Chapter 74 - Education Access

<---Chapter 73 - Snowball|Table of Contents|Chapter 75 - Sasha's Day Off--->

Despite the first batch of workers being well experienced with the old factory's procedures and assembly process, it was still a tall order to jump from making benign household products to military-grade arctech steel that had to withstand brutal conditions over long periods.

Furthermore, most of their experience was based on machines that they were intimately familiar with. As the factory slowly lurched into the production of standard rifles and breastplates, the shaping of steel and required accuracy of engraving was far beyond their current skills.

The training thus did not go as smoothly as expected, with numerous errors and inefficient etchings being spotted on the produced engravings. Kyle dug through a wooden crate filled to the brim with the failed products, trying to pinpoint where the source of error was.

Kyle naturally had expected something of this nature to occur, putting untrained technicians into a brand new assembly line. Yet due to the tight deadline, it was even more critical for him to try and reduce the training requirements, so as to hire more technicians.

Currently, the Aspis Weapons Factory was not employing to its maximum capacity, instead only having around 30% of the employees that Kyle was originally designing the layout for. This led to a conspicuous void on the factory floor, where entire assembly lines laid dormant.

The issue of employment could be easily solved if Kyle had just approached the Weapons Guild of Raktor, but due to the immense salary that he was splurging on the arctech designers, he could not afford the cost of hiring experienced apprentices or journeymen from the guild. No doubt that the guild or unions will eventually throw a tantrum once I have this batch trained.

“We need a few designers to serve as quality control…” Kyle muttered to himself, knowing that it would be ridiculous for him to check every single item alone, nor could he have Gordon, the head of the factory be continuously inspecting each item.

"This is terrible..." Gordon remarked as he looked through the pile of rifles and plates. "An absolute waste of resources."

The effects of the breastplate was far worse than the original. Nearly every factor had been worsened. Kyle then returned to the factory, observing a single production team in action as they manufactured one more for training.

First, the steel bars delivered from the Culdao Peaks were heated up, rolled and flattened to the required dimensions, forming a steel plate. Kyle didn’t think the error was occurring over here, following the now pressed steel plate towards a molding station, where the steel plate was now bent slowly to match the curve required.

After that, the engraving was etched on to it, each breastplate worked on by various technicians who each etched a specific portion of the entire engraving design onto it. Kyle soon found the problem, noticing that the hands of the technicians were quite shaky and unfocused, unable to accurately carve out most of the finer engravings, leading to losses in arctech energy being dissipated.

In the old factory, it used to be the designers themselves who would perform the etching, but Kyle wanted to shift away from that. Yet there was barely enough time to have the technicians brought up to speed. He needed to find a method in which the technicians could easily replicate the etch.

As long as they have a guideline, then it would be easier to follow. Kyle quickly had Gordon fashion a breastplate with proper etching, but instead of leaving it as an example. Kyle used the hot burning tip of the etcher to melt cleanly through instead, gouging out the shape of the engraving on the breastplate.

Repeating it for all outer and inner sides of the breastplate, Kyle had the gouged out breastplate tested in a production line. Immediately, accuracy greatly improved, the technicians simply following along the path that had been set for them. By matching the template to the incoming breastplate, each technician could etch by simply inserting the tip of the etcher into the gouged grooves and tracing along.

“Have twenty of this ready, and get the design team to ensure that all engravings can be performed like this, especially for the rifle’s barrel.” Kyle instructed Gordon, heading over now to check on the design team.

Motivated by the high salary as well as Kyle’s intimidation, the designers were hard at work, already coming up with a few preliminary ideas. The same older designer ,who once belittled Kyle, was now heading the materials team as he hurriedly introduced the new concepts.

“Metal armour is far outdated, especially with the design breakthroughs that the Oriental Bloom has inspired. With more guns now firing more rapidly, it is even more critical for the soldier to be able to avoid. Hence, we are working on deriving a lighter form of armour that can still provide significant protection while affording mobility.” The older designer showed a few pieces of paper, detailing the theoretical proposals. “First, we have the idea of a thinner steel plate in general. This would be the fastest way to achieve weight reduction for the arctech knight.”

