Honour Rae
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B3 Ch11: Apprentice Brix
🕑 Added 2023-04-14 04:20:24 +0000 UTC*Re-edited Nov '23*
Arthur had caught glimpses of the crafting cave before his talk with Laird —enough to get a rough idea of where Brixaby and Joy were heading. But as he and Cressida walked up to the mouth of the cave, he realized that he had thoroughly underestimated its size and scope.
The cave seemed to have been dug out of half of the mesa. Yet, light-based card anchor spells kept it from being gloomy.
What shocked him more was to see dragons working as crafters. Alone. He had got the impression that perhaps they were working alongside the riders—maybe the pair had shared a card. Certainly, dragons were working alongside humans.
But many of the dragons seemed to have booths of their own, talking to other dragons and showing off wares. Some were even doing blacksmithing or working on giant, dragon-sized looms. One was doing pottery on a spinning wheel— the clay vase was quite impressive.
In fact, there seemed to be more dragons than there were humans—or maybe the size of the booths for dragons was just so much larger that they dwarfed their human competitors. Because it was clear at a glance that these dragons weren't playing second fiddle to crafting humans. They had their own businesses. A whole economy.
Arthur exchanged a glance with Cressida, who looked overwhelmed. He could see the same realizations churning behind her eyes.
"What do you think?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I... I don't know..."
But Arthur did. A slow smile spread over his face. "I think this is wonderful."
"You do?" Her tone surprised him.
"Don't you?" he asked.
She looked into the cave ahead of them. One orange dragon was working at a forge, pulling out a long sword the length of a horse and laying it across an appropriately sized anvil. When he brought down the hammer, Arthur suspected anybody nearby was in danger of being deafened.
"I don't know," Cressida replied with a frown. "There's nothing wrong with it, it's just…" She trailed off for a moment, shrugged, and then looked back at Arthur. "When I see a dragon do that," she gestured to the one who was tempering the sword, "it makes me wonder what they could be doing against the scourgelings with that kind of strength."
"The Free Hive doesn’t regularly fight the scourge.”
"I know, Arthur." Her voice took on a little impatience. "And I'm not sure how I feel about that, either. Dragons are meant to fight the scourge, aren’t they?"
He was a little disappointed at her reaction. But at the same time, Cressida was a noblewoman and had grown up in a society where one's order of birth could mean the difference between a life of luxury and scraping to survive. It made sense her first instinct was to be wary of anyone testing the boundaries.
Still… That didn’t mean she couldn’t change her mind.
"What about Common dragons without combat skills?" he pressed. "Like Tamya and Len. Their combined card power deals with sea salt, right?"
She shrugged. "Yes, but their deficiencies can be corrected with the new card once Len is old enough to solidify his core. Or Tamya might be able to take a card now. I heard Aethina mention they might be able to manipulate blood with the correct additional card."
Per hive policy, hatchling dragons were not allowed to take new cards. A magical beast’s body was built around its magical cores, which contained a single card. Dragons could have secondary and even tertiary decks, but those took time to properly develop.
Brixaby was somewhat of an exception with his natural power. But even he’d had a hard time when he’d tried to absorb Legendary cards fresh from the egg.
"Sure," Arthur said, starting to get annoyed now, "they can always buy a combat card, but you know how expensive those are. They'll go into debt just to be able to defend themselves in a scourge eruption. Then who knows how long it’ll take to pay it off, risking their lives the whole time-- with a brand new combat card that only one of them can absorb, by the way."
Cressida turned away for a moment, her arms crossed over her chest.
Arthur opened his mouth again, not wanting to let her stew, but then he noticed that she was looking at the cave and the dragons. After a moment, her shoulders slumped.
"I know you're right," she admitted. "But Arthur... It’s obvious you like what you see here, and that you want to bring it back to Wolf Moon Hive — if we're allowed to go home at all," she added. "But I can tell you right now that most people, especially the nobles, won't accept it. They don't like the idea of dragons being more than beasts used to fight the scourgelings. Even I didn't know how much dragons were like people until I met Joy... No," she caught herself with a shake of her head. "I didn't realize that dragons are people, and... I suppose I’m still getting used to that."
He remembered his father’s lecture about dragons when Arthur was small. He said they were like beasts. He’d had been wrong. Cressida had been wrong, too but she was trying to be better.
