______________
Kaiser POV
1 Hour Later
As we were walking back to the Hana Association building, I noticed a group of bleeding thugs running away from an random backstreet alley and motioned for Consta to follow beside me.
We cautiously entered the alley and saw a multitude of thugs having a torn hole through their bodies or skulls caved into with a heavy fist indented onto their skulls.
Whoosh
Crack!
Tear!
Hearing the cracking of bones being crushed, I focused as a thug with an ripped off arm tried crawling away only for a tall muscular figure to step out of the shadows as his feet stomped down onto the skull of the terrified thug.
???: "H-Help me Plea-!!!! Arg-"
Whoosh
Stomp!
Crack!
Taking a closer look, the man was covered in the Middles signature glowing purple tattoos but rather than the regular pink and white pants a Little Brother wears, he wore a black tanktop with grey camo pants tucked into his black military boots, black face mask covering his mouth, and numerous scars across his muscles.
Sniff!
Sniff!
In his arms he held two crying young children as they hugged him tightly not wanting to let go and an thought popped into my mind.
I tightened my hold on the hilt of my katana and watched as the man stared back at our group in surprise and caution.
The other three behind me got into combat stances but Cresht waved them off as he looked at the two children in his arms.
???: "If you have any problems with the Middle know that I have taken off that name but that doesn't mean I won't beat you to a bloody pulp…"
Kaiser: "We simply heard a commotion and saw a couple thugs run away from this alley"
???: "Hmm, then if you don't mind me bringing back these children to their families, I will be on my way…"
Kaiser: "I won't keep you from leaving but may I have your name and statement for this den of kidnapping children…?"
???: "Right, you fixers document everything for the Hana Association…my name is Zulu…"
Zulu: "My statement…I was commissioned by some families whom I know, that a new group started kidnapping children to keep hostage and the families were being forcibly extorted unless they sent cash their way"
Zulu: "But they have been dealt with, I took my compensation from these people rather than accepting the commission if you are wondering why it's missing"
Kaiser: "Thank you, Mr. Zulu for your time and cooperation with our Scorched Fixer Office"
Zulu: "Yeah, whatever…"
The man walked past us and headed west where the families of the two kids are waiting on their kids to be rescued.
30 Minutes later
Once he left, we searched the building entirely for any documents or journals they could have left behind beside the countless limbless thugs or those who had their faces caved into their skulls with a fist sized dent.
I sighed thinking the Middle must all be full of pure muscled subordinates who use their full body to overwhelm their enemies with fists and kicks.
No, they also use those strange purple tattoos to get stronger once they are lit up but their natural body toughness is real.
Arnold: "That was a…stronger Middle opponent than the ones we had faced before…"
Kaiser: "Indeed, but everything seems to be as he described, so we can add this to our extermination contract"
Mo: "Understood…"
Squeak!
1.5 Hours Later
After gathering everything we could we left the place and went on our merry way having to be careful not to draw too much attention from the stack of reports Cresht had written and taught Arnold to formally write a report.
Once we arrived at the Hana Association Branch building, it was Nighttime and then there was the fact some thugs tried attacking us making our way here take longer.
I checked in with the Clerk and submitted the syndicate elimination contract and when I was about to turn in the other report of the kidnapping case near D Corp, the Clerk stopped me.
She told me that it was an Seven Association Contract recently put up and by some miracle we managed to resolve the kidnapping case contract not even knowing it was one but a simple encounter.
Clerk: "Either way, you have completed the paperwork and submitted a combat report so the contract and submission details will be given to the Seven Association"
Clerk: "If you want to get higher contracts from them I suggest keeping up the rather detailed and accurate reports as they tend to be a report heavy Association"
I simply nodded and gave Cresht a round cheese wheel for him to nibble on as I waited on the confirmation of the contracts being checked.
5 Minutes later
Clerk: "Thank you for your time, your contracts have been checked and processed and your payment has been sent to your account Operator Kaiser"
Kaiser: "Thank you, lets go look for some jobs for you three to do while me and Cresht deal with our own fixer rank up tomorrow"
Arnold: "Understood, judging by our own current strength altogether we can take on small syndicates but only if they are not part of an finger subsidiary"
I nodded and told them all to be careful with choosing their contract to start increasing their official fixer rank up.
