The Storm King

Leon stared at his work, now finished, a strange feeling of relief, apprehension, and pride in his heart.

Pride in what he’d created. Apprehension at how it might perform. Relief that it was done. More relief that all of his toil seemed to have paid off.

His new armor was a dark, smoky gray, the color of storm clouds. Black marbly streaks crisscrossed its surface like lightning, while the smaller pieces bore faint dark flame-like patterns. Each piece of pseudo-Adamant plating radiated magic power, even disassembled as they were. The breastplate, in particular, almost glowed from the magic it contained—due in no small part to the tau pearl, Leon was sure.

The cuirass was a single piece of metal, combining the breastplate and backplates into one perfectly tailored piece that was slim in the waist and broader in the chest. If Leon hadn’t been able to pull it into his soul realm and summon it back on his body, it would’ve been damned difficult to get into. It covered him completely from hip to shoulder, was slightly rounded to deflect blows, and featured as its only ‘useless’ decoration—aside from the lightning and fire patterns that the smelting process had given it—an ivory griffin in profile right over Leon’s heart.

The griffin wasn’t only decorative, lodged behind it where it was hidden from view was the tau pearl. Woven through the griffin and through the thicker plating over Leon’s chest were many defensive enchantments, and within those were more that were specifically designed to hide the pearl from any prying eyes. It was so well-hidden that Leon didn’t think anyone would even know the pearl was there unless they tore the plate apart; and given how strong the metal and enchantments within it were, that would be a herculean feat to pull off.

With the tau pearl in place, his armor could project a shield of light in two different ways. The first would completely surround his body in a strong oval shell of translucent white light, while the second would project a stronger, more opaque shield in only one direction—a result of inspiration that struck him during the creation process. His armor could also use the power of the tau to heal any injuries he might sustain, and even heal others that he touched.

His forearms and biceps would be covered entirely by single-piece plates, while an additional series of smaller interlocking plates would be layered over them. Within these smaller plates was a slot on each of his forearms, protected from view and danger, into which he could pull and summon different enchanted gemstones that would alter the enchantments within his gauntlets.

Or so he hoped, they still needed to be tested.

His helmet was nearly identical to his old helmet, being completely closed-face, with only a narrow upside-down wedge-shaped slit for his eyes. Thanks to his power, he didn’t even need good airflow, which he exploited to add even more armor to his face—though, just for his own comfort, there were a few air enchantments woven into his helmet to compensate. The stylized ear-like wings that were on his old helmet were still present on this one, but a little smaller and pulled back just a bit.

His leg protection was generally made of larger plates, with long bands of riveted metal protecting his thighs, and long knee-high metal boots protecting the rest, all of it just as heavily enchanted as his old boots had been with enhancements to speed and strength. The biggest difference was that when he needed to swim, his boots would no longer project large fins of ice for him to use. Instead, the job of not only propelling him through the water but flying through the air would be the job of his belt.

His belt was one of the pieces that he was most proud of, for it represented a huge generational leap in the capabilities and accessibility of his flight suits. It was his sixth generation, and unlike all his previous generations, it didn’t work by using jets of air as propulsion but worked more in line with his new flight technique—it greatly aided him in seizing control of the air around him and lifting himself off the ground. Even better, he’d designed it to work underwater, too, using a nearly identical technique that seized control of surrounding water rather than air. So powerful and accessible was it that he’d made similar belts for the rest of his family and retinue, letting them fly just as easily as he could.

Additional plates covered other vulnerable areas of his body, including mildly prominent angular pauldrons that looked almost like furled wings thanks to the marbled texture to the metal. Beneath his plates he wore a suit of lighter, smoky-gray scale armor made with leftover pseudo-Adamant that covered his body almost in its entirety, while beneath that was a thick suit of gambeson. Neither were nearly as heavily enchanted as his plates, but both carried at least a few strengthening enchantments to help resist any magical or physical attacks.

Of course, being infused with his power, his scale armor didn’t necessarily need enchanting, but Leon had wanted to be as thorough as possible.