Forcing himself to set his annoyance aside, he shrugged. "Well, you know that I've never cared what nobles think."
She opened her mouth and closed it again. "I was about to say that you should, but you're a Legendary rider. Frankly, you have the luxury of not caring what they think."
If only that was true, he thought, remembering his uncle and cousin’s appeal to the king, and how close Arthur had come to execution. Because, yes, he was a Legendary rider, but the king was a Mythic.
He shook his head.
"Let's find our dragons.” He made a show of looking around. "I don't see that anything is on fire or anyone running or screaming, so I don't know which direction they went."
Cressida rolled her eyes, but the tension between them was gone and her expression was affectionate.
She held out her arm, as any well-bred noblewoman was taught to do. Arthur slipped his arm within hers, escorting her through the raucous, chaotic crafting cave.
They found Joy a few aisles in. Her bright pink scales stood out easily, even among other occasional pinks.
She was sitting in front of one of the smaller human booths and was chatting up the merchant. At first, Arthur thought the jars arranged on the merchant's booth were some kind of vegetable pickling method until he got closer and saw the dead bodies of insects and a few skeletal remains of mice and other rodents floating within.
Arthur stepped within hearing range just in time to hear Joy say in a slightly strained voice, "Oh, that is very… um, wow. And how long have you been doing… uh, this?"
“Since I was a child,” the man replied intensely. “I always felt that preserving tissues was my way of reaching immortality.”
Cressida stepped in. "Joy, what's going on? And where's Brixaby?"
"Oh, Cressida!" Joy turned to her rider in obvious relief. "I was just getting to know my new friend, Donnie here –"
"We're not friends," Donnie said.
And, just as abruptly, turned his back on them all to start rearranging already impeccably arranged jars.
Joy frowned and in a lower voice said, "I still need two more friends for my quest, and Donnie’s was the only booth without anybody in front of it. But I don't think that he's looking for friends. He asked if he could preserve one of my scales —"
"I hope you told him no," she said, alarmed.
"Yeah, I'm not shedding anyway." Joy looked at Arthur. And though dragons didn't exactly smile as humans did, the mischievousness was plain on her face. "Brixaby found his own friend. Over here, you have to see!"
She led her way down the aisle. Soon, Arthur stood in front of a booth that specialized in chainmail armor.
And behind that booth, parched on the side of a bucket filled with rusty, misshapen chain-link rivets was his dragon.
“Uh, Brix?” Arthur asked.
The little dragon looked up, and his blood-red eyes were bright. “Arthur! Observe my masterpiece!” He held up a daisy chain of rivets that started out lumpy on the far end but quickly grew more smooth and uniform. “My skills are quickly advancing. Soon, I will overtake Dimitri’s so-called mastery of this art.”
“So, you’re his linked partner then?” asked a man before Arthur could figure out a reply.
He looked up to see a rotund bearded man who looked every inch the stereotypical armorer, complete with large arms and a leather vest.
“Yes, I’m Arthur,” he said. “What’s going on?”
The man snorted deep in his nose and swallowed, making Cressida and Joy visibly grimace. “The kid here wants to know the trade. Said I’d agree to let him work and learn so he doesn’t make a fool of himself by linking chain.”
Arthur’s attention sharpened. “Brix, you want to apprentice to this man?”
“No,” Brixaby said, using a strange pinching tool to crimp two links together. It was overly large for his small form, and he had to use both claws and a foot to press it down. “I wish to stay until I can learn the method, and then make my own glorious armor.”
Dimitri rolled his eyes. “Keep dreaming. It takes a dedicated apprentice years to learn the basics of the craft. But… I could use the help.”
“Oh!” Joy said brightly. “It won’t take Brixaby years. He’s—”
Cressida put her hand in front of her dragon’s muzzle, stopping her from spilling secrets.
Arthur was torn. Brixaby was a mini gourmand with a taste for fine human food. Arthur had hoped his dragon would take more of an interest in cooking – skills, which would allow Arthur to show off. But Brixaby had always been more interested in eating than the process of making.
However, he wasn’t going to let that get in the way of an actual crafting interest. He’d never seen the little dragon concentrate on a single task for so long before.
“I think you’ll find Brixaby is a quick learner,” Arthur said, wondering how long it would be until the man learned he had a Legendary dragon behind his counter. “I assume you’ll pay him standard apprentice rates?”
