sell them to Gouford, to work the mines." Matt told them seriously, Gouford was a collection of production city states that had banded together for protection. They believed in arduous work and only brought criminal slaves, to work in their mines and they were not treated well. Pampered fallen nobles... their jailors, loved breaking fallen nobles and making them finally work for their meals and their lives.
"Can you do that?" Astra asked, Jayda could dispel slave curses, in theory she should be able to make them.
Jayda glanced to Astra then the request, "What, create a slave curse that can't be dispelled?"
Astra nodded.
Jayda nodded, "Simple actually." Slave marks were a branch of Dark Magic which Jayda had always excelled at because she had been born with her Dark Attribute maxed out.
Matt and Astra just looked at Jayda, "Really, you can do that?"
Jayda nodded, "There are a couple of ways of creating a curse that cannot be dispelled, regardless, you will need a person with a high-level Dark Attribute and a special magic tool to carve it or brand it into the person's flesh."
Matt frowned, "How high?" to the best of his knowledge Dark Magic is hard to level, probably for the same reasons Life magic had been considered a trash attribute.
"Ideally, 8 but the higher the level the less likely anyone casting Cleanse Soul will be able to dispel it." Jayda answered her mind already thinking up designs.
Matt thought for a moment, he glanced to Astra as she was much older than him and had a wide base of knowledge and experience. Astra shrugged to him; she had not heard of that spell before.
"Cleanse Soul?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, you need to max out the light attribute to get it though. You can if you have the right amount of magic power, the right blessing from the right God and know what you are doing, cleanse the criminal history from a person's status." She explained.
"Wait... can you do that?" Astra asked.
"Cleanse a status?" Jayda asked and both Matt and Astra nodded. "In theory, I might be able to brute force it, but then I will experience a backlash." Jayda explained, she could cast cleanse soul, not that she ever would, and backlash, yeah, she was lying about that. Aria, the Goddess of Magic, had warned her that just because she could use a magic didn't mean she should, there was a reason criminal acts were carved into status.
"Backlash?" Astra asked, Jayda was a divine dragon, it meant that Cleanse Soul was an extremely dangerous magic if it could harm her, unless Jayda was lying to protect herself.
"Yeah, it would probably knock me out for a week, weaken me for a month or two... maybe... my teacher told me just because you can, doesn't always mean you should." Jayda told them, "As for the curse magic, that I can do without hurting myself or incurring the wrath of the Gods for meddling in their business. It's a flaw in the status system, you can hire another to commit your crime and not have it carved into your status." She knew that this flaw irritated the Gods, but they couldn't correct the system without destroying it and doing so destroy all life in this world.
"So, it can be done," Matt asked.
"Yep, I will have to make a tool," Jayda told them.
"What types of metal will you need," Matt asked, already guessing it was going to be an expensive tool to make.
"For a permanent curse brand, one that cannot be dispelled, Celestial Steel is the only metal." Jayda told him.
Matt stared at Jayda for a moment, Celestial Steel, the same metal heavenly weapons were made from, they only knew of its existence because of a few weapons that were made from it. To the best of his knowledge, even Dwarven Black Smith master's didn't know the recipe, no one knew how to make it.
Jayda glanced to Astra, "Go on... list the mythical metals needed to make Celestial Steel," Astra told her in a taunting tone, resigned to the fact Jayda was about to say and do something outrageous.
"Star Stone and Astral Silver," Jayda told her in reasonable tone, not even realising that the metals she had just listed were probably unknown to most people.
"Star Stone? Astral Silver?" Matt asked, he had never heard of those metals before, how did Jayda learn of them.
"Go on... where can you get Star Stone and Astral Silver?" Astra prompted, she wanted to slap herself for even letting Jayda start talking about it, she should have warned Jayda just to keep it secret.
"Star Stone is generally found in craters, having fallen from the heavens, Astral Silver... is tricker, you generally can only get it deep in S class Dungeons." Jayda answered, Star stone was easy for her to acquire, she just had to ask her aunt and her aunt would give her heaps and she currently did have almost a hundred metric tons refined of it in her storage and about the same of unrefined. However, she knew it was available to normal people they just had to know where to find it. Astral Silver, she had almost the same amount in refined and unrefined in her storage, as it was extremely easy to find in the divine realm, she also was including ore she had looted from the dungeons she had cleared.
"There are no confirmed S Class Dungeons in Ashford," Matt remarked. There were monster nests and monster zones, places where dungeons could be, but they had yet to find and confirm a S Class dungeon.
"Don't worry, Jayda has Astral Silver, don't you?" Astra asked after all Jayda was a dragon, they liked to horde things, which meant she had inventory, she probably had heaps of rare things and even things that people had ever seen before.
"Yes, gift from my teacher," she explained, it was a lie, she had gotten a whole heap when she was exploring an SS dungeon on her way out of the divine realm and from picking it up in the Divine realm. But she realised that just mentioning a teacher generally turned questions away from her to some enigma that they couldn't question, and she could just shrug and say my teacher.
"The Magic teacher?" Matt asked trying to understand how a Wildling, a being raised by monsters or magical beasts knew all this.
"No, different teachers, they taught me crafting and black smithing." Jayda told them she brought out two pieces of unrefined rock which she put on the desk before Matt. "Star Stone," she pointed to the weird looking piece of stone that looked like it was porous and coated in glass, "Astral Silver," she pointed to the other stone, although it was called Astral Silver it was in fact completely black in colour and could have been mistaken for a normal stone.
"So, you know the recipe to make Celestial Steel?" Matt asked in disbelief, it was a lost art, no one worked with Celestial Steel.
Jayda nodded. Astra whacked her friend, Jayda turned to her and frowned, "What!" she complained.
"Seriously, it's a lost art Jayda, no one, forges, Celestial Steel." Astra told her as well as admonishing her. "You need to be more careful, if people know you can easily forge metals that are only found as complete weapons in dungeons or ruins you open yourself up for people to come after you."
Matt watched as Astra and Jayda bickered a little, Astra desperately trying to teach her friend common sense and Jayda being completely dense to it. Even as the duo argued Matt noticed that they had obviously had this argument a few times as it ebbed and flowed seamlessly, and they would probably continue to have it until either Jayda finally gained this worlds version of common sense or Astra lost her own.