“Rejected. The integrity of the plate would disintegrate after a single impact.” Kyle instantly remarked, but the older designer was not fazed, as if he was half expecting it.

“Second, a metal vest -  a chainmail, if you will. The chainmail will be hidden under the military uniform, and would be significantly lighter than plate armour.”

“Hmmm, possible. Have that tested in the firing range for penetration and disintegration.”

“Dis-int what?”

“Nevermind, just test the rifles against it. Next?”

“Next is an interesting proposition by yours truly, steel alloy combined with imbibed traces of arcite to strengthen it. Arcite ore forms in areas of high pressure before coming to the surface, so by theoretical understanding, the arcite ore itself should be highly durable.”

“What’s the fraction required?”

“That would have to be tested to determine the effective fraction, though I would suspect anywhere from two-hundredths to a tenth.”

Kyle did not have that much arcite ore to spare – his current production of arcite ore was barely enough to keep all of his buildings running currently, reliant on the mechanical regenerators to keep up coupled with a few regular purchases from the black market. Infusing the arcite ore into the steel would mean it cannot be regenerated. “I will provide the necessary testing material. Have this tested as well. Next?”

“Finally, we have discovered a unique bonding between Yul’s Tears and Greiss Powder with iron, that can potentially form a more durable and lightweight alloy compared to steel. However, this would be far longer to test.”

Yul’s Tears were exceptional expensive, and Kyle did not think he had the monetary capability now to attempt to corner the market. “Rejected, the metal’s cost would far outscale its worth. Leave it for a future investigation.”

Kyle next checked up on Team B, who were working on the layout of the armour. Not much improvements have been made, saved for a better freedom of motion in terms of the shoulders as well as the legs. The arcite fuel pack was still placed conspicuously at the back, though the designers had no idea how to minimize the size of that, seeing as they were not designing fuel packs.

For Team C, the rifle was already improving leaps and bounds from its original design, thanks to the reference engravings provided by the Oriental Bloom. Already, the first prototype of the rifle was available for Kyle to inspect.

“Have you tested this?”

“Yes sir, Baron Cain provided one of his arctech knights to serve as a reference. He could fire the prototype up to 10 times before needing to swap a fuel pack. Without the fuel pack, he could fire 3 times, which is a significant improvement over the Oriental Bloom.”

“Not good enough. We need to design the rifle to be able to shoot 10 times without the fuel pack.”

“What?!” The team was in disbelief. “That’s physically impossible!”

“Is it? The Oriental Bloom would have been thought to be physically impossible just a year ago.”

The team did not have a rebuttal for Kyle, but still held a fair amount of reluctance and derision for the tall order. Kyle sighed, quickly sitting down and pouring over the sheets of engraving designs for the rifle.

“Look, over here. The placement of this cobalt bead is not properly amplifying the flow of arcite through the engraving, and the carbon blocks are not helping at all, instead causing the energy to be lost as heat and sound. If you just reroute it like this…” Kyle deftly sketched out a new engraving, his Arcia Engraver title’s put to good use. “Just this alone can reduce the arcia consumption by two-fold. Imagine what you could do with the rest of the engravings.”

Kyle didn’t hear a response, looking away from the drawing table only to see the team’s designers in utter shock at the skill that Kyle had just displayed, their head trying to reconcile the fact that such a young adult could show up even the most experienced among them. Their eldest designer quickly grabbed the new sketch, theories clashing and fighting for dominion in his head.

Kyle had other matters to attend to, so he left them to their confusion, checking up on the trade schools’ attendance. A few more students were enrolling, the classrooms now slowly filing up. However, it was still a depressing sight, especially considering that the trade school had been made free to attend.

"Keith, expand the recruitment age range have the trade school work up a part-time plan for the students. Make sure the part-time plan is a adult living wage." Kyle ordered. This would provide an allowance of sort while bolstering the workforce in the factory.