Again, Dimitri did that deep, wet snort. This time he ended by spitting to the side.
Cressida turned away and gagged.
“Teaching him, ain’t I? That’s his pay.”
“Oh really.” Arthur’s voice was bland. “Is that what the crafting guild has to say about people you’re… apprenticing?”
Dimitri scowled. “One Common shard a week. That’s standard low-apprentice pay.”
That was less than Arthur had made as a cook in a back-end kitchen, but this wasn’t Wolf Moon hive. “One Common shard,” he agreed, “But if Brix tests up to guild craft standard of mid-apprentice or higher, you pay him accordingly.”
“Fine,” Dimitri said, clearly not thinking it would be a problem.
Brixaby looked up from his work. “Do I get to eat those shards?”
“Of course,” Arthur said. “You earned them.”
Letting out a satisfied hiss, the dragon crimped another rivet on the chain.
Abruptly, the cave rang with a deep bong-bong-bong of large gongs being struck.
Arthur, Cressida, Joy, and Brixaby all froze in place. Those sounded like scourgeling alarms that announced an eruption.
However, no one else seemed to be alarmed. Around them, conversation cut off and crafters started calmly putting away their wares.
“What’s going on?” Cressida asked.
“New around here, ain’t you? It's a card gifting ceremony,” Dimitri said. “We’ve all been expecting it since word of a successful raid came from up high. Kid,” he said to Brixaby. “Put that chain away. You’re going to want to see this.” He glanced at Arthur and Cressida. “All you snooty hive folk should see the way decent folk deal with cards.”
Comments
Gama
Loving this arc
I forgot but he does not seem mad enough about him and his team being kidnapped. Like shouldnt he at least be mad?
I really hate this arc. And no way would he be happy here? Why is he considering it. A. He is unlikely to be in control meaning he can't make changes. B. He cannot save as many lives because thay cannot go to as many eruptions. C. There are less cards and shards available at this place meaning his dragons growth would take forever. Also i hate it
Fortunis
Not necessarily, they literally blew up 3 dragons and riders to steal the library, and they had no idea if those were bad people or not. They certainly didn't seem to care.
Alex
Stolen from a bad person who bought them with money earned from exploiting people. Other shards are also only acquired through killing scourglings. They're people too. They can think and talk
Zizawah
Thanks for the post. By the way"stereotypical armor" should be "stereotypical armorer".
Natbite
Just a counter argument to the idea that dragons are so much more effective at combat than humans. Combat effectiveness in this setting is highly dependent on superpowers and mobility. While dragons have mobility, superpower strength dramatically increases if you have card synergy. Synergy is much easier to achieve for a human, as they don't have a set core card that has to be worked around, nor will they drop dead from incompatible rank. If it wasn't for the society card hoarding and actively discouraging making sets and pairs set, humans would be much, much more deadly combatants. Let's face it, which would have more impact in the fight to save life itself - a hundred draconic scroll-only photocopiers or one human who can turn a battlefield into lava? Yet the Legendary card holder is just gonna sit the war out because they can't bond to a dragon and if they took to the field they'd be murdered - by their own allies.
Honour Rae
No specific dates though I aim for 3x a week. Last week was a little weird though because I was hit with a cold/flu thing.
Victor
1. There’s probably no guild in Free Hive. 🤭 2. They sure make it seem high and moral with the card gifting ceremony, but the cards come from being stolen. 😂
Jyhden Bean
I’m new to the patron just wondering what is the realise days for new chapters
I think Kenzie and marteen need to see the free hive, think they would do well there and accept it quickly considering they aren’t snooty nobles. And I just need more of the morally dubious recruiter
Nathan Bauer
Isaac, I take offense to your comment and I'm not the author! It's not up to you to question other people's opinions. That said... This is one of the best stories I have read.
