Chapter 174: Welcome to the Kingdom: Initialization Phase

Chapter 174: Welcome to the Kingdom: Initialization Phase

Asmo sat at a table in a quiet, simple room. She was waiting in the war room for Winic to come meet with her and discuss the topic of Enchanted items once again.

The ones she already had made—the earpieces for the VIPs—functioned well, and were proof enough that Winic knew what he was doing. And she already had him working on his first ‘real’ project because of that. What he was currently creating would be one of the main keys to her entire plan, so it was important they got done correctly. What she needed now, though, seemed like they could be much more difficult to make. Or much easier. Either way, she needed them. So it was best to get started as early as possible.

He walked through the door and closed it behind him, long gray beard swaying with each of his steps. Slowly, he took a seat. “I am pleased to see you, Asmo.”

“Pleasure to you as well. I want you to make a device that can decapitate someone instantly upon activation.”

He blinked. “Er, okay. Straight to the point, then. Do you mind...elaborating on your desires for how this device will function?”

“I have no specific request in its methodology. In fact, it does not have to be decapitation. I suppose I just prefer it has a more...dramatic flair. My thought was a collar that one would wear—-one which is impossible to remove by any means—-and, upon activation, it severs the wearer's head. However, anything that could instantly kill the wearer is fine.”

Winic looked down, stroking his beard. “Hm. Making anything that performs an effect against the user’s will is typically very difficult. As is making something impossible to remove or disable. What is the Health of the target?”

“This would be something mass-produced. Used on both Unclassed and Classed individuals. The highest-Level ones would most likely be in the lower mid-Levels, so around 15 or so. If they’re Melee-Type, that means upwards of around 700 Health. But it also needs to work on those who can use Spells and other protective effects on themselves.”

Winic nodded slowly. “It seems you overestimate the power of Enchantments. When it comes to a damage-dealing trigger, that could be possible for something like an explosive. Difficult, and expensive, but possible. But a precise, single-target attack like that—-one which would be attached to a person and affect them only when triggered—-is bordering on impossibility. And when you ask for it to be unable to be removed or deactivated, and that it be impossible to prevent the damage in any way...It cannot be done.”

“Then what can you do? This is your job, remember. If you can’t do it, figure something else out.”

“To do so, I would need to know your goals. What do you need this device for? What is it to accomplish?”

“I want to be able to press a button and end someone’s life.”

“Would this be a person who has been preselected? Could there be preparation time beforehand?”

“Effectively. We could spend time affixing it to a target, if that is your question.”

“Would they be wearing the device willingly?”

“No. But I might be able to convince them to willingly put it on.”

“Hm.” He looked down and stroked his beard once again, taking a moment to think. Eventually, he looked back up. “Is it completely necessary to kill them? Or could ‘end their life’ be taken in a more...metaphorical sense?”

Asmo walked into the throne room, up to the Succubus that’d taken the place of King Koinkar. It was currently hunched over in its throne, a wooden table dragged up to the seat with papers strewn about on it. It was writing out what seemed to be some sort of budget proposal, redistributing the way the tax income was currently being spent—that is, making the change from the self-destructive practice of spending every last penny on the military to a much more sustainable option of actually spending money on food. About time it got around to doing that.

“Hello,” Asmo said, and the Succubus turned around to roll its eyes at the sight of her. She continued, “I would like to use a Communication Crystal. Do you have one I can borrow?”

“Greeting, Human. Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Are you too busy to give me an unused Communication Crystal?”

“Yes. Please leave me to my duties. Duties that are more important than yours, I am sure. I gave you those Message Papers for a reason, no? Go use those if you need to speak to someone.”

“It would be easier to speak without the delay. Just tell me where one is and I will get it myself.”

“Perfect. Find them both, and send them to me.”

“You would like me to send them to the capital?”

“Yes, to the royal palace. Tell them both that they have received a promotion opportunity and the leader of this operation would like to speak with them. If they resist, make them come. There is no choice in this matter.”

“Yes, Commander Asmo. May I ask, will I see these individuals again?”

“Perhaps. It depends on how this goes. If you do see either of them, the soldier you receive will be much more effective than the one you sent out.”

“Yes. I will make arrangements to have them travel to the capital. And to potentially replace them if I do not see them back.”

“Good. Do so.”

Once she was finished making arrangements, Asmo went back to the war room, where Winic was still sitting. It was dark in the room by now, the magical illumination having automatically shut itself off when it sensed no motion in the room for long enough. Though there was still a man in the room, he just wasn’t moving enough for it to pick him up. He was currently hunched over a Message Paper of his own, scrawling words to one of his apprentices—a shopping list, it seemed.

He looked up when the light turned itself on at Asmo’s entering. “Ah, it is good to see you, Asmo.”

“Likewise. I see you are already getting started on our project?”

“Yes, yes. Just sending out an errand boy. We should have an initial prototype done within a day.”

“Great. Now that that is settled, what about our first experiments? The ones done with the Message Papers. Have you gotten any results from them?”

“Yes, yes, I have found the most efficient ways to do most of what you asked. There are some Papers that can automatically write out a message tied to a physical button that triggers it, there are some that automatically write their messages based on detection of blinking patterns of the person it is attuned to, and even one that will write its message based on the thoughts of the user. As well as several others, all fully functional.”

“Perfect. What about the ones that are tied to the death of the attuned?”

“Yes, those work as well. Though they were...considerably harder to run tests with.”

“Good. I want you to take me to these prototypes so that I can test them out. And also, I want you to begin work on another personal project of mine. This one, I want to be an item that causes the instant death of the user upon activation.”

“Asmo, I have already told you how such an item is borderline impossible.”

Asmo held out a hand to stop him. “You only said that sort of item is impossible to make when it is against the will of the user, right?”

“Well, yes.”

“Good. So this item will not do that. It will be a completely willful death.”

“You want...a suicide switch?”

“Precisely.”

“Asmo. I suppose I can infer the reasoning behind some of these items, and I do know the general goals of ours, but the Enchantments you need feel...obtuse. May I ask you what the purpose of this is?”

“No. But you will see soon.”