A Hero's Rebirth Ch. 04

The glathka hit my blood like a quart of espresso. Any lingering mists of sleep were gone. I felt ready to hit PT or run into battle.

"Glathka is used to wake up, and the vornier has been developed to enhance your energy all day long." Heilantu explained, amused at seeing my reaction to the drinks.

"Wow... Seems to be working." I mused, my leg starting to bounce with restless energy.

"So what is the plan for today?" Tavorwen wondered. "No battles to fight today."

I glanced around the table. Most of the she-elves were finished with their touch of breakfast. Ki'Amura was staring at the empty plate, a bit of steam rising from her cup of glathka. She'd been sipping and if she was as disinterested as she seemed I'd be surprised. The others did nothing to hide their curiosity.

"I only have six months to prepare for the Respite to end. I wanted to see if I could learn something about bladework, and maybe visit Durithana and see about either making a new weapon or upgrading my current ones." I told them.

Those who had seen my weapons at work were shocked. Ki'Amura and those who didn't know what my weapons were capable of seemed only curious instead.

"Upgrade... What kinds of improvements could your weapons need?" Risavis marveled.

I chewed the last bit of the seared ham.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "But I have to improve them. My visit with X'Thallion yesterday made that clear."

Glances were exchanged among the battle maidens and matrons.

"But... your weapons already do such damage. What more could you need?" Creadean noted. "Even that dragon in the forest fled in fear before it."

That surprised all who hadn't been present for that skirmish.

"A dragon!?" Lymarith gasped. "When did you face a dragon!?"

"In the forest, on our way to El'Muth'Ran." I stated dismissively.

The battle oriented members of my house were somber, while those who hadn't were still marveling that I had faced a dragon.

I didn't feel like my encounter with the dragon was a real victory. I'd been able to pull a trick the dragon wasn't familiar with, and it hadn't been prepared. All it would have taken would have been the dragon knowing what it was up against and that could have gone very differently.

Combine that with the subtle suggestion from X'thallion that as I was I wouldn't be enough, and it was clear I needed to improve my weapons and skills before this six month Respite was over.

"... Well, I don't know about your weapons, but if you wanted to learn the way of the blade, Flendreir and Anbethir are accomplished dualists in their respective styles. Of the six major forms of swordsmanship, Flendreir has mastered four, and Anbethir utilizes two." Tavorwen offered. "I'm sure your maidens would be happy to teach you what they know."

"It would be my honor," Flendreir agreed.

"If I may be of aid, I would be happy to assist in any way I may." Anbethir concurred.

"I'd appreciate it," I accepted. "I don't know if I'll be capable of fighting like you guys do, but it's a good place to start."

Flendreir seemed confused. "What do you mean, Master Thomas? You seem so capable, surely you'll pick up the blade with ease."

I sighed, holding my hands up. "I don't know if you've noticed, but... Compared to any elf I've seen, my hands might as well be moving in slow motion. I might be strong, but I bet any of you could take me apart with a blade before I could make my first swing."

"Surely, you jest." Risavis laughed, "You are the hero of the elves. There is no way that..."

"I'm going to stop you there." I interrupted. "I don't know magic. I have a tiny bit of training in fighting with blades about the size of these table knives, but nothing worth taking onto a battlefield. Just because I have some skills that I've used well, doesn't mean I know everything. I plan on trying to fill in my gaps, but in some places I'm pretty sure I'll never be as good as any of you."

There was a moment of quiet.

"I still intend to help you with your magical skills!" Narusil piped up.

"And I thank you for that." I told her with a smile.

The fact that I had already cast my first spell, and aside from it being a bit poorly regulated, it had gone well.

"Speaking of which, where is the stone I cast that light spell on?" I asked.

"I still have it." Creadean confirmed. "It still shines too brightly to be viewed directly."

"Still?" Narusil gasped. "By Talnir..."

"Okay, but Flendreir... Anbethir...Do you think you could start this morning, or should I go visit with Durithana first?" I asked.

"Well..." Flendreir floundered, looking at Anbethir, "...I think it would be beneficial if I had some time. I'll want to collect a few blades in your size to see what styles you favor."

"That would be good." Anbethir agreed.

