I resumed the operation once the maid had left, I pressed gently on the back of Hextias' skull. There was a soft click and her body went limp, a tiny yellow crystal slowly came out, I pulled it out and placed it onto the bed and took an extremely bright purple core from my pocket and inserted it into the socket. This core would last for 150 years, though we would probably move her to a stronger body long before that.
A few moments went by and I started to worry that it had all gone wrong when I felt her body tense back up. I wiped the sweat off of my brow and hopped off the bed when I turned around the sight of Hextia bending over to pick up her bodysuit from the floor greeted me while her voice filled my mind.
"-Thank you, master, this core is so much stronger I will have no problem making enough splinters to keep you safe during your adventures.-" I walked over to her while she pulled on the bodysuit and helped her zip it up, "Thank you Hextia. With you by my side, I can wade my way through any battlefield."
We walked to the lab and had Hextia put on her armor, I still had another body in the cabinet so I outfitted another skeleton while she began making splinters. I read the letter after confirming the splinter limit was eight, while she could make more splinters but couldn't assimilate them. The letter was straightforward in the fact that all it had was for me to get to the guild asap, it was in the evening already but it wasn't as if I had anything better to do.
I had to wait for the bodies to arrive to have Hextia fully outfitted and I suppose I could check in at Baines and purchase some more ammo and find out if they were getting closer to finishing those robes if Hextia was able to wear one out in the field than it was unlikely for her to be found and targeted.
Of course, they would have to realize she was controlling the troops. I watched as Hextia practiced with two bodies at once, she could handle two but if she needed to move her own body then they would become a bit accident prone which made me realize that even she would need to practice and work hard. "Alright Hextia, are you ready for your first trip into the city?"
She turned and gave me a light smile, "-I am looking forward to it master!-" It took a few minutes before she could walk all three bodies without incident but we managed to get to the garage, Rin and a few attendants met us at the shuttle and we all boarded the vessel. Rin sat on my lap as we flew to the city, I was going to be keeping my class change and Hextias birth a secret until I had amassed enough strength to make sure she wouldn't be taken away from me.
As we got closer to the city I was thinking of ways to grow stronger, personal strength was necessary but there was more to life than the strength of one person. I couldn't be everywhere all at once if I was away who would protect those close to me?
What would keep my enemies at bay? Could it be respect, morals, righteousness? That could work, it would gain me plenty of allies and friends, but that would be entrusting my back to people who had shifting loyalties? I could mingle with those people who wear fake smiles in the light while in the dark they only wanted me to stumble.
There was no point to being solely in the light when the world itself did not operate on the order of laws, there were barely rules within the city with murder and theft being dealt out by those who had the might to do it in plain sight or those who could fade into the shadows. Fear on the other hand was a deterrent that could keep the mongrels at bay, but how to induce that fear was a true test.
As I was plotting our next move we arrived at the tower, I sent Rin and the attendants to Baines while I left to deal with the guild summons. Without the kirin it took us about twenty minutes to reach the guildhall, strangely the streets were packed for this time of night. The guildhall was a swarm of adventurers, talking loudly or in whispers about potential news though others maintained their calm and kept to their own groups.
I even saw a few old acquaintances of my last party, for the most part, they looked fine no worse for wear than the last time he saw them. I turned away and walked to the overcrowded desk where he found that seductive manager of mine.
She looked up when I got to the counter and smiled up at me, "Oh Ali! Welcome back, as beautiful as ever I see. Did you come all the way here to see me or did you only come because you received the summons?" she got up and walked over to me and held onto my arm and led me to a private room.
I sat down in my usual chair but Sett leaned against the table, showing off her amazing pair of legs, her black skirt had ridden up making the view extremely dangerous. She sat back on the table and crossed one leg over the other, 'green, oh crap.' I looked up seeing that devilish little smirk of her that screamed 'I caught you!'
"Ahem!"
I cleared my throat, "So what is the reason for the summons Sett?" she looked at me with that smirk luckily she decided to spare me, for now. She tapped her tablet and a contract of non-disclosure was sent to my own tablet. The meaning was quite clear, sign and find out now or wait and find out later, though finding out later would mean I wouldn't be prepared for whatever was happening, I signed it and waited for her to continue.
She confirmed the signature and put her playful side away, "Well it isn't good, remember those nests you had fun in last time? Well we sent a highly respected ranked silver assassin in there after a few similar reports, we lost a few parties like yours so we had to investigate, but what she found was worth her pay."
She took a moment to enjoy one of the snacks on the table before continuing, "She passed the third level, turns out that there are 13 layers or more but she only could go as far as 13. For most of the levels you only saw a few level increases but on the last few levels were monsters only silver ranked adventurers and up could handle. Normally we would just contract every adventurer to go and purge the nests but the number of deaths inside their tunnels would be absurd, but the assassin brought back evidence that this goblin city is preparing to attack the neighboring towns before they eventually come here."
