The Forerunner Initiative. B1 stubbed: July 25th. Free epub until July 31. by Draith

Category: Original

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Female Lead, GameLit, High Fantasy, LitRPG, Magic, Portal Fantasy / Isekai, Psychological, Sci-fi, Supernatural, Time Travel

Status: In-Progress

Published: 2023-03-19

Updated: 2023-07-26

Packaged: 2023-07-27 00:23:30

Warnings: Profanity, Traumatising content

Chapters: 254

Words: 715,593

Publisher: www.royalroad.com

Summary:

"With a comfortable onesie, and the ability to stop time, anything is possible."

Dragons, Catgirls, Guns, and Magic. Oh, and the ability to stop time. What more could a modern gal want?

Well... If my past would stay locked in a dark corner back on Earth, that'd be nice.

Right. There was that one other thing. Finding a way home before the world ends. But hey, that's what my mom would call the last step in your five year plan.

The first?

To play with magic.

Rewrite of To Play With Magic based on oodles of feedback from readers. Thanks so much for all the feedback.

*LitRPG-Isekai start with a return to Earth to stop the System apocalypse goal.

...

Updates Daily, Monday through Sunday.

This story is only available on RoyalRoad, Scribblehub and my Patreon. If you find it anywhere else, please reach out to me. Thank you.

0.00 The Forerunner Initiative

A note from Draith

Synopsis:

Dragons, Catgirls, Guns, and Magic. Oh, and the ability to stop time. What more could a modern gal want?

Well... If my past would stay locked in a dark corner back on Earth, that'd be nice.

Right. There was that one other thing. Finding a way home before the world ends. But hey, everyone needs at least one impossible dream.

"The ability to stop time is nothing compared to the power of the onesie." Quote from MDW's review.

Galactic Standard Time: Odean 13, 13246, 09:12.

(January 8, 2008, 21:12 UTC, Earth Equivalent.)

System Primary Nexus Outpost MWVAE-22009- Monocerotis Station.

Theglia’s thin fingers danced across the tactile interface in front of her as she entered the coordinates. The System would be updating in minutes, and when it did her intrusions wouldn't just be detected, they'd be deleted. But only if she wasn't finished. Most of her squad, fellow Forerunners who’d gotten her this far, lay dead behind her, their blood staining the rough stone floor.

There wasn’t much she could do for them, except complete the mission. It never would’ve been like this when she first joined the Forerunners. There’d been ways around the System. But every decade there was a new patch, and every patch closed more holes and restricted more freedoms. Until they’d been left with no recourse other than to resist using brute force. Her friends behind her hadn’t fallen to beasts, maniacal bandits, or killer robots. They’d died deflecting the System away from Theglia. She was the only one with the skills to ensure a smooth integration. To give the next wave a chance to do what they couldn't. Now, only Theglia and her sister Belthar remained.

With the co-ordinates locked in, Theglia moved to connect the Integration Matrices. These were highly experimental Matrices she’d designed and built herself. Once a user was Integrated with one, it would grant them priority access to restricted aspects of the System. They’d tried using them on already Integrated species, but the System prevented the removal of existing cores. Not even binding them during childhood would work. The System started early. And you couldn’t remove a core without killing the host.

So Theglia was prepping the Artificial Integrated that would graft these cores into volunteers. Though the term volunteers could only be used loosely. There were restrictions on what an integrated could say to free sapients. And those were especially strict for an AI. Which meant the AI would need to take some liberties. At least it should put them on a relatively safe world for their integration. Whether they'd be able to return home in time would be up to them.

Checking the connection, Theglia paused when she noticed Belthar on her knees clutching at her head. That was a good sign. It meant the System hadn't killed her in a single scan. They might just have time.

The irony that the core she was loading was the most impressive space-time related Matrix ever discovered by a non-Creator species was not lost on her. Whoever the AI selected for this core was going to have abilities even the Creators would fear.

‘Ha. Serves them right, the bastards.’

Glancing out the window as she waited for the core to shift into position, Theglia saw the accretion disk that surrounded the nearby world of Akilo. Akilo had been inhabited once but then the System had marked it as a training world. The exodus had been one of the greatest challenges of her life. She knew that hidden inside that black hole was an entire star system, reserved for Creators to play in. Black holes were used to keep any but Citizens out of their little developmental worlds. But with a direct connection to a space-time Matrix, Theglia expected the User who received it to be able to bypass that restriction. Eventually.

Theglia didn't slow as she ruminated on the Creators and their little pet worlds. She'd practiced this procedure as often as she could before they started, but she still didn't feel fast enough. She had to get everything in place before the patch hit. If she could do that, then her custom code should allow the AI and the matrices to be integrated without being deleted or restricted. No matter how long it took for that to happen.

After loading the last core, Theglia turned to her sister to let her know it was done. But she'd been too slow. Her sister’s gemstone eyes lacked their usual spark as she stared up into space, the System having ripped out her soul when she denied it access. If only they'd learned this wave was being integrated sooner.

They just hadn't had enough time.

Sitting down next to her sister, Theglia closed Belthar's eyes and prepared to die.

They'd done what they came for. It was a long shot, but they'd done the impossible. This would be their last mission. Looking out once more, she watched the disk continue to spin, slowly making its way around an empty hole in the sky.

It was beautiful.

As Theglia enjoyed her final moments, she silently prayed to those who would be chosen. She prayed they'd make it back to their homes in time to make a difference.

Whatever came of it, the Forerunner Initiative had begun.

1.00 One of those Days

A note from Draith

Rewrite notes:

I've received a lot of feedback on To Play With Magic over the years. Enough that I'm posting a re-write, as a second story, under the original title for the series, The Forerunner Initiative. I intend to release the chapters rapidly, each arc being posted in the first five days of each week. This will bring the revised version up to speed in five weeks. Chapters will continue to be posted to both versions until this version passes the original.

A brief summary of changes can be found below.

It includes:

- Almost nothing was removed, though several scenes have been altered to varying degrees.

- Renamed Flights to Desh'ila

- Renamed Progression Points to Progression Marks and Advancement Points to Ascension Crests

- Changed the starting end dates of the main plot.

- Tipan gets a new class

- A complete line by line reread/rewrite. Lots of little changes that improve the overall quality, in my opinion.

- A new introduction to chapter 1.00, starting at her papa's clinic.

- Lots of rewritten scenes through the first half of the first arc, which ends with chapter 1.31 Wyonna

-Proper renumbering of chapters 1.31 to 1.95.

-several additional chapters towards the end of the Fallen City of Lescado arc (the one with the Giant spider robot, Fallen Triplets, and Training scenarios) Specifically the end of chapter 2.27 is rewritten, and chapters 2.00, 2.24, 2.25, 2.28, 2.29, 2.30, 2.31, 2.32, 2.33 are all new.

-rewrites for arc/volume 3 (Glimmering Sands, Researcher/Minister Folthka, Battle with Ivicka) are light, except hopefully improved foreshadowing of Aethop's Daughters (the dolls), little more action for Lord Thansome, and just making Glimmering Sands part of the arc a bit less jank.

-rewrite for arc/volume 4 (Elementalist's peak/Desh Atun/Taken) Adding a chapter after/during 2.27 (which will become 4.27), A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea.

-Only going to have minor line edits for book 5. Already gone over the damn thing like 3 times at this point.

Remember, the world ends on a Tuesday. An especially cold and dreary Tuesday. June 25, 2024. At 6:12 pm, Pacific Daylight Time, if you want to be precise.

But that’s the end of the story.

Let’s start from the beginning.

Tuesday, June 27, 2023, 3:35 pm.

A burst of static from the old TV above my papa’s bed draws me back to the present. Standing, I give his hand a squeeze. Much as I might want to, can’t spend too much time with papa today. Sides, I’d already told him about my week before I started daydreaming.

“Bye papa, wake up soon,” I say, in what has become my ritual parting gesture as I lean forward and kiss his forehead. I don’t really expect him to wake. Not after a decade spent in a coma.

I wave to the nurse at the front desk as I leave, pulling out my phone. The sky is light, only a thin mist covering the street as I check my balance. My pay went through. For the first time ever, there’s more than three-thousand dollars in my account. Barely enough for Sab and I to start looking for our own place. But enough, none the less.

Slipping my phone back into my pocket, I nod to the security guard at the attached parking garage as I shuffle past. I pause at the bus-stop, but when the bus pulls up and I see how many people are packed in, I step back, as though waiting for the next. After waiting for the bus to pull away, I start my trek home. It’s only a forty-five-minute walk anyway.

Halfway home, as I’m passing another bus station, I notice the next bus looks mostly empty. I pull myself in, using the support bars, careful not to bump anyone as I move to the back, near the exit. I get lost in picturing what our apartment might look like. I’d… have a corner. Yeah. And we’d have a table, covered with dice and character sheets and... my corner would have all my custom magic stuff. And Sab would laugh at me as I told her again how the books get it all wrong. But she’d allow my custom rules, and I wouldn’t have to worry about mom. And we’d binge movies every weekend, crashing on the super comfy couch we stole from her dad’s garage.

When the bus rumbles up to my stop, I almost miss it. Raising my hand in silent apology to the guy blocking the exit as I try to squeeze past without bumping him, I stumble onto the sidewalk.

The mist from earlier has subsided, and once the bus pulls away, I find myself almost skipping towards the apartment. When I realize it, I stop, flushing in embarrassment and glance around to make sure no one I know saw me.

Thankfully the area is empty as I ascend the two steps to wrestle with the ancient lock that keeps our building secure.

“Even from its residents,” I grumble as I jostle my key for several long seconds before leaning against the door and getting it to click open.

Once inside, I march up the stairs, a single glance at the elevator telling me it’s broken. Again. I don’t blame our landlord. George does what he can. He always keeps the halls clean. And I’m pretty sure we’ve got the only coinless laundry room on the block.

Arriving on the third floor, I lean against the wall, taking deep breaths. I… should really get more exercise. As I look back down the stairs, I curse as I realize I forgot the mail.

Moving to our apartment, I glance across the hall when I think I hear movement from our neighbour Josh’s apartment. Then, before he can come out and find me staring, I hustle into our apartment. Leading me to knock over a coat stand that wasn’t there when I left for work that morning.

It smacks into my elbow, causing a massive clatter as it falls.

Wincing, I proceed to pick everything up. Luckily, Josh doesn’t seem to have noticed.

Gritting my teeth, I move into the apartment. On the table are the remains of a paper mache mask… Moving to the bathroom, my hand clenches when I see the open cupboard. Mom’s used a dozen rolls of toilet paper in a single night.

Sighing, I close the door. I can't manage a smidge of surprise. Instead of the peaceful evening I’d planned, looking through apartments with Sab, it looks like I'm going shopping. Well, since I'm going anyway, I might as well put together a list.

As I'm inspecting the expiration date on a tub of sour cream, I knock the shelf loose.

Looking at the containers of spilled salad, half-eaten Chinese food and the tub of sour cream that started it all, I shake my head then start cleaning.

Today is notgoing as planned.

After I finish scrubbing the tiles, I decide that since I've already started cleaning, I might as well finish the rest of the kitchen. By the time I'm done, our kitchen is spotless. The sort of spotless you see in soap commercials. Unfortunately, I also discover mom didn't just use up our toilet paper.

She's also cleared out most of our pantry. Surprise donation drive, no doubt. Well, a surprise for me.

Throughout my efforts, there's no sign of mom. Which isn't surprising. Strike like a hurricane then disappearing to leave me to deal with the wreckage has kind of become her modus operandi. Which is why it's past time I get my own place. I love her, but… it shouldn’t be my job to always clean up after her. And Sab thinks it’ll be good for us.

Still, it's nothing I haven't dealt with before. Throwing on my rain-jacket, cause this is Vancouver, I start on my quest for groceries and the all-mighty teepee. I’m a little shocked when I step out into the sun, but just smile at the small bit of good fortune.

The shopping goes smoothly as I vent to Sab over text about mom’s latest disturbance. I’m making to pay when another disaster strikes. My card is declined.

This… this shouldn't be happening. But when I check my phone, it indicates my money was transferred out.

Two hours ago.

At some point when I was still cleaning the kitchen, all my money disappeared.

My eye twitches as I stare at the grand total of three dollars and fourteen cents. After texting Sab to update her, I call my bank. But I'm given the run around by the automated voice system. Cause why would it know where my money went. After half an hour on hold, I still haven’t reached a live person, which means there are no answers forthcoming.

At this point, I realize I'm standing around the grocery store making a fool of myself. Since I'm not making any progress, I leave. Sans tee-pee.

The cashier put my groceries back anyway.

I’d been planning to take a taxi home, but now that I don't have groceries, I’ll just walk.

Of course, while I've been engaging my digital arch-nemesis, hold music, rain’s rolled in.

I'm not a stranger to rain, I live in Vancouver. It's a temperate rainforest, we know rain. But our rain is often a haze or light sprinkle, with an occasional day of non-stop downpour thrown in to keep it interesting. Unpleasant, but not…

Lightning crashes overhead, causing me to wince. The rain I'm staring into is heavy enough I can’t see my hand in front of my face. Still, I'm not about to stand around the grocery store until it lets up, so I march home. My big rubber boots splash through streams that didn't exist an hour ago. With every step, my mind keeps spinning. But I get no closer to answering the question that’s taken it over; where's my money? Did I get scammed? Was it that nice lady I gave that donation cheque to at the clinic last week?

Once I make it to my apartment building, it takes me twice as long as usual to get the key to work. I'm so glad to get out of the rain that I make it halfway to the stairs before remembering the mail.

Turning around I see my neighbour Josh, come out of the laundry hall. He has his trademark black trench coat tented over his large frame. I always try to say something to Josh whenever I see him. You know, cause it’s important to be nice to your neighbours. “Hi, Josh. Quite the downpour out there today, don’t you think?”

He turns to me, then looks back outside before replying, “Yeah.”

I cringe at his terse response, watching as he steps outside. Shaking my head at my obvious statement, I move over to the bank of mail-slots, tracing my finger over the surface until I reach number 302. I open it, expecting to find our usual junk mail, but quietly hoping for a letter from my Norwegian pen pal, Preban.

Instead of the plain white envelope that would indicate his letter, I see a dark brown one. It has embossed green vines running along the sides. Whoever sent this letter was feeling fancy. They even sealed it with dark green wax using an elaborate tree stamp.

I would've thought the letter was in the wrong mailbox if not for the fact that someone took the time to write, in exquisite penmanship, “Alexis Wyonna Everette.” It's not very often I see my full name. Other than my parents, not many people know my middle name. Maybe my dad's mom, Mami?

This letter kinda reminds me of fancy letters mom used to get. The ones telling her she’d won a prize. All she had to do was mail in the generous registration fee. I wish I could say mom saw right through those scams and never sent a red cent, but that's not really mom.

She did stop getting those letters a few years ago. More accurately, I started throwing them away before she saw them. Eventually, they stopped showing up.

Those letters are why my first instinct is to throw this one away, but there's something about it that stops me. I consider it for a moment. The envelope is just so elegant, I want to see what's inside, even if it's another scam.

Plus, it's addressed to me. I don't get a lot of mail.

As I reach to open the letter, a big wet plop, from my still thoroughly soaked raincoat, reminds me that if I'm going to keep it intact, I should probably dry off first.

Looking at the stairs, I decide to risk it.

With letter in hand, I set off for my apartment, my mind going back to my missing money. Once I recover from my second ascension today, I throw the letter on the table, and call my bank again, hoping to find out why my account is empty.

As I wait, I pull out my sketchpad, and start jotting down some of my latest ideas for runes, based on the rain. Could I have a water-mage who used pressurized jets? That’d be cool. Halfway through the sketch, I realize I’ve started doing that thing again. I’ve drawn out a pair of brown eyes, rimmed in blue. Frowning, I crumple up the paper and start again. After another two hours on hold, I finally get to speak to a living breathing person.

However, the unapologetic rep simply tells me the other member transferred the money out of my joint account, before asking if there's anything else they can help me with. And when I say no, they request that I rate their performance.

You really don't want me to do that right now bud…

I give him five stars.

Hanging up the phone I get up from our big brown couch where I've spent the last couple hours before storming towards mom's bedroom.

Joint account.

I should’ve known better, but I honestly forgot it was a shared account. I couldn't have been older than ten when mom took me in to set it up. It's not like she'd ever used it, so it’d effectively been my account since. But there’d never been more than ten dollars in the account until the last six months, so why would she?

But for the last year, I've been saving. Ever since we graduated from high school, I've been putting money away. I’d… I’d had enough…

Now…

I just wanted to be free…

I'm reaching for the handle to her room when suddenly my strength leaves me.

My legs collapse, the tears escaping. It's not just the money. It's knowing that I've been betrayed, yet I'm the one who should've known better. I cry for at least half an hour, tears of frustration and self-recrimination pouring freely.

I know three thousand isn’t that much, not really, but it's all I had. And it represented hope. And freedom. And it was proof I could take care of myself. And now it's all gone.

This never would’ve happened if papa was awake.

Fighting against the crushing weight of my limbs, I push myself up, resolved to make something to eat. Hunger will only make it worse.

Digging through our little kitchenette, I quickly discover that all we have left is some slightly wilted lettuce, an almost empty box of rice, and the ever-present mustard. It's impossible to run out of mustard.

Even after the world ends, there'll still be mustard.

Sighing, I make myself a mustard-flavoured salad. I don’t use the rice. It's going to have to last us almost two weeks. Which reminds me that I was just paid.

Damnit mom. Couldn't you have emptied my account a few days ago. Our utilities are due in a couple days.

At least putting those off shouldn't be a problem. Just have to… put off saving anything next month. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get an advance from Jonno. My boss is usually pretty understanding. And George… he’ll understand.

I know I'm not getting my money back. It’s been hours since mom took it out of my account.

Or, I guess, our account. I give it even odds that she's gambling it all at the casino or giving it away to needy kids in Africa.

Who probably have more rice than we do, I lament while staring at the box on the counter. I really hope she donated it. Least then it'll do some good even as she brags about it on social media.

Booting up my ancient laptop, one I bought years ago through our local ThinkGeek, I decide to check my email. I'm staying off social media though, cause there's a high chance I’ll see mom bragging about where she spent my money.

I can’t handle that. Not right now.

Email's safe though. She never uses email.

I have a couple of email alerts from my gaming and hobby websites, an email from Sab_733N, plus a second email that managed to make it into my main inbox. A quick check of the email address [email protected] convinces me it's spam.

Quickly, hitting delete on the spam, I reply to Sab, ranting about my mother. Again. Not that even this’ll surprise her. She's heard all my stories about mom. Been around for a few herself too. I then spend an hour browsing through the aforementioned websites trying to distract myself.

Unfortunately, even reading about alternate rulesets for magic systems isn’t enough to keep me distracted. To be fair, I was never much for using others’ systems. I’d been creating my own magic designs since Sab first introduced me to tabletop gaming.

So, I start executing my earlier plan. I start by emailing my boss at the mill to ask about that advance. I also shoot off an email to my aunt Sharon, just in case. I don’t tell her what happened, just letting her know there was ‘an unfortunate banking incident’.

Next, I'm going to need my own account, so I check my bank’s website to see about opening a solo account.