I looked down at the handgun at my waist. I couldn't help but wonder if the weapon was worth the effort by the smiths to craft it. My rifles had performed well, but I hadn't even touched my handgun. Now that I'd had a god tell me my rifles weren't good enough, was it even worth carrying? I decided that even if it wasn't the greatest tool in my arsenal, I'd rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it.

"Alright. I'll head over and see Durithana first." I acknowledged, gathering the last of my eggs with the elven equivalent of a fork, which had shorter tines and a longer handle. "Does anyone need anything before I head out?"

"I will accompany you." Tavorwen asserted, "Nauveir, Zanantha, will you join us as well?"

The indicated battle maidens nodded in acceptance.

"...um..."

A quiet voice rose from the corner by Lymarith.

"...May I come as well?" Ki'Amura asked quietly.

I turned to the she-elf that seemed to be struggling with a mess of emotion. "Of course. You are welcome."

She lowered her eyes and shrank in her chair.

I tried to let her hide from the attention she had drawn to herself, by carrying on and drawing attention back to myself.

"Flendreir, Anbethir, how long do you anticipate it taking to pull together what you wanted before you show me some swords." I redirected.

"It will probably only take me an hour to prepare." Anbethir assessed.

"I may take longer..." Flendreir conceded. "It will likely take me all morning."

"Good, that'll give me plenty of time to talk with Durithana." I accepted.

It likely wouldn't take me all that long, but I didn't want to push the members of my house too hard. Unlike with my squad where I knew their capabilities, strengths and weaknesses, I had only been with the members of my house for a number of days. Thinking about it, I'd only met Tavorwen a week ago in the Temple.

That made me pause.

One week.

In one week, I had gone from leading a SpecOps team in the Middle East on Earth to the Master of a house of elves, with one pregnant and the others hoping for the same. I had six... wives, though they claimed the title of matrons instead, with eight more already lined up like hopeful contestants on The Bachelor, and countless others hoping as well.

I was used to being valued for my ability to coordinate and utilize my rifle to cut through problems and accomplish the mission, but for at least half of my matrons and maidens, they almost didn't care about the rifle, but my other firearm was their entire goal. Shooting my shot with them had a totally different meaning. Glancing at them, I could easily remember the visual Driveal had shown me. Each of my matrons, aside from Narusil, still had my spunk held in their reproductive tracks, hoping that the time would come for their eggs to get fertilized and they'd join Narusil in carrying my kids.

Fuck.

Never thought I'd be a dad. Every girl I'd ever nutted in, either I had a rubber on or they were on the pill to make sure it didn't happen. If a girl back on earth had ever told me I'd gotten her pregnant, she'd have been pissed that the condom failed or the pill didn't work. Most of them probably would have thought about getting an abortion instead of carrying to term.

The very idea of an abortion would probably make the elves think of my homeworld as savage and horrifying. Not sure if it would change how they treated me, but I didn't think I wanted to chance it.

The walk to the tree-workshop of my smith was uneventful.

Once again, the streets were devoid of Masters or Matrons. Maidens walked about with various tasks on their mind, though I noticed that there was a slow and intentional air to their walk. Not quite a lazy, laid-back attitude, but a lack of urgency and haste. I realized that as nearly ageless beings the need to hurry about for everything didn't really make sense, unless something like war forced haste.

We walked into Durithana's tree, the ring of a hammer on metal filled the workshop.

"Be with you in a moment." Durithana called.

I looked over the contents of the table. It looked like Durithana was making new magazines for my weapons.

The she-elves who had accompanied me got comfortable. Ki'Amura slunk into the corner and mostly disappeared in the shadows. Tavorwen looked over the samples of Durithana's work hanging on her wall, blades, buckles and archer bracers and other metal plates to reinforce specific places of weakness in elven leather armor.

A couple of minutes later, Durithana emerged from the area of her forge.

"Oh! My favorite customer!" Durithana greeted me. "What can I do for you? Anything wrong with your weapons?"

I greeted her with the elven salute.

"No, for now my weapons are good." I assured her.

"...'For now'? What is that supposed to mean?" Durithana pressed.