After they left the front office to head to the crowded contract boards, I decided to sit down on a nearby couch and close my eyes to gather my thoughts and wether I should bring out some of the more crazy swords.
But then again it will be strange for my Scorched Office to have so many guns with ammunition and not that many melee weapons…
Squeak!
As I sighed I heard the sound of someone sitting next to me and not long after started speaking leisurely as if meeting an old friend yet their distant tone said otherwise .
???: "Sorry to bother you Mr. Kaiser but It has come to our attention that you are harboring unregistered guns along with ammunition…"
Hearing his words I opened my eyes and stared at the man in what appeared to be a navy blue suit with gold lining and an blue overcoat hanging around his shoulders with gold lining.
Judging by the fact that nearly all fixers around us retreated 10 meters away from us and the fact he said unregistered guns, I knew he was part of an Association but to make some fixers hide their weapons…
Kaiser: "Well I was hoping to finish our contracts first before submitting our patents for the new guns as we were doing field testing and ensuring they abide by the rules"
???: "…Is that so…? Then I hope you have brought your patents before they are bought by others…."
Kaiser: "Well, it appears that we can get right to it if you need the patents now along with the fees necessary for all 7 patents Mr…?"
???: "Constaine, that is my name and your designated Tres Office Section 4 Director…"
The man had a smile on his face before he uncrossed his leg and got up before he had motioned for me to follow him upstairs the Hana Association building and I did so.
Constaine: "I believe you are Mr. Cresht correct?"
The man suddenly spoke and I felt a chill past my body as I felt his colt eyes stare at Cresht and I remembered another taboo of the City with Cresht rat body and mannerism.
But we had chosen a story of an experiment gone wrong and he was caught in an explosion that transferred his human mind into the rats body technically not breaking the Heads Taboos.
Squeak!
Kaiser: "He says that is his name and as documented by the Hana Association that you should have, he does not violate any taboo due to his unfortunate circumstances"
Constaine: "…Very well then, lets head straight to a temporary office where we can speak and conclude pur business…"
I had simply nodded and walked up the stairs before stopping to the third floor and walking into an empty office where another female member of the Tres Association was waiting.
I simply sighed internally and entered the room as the Man of the Tres Association motioned for me to sit down on a sofa before I sat down opposite to him and reached into my suits inner pocket.
I pulled out all of the patents that were the guns I created and unique ammunition all written and checked by Cresht himself.
I didn't touch the patents and let the man simply read over the stack of papers for the next couple of minutes while I took the time to contemplate how much ahn I will need to spend.
I do admit that having Cresht with me was a great choice, otherwise I would have been in a lot of legal trouble and have to pay more taxes as a player who simply enjoys free roaming any of the modpacks without any trouble.
20 minutes later
After what seemed like forever, Constaine in his navy blue suit and blue overcoat with gold lining finally sighed and looked at me in surprise.
Constaine: "Well it appears you know your loopholes well enough to not be outwitted by those who look at your office in greed and try to legally aquire your patents…"
Kaiser: "I have a good friend…"
Constaine: "Indeed you have…now to talk about the fees for all patents…"
Seeing his sudden smile I knew we would broke after this but if it meant that I can have some of my guns and ammunition legally secured to not be stolen…it's a pain I am willing to take!
Kaiser: "Lets proceed with the Fees Mr. Constaine…"
Constaine: "The total for your patents will be 1.5 Million Ahn"
Kaiser: "Hah…? *Cough* 1.5 Million Ahn…oh damn…"
I felt my heart be burdened by heavy pain and loss of all our money gone and the only way is to take on a debt but knowing how cutthroat this damn city was I sighed in annoyance.
Constaine: "Well Mr. Kaiser are you willing to pa-"
Squeak!
Kaiser: "Were willing to take on a debt to pay all of it…we only need 750,000 ahn to be loaned…"
Constaine: "Wh- do you truly wish to be indebted to us for a loan Mr Kaiser…? We can pass on these patents to other wings or interested individ-"
Kaiser: "Within 2 weeks, we will pay everything back with interest and I am willing to bet the patents until that deadline"
Constaine: "You do understand that you will lose everything if you fail and most likely killed or kidnapped for the idea of your patents?"
