No Need For A Core?
287: Victory Feast

Mordecai could have walked unsupported shortly after he got to his feet, but it felt rather nice having Moriko and Kazue snuggled in close to help him.

Moriko glanced at Kazue and said, "You know that he's just enjoying the attention now, right?"

"Mhm," Kazue replied, "but I'm fine with that."

"I am a lucky man," Mordecai said with a laugh as his wives called him out. "Yes, I could walk on my own, but you are making it easier and certainly making me feel better."

Their old rooms were closer and a lot easier to get to right now, so they made their way there to get cleaned up and ready for the feast. Mordecai's body ached still from the lingering effects of Hajime's finalattack, so he was happy to let the two of them pamper him for a little while. Soaking in the hot water while being gently scrubbed clean by the two women he loved so much was one of the most wonderful and luxurious things he could imagine.

While they bathed, Mordecai told Kazue and Moriko a little about Hajime and his parents, and about prism dragons, though he still limited himself in how much information he unpacked. His wives neither needed nor wanted the depths of detail that a core records; a general overview was sufficient.

At the same time, he was determining what gifts to provide. For the most part, Mordecai had decided to avoid enchantments; Hajime had access to more powerful enchantments than the nexus could currently provide. Instead, he was going to focus on crafting unique items with the special materials that Mordecai had been experiencing, though there were some enchantments that had to be woven in at the same time the item was crafted.

He had everything ready by the time the feast was ready to begin. Mordecai was in charge of the ceremonies for this, allowing Moriko and Kazue to simply enjoy the feast.

Mordecai made sure to include a statement about his relationship to Hajime during the opening speech, as rumors were already beginning to spread and he wanted to be clear that he'd not known anything about Hajime's presence before the final bout of the tournament. The speech was also a good time to make sure that every knew that this new face was in fact the person that they had known before; his previous appearance had been a disguise after all, plus his hair was now almost glass-like in appearance, despite being as flexible as normal hair.

This was also a good time to introduce Hajime to Fuyuko and Carmilla, and that moment provided Mordecai with a little bit of entertainment as well; Dhamini was standing next to Hajime during that introduction and some of her hair instinctively wrapped around Hajime's arm when Carmilla was introduced.

"Now," Mordecai said, "go, eat, and enjoy the celebration. I'll give you your rewards after you've enjoyed at least one round of food and drink." That way Hajime wouldn't presently have to worry about what to do with everything and could focus on enjoying the feast.

It was several hours later when Hajime and Dhamini came to collect Hajime's prizes, and Mordecai was happy to show them off.

"For your first prize, I want you to know that you are exactly the third person to receive one of these," Mordecai said as he handed Hajime a long-barreled gun. "Fuyuko received a pair of pistols, while Shizoku has a gun much like this one." He gestured to the white-haired kitsune who was sitting next to Fuyuko. "I've changed the design a little; it's designed to collect your wing scales in this port and embed them into the ice bullet. Shizoku's is designed to accept either spells or more standard alchemical components."

A small portion of the bullet's center would also remain liquid, as Mordecai's calculations strongly suggested that this could penetrate some materials better. There were also some blank plates upon which to inscribe runes which could grant additional magical properties to the ice bullets.

Hajime examined the gun with interest. "That's not going to flow smoothly with my normal fighting style, but I can see where this would be a very nice option to have. Firing a bow while flying is always awkward, and crossbows have some issues with precision at the ranges they'd be useful to me."

"I'm glad you like it," Mordecai said with a smile before presenting the next item.

"Armor?" Hajime asked skeptically. "You know why I don't bother with armor."

"True," Mordecai replied, "but in this case, I think you will find it useful. I've woven in some spatial manipulation to allow me to craft this suit of chain mail that matches all of your forms and sizes. It will not shapeshift with you, it will simply fold and unfold to match your current needs."

It was even more complicated than that; as long as he was going to weave spatial distortions into the design, he might as well take advantage to create a unique and customized weave pattern, complete with careful calculations of where to use thick rings in a four-in-one weave and where to use thinner rings in more complicated weaves, as well as doubling or tripling layers in critical locations despite never appearing to have more than one layer.

This made it several times heavier than it appeared to be, but Hajime was strong enough to not find the difference troublesome.

"Oh," Mordecai added, "you should only ever repair it with mending magic, and it will take a fairly strong mage to repair any major damage. Not only are most of the rings solid pieces, but they are all made from very specific alloys of rare metals." A certain portion of rings needed to be more breakable than the rest in order to focus stress damage on them rather than spreading the damage and wear throughout the weave. A self-repair enchantment would alleviate that concern, but right now adding that on top of the extra-dimensional weave was more magic than the nexus could put on a single item.

A skilled enough craftsman of magical items could still add further magic to this base armor.

The design held a small surprise for Hajime. Because of the alloys used, it was very easy to adjust the color of each ring without affecting its physical properties to any relevant degree, and Mordecai had left the visual design to Kazue. She had chosen to make its overall color blue, shading it darker at the bottom and lighter toward the top, and then added a pattern of white lines throughout. Most people would simply see an artistic design or perhaps assume it was some sort of vine pattern.