"I assume you need a pretty hot fire for that?" Matt asked when he noticed a gap in their bickering, both turned to him as if just remembering he was there. Jayda nodded. "I will organise for you to use the royal forge, it has a dwarven smelting hearth in it. You might have to contend with the High Dwarf who currently runs it, but he generally isn't overly pushy."
Jayda nodded as she collected the two metals and returned them to her inventory.
"How long will you need?" Matt asked, ideally it would be best to have the tool prepared before they started rounding up the culprits, he wondered about the tool she would create, how it would work and how long it would take.
"Should only take," Jayda thought for a moment, calculating how long it would take, "a day, it isn't going to be big, and I can use magic to speed the processes," Jayda told him.
Matt nodded although inside he was a little alarmed, a day to create a tool with a lost art, how much experience did Jayda have to do that. He was beginning to feel the same worry Astra had when it came to her friend, he would make sure secrecy contracts were signed to try to protect her. "I will organise it and send a message to you."
"So... we were nominated because Jayda can use sleep and sleep fog?" Astra asked as it was a logical conclusion.
Matt stilled for a moment, "We did not know she can use Sleep Fog, but Sleep is definitely the reason."
Jayda grinned, "put them to sleep, lock them up, easy..."
Matt nodded, if they could they wanted to sort out the guilty from the innocent and this was the easiest way to do that, they would have temporary slave magic used on them, ordered to answer questions honestly, if they were innocent they would be released within reason, if they were guilty, the crest would be made permanent.
"What about children?" Jayda asked.
"That is trickier, in theory underage children are always considered innocent, however, they're nobles, more so the high-ranking ones, it is considered treason, the entire family will be enslaved." Matt stated.
"But this king seems... kind," Astra added, and Matt nodded.
"More likely they will be turned over to a monastery and told that they would forever live their lives at the monastery, to atone for the sins of their family." Matt told them.
"Stricker rules for nobles," Jayda stated as that was in the etiquette lesson Tomas had prepared for them.
Matt nodded, "there are more obligations on nobles than there are on commoners, because they hold power they are bound more firmly to the laws and morals of the Kingdom. When they break those laws, their punishments are a lot harsher for the simple reason being they know better, which is why this is irritating the king so much."
"I never want to be a noble," Jayda remarked, being a noble seemed a lot more hassle than it was worth.
Astra grinned, "I'm so glad, that as a Barbarian, I can never be a noble."
Jayda turned to her, "Why?"
Matt chuckled, "Against the rules, or at least, the couple dozen times people have tried to ennoble Barbarians their jobs never changed. Your job must be Noble to be a Noble."
"Yeah, we have our own class system which is incompatible with other sapient class systems so ennobling doesn't work on us." Astra explained simply, she was also fairly sure it had something to do with the diluted monster blood in their bodies which made it so.
"Really?" Matt asked curious.
"Yeah, I haven't hidden my titles, but I doubt you would recognise our class titles." Astra answered easily, after all this wasn't really a secret her people kept.
"Skipper and Jarl." Jayda remarked and Astra nodded not surprised Jayda remembered her titles and realised that only Skipper and Jarl weren't as easy to understand.
"Skipper, is the title of a person who commands a ship, think of it as a lesser noble title, and Jarl, is the title of a person who commands a clan, or similar to a high level noble but not the highest level of noble." She explained.
"That position belongs to the Chieftain." Matt remarked starting to understand the inner working of Barbarian society or at least getting an idea of it, he was a little surprised to learn that Astra herself was a clan leader in her past. It made him wonder why she wasn't with her clan, why had she left and why was she in the southern land.
Astra shrugged, "We use a different name, Hǫfðingi, but essentially that is what it means."
"Yeah, well, we can't speak your language, so Chieftain is the word we use." Matt replied a little teasingly.
Astra chuckled, "True, also the Hǫfðingi, isn't an inherited title, it is an earnt title, earnt through blood."
"Yeah, sounds like a pain all around," Jayda remarked.
Astra laughed heartily, not only was it a very Adventurer sentiment it was also a very Barbarian one as well, the best Barbarian leaders, took the job because they had to, not because they wanted.
Astra and Jayda left, once they were out in the bustle Astra touched Jayda's shoulder. "You were lying right?"
It took Jayda a moment to realise what Astra meant. "Yeah, I can cast it, but just because I can doesn't mean I should."
Astra let out a relieved sigh, "So you do have some common sense." Jayda stuck her tongue out at Astra who laughed.
~*~*~*~
Jayda walked into the royal forge, her escort, a guard shut the door firmly behind her and didn't go in with her. The forge was quiet, most of its equipment sat idle but ready for use, it was almost empty of people, as per the request of the king but the chief smith would never let an unknown person use their smithy without some supervision. The king, seeing he wouldn't budge, had then sworn him to secrecy about the person, materials and what was created today, he had agreed as it seemed interesting to him although he had his doubts.
Valdric crossed his arms as he considered the woman before him, he was a dwarf, short for a Sapient at five foot four, but by no means a tiny man, he was built on broad lines and was half as wide as he was tall. His hair was copper in colour, and he was beginning to grow a beard which meant he was about a hundred years old. His clothes were rough looking as he was working in a forge, tightly woven breeches, and a linen vest.
His eyes scanned over Jayda just as her eyes scanned over him, a High Dark Elf... he knew nothing about them craft wise, nothing they made was on the market which rose his distrust. "I don't trust you in my forge. Show me why I should let you use my tools?" he demanded to know. He would never let a visiting smith use his forge without some guarantee they weren't useless, he wanted to see something she had made so that he could judge her skill, see if she was worthy to even train here.
Jayda hesitated, Astra had expressly forbidden her to show off her weapons and items once she had seen them, because it would cause a fuss, although Jayda knew better, smiths would never take someone at their word, they had to see, had to feel, to discern a person's worth. "I have been asked not to show the items I have struck." She explained as her eyes locked onto his blessing from the smith God, it covered his right arm and was on display because for dwarves the smith God and craft God's blessing was a mark of mastery. She undid the laces which held her left forearm guard in place, removed it and rolled up her left sleeve to show off her own blessing from the blacksmith God Gnol, he would understand the moment he saw the blessing that she was worthy of being here.