"Even if the student is a child?" Keith questioned.

"Yes, especially if they are a child." The trade school was far more attractive to parents who were in dire need of money. Such families already had their children work in various other capacities in order to support their livelihood, so Kyle was confident that his plan could attract much more talents that were currently buried under poverty.

Keith worked quickly, creating a system where the students would work in the factory for four hours a day in the guise of 'hands-on' experience. The subsequent announcement and rumours were spread through the district, and before long there were a significant number of parents lining up to enroll their children into the trade school.

Yet this was not enough for Kyle. He knew this offering was not enough to truly exponentially grow his talent pool – he needed a wider reach in the long run. A way to put the district on the map of every citizen in Raktor. For now, he had to consider how else could he increase the number of workers in the new factory temporarily. His mind eventually landed on the new associates that had just joined the Seven Snakes since the Ilysian Punk War.

I’ll have to put the new associates to good use. He decided to head over to the original base, where the arcite ore training chamber had been set up. Originally the gang had only occupied the basement, but thanks to their recent expansion, they now controlled all five floors of the building. Kyle no longer had the original base set up as the HQ, having shifted all accounting and administrative matters to the shopping arcade for easier transportation.

Instead, the original base was now converted to one of five training centers, in which Damian and the older cobras and associates drilled the same physical training regimen into the new recruits. They were first processed here before being allowed to join the main team operating in the shopping arcade, effectively serving as a screening process of sorts.

“RUN YOU FUCKWIT! EVEN THE HOMELESS KIDS CAN RUN FASTER THAN YOU!” Damian yelled at the top of his lungs at a struggling new recruit, who was trying to sprint back and forth thirty times. “THINK JOINING THE SEVEN SNAKES IS A FUCKING GAME?!”

Kyle nodded in approval, Damian taking on a more serious approach to training ever since his brother was kidnapped by the Ilysian Punks. It was clear to the vipers that with the Seven Snakes current progress, they were bound to come into conflict with other gangs eventually, especially the Ardent Cretins.

In peace, one always prepares for war. Kyle scanned the floor, where various training exercises were carried out. In one part of the room, combat training was carried out in a similar fashion to how he had begun: by beating up prisoners captured for flouting the Seven Snakes rules, while older associates gave tips and real-life learnings on fighting.

Kyle watched on as Damian personally demonstrated him wrangling a hobgoblin, taken directly from the Culdao Peaks. With the capture of the former rebels under Osir, Kyle had them put to good use as training dummies rather than letting Sahusa imprison them. All lives are important to me, after all. Human or not.

The hobgoblins provided a tougher challenge than the regular street fighters and enforcers, with their increased physical prowess and penchant for violence. As such, the prisoners were provided for training in levels of ascending difficulty: pickpockets, thugs, veterans, goblins, hobgoblins and evolved hobgoblins.

The training routine seemed to progressing well, Kyle noticing a few bloodthirsty recruits who relished in the suffering they inflicted on the prisoners. He appreciated such an outlook on human life - the training regime was designed around honing that killer instinct in all recruits, able to kill on order.

However, he soon noticed another new recruit hesitating against fighting a seemingly weak old prisoner, who was currently still sprawled on the floor and bleeding from the previous fight. The new recruit glanced at his compatriots, feeling the pressure, but yet did not want to hurt the prisoner any longer.

Kyle squinted his eyes at the obvious hesitation, yet he did not think it was unexpected. The new recruits were largely small-time criminals or thieves with some semblance of a code of honor. However, if this impeded the operations of the Seven Snakes, Kyle had to nip it in the bud as soon as possible.

"What's wrong?" Kyle approached the group.

The new recruit and those around him instantly stiffened up, quickly bowing in respect. Everyone here knew exactly who Kyle was - his name was legendary through the districts for his prowess in both the Red Lion Skirmish as well as the Ilysian Punk War.

"Answer."