Nathan Sto
I think you guys are missing some things here. First, how effective are dragons at fighting as opposed to humans? Arguably, I'd put them at 5-10 times more effective as a conservative estimate. On the other hand, how effective are dragons at crafting than humans? Being generous, I'd put them at twice as effective - speciality cards not withstanding. No matter how you slice it, dragons are simply much more *valuable* to a society on the battlefield than they are working at crafts. Second, dragons are the only way to deny the scourge air superiority. The fact that they can fly and humans means they aren't five times as valuable, they're each tens of times or more viable on the battlefield than a human. Third, the point of "an effective fighting force is better than a large one" was brought up. This sounds good, until you consider the population dynamics here. There are vastly, vastly more humans than dragons. The above point assumes that the human population can't produce enough support materials to supply the dragon population, but there's so far been no reason why that should be the case. Now, you might ask "what about cards". And obviously, a rare or above dragon with a crafting card should be crafting. But uncommons and below? Those cards don't outweigh the utility that the dragons bring to the battlefield. Besides which, it's not like an uncommon dragon can't simply get an uncommon combat card and, for all intents and purposes be a combat dragon with one less slot in their deck. Now, if you were to shove a bunch of cards into a human, then yes, they could become as effective or more effective at fighting as a dragon. But that begs the question: why not just give those cards to the dragon? They would still, in nearly all cases, be more effective there than in a human deck. The argument for humans fighting would be that there's a surplus of cards, particularly at the higher levels where the innate card matters. But there is no good reason to replace a dragon fighter with a human fighter. It can only weaken your fighting force. The only other arguments you can make against this are that dragons, being conscious, have the right to determine their own destiny. However, this is a very modern thought, and it's not one that makes sense when there's a good chance that all life is destroyed if you don't fight. The dragons and the humans have their little utopia here - at least, MC sees it as a utopia - but in reality, they are doing the equivalent of getting drunk while their house burns down around them. Remember, the humans and dragons are losing the war against the scourge at this point. If I can do math a hundred times better than you, and I'm only a little bit better at manning the counter at mcDonalds than you, why on earth are YOU pretending to be the mathematician, while I'm filling orders? It makes no sense.
Dragons is people too
Rubeno
I'm not sure if Free Hive is socialistic though. Sure,fhey spread the cards but it's only one akin to our universal rights so that kids will grow stronger and free of the illnesses.
Thaldor
Sort them there snooty hive fellers right out, won't we?
Geoffrey Emerson
Socialism is always superior to hierarchy.
Undead Writer
Thanks for the chapter!
Alex Perez
20 bucks they use cards in an entirely superior and novel way
R3ad
Also magical beasts not just dragons, that’s cool was wondering about that.
wilfredo zurita
Thank you for the chapter
Michigo
Arthur is certainly right in one regard: common dragons are basically useless for combat roles. They have barely enough power to police common folks and work in the logistical part of the hives. And the later is exactly were crafting-type commons could make a noticeable difference: even a weak dragon has more raw power that a strong human, and they do have SOME type of card power. => Commons and uncommons are underutilized, they could provide more value to hive armies than just dying as cannon fooder.
GuyWhoReadsALot
Frankly I don't think we know enough of the history of these things to judge. Perhaps scourges are all the fault of humans who now trick dragons into being tools to fix human mistakes, and some of the dragons know it.
Reaper
“ A magical beast’s body was built around its magical cores, which contained a single card” Brix growing by eating cards just got more interesting.
Corpse Garden
You're forgetting that the kingdom is ran by an oppressive tyrant that would be happy to see this hive dead or worse. They do care about the common folk, and help when they can. But showing up to help nets them 2 problems, fighting the scourge AND then fighting off attacks from the kingdoms dragon riders, who are much better equipped and also attack their own for profit. I agree with your sentiment but it's just not realistic in the setting provided. Don't worry though :) I have a feeling that our main character will get us to that better world you want.
Reaper
I’m thinking of ancient feudal periods when each noble family had their own troops. Wealth and power are rarely separated. Perhaps the king doesn’t want power to leave his hives.
Menphy
Do you mean the cards in their libraries? Yeah, the nobles would never give those away. But I don't think distributing common combat cards to riders of their hives would threaten them. The power of a rare is just that much greater. And they have legendaries on their side.
Isaac Fratti
But that would reduce the power that the nobles have over the plebs, they can't go around giving away free cards.
Menphy
Yeah, I didn't consider this problem :( Thanks for the reply!
Isaac Fratti
have you read Isaac Asimov's Robot books? or anything by Brandon Sanderson or A deadly education by Naomi Novik? This is a fun story, but one of the best?
Doug Wills
I feel like they don't help with the fight because they can't really let their existence be known. They don't have the protection of a legendary, no? And if they're found out, they're not gonna be allowed to continue to exist.
