2 days since the last chapter...

Succubus Homeland, Rex's Lab

 

Rex was staring at the silver he made on his table, and next to it was a small piece. His blonde hair was in its usual messy fashion, chemical exposure had made it stiff. He was starting to look more like Einstein in his youth than even he did.

 

“Is the mana in the two pieces the same?” Rex asked the succubus standing behind him.

 

This succubus worked making weapons a day ago, but Rex needed some kind of mana sensor. Rex promised her that she would begin learning the great secrets behind the great weapon of the succubi if she assisted him, she felt like she was being proposed to! And now he had a new lab assistant.

 

Rex's had many large spade-shaped bruises on his face, the remnants from his last assistant. Rex had been blind for over 6 hours, Kera's blindness had lasted only 4 hours. He had been powerless to defend himself from her fury.

 

“The smaller piece has way less mana.” She reported calmly.

 

Rex looked at the fist-sized ball he had made, then he looked at the closet he stored the mana-rich mercury in.

 

“It shouldn't be that different, I don't think there are more than three or maybe four hundred magic stones reduced in there. The purity shouldn't be that different, right?” Rex muttered as he tried to do some math.

 

The small piece of silver was truesilver they had gotten from the elves, this meant Rex had certainly not made truesilver. This metal had also had the simple spark enchantment he had used for so many things, the result was violent. It had eaten all of the mana instantly to shit out a lightning bolt, there was just no way to limit it. This was behaving as the water did under electricity.

 

Many people think water and electricity don't mix, that is completely and utterly false. Water can conductor, and electrons can move freely through it. Rex felt like that was what this metal was behaving as when it came to mana. It just let the mana run freely through it!

 

“This is only useful for weapons, why does it always turn into weapons...” Rex muttered.

 

Rex only wanted to know how much mana a metal could hold! It's best to start investigating at the top of the pyramid and work down, in his opinion anyway. For some reason, this always led to terrible weapons like the great weapon of the succubi. That thing had been a complete accident, and this was one to, and Kira would certainly learn of this metal. It could only be imagined what she would do with it.

 

“No, no, no, she will always be that cute little girl who is very obedient! I will never need to worry about little Kira.” Rex sighed in relief.

 

How very, very wrong this statement was...

 

“Speaking of which she is very late...”Rex muttered looking back at the succubus behind him. “Any news from Kira?”

 

The succubus put her notes down, she seemed to write down everything.

 

“They have successfully taken over the ship!” The succubus said with pride.

 

Rex felt like the succubi were turning into hooligans, they were all so proud they had stolen a ship. This also felt like a horrible precursor to him of things to come. Since their food problem had been solved, big changes had come for the succubi. They were starting to become a real race, and they seemed to enjoy violence. They had made the prisoners their little bitches, that was the only word to describe it.

 

Several beastmen had acted up at work, and this had made the succubi very happy. They had chased the poor bastard for hours as they dropped TNT on him from the sky, laughing and cheering each other on. That poor beastman had lost almost all of his fur and had foam at his mouth from running so hard. It had been a very daring old lion man, he now had lost his glorious mane.

 

Rex felt a deep pity for this old lion and brought him water and a damp towel. When the lion saw the deep purple spade marks all over Rex's face, he felt like he had seen a brother from another race. It was such an uplifting moment for Rex, he had made that old lion in charge of mixing concrete. Why wouldn't he abuse his power for a fellow brother, and give him a cushy job! This was a brotherhood that transcended race!

 

Most people probably wouldn't be able to tolerate everything that Rex had up to this point, but he felt like this was the most human thing he could do. The most beautiful thing to Rex was that even if we claimed to be irreconcilable, we all lived with each other. Just because you don't like something, doesn't mean you should seek to destroy it. Everything has its problems, but it should still exist.

 

Rex didn't want his legacy to ultimately be one of destruction, if he was going to live here, he had to ensure his safety. Kira also wouldn't be a child forever, and she was dead set on sticking with him in the future. That ugly pot still sat next to the bed every night as proof of that.

 

“She is going to laugh so hard when she sees that dock, it looks similar to a giant beaver damn.” Rex muttered.

