Chapter 9: Chapter 9 – Deals

I met with the owner of the mine when he showed up at the manor the following morning. 

And I must say, my first impression wasn’t that great. 

A tall yet chubby man, he sweat all over as he appeared before me in the study. His red face tried to smile as best he could, but with his hair that was pasted down and thin mustache, I could only see him as an underground swindler. 

He wasn’t the most presentable, but I really only had one rule when it came to people I made business deals with. 

Speak with your assets, not your mouth. 

“Lord Audius, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Kork, and I’m the owner of the Kork Mining Outpost.”

“Welcome, Kork.”

I barely held back a weird gaze. He sure had a special name. But it fit his appearance, as odd as that was. 

He took a seat with my insistence, and after he led me through a few pleasantries, I jumped to the point. 

“Mr. Kork, I’ve invited you here to discuss your outpost. You see, my father not only gifted me this city, but he also plans to invest in a mining company to be established on the iron deposit. Now, I had planned to begin hiring people and commence operations as soon as I could, but then I heard about you.”

“Ah, I’m terribly sorry, Lord Audius. I had no idea…”

“Don’t worry, Kork.”

I waved my hand, stopping the large man from apologizing. And I could swear the sweat on his body doubled with my words. 

I just smiled. 

“I don’t intend to take away everything you’ve worked for. You found an opportunity and took it. I commend the effort. So I’m extending an invitation. I’d like to buy a majority share of your outpost, taking ownership of it in the process, including all your equipment. And if you’re up to the task and have the necessary knowledge required to run a successful company, I’m willing to make you the manager for my mining operations.”

“Oh!”

The man’s eyes widened, his folds rippling in delight and surprise. 

“Lord Audius, you are a generous city lord! If you find me worthy, I will do everything in my power to take on the responsibility. You see, I had worked with my father at another shale mine, and I came here seeking the opportunity of iron after confirming a rumor about the deposit. So I may not be the best, but I can promise that you won’t find a harder working man!”

Kork straightened his back, his face turning even redder than before. His excitement couldn’t be contained by his large body. 

And contrary to his appearance, I was pleased with his attitude and standing. If he had tried to take advantage of my fat wallet, I would have bought the oupost and kicked him to the curb. But he seemed very genuine. 

And it wasn’t as if he were holding onto a treasure anyway. Such a mine could only be taken advantage of by those with the capital. It wasn’t as if he retained ownership of the entire deposit, and he only had a small outpost that likely didn’t generate much anyway. 

But that wasn’t the point of my deal. 

I couldn’t manage everything by myself, so I needed competent people who worked underneath me. A man who managed to establish an outpost on a barren deposit with an investment more than likely far smaller than mine had to not only be a hard worker, but an opportunist. He was someone who built something out of nothing. 

That was precisely the kind of person I wanted working for me. 

So I extended the invitation. 

Standing, I walked over and pat the man on the shoulder. 

“Then I suppose we have a deal, Mr. Kork. This man over here is one of my directors, Sir Campbell. He’s going to take a trip with you to your outpost for an evaluation. When he comes back with an estimation, I’ll write the note and you’ll have your money and position as my manager of iron mining operations.”

“Of course! Pleasure to work with you, sir Campbell.”

Kork shook the accountant’s hand, earning an apathetic nod. 

And after sending that duo on their way, I settled back into my seat. 

It was nice, being able to simply send people to get work done. But it wouldn’t be so easy for long. As operations actually began, I couldn’t be so relaxed. I needed to personally make sure that things developed how I needed them to. 

But I had time, so I allowed things to develop slowly but surely. 

*Knock Knock*

After thinking in silence for a while, I saw Grace enter the study. 

I smiled at my sister. 

“Grace. How are you?”

“I can’t complain.”

She smiled back, sitting relaxedly in a chair in front of me. 

“I’ve just been tending to Tiya. She’s gotten much better over the past few days. She’s a strong girl. Stronger than me…”

Grace let out a small sigh. 

Standing from my seat, I went and pat her head, straightening out a few strands of her hair. 

“I hope you don’t ever have to go through something like that. It’s fine so long as you stick to your beliefs and fight when the time comes. Our future won’t be peaceful the way we’re going. There will be wars and no small amount of blood. Your job is to prepare for the future.”