Valdric frowned when he realised what she was doing when she peeled back her sleeve exposing the blessing on her arm. She was blessed by Gnol, he thought to himself as he stepped closer to get a better look at her blessing. It was a complex design of white lines which stood out against her darker skin tone, it was much more complicated than his own blessing and looked to cover her entire left arm, like his did. His blessing tingled and he got the overwhelming feeling of acceptance, that the Dark Elf before him could be trusted. It was the first time he had felt like this, his blessing usually just warned him when he was either on the right or wrong track.
His eyes travelled up her forearm to her elbow the true mark of a smith was there, three wide lines wrapped around her arm, it meant that Gnol had accepted three of her works to add to his collection. It meant she wasn't an apprentice who generally had no rings. Nor was she a novice with one, or an adept with two rings. No, she had three, that meant she was a true master of her craft and could start her own workshop and create and use her own proof. "I've never seen an Elf with a blessing from Gnol before, let alone one so complicated." He remarked a little bewildered, his own teacher's blessing was nothing like hers and he was considered an absolute master. "Okay, you can use the forge, but I am staying right here."
Jayda nodded expecting no less, after all, how could he grow as a black smith if he couldn't steal new ideas and techniques from other smiths.
"How hot do you need the smelting forge?" Valdric asked as he walked over to the large smelting forge.
"As hot as you can get it," Jayda said as she removed her other forearm guard, then she took off her shirt, all of which she put in her storage. It was going to get ridiculously hot in here and she wouldn't be surprised when Valdric removed his shirt to help cool down a little. It however, left her in just pants, boots, and a breast band, showing that all her upper body was covered with blessings, since it was just them in here and he was already sworn to secrecy she didn't mind too much. Walking over to a cleared workstation she pulled out a large leather wrap, it contained all her tools for smithing, opening the roll she exposed her tools, they looked simple but were far from it. Noticing that a few of her tools had shifted she spent a few moments putting them back in order.
Valdric walked over after setting fire to the smelting forge, he hesitated when he saw her upper body, multiple blessings from multiple Gods, he had never seen it before, he doubted he would ever see it again. Jayda turned her back to him showing off her father's blessing, it covered her back in its entirety and completely shocked the Dwarf, dragon God blessing, she had a great God blessing! His eyes finally took in the fact it wasn't one dragon on her back, but many of them.
He took a deep shaky breath, with all those blessings, she had to be both powerful and important, "So, what are we smelting?" he asked trying to drag his mind to the matter at hand, she was here to make something, it didn't matter who blessed her and for what reason.
"An alloy of Star Stone and Astral Silver." Jayda explained.
"Celestial Silver... you know the recipe for Celestial Silver?" he asked shocked, it had taken many centuries of careful research to figure out that Celestial Silver was an alloy of Star Stone and Astral Silver, they just didn't know the ratios or how to smelt the two metals to create the alloy. It was considered a legendary class metal, Celestial Steel wasn't sharp, in fact it couldn't really keep a sharp edge, and the only known use for the metal was for weapons that dealt with undead as it was a holy metal, used for purification. Items created from Celestial steel so far had only been found in ruins, ancient sites and the occasional dungeon and were horded by the religions that followed Gods.
Jayda nodded as she pulled out the two stones and offered them to Valdric to study while she finished preparing.
"I've tried working with Star Stone before, never managed to smelt it let alone forge it." Valdric told her as he returned the stones.
"Oh... yeah, you need ground up magic stone to help it melt, see it falls from the heavens, if it can survive that it can survive a smelting forge." Jayda told him, she had no problems sharing some of the things Gnol taught her to one of his blessed, other people... not so much. "If you have some Star Stone, I can show..." she glanced back to Valdric but he was already running to fetch the Star Stone he had on hand, as for ground up magic stone, that he had it in abundance as it was used when forging Mithril, more so if you wanted to turn it into a magic weapon.
He came back with a crate full of Star Stone, a jar of magic stone powder was jammed into it as well. "Anything else."
"Star Stone when refined is hard yes, but brittle, you have to add it to a softer metal in order to forge it." Jayda told him as she slid on a leather apron to protect her clothes. "Adding iron is easiest, you can make True Steel if you get the mix right."
"True steel, the metal that doesn't rust and is stronger than Iron?" Valdric asked and Jayda nodded.
"I won't give you the right percentages, figure it out for yourself." She told him.
"I wouldn't have taken it even if you offered. It is my job to steal it." He replied causing her to grin, Gnol basically had taught her by telling her watch and steal his techniques, something at which she had excelled.
They moved over to the smelting forge; it was shielded to protect their eyes from the brightness, but the heat radiated from it. They both looked over the available crucibles made from a special graphite which was coated with magical ruins which would prevent it from melting under the high heat.
Valdric lined up five crucibles, he put a Star Stone of similar sizes in each one then different sized piece of iron ingot in with it. Jayda grabbed only one crucible as that was all she needed, she put the small Star Stone she had chosen and two pieces of Astral silver equalling half again of the size of the Star Stone for a three parts Astral Silver to one part Star Stone. Valdric wasn't paying attention to what she was doing as he was focused on what he was doing, if he had been he would have noticed his ratios were the wrong way around. Once he had finished filling his crucibles, he turned his attention back to Jayda and watched as she added three whole scoops of crushed magic stone into the crucible before her.
Valdric's eyes went wide, three whole scoops, she put three whole scoops in, for Mithril they only used one. "Three! isn't that dangerous?" he asked Jayda, it was rare but sometimes even one scoop of magic stone powder while smelting mithril was enough to blow up a forge.
Jayda shook her head, "No, not when using Star Stone, any other metal, yes, however, Star Stone comes from the heavens, it needs the heat the magic stone will release in order to melt."
Valdric considered her for a moment, could this be the reason they hadn't been able to smelt Star Stone before because they failed to think that more heat was needed. He copied Jayda and put three scoops of crushed magic stone into each crucible, he handed Jayda a device to protect her eyes. Jayda put it on as did Valdric, he pulled the lever to open the door and when it opened together, they put the crucibles into the fire before shutting the door.
"Hot, hot, hot," Valdric complained as he walked over to a barrel of water and using a bucket, he dumped it on his head. Jayda did the same, the heat behind the smelting forge was intense.