 

And why wouldn't it, as it was designed by a beaverman after all! That old beaver had been a warrior his whole life, but he just wasn't very good at it. He said something about building this dock had spoken to him, and he was now reconsidering his life. That beaver never left that damn dock and was constantly adding onto it. He was like a beaverman possessed as he built that dock!

 

“It is ugly as shit!” Rex muttered.

 

What is he supposed to do, teach them? He isn't some architect, city planning and projects were something he had never done. What kind of city planning could he do anyway when he doesn't know what his citizens look like? Preparing soil and water was the best he could think of doing. Dora had only seen the slaves as food and not what kind, it was a huge drawback.

 

None of his brilliant plans had so far gone correctly, except selling weapons. The elves were thrilled to start killing the beastmen with them, meanwhile, they didn't even really have trade. Rex didn't want meat from a kill, or shitty weapons. Rex wanted their powerful muscles, picking him cotton and finding him resources. This work would happily be traded for the useless pointy sticks!

 

Meanwhile, the succubi would be on their island, developing into an industrial nation. A large number of steel plates had been constructed, and the borax was flowing in. Rex and Kira would probably spend 3-4 years building a refinery, this would be the birth of their industries.

 

They would be producing oils, fuels, gasses, and plastic. If he was going to fractionally distill oil he would be dealing with gases anyway. Nitrogen was an inert gas that he needed to make weapons safer. A lot of chemicals could only be safely stored in an oxygen-free environment. Oxygen and hydrogen had their own uses as well.

 

With more and more succubi making their way slowly to the island, the number of houses was growing, and why use clay when they now had concrete. Glass windows and doors had also started making appearances. As they didn't have wood, it was done with bent sheet metal and welded. As they loved beauty, this was how Rex was teaching them welding. By having them make framing and cover it with tar-based paint to protect it.

 

The new color of the homeland of the succubi was blood red. They said it spoke of the indomitable nature of the succubus. This wasn't the only problem he had with them, they seemed to keep to Kira's spirit and put weapons everywhere. Guns, swords, spears, knives, axes, you name it. They were pretty much everywhere, Rex had suggested moving them all to a central armory.

 

They all looked at him like he was a monster, and claimed he was trying to take their weapons away! He got nowhere further with them after this, as they all banded together against him. They called this new group the S.W.A. Or the “Succubus Weapon Association” to guarantee the right to be armed. Rex had very conflicted feelings about this development, as it reminded him of something very similar on earth.

 

“I wonder who their chairwoman will be...”Rex muttered.

 

Right now he was waiting for his forge to heat up, he was going to try adding silver to dilute the metal he made. Kira's light enchantment had been aggressive, but so had his metal. When combined how could it be anything but a weapon?

 

-

Meanwhile...

On the open seas, on a private yacht

 

Kira was still stuck on this boat, there was a very good reason for this.

 

“You piece of shit! If your people hadn't betrayed us, we would never have been conquered by the elves!” A woman's voice yelled.

 

“Fuck you, and your race! You people couldn't even put up a fight against them!” A voice responded.

 

“That's enough!” Kira yelled out, ending the fight.

 

They were worse than the prisoners, they were all young. This made the entire group more hot-blooded and rowdy. Several slaves had already died on this trip, Kira was too late to help them. This was even worse than dealing with the prisoners. She had stopped taking off collars, as she had no way to control them otherwise.

 

Currently, she was standing on the deck, looking at a myriad of different races. Almost none of them were the same races, as they were the remnants of those who were conquered. The elves believed in thorough decimation and always reduced a conquered race to virtually nothing. Welch had to stay in the captain's quarters for her protection.

 

“Little Kira, it is okay, they just playing.” The white bear next to her said. “It is good for learning to hunt. You should just let them play.”

 

Kira knew several languages being a succubus, their brains were well adapted to it. They could mimic noises easily, and they could learn relatively fast. It was such a mess of different languages, that Kira could only understand a few of them. This had forced her to stay here to break up fights. Rex had wanted these slaves, and Kira didn't know why.

 

She had been pulling her hair out trying to control them.

 

Am I going to be stuck here, until the ship arrives...