“...Well, it seems you’ve been doing more than I have. What’s all this about business deals? It hasn’t even been a week.”

She lifted her head and smiled at me. 

I leaned back on the desk while shrugging. 

“I’ve just been laying the groundwork for this iron mine. Nothing has happened yet.”

“Right. Still, I’ve only been shopping and caregiving. I feel like I’m wasting away. Is there anything I can do that you haven’t?”

“...Work on your powers.”

I thought for a moment and realized the perfect place for Grace. 

“Sorcerers are going to have their place here, but only if they can use their powers. I want you to work on yours, study it. Same with Tiya. Both of you need to develop your special strengths and discover their secrets.”

“And what about you?”

She asked curiously. I hadn’t explained much about my awakening and Grace only knew that it had something to do with my mind. And the immediate effects were obvious. I naturally didn’t act as Audius did only a couple weeks ago. I changed greatly. 

But the subtle effects were unknown, at least to her. 

“My powers aren’t like a normal sorcerer’s. Mine are more internal.”

I tapped my head. 

“Still, I’ll naturally discover more about mine too. And that reminds me, I have something to ask you. Have you told Tiya that I’m a sorcerer?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Good.”

I nodded in relief. 

“Keep it that way. Don’t tell anyone, not even other sorcerers.”

“...Why?”

Grace looked at me weirdly. It seemed like I wanted to keep this secret a little too much. 

I shrugged. 

“I just feel like its not something that should be said. After all, the common knowledge is that only females can become sorcerers. And I can count the amount of rumors about male sorcerers on one hand. I don’t want to be one of those rumors, so don’t tell even the sorcerers we’re going to save. I don’t care if they find it hard to trust me because of that. Can you promise me that you’ll keep that secret?”

I looked Grace in the eyes, conveying just how serious I was about this. And although she was surprised, she still nodded.

“Alright. I promise you.”

“Thanks. I mean, if dad sent us away after that incident because he was really worried about the possibility of me awakening, then male sorcerers might not be the rumors we think they are. And just what do you think the Order would do to get their hands on a male sorcerer? I couldn’t imagine.”

“...Yea.”

Grace suddenly looked horrified, not having made that connection. 

Female sorcerers are all over the place, and the Order hunted them with undying determination  as if they were actual devils. So just what would happen if a male sorcerer popped up?

Although, that was only part of the reason I wanted to keep my secret. 

In my mind, sorcerers were both the most versatile tool and the biggest threat. They had amazing powers that would undoubtedly have their place in this world’s industry, capable of doing things that only future machines could.  

But, as I had seen with Gentle Snow, they also had the power to surpass the physical world and put my life at extreme risk. That meant that my own abilities and special status as a sorcerer would be an important card to play at the right time. My enemies couldn’t know that I was anything more than an ordinary human. 

At least, not until I had the ability to protect against sophisticated threats. 

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And that reminded me of something else I needed to start.

“Alright, I’m off.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve been meaning to do something since we got here. Joining me would also be good for you.“

“Hm.”

Grace hummed and followed me out of the study. 

After I went and changed into loose clothing, I stepped into the backyard of the manor. 

The entire manor was fenced off, and on those fences grew thick vines and plants, creating a natural barrier. 

And there was a hidden gate leading out of the back. I walked over to it and opened the rusty metal hatch. 

It led out onto a back street that revealed a plaza of the city center. This was one thing I abhored about this manor. 

“Why did he have to build his home in the center of the damn city… Anyway, I’m off.”

“Off?”

Grace followed me as I walked onto the street. Then, she watched me weirdly as I did a few stretches. 

“I’m gonna run.”

“Run?”

“Yes, the act of using your legs in a manner that exerts your energy and moves your body at high speeds.”

“I know what running is.”

She rolled her eyes. 

“Are you training your body?”

“Precisely.”

“Why?”

“Because its good for you. More stamina to do more work. And more muscles to look better.”

I smiled while flexing my nonexistent arm muscles. Truly, the state of my physical body was quite pathetic considering Audius had never trained throughout his entire life. 

But that would change. 

“Have water ready for me when I come back!”

“Wait…”

Grace wasn’t sure what to say as I broke off into a run, taking turns to enter the side streets of the city. 

……

…

I ran until I was beyond the bounds of the city. 