There isn’t enough in my current account, but hopefully with an advance, I’ll be okay. As I'm browsing the bank’s site, my trusty laptop decides it's time for a system update. No warning, just a sudden reboot.

It really is one of those days.

Sighing, I go to open the website on my cell phone. As the screen turns on, I see that I have a text from an unknown contact. The words “Hello Alexis, it’s” are as far as I get before a thought occurs to me. It's probably mom on a new cell phone.

So, I ignore it.

And by 'ignore it', I mean I throw my phone across the room.

It's an amazing shot.

My phone hits the wall, sliding down until it wobbles on the windowsill.

Then, it continues its journey, bouncing off the couch, narrowly missing the old picture of me, mom, papa, and his dear friend Mr Thompson, on the nearby end table. The one from days before the ugly tree incident. Of course, Mr Thompson has been cut off. But I can still feel his eyes on me if I look at the picture for too long.

My phone doesn't care about any of that, continuing to slide across the coffee table while dancing past my half-empty tea mugs, mom's beauty magazines and the fancy letter with grace no phone should show.

Right as it's about to go over the edge of the table to drop into our leak bucket, (that bucket everyone in our building has, you know, to catch water from a leaky ceiling or mop up the bathroom) it stops.

It totters on the edge of the table, over the, currently very full, bucket of water.

Careful not to bump the table as I move forward, I rescue my phone from its near demise right as another drop falls, plopping on the back of my hand.

Phone saved; I flop down on the couch in relief.

That would’ve been all my fault, I admit to myself.

Deciding that I can’t risk interaction with electronics, I start thinking about offline distractions.

I already cleaned our place before going for groceries.

I could read one of my old books, but I've been through them all recently.

With the heavy rain, going to the library doesn't seem worth it.

Then my eyes drift down to the letter. Even if it isn’t anything interesting, I can doodle on the back or edges like I do with our junk mail.

Pulling myself off the couch, I run to my room and grab my backup chocolate bar, ready to return to the living room. After doffing my bra and changing into my kitten onesie.

It’s comfort time.

Settling on the couch, I pull the letter out, inspecting it. I run my fingers over the ridges created by the embossed edges, feeling a little thrill when I break the wax.

Every part of this envelope screams quality. There's a return address which says Unit 17, 3205 Theodore Drive, but there's no name. Opening the letter, I admire the elegant script, which is much better than the chaotic mess I call writing. Then I start to read.

To our dearest Alexis,

Congratulations, on being selected for the Forerunner Initiative. Thank you for your patience as we prepare for your integration.

As you were informed during your initial application, the Forerunner Initiative has a long history of helping new civilizations adapt to the brutal realities that come with a System Inclusion event. As a Forerunner, you have been granted an all-expense-paid trip to the Akilo training centre. In the training centre, you will receive advanced Forerunner training, unlock unique Forerunner equipment, and learn as much as we can teach you about the changes coming to your world.

Every journey begins with a single step.

The Pantheon System Integration Team.

1. S. Please see your email for a reminder of the terms and conditions. See you in Akilo.

…

Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Oh. My. God.

This is my acceptance letter to an alpha test I applied for nearly a year ago. The Forerunner Initiative is supposed to be this amazingly immersive role-playing game being made by a local developer. I'd heard they were only approving a handful of applicants for the first year, so I'm amazed I made the cut.

They must have some major funding too. This is the fanciest acceptance letter I’ve ever seen. And the letter isn't the only fancy thing in the envelope.

Attached, I find a detailed map with a contoured surface that doesn’t just show the geography but lets me feel it. Each texture is distinct. I run my hand across mountains, hills and forests which are pointy, bumpy, and fuzzy in turn.

It's not a local map, so it's probably a map of the game world. Chuckling at finally receiving some good news, I pull out my chocolate and take a bite.

I can’t help but contemplate what system the game might run on. They’ve been quiet about the mechanics, but I know there's going to be magic of some kind. I've always loved magic, ever since I was little. I even used to run around pretending I was a wizard, just like a certain muggle-born.

Though my 'spells' were always a little more elemental in nature. Hehe.

Checking my phone on reflex, I see the text from the unknown number is still showing. Now that I've calmed down a little, I decide to read its contents.

As I read it, I see it isn't even from mom. It’s from the PSI team. I’d caught the first few words earlier, but obviously I stopped reading when I threw my phone.

Considering it now, I realize they really don’t want me to miss this program. They've sent the same message as in the letter, but with a link at the bottom. Clicking the link takes me to a map. This map is mostly the same but is less textured than the paper one.

As I stretch out, I wonder why neither the text nor the letter mention a download link or login code. Maybe they’re going to send it later?

Glancing at my laptop, I see that it's still locked in reboot paralysis.

I wonder if that spam mail was related. I’ll have to wait until my laptop finishes to check. Excited as I am about the game, the reality of how broke I am kicks in. I’d been counting on some of that money to pay for a new computer after I moved out.

Specifically to run games like Forerunner.

Now I don’t know when I’ll be online. I doubt my potato is going to be up to running their super immersive experience. It'd probably bog down just trying to process something as detailed as this map. I might have to recruit Sab. Which I'm sure she'll be down for.

Yawning, I settle onto the couch, running my hand along the map.

The more I look at it, the more it feels like I'm there, surveying the world from above. The detail is amazing. The western snowcapped mountains practically send chills down my spine when I touch them.

I swear the river running down from those mountains is sparkling as if it was bathed in sunlight.

The sparkling river meanders east, passing out of the lumpy foothills covered in fuzzy trees, before flowing into the vast Akilo ocean.

North of the river, the soft yellow plains are covered with flowing grass. Inspecting the map more closely, I see the grasslands north of the river continue until the map cuts off.

To the south of the river, the rolling foothills stretch all the way from the mountains to the ocean, covered by a thick forest. Like the plains to the north, the map doesn't show an end to the forest.

But just south of the river, near where it enters the ocean, is a clearing.

The clearing is clearly ringed by a set of standing stones. There are four clearly marked stones, one pointing in each cardinal direction. Looking at them, it almost appears as though the cardinal stones are glowing. The lesser stones are neither glowing nor as large. They're more like markers. On the entire map, the stones are the only sign of civilization I can see.

I wonder what it'll be like to adventure in such a place. Untouched by humans, a whole new world to discover. A place where I’ll be the first to set foot. They claim the game will be unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, but everyone knows how common marketing like that is.

Still, I'm excited to be one of the first.

As I inspect the fine details of the map, my eyes keep being drawn to the standing stones. If I’m going to be playing in this region, I'm sure that'll be my starting location.

The longer I stare, the clearer it all becomes. As I’m inspecting some runes carved into the southernmost stone, I can't help but feel like they're familiar. Even as the thought occurs to me, I find my mouth opening in a long yawn, my focus immediately shattered.

Drifting off to sleep, my eyes grow heavier. Even as I slip off, I remain fixated on the map, the runes on the south pillar filling my mind as all other thoughts are brushed away.

The warm morning sun shines down on me, waking me with its brilliant rays. My eyelids feel heavy as I blink sleep from them. Did I fall asleep on the couch again?

Hmm, nope, the couch doesn’t smell like fresh loam or scratch my nose like that.

Taking in my surroundings once my eyes adjust to the light, I figure out where I am. Not that I believe it. I’m in the middle of the standing stones. Right where I figured I was going to start in-game, I can even see the mountains rising to the west.

“What the hell?” I mutter.

Did I start playing the game then forget everything that led up to this point? Pretty sure I would’ve remembered logging in or going to the training centre.

To make sure this isn’t a dream, I pinch myself. Wincing at the pain, I rub the soreness of my overenthusiastic pinch away while thinking. Whatever’s happening, it seems real enough.

Okay, if I'm in a game, there should be a way to exit, right? But I don’t remember entering the game. The last thing I remember was… looking at the map?

I start searching for the map in the nearby grass. Maybe it'll have a clue. The immediate area around me is empty but as I'm searching, I hear a rustling noise. Turning, I see other people laying in the grass.

I count three forms, none of whom have risen yet. The rustling is coming from a smaller dark shape that is shifting back and forth. It seems like they're trying to get comfortable.

Okay, so at least I’m not alone. Standing up, I search around the clearing again. I still don't see the map.

Other than my three companions, there doesn't appear to be anything but the grass within the circle. I do notice the grass inside the stones is greener than the grass outside them.

I don't mean it's greener on the other side greener. The grass outside is yellowed and drying, but the grass inside is fresh and alive.

The next thing I realize is that I know what time it is. Not by charting the stars or gauging the sun or anything like that. I have a literal sense of time. It feels similar to my sense of balance. I know it's 6:03 am, on the 28th day of June in the year 2023, when I make this discovery.

And isn't this all just crazy.

Seriously, who gets up at six in the am.

This pretty much settles it in my mind. I’m definitely in the game. It’s already interacting with me, but if it's a game there should be more. An interface of some sort. Preferably a way to log out.

Maybe a character sheet.

So, I start doing what any reasonable gamer in my situation would do. I start calling out words while moving my arms back and forth. Quietly. Because there are people sleeping over there so waking them would be rude. It's only six in the morning after all.

"Exit. Logout. Disconnect. Status. Menu. Options." I whisper to the air hoping to see something appear. "Character. Inventory. Escape." I continue, starting to feel disappointed.

I really hope this isn't one of those, "feel your way through it" games. If so, I might have to find an actual exit to log out.

I'm wracking my brain, trying to think of other words I could use, when I feel a growing pressure building behind my eyes. Thanks to my time sense, I intuitively know that the pressure will finish whatever it’s doing in seven seconds.

6

5

4

3

2

1

1.01 Loading Please Wait

June 28, 2023, 6:04 am.

"Forerunner call sign, not established. Please designate your call sign before continuing."

The words appear in front of me, floating in my vision. There's no background, but I have no problem reading them.

Cool, I get to create my character after all. Or at least choose my name. No sign of a menu or logout option yet.

"Pandora," I whisper back. I know it's not original, but I've been using it since I was a kid.

My papa told me the myth, but the version he wove was an older rendition. In his version, Pandora had brought all good things into the world, placing them in her vase for safekeeping. However, one day a fool bumbled in. He knocked the vase over, barely getting the lid back on. In the interim, he'd allowed all that was good in the world to escape.

All except hope.

Pandora's vase contained hope for all of mankind. Even as all other good in the world disappeared, it held onto hope. I've heard the other versions about Pandora's box being all sorts of trouble, but I prefer papa’s version.

"Call sign accepted. Forerunner Pandora Integration - Level 1 initialized. Interface compatibility confirmed. Assessment of base attributes of Forerunner complete. Integration compatibility: 93. Additional distribution of attributes available due to high compatibility: 53. Allocation required to continue integration."

As I finish reading the text, it fades, a transparent window replacing it. For several seconds it flashes, before strange characters fill a table I can’t read.

Did… I just get a character sheet in the wrong language? Wow… The devs are really going to have to fix that. Funny, cause I don’t think I recognize any of the characters. They’re not Kanji or mandarin. And definitely not English.

Still, it almost looks like the Status I was expecting. Just, not in any language I’ve ever seen. Then the window flickers again, the characters switching to English words, one at a time. Once it’s done, the left displays its assessment of my attributes. The attributes themselves seem mostly right, except….

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: -20

Constitution: -3

Agility: 12

Endurance: 5

Intellect: 53

Spirit: 35

Perception: 18

Resolve: 11

Integration Points: 53

What the hell? I'm pretty sure I'm not that smart. Plus, negative attributes? Does that mean zero is average so I'm twenty points below average? Or am I debuffed? Is something else going on? On the other hand, I have 53 points. If that’s a one for one increase, am I going to be crazy strong if I put my points into Strength?

While I'm tempted to invest my points, I move my attention to the right side of the panel where it lists my resources instead.

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 14/14, Edge: [-3.5], Regen: (7/day)

Stamina

Pool: 35/35, Edge: [1.8], Regen: (18/day)

Mana

Pool: 153/153, Edge: [15.6], Regen: (100/day)

Focus

Pool: 124/124, Edge: [9.1], Regen: (73/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 38/38, Edge: [3.6], Regen: (24/hour)

Health, Stamina and Mana are fairly standard, but what are Focus and Facet? What's a Matrix? Am I going to start seeing lines of code? Also, what’s an Edge?

Adjusting my Attributes is as simple as willing them to increase and decrease. After a little experimentation, I confirm that each Integration point gives a single Attribute increase. And I can’t decrease my Attributes below their starting values. I try to put all my points into Intellect, but it stops increasing when I hit a hundred. Weirdly, I'm still able to assign my remaining points, they just don't have any noticeable effect.

While I'm messing with my Integration points, I notice my Attributes affect resources I wouldn’t have expected. For example, increasing Resolve increases Focus and Mana but also increases my Health pool for some reason.

I decide to try allocating my points to Strength to see if I feel stronger, but I don't notice any difference. Deciding this calls for a test, I grab a rock lying in the nearby grass. Hefting it, I shift ten points into Strength, then toss it lightly in the air. Then I try shifting all fifty points. Nothing.

So, I find another rock nearby. They both seem about the same weight, so I chuck one with no points assigned and another with all fifty-three in strength.

They're both equally as ineffective, the stones barely making it past the edge of the circle.

I guess they just affect my character's Resources which is a relief. Or maybe they only kick in after I confirm my selection. That… would make sense.

Before I can continue perusing my attributes, I'm interrupted by a familiar voice calling my name.

“Alexis? Is that you? What're you doing here?”

Turning around, I see Josh standing with his hands clutched tight to his chest, looking at me. His dark face scrunches up as he focuses on me. He's out here without his customary toque, so his curly black hair is falling in his eyes. Despite being something I don't see often, despite our years as neighbours, that isn't what catches my attention. Because Josh is wearing the most luxurious bathrobe I’ve ever seen.

Even though I want to answer his questions, I'm momentarily stunned by how gloriously pink his robe is. I never would've guessed Josh owned a bathrobe like this. Or any possession, for that matter. The only outfits I’ve seen him in before are his black trench coat, with his equally black glasses, toque and camo pants or the jeans and t-shirt he uses for gardening. Still black.

And this bathrobe isn’t just pink. It has frilly lace at the cuffs, with embroidered roses running up his arms, over his shoulders. There are other roses scattered about the bathrobe, all of which sprout from somewhere on the back of his robe. The collar is white and super fluffy, with little blades of grass embroidered in it. But the best part? The best part is it's definitely his. I can see his name stitched over the left breast pocket.

“Uhm Alexis, hello?” he verbally prods me. Unsurprisingly, I’ve been so fixated on his magnificent bathrobe I may have forgotten there was an attempt at conversation.

Thinking back, I try to respond. “Right, yes. Sorry. It’s me. I think.... I think we’re in the Forerunner game world. I signed up for it, so that’s why I’m here. But I’m not sure what you’re doing here?”

“Unless you signed up too,” I add after a moment’s thought. “And before you ask, I don’t know how I got here. I swear I fell asleep on my couch. The next thing I know, poof, I’m waking up on the lawn with the sun shining on my face, like an old Nordic folk tale.”

While the fact we were kidnapped is worrying, I'm buoyed by the fact that there's an interface and that I have Mana. Mana means spellcasting. In a game this real, spellcasting has to be awesome. Also, if we have been abducted, then we're far away from my mother and my sudden financial crisis.

That might be a factor. Maybe.

A little.

“Anyway, have you figured out what your starting stats are? I’m thinking I’m going to focus on my mental stats, my physical stats are sorta awful, honestly.” I barrel on before focusing back on my status.

“Alexis, what are you talking about? I signed up for the Forerunner Initiative's extreme wilderness survival training program, not some game! And no offence, but I can't imagine you signing up for survival training. Never mind being approved for extreme level training.” Josh is practically panting by the end, pulling me back to reality.

Wait, what? They were running a survival program too? Though I guess even if this is a game world, it's real enough you might be able to do survival training. I certainly feel like I’m outside. The air is even a little chilly. If we weren’t in the sunlight I might be freezing right now. I wonder if I can channel Mana into fire to keep myself warm. And he's staring at me funny because I've been ignoring him for too long.

Again.

Normally Josh is a glance at me, then ignore me, kind of person. Now that we've woken up in a field in our pajamas together, he's looking at me differently, like maybe now I'm a person, and not just that kid next door. Okay, maybe not. Besides our pajamas probably aren't an important part.

But.

Oh. My. God.

So pink.

"Alexis," Josh whispers, staring over my shoulder, "what kind of game did you say this was?" his voice descending into a barely audible hush as he crouches down in the grass.

Pfft, like crouching will help him hide in that robe.

"I'm not too sure. They weren't very forthcoming with.. any…." I trail off as I see what inspired Josh's cautious behaviour. His choice is probably better than my reaction.

Considering I just stand there, staring with my mouth hanging open, I don't set a very high bar. At least I don't scream.

There before us, in all its feathery splendour, is a freaking dinosaur. It's one of those really big ones that are like five stories tall and eats leaves.

A lot of leaves.

Possibly all the leaves.

I think they're called oh-my-god-that's-huge-osauros.

Or something to that effect. It doesn't move quickly, grabbing another bunch of leaves in a slow stretch of its enormous neck, the movement dragging its majestic feathers through the lower branches.

Suddenly, Josh trying to impersonate a rose bush makes a lot more sense to me. But it's a leaf eater. Surely, we're safe? Unless it starts walking towards us of course. Then we’d be pancakes.

Or if it likes to munch on roses. He he.

I wait and watch the giant feathered dinosaur for a full minute and a half before I decide we’re probably safe and it isn’t going to trample us. I base this on the fact that it's been slowly moving away from us, grazing on the upper canopy as it chomps at further and further trees.

Turning back to Josh, I find him flicking his gaze back and forth between me and the dino. When he sees me looking at him, he finally straightens to his full height of nearly two meters. Which, compared to my meagre 154cm, feels almost as tall as the dino.

I watch him open his mouth, but before he says anything he clicks his jaw closed while staring off into the distance. Turning to see what new threat he’s found; I step back while turning in the direction he's staring. All I see is the standing stone, glowing brightly.

While it's cool, with its glowing runes and all, I'm eager to get back to my character sheet.

Trying to be polite, I ask him, “So, we good? That dinosaur’s clearly not going to eat us, so I’d like to set my stats before we get started with our training.”

There, I let him know what I was doing and everything.

Waiting two whole seconds, okay, one second, I take his vacant stare and lack of reply as assent, bringing my character sheet back up.

I’d hardly noticed at the time, but it automatically faded when my attention left it, keeping it from obstructing my view when I wasn't interested in it. Handy feature that. I’m definitely giving positive feedback to the devs about the smooth design.

Occasionally glancing up at our massive neighbour, I check which stats affect my Mana the most. It's definitely Intellect and Spirit, though Perception and Resolve both have a lesser effect as well. I do put three points into my constitution first though. My gamer instincts suggest that a negative con is a bad idea, no matter my other stats. However, even after playing with the stats for a while I'm still having a hard time making up my mind.

"Hey Josh," I whisper at him in a near hiss. Harsher than I meant to. Damnit.

"Yeah, Alexis?" he replies, shifting a little closer.

"What do your Attributes look like?"

"Uh. Attributes?”

“Yeah. Attributes. In your Status,” I say, whispering without the hiss this time.

“My Status?" he replies, blinking at me a couple times. Or maybe he’s looking at his Status, since his eyes seem to be staring off into space now.