Jayda ate some fruit as she waited for the smelting forge to do its thing, as the timer counted down they prepared clay moulds to pour the metal into Valdric also wrote the mixes in the clay so that he wouldn't mix them up but he would be able to appraise them to find the mixes if he got them wrong.
When the sand had run out, they put the eye coverings back on and opened the forge, using tongs Jayda grabbed her crucible out and then using a graphite ladle she scooped the slag off the top, tipping it into brine to cool it down. Once that was done, she poured her mix into her mould, the crucible would then be cooled slowly in an annealing oven to make sure it didn't crack and could be reused. Once she had dealt with her crucible, she turned to help Valdric deal with his molten metal. When all of the moulds were poured, the crucibles in the annealer, the moulds were put into a special room which had space time magic cast on it, an hour of normal time would equal six hours of sped up time which meant the metal would be cooled completely and ready to be moulded in a mere hour. Valdric closed the door which allowed the magic to activate.
They then closed the smelting forge, "Kind of a waste, lighting it just for this." Jayda remarked.
"The king has paid for it, even asked me to estimate the cost of the tool you are making so that he can pay you appropriately."
"Yeah... is there even a comparable item?" Jayda asked him.
"No... there is nothing in the treasury even close to the small thing you are about to make, and I was told the king isn't even keeping it." Valdric remarked, he didn't really understand the fuss.
"What do you know?" Jayda asked.
"The king wants you to make a tool to make permanent slave crests." Valdric stated letting her know that the king had confided in him. "Once it has been used on the stupid nobles who have been selling citizens... it will then be either stored away or destroyed so that it cannot be misused." He told her, "I have also been sworn to secrecy about this whole affair."
Jayda nodded. "I can make the device and cast the magic."
"Gathered as much, going on all the blessings you have and your eyes, you aren't a normal Dark Elf... High Dark Elf." He corrected, he was a High Dwarf, a young one as he had just hit a century however his teacher was also a high. An old cantankerous High Dwarf who had raised him in his forge, this forge, before fucking off after hearing a rumour about a new forging technique. Leaving him to run the royal smithy with his fellow disciples.
"I am a Wildling." Jayda told him and he nodded, he knew of Wildlings because his master had literally drummed it into his head when he was doing his lessons. Sapient beings raised by monsters and were in their own way, monsters, kind of. The only reason the old man taught them about Wildlings was on the off chance they ever had to make a weapon for one, Wildlings needed the very best, their strength was extreme, if a Wildling ever came to them to make a weapon, make the most outrageous weapon you can make and expect them to break it. However, don't get disheartened, it would help them grow as smiths if they ever got the chance to forge a weapon for a Wildling.
"Raised by a Divine right," he assumed, going on the blessings she had to be raised by a divine beast, in the divine realm in fact. She would be no simple being and was probably trained by Gods which is why her blessings were so strong on her body.
"Something like that." Jayda told him and he didn't press for more they split up to light working forges so they could work once the metal had finished cooling. Jayda was checking the dwarves water used for quenching, it wasn't water but a special oil and spirit mix. There were other quenching mediums, water and brine being the most common, they were also available, but they were working with essentially something like steel, so dwarves water was best.
Jayda finished preparing and then it was just a matter of waiting for the cooling room to do its thing because then they could do theirs.
~*~
Astra walked into the forge late in the afternoon, Jayda was working at a forge adding the finishing touch, another person was working at another forge. Scrap metal was around him, but he was vigorously working on a piece. She was glad she had taken off her distinctive cloak, it was too hot in here and not even all the forges were lit.
Jayda quenched the tool in Dwarfs water before she created a sub space hot box to cool it the rest of the way, like an annealing box. She then slammed down a lid which cut off the air supply to the forge, the fire would die quickly which would allow her to clean it out sooner. She then turned her attention to Astra who was staring.
"I thought I wasn't your type?" Jayda told her although she was sure Astra was just staring at her blessings.
"You aren't, too bony, but damn... I know a whole heap of women, whose type you are." Astra told her, heck she knew members of her own clan and allied clan who would try to follow tradition by kidnapping her to make her their own. She also knew about nine women in Morriston who were more than just casually interested in Jayda.
Jayda considered her for a moment before she blushed although it was barely noticeable. She shrugged out of her leather apron and put it away before she walked over to the water barrel and tossed an entire bucket over her head, she didn't using cooling on the water or the air around her as that would be dangerous, she needed to bring down her temperature slowly or she could get sick or even pass out, or she would if she were normal, which is what she had to pretend to be.
She walked over to Valdric to see what he was doing, "So, figured it out yet?" she asked as she noticed the discarded ingots which, after heating and hammering once, he had tossed aside, knowing instinctively they were not good.
"Yes, 60:40 Star Stone to Iron, although useable... it doesn't feel right." Valdric lifted the metal from the forge to show the small dagger he was making.
He watched Jayda's frown, "Switch the ratios, that dagger will snap the first time it is used." She told him, "But 60:40... even switched... is not a good ratio." She said, giving him a hint but not telling him the actual ratio she had stolen from Gnol.
"Huh, so I got the mix around the wrong way... okay..." he told her accepting the hint, he hadn't expected to get the ratio right first time around and was expecting lots of trial and error. He quenched the blade and put it into an annealing oven to cool down slowly so as not to stress the metal. He would keep his failures as they were important learning steps to him, also, with every failure you learnt something so technically every failure was a success in its own way.
Jayda offered him a dagger to look at, he touched it and studied it carefully, since he didn't know the recipe or something close to it, he couldn't see the actual mix. However, it was True Steel, he then watched as Jayda pulled out more daggers and laid them on the counter, he put the dagger he had down and gently ran fingers over each blade.
"Jayda," Astra hissed, they had talked about this, she was not meant to show her weapons to others.
"He has the smith God's blessing; he can be trusted." Jayda told her. "All I am doing is giving him a kick in the butt to show him what is possible, to get him to play with his craft. I am not allowed to give him recipes, he must either figure it out or steal them."
Astra frowned not understanding.
"I had to steal my teacher's techniques, which is how the Blacksmith God wanted it, although we steal our master's knowledge, we also change it, we grow, and our craft grows." Valdric explained and Jayda nodded. "Blue Steel, Bright Steel, Quick Silver, I don't know the name of the next one, Lightening Steel, True Steel, again I don't know the name, Celestial Steel, Sun Steel and Daemon Steel." Valdric frowned at two daggers, he hated the fact that he didn't know the name of metal of two of the daggers.
