Chapter 39: Gideon

POV Julian Kingscrown

I was heading to Gideon's workshop being carried by a carriage

When I was at the entrance as always his butler was waiting for me so I decided to greet him "how are you Himes, how have you been" I said waving my hand

"Every day is more tiring than the previous one with Master Gideon, after you appeared" he said with his eyes narrowed

"Blame your master for that, he's a lunatic capable of detonating Xyrus if he sets his mind to it" I said throwing a wink

Himes just made a funny smile and said "you're right hahaha, welcome Mr. Kingscrown the master is waiting for you inside he's been tense these days about a certain topic, because of that he's been eagerly waiting for your visit"

I know, he probably already suspects the secret I've kept from him, while he's developed the inventions with my ideas and technology

This is not the time to let out the information of the inventions, but if it's the right situation to tell Gideon some things besides not building the ships to take them to Alacrya

As I was thinking that I was walking down the hallways and by mistake I tripped over someone, "ahhhhh"

When I managed to process my mistake I quickly approached the person I pushed by accident and extended my hand to help her stand up

When she managed to stand up she looked at me, it was Emily Watsken, it seems that Gideon already took her in with my advice

"I had never seen anyone else besides Himes in Gideon's workshop, could I know your name miss?" I said pretending not to know her

"Oh yes, my name is Emily Watsken, just a few months ago, Master Gideon took me in as his disciple" she said in a complicated tone

I guess she already realized that Gideon is not what she imagined, he's someone too eccentric for his own good

"My name is Julian Kingscrown, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss Watsken" I said giving her a slight handshake

Just at that moment I saw Gideon come out of the room where he kept all the inventions we had

He looked at me, opened his eyes and said "Boy, you and I need to talk urgently" he said giving me a sign with his hands

Emily looked at him in astonishment and then directed her gaze at me, I can see where her surprise comes from after all Gideon is not exactly the person most interested in personal connections

Giving her a smile, I followed Gideon to a private room, there were several unfinished devices on a table, he supported his hands near the devices, gave a tired sigh, turned to me, while leaning on the table crossed his arms and asked "how long have you known" his look was full of determination, he was convinced of what he had seen on the device and the reasons why he had not spoken before

"How much did you manage to understand from what you've seen" I asked in a dull tone

"That technology is something I had never seen before, clearly it's not from this continent and if we consider the camouflage system that the beast had I can say that they were spying on us, if I relate a little with what you've been planning and creating with me it's not too hard to come to a conclusion" he said giving me a stern look

"Did you already tell the kings of Sapin?", I asked

"No, but this is something that is completely out of my hands, I'm not going to hide this information even if you ask me" he said in a firm tone

"I wasn't going to ask you that, I know you're angry with me, but there are good reasons to do everything so secretly" I replied

"I want you to explain to me exactly what's on the other side", he said as he activated a barrier around us with a device he took out of his coat

"In this world there are beings capable of annihilating entire civilizations in a matter of hours, they have enough power to disappear entire countries in a matter of seconds, they are not interested in our life at all and unfortunately for us we are trapped in the middle of a war between two sides of them" I said looking at him without looking away

Gideon looked at me with a frown and said "what are you talking about"

"Just what you heard, we are trapped in the middle of a war with two extremely powerful sides, that's why I have been very prudent, when telling this kind of things to someone" I said in a serious tone

Gideon covered his mouth for a few seconds and spoke again, "Wouldn't it have been better to tell this to the kings?", he said as he looked at me

"They have infiltrated people or Dicatheans on their side in very sensitive positions, the moment we make any move that disturbs them too much, they will act and the continent could be taken in a matter of days" I spoke in a solemn tone

After all, if they wanted to try it seriously, the specters would have Dicathen without sweating in a matter of hours

"So how do you plan to win?", he said with a shocked voice

"There will be an opportunity in about a year and a half, at that time there will be someone who will give us a strong enough support to be able to reveal everything" the asuras of Epheotus will move yes or yes when they find Arthur after all it is convenient for them to have a pawn of his caliber or even myself when I meet them

But I really don't want to do it, I know that the bastard of Kezess will try to put a leash on me to keep me under control and I can't allow it, that's a problem that I still have to solve How the hell will I make him leave me alone to grow in peace?

"So you don't plan to reveal anything we've done yet" Gideon said in a complicated tone

"They could steal it if we reveal it right now" I replied

"So what the hell do we do" he said with an exalted voice

"Nothing, we'll just pretend we know what you extracted from that artifact, that's what we'll inform the kings of the three countries of Dicathen" I replied in a firm tone

"Do you know how many people could die if what you say goes wrong" he shouted in the room

"From the beginning I was prepared, I know that many people can die not only at this moment, but in the future and even they may have already done it and we haven't noticed, you think I haven't lived thinking about all these things without being overwhelmed at any time" I spoke in a solemn tone letting some pressure escape by mistake

Gideon stiffened for a second, but then after eliminating the murderous intent he returned to normal

"I know the situation is very delicate and that's why I ask you to follow my instructions, I will take full responsibility for what happens in the future, I just ask you to believe in me" I said giving him a look full of determination

He looked at me for a few seconds, took a breath and replied, "I'm going to believe in you, because I know you're really trying to protect Dicathen"

"I appreciate it very much Gideon, but this is only part of the topics I came to discuss with you" I spoke in a soft voice to try to lighten the mood

"What work do you have in mind now?" Gideon asked

"I have tested most of the things that are being developed, but I haven't seen the pendants that serve as an escape route in case of danger, I also want to see the runic weapons for the magicians and the non-magicians" I replied

Gideon deactivated the barrier of the room and left saying "follow me"

I followed him a few steps behind, as we crossed the corridors and in one of the rooms with active barriers I saw Emily with several types of metals, each one with different runes engraved that I recognized, since I was the person who made them

From sheets with gravity runes, to some with sound elements, at that moment, I asked "Gideon, how much does Emily know about the projects and the knowledge about the runes?"

