Michael walks back to his room before he ruffles his hair in frustration. 'Why did I have to run my damned mouth.' he thought to himself as he continues to walk back to his room. The entire day his mind was occupied with his conversation with Duke Vincent, 'I don't think suggesting throwing his nephew under the bus was a good idea' He screams to his pillow, wary of the other servants, 'You'll never know what they'll say to Vincent'.
Michael then stood back up as he prepares for his nightly duties. He stood back outside, walking towards the kitchen as he does so. He ruminates once more on his conversation with Duke Vincent, 'The way things are going, a civil war is bound to happen. With Duke Vincent stuck in between' He then remembers Viller's glint of madness 'Then again there's a chance Duke Vincent won't even get to live that long.'
He stops in his preparation as he realizes the implications of such a situation. 'Wouldnt that mean Viller would own me by then?' He realizes in dread before he shakes away such thought. 'I already have a way out, I just need more time so I can live my carefree life by then.' He thought with resolution as he clenches his fist in indignation.
After a few moments pass, Michael is back laying down to his bed, finished with his preparation. He looks around before grabbing his collar. 'This shit is close to over,' He thought with an excited grin, he carefully took the chest underneath his bed as his eyes lit up opening it. The glowing rock was filled to brim with written runes, Michael excitedly kisses it as power flows through him, 'With this masterpiece, I can create and patch in any complex magic I can think off.'
Michael then smirks as he sticks the rock to his collar, the familiar light enters his eyes as the screen shows the coding present in his collar. 'A little tweak here and a patch there, I can change the collars specification.' He chuckles to himself as he looks at the coding, 'I guess these eyes are pretty useful, those ancestors were at least of some use' He thought as he applies his patch, changing his collar of servitude to the testament of his greatest achievement.
The runes which are written on his collar rearrange to fit their new purpose. Michael holds back a cackle as he watches it all happen, 'With this, no one can force me as a slave.' He cackles a bit more before reason sets in and he starts to think of his next moves, 'Then what am I gonna do next?' he thought to himself as he put back the stone to his magically locked chest.
He lays back down as he fiddles with his collar. 'The material slave collar is really resilient, the number of runes you can input is insane' He smiles to himself 'I guess that's understandable they never really understood the depth of the runes they tried to copy. Michael looks to the material, 'The craftsmanship of this collar allowed it to have the various function, yet the idiots put in the bare minimum on my slave collar.' Michael smiles as he shakes his head, 'Why am I complaining? That was the best one for me'
'I've added new features to this but is that enough?' Michael ruminates to himself as his eye lit up once more. The array of his new features lined up in a neat manner, 'So, first off is the dimensional storage.' He wickedly smiles, 'I'll be able to steal a ton of gold if I play my cards right.' He remembers Viller and his recent tantrums, 'I can just skim off the money Viller is obviously stealing and something even the Duke seems to be aware.'
He then panics, 'But what if he suspects me,' He shakes his head as he smiles in indignation, 'There's no way a slave would betray him, after all the collar he put on me will enforce my obedience.' A burst of sinister laughter almost escapes his lips ' Yeah let's see about that.' Michael thought in anger.
He lazes around as he continues to think of what to do after Vincent dies, 'So, I already have a hundred gold coins, approximately ten thousand dollars.' He looks to the window as the moon shines on his room, 'Maybe I'll stay while Vincent lives. Then I can leave my life of servitude.'He thought as he closes his eyes.
'But what happens after I leave?' The thought makes him stop, 'What do I do then?' He stops and opens his eye in a panic until a thought came, 'What about a printing press?' He excitedly thought to himself, 'The money I would gain could be staggering.' Michael nods, 'Especially with the nobles fascination in knowledge.'
Then another thought came, 'How about a gun?' He excitedly continued as he rolled in his bed in excitement, 'since most armies seem to mostly consist of swords and magic' He excitedly smiles to himself, almost squealing in excitement 'A fact I can use into becoming a war profiteer. Will give me as said in the name tons of profit.'
'I can even start an industrial revolution, right?' He lights his eye up as he looks to his collar, 'I can create runes like this, simulating the repetitive motions required to process materials.' He clenches his fist as he looks to the moon. 'This time I can die knowing I did something worthwhile.'
He then screams to his head, 'Why stop there!' as a rebellious thought seeps its way to his head, as he dreamily smiled, 'Why can't I go all the way instead?' He stands up as he pumps his fist in excitement and inadvertently blurts out, "Yeah, why can't I!" holds his hand over his mouth to avoid gathering the other servant's attention.
The impending civil war could be the catalyst he needs. He then contains his smile, knowing today was not the time to plan a violent coup. He goes back to his bed, his head filled with dreams of grandeur.
'One day though, One day.'