"I've got uhm... negatives in most of my mental stats, apparently. But my Strength and Con are over twenty."

Choosing not to comment, I nod to myself. Definitely sounds like his character is the tank. Which means I'm probably the healer or damage dealer. And... I don't feel any magical healing happening. Tapping my elbow where I bumped it yesterday morning, I don't feel the slight bruise recede.

Kay, probably not a healer. Which means probably the mage. Think I'll put half my points in Intellect and half in Spirit. My adjusted stats definitely have a strong focus on magic.

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: -20

Constitution: -3 > 0

Agility: 12

Endurance: 5

Intellect: 53 > 78

Spirit: 35 > 60

Perception: 18

Resolve: 11

Integration Points: 53 > 0

Health

Pool: 14/14 > 33/33, Edge: [-3.5] > [-3.2], Regen: (7/day) > (15/day)

Stamina

Pool: 35/35 > 50/50, Edge: [1.8] > [1.9], Regen: (26/day)

Mana

Pool: 153/153 > 153/230, Edge: [15.6] > [23.1], Regen: (100/day) > (168/day)

Focus

Pool: 124/124 > 124/174, Edge: [9.1] > [11.6], Regen: (73/day) > (107/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 38/38 > 38/56, Edge: [3.6] > [5.2], Regen: (24/hour) > (40/hour)

When I think about confirming my choice the interface responds by bringing up what I'm starting to think of as “the notification window”.

“Would you like to confirm the current allocation of Attribute Adjustment Integration points? Warning, once confirmed, these choices will take 24 hours to implement and cannot be reset.”

Okay, that’s weird. What game takes 24 hours to set your stats? Oh well. Maybe I’ll recommend they speed that up, at least for the beta.

“Confirm,” I say to the air. I probably could've confirmed mentally, but this is an important moment. Saying it aloud makes it more concrete.

“Allocation confirmed. Temporal Matrix Integration resumed. Class selection will be available once Integration is complete. Note, skills can be unlocked and quests can be completed prior to class selection.”

I don’t get to choose my class now? But apparently, I’m integrating with a temporal Matrix and I can try to unlock skills? Hmm… it says I’ll be able to choose a class, so maybe I’ll be able to choose a mage then? Or healer if we don’t have one.

Before I can start any new experiments, the notification screen silently displays a new notice.

“Update. Due to the nature of your Integration Matrix, you may spend 37 Facet to accelerate the integration of your class by 18.5 hours. Please note that Edge does not reduce the cost of this function.”

Sweet. That sounds great. It also gives me an idea of what Edge might do.

I immediately project my thoughts at the System, confirming that I’d like to spend my Facet… Facets? To spend my resources to reduce the integration time.

Now, only five hours and 29 minutes to go.

I watch the Facet disappear from my status with a smile. As the Facet disappears, I feel sluggish and my thoughts start to slow. It causes me to sway for a second, but I’ve had to fight off greater exhaustion than this. Like when Sab and I stayed up for a whole weekend when she got the latest Pathfinder module. Squinting against my strangely tired eyes, the feeling suddenly breaks, fading away as a new notification appears.

“Skill gained: Temporal Manipulation, (skill level 1)”

The skill notice is welcome. The realization I’ve lost my ability to move?

Not so much.

My body is completely locked in place. It’s as though I’m encased in stone. A small part of me wants to panic, but my internal time sense tells me that for every second that passes in real-time I’m experiencing an hour from my current perspective. My body is literally unable to react to the speed of my thoughts. Also, panicking would require being able to move.

It's not a proper panic, if I can't run away.

Did I just consign myself to eighteen and a half hours of standing here with nothing to do but read my stats while thinking? I take back every nice thing I’ve thought about the devs. This is going to be hell.

That thought I had earlier about logging out? Yeah, that sounds like a great idea all of a sudden.

So, of course, when I mentally try to exit or logout or disconnect, nothing happens. Whether it’s because I’m forever trapped in a game world, or because the devs don’t want me cheating out of my ability, I don’t know. Further testing is required. Another solid minute of escape attempts leaves me resigned to my fate.

As I’m waiting, I decide to see if there’s anything else I can access. There isn’t any response when I think about options or help, but when I concentrate on the different parts of my character screen, I get a general sense of what each Attribute and resource represents. It's not much, but it gives me something to stave off the boredom.

Disappointingly though, concentrating on my Attributes mostly gives me textbook definitions.

Strength is physical strength, lifting, hitting that sort of thing, while Constitution is the toughness of my body, including my ability to withstand my own Strength.

Agility is my body's coordination and smoothness of movement and Endurance is my body's ability to keep that movement going.

Intellect is... not exactly my smarts, but my ability to process hidden clues in the world around me. And to think faster.

Not sure I need more of that at the moment...

Spirit is... The sense I get, is that Spirit is the strength of the nonphysical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character, aka the soul. Or something.

Again, kinda obviously, Perception is my ability to observe my surroundings.

And then, Resolve is my ability to keep going.

It doesn't give me a sense of which pools or game functions might be tied to any of the Attributes, though I guess I did discover some with my experiments earlier.

The knowledge I gain when focusing directly on the Resource pools is more tangible.

Concentrating on my Health makes me realize it functions as a shield of sorts. So long as I have Health available, I won’t be injured by most physical attacks. Makes me wish I didn’t have that negative Health Edge.

Hmm. Focusing on Edge reveals it applies to every action that uses a Resource. So, if I take Health damage, I’m going to take an extra 3.5 damage each time? Am I going to get hurt easier? That… doesn’t seem right. What sort of shield would hurt me more?

Right. A bad one.

Stamina is similar to Health, but instead of injuries, it prevents exhaustion. If I still have Stamina available, I’ll be able to keep running without getting tired. I guess there’s a first time for everything. Not that my Stamina is much better off than my Health. But hey, least the Edge is positive.

In addition to being used for spells, Mana also protects against mental attacks. The fact that my Mana Edge is 15.6, and rising, almost makes up for my negative Health Edge. Almost.

If I can figure out how to cast spells.

Probably should've thought of that before going all in on the mage build.

Knowing my Mana Edge is going to keep increasing as my Attributes go up over the next couple of hours is nice, but I wish I’d figured out what Edge was like ten minutes earlier. Or, based on my internal clock, I wish I'd figured it out nine minutes and 23 seconds earlier. Right before I assigned all my Integration points, leaving my Health out in the cold.

For the basic resources, that leaves Focus. If the feedback is right, Focus can be used to greatly enhance actions. In fact, I think I spent half my Focus when I used my Facet to speed up my class integration. On the plus side, it looks like Focus is regenerating at its normal rate even during my time freeze. My Facet regeneration, on the other hand, is clearly linked to what I’m going to call real time.

I’m glad my nose isn’t itchy…

And I’m wishing I could experiment with my Attributes now that I've initiated this time-freeze-thing. It’s only been twelve minutes and 3 seconds, yet I’m already bored. Too spoiled by my smartphone, I guess.

I try to look around, but I can’t even get my eyes to refocus. Everything is blurry.

This means I don’t have any distractions to keep me from thinking about how my mom stole all my money. Apparently, my time sense works retroactively, because I know it’s been thirteen hours, forty-one minutes and three seconds, real-time since I discovered my account was empty.

The worst part of her taking everything is I don’t blame her. I've known for years I can’t keep money in the house or it disappears. I should've put the money in a new account. Now I have to start saving all over again.

Damn this game, it should be keeping me distracted, not giving me all the time in the world to think about this.

I spend a solid five minutes cursing the game, my mom, and that weirdo on the corner who used to stare at me as I walked past. And myself. For being an idiot. Mentally, of course, since I can’t speak. When I finally stop swearing, I realize my vision has gotten less blurry. I can almost make out the standing stone that Josh was looking at!

Yes! A distraction. I guess I do have control of my body. It’s just slow to respond. That should help with the boredom. At least a little.

Another five minutes then I can see the runes on the stone clearly. They don’t mean anything to me but thinking about their obvious magic reminds me of the notification I saw when I trapped myself. Just thinking about the log brings it back into focus.

Yep, there it is.

“Skill gained: Temporal Manipulation, (skill level 1)”

Realizing I’ve yet to see a skill page, I try focusing on one. Like the rest of my interface, my skill status slides into place at the speed of thought. On it are listed my vast plethora of skills.

Skills

Matrix Skills:

Temporal Manipulation: 1

Combat Skills:

None

Knowledge Skills:

Gaming: 21

Engineering: 5

Support Skills:

Cooking: 0

Cleaning: 4

Crafting Skills:

Woodworking: 1

Movement Skills:

Swimming: 1

Running: 1

Okay, I’m not sure, but I think the System is insulting my cooking.

The Engineering knowledge comes as a surprise. Is that related to school? Or my YouTube binges? Not sure where I’ve learned more, really. And gaming. That's got to be all my time with Sab. I wouldn't think my gaming skill would be that high. Most people I've gamed with other than Sab tend to think my preferred builds are... suboptimal, is the polite way to put it.

Amber used the word shit, but she was toxic.

Still, I do know the rules, so that's probably where that comes from.

I’m guessing the Woodworking skill is from my time at the mill. Not that I’ve done anything other than watch actual competent people work. The Swimming and Running skills, even at skill level 1, actually seem generous. My ability to swim could be compared to a lead anchor while my running wouldn’t be far behind. Actually, my running would be very far behind. Cause it would be closer to walking.

I wonder if there are any other status pages I’ve missed.

I try thinking about my class page, but I just get a feeling that it’s processing and I need to wait another 23 hours, one minute and fourteen seconds to access the menu. Or another 5.5 hours and seventeen seconds, depending on how you want to slice it.

Okay, that’s out. What else can I try? Inventory? Journal?

I decide to try thinking about my inventory first because it's less likely. When nothing happens, it’s disappointing, but not too surprising. This game does feel like we’ll be packing things by hand. Still, I’ve already learned there’s Mana and the ability to manipulate time, so I’d be shocked if there isn’t magical storage to be found.

Wait. Time manipulation. Like the state of frozen-time I’m in right now! Argh, for all my Intellect, I’m such an idiot.

I immediately try focusing on my Temporal Manipulation skill to glean what I can from it. My first impression is a feeling of emptiness, that there’s nothing to work with. Because it’s fueled by my Facet. My Facet which I just spent to enter this state. Lovely.

Further concentration reveals that I may be able to enter and exit this state with some practice. Once I’ve regained some Facet obviously. However, since my Facet regenerates in real-time, I don’t think I'll have a single point by the time my 18.5 hours/seconds are up.

I guess my amazing discovery doesn’t help.

My remaining two sources of hope for the next few hours are a quest journal and the standing stone in front of me. If I’m honest, at this point, I’m expecting the runes to give me a headache while the journal will be another dead end.

But there’s only one way to find out.

The Story Continues

"With a comfortable onesie, and the ability to stop time, anything is possible."

Dragons, Catgirls, Guns, and Magic. Oh, and the ability to stop time. What more could a modern gal want?

Well... If my past would stay locked in a dark corner back on Earth, that'd be nice.

Right. There was that one other thing. Finding a way home before the world ends. But hey, that's what my mom would call the last step in your five year plan.

The first?

To play with magic.

A note from Draith

Join discord to grab the ARC (Advanced review copy aka free epub) until July 31, 2023.

Or preorder the audiobook on audible.

Thanks for reading!

2.00 Camp dayz

A note from Draith

If you're here, feeling like you missed some chapters, the previous chapter has a link to discord where you can pick up the free epub.

Which is linked here too.

July 1, 2023, 1:01 am. Shortly after the Outlanders escaped Ivicka’s team.

With quick strides, Kythee moved across the temporary fortification where her Desh’ila had struck camp. Most of the comfort enchantments she was used to were missing, but that wasn’t surprising. They’d let their prisoners escape and been forced to follow them.

Kythee was more guilty than the others. She’d been the guard on active duty. And she’d realized the sub-commander was trying to distract the squad. But Kythee hadn’t said anything. In fact, after they’d all gone diving for their gliders, Kythee had intentionally misdirected the search.

The way Ivikca had been treating the male outlanders had bothered her. It wasn’t the way that she’d been taught by her mother. She’d hoped her little misdirection had gone unnoticed, they’d set up camp and she’d let down her guard.

Then Ivicka had summoned her in the middle of the night.

Kythee stopped just outside the flap leading into Ivicka’s tent, taking a deep breath as she brushed a strand of errant hair out of her eyes. She always felt the need to brace herself before interacting with the giant K’tharn. Otherwise she’d be overwhelmed by her pure presence. For a second, she indulged in regret. She really should’ve accepted the Keeper’s invitation to study at the Lathiac Tower. Most users would’ve killed for a chance to access the Builder’s Library. And Kythee had thrown it away to join the Desh’ila.

All for a chance at glory.

Well, at least she’d shielded Cristha. How that sweet cub ended up serving in the Desh’ila, Kythee didn’t know.

Shaking her head clear, she messaged the commander to let her know she was outside the tent. Once she received a confirmation, she pushed the tent flap to the side.

“Ah, Kythee, excellent,” Ivicka said, smiling as Kythee stepped into the tent. To her surprise, Ivicka wasn’t alone. Behind her were three K’tharn, all wearing heavy cloaks. Only one of them had her hood down. And Kythee was shocked when she realized she recognized Bel’ther. An old squad member she’d been told had retired. She still remembered that party.

“I… reporting as requested, commander,” Kythee said, crossing her chest with her right hands as she addressed Ivicka.

“You know, I haven’t thanked you,” Ivicka said, flexing her massive clawed fist. Kythee gulped. Most K’tharn didn’t have functional claws. Not unless they received a class for it. But she’d heard the commander had come by her claws as a reward from a rare quest. Much like her size.

“Commander?” Kythee asked, trying to hide her surprise as her ears attempted to flick on their own.

“For taking the extra shifts. And for alerting me to the risk of the prisoners waking,” Ivicka replied, turning in Kythee’s direction.

Kythee fought to keep a frown off her face. She’d informed Ivicka that the prisoners were recovering because she’d been taught that was how you were supposed to care for prisoners. And she’d requested the extra shifts because she’d been worried about them after Ivicka had ordered that the inhibition collars be raised to max. “Just doing my job, commander.”

“See Bel’ther. I told you she was humble,” Ivicka said, turning to the dark-furred K’tharn. Whatever Bel’ther had been up to since she’d left the squad, it appeared to be rough. Her matted fur didn’t do her any favors. “Now Kythee. My sister has abandoned the Aetherium. And as she was my sub-commander, I find myself needing a loyal K’tharn to take her place.”

“And… you want my recommendation, commander?” Kythee asked, her gaze flicking to the cloaked K’tharn. Why were they having this discussion in front of them?

“No. I’ve already made my choice. Congratulations, sub-commander.”

It took several seconds for Kythee to process the words. When she did, she remained as still as possible, trying not to let the panic show on her face. “Pardon, commander?”

“You’ve proven your loyalty to the Aetherium, and to our cause. You’re a good soldier, Kythee. And we’ll need more like you before this is all over.”

“I… thank you commander,” Kythee said, trying to keep her over-expressive ears from flicking back and forth. She’d rather not be broadcasting her panic for her unknown audience.

“Now. I have a task for you to complete. One that the others can’t know about,” Ivicka said, placing one of her massive paws on Kythee’s shoulder. “I know I can count on you.”

Kythee received a notification informing her she was recognized as an official Desh’ila sub-commander, and she held in her gasp. She hadn’t expected to ever earn a place in command. Those positions were reserved for those with powerful classes, or family scions. That she was serving under one of the Aetherium’s greatest heroes should have made it an even greater honour. But instead, Kythee felt like her tongue had fallen limp.

Getting to know Ivicka had shown that she was… dangerous. And unpredictable. Kythee knew just how many K’tharn Ivicka’s Desh’ila had gone through in the last few years. If not for sub-commander Tipan joining the squad, Kythee would’ve requested her own transfer.

While Kythee was contemplating how best to survive her new position, Ivicka brought her over to a System enhanced map, showing the dungeon the sub-commander had fled into.

“I need you to escort my friends here. My sister has provided us with an opportunity to retrieve something of great value,” Ivicka said, tapping a spot a short distance north of their current camp.

“The dungeon field…” Kythee started. Everyone knew you couldn’t bypass the dungeon fields. Not for an active dungeon.

“Will keep us out. Yes. But my friends have special advantages. Don’t worry about the details,” Ivicka said, waving her hand. “You simply need to take them to the field, ensure they pass inside without incident then report back. Understand?”

“I… yes, commander,” Kythee agreed, her eyes tracking over the map. The dungeon was one of the largest she knew of. The entirety of the Aetherium could hide within its walls, if not for the power of the dungeon field. Not that they would.

That wasn’t their way.

“Excellent. You’ll set out immediately.”

Kythee nodded as she moved to the exit.

“And Kythee,” Ivicka said, causing Kythee to turn back. She found Ivicka crouched down, her face level with Kythee’s. Kythee had to fight down her surprise as Ivicka smiled at her. “Remember. I reward loyalty.”

“Of course, commander,” Kythee exclaimed, slamming her fists into her chest. Then she waved to the hooded K’tharn.

As she walked north, out of camp, she glanced back at where the commander was throwing pieces of meat to her dragon. Then her vision was blocked by Bel’ther, who smiled at her with an uneven smile, as though the muscles of her face on the right side didn’t quite want to pull up.

Kythee gulped, turning back toward the city-dungeon. Maybe now that she was a sub-commander, she could use that to transfer out of the Desh’ila.

Maybe she could join the Stormguard. Disaster relief and monster hunting was sounding good right now.

But first… maybe she could ruin the commander’s plans. If only a little. It would be a shame to have the sub-commander’s efforts be ruined by…

Her eyes tracked over the three silent figures that had been sent with her.

There was definitely something wrong with them. And when all three froze in place when she told them to wait, she started to suspect what it was.

Yes. It seemed she would have the ability to interfere. A few quick commands, then use her sub-commander's access on the mountain Nexus to whisk her away. Ivicka would be able to follow, but only if she was fast enough. Once she teleported, Kythee would only need half an hour to reach sanctuary.

With one last look at the three silent forms, Kythee set off up the hill, waving them after her as she tried to decide exactly what to tell them.

She only hoped it’d be enough.

A note from Draith

Quick shoutout for my friend KrazeKode's new fiction, Rise of the Devourer. It has litrpg, defying a void-god in the first chappie and an mc who vill suck your blood. (#notarealvampire)

2.01 Easy, Super Easy

July 1, 2023, 8:04 am. Time to face the music.

After being kidnapped from Earth in my onesie, then learning I had always had magic when I’m forced to confront my past, part of me finds it amusing how tough telling Beth about my class selection is.

Unfortunately, it’s not a big part. This’d probably be easier if it was. Taking a deep breath, I watch as Beth and Josh settle in across from me, joking with each other with a casual ease that would’ve left me jealous a week ago. I can’t help but note with some disappointment that Josh has found plain clothes to replace his pink robe. Not even black pants or toque, which would’ve at least reminded me of pre-Akilo.

There’s a pause in their conversation as they both crack up over a joke Josh made about purple zucchini that I don’t get.

Figuring this is the perfect opportunity, I blurt out. “So, I kind of chose my class."

Since I’m locked on her, I notice Beth's amused smile crumble, her brow crinkling as she processes my words.

