Chapter 125: Chapter 125: Lycan the Wolverine
After the check up, Siderius returned to the guest house inside the Baron’s estate. He spent the entire night meditating, lowering his psychosis and walking the Truth-Seeking Path.
It didn’t lower his psychosis point but Siderius could feel that it was close.
At dawn, the door was knocked.
"Here are your clothes, high lord!" Outside the door was a maid. On her hands were the hunter uniform neatly folded. She bowed her head out of respect.
"Thank you."
The maid flushed. It was as they said, the white witch had an incredibly handsome face. One that could make any maiden’s heart fall in love.
The maid quickly ran away from embarrassment. She felt that if she stayed any longer, she might not have the will to leave.
Siderius put on his hunter uniform. Once again he was covered in an all black attire. He wrapped the black scarf around his neck and went outside.
The Baron obviously wouldn’t tell him what Siderius needed to know. So he could only find out about it elsewhere.
But first, Siderius wanted to check up on the blacksmiths.
Inside the workshops, Finn scratched his head looking at the schematics.
"What does element integrity mean?!"
George sat on another table, having a look at the design.
"How can someone make a sword this thick? Swords need to be light for the ease of maneuver! And these scabbards, why is there a firestarter attached to the brim?!"
The design was perfect, mechanically speaking. But there were so many strange concepts and design choices that the two blacksmiths couldn’t understand at all. They felt like they had just become an apprentice in smithing once again.
Siderius entered the workshop.
"Hard at work, I see."
"Lord... Master Snow! Why are you here?" George almost blurted out his title in the guild but quickly changed it.
Finn also stood up. "Greetings, high lord!"
Siderius nodded to Finn then turned to George. "I want to see how much you have learned about the schematics."
"There’s a lot of things we need to learn before we can forge this ’sword’, my lord. There are a few processes that seem so strange to us. And I feel like these aren’t everything."
"If I may, high lord." Finn spoke up.
"Please. Both of you can call me Snow." Siderius said.
Finn was surprised. High lords usually didn’t like people calling them by their names. He still thought Siderius was similar to those witches.
"I understand. If I may ask, Snow. It seems like you didn’t give us the entire schematic to forge this sword, am I correct?" Finn continued.
Siderius nodded. "You are correct. There is forbidden knowledge that I excluded from these papers."
"Can we see it, Snow?" George’s eyes perked up with curiosity. Alongside him was Finn with the same interest.
"Of course, you can. But him is a different matter."
"Me?" Finn pointed at himself.
George had sworn fealty to Siderius’ fictional guild. Fate bound them together. But Finn was another matter, Siderius didn’t know if he could trust Finn.
George understood this also.
He turned toward Finn and said, "Can you give us a moment, Finn?"
"Alright."
Finn left the room, leaving Siderius and George together.
"Please excuse the bluntness of my friend, Lord Watcher." George became much more reserved and showed more respect when there were only the two of them. He lowered his head slightly.
"Speak to me like normal, George. We are in unknown territory here. They can eavesdrop on us. Always act as if there is a possible rat going around."
"I understand... Snow. About Finn, I think he can be a great addition to... our organization. He is a brilliant blacksmith. I can vouch for him."
"Perhaps. But the problem isn’t talent, my dear George. It’s loyalty. I don’t know him, why would I recruit the man?"
"I... I understand."
"But I can make an exception. We do need more talents at the guild. Especially people with his profession. How about this, talk it over with Finn and see how he reacts.
I will watch him closely in the process of forging the sword. If he has the integrity of being a member, I will make him your assistant."
"Thank you! Thank you, my lord!" George kneeled down.
Siderius caught him immediately and prevented him from going down. "We only kneel in front of our parents, our spouse and our gods. Nothing else. Remember that."
"I understand..."
Siderius didn’t know much about Finn so he was hesitant in adding the man into the guild. However, he did satisfy most of Siderius’ requirements.
The man didn’t have a wife or children. He had no connections with the higher-ups of this world. The only one he had a connection with was Jude, a self-made Baron that had no ties with a high clan.
Finn could become a member and be stationed in Scalize, turning into a spy. This town was a busy trading center, it would be great to have an eye here.
After that, Siderius left the workshop and let the two blacksmiths continue with their research. Without Mercury, he needed their talents to forge the sword. There were also heavy works that specifically needed the hands of blacksmiths and couldn’t be replaced by Mercury Transformation.
Siderius took Red from the Baron’s stable. The Wolverine also stayed with it and was resting on the horse’s back when Siderius arrived.
Red let out a cheerful neigh while the Wolverine stood up and did a salute.
"You are slowly becoming more and more weird." Siderius pet the Wolverine.
It had eaten a lot of his experimental batches of Tonic. Even some unknown elemental plants that Siderius collected. It had become much more intelligent than a usual Wolverine supposed to be.
"I should give you a name..." Siderius mumbled. "How about Brown?"
Red was named Red because of his color. Siderius thought he could also name it in a similar fashion.
But the wolverine shook his head repeatedly. It understood what Siderius said wholeheartedly.
"How about Logan?"
The wolverine raised its hands up and formed an X, indicating no.
Siderius rubbed his chin. He observed the little beast carefully. The wolverine already grew into the size of an adult even though it should take it a few more months. Siderius probably had triggered a mutation in its body, it would only grow bigger from now on.
Its skeletal frame was also wider and thinner than a normal wolverine. Its snout was longer, representing that of a wolf.
"How about Lycan?"
Lycanthropy was a popular curse in his old world, the curse of a werewolf. It gave Siderius an inspiration to name this wolverine.
The wolverine stuck out its mouth like a dog and nodded repeatedly.
"You really are weird. Lycan it is then."
The wolverine let out a cheerful noise then jumped on Siderius’ shoulder, standing upon it.
"Hold tight, the ride will be bumpy."
Siderius hopped onto Red and rode into the Rottin Woods. He had acquired the location of the Black Witch. To learn more about Jude Fisher and the Phantom, she would be the first he needed to meet.