These days passed by,
Today Tornwall was in a very cheerful mood, First thing he did in the morning was to get some new clothes to make a good presentation in front of John today as he was very excited about the results of his personal testing of the small prototype he had recently made, he was more excited about the surprise he had prepared today.
After arriving at the forge,
Tornwall managed the things which were required and ordered Redbeer immediately, "Hey Red, today you will be the one who will be in charge of handling the forge today, make sure that work runs smoothly like always"
Redbeer grinned and asked Tornwall as he seemed quite happy today, "Tornwall, today you seem quite happy, is there some occasion today? I don't remember giving you a Box of beers to you in recent days?"
Tornwall laughed sheepishly and said to Redbeer, "hohoho, that's true there is one occasion I hope to get a piece of good news from Lord as I just finished one of his personal works. Well, don't even try to get more information from me, it's one of his classified works, you guys will only be involved in it later on. right now its all under wraps. I am only telling you as you will most likely be involved later on."
Redbeer sighed a bit and said to Tornwall, "Hmm... I can only wait. anyways just contributing to this project would be great for me since it is classified. its good to know that I will be included in that project later on.
Anyway, you should hurry and not make Lord wait for you."
Tornwall hurriedly left as he handed over his duties to Redbeer, "Ohh right! Meet you later on, Make sure to keep a watch when others are handling the forge."
John just arrived from his training from Melanie's Pharmacy, as he improved his learning in Pharmacy, he was getting formidable day by day, as a pharmacist, he dabbled in all types of herbs every day.
Vlad met him as he arrived and asked him as he saw John's rare smile today, "It seems you are quite happy today, did you master something new today?"
John replied as always to Vlad, "Well that's true, I got a lesson on poison making and neutralization from Master today and I thought it was very interesting. She also gave me a technique for poison resistance However it was very complicated as it required a lot of herbs and could only be practiced in multiple various stages."
Vlad was very shocked as he asked John in a very serious tone, "Is it the nine-flower poison resistance technique? It's quite surprising for her to give that technique to anyone, she hadn't even given that technique to her direct kin. I wonder what you did to make her give that technique to you?"
Vlad thought and murmured in a small voice that John could hear, "She even crippled one of her sons who tried to steal and sell this technique at the imperial city. Well nevermind, you don't have to get involved as its an event from long back in past."
John thought 'I never knew it was such an incredibly valuable book that she would injure her own kin if it was misused.'
John asked one of his queries, "Vlad tell me something, I have seen a lot of books regarding Poison resistance but compared to them this requires a lot more resources."
"Well, this is something which Melanie told us when we traveled in the past, the most peculiar thing about this book is its ability to show greater effects at later stages. while the other techniques in the market would have a lot of risks and side-effects while some would not be as effective. However, the thing in your hand would be most useful as you are a potioneer and pharmacist. You will understand it more when you research it more deeply as it shows its effects only later on."
"It was also a coincidence for Melanie in the past, as she chanced upon the book and she had a lot of resources because of her frequent traveling."
John thought as heard Vlad's opinion on the technique, 'Maybe I should combine all those poison techniques and make an exclusive technique just for me.'
***
At Melanie's pharmacy, she was doing double work these days from usual as she had to make medicine for John and Jake.
Melanie sneezed and one of her bottles containing one potion fell, She irritatingly said, "Who is talking behind my back? It must be that old bastard gossiping about me behind my back."
***
At John's Mansion,
Taylor saw that Tornwall came today, as he was present previously. He immediately welcomed him to the guest house,
Taylor came in the backyard where both John and Vlad were conversing.
Watching Taylor come, he understood that there would be some matter that he needed to inform,
"Come in, so what's the matter?"
Taylor looked at Vlad for a bit
"It's okay." John signaled Taylor as John himself knew that a lot of industries were in protection by Vlad with the collaboration of both of them so there was nothing to hide currently.
Taylor then replied to John as he saw his signal, "Master, its Tornwall who wants to see you today."
Hearing both he and Vlad understood what Taylor meant when he mentioned Tornwall,
John thought and decided, "hmm... it's okay, bring him in."