Next to his armor lay a dozen bright gemstones of varying colors, each one only the size of the last digit on his little finger. Each one was covered in runes so tiny that they were nearly imperceptible, which would slot into his gauntlets and change the enchantments therein.

Half of the gems were designed similarly to the anti-magic bracelets that he’d used against Jormun, but far more refined. They’d hopefully disrupt magic of each element save for lightning, which Leon was confident he could deal with on his own—not to mention lightning was his primary battle magic and using lightning disrupting weapons at the same time he was trying to use lightning magic was only going to end in frustration and possible injury or death.

The other half of the gems were designed for more specific purposes. He had a black and red onyx that could create a thin scalpel of fire which burned white-hot and should cut through just about any mundane material, and probably most magical materials, too. Another piece of onyx, this one redder than the last, was much simpler, able to shoot off powerful fireballs with greater mana efficiency than Leon was capable of doing on his own—which was saying something.

A piece of lapis he’d enchanted to create a more traditional shield of ice than the shield of light that his tau pearl powered. A pale gray moonstone could allow him to telekinetically influence stone. A white topaz was designed to fire off a thin beam of damaging light.

Finally, a black opal was designed to shroud him in shadows, making his body not only immaterial, but also imperceptible as well. If it worked as designed, he could even give his ring of invisibility to someone else, or better yet, make more shadow cloaks for the rest of his retinue so that all of his people could have great stealth capabilities.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t the time to test any of this with any degree of reliability. He channeled some of his magic into each of the gems, ensuring that his magic could at least power the enchantments he’d designed, but that was about it. He was encouraged, though, to see that his enchantments had been at least properly applied, and that none of them failed to activate. It was just how well they fulfilled their function that he needed to verify.

But he’d run out of time to do so, for in only a few hours, he’d be heading off the Scorched Fields to prepare to deal with the wyverns as they came down from their aeries, seeking huge amounts of food for their hatching young. In fact, Leon was already running just a little bit late, and the rest of his retinue should already be at his home, waiting on him.

With a sigh of disappointment that he couldn’t spend the next few weeks rigorously testing his new armor, Leon pulled all of his work into his soul realm and, for the first time in a month, left his workshop.

Immediately upon locking the place down and walking out the door, he projected his magic senses. He saw in his front courtyard, being seen to by the beastmaster that he kept on staff, a huge reptilian creature covered in dark green scales that was almost apelike in appearance. It had a pair of shorter, stumpier legs in the back, while in front it had two huge, heavily muscled legs that were only two opposable thumbs away from being arms. It moved mostly upright, but its head was massive and crocodilian, with a long, fang-filled snout and ten pairs of eyes all over its huge skull. Balancing out this enormous head was an even bigger tail that looked strong enough to crush a third-tier mage’s head with a single blow.

This monster was the result of the Attican Snapper egg that Leon had taken years ago on his way through the Ilumerian Wetlands. Such monsters were rarely used as war beasts given their savage, unruly nature. They were beasts through and through and couldn’t be tamed by any but the greatest and most patient beastmasters.

Leon was not even a semi-competent beastmaster, but with the onyx bracelet he’d taken from Jormun, the Attican Snapper had been subjugated and quite easily tamed. The beastmaster he kept on staff to see to Anzu and any other visiting mount frequently expressed shock at how little trouble the monstrous creature gave him.

However, even though Leon had been the one to use the onyx bracelet upon the snapper, he’d eventually had to conclude that he simply didn’t have the time to deal with beasts in this way. He didn’t want to just foist them off onto his beastmaster, having no personal connection to creatures that were supposed to be his personal war beasts. As a result, when Anna expressed quite a bit of interest in it, he gave her the onyx bracelet, and the Attican Snapper along with it. She’d taken to it with enthusiasm, and the snapper had become her personal mount and war beast. It couldn’t move too quickly, but it was physically strong with rippling muscle that Leon’s beastmaster nourished with an extremely high-quality diet, and magically strong at the fifth-tier already.

