Of course it's not going to be that easy. I had two days left into the deadline for the first trial, and to successfully pass it, I had to present a fully functional ship. At the very least I believe that's what the 'give it life' part of the riddle meant. So without a doubt, at this point in time, there could not be any complications.
"Okay first things first, what's your name, and what are you?" I asked the woman as she raised an eyebrow at me.
"You're a weirdo, but okay. The names Dinah, I'm a Maenad, well only half anyway. My other half happens to be a dwarf, which explains my height." She answered me.
"Ummmm? Okay? That's nice I guess. But what's a Maenad?"
I was sure I've heard about them before, and not in the game, but rather outside, in the real world, but I couldn't remember where. It was Mack who offered an explanation.
"Maenad's are for lack of a better term, supernatural party animals. Just like fauns or satyrs, they usually have a discerning trait of a wool or pelt based animal. The Common ones are usually either the horns and legs of a goat, ram or sheep. Those with more rarer features tend to be quite powerful. They're or were servants of the wine Gods, and are for lack of another better term, Sultry and sexy, Orgy loving, blood sacrifice making, wild party dancing cultists. Have excellent abilities with illusions, can party harder than anything, quite good with witchcraft, and love sex beyond what you can consider normal unless your were a succubus or siren."
I blinked my eyes, and then I blinked it again, looking from Mack back to Dinah as I tried to picture the diminutive but still sexy looking woman in front of me as an Orgy loving party freak. I can't say that I see it, but at least she's got the sultry and sexy part down.
"Okay, now that we're done knowing what we all are. Can you guys please tell me how the hell I'm supposed to fix that ship? That is what you guys broke me out of pirate jail for right?"
"Okay what! You guy's broke her out of pirate jail?" I asked as I turned to face Jack and Mack.
"When you asked us to look for a blacksmith and those other professions. We were told of a legendary engineer and Alchemist that was being held prisoner by the pirate king because she spiked his drink and those of his crew when they forcefully suggested having a gangbang with her as their prime candidate. They had their gangbang alright, but the unfortunate female was the pirate king's favorite wife."
Well my God! That was sinister. I couldn't help but have some sort of new found respect for this woman whose head just reached underneath my jaw. This sort of proves that she was more than capable of taking care of herself, and she had principles, despite being a member of an Orgy loving race.
"All right Dinah, tell me what's wrong, and what do you need?"
"Thanks. The ship's engine room is toast, heck the engine that powers it is in complete shambles. But that's the least of our problems, the ships structural integrity is totally and completely messed up, it needs an entirely new frame, and shields for it. And it has to be made of metals strong enough to not just resist the elements and the ravages of time, but resistant against magic, skills and any other sort of scientific threats.
Problem is it's going to cost a pretty penny, and a shit load of manpower to carry out. We need to get a new engine, but it can't be something already made, we have to custom make an engine for the ship ourselves, as it runs on a power source I've never seen or heard of before. That big ass black pearl, has enough juice in it to dwarf a freaking star ten times the size of this planet! The only reason we're not burnt to a crisp, is because the pearl is layered, and each layer is protected by spell barriers and wards.
That pearl is not a power source, it's more like the gem that's placed on top of a magic staff, with skills of it's own. Though all of them are sealed now, and it would take me a really long time to hack into it. The ship's electrical system has to be remade from bottom up, so does it's computer system. You're lucky it's navigation system is magical and locked onto that compass, which means there's not much of a problem. And those are the only two good news I can give you, you have a power source, and the ship knows it's left from it's right even though it's crippled. Oh! And also your weapon's system is toast, and very, very old."
"Wow, that's...…..that's a lot of problems. Okay tell me what we need to fix all this, and the fastest method to do so. Also outline the best and fastest, and the cheapest and fastest."
"seriously, are you that cheap. How're you going to pay me once I'm done fixing your damn ship?" She asked me with her eyes narrowed in a glare.
"Don't your worry your pretty little head, money is not a problem. Also have this, can it help?" I said as I gave her the blueprints for the Ion Pulse Cannon and the Dragon Star engine.
"Sweet heavens above! The Ion Pulse Cannon is rare, but it's still quite mainstream and could be gotten if you have the right connections. However the materials and even the blueprints required to build the damn thing cost up to two hundred gold dollars, not mention the coupling and manpower. It's a good piece of tech, usable in all terrains including space!