John sheepishly changed his tone and asked Vlad, "Master I would like to make a request to you when it comes to our newly produced Ballista"
Vlad was quite amused but he smiled and said to him, "Well, the contract is already signed so it can't be taken back as it is signed with the Blue-sea house with me being their representative, if it is regarding the deal, then the terms cant be changed unless you have a very good reason."
"Ohh, it not regarding any changes in the current deal, I wanted to request Master if we can make the announcement of prototype testing and its start of production a secret. It would be better for both of us if we can keep the firepower of this weapon under wraps. I wanted to build one under par type of Ballista so we can keep an illusion regarding the true firepower of this weapon. So effectively we will control the information of this weapon against our enemies."
Vlad laughed as he heard this and replied to him, "Ohh, such a small matter, it won't be a problem. my men stationed here are one of my most trusted men so you don't have to worry. This time there is also one of my direct subordinates who just came here recently."
John thought of someone and confirmed from Vlad, "Is it that guy who was trying to keep a low profile and guarding the Forge? He had quite sharp senses when I met him earlier."
Vlad replied as he thought about his subordinate, "That's the guy, I am sure you felt his killing intent when you met him earlier and that's how he exposed himself, well I know why he would be angry with both you and me. It is only for his training to temper him. Anyway, let's not keep Tornwall waiting for a whole day."
Both Vlad and John headed to the courtyard where Tornwall was waiting for him.
John signaled to him as he understood what Tornwall was thinking after watching Vlad's arrival and said, "It's okay, he would know it anyway, so I called him as well."
Tornwall confirmed once again,
John was irritated and said to him in a firm tone, "Continue."
Making his confirmation he said to John as he brought his documents which consisted of all the plans in front of John so he can explain to him easily, "Master, I have already made two prototypes, 1st one is the bigger prototype and 2nd one I made is a miniature one of the current original. And this time I am pretty assured that our original prototype will be a success as well."
After looking at the document, John said to him, "First lets head to see the prototype, theory won't work if it isn't practically applicable, let's watch it and decide about it later on after we see the original one in action as well."
Vlad was watching it from the sidelines and he was quite happy after hearing John's answer as it matched his ideas when it came to practicality.
John immediately ordered, "Taylor If anyone visits, make sure to tell them that I am currently training with Vlad and I don't want to be disturbed, we will go to the Forge from the back with Vlad's carriage and Test our prototype at the Wilds."
***
After some time they arrived at the forge, a lot of people from forge recognized the carriage as it belonged to the Bluesea house. People at the forge were already familiar with men from Bluesea house so it was not a surprise for them to watch this carriage coming here frequently.
John and Vlad gave their token to Tornwall as he headed inside the forge,
Tornwall headed inside the forge and ordered some of the guards to load the prototype in another carriage and hide it well. Tornwall already showed both the tokens to the guard who understood the meaning that today would be the testing of the weapon in secret grounds.
One of the guards headed out to meet the people in the carriage,
After confirming that men handling the carriage were the ones who usually escorted Diana or Vlad, he didn't move further to confirm more as he moved ahead to follow his duties of escorting the prototype.
Vlad watched this scene from inside the carriage as he smiled a bit, "Its good that he is always careful and confirms things thoroughly."
After everything was loaded, all the carriages headed to the wilds while Vlad's men tailed them only after some time so that people don't think anything was different from usual.
One of the men escorting them asked, "So what do you think will be the firepower of the weapon they made under such a strict observation?"
Another man said, "Who knows, Maybe it will be a failure like it usually happens however they are always thorough when it comes to keeping closed secrets."
"Haha, that's true that is also one of the reasons why veterans are trusted more and given higher pay. I only joined recently."
"You are quite lucky to join this early, maybe you caught the eye of someone who wants to promote you later on."
Head of the escorts shouted after they entered the wild, "Anyway, focus on our mission for now, everyone here will be given a bonus later on regardless of the results, so I don't want people slacking during important work."
All the men roared in unison as they heard about a bonus and replied to the head, "Yes, Sir."