"Hihirokane and Vibranium." Jayda told him as she pointed to the two daggers he couldn't identify. "Some of them are probably out of your means to work with. True Steel, Hihirokane, Vibranium, Sun Steel, Daemon Steel, Gold Steel, Blue Steel, they are all possible for you as they are made from Iron, Mithril, Adamantine, Orichalcum and Star Stone, metals you can easily lay your hands on, you just need to figure out the ratios."
"May I take a closer look," Valdric asked, these were complete works, he would memorise the feel of them so that he would know when he got the mixes right.
Jayda nodded and for the next ten minutes he studied the blades.
"Oh, that cantankerous old man, is going to be pissed," Valdric told them when he finally put them down and gestured for Jayda to put them away. "He goes off on a journey to broaden his skills and misses seeing and feeling daggers made from metals we've only heard about in legend or seen in the treasury because they are national class items."
"So, figure out the ratios, then he will have to steal from you." Jayda told him and he grinned.
"So... can I see it?" Valdric asked curious.
Jayda nodded; the sub space she had created had a 100 to 1 time ratio so the tool should be cold now. She opened the subspace and pulled out a tool no longer than her hand for the most part it was just a cylinder with engravings on it, one end was made for holding the other was flat, on its flat edge was the brand which would carve a curse into the flesh of a sapient.
Valdric carefully took the item, it was heavier than it looked but that was a characteristic of Celestial steel, he turned the flat side towards him to look at. it had the look of a slave crest, but it also had a distinctive T in it. "For traitor?" he asked, and Jayda nodded, she had done some sketches last night Tomas had weighed in on the design and even where it would be placed. It was kind of cruel as the brand would go in a very visible place, to remind them of their crimes.
"Such a small, beautiful piece, pity its purpose is to punish greedy people," Valdric remarked as he handed it back to Jayda.
"At least it is going to help bring justice to the people taken." Astra stated and got nods.
Jayda put the tool into her inventory and since she was in there, she then pulled out a bottle of Dungeon rum and offered it to Valdric, "Sorry for working and running..."
"Hey, it's what apprentices are for." Valdric told her although he did take the bottle of rum, like he would pass up the chance to drink quality rum. He walked off for a moment and returned with three cups, he put them on the bench, he tossed a medallion to Jayda before he poured out a few fingers into each cup.
Jayda studied the medallion for a moment.
"If you ever want to use this forge again, show that to the gate guards and smithies, they know to let people with that medallion in. There is a private room you can use where we can't see you so you can be comfortable while forging nor will we be able to see what you are working with." Valdric explained as he offered Jayda and Astra cups. "To new friends, I will keep your secrets because they are mine." He told them, it was in fact a contract spell for them, an added layer of protection for Jayda, they just had to seal it.
"Blessed be," Astra and Jayda told him, sealing his contract, they charged their glasses then knocked them back they all glowed for a moment as the contract bound them.
"Wow," Valdric remarked, "Strong stuff."
"Yeah, from a third-floor master's room in a B-rank Dungeon." Astra told him, generally the better rums came from higher ranked and deeper in dungeons. This was the best kind of dungeon rum as it was flavourful while not being too strong, and worth quite a bit on the open market, most of the time however it was quickly snapped up by nobles.
"I better hide this, that old bastard always knows when I have the good stuff and would come and drink it all before, I get a chance to." Valdric told Jayda.
"When will he be back?" Astra asked, she had met the bastard once, so she knew him, kind of.
Valdric shrugged, "Don't know but as the senor apprentice..." he started to say.
"But..." Astra said a little confused as everyone referred to him as the master of the forge.
"Oh, I can't call myself a master, but I am not a true apprentice either," Valdric explained as he pointed to the spot below his elbow, "See, no rings, you have to have three to be considered a master by Gnol. Until I get my first, I will always consider myself a senor apprentice."
Astra glanced to the same place on Jayda's forearm, three rings circled her arm. "So, you're considered a Master?"
Jayda nodded, "Yeah, I can also take on apprentices and setup a forge and I am allowed to sign my work with my proof. Anyway, only Dwarves follow this practise." She explained as she pulled out a tool and gently carved a series of ruins into the bottle until she had circled it.
"Feed your magic into that and he won't be able to pour it out, only you." Jayda told him and he quickly did as she asked.
Astra walked closer to have a good look at the ruins, then slapped the back of Jayda's head, "Ancient ruins... hide them next time you idiot."
Valdric laughed, he walked over to a desk and brought out wax, first he rubbed dust into the carvings to fill the lines as he melted wax which he poured over the ruins, covering them, while the wax was cooling, he pressed his proof into the wax, proving this was his. He like all the apprentices created a proof, they stamped their personal equipment with it, until they were a master, they could not stamp their works.
"Seriously... I have to put up with this all the time," Astra told him, and he laughed.
"At least you're never going to be bored."
~*~*~*~
Jayda yawned a few nights later, thankfully this was the last raid, they had left the master mind, the Margrave behind all this, to last. They had even found a few more people not on the original list, when going through the captured peoples hidden records, they had stumbled across their names, so they got scooped up as well.
"You still good?" Astra asked as the last of the royal knights got into position.
"I'm good," Jayda told her.
Astra frowned, "Just how much magic do you have?"
"Not really the point, not when my recovery rate means shortly after casting sleep fog, I have recovered my magic." Jayda told her.
"You have the Self Recovery skill, of course you do." Astra remarked, Self-Recovery was the combined version of two separate skills, Regeneration and Recovery, having both was rare as you were either more of a physical fighter who needed Regeneration to heal, or more of a magical fighter who needed Recovery to replenish mana.
Looking at Jayda and the way she used magic, it was probably high levelled, maybe even maxed out.