 

This thought had filled Kira with dread, as it was the longest she had been away from the island. The once-grand cruise ship was now filled with slaves and had become a mess.

 

I want to go home, to my soap and cotton bed!

 

“Little Kira, I make new song for you, you want listen?” The bear asked her seriously.

 

I miss Rex!

 

-

3 days later...

Succubus Homeland, Rex's Lab

 

“Why is this so hard...” Rex muttered.

 

“My eyes!” His succubus attendant screamed.

 

A bright violent flash of light had just filled the entire lab, blinding both of them. The light originated from a silver ball that he had dripped a small amount of the mana fuel mixture onto.

 

“It's only got 10% of the original silver, yet it still is this violent?” Rex continued to go over what could have happened.

 

“Am I going to be blind forever?!” The succubus screamed as she fumbled around the lab.

 

Rex had no idea where she was in his lab, but he felt it best to reassure her.

 

“This wasn't nearly as bad as the last time, maybe an hour this time.” Rex said to her in apology.

 

They had done this over and over to get to this point, Rex could only admire her determination. All for the glory of the great weapon of the succubi. Rex was terrified to teach them how he made that awful mistake.

 

It can only be known to Kira!

 

Rex could just imagine waking up to the entire succubus homeland in flames, and a group of very excited succubi watching it all happen. Yelling and hollering about the great rage the weapon would be unleashing. That would only be a nightmare to all life on the island, and he could imagine the succubi managing to burn it all down.

 

“This is only the 15^th time I have failed to make a light bulb, Edison did it thousands of times. Every single scientist is a masochist you know. People only focus on your success, but they never think about the hundreds of times you must first face plant.” Rex explained to the room.

 

“You mean we have to blind ourselves hundreds of times more?!” The succubus yelled out in horror.

 

“When you are doing something for the first time, failure is just inevitable. Sometimes even if you are doing it for the millionth time you can still fail.” Rex explained calmly.

 

He could hear scrambling noises coming from the room, it sounded like the succubus was feeling around the walls for something. Rex wasn't sure what she was looking for though, he still couldn't see.

 

She must have dropped her notes, she is a very diligent succubus after all.

 

-

Meanwhile...

Imperial Elven Training Camp, Camp Ivangor

 

The elves personally trained had called forth Ivangor's armies as soon as they could. It was a glorious force of nearly 400,000 elves, The vast majority being elven mages. Archers made up almost a quarter of the force, and the front line was warriors with shields and long swords. Most of the elven combat gear was iron and leather, the only change was bright steel weapons that gleamed in the sunlight. In front of this glorious army were Ivangor's apprentices.

 

“What the hell are those freaks!” An elf commander yelled out in shock when he saw the green deformed creatures.

 

“Wait, is that a foot? I thought it was some kind of tree root!” Another elf yelled in shock.

 

“Where the fuck are you all looking?! Do you see that thing's hands?! They are like freaking blades!”

 

“Do you think Ivangor captured them to put on some kind of performance?”

 

“Enough! General Ivangor has put us in charge of you lot to take down Fang City!” The lead deformed elf called out with tears in his eyes.

 

We are elves too! We also have feelings!

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

The gathered elves all erupted into loud laughter, they couldn't believe their long pointy ears! Ivangor really was a joker to come up with such a comedy skit. They could just imagine the laughter on his flat stoic face.

 

“We are serious!” One of the deformed elves yelled out in outrage.

 

“They are serious.” One of the elf lieutenants said loudly to the army.

 

This caused the laughter in the army to be replaced by shock.

 

“You want us to follow this freak show?!”

 

“Ivangor has always been mad, but has he also gone senile?!”

 

“Guys, we're all screwed! If Ivangor has completely lost it, who can stop him?!”

 

“Someone! Send a messenger to Dryfys! He needs to know about this immediately, make sure they are good-looking! They will let the messenger through faster that way!”

 

“We were also elves once! Why won't you listen to us!” One of the deformed elves buried his face in his deformed hands, cutting it up.

 

The elves' war march was beginning to pick up steam, it was just going to take it a little while.

 

-

3 weeks later...

