{Alex}

  "RUNT IN MY OFFICE RIGHT FUCKING NOW!!" Boss yelled me as soon as I hit the door. He was not happy and I knew I had just gotten fired. We had just gotten in and he was already yelling. Today was shaping up to be a wonderful day. Wake up to toddler pee and my boss screaming at me. I might need a drink if today keeps going like this. "Gorloth stay out. I need to have a word with our 'hero' alone." The way he said that last part made me cringe. I closed the door and sat down. "Contract magic. Until you leave this room neither of us will be able to lie. If I like what you say, you will be able to keep your job or be given a raise. Do you agree?" and the way he asked it made things clear I couldn’t say no.

  "I agree." I felt the familiar feeling settle on my shoulders. This time I didn't have to change my face.

  "Now Runt, do you want my job?" He asked and I could see the worry in his eyes. I frowned at him.

  "I already told you no. Fuck off with trying to pawn that shit off on me." I roared at him. With a sigh, he sat back and smiled.

  "What is your plan for me?" He asked and I could see how relaxed he now was. I smiled and laughed, and he squirmed, a little uncomfortable at my outburst.

  "I want you to put up with two hundred idiots." I said holding up two fingers. His jaw dropped as he looked at me.

  "Two hundred?" He asked and I nodded.

  "Yes. My grand evil plan, you want to know it?" He nodded looking at me worried. "Don't interrupt my monologue, please. My grand evil plan is to make a wolf and test it by winter. No interrupting please." He had opened his mouth to ask something and closed it as I held up a finger. "Yes, by winter, and then by spring have it ready to show. I suspect we will get orders there for more wolves. How much can we sell those for?” I asked. He just sat there for a moment; his fingers crossed on his desk. “You can tell me.” I prompted.

  “Oh, seventy to ninety gold.” He replied as he blinked at me.

  “We may charge ninety for the first, but I would like to keep my prototype if we can. I know I’m a sentimental fool, but anyway. With that how many wolves can we put out a year?" He just sat there. "You can speak again." I said waving my hand.

  "I don't know. Maybe one or two." He said scratching his chin.

  "Try five and that is if I drain every ounce of mana this town has to offer. That puts us at three small mithril and fifty gold a year." His eyes started to bug out. "That sounds like a lot but remember that is if we kill ourselves. Not sustainable. If we use the money coming in to expand and have the grunts prep and assemble parts, making me spend half the year working on the engines alone, how many do you think we could make then?" I asked, smiling at him.

  "No fucking clue." He said. His eyes were as large as plates as he slumped back in his seat.

  "Around twenty a year." He propped his head in his hands covering his eyes as he rubbed them. “That comes out to one large and three small mithril a year. Now the limiting factor at that point is materials. We could use our new power to get more metal and cores, but even then, we run into issues of the town being able to support our needs. I don't want to move as I like it here, I will limit things so I can roll out new products to the masses." He didn't look up but moved his hands to the back of his neck and rubbed it. This is where I get a big pat on the back. I thought as I crossed my arms and sat there smugly.

  "What the fuck? I mean it, What the fuck are you?" He asked the veins on his neck bulging.

  "I told you day one what I wanted. This is the first step." I said my face falling.

  “What the fuck do you mean first step? Any shop doing half what you do now are under royal control. I can't afford you." He growled and it was like I had slapped him across the face.

  "Fuck that. You can't afford three silver a week?" I said nearly spitting at him. His head shot up looking at my grinning face. "I get more than enough for my odd jobs and have started getting requests for Dolls. People have started calling me the Toy Maker. It is enough to live on and even let me play a little, but I don't want toys. I want Knights. If I work for you, people will bother you and leave me alone. They will ask you about hiring me. As I said, you deal with the idiots." I growled sitting back a little.

  "On the topic of Knights. We got that one out there off the fucker you killed. Don't upgrade it. We are going to try for a quick sell with the next caravan." I just nodded at him. If I killed him, shouldn't that be my Knight. Best not to push my luck. "Good now fuck off and go build your monster." He said, waving his hand. That went well I thought as I stood. I walked out into the shop and started bending metal into the shape of the chest. I would worry about armor later, right now get the chest frame up. I could work on the controls from there.