I sunk onto one of the stools she had around the workshop, pulling my sniper onto my lap. "This might sound weird, but I spoke with X'Thallion."

Durithana blinked and I couldn't tell if she was impressed or not. "And...?"

I guess it wasn't as strange as I'd thought for someone to speak to a God here on Elendel. That would make this easier.

"Well, X'Thallion said that my weapons 'They won't be enough in the coming days'." I explained. "I was wondering... You've been following my designs in creating my firearms. I think that you've done enough that we might be able to start looking at modifying the engineering I'm familiar with to integrate elven ingenuity and magic."

Durithana watched me for a second then smiled broadly. "Oh? I did not expect to be making such attempts for another year or so. My sketches are still rough on my ideas. I'll need some more time to iron out the fine details."

She turned and pulled a few sheets of parchment out and rolled them out. One was a sketch for what looked like a new sniper, while the others were two sheets for combat rifles and one had three different iterations of handguns.

"I admit, it is hard to really know what will and won't work. Halivax had to see a healer for her hand after trying your small, er, handgun. I haven't dared try the larger weapons, lest I break my shoulder." Durithana confessed. "But here are my ideas."

I looked at her. "What do you mean, she needed to see a healer?"

Durithana seemed surprised. "Halivax, the one who tried to fire you weapon... Her hand was injured when she attempted it. I don't think any elf could fire your weapons, like you do, without suffering injury."

I gave her a doubtful look, "Really? I mean, the guns kick, sure. But surely you could fire at least one shot without hurting yourself."

Durithana looked me over, "If you don't mind, how much do you weigh?"

"Um, I'm not sure how to convert my weight to your units of measure." I confessed.

Duratnana scowled, "This is an ingot of iron, how much would you say this weighs."

I judged, "Probably between 2 and 3 pounds. Probably 2 and a half pounds."

I was glad for field training where I'd learned to gauge a lot of things like weight, distances, heights and such.

"Pounds? That is roughly one Stone in our measure," She explained.

"Stones, huh?" I did some mental math. "Let's see, I weighed 210 lbs, so that would be... Around 82-83 stones."

She nodded, "Elves weigh between 20 and 40 stones, with most being on the lighter side. We are not built nearly as sturdy as you are. I'm guessing your muscles and bones are far denser and stronger than ours, and that's why you can handle the force of these weapons."

I realized that my matrons had all felt incredibly light in my hands, and if they weighed a quarter of what I did, that would explain a few things.

"But if your bones are so frail, how can you handle wielding a sword, or a hammer?" I demanded. I'd seen her swinging pretty hard.

"Well, we have to be careful. I could really hurt myself if I'm not careful. And most swords are sharp enough the only real impact in wielding them are when direct blocks occur and elven swordsmen strive to divert and redirect attacks as opposed to direct blocks." Durithana explained.

I guess that did fit what I'd seen. Sword strikes were always bumped aside or diverted as opposed to fully blocking them, though I'd thought that was more a result of the speed at which elves fought, but if that was because they'd injure themselves fully blocking that also made sense.

I guess if that was their problem, there was a solution.

"Well, if you wanted to test my weapons, a standard practice back where I'm from is to make a clamp that you can affix the weapon to a table you can weigh down and then you can use a cord to pull the trigger and fire the weapon. That way you can test the weapon."

Durithana thought for a moment. "You know, that is a simple solution. I guess I'm used to weapons for which that isn't really an option. That wouldn't really work for a bow. I've had to have archers test my bows, because while I may have the muscles for swinging a hammer, I lack the muscles used for bowmanship. But since the action on your weapons is more mechanical and automatic, that would work."

I was looking over her designs.

"I think you'll discover the direct blowback problematic with these higher caliber rounds." I reminded her. "You have to use the weight of the slide, here, to allow the pressure to drop to a safe level, or when you cycle the round it could cause serious issues, if not detonating the chamber entirely once the slide starts to move."

Durithana nodded, "You mentioned that before. And I saw a touch of that when your smaller weapon failed during that test."

I remembered and rubbed my hand without really thinking about it.

