This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Chapter 751: Chapter 751: A Three-way exchange?

A quiet hum settled over the lab like static. Kain didn’t move. Neither did Lord Storm.

Dorian’s single gleaming eye lingered on Kain far too long.

And then—

A wave of pressure swept through the air like a silent storm.

Lord Storm hadn’t spoken. Hadn’t moved a single muscle. But the aura he released was enough to make the walls vibrate faintly. Not a threat. Not an attack. Just a simple, inevitable truth whispered into the air.

Try anything and die.

The hungry gleam in Dorian’s eye dulled instantly. But it was not completely extinguished.

Kain felt the air return to his lungs. He didn’t look away from Dorian, but he did shift just slightly behind Lord Storm’s side, masking the motion by crossing his arms. The man had barely done anything. Just that subtle aura. But it worked better than a threat ever could.

And Dorian… didn’t protest.

He let out a small chuckle, scratchy and echoing through the reverb of his mechanical throat. “Right. I forgot Lord Storm was here. Honestly, I’m not sure why you felt the need for a guard when meeting an old friend. It makes me a little sad if you thought I meant you harm, that wasn’t my intention.”

Kain raised a brow. “Wasn’t it?”

Dorian didn’t answer.

Instead, Lord Storm’s cold voice broke through the tension. “That device. The cube. You said it stores ambient energy into usable form?”

“Yes.” Dorian tilted the cube slightly toward him. “Energy Reservoir. It passively condenses environmental leakage and stray emissions into a purified state. Though most of the spiritual energy in normal regions is either too fragmented or too thin to harvest at high volume.”

Lord Storm nodded once, moving deeper into the lab. His eyes began sweeping over the nearby blueprints and scattered prototypes—not with idle curiosity, but clear technical appraisal. He reached out once to inspect a core stabilizer clamped onto a half-assembled prosthetic. “Not bad,” he murmured.

Kain blinked at the tone, similar to a judge or appraiser, and remembered that Lord Storm was actually a pretty high-up blacksmith…

“Can you understand my designs?” Dorian asked in surprise. After all, after obtaining the knowledge and memories in the relic of Ferdinand Hammer, these blueprints incorporated a lot of other disciplines and knowledge most blacksmiths wouldn’t know.

“Not all,” Lord Storm said. “But enough.”

He turned the component slightly. “This pressure capacitor is a flawed design—it’ll fracture under too much converted kinetic strain. But the underlying structure is clever. Very clever. You’ve solved the rebound delay of circuit relays without needing conductive clay.”

Dorian watched him carefully. “You’re a blacksmith?”

“I studied under Halreth for a period.”

Dorian stilled.

Even his mechanical limbs froze in mid-adjustment.

“You’re a student of Exalted Grandmaster Halreth?” he asked, voice quieter.

“One of them,” Lord Storm confirmed. “Not his first. Likely not his last. But enough of one to know what I’m looking at. You’re not Halreth’s equal in raw smithing ability—far from it. Possibly not even mine. But what you’re doing here is…” He hesitated. Then gave a rare nod of genuine respect. “New.”

He looked around. “This is no longer traditional blacksmithing. Nor alchemy. Nor engineering.”

“It’s all of them,” Dorian said softly.

“A new discipline,” Lord Storm agreed.

He didn’t praise easily. But even Kain could hear the grudging admiration in his tone.

Lord Storm’s gaze lingered on one of the floating armatures attached to the ceiling. “These designs could change things.”

“I hope they will,” Dorian replied. “Eventually. Once they’re stable.”

Kain didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then finally asked, “What do you want from me exactly?”

“I told you. Energy,” Dorian said. “You can emit something that I’ve never seen before. Something no spiritual creature or human or relic I’ve encountered gives off naturally.”

“And you want me to just… give it to you?” Kain asked, tone dry.

“Not just give. I thought maybe you’d let me study it. Power some prototypes. A mutual arrangement—”

“No such thing as a mutual arrangement that only benefits one side,” Kain cut in. Kain had zero intention of giving the energy for free—even if they were BFFs, much less now.

His source of Source energy comes from Pangea. Donating the energy, even if he limits it to a safe amount, would still slow down Pangea’s development. The sacrifice needed to be worth it.

He didn’t miss how Dorian’s eye twitched in irritation.

“What can you offer me?” he asked bluntly.