That the snapper was here meant that Anna was here, too, for she rarely left the creature alone anywhere, except in her own personal stable, or in Leon’s stable. As tame as the snapper was, it made a lot of people uncomfortable.

Leon hurried into his home. He hated the idea that others were waiting on him, which they almost certainly were at this point. He found them waiting in his dining room, snacking and chatting quietly as he walked in. His family was there as well, and all eyes turned to him as he passed under the marble arch that separated the dining room from the main living room.

“Husband!” Elise cried out as Leon appeared, standing up so quickly she almost knocked her chair over. After he locked himself in his workshop for the better part of the month, she’d come to visit him in his workshop at least once a day after the most dangerous parts of the production process was concluded, but it was clear to everyone that she’d been long waiting for him to emerge.

Without another word, Leon strode over and took his wife in his arms, locking lips and he squeezed her against himself. He’d not intended to launch into such a project so soon after Sunlight, but the wyvern hunt demanded it, and at least now, thankfully, he could finally cross his armor off his to-do list. They only parted when Alix poked fun at them by jokingly cheering.

Leon and Elise separated, but neither were in the slightest bit embarrassed, despite the mild amusement in most of the others’ expressions. In fact, Leon then gave Maia and Valeria equally passionate, if slightly more truncated greetings.

And then he turned his attention to his retinue.

Alix, having cheered, drew his attention first. His former squire had cut her hair short, her brown locks stopping about halfway down her neck. Her fifth-tier aura was robust and powerful, and Leon could feel something that almost felt like static coming from her—a sign of her skill in lightning magic.

Gaius sat to her right, a good-natured grin on his face even as Leon embraced Valeria, all signs of his previous animosity toward Leon now a thing of distant memory. He, too, had reached the fifth-tier, and his aura was as solid as the stone he manipulated with his earth magic.

To Gaius’ right sat Marcus, a serene smile on his face to match his own gentle fifth-tier aura. He’d learned to use light magic, and though it was generally almost type-cast as healing magic, Leon had seen when Marcus could do with the element, and he could say for certain that it was going to be the people that stood against Marcus that would need the healing, not those who stood behind him.

On Marcus’ right sat Alcander, still just as giant and muscular as ever. However, while he sat with patience, his eyes burned with excitement and anticipation—and with the power of his fire magic, which bled a little bit into his aura. Leon had to admit that the man had quite a bit of skill and natural aptitude for the element, perhaps moreso than any of the others had with their chosen elements. He couldn’t help but feel some amount of pity for the enemies that might stand against Alcander in the future, for he’d used fire himself enough to know that death by fire was quite terrible.

To Alcander’s right sat Anna, the sixth-tier hunter still at that power level. She looked a little different than she had ten years ago, though, her hair color having changed from green to a reddish-orange. When she’d had the dye job done several years ago, Leon had learned about some of the light magic that the Sacred Golden Empire pioneered: that of body alteration.

Light magic was unparalleled with how it could manipulate the body; healing was only the most famous and arguably useful of its applications. However, the ways that light magic could interact with the body went much deeper than that, with one of the most common treatments being to change hair color—among a host of other treatments. When Anna’s treatment was complete, her hair hadn’t simply been dyed, but changed completely to the new color, eliminating the need to maintain the dye.

She hadn’t grown in power too much over the past ten years, but since she was at the sixth-tier already, she was already powerful enough that Leon wasn’t too concerned about her lack of progress. She was young enough that she had plenty of time to grow further, and she’d had other business these past few years, anyway.

Her sister, likewise, hadn’t advanced much in the magical arts, as was evident from where Helen sat to Anna’s right. She was still at the fifth-tier, but given that she’d spent most of her time focused on her alchemical studies, Leon wasn’t particularly upset at her lack of magical progress. She played a large part in his family and retinue’s financial situation being so enviable, so even if he wanted to complain, he didn’t have much of a leg to stand on.