  It took two days to get the frame up, Battery and Gorloth kept passing out on me and my bracelet kept draining. Even the grunts were starting to hide from me. Finally, Gorloth got pissed and demanded I use the small engine. I was a little upset that I had not thought of it first. Once I did that, the rest of the body's frame went together at the cost of a few small cores. I would drain my bracelet, use the engine to recharge it, and repeat. I couldn’t wear the engine as I was a little too weak and it would interfere with my bracelet. It was much faster though, and the others just fed me metal as I worked. It was faster as long as I remembered to pull on the engine, bracelet and didn't pass out. At home, Lily, Uta, and Gen seemed to be getting along. Uta still had to stay in bed to regain her strength but was looking better each day. Woodcutter made blocks for Gen and the small boy was a ball of energy and joy. It was nice to come home to see Lily chasing him around the house or playing with him. Gorloth and Orthonai would be moving back tonight, and Gen would be sleeping with Uta so maybe my dry spell would be over soon.

  Sadly no, I did a tweak to a part of the frame and failed to notice that both my bracelet and I were drained and passed out, hitting my head on the floor. My last thought was well fuck.

  I woke at home with Lily lying next to me. It was early morning, and I must have slept through the night. Gen was lying on my other side drooling on my chest. I sent my mana into him and froze. The boy had a core. I did not plan on that. How did he have a core? His mana channels were still closed, but he had a small core glowing in his chest. Would it grow with him? What type of mana would he have? I would need to get my claws on some of that fruit. Like hell, I was putting my boy through flooding his mana channels the way I was opened up. I couldn't remember if I had checked Lily and sent my mana to her. Sadly, no core. I wonder if Gen's sister had a core. Now for the bad part of every morning. trying to dislodge myself so I could go to the bathroom.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  I was more careful moving forward and had the cockpit finished by the end of the month. It was almost fun time for Lily, and I was eager to see how wild she got this time. Now that she was sleeping by my side every night, I could only wonder what I would wake up to. Lily was nice enough to get a big crate of the fruit and everyone was eating three a day lately. It looked like a peach but tasted like a pear with seeds like an avocado. Once everyone had mana, I would have to ask Orthonai to make some pies out of them.

  I had passed out again at work and was dragged home by Gorloth. This time I woke up at night in my bed. I had lost a bit of weight and didn’t have a lot to begin with. Boss came to me that night. “Runt you are staying here for the next two nights.” I tried to protest but couldn’t leave my bed. “Contract Magic. You cannot come into work for the next two days and in exchange, you can keep your job. Agree?” He asked as I frowned at him. “Don’t test me, Runt. Agree.” He growled down at me.

  “Fucking fine. I agree.” I knew I couldn’t step foot in the shop for the next two days. This was so unfair. I finally had my metal and had only just started. Fucking hell what was I going to do for two days.

  “Good. We are getting a caravan in two days, and I need time to hide that weird frame. You need to heal up, so I don’t start getting a reputation as a slave driver.” He said storming out of the room. This was not fucking fair at all. I just growled as he left looking around the room. Lily had put in some nightstands and there was a dresser. When did we get those? Maybe Lily had a part in forcing me to stay home. Surely, she wanted me at home for the moon. Both were right though. If I was to make this happen, I would have to be at peak health. I was doing things wrong and dumping all my time and mana into the wolf. I was needed here too. I can’t keep them safe if I’m dead. I can’t help Gen and Uta if I’m not here.

  The next morning at breakfast, Gen came to me. “Master,” I frowned at him. Him calling me Master didn’t sit right with me.

  “You call Lily big sis; can I be big brother?” I asked. His collar glowed and he beamed up at me.

  “Big brother, my chest feels funny.” He said pulling down his shirt to show me his bare chest. I put a hand on his head and looked through him. No, everything looked in place. Must be his mana coming to life. About fucking time. I thought with an excited inner cheer.

  “Come to my office with your favorite Knight toy.” I said standing back up. He nodded and ran off to Uta’s bedroom. He liked to play in there sometimes to stay out of everyone's way. Uta looked at me like she wanted to hit me with something. What did I do now? Come to think of it, when had she turned from a far too skinny sixteen-year-old into a legal lewd-able woman? Now she had long rust-colored hair like her little brother, but with long ears like a fox or wolf. Her tail was now long and bushy and seemed well loved. Maybe I was away from the house too much. The little fat she had was distributed to some fun places. How had I missed her change? “What’s wrong now?” I asked as I frowned at the beautiful dog woman. She put her hands on her hips and responded in a surprising Southern US twang.