Josh has the opposite reaction, immediately holding his hand up over the table for a fist bump. "Awesome Lex, congrats."

Obliging him, I return the fist bump, getting excited myself. He’s right. My class is awesome. I'm about to continue when Beth beats me to it, "well, at least you slept on it kid. Did you take the temporary class then?"

"No. I didn't-" I start but Beth interrupts me with a sharp wave of her hand.

"Why not? What could you have unlocked that you felt was worth giving up an epic class for, kid?" she asks while glaring at me, her arms crossed.

"First off. I'm not a kid. Beth," I snap back, my pulse spiking as I press my hands on the table.

"Second. The class' power is around the epic grade tier," I continue, pushing my chair back as my heart thunders in my chest.

"And third, be careful of how you interact with your avatars during class selection, or you might end up accidentally choosing your class," I finish, smacking the table right as I yell the word 'accidentally' moisture beading in the corner of my eye, which I quickly whisk away with my magic before anyone can see it.

Beth and Josh just sit there, silent, looking at me as if I grew a third head. This wasn't how I planned it. Not even a little. She just… the way she cut me off…

We're all just looking at each other when I hear Tipan say from the stairway, "Good morning everyone."

Then she walks towards us, her staff tapping on the floor as she asks, "What do you mean, avatars during class selection?"

Instead of immediately answering Tipan's question, I just look at Beth. I’ve never had outbursts like that before unless I was dealing with mom.

As I stare, Beth answers for me, "the k-Alexis has a large number of unique quirks to her interface."

What? Oh, of course. I'm the only one who has mirror images of themselves popping up during class selection. I should've known. It’s a problem they don’t even have to deal with.

"Really? I've never heard of such a thing," Tipan says as she moves to join us.

"Most users can't see class avatars. But mum mentioned outlanders who’ve seen them before," Rufka calls from within the stairwell, not yet visible.

Okay. So at least I’m not totally alone. Tipan sits herself next to me while a pair of plates float out, setting themselves in front of Beth and Josh. But no one moves to eat.

"Look ki-Alexis, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to get on your case. But these are critical decisions. I thought we were going to talk about it," Beth says, looking me in the eye.

"Yeah, well. Like I said, it was an accident. Kind of. There weren't any system prompts or anything," I reply, then, still feeling the need to continue, I add, "but I'm happy I chose my class. One of its first abilities is going to help with not hitting friendlies."

Which… yeah, kinda one of my biggest concerns with my magic.

As if unaware of the tension, or maybe even trying to ignore it, Tipan chuckles softly. "I am still surprised you were not already an Elementalist. Your ability to control the elements as you do is highly unusual. Most people would never chance it. Not without the protections afforded by our classes. And your speed is astounding. I would have thought you were Copper rank if I hadn't seen your resources myself."

Josh leans forwards, over his plate and raising a piece of bacon to point at me. "Lex, you want to go for a walk after breakfast? Raz told me there’s a huge garden,” he says, waving at the stairs. Then he takes his piece of bacon and pops it in his mouth, loudly crunching on it.

"Uhm sure?" I reply, feeling my shoulders relax when no one makes a big deal out of my outburst. I’m left unbalanced. I’m used to a yelling match following an outburst like that. And having to clean the apartment. This is…

"Cool," he says, continuing to eat.

As Rufka gets closer, I step away from the table, making room. I'm not in the mood to continue talking anyway. Not capable of listening. Smoulder kicks me just hard enough to get my attention, mentally complaining that I need to stop moving abruptly.

Chuckling to myself, I reach for her, drawing comfort from her presence.

She sends an image of her carefully carrying a delicate vegetable back to share with her sister. It would have crumbled if she'd been as careless as I was being. While snickering at Smoulder comparing herself to a delicate vegetable, Smoulder continues to scold me for being a bumpy ride until she realizes how upset I am. Then she starts nuzzling up against my hand offering me support. I have to go all the way to the corner by the billiards table before the others’ conversation is little more than a murmur. Kinda regretting that enhanced Perception. If only a little.

Smoulder's attention reminds me that I was going to get her resource codex unlocked. I send my thoughts to Smoulder, asking if she’d like to. She responds with an impression that if it's important to me, she doesn't see why not, followed by an impression that now that I'm feeling better she's going to have a nap.

"Your partner Smoulder has deigned to allow you to examine her Ignis resource. Would you like to know more? Obtain the full codex for 21.8 Focus and 14.2 Facet.

At this rate, I'm going to be able to get these for next to nothing. They're already getting pretty cheap. Ignoring the text about her 'deigning to allow me’, I purchase the codex.

“Codex obtained: Resource - Ignis.

Iron-Grade higher concept resource.

Current known users: Smoulder the Incredible, Destroyer of Pathio the Vile.”

“Description: Drawing on very limited knowledge of the System’s understanding of all that burns, Ignis is slightly destructive, but is especially destructive to combustible matter. It can also be passively channelled to stay warm and dry.”

Smoulder's resource seems kind of… lacking compared to our resources.

“Ignis’s primary contributing attributes are Intellect and Spirit, with a lesser contribution from Perception and Resolve and a minor contribution from all other attributes.

Like most Iron-Grade higher concept resources, Ignis may not be fashioned into armour.”

Okay, that's unfortunate. If there's one ally I wish had armour, it's definitely Smoulder. At least the rest of us can use gear. Though maybe I can find her a cute little collar or bow or something.

Looking at Smoulder, I realize that if I do find her an accessory, it’s probably going to need to involve fire in some way.

Now that I’ve calmed down, I feel embarrassed as I look back to where the others are talking and laughing. Way to prove your maturity, Alexis.

Breathing out, I try to be proactive instead of dwelling. I can't count the number of times I ended up cleaning the bathroom or doing the laundry so I didn't have to think about a fight with mom.

While I don’t have a bathroom to clean, I do have plenty of magic. And lots of it needs practice. Especially since I just discovered I can unlock spell slots by reaching fifty in my skills. So, leaning back from the counter, I start considering what I can do with water manipulation while drawing a small arc over where Smoulder is resting in my lap. My skill’s nearly at the fifty mark, and I already have a useful spell for the slot. Umbrella’s an effective shield, and would be great to always have on hand. Transitioning it would free up one of my four primary slots for… I haven't actually decided yet, but at least this way I can be productive instead of brooding.

As I'm playing with the water, I emulate what Roberts was doing earlier, starting with an orb, moving into a doughnut, then transitioning to a flat plane. But that’s not particularly challenging, so I push my efforts further.

Creating an orb the size of my head, I twist it into not one but three fat, rapidly spinning, doughnuts, all looped within each other. Then I flatten them into spinning disks, maintaining their ring shape while ensuring they don't collide.

Finally, I collapse all three disks into a single turbulent sphere, allowing it to rotate slowly while I consider what to do next.

A slow clapping interrupts my thoughts.

"That's an impressive display of control for a user barely four days into the System," Raz says as he ambles his way around several bar stools towards me.

"Thanks," I reply as I reach out, physically tapping my water-ball, urging it to spin faster.

"I heard you chose your class. Congratulations."

"Thanks," I reply while shrugging my shoulders. I've been trying not to think about it. Beth's reaction stole a lot of my excitement. Now it just feels like another of the stupid mistakes I've made since… forever, basically.

"May I ask. Was it a unique class as well?" he inquires, looking at me intensely.

"Yeah. But it's good. I know it is. Probably Epic," I respond with a certainty I don’t really feel. If it’s not, that just proves Beth’s point. Despite what I said to her, I hardly feel like an adult.

"Hmm. Would you like to discover its true strength?" he asks, focusing on me intently.

Meeting his eyes, I just shrug. "Sure. It'd be nice."

"Done," he says, looking at me expectantly. I don't feel any different.

"Thanks," I reply, turning the water orb into vapour, letting it dissipate.

"You're welcome. Tell Wyonna I say hi," Raz says, nodding his head before walking away, disappearing behind his bar while I repeat his message.

Figuring it's as good a distraction as any, I open my notification log. I notice that not only is there a new quest, I also managed to hit fifty in water manipulation.

Double-checking, just to be sure, I can feel my lips tugging up into a smile when I see a new specialized spell slot for a water spell.

Feeling a little better with that small goal achieved, I turn back to my log. Immediately below the skill increase notification is a message from Wyonna. I guess she can add text to any system message now.

“Raz is great, isn't he. I know, I know, I'm biased. Tell him I say hi back. Now let's see.”

“Wyonna says hi back,” I call out to his bar, before turning back to my log.

"Quest received: Not so Unique. Description: Gauging power requires knowledge. Requirements: discover one method for upgrading any common class to an uncommon variant. 0/1 uncommon class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveals the rarity of a single unique uncommon class. 1 Iron-rank Integration point."

A single uncommon class. Does that mean if I try to use it on a stronger class it won't say anything? That doesn’t seem great, but it’s okay since I only want to know about my own class anyway. And this will at least confirm if it’s better than uncommon.

Wow, that is, like, the easiest quest ever. You just need to repeat what I say. Wanna be a Voltknight? Stand outside during a lightning storm and let yourself get struck. By lightning, of course. Oh, and you need to have lightning manipulation of at least one. I guess I'd recommend having a Health of at least 150 too. Technically, the last part is optional.

Doing as Wyonna says, I finish reading her entire comment, getting another notification.

"Quest: Not so Unique. Objective complete: 1/1 uncommon class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveals the rarity of a single unique uncommon class. 1 Iron-rank Integration point.

That was officially the easiest quest I've had so far. It was even easier than the translation quest. And I had a cheat for that one. Hmm. I guess having Wyonna is kind of like a cheat too.

“Quest updated: Not so Unique. Description: A single source is only the start, knowledge demands more. Requirements: discover eight additional methods for upgrading any common class to an uncommon variant. 0/8 uncommon class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveals the rarity of any unique uncommon class. 1 Iron-rank Integration point. Time: 5/5 minutes."

"Only five minutes, wow," I say even as Wyonna's notifications start.

"Oh, just slap me with a glove why don't you? Fine, challenge accepted."

Is this my quest or Wyonna's? I don't even know.

"Let's do this alphabetically. Aeroknight. Super easy. Just stay suspended in the air without touching the ground for five minutes. Or trees. Or walls. Or clothes. Okay, you need decent manipulation for this one. Or a friend like you."

"Thanks. I think," I mumble to the air after I read her message aloud.

"Alloyknight. Wrap yourself in metal, completely, for five minutes. Piece of cake. Doesn't even have to be airtight."

"Aquaknight. Easier than Aeroknight. Probably more dangerous given your need to breathe and all. Stay completely submerged in water for five minutes."

Yeah, breathing is important, too bad I don't have time to catch my breath while trying to keep up with Wyonna.

"Cragknight. Well, you've probably figured out the pattern for knights by now, stay completely enclosed in stone for five minutes. Not as hard as it might seem since you can trap air in with you. No clothes though or it doesn’t count."

"Cryoknight. This one is a little different. You need to survive five minutes in a temperature below 250 degrees Kelvin, but it’s a little uncomfortable since you have to be naked. That's about - 23 degrees Celsius by the way."

That seems really uncomfortable, though I guess Health edge would help.

"Pyroknight. This one is opposite of cryo, not so surprising. You need to survive five hours above a temperature 320 degrees Kelvin. That's about 47 degrees Celsius. Needs to be done outside with no clothes, but shade is okay. As long as it stays over 47 degrees in the shade."

I’m really glad I didn’t have to go through these upgrades. I guess I’d have my class first, but seriously.

"Shadowknight. Remain in a shadow that is at least 5000 lumens darker than the surrounding 50 meters for five hours. Easy to pull off by, you guessed it, fully encasing yourself. Can easily be done when unlocking other knight classes."

Yeah, cause no one's ever had problems after spending five hours locked in the dark.

"Terraknight. Have a tea party. Nah, I'm just kidding. Bury yourself in dirt for five minutes. No stone. No clothes. Done."

Huh. No quest update yet. I start to call for Wyonna when another notification appears.

"Oh, and you need one point in the relevant manipulation skill. Obviously."

Repeating this line causes the expected quest notification to appear.

"Quest: Not so Unique. Objective complete: 8/8 uncommon class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveal the rarity of any unique uncommon class. 1 Iron-rank Integration point.

I actually feel like I earned this one after repeating all that.

“Quest updated: Not so Unique. Description: The quality of knowledge matters, as much as, if not more than, quantity. Requirements: discover two methods for upgrading any uncommon class to any rare variant. 0/2 rare class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveals the rarity of any rare or uncommon unique class. Time: unlimited."

"Okay, now this one might actually take some legwork. I do know the easiest method to unlock a rare class. Basically, just do all the above and have all your elemental skills and at least one armour and weapon skill above 25. Oh, and have Mana manipulation at 100. That will unlock the Guardian Elementalist. On a completely different topic, if I don’t respond it’s not that I’m ignoring you. After some testing, I’ve discovered that while the restrictions are lighter, I can still only respond for a few minutes after a system notification."

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, Wyonna,” I reply after I'm finished repeating what she tells me. Then I check my quest status which confirms she's correct. I only need to discover one more method. Maybe I'll ask Tipan or Rufka. Or Raz. He seems to know a lot about the System.

Before I track anyone down though, I take the time to concentrate on my class. I'm like 99% sure its rarity is higher than uncommon, but there's that niggling doubt. One that says I made a huge mistake.

Which is banished when my class' rarity stays unique when I Focus on it under my class description. It's surprising how heavy 1% worth of doubt can feel.

I don't let it stop me from asking Raz if he knows any methods, but he just shakes his head and tells me he'll let me know if that changes. So I lean back, staring up at the ceiling with a smile.

Before I'm done basking in my relief, Josh calls out, "Hey Lex, ready to roll?"

"Oh yeah. Of course," I reply, turning to join him. Totally forgot we were going for a walk. He leads me to the door across from the change room, which I’d kind of assumed was the men's change room.

I guess we all share the other one?

Once inside, we follow a short hall, no more than four meters long. We cross the small space swiftly, reaching a dark green door with raised brown moulding and an ornate handle. When Josh pulls it open, a massive garden is revealed before us. Big enough I can’t see the far wall, though the slope of the glazed roof above hints at one.

"Wowza," Josh murmurs. Honestly, I can't help but agree with him.

We're at the foot of a small hill. All around us are cultivated trees, shrubs and vines. At least I think they’re shrubs and vines.

Whatever they are, they're all beautiful. We're standing at the head of a footpath that circles a small pond, and from the pond, I count four other paths leading away. There's definitely space or illusion shenanigans going on, because the hill we’ve emerged from is way too small to fit the building we were just inside of, not once the stairs are taken into account.

Josh starts moving towards the rightmost path, but I remain standing at the entrance, taking it all in. I've never been to the VanDusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver, but I imagine this must be what they're like. Without the literal magic, of course.

"This is better than I pictured," Josh says, smiling when I finally step forward to join him.

"Yeah," I reply, noticing a small creature that reminds me of Smoulder. Thinking of whom, I reach into my pocket, giving her scritches. Which she takes as a signal to come out a moment later, poking her head from my pocket, as she sniffs the rather fragrant air.

I smile at Smoulder as she bounds out of my pocket to inspect the garden more closely.

"I'd love a garden like this," Josh says, spreading his arms wide as if he were trying to hug the whole place, "a home where life blooms, taking my worries away."

"Oh yeah? What would you grow? Roses?" I ask with a smirk, watching Smoulder chase after the smaller rabbit creature. I'm certain she's playing, but I don't think the other bunny knows that.

"Among other things, yeah. Not much room for that back home," he replies, smiling back as we watch the other bunny squeeze through a bush that Smoulder decides is more interesting than her quarry.

"Speaking of roses. What's with your robe?" I ask. His face tightens at my initial question, so I continue as if it was simply a prelude to my next comment, "when we met up, it was as pristine as the moment we woke in the circle?" I ask instead, which is something I was curious about anyway.

"Ah. It's part of my leet skills yo. I'm able to clean and repair anything involving plants. Fiber-based clothing counts, so my robe counts," he says, shrugging.

Well, that figures. He's good at the one thing I've tried and found nearly impossible. Given his special resources, it doesn't surprise me.

"I don't suppose you could patch up my onesie? I'd like to have it again, even though it's not really travel-wear. Actually, at the moment, it's not really any-wear," I say as we stop beneath a massive tree wrapped within a flowering vine which coils around it. The vine is a veritable riot of colours, all manner of blues, reds and yellows against a backdrop of green. It's practically reflexive when I Focus on it to bring up a notification. I step closer to the Eolanis Bloomer, famous for its soothing colours and amazing perfumes. According to Wyonna, its roots are also great in chili.

"I don't know if anyone has magic that strong," he replies to which I answer with a less than polite gesture, before motioning him forwards.

"Har Har. Apparently, these smell amazing," I say, gently running a hand against a blossom, feeling its smooth texture. When Josh does the same, the blossom noticeably reaches towards his hand, as if it were a certain bunny looking for scritches.

We take our time smelling the vaguely fruity-smelling flowers until I catch a whiff of something strange. Smoke. Turning, I find a nearby bush is on fire. I don't hesitate, conjuring water Mana forth to douse the bush. Beneath which I find Smoulder, sitting proudly amongst the ashes, dry despite the water I just dropped on her head.

She shares what happened through our mental link. I can't help but laugh. Smoulder had been investigating the nearby bush when she got a thorn in her paw. Naturally, her reaction was to incinerate the whole bush. Luckily, I noticed before it spread, but I need to remember that my little ball o'doom is a bit of a pyro. And I don't mean mancer.

"But seriously? My onesie?" I ask, looking over to Josh as I try to get the thorn out of her paw while we move away from the scene of Smoulder's latest crime. I hope Raz isn’t too upset.

"I can try. But no promises," Josh replies as we pass beneath an arch covered in the same beautiful vine. I'm able to squeeze the Thorn out using tiny magical tweezers. When I burn the thorn to ash, my fire magic doesn't feel nearly as hot as it used to. A side effect of my new class resistances, I imagine.

"Deal," I proclaim, sticking my free hand out to him once we step clear of the flowery arch.

With her paw recovered, Smoulder decides to lead the way. We continue through the garden, inspecting random plants while Josh tells me about how much feedback he gets from his skill.

"Like this flower here? Its roots are so deep it's drawing water from over five meters down," he says as I look back at the small bush that's less than a meter tall. Seems disproportionate.

"That's one heck of a root system," I reply as we walk past, approaching the entrance again. The path we were on has led us in a smooth loop around the hill. There were several offshoots we could’ve explored but we decided to keep the hill in sight, just in case.

"Speaking of drawing water," I say when I notice Smoulder approaching the pond. Instead of standing around, watching her drink, I draw an orb from the pond to sate my own thirst as well. As I sip, I see a rose-thorn mug bloom into existence in Josh's hand.

"Think it's safe to drink directly like that?" he asks, gesturing to my orb of water.

"I kind of filter it. When I use my power to create drinkable water, it tastes exactly as I imagine tasty water should. The rest I deposit into little piles," I reply, demonstrating by dumping the filtered contents into one hand before depositing enough water in his mug to fill it to the brim.

"That's cool. Cheers," Josh says, raising his mug to my floating globe, spilling a little of his over the side.

Chuckling quietly, I match him. "Cheers."

"So, have you thought about your class?" I ask Josh as I glance at the hall leading back inside.

