Overwhelming Firepower

After making the yo-yo, Lucen tried to create other kinds of toys to play with his younger brother.

The next toy he made was a spinning top. It wasn’t much, just a balanced piece of wood with a sharpened tip and a cord to wind it up.

But of course, when he showed it to Cael, the very first thing that came out of the seven-year-old’s mouth was.

”If we put blades on the side, we can use this as a weapon.”

Back in his old past life, it was a cliche for a martial arts master to say everything can be used as a weapon in the right hands, but for a seven-year-old to see everything as a weapon was headache-inducing.

The next thing Lucen made, he needed the help of a glassblower. He drew a rough sketch on parchment, small round shapes with smooth surfaces, each one meant to be perfectly symmetrical. Then he explained his idea in simple terms.

After listening to Lucen’s instructions and studying the drawing, the glassblower chuckled softly. ”So you want small, round beads... Hm... All the same size? That’s easy enough, young lord.”

Lucen nodded. ”That’s good to hear. Make them clear if possible, but a few colored ones too. Blue, green, red, anything bright. If you can’t do it, that’s alright too.”

The craftsman worked quickly, shaping molten glass with practiced hands. Soon, gleaming spheres rolled across the worktable, some translucent, some sparkling with color when the light hit them.

Lucen picked one up between his fingers, feeling its cool, smooth surface. A faint smile tugged at his lips.

Cael, standing beside him, watched with quiet curiosity. ”Big Brother, what do you do with them?”

Lucen knelt down and lined a few on the floor. ”You flick one marble to hit another, like this.” He demonstrated, snapping his thumb against a glass bead. It clicked softly against another, sending it rolling away.

Cael’s eyes followed the motion intently. Then he nodded once. ”If we make it heavier and harder than glass, we can carry around a lot of these things and use them as projectiles.”

”Can you please stop thinking about everything as a weapon. The things I made for you are all toys that we’re supposed to play with.”

Lucen proceeded to teach Cael the rules, and after a while, the two played for a few hours.

***

The following day, while Lucen was thinking about what other kind of toy he should make, a few children from Ironhold approached him and his brother.

They seemed to be hesitating to speak to them, and were acting very nervous. Lucen then showed a gentle smile and asked. ”Is there anything I can do for you?”

”Um... Young lord, those things you were using the other day. The one with the string that comes back to your hand... Can you make some for us too?... W-we we’ll pay, of course, but this is all the money we have.”

The children handed over two copper coins. Lucen blinked, then chuckled softly. The sight of those trembling hands, the courage it must have taken for them to even approach him, warmed something in his chest. As expected of the children of the North, they know what true courage is.

”No need to give me money. I’ll give you the yo-yos for free. I guess I can also start selling them in the kingdom alongside Territory War.”

***

Within a week, there was a new craze going around Norvaegard. It was the new toys Aldric Marren, the merchant of Thornefang, was selling.

The three items Thornefang was selling alongside the board game Territory War were the yo-yo, spinning top, and marbles.

Most children liked the yo-yos very much, whether they were boys or girls. Even adults who saw the demonstration of how to use the yo-yo were impressed by the techniques used and became interested as well.

Of course, some of them were like Cael, saw that the yo-yo, with some modifications, can turn into a good weapon.

The spinning tops were also popular, but mostly for boys and some adults. Of course, the same with the yo-yo, a few mercenaries think that, depending on the skill, they could change the top of a weapon.

The marbles were surprisingly more popular among the girls as they liked collecting the different kinds of marbles with different colors and designs. The boy also did the same thing, but less so than the girls.

***

In the Aeromont library, Mireya was practicing a few yo-yo tricks, and beside her was her mother, Seraphina, who was doing the same thing.

”That child really is quite a genius. He was able to make such things. I heard the reason was also incredible. To have fun with his little brother, he created toys that they could play with.”

Seraphina said while playing around with her own yo-yo that had a different design from the others. It had the picture of the starry sky painted on it. It was a limited edition one that was quite expensive. The same goes for Mireya’s yo-yo.

”I would have liked it better if he had just made another board game.” Mireya, with her emotionless facial expression, shared her opinion.

”Well, board games are well and good. Still, this is pretty good exercise, moving our bodies like this even a little, and it’s pretty fun. The spinning top toy is amusing to an extent, but not like these yo-yos. You can do a lot of things with these toys. I can even enhance it using my mana and use it as a weapon. If I modify this toy, I can make its range longer than a sword or whip. It truly is a versatile thing. I wonder how that child comes up with these things.”

”Do we really need such toys for battle? Mages like us can use magic even without a medium. Weapons are only good for distractions in the hands of a mage.” Mireya spoke while continuing to play with her yo-yo.

”That’s not true, my lovely daughter. Even our dear ancestor Lunavere, the mage of the stars, used a rapier as a weapon. It wasn’t just a distraction. Her fighting style, her magic revolved around that rapier.”

When Mireya heard what her mother said, her expressionless face showed a surprised look for a second.

”I haven’t heard or read anything about that.”

”Well, it is in part of the journal that only the head of the household can read. You’ll need to wait a few more years before you can read it.”

”Is that so...” Mireya lost interest and went back to playing with the yo-yo.

***

In a beautifully decorated room, Lysette Crolorne was looking at her collection of marbles, and a small smile appeared on her face.

”Good in battle, able to write incredible plays, create things from weapons to toys. Is there nothing you cannot do, Lucen?” She murmured softly.

Her fingers rolled one of the glass spheres between them, watching how it caught the light. For some reason, the reflection reminded her of his eyes, calm, sharp, and difficult to read.

Lysette remembered the brief conversation she had with Lucen, and a wider grin appeared on her face.

’You have so many masks that you wear, Lucen Thornehart,’ she thought, the smile on her face deepening. ’I want to remove them one by one and see the true you hidden inside.’

Lysette then stared at the marble in her hands.

’Though that kind of brilliance always draws eyes, and in times like these, too much attention can be dangerous.’

The marble slipped from her fingers, rolling across the polished table until it came to rest. Its faint clink echoed softly through the room, like the start of a game whose rules only she intended to learn.

’Still, there are a few weird movements going around the kingdom... I don’t know yet, but something dangerous is coming. Will my family be able to survive the coming storm? When even the powerful ducal households might get into trouble.’

Lysette tried piecing together the rumors he heard. The movements of the kingdom of Inevir, their dealing with the Rocton Empire. The movements of some of the nobles seem to be having secret meetings.

If she was able to gather this much through rumors, surely the royals, as well as the four dukes, know about these movements, but why weren’t they making any moves themselves?

’Or are they moving even more secretly that no information can be heard?’

Lysette picked up another marble and flicked it. Her deeper thoughts were unknown to anyone but herself.

***

After a while, copies of the Thornefang toys came. They were cheaper than the originals, and they worked basically the same.

Even though some people buy the copies since they are cheaper and do the same thing, most people still buy from Thornefang as the quality was a sure thing, and there were the limited edition toys that have different styles or sometimes have some kind of trick attached to them.

There were the yo-yos with mana stone inside and runes surrounding, making it light up when it spins. There were also spinning tops made of iron, which some mercenaries were practicing with to use as weapons.

Still, despite the difference in their sales, many copies were being made, and some of them were being sold outside of Norvaegard. Since they could not compete with Thornefang in Norvaegard, they looked elsewhere.

Of course, Aldric Marren was planning to do the same; he was just waiting for the right timing to make his move. Especially since Edrim was eyeing his movements, he needed to be wary.

***

While a lot of things were happening because of him, Lucen continued to try and find something his younger brother would enjoy playing.