"Sir.. uhh... Boss! I... We've been beating him up for days on end now, and it's starting to feel repetitive." The new associate's eyes shifted suspiciously, hiding his true feelings which seemed to be shared with the rest of his training squad.

"Repeititve... I see." Kyle nodded, brushing past the new associate towards the collapsed old prisoner. He checked the state of the prisoner, the blood loss obviously significant. This is a problem. "You there, get Damian here now."

Soon, Damian arrived, slightly out-of-breath from the recent demonstration he had just done. "Boss, you called?"

"The recruits are reluctant to attack humans. Do you see the same problem with goblins and hobgoblins?"

Damian glanced at the recruits all standing around aimlessly while the old prisoner bled to death, the recruits fidgeting like newborn chicks. "Not at all, boss. But I understand that they can't go the last mile. Many of the recruits were former small-time criminals, petty crime and all that. They still can't act on killing orders just yet."

"Indeed. They are still clinging to the ideals of civilian life. It would be good to have them familiarize with the extent that we are willing to operate."

"Understood. I can have them kill prisoners who are non-compliant."

"Not good enough. I want you to increase the intensity of the physical training regime. And have those capable ones spend sometime working at the weapons factory as well. Make sure they dont have time to think, get them to accept orders subconsciously. Then organize them into squads with cobras leading them, and have them go out on the streets to arrest people who flout our rules."

"Arrest people? You mean the thug rackets? Niko is already working on that, wouldn't it be overkill?"

"No. The veteran associates and cobras are already experienced enough with the Ilysian Punks war. Those who refuse or resist the training, mark them for immediate transfer to the training caves for desentiziation exercises. I will inform Monica on how to handle them."

"Yes, sir." Damian nodded without hesitation, immediately drafting up a new intense physical regime aimed at breaking their spirits. He did not question exactly what Monica and Kyle would do with them, but he had no doubts the recruits will no longer hesitate to act once they were done.

With the combination of part-time trade school students as well as a good number of recruits now working in the Aspis Weapons Factory, the total employment rate would be near 70%. Kyle needed a bigger push and a wider reach to fill the remaining gap. I'll need to check my finances and options once more.

Kyle observed the training for a bit longer, before heading to the shopping arcade to talk again with Keith, who was entertaining an somewhat expected visitor. He entered a meeting room, only to be met with three gruff men, their attire clearly that of the working-class, though their demeanour was posh and upright.

"Ahem, fellow masters, apologies for the interruption, but this is Kyle of the -"

"The Seven Snakes, I know who he is." One of them cut Keith off. "Finally, someone worthy to discuss matters with instead of your undecisive bratty ass."

Kyle squinted as the other two sneered at Keith, who began to bubble with rage, only holding it back thanks to Kyle's presence. Kyle took a seat at the head of the meeting table with Keith now standing behind him. "I apologize, I was not made aware of any visits beforehand, so please do forgive me-"

"Spare us the pleasantries - you're just a ruffian posing like a business owner at best."

"Then you should be well aware of my capabilities."

"Which is nothing in front of the Society of Friendly Weaponsmiths."

"Ah!" Kyle clapped his hands in realization. "Sorry, I thought I was talking to the Society of Buffoons. I had assumed the three of you were Master Foolish, Dull and Witless"

"What did you say?!" Master Foolish slammed the table. "My name is -"

"Now, due to my tight schedule, I have other matters to attend to. If you would like me to spare the pleasantries then please spare me the backtalk."

Master Foolish rose out of his chair, about to lambast Kyle only to be held down by Master Dull, who retrieved a stack of papers, sliding it infront of Kyle. "We're here to inform you that none of your factory workers are part of the Society of Friendly Weaponsmiths. As you have been awarded a license by Baron Cain, deserved or not, it is under the Societies Act pushed forward by the Count that all workers in the industry are strongly encouraged to be a part of this Society."

"And why would it be my concern that the workers be a part of this society?"