Kaiser: "Doesn't sound like you disagree Mr. Constaine, so do we have a deal…?"
Constaine: "Very well then, while you gather the funds to pay us back we shall test the weaponry of your patents and decide if we will increase the fees"
I nodded and asked him to wait, if he would not mind me taking out the guns and ammunition necessary.
Constaine: "I do not mind Mr. Kaiser…"
I nodded and pulled out the 3x guns that the Brotherhood of Iron uses, the 2x types of unique ammunition, 1x treated iron ingot, and lastly 1x hand-held flashbang.
Constaine: "Interesting…very well then Mr. Kaiser, I hope you can pay us back in due time while we process and field test your weaponry…"
Kaiser: "Yeah I hope so too, and thank you for your time Mr. Constaine"
He simply nodded and I sighed and walked out of the room past the guarding female Tres Association member.
I headed downstairs grumbling and didn't focus on the pitying stares given to me as I decided tomorrow next morning to grab as many contracts as possible.
Squeak!
Kaiser: "Yeah, I think I need to forge a new weapon or reforge my Scorched Steel Katana to a bigger size…"
Squeak!
Kaiser: "True, let those three get jobs that fit their level and we both will need to work as hard as we can…you need to teach Arnold how to write reports properly tonight"
Squeak!
Walking towards the contract headboard I swiftly grabbed 6x contracts that were elimination and espionage contracts for Cresht to do by himself.
I headed back where I saw the trio waiting on me and they noticed my troubled face but didn't ask why, in such an public space.
Having gathered their own contracts, we all headed back to our office in my apartment and I kept silent all the way throughout our journey back.
1.5 Hours Later
Having entered the building, I sat down on the nearest sofa and told them all about the patents and fees for the weapons they are using and ammunition.
Arnolds: "Thats…then we will gather more jobs and complete as many as we can as we don't have our old human selves exhaustion"
Mo: "You are right, with contracts not paying much ahn at our level… we need to take on Contracts like Small Syndicate Elimination Contracts to make sufficient ahn"
Consta: "If we need to make a ton of ahn, I will fight every syndicate and hold them off!"
I chuckled and told him to keep up the spirit and told Arnold to start learning from Cresht on writing his reports since you also get bonuses apparently.
Arnold: "Understood, I hope to learn more from your Cresht"
Squeak!
Hearing genuine words like Jeanne who wanted to genuinely learn made the fickle and cold rat squeak back in a compassionate tone.
Kaiser: "Due to bullet fees being taxed sky high, it makes it impossible to use them wantonly so target their leaders or strongest and only aim for headshots"
Mo: "Understood! I have 14 shots, meaning 14 contracts can be achieved…"
Kaiser: "Indeed, but make sure to properly evaluate your enemy before you reveal yourself"
Mo nodded and I told them if they would like melee weapons to have as a secondary or to have once their guns ran out of ammo.
Mo: "Whatever you find necessary for my position as an mid ranged fighter…"
Arnold: "If possible a switch of my chainsaw arm into an simple prosthetic arm as it is inconvenient to not reload the revolver"
Consta: "I wan't to protect my friends from danger by becoming heavier and one day finally eat food!"
I chuckled at Consta's words and thought of what to do for Consta other than to make his armor heavier or maybe even an Treated Iron Shield.
Arnolds will take awhile but not that much as an full body prosthetic maintenance like last time thankfully enough.
But reforging the Scorched Steel Katana into a bigger weapon like an Ōdachi makes sense if I need to deal with waves of enemies…
The Tinkerer's Construct mod can work since they are no longer restricted by their own mod and can seamlessly connect each specific item to another mod.
I used to pray for times like this but to think it could only be possible by dying or taking a really good nap.
Sighing, I told them to rest up and let Cresht train Arnold in the meantime while I headed deeper into my apartment and looked at the entire 4x4 smeltery with a swirling purple liquid floating within through the glass.