In the past ten years, she’d whipped up enough healing potions to alleviate his retinue’s reliance on Leon’s healing spells. She’d also made a variety of other potions for them to use if the need arose, including potions to help speed up the body’s production of magic power for a short time, potions to keep the body moving even when exhaustion threatened to impair their ability to fight, and even certain salves that, if used to cover exposed portions of the body, could be used to increase stealth capabilities, turning one almost completely invisible and masking their scent. She’d also devised various alchemical bombs and poisons that Leon hadn’t hesitated to add to their growing arsenal, and potions to help them resist foreign magics, which ought to help increase their survivability in violent situations.

So, Leon couldn’t possibly be angry at her lack of magical progress when she’d already furnished them with the bountiful fruits of her alchemical labors.

The rest of the table to Helen’s right was empty, while Leon’s family sat across from his retinue. The only two who weren’t sitting at the table were Anshu and Talal. The latter stood by the door, diligently awaiting Leon’s arrival, while the former was leaning against the wall about as far as he could reasonably be from Helen, Anna, and Alix. Even after ten years, he was still maintaining his distance, but at the very least, he wasn’t avoiding the ladies of Leon’s retinue anymore or insisting that they needed to get married and stay at home, which Leon considered to be great progress.

The Indradian had focused quite single-mindedly on his magical prowess, however, perhaps feeling some competitiveness with Anna, the only woman in Leon’s retinue who wasn’t romantically attached to Leon, yet was stronger than Anshu. Leon never directly asked the Indradian the reason for his dedication, he was just happy the man wasn’t sitting on his laurels content to collect Leon’s money without working hard in turn. That diligence paid off, helping him to reach the sixth-tier.

“So, has everyone prepared themselves?” Leon asked the room as he took a seat at the head of the table, Elise taking the seat to his left.

“Of course we have!” Alcander exclaimed as he practically burst out of his chair in excitement. “What about your armor! Did you finish it? Does it do what you’ve claimed it can?!”

Leon fought the urge to laugh with pride. It took quite a bit of effort—after so long in his workshop, he felt like he could use a good emotional release.

“I’m unsure, as of yet,” Leon replied with a subtle smile. “I’m probably going to spend as much of the trip westward as I can putting the thing through its paces, though I’m not too confident we’re going to get the time I need since we’re taking a Heaven’s Eye ark to the Scorched Fields. However, the first thing I want to test is my new darkness stone—I’ve grown used to having the ability to turn invisible, and I don’t want to give that up. High on my list of priorities, meanwhile, is ensuring that all of you get similar capabilities…”

The gratitude was plain on everyone’s faces. They all knew the benefit of invisibility, and combined with the flight gear that Leon had already supplied them with, it could increase their capabilities as much as learning elemental magic did.

Leon continued, “We’ll get into the details later, and it’s mostly contingent on how well my tests go, of course. But the results of my testing will be used to upgrade all of our equipment, so all I can ask for is your patience.”

“Patience is something I think we all have in abundance at this point,” Marcus quipped, and Leon nodded in understanding. His retinue had acted almost entirely as his entourage for the past ten years, with not much of substance to do as he mostly stayed in Occulara, and only left to carry out some fairly mundane tasks for the Director. In short, while they were all stronger and more skilled in their own ways, they hadn’t yet had much of an opportunity to test their new strength, with the singular exception of the previous wyvern hunt five years ago.

“Good,” Leon said. “My armor isn’t the only thing in need of testing, though…”

He glanced at Valeria and winked, the silver-haired woman grinning mischievously in response.

But it was Alix who responded, excitedly asking, “You’re bringing that thing with us?”

Leon smirked at her and nodded, and his former squire looked like he’d just told her she’d won the lottery.

Moving on before anyone else could comment, Leon conjured a map for everyone and spread them across the table. “Once this hunt is done, we’ll be heading to the Sacred Golden Empire, so get used to these maps. It’s about time that we start going after some of these old Thunderbird ruins that appear to still be lost…”