"The Society ensures the qualification and working mannerisms of all its members as well as ensuring experience is paid for by fair wages. It also serves as a framework for your business to achieve optimum efficency and appeasment of any unrest or discontent against your management as a whole, by providing a platform to seek redress for accumulated grievances. Such a platform will help to maintain stability -"

A craft union, effectively. "And how 'fair' are the wages you ensure?"

"From our understanding, your workforce is largely made of unskilled labour. It is critical that you afford them additional wages to have them complete a mandatory training process over twelve years."

"Twelve years? We don't have twelve years." Keith retorted.

"This is the average journey for an apprentice to a master within our Society. Anyone outside of this process cannot be qualified to be a proper weaponsmith."

"How much would the training process cost?" Kyle asked.

"100 rakels each week, not including their membership fee which also has to be borne by the owner himself, which in this case is you."

"Hmm... interesting. Thank you for the heads-up, you may leave now." Kyle motioned towards the door, Keith walking over to open it for them.

Master Dull looked slightly stunned, before Master Foolish finally burst out in anger: "You idiot, this is not a suggestion - this is a mandatory requirement to be a weapons manufacturer in Raktor!"

"Mandatory? I see here at the very top of the paper that it is merely a recommendation co-signed by the four Barons and the Count. I don't see anything here that would legally force me to have me foot the bill for fees I never agreed to."

"If you don't pay this amount, you will earn the ire of every other qualifed weaponsmith in the city!"

"So be it - I never hired any of them either. You and I have nothing to do with each other."

"You-" Master Foolish started, but was once again held back by Master Dull, who seemed to be one of the more calculative ones.

"Mr. Kyle, I presume you understand what would happen if some of your workers were to hypothetically join our Society? Their wages and fees must be borne by you."

Kyle gave a knowing smile. "I know how to handle my workers. Now, you will vacate the premise immediately, or any other 'hypothetical' scenarios you discuss can and will be consider as a direct threat and insult to my businesses. And I don't take threats lightly."

The three masters glanced at each other, before making the collective decision to leave together. "You will reap what you sow." Master Witless warned before he left.

"Indeed. I'm looking forward to the profits."

With the three masters gone, Keith let out a huge exasperated sigh. "Fucking scum, we already provide the workers with free housing and what not, and now they want us to foot the bill for their own society? What do they think we are, a charity?"

"Nevermind them, but have some members keep an eye on their movements. I want to know as soon as they try anything funny to our workforce. Stability in the factory is of the utmost importance." Kyle spoke to Keith as they left the meeting room, returning to the main office rooms where dozens of hired clerks ran numbers and managed the businesses. The bureaucracy within the Seven Snakes was now expanding quickly to account for the number of subsidiaries being established.

“Give me the overview of our businesses now.” Kyle started in his private office while Keith closed the door behind him.

“Yes, sir. With the raw materials from the Culdao Peaks now being transported smoothly, our operating costs have dropped significantly by about half. However, hiring the technicians poses another burden on our budgeting. The trade-school is operating at a complete loss, and we will be able to only survive six months assuming no further increase in current revenue.”

“So we’re still burning money.”

“Yes, and if we recruit more than fifty arctech designers at the rate chosen, we will slowly eat into our savings. Right now, these calculations are the worst-case scenario, in which we are operating under the assumption that we will not get the military contract, nor will Baron Cain buy any of our standard rifles being produced in the training phase.”

Kyle was confident that his technology would beat the competition, but he was not sure if there would be enough political pressure to push Count Leon into signing a supply contract. This was something that Baron Cain had to take care of on his end. Yet Kyle did not put all his eggs in one basket, still having a potential escape route for every scenario. "Has any messenger from Versia come in yet?"

"Not that I know of. But if you're thinking of selling weapons to Versia, it would be just as dangerous as what the Ilysian Punks were attempting to do."

"Indeed it will be. A last resort of sorts." Kyle had backup plans to shift production to Versia if it really came down to it, barring future negotiations with Minister Dekar who he had talked with months before. Having no messenger come by with the war looming this close seemed a bit suspicious to him.