"A lot, at first I didn't believe too much in her, but she learns fast and adapts easily" he answered

"Are you sure about that, she won't tell anyone about the matter", I asked to confirm

"She won't, she's a very loyal and committed person" Gideon answered

"Wow, I didn't know you gave compliments", I said giving him a sarcastic smile

"Nobody asked you so shut up" he said in an annoyed tone

"Well, it's positive that you have someone to help you" I said entering the space with multiple barriers that I had made to protect the finished inventions, with the crucial information to develop them

"Has the security system ever been activated?" I said as I touched the barrier

"Never, it's a masterpiece, defensively speaking, nothing goes in and nothing goes out without the controls to open gaps in the barrier" he answered in a proud tone

After entering, Gideon began to speak, "the teleportation systems work well, I tested them with several animals and they worked at short and long distances"

"Where did you test them?" I asked with interest

"From here to Etistin, Himes helped me locating the target area in a house with barriers to block the perception" he answered

"It's good that you've been careful", I said as I looked at the pendants with the runic marks

They are very well made and I can add another location to the pendant if I want, it would be a good idea to connect them to Eden in case of an extreme emergency

I did some tests with short distances inside Gideon's workshop to try to notice any defect, but there was nothing, so he got the approval

With this the protection artifacts for lances and important people will be ready

After that I started to check the runic weapons, the ones that were made for the magicians, had the peculiarity of being highly conductive of mana, with the engravings that we had placed on them they allowed a smoother circulation of the spells

Not only that, they greatly increased the power of the magic of their bearer, making them weapons capable of extracting the maximum potential in large-scale combat

The problem is that they are difficult to make, and who could extract the maximum capacity of the weapon would be the silver and white cores

I don't say they don't work with the others, as they also greatly strengthen the others, but between some and others there is a clear difference

Fortunately, I only made them to balance the battlefield against Agrona

Especially the ones for the non-mages, unlike the other weapons, they had pre-recorded spells that are triggered by means of a mana-charged core in a certain area of the weapon

This was not going to be able to scratch people above the yellow rank, but it was better than nothing

The only thing that worried me was whether the bodies of the non-mages would withstand the combat

"Haaaah" I sighed thinking about the obvious answer

"Gideon I need your help, do you know anything about alchemy?" I asked

"Something", he answered as he looked at some plans that I passed him

"This that you passed me looks simple, are they training artifacts?" He answered looking at me

"Yes, first the one that looks like handcuffs constantly sucks the mana of the person who wears it, the second are gravity suppressors for physical training and the last is a device that will limit the mana fluctuations while generating a barrier around the core capable of deceiving people and showing a lower level than the real one" I answered

"Wow, I don't know who you're going to train, but poor thing", Gideon said with a pitying face

"There will be several, but it won't be as bad as you think, each one has a specific purpose, besides with respect to the topic of alchemy, do you know any agent capable of strengthening the body so that a non-mage can match one, at least in low ranks?" I asked

"There is, but it's only temporary, if you want something permanent we'll have to recreate it from scratch" he said as he took his chin and thought

"What's the main problem?" I asked hoping to find a solution quickly

"The body that is under the effects of the enhancer, ends up under constant stress and tension, that's why it's not even traded today, little by little it damages your body, there are not enough benefits for the risk" he answered in a disinterested tone

"Any idea how to overcome it?" I asked hoping he had some idea

"If you want something that is temporary, we have the option of creating a second core in the weapons with some reinforcement spell" he answered

"Hmmmm this is going to be a headache" I said taking my hand to my hair and shaking it a little

"I'll try to look for options, but you should try to recreate it with runes on the human body, I know that until now you have refused because of your morality and I agree, but at this moment any criminal who can serve as a guinea pig will be welcome" Gideon said in a complicated tone

"I'll think about it, for now just inform what you know through the device you researched to the kings, their next action will be to end the council definitively and I estimate that in about eight or nine months they will present the best warriors of each race as a protective force in addition to the union of their leaders in a single decision-making council"

"It scares me a little that you can predict that" he replied in a surprised tone

"I guess so, but there's something even more important, I'm almost sure they'll ask you to build some means to get to the other continent by boat" I said giving him a serious look

"I guess if you tell me that it's because you don't want it to be built" he said in a dissatisfied tone

"They don't seem to have the means to get here right now and if we give them to them it will only turn against us, I know perfectly well that you will find a way to do it and that's why I ask you to delay it, the kings will realize in due time that it was the best option"

"Well, I've already made enough concessions, why not make one more, for a greater good" he said moving his shoulders

"I appreciate it" I said giving him my hand

After that I left Gideon's workshop, I put a hood over my head because of the strong sun, I started walking while my mind was too distracted in my thoughts to notice the approach of someone, until I felt a soft hug