"That's why I designed this bit here." She pointed, "It is passed the point where the pellet will have left the cartridge, and it will bleed off a lot of that force before it can cause such problems. I will have to make several iterations, most likely, to narrow down exactly how much force should be bled and how quickly, but with the ability to fire at a test table, that is well within my capacity."

I looked around the room. "Do be careful. I wouldn't fire it in here. The round could ricochet around and harm, if not kill, you. Or it could go out and hit a random passing maiden."

Durithana nodded. "I think, Calinar could make rounds with a short enough period before the conjuration expires that the round would dissipate immediately after leaving the tube, but before it had time to strike anything... unless someone was fool enough to walk directly in front of the tube as we tested it."

I blinked, "Well, that would be more safe than using blanks."

"What's a blank?" Durithana questioned.

"Oh, it's where you use paper wadding or chalk to block the end of the chamber instead of the bullet. This means you can get roughly the same blowback, but the paper or chalk disintegrates or doesn't have enough force to do any damage. They are used for performances or training." I explained.

"Strange." Durithana muttered. "Performances... why wouldn't you just use illusions-Oh, right. No magic where you are from."

"So, I guess if your blowback bleeder works, and that facilitates the blowback on the higher caliber that could work, but one thing I don't think you are considering in either of these designs is the importance of barrel length." I cautioned. "Longer barrels make aiming easier, increase accuracy, and increase the velocity of the round leaving the barrel. The shorter the barrel will lighten the weapon which will make it easier to carry, but lighter weapons have more recoil."

Durithana started scribbling down notes even before I finished. "Good to know, alright... So, aiming... Why does the length help that?"

We spent the better part of an hour discussing how the physics of firearms worked. I luckily understood the math well enough to walk her through it. We discussed everything from recoil reduction techniques to rifling and propulsion methods.

"Your people have this calculated very precisely." She noted. "I still wonder why.... Oh, yes. No shaping magic. Do they really make such precise crafting with a hammer and anvil?"

"Oh, no," I assured her. "We have... devices... that are able to do much of the high precision work for us. For example, cutting out precise pieces is done with a device that holds the metal we are working with entirely immobile then has an arm that either spins a drill or something like a file at thousands of rotations in a minute and cuts away what we don't want."

"Like a crafting golem?" She tried to relate.

"I'm not sure... but that sounds close enough." I conceded.

"That could make sense," She muttered. "Then crafting something as intricate as my bleeder would be quite difficult and probably rife with points of failure. You can't even control the precise composition of your metals, can you? Wouldn't impurities be the bane of your existence?"

I thought about how best to answer that. "We've learned how to control a lot of the fine details of the construction, starting with components. So we can heat them hot enough to remove impurities and then keep them in a clean environment to make sure that impurities can't slip their way back in."

"Sounds lengthy and overly delicate." Durithana noted with disapproval. "I'll stick to my methods."

I went back to her sketches. She had modified them a bit, the ink overlaying over ink, but I could tell what was older and newer by the glistening of the ink.

"Are you using the same cartridges I've been using for these?" I wondered. I couldn't tell exactly what her scale was.

"Um, no. I can't see why you'd use the measurements you do. I guess it might make more sense with your forms of measurement, but I have sized most of your rounds up slightly for these designs. Added a few notches to the rounds. But it seems more intuitive. I moved your diameter from just over three notches to five notches for your largest pellets. I adjusted the compound measurements to keep the force at least equal, but I think in general... if I understand this math correctly... your pellet velocity will increase, and your pellets will hit harder." Durithana admitted.

I liked the sound of that. "So how long do you think until these will be ready for field testing?"

Durithana floundered for a second. "Well, much of the designs are purely theoretical. It'll take a lot of trial and error. A lot."

She rubbed the hinge of her jaw and her ear lobe. "If I'm being honest, it will take me about a year to make, though... If I can get those assistants helping me, I can probably cut that down to like half or a third."

I thought for a second. "Well, so long as they are done before the Respite ends, hopefully that will be enough."

"Okay, now. Tell me everything about using your weapons." Durithana pressed. "Everything that is a problem with them, be it the ones I have made you or your ones back where you came from."

I found myself going on rants about everything from grips, to getting hit by brass, to recoil. Durithana scribbled notes on each of them. Her brow furrowed as she thought about how to resolve them.