I grabbed gold casts for the handle and decided to create an Ōdachi and I grabbed my sheathed katana and unsheathed it before I dismantled the katana fully.
Grabbing just the blade itself, I put it into the large smeltery and let it smelt down with the still burning lava as fuel.
I fused together five blade gold casings in the crafting table and hummed a tune before I took off my black vest and white shirt and switched to a black tank top.
After ten minutes I checked the smelters interface to see the stored liquid alloys and metals and threw in three Scorched Ingots to smelt for the Ōdachis long blade.
1 Hour Later
Kaiser: "While I am glad about the vents being put outside it still produces so much damn heat…"
I sighed before checking the smelters liquid to see Scorcherd Steel is fully melted down and I turned on the faucet for the scorched steel and watched as a boiling hot dark metallic grey and orange liquid poured down the faucet.
Watching as it filled the gold blade cast of the ōdachi blade, I waited right before it finished filling the entire cast and bit my thumb and let the blood droplets drop down and fuse with the Scorched Steel, before it could overfill did I stop the faucet from pouring more.
Drop
Drop
I waited for the scorched steel to cool down for a good 10 minutes before I carefully grabbed the large curved blade from the golden casts and set it onto an anvil before carefully grabbing a hammer.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Swiftly I started to hammer the entirety of the 4-foot blade and having to fold it and keep it heated over three smelters burning with coal.
Clang!
Clang!
3 Hours later
Clang!
Clang!
Having given up on sleeping tonight I focused entirely on continuously hammering and folding the 4-foot long blade tirelessly for god knows how long until I received an achievement back when I formed my Scorched Office.
Kaiser: "Well that's useful to know…but I just need the handle and a new sheath to fit this massive blade…"
Quickly rushing to use the leftover Scorched steel to craft the sheath, I scrambled looking for a type of wood to base the sheath on and decided to base it on Dreadwood logs.
I stripped the Dreadwood logs with an iron axe and put them on the part builder table before I brought the large metallic dark grey and orange spotted blade to the table.
Moving the leftover stripped dreadwood I turned them into planks then into half planks as I walked back to where the blade was still releasing steam despite it being fully cooled.
I measured the blades bottom size where I had made two small holes into, so I could lock the handle and blade together with metal pins.
Now for the last few steps, making the handle of the Ōdachi, its sheath with a chisel and applying the molten scorched steel onto the sheath itself.
Knock
Knock
Knock
Working more than anticipated, I felt drowsy and as I closed my eyes I heard three soft knocks at the door and I yawned before I opened the door to see Cresht with some cup of coffee in his small hands.
Kaiser: "Hmm…*yawn*…yeah what brings you here Cresht…? Did you finish teaching Arnold…?"
Squeak…
Kaiser: "You came to help…? Ah if you can help with chiseling the Ōdachi's wooden handle and its silk wrap…*yawn*…"
Squeak!
I nodded and made another chiself with an tool rod and chisel head and started to chisel to matche the exact blade length with the split dreadwood logs.
30 Minutes Later
After another half an hour I managed to finally hollow out the dreadwood logs into a long 4-foot length and used sandpaper to make the surface of both hollowed dreadwood parts smooth.
Having to make the inside be slightly thicker to brace against impacts or attacks it can endure as I yawned and prepared to tie both split dreadwood halves together and pour the Scorched Steel over the large sheath.
Grumbling I pulled out a piece of green super glue from the Create mod and applied to the edges of both dreadwood halves carefully as my perfectionist self started breaking out to ensure nothing was out of place.
5 minutes later
Once the glued dried, I inspected it and made sure it was fully glued together before I picked it up and walked towards the Smelter and placed the entire 4-foot long sheath underneath the three faucets.
Feeling drowsy again I drank the coffee cup Cresht had brought over and forcibly kept myself up.
I exhaled and let out heated steam from my body and was surprised about it but focused more on turning all three faucets on and let the molten Scorched Steel coat the entirety of the sheaths outer layer.
I bit my thumb again and moved it slowly above the scorched steel and let blood drops fall and watched them be fused into the molten Scorched Steel.
Drop
Drop
Being careful around the entrance of the sheath, it seemed that after ten minutes it had cooled off enough and did not burn the dreadwood thankfully enough and at the same time I felt a weird connection with the sheath.