Jayda grinned and lifted her staff, "barrier dome." She said as she tapped her staff against the ground. The royal guard already knew to be a few metres back from the mansions boundary line or they would be trapped within the barrier when she cast sleep fog. A barrier formed over the mansion sealing everyone inside. Stepping forward Jayda pressed her hand to the barrier, a new formation formed on the inside of the barrier, "Sleep Deep." She said, white fog started to spew from the formation in copious amounts. The moment the barrier was in place the royal guard walked forward closer to the barrier, they knew the drill, they just had to wait until Jayda dissipated the fog and the barrier, then they go in and put magic binding collars on everyone as they arrest them. They then got a temporary slave crest placed on them before they were loaded into a cart. While they were asleep, they were then transported to a special cell block that was being maintained by the Royal Mages, the space had been expanded so that each person had a small cell to themselves until they were questioned, and their guilt was ascertained.
Jayda kept feeding magic into the spell until she felt the responses of those in the barrier dim indicating that the people inside were asleep. She waited another twenty minutes before she finally dissipated the sleep fog spell and then lifted the barrier to let the Royal guard in.
"Last one, right?" Astra asked an official who had lists to check.
"As long as we don't find any more evidence on other people then yes." They said as they went to check off the people already being carried out. People were stripped of magic items which would protect them. the sun was starting to finally rise when the royal guard started to finish.
Jayda frowned, "There are still six people in there." She told the guard.
"We've searched every room," the official told her.
"Doesn't negate the fact there are six people still in the building," Jayda stated.
"Can you locate them?" Astra asked and Jayda nodded and walked in, she followed her instincts and managed to find a well-hidden door which led down to a second basement. The second basement contained several rooms and a guard station. Two guards were slumped over asleep at a desk, cards were scattered around them, a third was found in another room, his pants around his ankles, a shackled man was strapped down to a table with his own pants down. Astra walked forward and pulled the prisoner's pants up, once she had returned his dignity a little, she firmly stomped on the guard's manhood. He woke for all a moment before he passed out. Jayda pulled his pants off, he could be pant-less for a while. Royal guards took control of the downed guard and dragged him from the room.
Jayda took a few moments to free the man and while she did that, she appraised him, he was a beastkin from the cat races. Astra got a blanket and cast clean on it. "Wake him."
Jayda nodded and cast the magic to wake him, it took a few moments, but he woke and realised he was free. He rolled off the table and tried to move as far away as he could from the man who was about to rape him. It took him a few more moments to realise his pants were up and the man was gone, only two women. "Yeah, you are now under the protection of Adventurers, we got to him before he could harm you further." Astra told him. Jayda left the room to find the other two, both women who were in other cells. She got them out of their chains before she woke them then together Astra and she led them out, they were guided to an Adventurer's cart to be sent to the Adventurer's guild to be debriefed and taken care of.
Jayda stretched as they left the mansion, she was looking forward to her bed. Astra draped an arm around Jayda and leant her weight on smaller woman. "Man, I want my bed," Astra told her.
"I am not carrying you," Jayda told her. "Besides we have all of 500 metres to walk to get to our beds."
"Race you," Astra called as she ran off.
Jayda rolled her eyes and jogged after Astra; Astra got there first. Astra frowned at her, "You didn't race me?" she asked.
"I am tried," Jayda told her as the guards let them in. They were then let into the house, and both retired to their rooms to get a good rest as they wouldn't be needed for at least a few hours.
~*~
Jayda was roused by a gentle shake by a maid, "Jayda, lunch will be served in twenty minutes." The maid explained.
Jayda groaned but moved to get up. There was a gasp, squinting she focused on the maid who generally tended her room. "I..." the maid started to say before she raced from the room and slammed the door shut. Getting up Jayda realised why the maid had fled, she hadn't bothered to put on her sleeping clothes, she had just striped down to her underwear and crawled into bed.
Standing up she cast cleanse to help wake herself up, she then reached for her clothes and pulled them on. Once she was mostly dressed, she sat on the foot stool at the end of the bed to put her boots on. "I'm decent!" Jayda called and a few moments later the maid walked back in. the maid was looking down. "Sorry about that," she told the maid, "I was too tired this morning."
The maid finally glanced at her and gave her a small smile, "You at least were wearing underwear, Stella has to contend with a naked Astra, everyday."
Jayda chuckled, "Yeah, she's like that, as for Stella, she is in Astra's strike zone. She might be doing it deliberately."
Jane nodded and moved over to the bed to start making it, she was a beastkin from the wolf tribe, her tail waved gently as she worked. Jayda finished lacing her boots and then moved over to her armour rack and put on armguards, once they were on, she put her weapons on.
Jane scooped up the clothes on the ground, "Do you want these washed?" she asked.
"Nah, just cast cleanse on them and fold them please." Jayda answered as she buckled her harness closed. Tomas had paid Jayda to teach his people Life magic, the maids had enjoyed that lesson as it made their work proceed faster.
Jane cleaned each piece separately to make sure they were clean and then folded them neatly and placed them on the bed. She had been placed in charge of meeting Jayda's needs but for the most part Jayda was an easy person to take care of.
Jane glanced over to Jayda and walked over, "Excuse me," she warned before she fixed the way Jayda's shirt was tucked in then stepped back.
"Thanks," Jayda told her, the first time Jane had adjusted her clothing had shocked her, but she had gotten used to it a little if Jane warned her before she moved to fix her clothes.
Jayda finished getting ready, Jane helped her into her cloak then opened the door. Jayda walked out to see Astra flirting with Stella. "So..." Astra started to say but suddenly jerked away and dug a piece of ice out of her shirt. "Jayda, why did you do that?" Astra complained.
"Save your seduction for later, can't you see you are disrupting her work," Jayda told her and winked at Stella who gave her a small smile. "And besides shouldn't you talk to Tomas before laying your hands on his people?"
Astra followed Jayda to the dining room, she was kind of right, she shouldn't be seducing Stella while she was working at least.
Jane and Stella led them although both women were familiar with the path. Jayda and Astra took seats and Jane and Stella went about getting them drinks and food, breakfast and lunch were not formal meals in this house, so they did not have to wait for the Margrave to come. Tomas however joined them soon after they sat and with him was Matt from the Adventurer guild and the third person who sat then revealed themselves to be the king. However, since this was not the first time, he had joined them like this neither Jayda nor Astra stood for the king.
"So, good work last night," Tomas told the pair.
Arnold nodded, "Thanks for all the hard work."
Astra shrugged, "We are being paid, no thanks needed."
Arnold grinned, "I missed the simple days, when I didn't have to watch what I was doing or saying."