“Taking into account the grown crops coming in from the Culdao Peaks now, we can drastically suppress the price of food, making our area much more attractive. Already many market stall owners are moving over into the district.”

The population snowball effect was starting to kick off, with the foundational work that Kyle has laid beginning to come into fruition. By providing ample amentites and a sustainable cost of living, he could entice people to come, which would in turn attract more businesses to set up shop here to profit on the increased footfall and population.

However, there was an inescapable side-effect of all this: land prices. While Kyle was defacto leader of the underworld here, it did not mean he had unbridled control over every single piece of land.

Of course, if he had his way he could violently repossess most of the buildings in the area, creating his own dominion. Yet the entrenched landowners and minor nobility who still had a vested interest in the district would be a tough target to bully, mostly due to their close ties with the enforcers and with Baron Cain.

Illegally evicting them and stealing their land would worsen the peaceful truce that the Seven Snakes and the enforcers now had – it would be directly biting the hand of those who paid the budget of the enforcers through taxation and donations. Already him claiming the land deed from the weapons’ factory prior owner had stepped on some toes, angering the landowner associations, and it was only because of Baron Cain’s involvement that the repercussions were muted.

Kyle was not too worried about the land prices rising, but it would serve as a significant cost barrier to future expansion, limiting the number of housing projects and factories that he could potentially established as landowners would seek to profit off the rising speculation.

For now, the holdings under the Seven Snakes was an impressive portfolio, as Keith began to read off the status of each of them.

“The Lusty Arcian has expanded into multiple branches now, a total of five outlets all complete with their own fronts. We have embedded some branches in the basement of the housing complexes, providing door-delivery where possible.”

With direct control over the housing complex and the enforcers implicit approval, prostitution was in full swing, to be contained within the four walls of the towering apartments, affording easy access to vices. Not only brothels were set up there, but branchs of the Seductive Serpent as well as the Golden Snake Casinos were flourishing in the complex, creating a sort of haven away from the Sanctum of Yual.

This, along with the advertisement and the promise of job security, was what tipped the scales for many migrants and slum dwellers, willing to trade freedom to go under the protection of the Seven Snakes, integrating themselves into the economy.

“What about the Sliver Snakes?” Kyle queried.

“Reese is working on developing a mobile version, one with much smaller proportions to fit in the size of a palm if possible."

Ah, a handheld camera. “Good, that’s another potential profit line.”

“Yes, but it eats into our pool of qualified arctech engineers and designers.” Keith shook his head, pointing towards the recruitment list. “Lowering the threshold for who we hire is fine and all, but eventually we would be bottle-necked for every role like we are now, even with the students and associates working in the factory.”

“Then we will need to find more avenues of attracting workers to our districts.” Kyle knew the advertisement via the distributed lightthrowers was working wonders, but those were expensive to manufacture and maintain as well. Until a handheld projector or screen of sorts was cheaply available, it would be hard to reach a wider audience. He consider other possible methods of distribution. “What about arctech radios?”

“They are still fairly expensive and hard to manufacture as of now, with many only hearing them in coffee shops or Euria dens, where only the well-to-do might frequent.”

Then perhaps in the future when we can make them cheaper. “Then we are only left with the medium of writing. Do we have any printing presses in our vicinity?”

“There are a few small-time newspapers, though they are mostly local news and only boast a small readership. The larger ones are all from Tryas or under Count Leon. There is a few on Thresher Street that Reese has been using for the filming process.”

“Give me a list of those in our districts, I will work on it. How is the application rate for the trade school?”

“Abysmal. Many are unable to read and write, and frankly are not interested in learning to as well. They would rather do hard labour with their hands than educate themselves. To many of them, reading words is a bit of a chore and boring.”

Kyle tapped his arm, before a plan emerged in his mind. Keith knew that look on his face, only wondering to himself what shenanigans Kyle was going to pull to solve this problem again.

<---Chapter 73 - Snowball|Table of Contents|Chapter 75 - Sasha's Day Off--->