  “I have no clue, but if you want some fun, use me or that bunny who is drooling over you.” Safe to say, this confused the hell out of me. What was she talking about?

  “Don’t tell me you respond to the moon too?” I asked, crossing my arms. If both would go nuts around the full moon. I might try to see if Gorloth and Orthonai would watch Gen on those nights. She just blinked at me, an outraged look on her face.

  “That is a filthy myth about us beast folk.” Uta said as she crossed her own arms. Suddenly Lily broke into the room, blushing madly and waving her hands.

  “Don’t listen to her Master. She is still recovering.” Lily said, jumping between us. Uta just smiled at Lily and went back to learning to cook from Orthonai. I just sighed.

  “If you two must know, Gen’s mana channels may have opened, and I want to teach him how to use his magic.” I said, turning to the room. All three women stopped and turned slowly to me. What the fuck did I do now?

  “That’s it?” Uta asked. I nodded at her before taking a breath. My anger was up at them thinking I would ever hurt a child.

  “Once you are of age, you may try to join Lily and me, but I like my women over eighteen.” I said in anger. Maybe I had gone too far and screwed thing up with Lily again, but she just hid behind her ears and refused to look at me. She blushed and looked away before responding.

  “Does that mean I can join you two tonight?” My jaw just dropped. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!! “It may not look it yet, but I’m eighteen.” Lily hid her eyes behind her ears and blushed madly and not saying a word as she moved to the couch. I just shook my head, trying not to get worked up. That is an issue for later me to deal with.

  Walking into my office, I found Gen sitting on the floor with the first Knight toy I had given him. He loved that thing so much and it warmed my heart. I had used the metal of the spare collar to make a pair of makeshift controls for the disk and powered it with my tiny engine prototype. It would be an okay training rig to show him the basics for now. I would need a small bit more Silversteel to make the foot pedals for him. Maybe I could buy some off Boss.

  “Place the Doll inside the disk and watch.” I instructed. The boy did that and I grabbed the controls making it move slowly and crudely. I sucked at this. Maybe Meathead could teach him. My table would need a lot of work and I was not skilled in any way as a pilot. “If you want to play with your Doll this way, you need to learn to control your mana.” I said with a smile. He just beamed up at me, his eyes wide as he watched the toy move around. It was like I had told the lad that we were going to LegoLand and that he could fly the plane to get us there. “Now sit on the floor and close your eyes.” Uta had moved to the doorway to watch us. It was cute how protective she was of him. Once the boy was ready, I held out the repaired mana nullifier. “Take this and put it on and take it off until you can feel the difference.” He did so five times in a row before looking up at me.

  “The rain feeling gone when shiny thing on.” He said with a frown. “No like.” He said sticking out his tongue. I smiled and sat back a little.

  “I don’t like them either, but I need you to keep it up until you can feel it closely. Tap your hand on the floor to make the rain sound for me.” He did it once more, focusing closely, his eyes closed tightly shut. Then he reached out and started patting the floor. “Good.” I started tapping my foot to add to the sound. “When,” I halted, making my words match the beat. “When I say push, push the rain into your hands. Now push,” I said the last word with a gust of air making him stiffen up a little. I watched in wonder as blue sparks flew from his fingers into the air. “Good job,” I said, clapping my hands. He opened his eyes and started giggling and jumped up stamping his feet. The sparks faded and he looked up at me frowning.

  “No. You did amazing. Remember that feeling. This will make it easier next time.” I cheered at the small child as I pulled him into a big hug. Uta just looked at us, tears flowing from her amber eyes. She just turned and walked away not saying anything. “Good job Gen. You did magic. From here it just takes practice and time. Do you want to know a secret?” He just nodded at me beaming. “I want to build you a Knight one day. One that will make all other monsters scared of you. Would you like that?” I started tickling him and he giggled and writhed in my arms.

  It would take time for the boy to learn, but he had a core and could easily become the key to a weapon that could make dragons fear us. That or just become a good kid who broke the hearts of a number of noble women. I would do my best to make him a beast noble like his big brother was going to be. Lily was going to have some work, teaching us both how to read and write in this world as I thought it would make for a good next step and destruction