A closer examination with the right knowledge would make it clear that these were jellyfish tendrils, as if they were wrapping around their prey.

Mordecai was amused by Kazue's design and was looking forward to when Hajime figured it out. But he wasn't done with giving Hajime his armor just yet. "Of course, chain mail needs padding, and you need something as adaptable as it is. So this package has living leather armor, with some enchantments to make its appearance and form adjustable."

There were actually two sets in the package, but his wording had been unspecific in that detail. It could be useful to have a spare set while the other was repairing itself, or perhaps layer different enchantments on each one. Of course, if Hajime chose to do something else with it, that was certainly none of Mordecai's business.

"For your next reward, I'd like you to hand me your cloak," Mordecai said. Hajime was currently wearing the cloak he'd been rewarded earlier, and he did as Mordecai asked while watching with curiosity.

It was still going to be unenchanted, but that didn't mean Mordecai couldn't enhance the usefulness of its base materials. For one thing, he could incorporate starlight thread into its stitching, which he used to create a thicker and more intricate border. Mordecai then added several more special materials, which left the cloak a little thicker and heavier.

Watching Hajime examine the enhanced cloak was entertaining. Hajime shook his head and looked back up to Mordecai before saying, "If this wasn't of nexus-make, it would be several types of illegal in any place worth being."

Recreating materials from living beings was one of the tricks a core could do when making rewards, and in this case, Mordecai had lined it with pseudo-selkie hide as well as working in other materials that would normally be extremely immoral to possess. Only one selkie had joined the Azeria Court so far, but that was enough of a sample for this.

"Now," Mordecai said, "any dragon needs a treasure hoard of course, so I hope you'll enjoy adding this to your collection." The final reward was a large and overly ornate chest filled to the brim with jewelry and gems, and all of them incorporated the new metals and alloys Mordecai had been playing with.

Hajime doubled over laughing for a few moments, and when he caught his breath said, "Well, I suppose I could call my home a lair of sorts, and I think I can find a place for this. Mm, and I'm pretty certain I know what to do with at least some of the jewelry."

Which was probably to give some of it to Dhamini. Mordecai just hoped Hajime didn't have a heart attack when he realized that there were several pairs of matching rings looped onto chain necklaces. Mordecai wanted to provide several styles to choose from after all.

Not that he was expecting any proposals to be given to Dhamini anytime soon, and it was possible that it would never happen, but Mordecai was not above planting the idea in Hajime's head. He could also blame Kazue as a 'bad' influence here.

"So, where do you live now?" Mordecai asked.

"Off-world," Hajime replied, "which is going to make visits, mm, complicated. Mother and I decided that we stood out too much on this planet, all things considered, so we went exploring. I found a place for myself, and Mother has kept traveling, with occasional longer-term stays if there is an enticing enough job contract. Oh, and I'm a landed knight now. It's a small border keep and it is usually pretty quiet, but the kingdom has some nasty neighbors that need to be kept in check."

"Ah," Mordecai said, "That's your duty I take it?"

Hajime nodded and said, "Yes. The neighbors in question are demon-tainted creatures, with the occasional true demon. It's the aftermath of an old war. The land is slowly being reclaimed and the taint removed, but some of the worst areas can still form portals randomly. Um, it does mean I need to find someone to take my place if I'm going to be gone for a while, just in case a strong one shows up. And arraning transportation here and back wasn't cheap, though I can say I have made a solid profit."

Mordecai considered that and asked, "Would it be faster or easier to travel directly via the Other Side? Crossing over would be easy on this end with the way we've altered things, but I don't know about your end."

"Who would be crazy enough to try that solo?" Hajime asked, and then immediately said, "Never mind, I know the answer to that." He cast a glance over to where Satsuki and Deidre were enjoying the feast. "That reminds me, what is up with that avatar? It doesn't feel like she's a guest, but she's sort of being treated like one."

"That's a long story," Mordecai said, "but she's technically a prisoner until we can free her core. Satsuki has volunteered to be her, um, personal guard in more ways than one. Don't ask, but it is better than what I had to do to bind her safely."

Hajime fidgeted a moment, then shook his head. "I want to help, but I have obligations elsewhere, and forcefully clearing a hostile dungeon is too time-consuming, given what I can feel of her strength."

Dhamini had been quietly observing until now, but she was becoming agitated. "Do you truly have to leave soon?"

"Yes," he said as he turned to face her. "But, I promise I will work on figuring out a better way to get here and back."

Hmm. Mordecai had an idea, but it would be a long while before Krystraeliv was strong enough to make a bridge to a place that far. He decided to not mention it for now, as Hajime might figure out something well before Krystraeliv could help. "Well," he said, "you two should go enjoy your time together. My only advice is to be patient and figure out rules that are fair for both of you and do not make either of you unhappy."

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