Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Page 826

As long as your servant’s bare skin is making contact with this shield, his passive soul defenses will be dramatically increased,’ said Sazandara. ‘Unless, of course, his soul defenses are already superior to that of the shield. In which case, no increase is granted.

Garovel hovered nearer. ‘Hmm. I didn’t realize that was even possible.

I would have been surprised if you did. Haqq made the breakthrough himself. It is still not a widely known development.

I see. Are you sure you’re willing to part with it? This seems like an incredibly valuable object.

This is merely a test piece, hence the antiquated simplicity of its design. Haqq wanted to see if he could integrate the materials properly. It took him several months to craft enough for just this shield alone. And admittedly, as irritating as Haqq can sometimes be, I was rather impressed. I don’t know how familiar you are with integration abilities, but being able to craft THIS much of any self-repairing material is quite a feat.

Hector and Garovel exchanged glances.

In other words, yes, it is immensely valuable,’ she went on, ‘but I do still wish for you to have it--partly as an apology and partly to teach Haqq a lesson.

Garovel shrugged. ‘Well, I won’t refuse such a useful gift. Thank you for your generosity.

You are quite welcome,’ she said. Then she turned to Hector and added, ‘Lord Darksteel.

Hector’s brow rose at that.

Sazandara’s bony smile widened. ‘After we met yesterday, I asked Haqq’s nephew to look into you. I didn’t realize it would be such an easy assignment for him.

And here I was just getting accustomed to no one recognizing Hector’s face,’ said Garovel.

I must say, your actions in your home country have been quite bold. Are you not concerned that the Vanguard will come to recruit you?

Recruit us?

Indeed. Certain factions have recently been quite... aggressive in their attempts to gain more members. I imagine your servant’s fame will make him rather appealing to such people.

Hmm. That’s odd. Not long ago, our Queen went on a veritable quest to find Vanguardian allies, and yet she was barely able to procure the aid of a single servant.

Yes, but that was when your country contained the stench of Abolish. Now that this is no longer the case...

I see your point.

Perhaps there is more riding on your alliance with Asad than you realized.

Perhaps you’re right.

13 comments:

  1. Hector is going to fight against Vanguard now sweet.. I have a feeling Hector is going to become an emperor. ALL HAIL EMPEROR DARKSTEEL!!!!!!

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  2. Oooohhh, a way for Hector to go toe-to-toe with the ridiculously powerful Vanguardians, while retaining an important weakness, and still not having ridiculous power.

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  3. It suit him he' all ways been about taking the damage.
    Also showing Warrenhold to haqq will make him weep tears of blood.
    Hector should totally show him.

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  4. Given the scope of some servant projects, it's a very good - or possibly bad - thing that they're immortal. It took how many months for the apparently extremely synchronized and thus fairly old Haqq to make the shield? Now look at Warrenhold. And I bet some things in the Undercrust or sitting around on the surface put even that to shame.

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  5. Undercrust maybe But I doubt anything on the surface.

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  6. "Material is quite [a] feat."
    Been awhile since I posted here, but it looks like the other proofreaders must have taken the day off or something.

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  7. Haha, appreciated, thank you. Lovely to see you again, by the way.

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  8. I so easily forgot, that Hector now has a title is virtually some kind of noble with land and a castle of his own.

    Cheers to you mister Frost for not forgetting that stuff. I also think it's a great show of your skill that every page reads like a continuation of the last. You can read from page 400 till now and it feels very natural and smooth, without unnatural breaks that could occur from a pause in writing. Keep up that good work sir!

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  9. "The Darksteel Emperor" sounds better, and matches his current naming convention better.

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  10. Isn't battling Abolish the whole reason the Vanguard exists? Why would it have been HARDER for Helen to get Vanguard's help when it was to deal with an Abolish infestation?

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  11. because the vanguard has been going wrong.

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  12. "Certain factions," remember. The Vanguard has a broad mixture of folks working for it.

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