"So, when do you need me to start doing permanent slave crests?" Jayda asked.
"This afternoon, some people's guilt has already been proven." Arnold told her then smiled as lunch was put down before him. "Oh, I got the panic deer hide and was told I could buy some meat from you."
"I have a foreleg and most of the carcass, you cannot have the hind legs they are mine." Jayda told him firmly, as this was business, she was allowed to be firm.
"The guild assessed the meat, one small gold will get you the rest of the meat," Matt added as he started to eat and groaned, lunch was a hearty stew.
Tomas grinned as he knew what the meat was, Astra and Jayda had gone out in the morning yesterday to gather food for her beasts. They had gone deep into the forest and got a bunch of meat including what was currently filling his cold store, a Blade Boar. He had watched as Jayda expertly dismantled the beast and offered to buy some of the meat, Jayda had waved his offer away with the comment the meat was his as thanks, for putting up with Astra, for which Astra had complained loudly about which lead them to start bickering like only good friends or family were known to do.
Arnold frowned for a moment as he chewed, "Blade Boar?" he asked and Matt nearly choaked, Blade Boar were known to appear deeply in the forest near the Capital, although it was rarely hunted because it was a dangerous beast to hunt, it was A ranked magical beast with wind attribute, able to fire off multiple wind blades and the higher form reap with devastating accuracy,
Astra nodded, "Big beasty too, but there was another larger male and several females so... Jayda said we could only take one, if we took them all we would change the... ecology... of the forest."
"Blade Boar won't attack if you leave them alone, but they won't allow other monsters like daemon bears or forest lions from getting strong enough to take over their forest." Jayda explained.
"And we would rather not have Daemon Bears or Forest lions taking over the royal forest," Matt added, he hadn't known that Blade Boar were the reason they didn't have the extremely dangerous predators in the forest.
"We mainly hunted Forest Deer, Forest Wolves and Orcs," Jayda added.
"Yes, we confirmed the settlement you wiped out," Matt added, he was a little irritated that the guild hadn't noticed that the number of Orcs had gone up and that a settlement might be around. "And thanks for selling 30 to us."
"Yep, the rest are for my beasts." Jayda told him and he nodded in understanding, also Jayda had sold the higher tiered Orcs in the settlement.
Jayda ate her lunch, dipping fresh crusty bread into the gravy before popping it into her mouth between mouthfuls of tender meat and vegetables.
"So... did you get enough evidence?" Astra asked as she ate.
"That and more, we've raided a few merchants for dodgy books on top of the nobles, Curtis is having a field day going through their books. In two days from now will start the court season, I will announce what happened there. I will need you there as you are witnesses, after that you guys will be free to go back to Morriston." Arnold told them.
"I will ask for 1 week," Tomas told them, "I only need to attend for the first week then I can go home."
"Our saddles will be done but an extra week will probably be fine." Astra remarked.
"More so, the merchants and Nathan want to go back with you so that one extra week will help them both," Matt added.
"Hey, it would be stupid to not take a job back." Astra added and Jayda nodded.
"I then want you both to focus on getting to S," Arnold told the pair, "If only to protect you both from any backlash, there are nobles in the traditionalist faction who have no evidence linking them to the crimes you discovered."
"What is the last condition to be made S-rank?" Jayda asked she knew that mentoring was a requirement, other than that she didn't know of any other conditions.
"You have to clear an S-rank dungeon." Matt told her.
"Ashford doesn't have a confirmed S-rank dungeon, we are pretty sure there should be one however it has not been found yet." Tomas added, Ashford was a large country with many deep monster nests and monster zones which could indicate the presence of dungeons.
"And we have to be careful, some countries deliberately go after people wanting to clear a dungeon, more so an S, to recruit them." Astra added it was irritating however she understood the potential danger an S ranked person was, more so the Solo S-ranks, although the party S-ranks were just as dangerous, a country would want to keep a person who was equal to an army.
"We would love for you to stay in Ashford; however, we know as adventurers you will travel," Arnold told the pair. "I however hope you continue to consider Morriston a good place to live." He finished.
"Oh, we do," Astra told him. "It however limits where we can go." Jayda frowned at Astra, "The Empire... they have a nasty habit of claiming ownership of powerful adventurers in their country and put them in situations which force them to feel indebt with them." Astra explained. "Oh, don't get me wrong they treat their S-rank well, but... gilded cage."
"The two other countries are no goes; they aren't as pushy, but they try to ennoble S-ranks to keep them put. Then there is Leaf Tree..." Matt said.
"Nope," Astra stated, they wouldn't let her into their country and Jayda would only go if it was to kill the Leaf Tree king.
Jayda nodded as she sipped her tea. "So... we need a S-rank dungeon in a country who would leave us alone."
"Yeah, but I have that covered," Astra told her, it had been a little over a hundred years since she was home, but her family kept telling her to come visit, however, she had kept her distance, at least until she got used to living outside the clan and her people. "My clan lives near an S-ranked Dungeon they won't care or interfere."
Matt nodded, that made sense, the Barbarian tribes were different, a single chieftain ruled them however they also lived as city states. And although they never let non-Barbarians pass their capitol, Astra, as a Barbarian, would be able to navigate Jayda through any of her countries barriers and as such Jayda would be able to get to the S-ranked dungeon with her. "If you come back, I will nominate you for some jobs to go into the thick monster nests to see if any dungeons are in them."
Astra grinned, "Jayda and I already have to investigate a new A-ranked Dungeon near Morriston, so get in line."
"We will probably leave in the spring," Jayda remarked, she needed to upgrade Astra's weapons and armour, none would survive the deeper floor masters in a S-ranked dungeon.
Astra nodded in agreement, they needed to prepare and even she knew her gear wouldn't survive, and that Jayda would probably remake them.
~*~*~*~
Jayda walked out of the royal audience chamber two days later, she felt tired, that was the longest, most boring thing she had ever attended. Almost because the slight excitement came when Arnold's cousin went to be arrested, charged with treason, he had lunged at Arnold, only to strike a barrier Jayda had quickly put up.
Astra walked out with her, "Can we leave?" she asked aloud.
"Nope," Matt told the pair and both groaned.
Tomas joined them although he didn't look zapped like the others. "That was an interesting opening of court."