"Ya. I'm probably going to take the temporary class, Sapling. The rest are all so combat-Focused, ya know?"

"Well, they are combat classes," I reply with a smirk.

"Yeah, but I mean, I don't really want to be an Eviscerator or a BlightLord. Where's the old fashioned Druid class when you need it?" he asks with a rueful smile.

"Those sound nasty alright. My class name has them beat though. What's your manipulation skill called?" I ask as we sit on a bench near the pond instead of returning to the common room.

"I have three. Plant and Chemical manipulation from my class, plus Mana from your lessons. What’s your class’ name."

"My class is called Cataclysm Seed. Chemical sounds scary."

"Yeah. That's the one that unlocked BlightLord. Cataclysm Seed sounds wicked cool."

"Thanks. What are your manipulation skills at?" I ask, picking up one of the flat rocks that are stacked nearby. Almost as if they're meant for throwing. They’re definitely not part of the path or bench.

"Plant is at 24. Chemical is five. Why?"

"You'll probably unlock more class options once they're both 25. That's what happened with mine. Plus any other skills you might want to get a class from. Might be better if they’re higher too," I answer, my brow furrowing as I toss my first rock, skipping it twice.

"Huh. Well, I'm actually close to 25 in both spear and shield."

"Seriously? How’d that happen? I thought you were basically unconscious the last couple days," which I kinda feel bad about. Especially because as I watch the rock skip I'm suddenly thinking of all sorts of ways I could’ve got there faster. In the end, I didn't even rescue them. Well, from the K'tharn anyway.

"I was. But they were both close to 25 when we arrived. I had a girlfriend in the SCA a few years ago. She made me practice with her. It was actually pretty fun. Good exercise too."

"Uhh. That's the people who go around like knights of old right?" I ask while wondering if I can make myself wings of metal while manipulating wind to propel me.

"Kind of. There's a lot more to it than that though,” he answers as my brain circles back to his skills.

"Wait. Let me get this straight. Like most guys, you learned how to use a spear and protection from an old girlfriend?" I ask with an exaggerated eyebrow and an elbow nudge.

Josh gets that faint pink to his cheeks.

Then I wiggle my eyebrows at him. He starts laughing hard enough he starts wheezing.

"Jeez Lex, I didn't see that coming," he says, leaning back against the bench when he finally recovers.

"What? I can be funny," I reply, slightly nonplussed as I toss another stone.

"That's not what I mean. You just always seemed so, I don't know. Innocent?"

"Wow. Eight years across the hall from each other and I guess we really don't know each other at all, do we?" I ask, this time hefting a stone before tossing it while trying to control it with stone manipulation. And losing control before it gets its first skip, already out of range.

"Yeah. I guess not. Good thing we got abducted and sent to another world. Otherwise, I never would’ve known you had a dark side." he says, bumping me with his elbow.

"And I never would’ve known you had a pink side. But yeah, it's still hard to absorb, you know?" I say as I look up at the massive garden that is somehow inside the pub we're staying in. Because magic.

"Yeah. It's all kind of crazy. You think that academy will help us get home?" he asks while tossing his own stone, which sinks without skipping. Damn, he’s actually worse at this than I am. And I’m not even cheating.

"Wish I knew. For all we know it's going to take us half a year just to get there. Might not even be the answer," I reply as I watch Smoulder chase my latest stone across the water, hopping fast enough she doesn’t sink. She does end up charging off the far side when my stone sinks beneath the surface though.

Even if the academy does offer a way home, I doubt the path it suggests will be easy.

I mean, what sort of adventure would that be?

2.02 Hitting the Field

July 1, 2023, 9:24am. Time for the Legend of the Cataclysm Seed to…. putter around, maybe try a new dish or two. Nothing too strenuous. Legends take time, after all.

Josh and I make our way out of the garden while I tell him about all the different classes I’ve unlocked and what unlocked each one, leaving out the part where I relived some of my most painful memories, of course. When we step back into the common room, we find the others gearing up.

“Oh good. I was just going to start looking for you two,” Beth states, adjusting a new bandoleer. It’s her only new piece of equipment, but it's clearly well made.

Roberts, on the other hand, has replaced everything. He has on the same baggy pants and sweater I found, but he’s also wearing a dark cloak with tons of pockets. He’s balancing with one hand wrapped around a new staff, tucking his legs into a sensible-looking pair of boots. I recognize them as one of the pairs I passed over when I was checking for other options. He’s almost knocked over when Smoulder launches herself closer to investigate his new pants.

Of his pajama suit, there is no sign. It’s probably packed away in his dimensional storage. Is it weird that I kind of miss it?

Looking closely at his cloak, I realize I can identify it.

“A Cloak Without Borders: Faithfully recreated after being lost during a journey to a faraway land, this otherwise standard design has been augmented with just a touch of dimensional magic and a pinch of love. This is a custom version of the standard leather cloak armour.

Bonuses once bonded: Storage: Expands dimensional capacity by 0.5 cubic meters. Durable. Improves Health edge by 2.0 while equipped. Nostalgic. Improves Mana and Focus edge by 2.0 while equipped.

Current Bond: Forerunner Roberts - Iron. Cost to bond: two Iron-rank Integration points."

Cool, looks like a cross between my jacket and backpack. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one getting custom gear. I was a little worried, given everything else that seems to work differently for me.

Looking back at Beth, I wonder if… yep, I can identify Beth's bandoleer too.

“A Merc's Best Friend: Being prepared isn't just a good philosophy to you. It's a way to scream "Never again!" at the uncaring universe. The right tool for the job is just a moment away with this meticulously recreated storage device. This is a custom version of the standard bandoleer storage item.

Bonuses once bonded: Quick Storage: Reduces time to access items in dimensional storage. Requires an Agility of fifty to experience a noticeable effect. Expands dimensional capacity by 0.25 cubic meters. Durable. Improves Health edge by 2.0 while equipped. Nostalgic. Improves Mana and Focus edge by 2.0 while equipped.

Current Bond: Forerunner Raven Queen - Iron. Cost to bond: one Iron-rank Integration point."

“We heading out?” Josh asks, looking to Beth even as I read the description.

"Soon. Grab your quest rewards first," Beth commands, motioning Josh towards the change room.

"Right," Josh confirms, turning to the stairs. While Josh walks to the change room I approach Rufka who's waving me over. When I get close, Rufka throws an arm over my shoulder while simultaneously putting one around my waist giving me a quick squeeze as she says, “I missed it at breakfast, but happy class-day. I got you something.”

“Class-day?” I mumble in response, as Rufka pulls out a familiar-looking drink, letting me go. Thankfully, it’s the tea, not the liquor.

“Class-day. I don’t know your silly outlander traditions, but here in the reaches, the day you gain your class is special,” she declares, setting seven cups down on the table in front of us. When Smoulder hops up, she pauses before setting out a small saucer as well.

“How come you didn’t get me tea on my class-day?” Beth questions Tipan playfully, while Rufka carefully prepares each of us a cup.

“Typically, class-day is celebrated only with your closest friends and family,” Tipan replies, watching Rufka's actions with confusion clearly etched across her brow.

"Exactly. Friends. Any-user who's willing to play Astra's Stride, drink Muthica's moonshine and ride for hours on Tuffie's back without complaining is a user I want to know. But to then go face to face with an Aetherium Dragon Scion at Iron-rank without so much as a class? That's a user I want to call friend!" Rufka states, passing me a cup.

I smile at Rufka. I'm not sure how well I would've done on Tuffie’s back without the aforementioned moonshine, but I appreciate the sentiment. I've only known her for about a day, yet Rufka's already growing on me.

Once she's set out a cup for all seven of us, she gestures the others forwards, "come on. I'm not going to bite. Unless you ask."

Everyone takes a cup, even Josh as he's already returned, surprisingly early. I don't see any new gear, but maybe he got a ring or something. With his resource-based armour, it's not like he needs armour-type equipment as much as I do. Besides, I didn't see anything resembling his typical outerwear.

The seventh cup sits untouched until Rufka calls, "hey Scales, the last cup is for you!"

Keeping it untouched requires snagging Smoulder, letting her have some of the dried fruit I bought from Raz to bolster my emergency supplies instead.

"That's hardly polite," Tipan reprimands Rufka as Raz comes out from his hiding spot behind the bar.

He doesn't look offended, but it's hard to read his expression as he says, "Scales is fine, just never call me kobold."

"See? I knew Scales was solid silver," Rufka declares, nudging him with her elbow. Her lower one, given his equally low height.

"It is an honour to be a part of your class-day. May you level with reasonable risk and resplendent rewards," he cheers, raising his cup to me in his dark scaled hand.

"Friends,” I follow, holding my cup up to Rufka before gesturing to everyone else. And fighting down the surge of sadness that spikes inside me when I remember Sab’s not here.

We're all just finished taking a sip when Rufka adds, "plus you saw her magic. She's going to attract trouble like a silver-wrought elemental handing out irons."

"There it is," I mutter, laughing with her as I hear Beth ask Tipan, "irons?" As Rufka and I both sip our tea, Tipan explains that Rufka is referring to Iron-rank shards.

Wow. I can not get over how much I like this tea. Raspberry-peach just works for me.

I'm not the only one who thinks so. Josh is making appreciative noises as he sips from his cup. Meanwhile, Beth finishes hers before I do. Roberts and Tipan are both more restrained but don't take much longer than the rest of us.

Raz sips his tentatively. His eyebrows rise, then he downs the rest in a single gulp.

"Okay people. I think we've burned enough daylight. Now, Tipan says this eye should be in the centre of the city, at the top of the tallest tower. However, we don't want to take the thing right away. We should use the next couple days to train, get used to each other. Remember, we’re adapting to completely new abilities. There’s going to be some fuckups, so let’s try to get them out of the way while training,” Beth instructs us before she steps back, motioning to Tipan. “Once we're ready to go, Tipan will need to be the one who completes the quest. Remember that third reason she mentioned? The real reason we came here? Well, I'll let her explain,"

As if they rehearsed it, Tipan steps forward when Beth moves back, already speaking. "After we finish the quest, I will be able to change our exit to another training area. One I completed several months ago. This is a hidden general ability I discovered during my studies at the System library. I'll only be able to use it if I'm the one to complete the second part of the quest."

"Depending on how our teamwork goes today, we may make an attempt to scout out the eye's location tomorrow. We won't be taking it," Beth reiterates as she leans over the table, her eyes playing over each of us until we nod back.

"Our opponents shouldn't be too difficult. The Fallen take the forms of K'tharn who've died nearby, but they don't wander out of the core. If we get separated, move to the outer ring of the city then make your way back here," Tipan states while creating an image of a K'tharn with the matted fur and red eyes I'd seen in Uthica's vision.

"Any questions?" Beth asks, once more swapping places with Tipan.

Most of that makes sense to me. Testing is exactly what I want to be doing. Maybe I can work out some frustration while discovering the limits of my new class.

Josh tentatively raises his hand when no one else speaks.

"Yes Josh," Beth asks with a gentle smile.

"Does this mean I can wait to choose my class? I'd like to think about it more," he questions tentatively, looking around. I flash him a smile when he looks my way and he smiles back, some of his tension escaping his shoulders.

"Absolutely. I'd have preferred we all made our choices only after we’d given them some thought. But Alexis and I will live with our choices. Since we already have our classes, we should be able to support both of you until you’re ready to make your choice. I asked Raz and he said he'll remain here until we finish our quest, one way or the other, so we'll have a safe place to return to," Beth answers, pointing to Raz as she speaks, who nods, his scales glistening more than they were a couple minutes ago.

While I'm inspecting Raz’s dark scales, searching for a hint of what magic he might’ve used, Dr Roberts speaks, "Excellent. Having a safe base of operations should help us all adapt more quickly. I believe I know which class I'll be choosing. Yet having time to test our limits first is an excellent idea."

“Getting to test your limits before choosing your classes. These outlanders are so spoiled, don’t you agree skyborne?” Rufka asks, poking Tipan’s shoulder.

Tipan shakes her arm, a tiny scowl forming for a second as she responds. “I believe that having our entire childhoods to prepare may outweigh whatever advantages they now enjoy.” When she’s finished, she steps towards the exit, before looking back at us. I follow since I feel like we’re pretty much done here.

“And this is why no-user likes skyborne, so frigid from living in that rarified air all your lives,” Rufka sighs as she walks beside me.

“Yes. I’m just an awful stuck-up skyborne, spoiled beyond redemption,” Tipan replies, her tone flat as she leads the way out into the city.

“Hey now, I didn’t mean it like that,” Rufka complains, actually sounding apologetic as she follows Tipan.

“Do you think it'll be as easy as she says?" Josh wonders from behind me.

“Hmm. Hard to know," Roberts replies as I return through the gate out into the city.

After the stroll through the garden, the degradation and ruins of the city seems… disappointing. Luckily, we’re not here for sightseeing.

Moving inwards, we all stop talking as Beth takes the lead. This lasts for all of a minute before Roberts speaks, “what do you think we’ll find?”

“Only true horror,” Rufka proclaims casually while shrugging. She doesn’t seem particularly worried about our excursion as she continues speaking, “like that one aunt who always pinches your cheeks and never leaves even if you put itch-root in her tuft powder."

"Or a giant spider that camps out in your bathroom, only coming out when you’re indisposed?" Josh suggests.

While they’re talking, I try to keep my eyes open, but I’m still surprised when Beth halts us, looking at the buildings to our sides. As I look up, I see several forms leaning over the edge. Before I have time to properly register what’s happening, large rocks start careening down from above.

So, I pause time. Amazing how reflexive and easy it is now. I only spent the minimum 0.1 Facet and 0.1 Focus but I have four minutes to act in the next real-time second.

Totally broken.

I love it.

The first thing I do is erect my Umbrella spell. As the spell forms in front of me, its watery bubble glistening as it pops into place it occurs to me that I forgot to switch it to my water specialization slot. Oops.

With basic defence in place, I consider reaching out to the boulders to see if I can manipulate them before they hit us, but they're all out of range. Destructive counterspell time it is then. First off, I fire a lightning torrent at the closest boulder which looks like it might hit us. Then I let loose a flame torrent at another. Third, I fire an air torrent at the next slab of rock I see.

Testing, one, two, three.

At this point I can see Rufka responding as well, reaching towards Tipan's shoulder. They've barely moved before I look away. Since I'm blessed with plenty of time, I decide to create a bevy of wind torrents for the lowest cost I can as backups. It gets to the point that I run out of directions to aim my spells, all without really denting my Mana. The reduction and strength increase of my Edge is truly incredible at this point, getting more than forty free Mana worth of effect. Which means my torrents are bigger than the first time I cast them, yet each one only costs me 0.1 Mana and 0.1 Focus.

Scanning around, I spot a single Fallen who is still watching the result of their attack, clumps of earth floating around her. I try throwing a link from my new IFF ability towards it but nothing connects.

A moment later, I get a notification.

"Would you like to connect to Fallen Dhanni for 89.2 Facet?"

Holy crap. No, thank you.

I would like to analyze it though.

“Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 11.

A Mana-warped version of K'tharn. For many worlds, these are the first Mana-borne they encounter. As varied as the individuals the Mana-swarm claimed them from, Fallen are generally a low Iron-Grade threat, as active system users cannot become Fallen.

However, there are exceptions. Occasionally, a user will become disconnected from the System. These users return as new Fallen, often seeking out their loved ones for a twisted reunion. While they retain some semblance of their previous memories and intelligence, the sight of non-fallen brings forth a terrible rage which drives Fallen to immediate violence.

While rare, there have been worlds which were wiped from the System when their champions became Fallen."

Wow. That's worrying.

"Name: Dhanni of clan Plethesa.

Attributes: Physical; High, Mobility; High, Magic; Medium, Awareness; Medium.

Attacks: This Fallen is an expert with both spears and terramancy.

Defences: This Fallen has high physical resistance, medium magic resistance, high earth resistance."

"Wow, she’s an actual Fallen. You don't tend to see them in Builder cities, even abandoned ones. Far more likely to have system generated imitation Fallen or random Mana-spawn. Something strange is happening here."

When I finish reading the codex the Fallen is already ducking out of sight.

With my spells in place and the Fallen analyzed, I spend the last moments metaphorically twiddling my thumbs. My lightning torrent, flame torrent and my first wind torrent all take effect before the end of my pause mode, so I'm able to clearly see their effects.

The first boulder is reduced to rubble by my lightning torrent, sending debris raining down. I'd be worried, but I've already aimed several wind torrents in the general direction.

My flame torrent leaves its boulder a molten slag, barely redirecting it, though it’s enough it’ll land in front of us instead of hitting us head on.

When my wind torrent hits the last boulder, it's as though a giant picked the large rock up, then threw it, sending it hurtling over the buildings out of sight.

As the rock clears the building, I run out of Pause.

Suddenly, all my air torrents activate at once, which causes a drawback I hadn't considered. I naturally allow my spells to draw from their surroundings. Which means, when I cast twenty-something separate wind torrents at the same time, all from the same spot, it leaves me in very thin air. But only long enough for the sudden vacuum to draw everything in the vicinity into me. Such as my nearby team members.

As I find myself at the centre of a knee and elbow storm of chaos, my torrents continue screeching outwards. Before we're able to extricate ourselves, a transparent shield pops into place, surrounding us.

"Uh. What happened," Josh asks, gently knocking half of us over when he stands. He extricates himself with no apparent effort and an equally lacking amount of grace.

"Uhm. That was my bad," I admit as moments later, everyone else is on their feet while I'm still trying to unhook my pack from around my ankle. I'm really glad that my Health took the brunt of that. With my equipment, I only took five damage. And I got hit by a lot of limbs.

I push myself to my feet. Huh. That felt easier than it used to. If increasing my Strength is going to make the little things noticeably easier, that makes investing in it far more tempting.

"We still have hostiles, people," Beth mentions, accompanied by the whisper of her rifle firing.

"Yep. Twenty-three," Rufka adds, while shooting an arrow upwards, which is followed by a crackling boom. As the boom passes, she continues, "twenty-one."

Right, the Fallen aren't just sitting there.

Looking up, I notice there are bolts of lightning and wind Mana striking Roberts' shield. I join the defence, firing a lightning torrent towards one that has made the mistake of standing where I can easily see it rising from behind its cover.

As I've come to expect, my torrent blasts the Fallen before arcing to others behind it. This time though the Fallen is only stunned, otherwise seemingly unaffected by my spell.

So, I cast another one. This time there's a horrible scream of pain as my spell chars flesh. It's less than a second before the creature stops, dissolving into blue dust. But that second feels as long as one of my time-stops. They're just monsters, I tell myself as I stare at where its body was a second before.

I’m vaguely aware of the others as they act.

Remaining on my shoulder, Smoulder looks around, disappointed that none of the enemies are getting close.

Josh throws a pod made of rose petals and thorns which explodes outwards, throwing thorns while producing a pink haze, causing any nearby Fallen to collapse.

While he throws something to capitalize on his success, Tipan shoots nearly transparent blades of air from the tip of her staff, which cut through the surrounding buildings as easily as they do the Fallen.

Roberts simply maintains his transparent shield, but given that the ability to retaliate without having to dodge is incredibly valuable, I think he's contributing plenty.