I grabbed the somewhat cooled sheath that glowed with a dark metallic grey and orange light and it left trails of heat coming out the sheath itself.
Feeling genuinely relieved that nothing bad happened I looked over to see Cresht relaxing taking a sip of his coffee and the handle was finished with red and black silk covering the handle and metal pins put with the blade and the gold guard I left laying around from the Scorched Katana.
Kaiser: "Well look at you, taking a leisure sip of coffee"
Squeak!
Kaiser: "Yeah, thanks for helping me Cresht…"
Squeak…
I simply nodded and took out a ton of sandpaper and asked Cresht to help forge combat knifes with the other alloys in the smelter.
Squeak!
I started to sand the metallic grey and orange metal with sharp points sticking out for the next ten minutes until It was enough to be carried around my waist.
Once it was sanded down I grabbed a red rope and started tying it around the front where the sheath opens doing my best to replicate a Japanese knot.
Once done I walked over and slowly grabbed the steaming 4-foot long blade that released steam and I felt a connection like before.
I gave a casual swing and saw sparkling embers trailing behind the steam but they did not spark any of the walls or floor on fire.
Squeak!
Kaiser: "You're right, a fine weapon like this Ōdachi deserves a grand name…"
Having to decide a name for the Ōdachi with Cresht motivating me to name it well or he'll kick my ass, I thought deeply about it and came up with a fitting name.
Kaiser: "The Ochita kogeta nokoribi…The Falling Embers of Scorched Ashes…"
Hum!
Squeak?
Whoosh
After I gave the Ōdachi a name befitting of its status as a weapon that used endgame materials, I heard a strange humming and stared at the Ōdachi as I had felt a burning sensation deep within my chest, I exhaled a long trail of heated steam.
I clutched my chest in pain as I kept exhaling hot compressed steam and I gripped my chest tighter as the pain started skyrocketing with every second.
Kaiser: "Argh! God fucking damn it! This hurts!!!"
Whoosh
Crackle!
I felt agony and pain like I never felt before and I kneeled down yet I never let go of Ochita and I saw my hands catch flame yet I felt no pain from it only my chest as I exhaled another trail of billowing compressed steam.
Exhale
Squeak!
Kaiser: "I-Argh!!! I am fine Cresht!!!"
________
Narrator POV
As Kaiser continued holding on, the Ōdashi now known as "Ochita" was releasing steam and if one focused one would see the orange ragged stripes glow brighter with both the sheath and blade itself.
Ba-dump!
Exhale
Ba-dump!
The more Kaiser held on the more his body's veins popped and blood started flowing from his mouth and opened veins as his heart kept beating faster.
Ba-dump!
Exhale
Ba-dump!
Once Kaiser had exhaled his 20th trail of compressed steam his entire body was engulfed in orange flames.
Whoosh
Crackle!
Whoosh
Crackle!
Squeak!
Kaiser: "I-…just what the hell is happening..?"
In that moment, the orange flames began subsidizing into Kaisers body and his chest began glowing a faint white yellow.
Kaiser: "The pain…stopped…? And what are these gold flames…?"
The more Kaiser questioned the flames the more the flames expanded before it entered both Kaisers body and fusing into Ochita itself before the golden flames dissipated.
Kaiser: "I am fine Cresht, but I believe I know what these flames are called…"
____________
Kaiser POV
I stared at the updated description that now appeared on Ochita and the achievement "Scorched Embers Trial" which was not something I expected but I am glad I managed to pass the trial nonetheless.
Still though, I wonder what is this weapons newly acquired skills and abilities are if it is related to bellowing scorched flames…and the words Nirvana Flames…
I slowly got up and stared at my bleeding arms and chest and I sighed in annoyance before I put down Ochita gently on a nearby table.
Squeak…?
Kaiser: "Looks like I can get stronger and I want to find out how far I can go without using accessories…"
Squeak!
Kaiser: "Wake me up in two or three hours if I even have enough to sleep off…"
I grabbed some extra clothes before heading into the shower to wash off all of this damn blood and sweat.
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To be Continued