Which was unfortunate because that meant that they were caught unawares by this arrival From his conversations with Mrs Hamilton part of the reason that they had come was to be present in case Donnyton had a response to the weapons that Zone Seven had sent ahead of them
And if they failed to return the goodwill with an equally valuable gift From what Sam understood it wasnÆt good Something like a pride thing Which Sam identified with very strongly He didnÆt want to lose
Not in forging Not to anyone
The inscrutable diplomat looked up and smiled when he noticed Mrs Hamilton approaching their small group Ah Mrs Hamilton It is unfortunate that I will not be able to speak with you further Some of the theories advanced by Donnyton in your library certainly extraordinary Another time we will need to exchange pointers
Mrs Hamilton smiled Indeed Zone Seven and Donnyton certainly have much to give each other Mutual growth is for the best
Nodding shortly Han said Exactly so Well then I must depart
Just a moment Sam growled He cracked his knuckles absently to hide his nerves and said Donnyton still owes you a gift for those beautiful weapons that you brought from your Zone Leaving without paying you back wouldnÆt that be rude
How generous HanÆs face shifted lightning fast to barely controlled shock and then settled back onto placid observation Certainly he hadnÆt expected Donnyton to possess anything worthy of being the equal of those weapons which was exactly why those weapons had been given away for free
Yet Han Yazhu recovered from that shock almost instantly He certainly was a cold fish But I couldnÆt possibly accept any more hospitality from Donnyton Besides our great Zone has more than enough weapons
They arenÆt weapons And I insist Sam said shortly Then he bared his teeth Mrs Hamilton had given him a little background on Chinese culture so he understood the need to push past the initial rejection of the gift It was only polite to refuse at least once to take a gift after all Please if not from Donnyton accept a gift from myself a humble craftsman who admires the work of your Zone
For several seconds Han Yazhu was still His stiff expression didnÆt shift at all as he weighed the options available to him Finally he smiled slightly Alright but only as a symbolic gesture between our newly interconnected economies
Without waiting for him to change his mind Sam waved his hand and used Shape Stone to make three clean and flat areas to display the furniture Then he removed the items from his interspatial ring and placed them on display for this foreign dignitary to inspect
The first was something that had been inspired by a common canvas chair but Sam had added some extra details in order to examine the effect of Form on the item Instead of canvas Shal had used some of the finest golden silk that Donnyton produced to form the body of the chair The color was rich and metallic giving it a regal and sophisticated feel
The chair itself was large with the glittering silk draping over the sides to form a golden halo on the ground around the chair itself The back of the chair was elongated and from the top streamers of gold hung down sparkling in the sun With the cascading gold color grabbing the eye it was very difficult to sense exactly how flimsy the chair itself was
With careful engraving Sam had worked in some empowering runes into the armrests that caused constant breezes to circle the chair The effect of which was that the chair constantly sparkled and glimmered like and uncovered diamond But the movements were generally small preserving the illusion of a shimmering golden throne
Sam believed it wasteful but he wanted to move as far away as possible from the form of an average chair And this was what he had created Originally he had planned on giving it to Donny but already Sam had a headache imagining how insufferable the boy would be if he got his hands upon it
The second chair was also ornate but was SamÆs attempt at mastering Function Rather than an actual chair this was a jade sculpture that used engraving and careful carving to look like a chair from every direction However the arrangement meant that anyone who attempted to actually sit on the chair would find not enough space for comfort
Some of the Earthen essence sent from East End was used in this chair Harnessing that power the chair would shift very subtly to trick the viewer constantly In addition the chair possessed a powerful grounding effect A useless piece of furniture that instead provided strength to the surrounding individuals so that they wouldnÆt need a chair at all
A chair that would never work as a chair lined with beguiling engravings that drew powerfully from the Champion of their Zone Simon It was a chair in all but form And for his effort Sam was rewarded with an item that was labeled as a jade throne
The final chair
Sam would have preferred to make something more flashy for his attempt to play with the Image component of the furniture but it hadnÆt worked out like that Creating an original image wasnÆt something that was easy to do Instead Sam had spent almost four hours slowly carving names into gears Common gears that he had borrowed from a watchmaker friend
Thousands of gears Small bits of copper and brass and badly smelted iron Nothing sophisticated just pieces that would assemble an image that was not his
Then he had painstakingly assembled those gears in meticulous order to be a clock in the shape of the chair Included in the construction were panes of glass so that the inner machinery could be seen and yet wouldnÆt be bothered so the ultimate result was a bronze colored clockwork chair The clock face was part of the chair back so it would be impossible to sit in the chair and read the clock but Sam designed it so there would be a tactile shift in the armrests that could be used to read the clock
It ticked incessantly a testament to the intricate clockwork that served to animate this strange machine
But of all his chairs it was the clockwork one that Sam was the proudest of After all due to the time taken to write individual names he had achieved his goal the third chair included the option Unity of Ten Thousand III It wasnÆt exactly the option that was included in all of the Zone Seven equipment but it was close enough that Sam was pleased with himself
To copy that image was the goal he had set for himself It was meant as a test because he hadnÆt recalled at all that he needed to prepare anything as a counter gift He was too caught up in experimentation to stay focused But it turned out to be a delightful bit of serendipity to give such a chair to them
Plus the chair had reached the Legendary rarity Which was enough for him to raise his head high in the face of Zone SevenÆs Level of weapons
Han Yazhu looked at the three chairs which had been so ornate to receive the designation of Throne from the System Time ticked past There was something strange in the air Han reached out and touched each one in turn examining their effects As he did so his face visibly became increasingly pale Each brush against the three thrones that Sam had created seemed to steal a portion of HanÆs Vitality until he was as white as a ghost
Sam frowned Was this yuppy dissatisfied Bah There isnÆt anything like these on Earth Be satisfied prick
Just as Sam was about to open his mouth and demand an answer Sam felt Mrs HamiltonÆs hand on his shoulder Very casually she shook her head But her eyes were gleaming with barely controlled amusement
That made Sam even more confused Why was Mrs Hamilton so happy
Without a word Han Yazhu stretched out his hand and gathered all three chairs into his ring Then he turned and headed toward the portal But Mrs Hamilton did not let him off easily
Han
Is there anything else Came the hissed response from Han Yazhu As he spun to face them his face was now beet red Even Sam was taken aback by the sudden animosity