The place I chose to head toward was the small forest where I planned to build my manor. It was around 3 miles from the city center, so it made for a good run. 

Of course, my body thought that running so far was the worst thing in the world, but I had more than enough mental fortitude to endure the pain. 

I picked a tree to sit against, catching my breath. 

Then, I raised my left arm. 

I always wore the long sleeve garments in my wardrobe in order to cover up the scarring of my arm, as well as a glove to cover my hand. And being who I was, nobody asked about it. 

But that was beside the point. I decided to come to this place for more of a reason than just running. 

I called upon my Tool. 

My hand transformed, the black circuitry appearing across my skin and my fingertips turning metal. After the power core appeared, it sparked before activating. 

Although the power core was damaged, it still had marvelous abilities. The most important aspect of the core was its nigh infinite power. The only thing that was damaged was the throughput of that power. So instead of being able to terraform entire landscapes and synthesize any element out of mere air, it was now restricted to basic construction. 

Looking at the floor nearby, I pointed my clawed hand. A rock then rose from the grass, floating over and atop my palm. 

And with a thought, the rock was ground and crushed with a few arcs of lightning, turning to small chunks that fell through my fingers. 

Nothing more than rough pulverization, yet using the deepest laws of physics. It seemed like although there were slight deviations in the laws of this dimension, it wasn’t drastic enough to affect basic functions. 

There was still gravity and electromagnetism, and all the myriads of principles like tensile strength, pressure, and density still applied. 

And the Tool tapped into these forces all the same, allowing it to break a rock apart bit by bit. 

One issue though was how the Tool had adapted to this universe. 

The Tool contained a repository of just about all the knowledge I could possibly ask for. It could be said to be an archive documenting every significant aspect of a civilization’s development from beginning to end. 

And I had already tested recalling this knowledge. This archive was where I found the information about cement. 

But even just gathering that informaiton took an odd toll. 

The Tool directly wrote all manner of information about cement straight into my mind. All different types of cement, their endless lists of properties, all their different ingredient lists and proportions, all the different ways to process them…

Everything was shoved into my head, giving me a horrible migraine. And from that expanse of information, I had to sort through everything and grab what I wanted, ending in that single page of information about cement. 

Thankfully, when the Tool gave me the information, it resulted in an odd awareness of everything, as if I could ‘see’ all the information at once. It made picking things out very easy, but for that duration, my mind was still under a lot of stress. 

For what reason the Tool had resorted to this method of accessing its archive, I had no idea. 

And after the process ended, all the vast amounts of information gradually faded away, my brain only remembering the things I focused on. 

It was weird. 

But that function was easily the most important function. The knowledge of technology and science was monumentally valuable in this primitive world. Even more than my tool’s ability to use it.

After sitting around for a bit, I set my sights on a nearby tree. 

Like with the rock, I brought up my hand and pointed. From the claws came sparks and light that shot toward the tree. 

That’s when my vision changed. I could see all the energy of the Tool as it was projected across the rough bark of the tree, energy that nobody should be able to see, and my mind was filled with the Tool’s operation. 

Its functions were like code in my brain, making me totally aware of every action I could and couldn’t take, as well as the energy consumption at every moment in time. 

It was like my brain had become a part of the computer, in a way. 

And I knew that I needed to operate it personally. Things wouldn’t happen without my input, so I expressed my desires. 

And light shone. 

*Zzt!*

Sparks flew, and some rays of light shone on sections of the tree. These rays slowly sliced through the bark and wood without burning or harming any of the material in the process. 

It was slow, far from the true power of the Tool. But after less than a minute, the tree fell. 

And when it hit the floor, it didn’t just crash with a thud, but fell apart in segments. 

I saw the cleanly cut wood planks crash among each other. They weren’t treated or even dried, but they had been shaped perfectly. 

Then, I pointed my hand, and the planks rose. Their ends were cut into varied shapes as they floated in the air and pieced themselves together. 

Their cut ends merged perfectly, and before long, all the planks had been used to form the edges of a wooden cube. 

I smiled. 

With this Tool, although I couldn’t warp the earth like a god, I would still be able to bring about precision construction. Factories that this world couldn’t make would all be possible under my hand. 

Of course, so long as I kept it hidden. Otherwise I’d be the target of an unprecedented witch hunt. 

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