Major General Havoc was smoking a fat cigar, and took a deep pull from it as he studied the human in turn. He glanced at a pile of scrap metal next to the table, the broken automaton that Joe had offered to get into the Officer’s track. Showing a wild smile underneath his thick protective goggles and clearly still-broken nose, the Dwarf asked a question that instantly made Joe like him one-hundred percent more.
“Who’d ya tick off to get assigned to me?”
Chapter Ten
“I don't want to think of this as a punishment.” Joe grinned at the steampunk mad scientist Dwarf. “I see our meeting as a glorious chance to prove myself. I think they knew exactly what they were doing; you don't look like the kind of person who is going to be telling me ‘no’ very much.”
“That’s just it, ya spooky bastard. I won’t stop you, but I’m not gonna help you much either.” Havoc scrutinized Joe for a long moment, the intensity of his gaze the only reason that Joe could tell his eyes were open at all behind the mirrored lenses. “Abyss… I can see it in your eyes. You're going to be trying for nobility, aren't you?”
“Seems like the appropriate plan of action.” Joe smirked at his assigned mentor. “In fact, I already have a plan to-”
“Look, human. I got nobility on my first try. Do you know what I had to do for that?” Havoc took another deep pull of his cigar and let the smoke slowly release from his nose. “I got access to one of the largest assets from a bygone age, a building that allowed me to use forbidden magic at a steep discount. I took the entire six months I was allocated, releasing the results of my research there at the absolute end of the time limit. I made it impossible for anything to grow in a huge swath of land for just shy of a decade, then launched a large-scale offensive the likes of which hasn’t been seen since.”
“That's how I got the lowest Noble title: Major General.” Joe paled as he realized that someone had already done what he was planning. Havoc kept going when Joe remained silent. “I took four major forts and thirty-six minor forts in one fell swoop, making it impossible for the Elves to take it back. Or… so we thought. You think you can do something like that?”
“You cast the Ritual of the Lonely Tree, and they found a way around it?” Joe inquired curiously when it seemed that Havoc was done speaking. “Did it reach the final stage, or did it get interrupted somehow?”
His query was met with silence; a silence that stretched long enough that Joe started to become very uncomfortable. Havoc’s fingers were twitching as though he were trying to decide if he was going to reach for a weapon or call for assistance right away. Finally, he made a decision and simply spoke.
“No… I was not able to cast the ritual. How… no, obviously you have some knowledge that they think… I'm starting to see why they sent you to me, human. No. We did not cast that ritual; we couldn’t make it work. Not without beggaring the Oligarchy. We cast the area spell ‘Salt the Earth’ and released my personal creations to wipe out all life within hundreds of miles. They had been designed based on the intended function of that ritual you mentioned. I don’t mind telling you this… sure, it used to be a national secret, but not so much any longer.”
“Because they found a way around it?” Joe inferred, getting a nod in reply. “How do you counter-spell something that creates a physical object? Doesn't that force a huge amount of salt into the ground? What personal creations did you use, and is that something that I can get access to?”
Havoc was sitting forward now, his grin widening as he found that Joe was someone he could have an actual conversation with. “They made a new type of plant, one that thrives on salt. In fact, it drains all the salt from the area and makes a ‘fruit’ with it. Turns out, all we did was get a three-year respite, then gave them an easy way to stock up on spices and ways to preserve their foodstuffs. Abyss, since they are Elves and the salt becomes plant-based, they can make the ‘fruit’ collect itself. After they harvest enough of the fruits, the ground is able to support normal vegetation again.”
“Well, that… really destroys my original plan.” Joe pulled out a chair without invitation and sat down. “I figured that if I had access to your Grand Ritual Hall, I would be able to put that ritual together and easily step into nobility. I get a discount on rituals, and six months should have been enough time for me to pull it off.”
Havoc chuckled at Joe, then offered him a cigar. Joe declined, instead grabbing a mug and summoning this coffee elemental, Mate. A moment later, a steaming cup of espresso was flowing down Joe's throat. Noting the piercing look that Havoc was giving him, Joe asked Mate to prepare a second cup. They sat in the stillness and relaxed, but eventually, the Major General was the one to break the silence. “It’s not a terrible plan. There are a few flaws, but the ritual itself directly kills the plants in the area, right? The area spell we used only made it so that new things couldn’t grow. That's a pretty significant difference. You set that off near their capital and their most powerful guardian is wiped out. Main issue is going to be surviving putting it out. My research tells me that ritual takes over a week to reach completion.”
“Mind going over one or three of the flaws in my plan? I’d love to find a