Succubus Homeland, Rex's Lab

 

Rex was sitting in his lab on his stool. His burlap clothes were a mess, and after a year of growth, they were starting to get a little small. His blonde hair had grown shaggy, and it stuck up everywhere. The lab had clay walls that had various wooden shelves, the shelves had glass plates set in frames to cover the various jars of chemicals and equipment.

 

Right now he was completely alone in the lab, he had driven away all of his assistants. For the last week, he had been carrying on alone. One failure after another had tested his determination. This was what the very road of improvement was based upon.

 

Looking at his table, he could see the silver sphere, it cast a bright white light that illuminated the entire lab. This was the result of hundreds of experiments.

 

“1% truesilver, and I had to modify the enchantment. We were both wrong in the end.” Rex muttered as he stared at the silver ball. “Oh, well. You can only learn from your mistakes and grow.”

 

Rex stood up and stretched his shoulders. The light would last several days off the drop of mana he gave it, Rex had no way to turn it off. He was so focused on getting it to work right, he had overlooked this feature.

 

“I don't sleep in here anyway, it won't be a problem.” Rex said with a refreshed smile as he walked out of his lab.

 

In their small living room, he could see the dinner table he never used, as he often ate in his lab. It had begun to collect monster figurines. The figures of his parents sat on his work desk. Kira just kept making more and more of them, she even started designing chess sets. They even had succubus-themed sets.

 

“I can't tell any of them apart!” Rex muttered.

 

They all looked so similar, if they weren't transformed he couldn't see the very minor differences.

 

The house had slowly begun to collect dust with Kira being absent, it made Rex feel uncomfortable as she usually kept everything relatively clean.

 

Walking outside, he could see the large kiln and smelter they used for casting. Off in the distance, he could see Kira's first house. It had become the official workshop for the succubi, and now multiple forges and smelters were built. They had all been converted to use the small mana-powered engine to run the bellows. Right now a group of 60 succubi were working hard, waiting for things to heat treat.

 

Who would want to swing a hammer all day anyway?

 

Watching the proud succubi craftswomen, busy playing chess and checkers, as he made his way to the center of town.

 

The small little succubi shacks had changed, and many new types of houses were being built. Concrete had also begun to circulate. Many had large balconies that served as secondary doors for the flying creatures. Glass was also a very common trend in large plates, some succubi had even begun experimenting with staining. Rex just wished everything wasn't blood red. The ground was already a dark black, as were the walls of the crater.

 

This looks like some evil city.

 

Looking over at a small corner caused Rex's footsteps to halt. Next, his lower jaw began to slowly fall, until it could not lower anymore.

 

A new statue had been made by the succubi's food source. Near all of the small clay pools near the center where a large clear pool sat. A statue of two children had been built. It showed a little boy and a little succubus embracing and sharing a kiss.

 

I nearly died from that! Do I have to see that all the time now?!

 

Rex took a few deep breaths and placed his hand on the statue next to him for support. He had nearly collapsed from the shock that the statue nearly gave him.

 

The statue he was using to support himself also featured two children. They were reaching towards the sky, holding a glass orb filled with a clear fluid between the two of them. This was to commemorate the creation of the great weapon of the succubi. Rex felt like he was slowly being surrounded by his failures.

 

“I need to breathe, the boat will be here soon. I haven't seen Kira in nearly a month.” Rex muttered.

 

Calming himself down, he reached over and rang a bell.

 

Ding! DingDingDingDing!

 

This was how he told the succubi “Please! I need a ride!” using the bell in the main square. It didn't take long before a group of 10 flew over with vines. Rex just spread his arms and legs with a blank look on his face. One of these days, he would create a proper harness. An elevator would take forever, as they were nearly 2000 feet up from the sea.

 

Rex waited until all the vines were secured, and he was soon jerked into the sky. It was not a smooth process, but it worked for the most part. It only took a minute for them to reach the lake.

 

The landing also wasn't a smooth process, they usually looked for a bush. This was because there was no way to orient Rex with vines on all of his limbs. He was lucky if he ended up on his stomach or back, sometimes on bad days his head. This was entirely unintentional on their part.

 

“That wasn't too bad of a landing.” Rex said as he climbed out of the bush and began untying the vines.