Meanwhile, Beth and Rufka continue to shoot. The rest of the Fallen are defeated or retreat before I have time to rejoin the defence, unable to find a new target. Looking around I note that the only damage anyone took during that skirmish was me when I sucked us all into a ball.

Everyone else is at full Health, though Roberts is down half his Reprieve.

"I knew the one who led them. Her name was Dhanni. She was my…. friend. I would lay her to rest forever," Rufka mumbles from beside me once it's over. She whispers it so quietly, I'm sure her words are meant for my ears only.

Looking to Rufka, I take her hand, squeezing it as I quietly declare, "I'll help however I can." Even as Rufka squeezes my hand back, I can't help wondering what will happen when I strike another Fallen with my magic. None of the monsters I've struck before cried out in pain. They'd all been pure fury, whether Pothlin or wolfadillo.

Are the Fallen different? Or has my magic changed?

As I'm pondering, I notice a quest notification.

"Quest received: Lay her to rest - Dhanni. Description: Rufka desires to lay her…. friend to rest. As a friend, she asks for your help in this difficult task. And you have accepted. Requirements: Lay Dhanni to Rest. Forever: 0/1. Reward: 3 Iron-rank Integration points, one K'tharn terramancy spell. Time: 6/7 days remaining."

"Oh. These are always rough quests. But it's worse to do them alone."

Yeah, not sure how I feel about this being a quest.

"Ki-ahem-Alexis. Any chance you could do that area of effect loot thing again?" Beth asks, bringing me out of the quest screen.

"Oh. Sure. Give me a second," I reply as I reach out.

"Would you like to loot all Fallen K'tharn within 100 meters for 46 Facet and 34 Focus?"

Confirming, I watch as several clouds of blue dust rise into the air. I don't see one rise from where I struck the Fallen earlier. I guess I must’ve hit her especially hard. Maybe that's why she screamed?

I hope that's all there was to it. Now that we've all unlocked our inventories, the loot moves directly into our inventory with a short notification summarizing the results.

"Looted from the Fallen K'tharn of Lescodo:

- 1 Mortal-grade earth shard

- 3 Mortal-grade fire shard

- 2 Mortal-grade ice shard

- 7 Mortal-grade lightning shard

- 2 Mortal-grade metal shard

- 1 Mortal-grade stone shard

- 2 Mortal-grade water shard

- 8 Mortal-grade wind shard

Total mge (Mortal-grade elemental) shards looted: 26

- 1 Mortal-grade Mana shard

That's a lot less than the Pothlin, but I guess it's pretty good. There weren’t that many Fallen and half of them escaped.

"That is a remarkably convenient ability to have around. I’ve never seen an ability to loot at such a range before,” Tipan comments as we start moving again.

"Really? Are there other versions like it?" Roberts asks, dropping the shield while keeping his eyes up.

"Yes, there are several similar general abilities that anyone can purchase in the System store," Tipan answers as we circle a large curved silver building that has no visible entrance.

We continue working our way in and out around the perimeter of the city, easily defeating any fallen that attack us. It's during this time, I note that everyone else in the party moves faster than me. If we weren't being cautious, I'd be slowing them down. I mean I could run to keep up, but I'd lose every race.

As we explore, Josh and Roberts start trading notes about what their Forerunner prep included. After a little bit, I join in, then so does Beth. While there isn't much of note that we haven't already discovered, there are a couple things.

For one, I'm the only one who received a map, though at this point I question my map's usefulness. It didn't even show the village or the city. But I describe what I know of the local territory. Tipan adds that she has a proper map in her storage we can have when we return to Raz’s.

Josh received a field guide to poisonous and edible flora and fauna, which he'd been given to understand were all located in an isolated preserve. Which is kind of true, from a certain perspective, considering how locked off from the rest of the universe Akilo is.

As we talk, we're attacked by Fallen again. It's much easier for me to shoot back than it would be if they weren't attacking us first. Thankfully, none of these Fallen cry out, no matter whether I hit them with lightning, fire or wind.

Until I decide to use my very first ice spell, that is.

While I've Paused a couple times, I've mainly Focused on reducing the amount my torrent spells draw from my surroundings. With my Edge, the impact of my spells without using the surrounding energy is still impressive.

But now I'm thinking about the future and what skills I need to improve. Since I've been ignoring my ice manipulation, I decide I need to cast at least one spell with it.

The next Fallen I see dies impaled on a scaled-up ice arrow that, given its size, would be more appropriate to call an ice spike. The Fallen doesn't go quietly, however, screaming incoherently as she fades. This time I'm not the only one that notices.

"I've never seen that before. How did you do that Lex?" Rufka asks, stepping up beside me while pointing at where the screaming Fallen's blue dust is already starting to fade.

"I don't know. I'm not trying to make them scream, it just happens," I reply uneasily.

"Nah. Not the screaming bit. That happens to mess with ya. I mean the turning them to dust. That should take hours or using the loot function," Rufka states.

"Uhm, I don't know," I reply honestly. I guess it didn't really occur to me, but she has a point. None of my other enemies had turned into dust immediately. I hadn't been worried about it, what with being preoccupied with the screaming. A thought which prompts me to continue, "What do you mean, they scream to mess with me?"

Rufka scratches her chin thinking. Before she can respond, the soft voice of Tipan answers from behind me, "Fallen will employ all manner of tricks. If we move into the inner city, I imagine they will have created traps specifically tailored to address the abilities we've displayed thus far. Not that their traps will prove effective."

"Yeah. What she said," Rufka confirms as we begin climbing over a collapsed section of a building that fills the street. I say climb, but I'm actually making steps for myself. While the stone is resistant, similar to how the church had been, my ability has increased by an order of magnitude since then, so it's easy. Well, easier than climbing without changing them.

"So, they're intelligent?" Roberts asks from below me where Smoulder is playing ring-around-the-Roberts. And the Tipan. She's multifaceted.

"It depends on the Fallen. My sister once fought a Fallen who…." Tipan trails off as she make it to the top, where the rest of us have stopped.

"Who what? Oh...." Roberts trails off as he joins us. There's a hole in the city where a smooth round silver building has been violently thrust several blocks away from us, knocking the nearby buildings away. It remains mostly intact, which is more than can be said for the buildings it rests amongst.

And there, in its shadow, standing in neat, orderly groups, is an army of Fallen.

2.03 Fallen and Falling

July 1, 2023, 11:29am. A calm moment in the sun as we contemplate the challenges that lie before us. Like a giant army of Fallen.

“I thought we weren’t going to encounter many Fallen until we made our way into the inner city,” I whisper quietly as I gaze at the Fallen army gathered far below. Luckily, they've made no sign they’ve noticed us, so I'm not too worried. We are looking down on them from over a hundred meters up, so I guess that rule, 'remember to look up' applies to monsters too.

Creeping slightly closer to the edge that just…. ends, I inspect the army below. They’re standing neatly in squads, groups or whatever... of two deep by five wide.

A quick count reveals there’s at least a thousand there. None of the squads are moving, they're just standing there, stiff.

It almost seems like they’re in a stupor of some sort, like when you go shopping at Wal-Mart for a bottle of milk but end up filling an entire cart with cat pictures, discount movies and toilet paper.

Not that I’ve done that. Didn’t make it to the till, so it didn’t count.

As I’m mentally tallying the number of Fallen below, I notice movement in a small camp at the base of the round silver building on the far side of the hole.

“This is fascinating,” Tipan whispers, surveying the assembled Fallen beside me, “I’ve heard of this but never seen it before.”

“What are we looking at here?” Beth asks, clearly troubled.

“I can’t be entirely sure, but I believe those three are awakened Fallen. Training may be more dangerous than we’d been hoping for,” Tipan replies as Rufka moves up next to me, pointing down.

Following her finger, it dawns on me that one of the three is her friend Dhanni, her dark chocolate fur not particularly common among the Fallen below. She’s moving around near what appears to be a fire with a cook-pot above it. Do the Fallen still eat?

“These ones appear docile. Are we sure they’re a threat?” Roberts asks, staring down with discomfort written across his face.

As he’s speaking, I hear Rufka whisper, “no debt unpaid,” as she raises her bow, sighting down it. I place my hand on her arm before she can draw as Tipan speaks.

“Only if they notice us. I suggest we withdraw,” Tipan suggests, creeping away from the ledge while Rufka glances at me before lowering her bow.

“Agreed. There’s over a thousand of them down there,” Beth replies as she motions us back down. I prepare to follow but notice Rufka isn’t moving. She looks at me then gazes back at her friend.

Letting out a deep breath, Rufka moves to retreat. Of course, that’s when something explodes in our midst, sending me flying.

I’m unable to see what happened but I can feel Rufka is close while the others are getting further away.

As I process this, I find myself spinning, looking down at a very steep drop, then at the sky above. Huh, not many clouds in the sky. Then I’m facing downwards again, flipping too quickly to focus. I’m halfway to the ground before it finally occurs to me to pause time.

I’m left facing the crumbling interior of the building we were just crawling over. It’s full of rubble on the inside. Wonder if it was an office building. There aren’t any signs of furniture. Neither beds nor desks to be found anywhere.

Right. Not important.

Quickly reviewing the party’s status, I see that Rufka and I are the only ones who lost Health. Rufka seems to have taken the brunt of the damage. I’m only down by nineteen points but she’s lost over a hundred. Even as I’m checking our status, I feel a strange sensation pressing against my side.

I’m hoping it’s Rufka as I can tell she’s close, but I'm worried it might not be.

It takes a long moment before I’m able to confirm that it’s her arm sliding around to scoop me up. As she pulls me away from my close up of the ruined building, I see the ground a mere twenty meters away. I'm sure I would’ve done something about that, but she seems like she’s got things under control.

Then we’re moving as fast as Rufka can scramble, the Pause ending as she redirects me away from the ground.

While Rufka is heroically saving me from the ground, I notice several nearby squads turning in our direction as one of the three in the camp calls out, rising into the air.

Rufka doesn’t move back up the building towards the others. Instead, she’s running parallel using some type of earth skates to hold us to the frame of the building.

“Uhm, not to complain but we’re getting closer to the Fallen,” I observe, watching the squads turn towards us while the 'Awakened' Fallen from the camp floats nearby.

I’m not sure how the Fallen is flying, there’s no noticeable effect granting her flight, she’s simply hanging in the air as if the ground is beneath her. Figuratively as well as literally. Her fur is white, like Tipan’s, though it’s stained in a few spots. Even though it's stained, it’s the least matted fur I’ve seen on a Fallen.

“That’s okay. This is where the fun is,” Rufka grins as we skate even lower. I grunt as she swings me around into a princess carry.

She pulls a one-eighty as we hit the ground, which means we’re finally moving away from their camp. However, the only open path is deeper into the city. Not ideal.

Casting my Umbrella spell, I barely block an incoming ice arrow from a nearby squad before Pausing time, taking in our situation over Rufka’s shoulder.

There are several squads already throwing spells at us, which I move to block while also firing back. Even with Rufka’s speed and my spells, they’re catching up, the white one directing them.

I give serious consideration to trying to haste Rufka. But she doesn’t have the protection from temporal tides I do. Plus, I haven’t even hasted myself yet. I add it to the to-do list.

Rufka does, however, have lightning resistance and excellent balance. When time unpauses, I call out, “I’m going to unleash the Thunder. There’s going to be knockback.”

Rufka nods, dropping my head by half a meter as she swerves to dodge a boulder I hadn’t noticed.

Pausing time again as Rufka draws me up, I fire several throw-us-away lightning torrents out behind Rufka. Since the goal is to escape, I Focus on targeting them for thrust rather than sowing carnage. I do manage to hit several unawakened Fallen with the discharge regardless.

Directing several more squads in our direction while I've been busy, the white Fallen turns her single red eye upon us. Her other three eyes are empty, only filled with the cloudy white of blindness. Matching her gaze over Rufka’s shoulder, I analyze her.

“Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 7.

"Name: Sel'dast of clan Lithania.

Attributes: Physical; Medium, Mobility; High, Magic; High, Awareness; Medium.

Attacks: This Fallen is an expert with both bows and aeromancy.

Defences: This Fallen has medium physical resistance, high magic resistance, high wind resistance."

"She's near the upper end of Iron-rank. That there are two Fallen this strong is unusual. That they have so many System spawned Fallen serving them is even more so.”

Even as I read Wyonna’s words, I notice another Fallen emerging from their camp as the pause ends.

Unlike whitey, she’s not content to direct the mooks. She visibly crackles with lightning as she reaches her dark, nearly black, furred arms to the sky sending lightning arcing upwards. She’s clearly missing several chunks out of those arms, the flesh is simply gone, the gaps showing exposed bone.

All four of her red eyes cast their ominous gaze upon us as I react easily, reentering paused time.

I do notice that each time I Pause, my duration seems to be getting shorter. That could be a problem.

Instead of worrying about the diminishing returns on my superpower, I start bringing forth a shield of stone from the street beneath us. I’m going to use it to block the lightning strike which is still high in the sky and has only started coming down towards us, but it’ll take time to get into place.

While I’m waiting for the stone to move, I analyze the still channelling Fallen.

“Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 8.

"Name: Keeper Bel'ther of the Taken.

Attributes: Physical; Medium, Mobility; High, Magic; High, Awareness; High.

Attacks: This Fallen is a master of lightning.

Defences: This Fallen has medium physical resistance, high magic resistance, high lightning resistance and the ability Echoed Presence."

“She’s upper Iron-rank too. There's definitely something wrong here. You need to get out of there."

As I’m looking her over, I notice clumps of earth moving to float around her. Rufka’s former friend, Dhanni, is moving to join the other two, floating on a solid piece of earth. She almost seems to meld with the earth she floats upon, her dark brown fur matches so closely.

With all three together, I decide to fire off a few lightning torrents, just to dissuade them. As I’m watching the torrents fly towards them, the knockback from my other spells accelerates us, pushing us nearly a hundred meters away. Rufka lands in the empty street, only stumbling slightly before racing further away.

While watching over Rufka’s shoulder, I see Dhanni is able to deflect the torrent I sent at her with a barrier of earth.

Bel'ther, the Lightning Fallen, redirects both my other torrents into the ground nearby as my Pause ends again. Good to know, if I can copy her, I can redirect spells thrown at me. I’m going to need to practice that.

“Awesome,” Rufka grins as I block several incoming spells with a large block of stone. It stops most of the attacks in their tracks, but there’s a shard of metal the size of my head poking through.

At first, I think Rufka is commenting on my efforts. But then I realize she couldn't see any of it. Turning forwards, curious what has Rufka excited, I notice that the street ends just two meters ahead. The buildings ahead are all significantly lower than the ones beside us indicating a precipitous drop.

That… is less than ideal.

Yet Rufka doesn’t slow, grabbing the edge then changing our course while skimming sideways with her skates, a spike of ice crashing against the shield I left behind us.

I didn’t notice earlier, but she has a skate on each of her upper paws as well, which clearly allows for better control.

Having four arms would be so useful. I’m not just saying that because she can hold me up while also keeping a paw to the wall, but it’s a contributing factor. Speaking of carrying others, I quickly check to ensure Smoulder’s still secure only to discover she’s napping.

Figures, I stand up from the table too suddenly, it wakes her up. But, I get tossed a hundred meters over the side of a building before getting caught in midair? Nothing but zees.

As we descend, still skimming the wall I watch the Fallen scramble along the top of the ledge.

I take potshots whenever one comes out, which seems to discourage them as they start to fall behind, apparently not willing to make the jump down to the inner city. While I’ve blasted several of the lesser Fallen, of the Fallen Triplets, as I’ve designated them, there is no sign.

There’s also been no further screams from any of the Fallen, thankfully. And that's despite the fact I've destroyed over thirty Fallen since we fell.

“So, I don’t know what’s going on, but I think we lost them,” I inform Rufka, who’s still skating along, carrying me as if I weigh no more than a fluffy pillow.

Slowing slightly, Rufka turns to glance behind us before resuming her smooth stride.

“Hmm. I wouldn’t be so sure. Unless I’m mistaken, they have proper flight abilities, not simply manipulation skills. Mum says flight requires the highest of Iron-rank ability tiers. We need a place we can defend or a route to the outer ring,” Rufka decides, continuing to run. Well, skate.

I hadn’t thought about that. We’re going to need to get back up the wall to get back to Raz’s. Every street we’ve passed leads further into the city. The side at my feet is nothing but jagged earth.

"If we can get far enough ahead, I can probably create a way up," I suggest, gesturing at the cliff beside us.

"Could you not simply do that thing where you cast a rapid series of spells?" Rufka asks as she keeps running.

"Uhm. Yes? Probably," I reply, checking the wall.

"Good. Time to start," Rufka states as she leaps into the air next to the wall without warning.

Instead of cursing her out, as I want to, when she reaches the apex of her jump, I Pause time. It’s only a couple meters, but she went higher than I could ever have achieved. Before she’s dropped more than a few centimeters, I start forming a platform beneath her feet. It's slower than I'd like, but once there's a quarter meter of platform protruding from the wall, Rufka pushes off, taking us higher. Unfortunately, creating platforms at the rate Rufka requires means I’m creating them from nothing instead of rearranging materials, so I’m going through Mana fast.

We continue the process, gaining height quickly. I'm able to start forming the footholds without Pausing by the time we're halfway up, saving me a great deal of tedium. The first half of the climb felt as though it took fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, for Rufka, it’s only been a few seconds.

It's about this time that Smoulder wakes from her nap, complaining about me jostling her. Sending a sense of not-now her way, I continue concentrating on Rufka's footholds. In less than half a minute, we make it to the top. As we reach the lip, Rufka is suddenly knocked to the side, out over the open air.

Not wanting to waste Mana repeating our efforts, I use a lightning torrent to blast her back into place while seeking the source of our problem.

Floating above a distant building is the white-furred Aeromancer, Sel'dast, the first of the Fallen Triplets I saw earlier.

I don't have much time to glare at her before she's obscured behind a wave of Fallen cresting the edge of the building, all of whom start throwing different elemental spells at us.

Entering another Pause, I blast several of them, unleashing multiple torrents while creating new shields. Without Roberts, I don't have the defences to withstand their assault for long. Clearly thinking along similar lines, Rufka takes us back over the cliff, once more using her earth skates to control our descent.

The Fallen stop chasing us once they reach the edge, looking over while casting their spells, but not following us.

Once we're further along, out of sight of the Fallen, Rufka finally stops, setting me down gently across the street, away from the cliff face. She does keep it in sight though.

"What's up," I wonder as I regain my feet. Whoa, little dizzy there.

"Don’t you think it’s strange? The Fallen have made camp further out, yet do not follow us here," Rufka observes, looking up across the street to a gap on the far side. It's similar to the one we just tried to climb, though there are no Fallen at the edge, raining death down on our heads. Yet.

"Do you think we're safe here for a minute? Or do you think we should move inside? I want to let the others know we're alright," I ask, gesturing to the buildings along the side of the street.

"It would be easier to run if anything approaches out here. I could carry you for hours without complaint." Checking her Stamina, I realize she's not even boasting. She's still at a robust 526/546 Stamina. The others' statuses are all greyed out, but with IFF active I know their rough direction. I'm also able to determine that they're all moving.