Nathan who had come to chat with him chuckled, they watched as other nobles started to come to talk to people who seemed to be in the thick of it. Tomas knew neither Astra or Jayda were in the mood to deal with Nobles at the moment, so he went to intercept as a chamberlain came and collected the three adventurers to move them to a private room.
Astra sat in an offered chair. "Would you like something to drink?" the chamberlain asked.
"Yes, but I'll settle for herbal tea." Astra told him.
"Any particular kind of herbal," he started to say but Jayda offered him a pot.
"That will relieve her headache and relax her." Jayda explained, "I'll have the same please."
He nodded and took the pot, he appraised the contents, curious about the blend, he had a good knowledge of herbs both medicinal and flavourings. It was an interesting mix some he hadn't even considered would work together; he walked over to a tea station to make the herbal tea. He made a full pot as he was curious about the flavour, so he wanted to taste it.
He offered the cups, but Astra just glanced to Jayda.
"Yeah, you need to add two more things, it is a little too bitter at the moment to drink comfortably," Jayda explained. He put the tray down before her and watched as she added a drizzle of honey and finished it with a squeeze of fresh lemon to each cup. She offered them to the chamberlain as she had noticed he had poured himself a cup to taste it.
Astra grabbed her cup and using a spoon she gave it a mix before she took deep breath, the fumes from the tea were just as important as the tea itself. She sighed and slowly relaxed a little before she took a sip. Matt did the exact same process as Astra; he had learnt that Jayda's teas were delicious when done correctly and Jayda had a weird habit of adding fresh to dried but it worked.
Jayda held her tea but her attention was on the chamberlain as he added a drizzle of honey and a squeeze of lemon, after giving it a mix he took a sniff, it was a soothing blend, he then took a sip and closed his eyes as the herbal tea danced on his tongue, it was well balanced and pleasant.
"Please tell me there is another cup," Tomas asked as he walked in.
"I made a pot," the chamberlain stated as he put down his tea and made a cup for Tomas.
Tomas sat and took the offered cup when it was offered and took a grateful sip.
Finally, the king joined them with another man, his uncle, "James, tea please." Arnold asked, his voice scratchy as he sat with a flop, not caring about the others in the room. Another person walked in, Arnold's prime minister.
"Um... try this," Jayda offered a different pot of herbal tea to James. "It will soothe his throat, add honey and lemon rind as well as a squeeze of lemon."
James took the pot and walked off, he had a maid fetch more honey and lemons so as not to deplete Jayda's supplies. Jayda stood and walked over to James to show him how to prepare the rind for the tea.
"You're herbology is advanced," James remarked.
"Good teacher," Jayda replied, "Twist the rind over the tea before you put it in, the oils in the rind and honey will coat his throat and soothe the pain as will the herb blend." She finished before she returned to her seat.
James finished preparing the king's tea and decided that the prime minister and Duke could have the same.
He tasted the tea just for his own experience before he handed out fresh cups to the king, prime minister, and the duke.
Arnold sipped the tea; it was pleasant and after a few more mouthfuls the pain in his throat from yelling started to fade. "James, get the blend please."
"I already have it," James had taken note of both blends and how to make them.
"I am sorry uncle," Arnold told the older man.
"Don't be, it is his fault not yours, besides I have three daughters who have better heads on their shoulders." The man told him, for now him and his family would not be able to grieve the loss of its' member, it would have to be done in private if only so they couldn't be seen grieving for a traitor. The only reason the entire family didn't share his fate is simple, he was not the head of the family, his father was, nor was he the successor, his eldest sister was. Effectively the family had no knowledge of his plans and he had been doing it on his own by his own admission, if the head of the family was involved the entire family was considered guilty by association.
"So, do you think the traditionalists will try to regroup?" Matt asked.
"No, almost two thirds were scooped up, Leon make sure civil officials from your department go to each territory and do a full audit." Arnold added, he had sent out knights to secure the estates and lock down the money and books until this was all sorted as they had also come across incorrect tax reporting.
The prime minister nodded. "Already done, I also hired adventurers and have guild staff helping."
"Also, Jayda, thank you, that lesson you gave the court and academy mages, it changed the way they look at the nobles who try to curry favour with them." Arnold added.
Jayda nodded, "It needed to happen, sadly some nobles have sinister reasons when they approach people. They need to be more aware of that." Jayda's own mother had warned her of the dangers of Nobles, to tread carefully and watch your words with them, nobles were not to be trusted.
"And what about this?" Leon asked, he hadn't had a lot of contact with Adventurers, but he also realised that they had their own reasons for approaching Jayda and Astra.
"This is business, you offered a job, I was able to reject it, I chose not to." Jayda answered reasonably. "I am under no illusions that you used me, my power, to achieve your goal. However, I let you, I had my own reasons for getting back at the pricks who tried to enslave me. Also," Jayda stood she was ready to leave, Astra stood with her as they were not really needed here. "You understand what would happen if you tried."
Arnold nodded, "As an Adventurer, you are a free person. Free to choose, I will never take it away nor will I allow others try to take it away, not in my country. Do I want you to make Ashford your home, to keep the drums of war at bay, yes, would I ask you to fight in a war on Ashford's behalf. No... not unless something forced my hand and even then, it would be a Job, through the guild, something you would be paid for in coin not gratitude or title." He told her firmly and Jayda grinned as both she and Astra left.
Leon shivered when then door shut, "They aren't merely S-rank, they are higher than that right?" he asked as he turned to Matt, both Jayda and Astra were skilled at hiding their strength.
"Astra or Jayda?" Matt asked.
"Both," Leon told him.
"Jayda more than likely is SSS-rank right now, Astra, the more time she spends with Jayda the stronger she is getting on her own, not riding on Jayda's back. It wouldn't surprise me if they both solo the floor masters in the S-rank dungeon and clear it in less than a year." Matt explained.
Arnold and Tomas nodded, "There hasn't been an SSS since Rhianna herself." Arnold remarked, even if Astra caps at SS, she would be exceedingly rare, of those who got to S most found it too hard to advance further, in fact there were no SS ranked people at this time.
"Astra has her blessing, I have never seen it placed so strongly on a person before, so I am hoping that she too, gets to SSS," Matt stated, and Tomas nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next update: 3/9/2023