But the real treasure, is this star dragon engine. This shit is a legend, a bedtime story engineers tell their apprentices and their children. About a couple million years ago, there was a thriving civilization of elemental dragons: and while the mainstream story will tell you about how evil and tyrannical their reign was, what really fascinates archeologist and history buffs is the fact that the elemental dragons are hands down the progenitors of modern science and technology. And this engine is one of their crowing jewels. With it, there's no need for a hyper drive or a warp drive engine. According to legends, this baby could bend and fold space on it's own, traveling great distances in seconds and sometimes, even through time!
But we still need more. While this does solve our problems, it opens up an avenue of new ones. The fastest way to fix this ship, is to take it to an auto shop which uses Industrial nanites to break down and build up its form quickly and according to tailored programming. But even then we will need to buy the materials needed for the repairs, and according to my estimates, we'll be spending three to five million gold dollars. The cheapest way...…."
"Wait! Did you say nanites?" I interrupted her.
"Yeah that's what I said." She answered me, looking a little confused at my outburst.
I gave her a wide grin as I opened my inventory and brought out three twelve inch tall and five inch wide cylinders, along with a glass case that had a golden beetle trapped in it. I handed them both to her, and I couldn't help but smile as I saw her eyes widen and her hands began to shake.
"I'm not going to ask you where you got this from. But having a chance to work with these has me so hot for you right now. With this I could cut down the repair time to eight maybe ten hours. I still need money for the materials needed to rebuild the ship, and with the master Nanite, I can Incorporate it into the ship's new computer system. Which means as long as you have enough materials, and a good engineer on board the ship, any and all damage and faults will be fixed in seconds. They'll be like the ship's very own red blood cells or something. So give me the money I need now, I'll have your ship ready to sail by tomorrow morning, thankfully this Patmosian city nestled within the branches of the tree has a massive hardware outlet. I could build a freaking starship if I wanted."
I shrugged my shoulders and transferred 15 million into her account. At first she wanted to leave, but when she saw the amount of money she paused and turned to me.
"This is a little much than what I asked for?"
"I know. Use what you need, and whatever is left is your salary for the next three months. You did say I needed a good engineer on board, so congratulations you got the job." I said to her.
"I've not even said yes, neither did I say anything about needing a job. I could run away with this much money and leave a very comfortable life, without you being none the wiser, not to mention the blueprints in my hand will make me a whole lot of money if sold to the right people. You can't be this gullible right?" She asked me with a perplexed look on her face.
"No I'm not. But I like you, I like what you can do, and I want you to work for me. If you do so, I'm sure I can make you the greatest, the most respected, and the richest engineer the universe has ever seen. Plus you get to have awesome adventures, and not have to look over your shoulder your entire life. Because let me be honest with you, if you betray me, I'll kill you, and I'll find everyone you love and kill them too. I protect my people, give them the best of what life has to offer and make sure no one hurts them. But if you break my trust, even the sin dragons won't save you from me. So please stick with me for a bit, at least for a month. If you don't want to stay after that, you can take the money and leave."
She didn't say anything else, but I was sure she knew the threat was real. But what really surprised me was the fact that I knew I wasn't bluffing. Something's changed in me, I just hope it's not a bad change. She nodded her head and left the room.
"I take it you guys are now my bodyguards right?" I asked Jack with a smile on my face.
"The minister felt it was better for us to be by your side, due to recent events. We'll be protecting you with all that we have." Jack answered.
I wanted to scoff at that answer, Dinah was right, I wasn't that gullible. They're not bodyguards, they're baby sitters. Left here to watch over me and everything that I'll be doing. I didn't mind though, having them around made things a little easy for me. After all, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
"Darke keep an eye on Dinah for me, but keep out of sight would you. And Mack, Zack I need you two to look for someone for me, well two people actually. I need you to find a Patmosian called Qitar, and the paladin I faced during my fifth and final fight in the knockout round. Can you guys do that?" I asked them both.
They nodded their heads and left the room in a very soldier like manner. Then I turned to Jack with a grin on my face that was so sinister that even Sky felt shivers from it.
"Jack, first let's get a scabbard for my new sword, and then how about a friendly spar?"