Dorian paused.

And for the first time since the conversation began… looked uncomfortable.

It was subtle. A quiet stillness in his limbs. The way his lips didn’t twitch into a ready answer.

Because, Kain realized—

He hadn’t considered this part.

He hadn’t even thought of what Kain might want in return. In some corner of his deranged metal heart, he’d genuinely thought about just kidnapping Kain and taking what he needed. Kain’s jaw tensed. “Exactly,” Kain responded sarcastically to the silence that was answer enough to his question.

“I… have designs,” Dorian said at last, offended at the implication that he had nothing to offer. “Blueprints. Prototypes. Devices you’ve never seen—”

“That don’t work yet,” Kain pointed out.

Silence.

“I could offer free armour,” Dorian tried again. “High-grade, reactive—”

“I have connections to get custom sets from Halreth,” Kain said. “As Lord Storm said, your pure blacksmithing ability cannot compare to his.”

Another silence.

Then a voice spoke up, dry and deep.

“Then perhaps… It’s time someone else got involved.”

Dorian turned sharply.

Lord Storm was standing in front of a half-built exosuit. Arms crossed. Expression unreadable.

“You were right to call Kain,” he said. “But wrong to think he’d be yours to use. Especially with me around.” He paused to give a threatening glare to Dorian to banish any thoughts in his mind of just kidnapping Kain for his own use. “However, If Halreth knew about this—truly knew about this—he might be… persuaded. If you want Kain’s energy, then make yourself useful enough to deserve it.”

Dorian’s eye narrowed. “You think he’d work with me?”

“I think,” Lord Storm said slowly, “he would be curious. You’ve achieved a fusion of machine and man, not just mechanically—but spiritually. That’s a different direction than he’s currently pursuing in trying to spontaneously awaken life via pure blacksmithing ability, but it may still offer him insight.”

Kain’s brow lifted. “And how does this help me?”

“Because Halreth can offer something you don’t have,” Lord Storm said. “The top blacksmith in the Empire. Authority. Access. Prestige. Wealth. Resources. You name it. If he takes on Dorian as a collaborator, and accepts the exchange of energy as part of that collaboration, you’ll be paid.”

“By him?” Kain asked skeptically.

“Or me,” Lord Storm said coolly. “Unfortunately, I have the impression that I will be seeing a lot more of you in the future.”

’After all this brat and my daughter…’

Lord Storm’s mouth twitched at the thought. Not quite a grimace. Not quite a frown. More like a deeply restrained expression of suffering.

Because in that moment, his mind betrayed him. An image conjured up by his active imagination, unbidden, rose behind his eyes—

His precious daughter Serena, dressed in a pristine white gown. Elegant. Poised. Beautiful in a way that echoed her deceased mother.

And beside her…

Kain. In a sleek dark suit. Expression calm. Slightly smug. Offering her his arm.

The two of them turned away from Lord Storm together. Serena gave him a dazzling, happy wave.

And then walked off into the sunset. With Kain.

Not even a backward glance. As if her father no longer existed.

A primal fury seized him. The temperature of the lab plummeted as his spiritual aura unconsciously leaked outward like ice-cold magma.

Kain blinked at the room, suddenly feeling like he had been dropped into the Arctic. Even more confusing was the death glare Serena’s dad was giving him. ’What’d I do…?’

Dorian looked between the two of them, calculating.

Even his enhanced mind, bolstered by metallic grafts and artificial neurons, was now furiously revising its expectations. The plan had shifted. The power dynamic was no longer a simple dyad between him and Kain. There was a third party now—one impossible to ignore.

This would no longer be a private deal. It would be a three-way exchange.

“…You’ll speak to him for me?” he asked finally. “Halreth?”

Lord Storm inclined his head. “I’ll deliver a report. I can also show him the recording of those suits fighting against Kain. Whether he agrees is another matter.”

Kain folded his arms, quiet for a long moment.

Finally, he nodded toward the Energy Reservoir. “I’ll take that. I’ll give you batteries. In small amounts. Only what I can safely spare. And only if the terms are good.”

Dorian let out a slow breath. “Agreed.”

Kain turned back toward Lord Storm. “You really think Halreth would agree?”

“I think he’ll at least want to meet Mr. Anvil.”

Dorian smiled faintly. For the first time, it looked almost human.

“I’ll prepare my notes,” he said.