"Okay," I reply, sitting on what resembles what may have once been the base of a light pole or something similar if we were back on earth. Realizing we're not moving, Smoulder squirms her way out of my jacket, climbing to my shoulder then rubbing up against my chin. Pulling out some more fruit jerky, I give her head scritches. Then while she roasts her food, I contact the rest of the party.

Now that I have IFF, I don't need to wait for a pulse, connecting to Josh instantly. I'm still feeling uncomfortable talking to Beth. Which is painful to admit. I genuinely admired her. I thought she was 'Just so awesome.'

Still kind of look up to her. Because she is awesome. Which is why it hurts that she wouldn't just listen when I tried to explain. In a way, it’s worse than mom.

"Hey Josh," I greet through the link.

"Alexis? Oh, thank Jeebus," Josh responds, his words broken by the sounds of thudding footsteps.

"Beth, Alexis is alright!" I hear Josh yell before I can continue.

"Rufka is too. Think she saved me," I add as I hear Beth ask Josh for our location.

Answering before he can relay the message, I tell him, "I think we're in the inner city. It's like a hundred meters lower than the rest of the city. We tried climbing out, but a huge wave of Fallen attacked us, forcing us to retreat. They're not chasing us, which is worrying."

"Yeah, we're at the edge of the city. They're still chasing us which has Tipan pulling her hair out. Uhh. Fur. Apparently, they never come out this far, ya know?" Josh replies as I watch Rufka take a drink from her pack, once more setting a cup out for each of us. This time it's not tea.

"So, it's completely backwards, they're unable to enter the inner city, but they're able to get to the outer edge," I note as Rufka carefully measures out two shots of moonshine. That ten Health-edge does seem like a good idea right now.

"Yeah, Beth and Roberts are debating whether to join you or head back to Raz's. Tipan isn't really dealing with it well," Josh states as Rufka offers me my cup. But I hold off on drinking. There's no way I'll be able to drink it without gagging. And I'd rather not subject Josh to that.

"Well, we're safe at the moment. You should probably focus on yourself," I offer, prepared to end the link.

"Thanks, Lex. Oh, Tipan says she and Rufka can use party chat to talk.”

“Oh. And now Beth is wondering why Tipan didn't mention-" Josh starts when Beth yells out, "Incoming!" interrupting him.

"Uh, we'll get back to you guys, got to go," Josh practically yells, at which point I let the link end.

"Well, sounds like they're in a pickle," I tell Rufka as I eye my cup warily.

"They're what?" Rufka asks, setting her empty cup down beside me.

"You know, in trouble?" I reply, then I realize I used the English word. K'tharn don't preserve vegetables.

"Ah. Well, I think we are in our own 'pickle'.” Rufka replies, getting most of the pronunciation correct. She manages to fit a rolling “r” in making it sound like prickle, but it’s otherwise a solid nine out of ten. While I’m rating her speech, she continues, “I suspect there's a reason the Fallen avoid this area.”

“What? Like a big bad monster?” I ask, looking around.

“Yes. But a specific big bad monster. Something along the lines of a System boss,” Rufka answers, her gaze drifting towards the centre of the city.

“System boss?” I ask while bringing my moonshine to my lips.

“Yeah,” she nods.

“Sigh. What’s a system boss?” I clarify while trying to slam the whole drink in one go. It does not work.

“Whoa. Easy there, Lexi,” Rufka warns a moment too late, supporting me with two arms as I hack and cough. I can’t help but notice how soft her fur is as I fight to recover my breath.

“I-I’m alright,” I finally choke out once I can breathe again, “note to self, do not try to drink it in a single go.”

“Truly, a courageous attempt,” Rufka says with mock seriousness while she refills my cup to make up for all the liquor that’s dribbling down my new jacket.

Damnit.

“Thanks. I was going for Epic, couldn’t you tell?” I joke as I take the new cup of moonshine. It’s a shame the bonus is so big because I really don’t want to drink it.

Welp, too bad.

Several sips later and I’m finally feeling like a proper rapscallion. Checking my status, it’s nice to see the extra Health edge.

“What do you think we should do now?” I ask Rufka, looking back to the streets above. “As long as we don’t try to take the entire army on, we can probably make it through to the others.”

“Hmm. That sounds like my kind of plan,” Rufka replies as she drapes her arm over my shoulder.

“This might be the moonshine talking, but I think we’re going to be alright," I foolishly proclaim.

We both look up at the cliff in front of us, just taking a moment.

Then Rufka speaks.

“It’s definitely the moonshine.”

2.04 The Moonshine Talks, and the Moonwalk Walks

A note from Draith

Thanks Society, for the kind review.

July 1, 2023, 11:55am. Time to get a wee bit tipsy. It’s 4’o clock somewhere.

“So. How are we going to get to them?” I can’t help but ask. I’m kind of wishing that all these Fallen had quests. So far, I’ve personally taken down more than thirty with no, 'Slay them all,' quest appearing. Doesn't look like I'm going to be farming easy Integration points here.

At least there’re plenty of shards, if we only had time to gather them.

"Don't know. If the others are coming to us, it would be a waste of time going to them," Rufka says, leaning against me as she closes all four of her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess," I reply, leaning back with her while Smoulder purr-rumbles in our ears.

"But I need to get to Dhanni. If she's not going to come to us…" Rufka starts, her eyes still closed.

"Then we need to go to her. Yeah," I finish for her before adding, "so, uhm. You want to talk about her?"

"No," Rufka replies, resting an arm over her head which she bops on mine with a mumbled, "Sorry."

"Okay. Well, if you-"

"She wasn't just my friend. She was my thiani," Rufka interjects, apparently changing her mind.

Oh. Ohhhh.

Thiani is another of those words that doesn't have a proper translation into English. It's kind of like a mix between a girlfriend and a battle-bonded soldier you'd fought and bled beside. Intimate to say the least. It didn't necessarily mean a future together, but it was an acknowledgement of shared affection and trust.

"We were supposed to meet not far from here, about a year ago. But there'd been a fierce Mana-storm the night before. And as tends to happen in the wake of a Mana-storm, especially in the reaches, strange users showed up. Not outlanders like you, but K'tharn. At least that year."

"Wait. You have strangers show up all the time? Then why'd you drag me into your cabin like you did?"

"We have users show up. We don't have any-user stumble over our isolated, and off the beaten path, cabin. I still can't believe you found it. Though I'm glad you did."

"Aww. Thanks. You were saying?"

"Right. We were supposed to meet. But I was late. Had to sort out the users. When I finally got my tail to our rendezvous spot, she was already dying. I tried to help her. To put her back together. But none of the System's Vaus damned magic…. nothing worked."

She takes a long shuddering breath, then whispers, "Nothing."

I don't say anything as Rufka chokes up, just reaching over, holding her hand. Picking up the vibe from our bond, Smoulder hops onto Rufka's lap, purring gently. Rufka pets Smoulder for a minute before continuing.

"She mentioned a K'tharn had been there. A strange one. She'd done something to Dhanni that had hurt her. Hurt her worse than she'd ever been hurt in her life.”

"She'd broken bones and lost an arm once, so I could only imagine what she'd gone through. And at the end of it, her System… it was gone. She told me… She told me she was glad I was the one there at the end."

"How do you respond to a statement like that?" Rufka asks me with a strained voice.

I still don't respond, just giving her hand a squeeze. I don't know the answer any better than she does.

We sit in silence for a minute before Rufka speaks again.

"Mum told me a lot about the Fallen that night. We went back out to hunt for her, but we couldn't find a trace. Since we couldn't find her, Mum was convinced she hadn't become a Fallen. Mum's the expert, so I thought the same. We never imagined she'd be here," she says, shrugging against me as she goes quiet again.

"Uhm. Thanks for listening. I don't usually get like this," Rufka says, still covering her eyes with her arm.

"Anytime. That's what friends are for, right?" I reply, elbowing her gently.

"Huh, yeah. You understand why I need to lay her to rest though?"

"Uh, hell yeah. But how are we going to get to her if they attack us a hundred at a time like they did? Plus, they've got air superiority."

"Yes. If only we had an incredibly skilled Elementalist of our own. Perhaps one who could control wind well enough to fly," Rufka says, finally lifting her arm. She opens both eyes on her left, slanting her head to the side a fraction to look in my direction.

"See, you say that, but I have no idea where to start with a flight spell," I reply, shrugging. Which is apparently Smoulder’s cue. Satisfied that we're no longer distressed, the little ball o’ doom hops clear of Rufka, deciding to investigate the nearby building.

"I think you start with flying,” Rufka says after we both watch Smoulder hop up to the building.

"Ha. Okay, I'll bite. How exactly do I start with flying?" I ask, smiling at her.

"Oh, I was thinking something like this," Rufka says as she suddenly leaps into the air, pulling me up off the rock with her.

She doesn't stop there, however.

Because, of course she doesn't.

Once we’re near her apex, she tosses me overhead where I flail for a second before Pausing time.

Only Rufka could go from 'confessing intimate details with' to 'unwarranted tossing of' her friend in under a minute. I'd be glaring at her right now, but I'm currently staring at the sky, so that wouldn't be particularly effective. I still channel my best glare, just in case.

Over my right shoulder, I notice I'm almost halfway to the top of the cliff. How freaking strong is she that she can throw me nearly fifty meters in the air?

Oh, now I'm falling.

I wonder if she's right. Can I figure out how to fly?

I mean I just saw three different examples of flight. Plus, Rufka implied that I could fly using manipulation or abilities. I wonder if flight is possible with every element? Considering one of them appeared to be flying through the application of earth magic, I hope the answer is yes. That would be super cool.

Let's see. How can I do this? Metal for wings? Just try to blast myself up using wind. Maybe I should try to use lightning to…. Okay, yeah, I've got nothing there. How the hell was she doing that? Magnets?

As I'm thinking, I'm also twisting my body around so I can glare at Rufka. She's watching me with a giant grin on her face. But also, with intense focus.

My glare is not having the desired effect.

While I'm glaring at her I can't help thinking about my spell. If I want to be able to fly long term, I'm going to need a rune of some form.

Otherwise, I'll need to concentrate on the effect continuously. Which will drain my Focus, just like with my early attempts at creating my Umbrella spell. But I'm not sure which rune to use and I'm kind of falling back towards Rufka's waiting arms, even now.

It's handy that my clock can let me know exactly when my Pause is going to end. It makes it easy to start a second one immediately after the first. I notice the decrease in the dilation of the second pause is more extreme when I do it back to back, only getting two minutes per real-time second. I wonder if it keeps halving with every pause.

Facing downwards, I decide I should use wind magic to figure out my flight spell. It feels like the most directly linked to flight, since wind is flying all the time.

Kinda.

Whatever.

It's surprisingly easy to slow my fall just by packing a bunch of wind Mana into a pocket beneath me. That's not to say that I'm flying yet, but I've already learned slow-fall. That's three-quarters of the way to being a monk, all by itself. Sab would be proud.

I continue messing with air Mana trying to pack it or direct it away from myself right up until the moment Rufka catches me in her arms. It's a gentle landing, especially since I stretch my effect to slow her landing too.

"Ha, see. What did I say? A single toss and you're already discovering new magic. My mum would have loved to have you as… Ow. Owowow," Rufka whines in response to me smacking her ear when she shifts me into a princess carry again. I was going to Pause time again, but since the opportunity to express my displeasure arose, I couldn't help myself.

"What the hell? You don't just toss people in the air Rufka. Don't you know anything about consent? You need to ask before you do crazy stuff," I say arms crossed while I look up at her.

"But that wouldn't be nearly as fun, Lexi," Rufka says, grinning at me as she sets me down.

"Yeah, well...." I say noncommittally as I realize I'm going to ask her to toss me again.

Am I crazy?

…

Probably.

Does it matter?

"Throw me again. Please?"

"Haha. I knewyou were my kind of crazy," Rufka says as she tosses me with a mighty leap while Smoulder watches us from below. This time I'm prepared for it, freezing time from the second she lets go.

I immediately start forming air around me to serve as wings, which lets me direct my upwards travel. I'm able to push myself even higher by forcing air against my feet as I spiral upwards. Looking down, I discover I've managed at least sixty meters this time. But I'm still not flying. I can feel the loss of acceleration as I near the peak.

Okay. Flight requires what? Lift? Thrust? Doesn't thrust just give me more lift? I bet Sab would know.

What do I have that I can get thrust from? Obvious answer, old lightning torrent. I guess I could use a series of lightning torrents to fly, though at best it would be falling with style, like we did earlier. Well, Rufka was totally styling. I was being carried like a doll. Not that stylish.

Just one more reason for me to figure out how to fly.

Bringing up the rune for my old lightning torrent, I inspect it. It's the nozzles that point back towards me that provide most of the thrust. There are two of them, which I can't imagine would provide stable thrust. Especially with how roughly I've always been tossed. Altering the design, I attempt to place four spirals in a single rune, but I'm not able to keep all four linked using the same helix structure.

Probably a good thing. That would be an immensely crazy spell.

As I start to descend, I create a new cushion of air while I consider my other complicated rune. Well, the other complicated rune I kind of understand at least. Umbrella. I take the basic design, but wrap it around my legs, basically creating two umbrella structures along my legs. Like those waders my uncle John goes fishing in. Then I imbue it with wind Mana.

As I float down to land in Rufka's arms one more time — I might be getting a little spoiled with the soft landings here — I'm not able to notice a difference using just the double wind umbrella shape. Plus, I have to cast it twice. Still not a workable spell, but it feels closer.

"See, I didn't even throw you as hard that time, but you still went farther. You'll have this figured out in five minutes, I'd bet ten copper," Rufka says as she sets me down again.

"You have ten copper grade shards?" I ask while inspecting my still manifested Umbrella wind shorts. Actually, that might be the solution.

Maybe I can make them into shorts.

“Nah, easier to keep em as iron,” Rufka replies as I continue my experiments. Trying to reweave the umbrella doesn't work. When I move the triangles too far out of shape, they lose their flexibility. So, I just leave slightly squished umbrellas.

Deciding I should test them to see if there's any effect, I hop in place. Which allows me to observe that they're kind of working. It's similar to the cushion of air, slowing my descent. Now I just need to modify them to have thrust. Pausing time, because I've seen what happened when Iron Man tried experimenting with his jet pack, I create thrust points on each leg. Then I try again.

It's slightly successful. I'm not able to fly, but hovering is now a reality. Giving it a minute, to ensure I'm not about to blast into the air due to a delayed effect, I start increasing the size of my foot umbrellas. Which is where I run into a new problem. The umbrellas are starting to overlap, but I'm not able to link them.

Instead of trying to solve it, I discard the idea of wind shorts, moving on to the simpler idea of a wind hoverboard. Because hoverboard. Should’ve started here.

Reshaping the Umbrella, by basically copying the runes to have a wider area I end up with… well, it’s more like a dinghy than a hoverboard. But whatever.

As a side effect, despite basically being secured around my waist, it lifts me higher. I'm now a full meter off the ground. More importantly, the hoverboard, because I’m not calling it a dinghy, lets me direct myself forwards and backwards. Considering how quickly I can feel the feedback, even when Paused, I decide to let it disperse as the Pause ends.

"What's wrong? It looked like it was working?" Rufka asks while I think back on the lessons of Ironman.

"Control," I reply, as I tap my chin while pacing back and forth, a small gust of wind swirling in front of me.

"Okay?" Rufka replies, her eyes following me as I pace.

The problem is control. Hands for control? But why limit myself to hands? I could probably create spells at my shoulders just as easily. The key is to figure out how to link it from my feet to my hands or shoulders though. It's easy enough to create small links between the core runes I've discovered but running a link all the way from my feet to my shoulders would be a longer stretch than any single line in any of my runes so far.

But still, I might as well try it.

As I expected, it doesn't work. The rune forms easily enough, but it costs me fifteen Mana and quickly destabilizes. I could use more connections to stabilize it further, but that will just drive the Mana cost even higher. I think.

The fact that the System didn't give me an option to add a new spell means I can't rely on it to simply improve the spell either. Shame.

If the effect lasts for a while it still might be worth it.

But the casual way the Triplets were floating implies there's an easier way. Or they have the System’s abilities. Which… nah, flying’s gotta be possible with spells.

Before I can think about it more, Rufka interrupts, "I'd love to wait for you to figure this out, but we have company."

"Huh," I eloquently reply as a rumble shakes through me. Down the street, only a few intersections away, a gigantic, metallic spider is stepping across the street, moving from the top of one building to the next without stepping down. Buildings that are roughly two school buses apart. The long way.

Kind of feeling like I'm in one of those giant monster movies. Things get so big here.

Unlike most spiders, who have all those compound eyes, this metallic monstrosity only has one smooth eye set in the middle of its head. The eye glows with a familiar red light, which glints off its silver cladding.

I almost analyze it, but I'm distracted by the horde of smaller spiders that appear, clambering around its feet, pouring into the street beneath it. They follow it for over a minute before the last one crawls out of sight. Huh, guess they didn't notice us.

Okay, giant spiders with glowing red eyes. Pretty sure I should be freaking out right now. Guess it's a good thing I've got Muthica's finest fortifying my resolve.

Rufka and I stand there watching for another half a minute, but the spiders don't return.

"I think we scared them off," Rufka says, nudging me with her elbow.

"Oh definitely. It's all my mighty muscles," I reply, flexing my arms before returning my attention to my spell while Rufka chortles.

Now, about my spell. Maybe a different configuration. I could try having more controls near the main disk, but it doesn't solve the problem of my adjustments being bottom heavy. Hoping for inspiration, I open my skills, reviewing them.

Nothing pops out to me...

I spend a couple minutes switching between all my screens before going back to my skills, looking at Mana manipulation. I haven’t Focused on it since I first got it. Maybe, now that it’s at 85, maybe there’s something new, so I Focus on it. And it gives me reminders of all the ways I've experimented using it, in addition to the first few pseudo-runes it gave me. More importantly, one of the flashbacks includes my first efforts of running channels along my skin. I haven't experimented with that for a few days, but it might be the answer to my problem. It is the key to manipulating my Mana externally after all.

Storing my jacket and boots, in case of slicing and dicing, I prepare to stop time. Then I decide to store my bra as well, just to be safe.

With all my valuable possessions tucked away, I Pause time. I start by creating my wind-based hoverboard. Which the System called adaptive wind-shield when it offered to add it to my spells, but I convinced it otherwise. Not that I accepted the spell.

This time I create a link to the not-a-dinghy-board that leads under my skin. Learning from my previous experience, I have the Mana channel connect to my bare ankle just above my socks. Then I create another two smaller wind hoverboards around the wrist of each hand.

When the prompt comes up, I can't help but smile.

"Spell discovered: Hoverboard (Lesser Flight). Would you like to add this spell to your preferred spells?"

"Skill unlocked: Flight (1 to 4)"

Boo-ya McFly. It's a little late but I've got your hoverboard right here.

Considering how rarely I've used flame-arrow since I unlocked my full time-stopping potential, it's an easy choice which spell is going bye-bye. But then I confirm yet there's no selection, making me realize I've raised my wind manipulation over fifty.

"Hell yes," I think to the System shortly before my Pause completes.

Then, to demonstrate my flying prowess to Rufka, I proceed to Moonwalk past her. And since I'm cheating with my flight spell, I'm able to do it. Despite the number of times that my cousin Thomas tried to teach me to Moonwalk, I'd never been able to. It was too counterintuitive.

Now, I can just pretend to walk forwards while smoothly floating backwards.