Menphy
Thanks for the chapter! I kinda think Cressida is partially right. The world is in danger, everyone should help.. and the army also need researchers and crafters. The kingdom does have a research guild, people, including dragons, that doesn't have a mind for fighting can help that way. My real issue is with the dragons/riders that ransack the kingdom instead of helping with the scorge... They steal combat cards (that should indeed be on the populations hands instead of locked in a library) but still don't help with the fight... Also, imo everyone fighting should get combat cards for free, imagine enlisting into the army and having to pay for your own gun lol. With the amount of commons in circulation in the hive/available in shops that shouldn't be a problem.
Joanne Hans
Most humans screw up every system, just look at the corruption in all Governments. Anyone who thinks government cares about people who don't have anything they want is in for a rude awakening. But that's neither here nor there, I just enjoy a good story, and this is one of the best stories I've read.
Natbite
So, you're annoyed there isn't also human conscription? All those "scourge-fodder" Commons in need of riders... Conscription is the solution. It would also get more young people carded if there was government support.
juno
We are so ingrained into capitalism that we see any other system and automatically think fantasy, utopia, could never happen irl.
Leonard Bukowski
If you really think about it….. it would almost be better to have dragons crafting because their life span is much greater. They will be able to accomplish a lot more than a single human. I dont see anything wrong with dragons deciding they want to do something other than fight. I think they should have the option.
Linbi
Patreon readers when they learn the concept of freedom:😨😨😵💫💀
Linbi
Society is run by every single individual in it. Dragons are conscious creatures, just like humans, which gives them the right to live as they please and follow their own passions. By allowing the people to live happy lives, they work even harder to maintain that happiness, and that effort comes in many forms.
The mental image of Brix working thr clamp just looks so cute
Rielgesh
First sentence, "what Brixaby and Joy were going". Not sure if you want where or doing there. Tftc!
Grish99
Petition to change Arthur "master of skills" card into "master of trade" or "master of money"
Salvo
I think an effective fighting force is better than a larger fighting force. Every campaign needs logistics. And processing rescued people is still a task needed. Housing to build, food to prepare, injured to treat. The biggest problem with all eruptions is the greed/looting that really destroys teamwork. All the non-combats would break command for that lifesaving card.
Aidan Geverdt
I didn’t think Cressida was wrong. I don’t think she needs to default to Arthurs way of thinking, people are different. I’m also having a hard time picturing dragons forging without them looking super goofy trying to hold stuff with their claws. I’m just going to imagine them working in tandem with people who can actually hold stuff.
Navdeep Sugandhi
not everyones wants to fight and the current situation of constant fighting is only their because those in power(mythics) dont wnat anyone to grow powerfull, so those who could get powerfull are stagnated and to compensate u throw bunch of fodder at the enemy.
Rubeno
Free Hive is in a way disconnected from reality utopia. While they do are free from the cruel Kings rule at the same time they are unburdened by Scourge attacks which makes their superior complex over the kingdom feel snotty. Do they even have military? If it came to defending free Hive do those people depend on the free will of its citizens to defend them instead of structured organization? Frankly I smell potential naivete from the kilometers away albeit I will with old further jugdmenet until more evidence will appear.
Rubeno
Complex issues makes story fun ;).
Wensber
While that makes a degree of sense, I would argue that a dragon with a crafting card shouldn't be held to the same standard as a dragon with a combat card. Not everyone can be a fighter after all. There typically will be multiple supporters for every fighter.
Honour Rae
It is definitely a complex situation and believe you me the MC's ideals will be tested. I do like your thoughts here! Thanks for sharing them. :)
Wensber
Thanks for the chapter!
Nathan Sto
Wow. I 100% disagree with the MC here. Cressida is (was) correct. A dragon naturally has the physical power to fight the scourge, whereas humans don’t. The scourge isn’t just some rival civilization that you can make peace with, they are, as far as we can tell, a threat to all life larger than a small town. There’s not really a choice to fight them - someone must. It’s true that in this society they’ve more or less abandoned the rest of the world and so don’t need to fight, but if anything, that’s cowardice from them. While it’s stupid to treat dragons as beasts of burden, it’s also unwise to ignore the reality of demons burning down the world. Sure, a dragon should be able to run its own business, but he/she should have a primary obligation to fight for the survival of literally everything.