I felt a cold chill on my spine, "You said before coming here? If they plan to march on the city then why not annihilate them now?"
Her shoulders slumped and she had a look of concern on her face, "Ali, this isn't the only goblin nest of this scale, heck it's not even just goblins, there are kobolds to the northeast of the city with the goblins in the southwest. There is the possibility of other nests we haven't found as well, but it looks like the city has slowly been surrounded. The summons is just to marshal as many people go to the villages and defend them while the resources they have are collected and the villagers are evacuated. The consensus was to let them attack the city in a battle of attrition."
She hadn't finished speaking when I sent a message to Owen I didn't tell him the specifics, only to begin plans fortifying the manor and our land for a possible invasion, I also had him send Warren to me immediately, there was now a need to go on a shopping spree even if some of those things would need to take from those not deserving of certain products.
Sett just watched while I skirted the rules of the nondisclosure agreement since she was willing to look the other way than I should offer her something in return. I gave her my contact info and the address for the manor, "If you need a place to stay during the invasion you should come by, my home will be very secure compared to most places, it is out of the way and hard to find and well-defended."
She smiled warmly at the invitation. With the briefing done I needed to make some arrangements for my troops, Sett walked me to the entrance of the guildhall once we reached the door I gave her a hug and whispered into her ear, "You can always come home Sett, I would never let anything happen to my second wife," when I pulled away from the hug she latched on and embraced me.
She pushed forward till we were in a corner, in such a large crowd we didn't gain much attention, she pressed me up against the wall and whispered into my ear. With the heat of her breath still on my ear, I took her by the hand and left the guildhall, I may have had things to do tonight but there was now something I had on my mind that had nothing to do with the problems the city faced.
I led Sett to Baines' Armory so we could introduce her to Rin, when I got there Rin looked a bit shocked, "Rin this is Sett you two will need to get along in the future ok? We don't have a lot of time for a formal introduction just remember you joined me first so if she tries to bully you let me know." I kissed the still confused girl, I could hear the words the 'first wife' being mumbled from behind me. After the kiss with Rin, I went to the counter where Baine was watching with an amused smile.
"Alright Baine time for business, as I'm sure you're aware things in this city aren't looking too bright, if you would like to set up a workshop outside the city in case you need a place to work I hope you will consider me first."
She kept her smile and leaned forward on the counter, "I have heard the rumor that there might be a disaster on its way, didn't think it was bad enough for the Avarith family to abandon ship so soon."
Well, at least Baine was informed, "If we were abandoning ship I would sell all my assets and get on a ship to leave this planet. The city will be fine, well the inner portion will survive, but for the outer and middling districts, their fate will be bleak. The time to recruit has already started, and I am late to the party so if you haven't received an invitation then you have probably stayed under the radar of the other large forces in the city. Sides I'm not like other families if you camp with me you still have your rights to sell your wares however you see fit and you can design the forge however you like."
At the sound of a personally designed forge, her eyes lit up, "What is the price?" she asked readying herself for the hook.
Thinking of the benefits and costs of having her on my side I decided that it was best to keep everyone happy, "I want the reapers robe set to be only sold to me, while my estate takes a 20% discount when purchasing your wares."
The look on her face was priceless, most families would ask for a 70% discount and just provide materials gouging her profits while she would probably need to purchase materials and tools out of her own pocket, but this was more like gaining a VIP client who wanted a premium product while giving her a new workshop.
"DEAL! You can't take it back okay?"
I raised my hands "alright alright give me a moment and we can have a contract written up, go ahead and arrange anything you need to be moved from here to your new home and please move quickly there will be a ship docked at the tower till 3 AM at platform 69. You will have clearance within the hour, oh and do you have the means to purchase class B cannons and their ammo?"
She stared at me with a blank face, "do you know how hard it is to even get C class cannons? I can probably build a B class cannon in a month while making a C class will take me about a week, not to mention the cost of materials and tools to make them. What in the world do you want with cannons that large? At best I can get you D class cannons with limited ammo unless you can purchase the equipment for me to make more."
Well, that was to be expected, C class cannons were outfitted to small and medium-sized ships and fired standard ammunition, while B class were for larger ships and could fire bolts of energy that could force a seraph to retreat. Well since I can't get my hands on them then I suppose D class will have to do, though I can ask Owen what became of the wreckage of my father's flagship. "Go ahead and get the cannons and forward the bill to me," I typed out the contract and presented it to her, "it would be best to vacate the city after tonight as it is going to get a little crazy."
All over the city his wolves were purchasing materials, ammunition, and food that would let them survive for years within the manor. There were even a few construction companies hired to start building a set of walls around a good portion of land and to begin another wall around the manor. There was even plenty of business at the slave dens, except for one, as the night carried on the wolves who had finished their tasks would go to a particular brothel in the southern portion of the middle district.
While my wolves were moving about their tasks I walked into my favorite puppet shop 'String Theory', a good portion of my funds was going to remain here after tonight.