 

Looking around he saw the future sight of the city, they had prepared absolutely nothing. Rex only knew he needed to plan for water and sewage, but who has seen the city sewer system? Rex was going to have to figure out a lot of this from the ground up.

 

“The slaves will be so thankful we freed them, and they will work with us to build a beautiful city here.” Rex said to himself as he looked at the large flat grassy area.

 

Rex had yet to hear from Kira, he had no idea what was going on. They had been spotted on the horizon a few hours ago.

 

Rex slowly made his way towards the docks, prisoners could be seen coming and going from work. The exchange had been turned into more of a general store and carried many goods from the mainland as far as food went. Rex had also begun freezing fish, they had started to appear with the sharks being mostly gone. Rex also planned to carry meat from the mainland. The succubi would soon be turned into a smuggling service for the island.

 

Walking down the large concrete ramp he had to admire the job done so far. Metal tracks were being installed by skilled succubi workers, and they were welding them together. These rollers were comprised of a long steel rod and many steel wheels. The rod would be supported, and the wheels would spin freely, this was to move all of the succubi's freight in the future. A large sliding garage-style sliding door was being assembled.

 

This would completely cut the ramp off from the water. At the end of the ramp, a large wooden bridge was being constructed. The foreman of this project was a walking beaver. Thick chains held together a large raft made of wood, and the beaver was excitedly directing the prisoners. Off in the distance, a large ship could be seen approaching.

 

Rex stood at the end of the ramp as he watched. He could see lots of various slaves standing on the deck in the distance. Rex put on a smile as he looked around, but could not see the little girl he was looking for anywhere.

 

Nothing happened to her right?

 

Rex began watching the slaves moving away from the bow as the ship swiftly approached. The anchors were soon cast off the side of the approaching ship.

 

It's good that they missed the rocks, we haven't had the time to clear them...

 

Rex was beginning to feel like he was very ill-prepared suddenly for everything that was going to happen. It almost felt like when he had cast his lot in with the succubi. A chill began to run down his spine.

 

Looking forward he saw the boat swiftly approaching the dock.

 

Why isn't it slowing down?

 

It soon reached the end of the large wooden damn.

 

BOOOOM!CCCrrrreuUUUuuUUUuuunnnch!

 

Rex's jaw fell to the floor as he watched the panicked prisoner diving off the damn into the waters for their life.

 

“Rex! Run!” Kira's voice sounded from in the sky.

 

Rex looked at the swiftly approaching boat as it tore apart the deck, and swiftly turned and began running for his life. It was the most graceful run he had ever done.

 

Mouth wide open, tongue hanging out, snot running, and tears streaming down his face. This was the look Rex had as the boat swiftly approached him. Soon he felt two strong little arms grip him and he was being swiftly pulled forward.

 

Kira had landed right next to Rex and the two were running as fast as they could.

 

BOOOOOM! SCREEEEEEECH!

 

The elven ship hit the end of the ramp and began sliding up it before it stopped. Rex and Kira turned and watched it firmly jam itself on the ramp. Looking at Kira he could see tears streaming down her eyes, as she quickly grabbed him and buried her face in his chest.

 

Rex had no idea what had gotten into her, and he began to pat her back.

 

“Kira, what's wrong?” Rex asked confused.

 

Kira looked up at him with despair on her face.

 

“They killed more and more of each other every day, they stopped listening to me at all.” Kira was crying as if she had finally ended a nightmare. “They are so much worse than the prisoners! There was also this elf and sh-”

 

Kira was cut off by the sound of large grunts and growls.

 

Looking over, Rex saw a large soaking wet polar bear trying to squeeze his bulk under one of the sides of the ship. It soon managed to free its bulk and stood proudly on its two thick legs.

 

“This is new home for Bear?” The bear said as he looked around, a wet little elven girl next to it.

 

Looking at the ship Rex could already hear the sound of fighting coming from inside. This quickly caused him to go pale, he could also see smoke rising from the ship.

 

"NOOOOO! MY DOCK!" A beaverman yelled in the distance

 

“Kira, can you explain a little more slowly please.” Rex put on his best confident smile, his face pale, and his knees shaking.