Rufka doesn't seem too impressed though, just raising an eyebrow as I float past her. I swear, you just can't please some users.

"I think I've got it," I tell her,

"As expected. I'm surprised it took so long," Rufka replies, clearly unimpressed.

I wish Josh was here. He'd think it was cool.

"Yeah, well, flight has a history of being dangerous to experiment with," I say defensively as I start redressing, turning away from Rufka as I resecure my bra. Metal manipulation makes it so simple.

"In a world without a system, I suppose I could see how that could be true," Rufka says, pushing me gently, causing me to float a couple feet backwards.

"Hey," I say, pushing her back, not even budging her.

"Hmm, decent control. How's the strength? Will you be able to carry me?" Rufka asks, stepping around me.

"Well, I guess we'll have to test it, won't we?" I reply, holding out my arms.

Rufka just laughs.

"I don't think you can carry me. But we can try," she says hopping into my arms.

Despite the fact I had them open, I'm still caught by surprise. I didn't expect her to actually jump. We're sent back into the building across the street as she knocks me over, but the spell seems to have some safety built into it, as it slows us before we smack into the building. Double checking, I can see how the System has slightly improved my base design with extra runes along my shoulders. Nice.

Rufka laughs all the way across the street.

"It looks like you can carry me," Rufka chuckles while settling in my lap, her head next to mine. Smoulder hops up into her lap leaving me well and truly stuck beneath them.

"Traitor," I whisper at Smoulder as I attempt to manipulate the hoverboard. Even though I'm on my back it's still responsive. I'm able to get us five meters in the air before Smoulder lets me know she's uncomfortable being this high without branches around.

So, because I'm a considerate partner, I start experimenting with my new spell's ability to maneuver instead of going higher.

"Is this all you've got Lex?" Rufka asks, poking me in the side, earning herself a mild headbutt from Smoulder.

"Oh, you want to see what I've got?" I ask, holding Smoulder tight.

Time to discover how fast this spell can go.

2.05 Turbulence

July 1, 2023, 12:07pm. Time for maximum burn!

"You think I'm worried about how fast your first flight spell can take us. My mum's the…. Ahhahahaaaaa," Rufka laugh-screams as I turn the flight spell to full speed, nearly bouncing us off the nearby cliff before turning to fly along the street at the edge of the inner city.

"Weheheheeeeee," Rufka cries out, as we speed along. We're moving nearly twice as fast as when Rufka was carrying me, but it's using up my Mana to go this fast. Slowing down, we're able to sustain a pace that's about three times as fast as I can run while using the minimum of 0.1 Mana and 0.1 Focus per minute. Since it's below my regeneration rate, I'm technically gaining Mana as we fly.

So cool.

"Lexi. You're plenty comfortable and all, but now that we have a way to fly, shouldn't we be trying to get to the others?" Rufka asks from my lap where she's holding on to Smoulder.

"Right," I reply, turning us around to head in their direction. I totally didn't get carried away with the ability to fly. Nope. Who would do that?

"So, Josh said that you can use party chat to talk to Tipan," I mention as we float in their general direction. I'm not going to poke our heads over until we're closer. Flight does give us a lot of mobility, but it also makes us targets without cover. Hmmm.

Actually.

I rip a chunk of stone out of one of the buildings as we pass forming it into a shield. Unlike my umbrella, it won't hold up against multiple attacks as well, but it will block attacks my umbrella won't.

"Ha. Silly skyborne. Assuming every-user takes party chat. Mum always said it was a waste of irons for users in the reaches," Rufka replies, making me realize I’m on my own for communication.

Slowing us down so I don’t accidentally run us into a squad of Fallen, I reach out. It occurs to me that if the others are still fighting, Josh might be in the thick of it, so I connect to Roberts this time. When the connection forms, the first thing I do is ask, “Hey Roberts, you guys okay?”

“Alexis? Well, this is an interesting experience. We’re quite fine,” Roberts replies as I hear a reverberation in the background.

“I suppose we are technically still under attack. However, they’re not hitting us hard. It's possible they’re finally respecting Josh and Beth’s abilities, but I believe they’re trying to herd us. They're not having much luck. Beth remains determined to reach the centre. We keep encountering obstacles, but we're pushing through where we can.”

“Hold on. I think we’ve got basic flight figured out. We’ll try to find our way to you.”

“Glad to hear it, Alexis. I’ll tell the others,” Roberts replies before he does exactly that.

"Tell them to be careful. Tipan said she could get us up, but she's worried it will just make us bigger targets," I hear Beth call in response.

"Her and me both," I mutter to myself as Roberts relays Beth's message before adding, "we'll see you soon Alexis."

"See you soon," I reply, dropping the link.

"So?" Rufka prompts, motioning upwards.

"So, I hope you're holding on tight," I warn, sending a message of reassurance to Smoulder. Then I urge us up, then over the nearby buildings, moving past a squad of startled Fallen. Rufka calmly plucks her bow as if playing guitar, arrows raining down while I blast several with a pair of lightning torrents.

Then we're on our way, not pausing to loot them. I'd rather not waste the Facet at the moment, plus there are three more squads already approaching.

Once we’re clear, I do look for a decent landing spot however. That brief encounter illustrated how horribly inconvenient facing the sky is when you're flying and fighting at the same time.

So, once we're a ways ahead, we take a moment to land on a building with higher than usual parapets. I’m hoping that the little pseudo-walls running around the building's edge will serve as cover. I don't land, hovering and not releasing my spell. I flip over to my stomach and Rufka climbs on my back with Smoulder. I have to wiggle back and forth, and make some minor adjustments to my hoverboard to get balanced, but soon we're off again.

Homing in on the others, Rufka keeps taking pot shots while Smoulder watches for any Fallen that get too close, butting Rufka when she sees one.

Smoulder even does a flame blast when one pops up only a few paces ahead. I'd be worried that she isn't headbutting everything if I couldn't feel her discomfort at being up in the air while moving so swiftly, especially under someone else's control. But it's clear she doesn't want to fall, and she understands we're in a hurry.

We're able to find the others a minute later. Instead of landing, Rufka and I pick off several Fallen that were attacking them from above while I rip a section out of a nearby building for cover.

Once we've secured the area, we float down.

"Lex, you're flying now? Sweet," Josh says, coming up to me to give me a high five as Rufka jumps off.

"Right?" I reply, righting myself then floating up. Now that I can fly, I'm able to give him a high five with ease, though I do send myself tilting back slightly upon impact. Need to work on that.

"Impressive kid. But we need to move. Tipan, can you get us airborne?" Beth asks, turning to the wide-eyed K'tharn.

She doesn't look good; her fur is standing on end and she keeps glancing to the sides as if expecting a monster to jump out to grab her. She stares at Beth, clearly unable to comprehend what Beth asked for a moment. Then her eyes shift to Rufka and I, at which point she grows a smidgen calmer.

"R-r-right. Yes. I can do that," she stammers while pulling steel rods from her inventory compartment, handing one to each of the others. I'm guessing these have something to do with being airborne, and a second later it becomes clear how they work. Hitting a hidden release, Josh expands his into a glider then starts strapping himself in.

While the rod is made of steel, the rest of the structure appears to be bone with leather stretched between. There's flowing rune-script on the rod, as well as the leather, though the patterns are new to me.

I was wondering where the gliders went. I kind of thought they might have been destroyed by the V'troll or its horde, but it makes sense they just put them away.

"One other thing. We ran across a giant metal spider in the inner city followed by a swarm of smaller spiders. I'm not sure how safe it'll be."

"That's the System boss. Good to know Tipan was right about that at least. We should be safe from it as long as we don't get too close, attack or identify it," Beth mentions as she helps Josh get into his harness.

Huh, good thing I didn't analyze it.

"Either way, this isn't a secure location. The sooner we're out of here the better."

Since they have things under control, I acknowledge Beth, then me and my chunk o’ building turned shield float back up to the top of the local cityscape. Smoulder is safely tucked in one of my jacket's inside pockets as I check for more Fallen.

And it's a good thing I do.

Just a couple buildings away I see the white Triplet, Sel'dast, with her single glowing red eye. She's directing a wave of ten squads to surround us. Seriously, how are they getting all these mooks around so quickly?

Not bothering to figure out the answer, I Pause time, unleash a bevy of lightning torrents then drop back down.

"We have incoming," I yell, moving towards the others.

When I turn back, I see that the others are all rising into the air on their gliders, arrayed in tight formation behind Tipan. I can practically see the stress etched across her face. Which makes sense. She doesn't have much Aero left and it's already ticking down.

While we have increased mobility, the others are basically sitting ducks. That is until Roberts' shield springs into place, which I’m guessing is why they're grouped so close together.

"We need to get to the inner city," Tipan calls desperately as spells start slamming into Roberts' shield. The spells colliding with his shield are, upon reflection, very beautiful. It’s a veritable cornucopia of colour as almost every element is represented.

No twilight though. Which inspires me.

Turning again, I Pause time, giving the others room by releasing several dark shifted twilight torrents. I'm not exactly sure what effect they'll have, but I'm hoping they'll provide cover for the others since twilight hangs in the air, unlike other elements.

It's more successful than I expected. It doesn't just obscure their sight, but every Fallen who stumbles through the inky blackness is covered in the black shadow stuff, unable to see.

During our retreat I stay in the back, firing off several more twilight torrents. I discover it's not perfect, it only takes a single fire spell to burn through the trails my torrents leave behind. The fire Focused Fallen can ignore them completely once they discover the trick. But they're the only ones who do. I'm able to easily pick them off with judicious use of lightning torrents.

While they were making respectable time jumping and leaping from building to building, now most of the Fallen have no chance to keep up with me and my flying allies.

But then a gust blows away the lingering shadows while sweeping over fifty Fallen through the air in my direction. Behind them floats Sel'dast, tracking me with her eye. Well, I guess I know how they're getting around so fast.

Having already bought time, I retreat while continuing to fire. I even throw a few torrents at Sel'dast who manages to dodge out of the way, moving so quickly I almost can't follow her.

Holy crap. I'm lucky she doesn't just come smack me out of the air. Retreating at full speed, I sigh in relief when she halts at the drop.

Thanks to my IFF, it's easy to find where Tipan led the others down, they're all gathered on a rooftop in the inner city, perilously close to the System boss' previous path. When I glance at Tipan’s status I can see she's completely out of her Aero resource.

When I land, I see Josh holding Tipan's hand while she shakes her head back and forth repeatedly. Beth is scanning the area for hostiles while Rufka and Roberts are setting the gliders to the side.

"Is she going to be okay?" I check with Roberts, who's the least occupied at the moment.

Turning to me, Roberts replies, "it would appear that she knows one of the Fallen. They were the sister she lost in a place she calls the Broken Sanctum."

"Ivicka and I were the only ones who made it out," Tipan sobs out, brushing at her eyes.

"I thought we'd gone there to gain Progression Marks. I'd been sure it was misfortune that caused us to fail, but now…" Tipan pauses, looking around at all of us. Then she straightens, only shaking slightly as she continues, "It wasn't until recently that I started to suspect Ivicka was up to something. I came across notes she and minister Folthka had exchanged. A way to bypass system protections. I didn't trust her with your lives, that's true, but that's because you're outlanders. Outlanders are always treated differently. But Bel'ther, she… she was our sister. Ivicka was supposed to be better than any of us. The hero we aspired to emulate. To have turned our sister into a Fallen. Is this what they planned? Was the sanctum a test?"

As Tipan's monologue comes to a close I have a terrible thought.

"Uhm. How certain are you that she didn't know about your ability to leave?" I ask Tipan.

"What?" she replies looking up at me in confusion.

"I'm just saying, it seems pretty strange that we'd run into a Fallen that you know personally. And that you’d end up here," I continue, not mentioning Dhanni. If Rufka wants to share, that’s her prerogative.

"So, what if Ivicka knew what you'd find here. Maybe she delayed her landing on purpose, only landing after you were inside. What if she wanted you here?" I ask while waving vaguely in the direction of their camp.

Tipan stands, gripping her head with all four hands as she starts pacing. "Oh Vaus on Ukila above! I was supposed to lead the trainees inside. It's why we were officially out here in the first place. But why?"

"I don't know," I answer, shrugging. I could use a codex or something right about now.

"What does she get by having you come here?" Beth wonders from the side.

"Nothing. She can't get inside. And if we teleport away then she loses the ability to steal any of your powers," Tipan replies, shaking her head.

"Wait. Steal our powers?" Roberts asks sharply, looking at Tipan.

"Yeah. That's why they need to strip the System. Ivicka never used to be capable of using wind manipulation. Now she has Aero as a second resource, which she must have stolen from Sel'dast. Oh, Vaus. I'm such an idiot. Why didn't I realize she developed her second resource after our sister died? It's not even thematically aligned with her primary resource. Aero is nothing like Swagger. It's so obvious."

"I'm sorry. One second. Her main resource is Swagger?" Rufka asks, starting to chuckle. I can't help but join in. Josh and Roberts are laughing as well, followed shortly by Tipan.

Beth is the only one not laughing, but I catch a hint of turned-up lips when I glance her direction.

Shaking her head, Tipan stares down at her feet before breathing out a soft sigh. "But yes. From what I've read in the notes, she's prepared to do it again. She was waiting for an outlander. Because outlanders always get better resources once you get your classes. We never imagined you started with them. It's probably the only thing that saved you."

"That still doesn't explain why she'd want you inside. Or what's going on with the Fallen," I point out as we all look around.

"Hmm. Maybe it does. My mum said she'd worked on a project once that would allow her to gain additional resources. But there was only one way to get it to work, you had to strip a user from the System, killing them. That’s when she discovered that any user killed this way rose again as Fallen. She said she destroyed her research. But she had an apprentice. Mum couldn't bring herself to hurt her just to keep the research silent. She was like a daughter to her. This was before me, of course. Mum often said she'd never met anyone quite like me."

I can’t help chuckling at that while Roberts questions her, “If your mother knows how to steal resources, as it were, perhaps she knows a defence against it as well.”

“Oh, definitely. But as I’ve mentioned, her people have my mum locked up tighter than a Rallion’s arse,” Rufka replies while gesturing to Tipan, who flinches in response.

“Even if she wasn’t, we’re stuck in here. The only way out is to complete the quest or wait out the timer. I swear it’s the only part of the zone working the way it’s supposed to,” Tipan complains.

“How does this explain why she wanted Tipan inside?” I ask, trying to steer the conversation back on track.

“Eh. I don’t know. Probably just wants her dead. But I suspect they got their hands on my mother’s research, which would explain the Fallen. And they’re out here because the reaches have a long history of spitting lost travellers out. I’ve come across more than one outlander wandering around lost in the woods. First time I've heard of four at once though.”

"Wants me dead…" Tipan stutters looking at Rufka as if she slapped her. Which in a way she kind of did. It's likely that Rufka's right, but then the question becomes why send her here instead of just killing her.

"It doesn't really explain anything. Why go to all the trouble of getting her here? And how did the Fallen get here from the broken sanctum? Too many things don't make sense," I ask while looking around at the others.

Surprisingly, it's Josh that speaks. "Does it matter? The important thing is we're all safe. The real question is what do we do now?"

Beth steps back towards us, only glancing in our direction for a moment as she speaks, “Well, we’ve only started training. Just because things have changed doesn’t mean we have to stop. But we may need to deal with these Fallen. Or we can attempt to complete the quest. The safety we were hoping for certainly isn’t as guaranteed as we’d been expecting.”

While Beth is talking, I can’t help but wonder about Rufka’s friend Dhanni. And her mother. Did she know the K'tharn who killed Rufka’s thiani?

“So, you think we should try to take on these Fallen? There are a lot more of them than us,” Roberts comments, gesturing back the way we came.

“Yes. But Alexis is capable of defeating a large number of them on her own. Especially now that she can fly. If we’re able to target their leaders, we can likely deal with the rest in hit and run tactics.”

As Beth's talking, I start thinking about flight again. Specifically, I start thinking about trying to teach the others to fly. Or at least how I might be able to propel them. Upon considering it, that's probably the solution. I just need more range on my wind manipulation. Then I could propel their gliders forever.

Okay. Project airborne 2.0 is a go.

…

Maybe I should ask the others what they think first?

2.06 Project Airborne 2.0

July 1, 2023, 1:05 pm. Shortly after escaping the clutches of the Fallen Triplets.

"Yeah. About flying," I start by responding to Beth's comment about my newest spell.

"Yes?" Beth queries while remaining vigilant for other threats.

"I think I could keep us all in the air, so long as I'm not trying to defend us at the same time," I state with reasonable certainty. I'd need to bounce back and forth between different team members but it's totally feasible. Little bit of wind Mana under each person's wings, then presto, instant lift. Not as automatic as my lesser flight spell, but a solid start.

"That could be useful. It'd be a strain off Tipan, at least," Beth replies.

"Yes, but Alexis is also our strongest ranged fighter. I think it would be best if we were able to fly without her aid," Roberts points out, either not noticing or dismissing the stare Beth sends his way.

"Maybe I can teach you guys then?" I suggest.

"That would be an excellent solution. Though if it's as difficult as the shield you taught us, I may have difficulty," Roberts reluctantly admits.

"We can try at least," I offer, looking around.

Rufka is grinning, Tipan’s eyes are squinted as she stares off into space and Josh is scratching his stubble.

"Okay, the first thing you need to do is get a feel for your Mana," I tell them. I spend the next few minutes trying to teach each of them how to use the basics of wind Mana, yet other than Tipan and Rufka, who both already have wind unlocked, we make no progress. Even when I try lifting them with nothing but wind none of my human companions are able to make so much as a small gust.

Josh and Roberts both laugh as Smoulder joins, bouncing between them and trying to float on her own. And then she quickly changes her mind, deciding she'll leave flying to me. Which seems to be the current consensus since we're not making any progress. It's no wonder Rufka's mum made the game Astra's Stride.

Since wind Mana is a bust, I figure I can at least explain the rune structure to them. But except for Rufka none of them have practiced external manipulation of Mana using the channels on their skin. Not even Tipan. I also discover no one else can form runes mentally. Tipan has heard it's a hidden interface upgrade, but she doesn't know the prerequisites to unlock it.

I try to instruct them anyway, but only Rufka has any success emulating my efforts, so after half an hour of trying to teach everyone we're back where we started.

Except now Rufka has a hoverboard spell too. So, I guess we're a little ahead. It's funny, but I didn't realize how… invisible the hoverboard is until I see her floating on thin air.

"Could we craft something?" Josh proposes, his dark hair falling in his eyes when we all turn in his direction.

Tipan replies forlornly as she speaks, "That would be a wonderful idea. But it would take a lot of shards. Plus, we don't have a proper Enchanter. It's not a subclass used in the field."

"Subclass, what's a subclass?" Roberts inquires as I glance over to Rufka who's grin is so large I want to hit her. The little imp probably has something that lets her fly but she made me figure out my spell. And then she let me try to teach…

Okay, flying without an item is pretty cool. I guess I can forgive her for that part. But I bet she didn't need to ride me like that. I need to figure out suitable revenge.

"Subclasses can do all sorts of things, though most are for crafting or resource gathering. You can only have one equipped at a time at Iron-rank. Unlike combat classes, they're not permanent, but you can only switch them out at a Nexus," Tipan lectures, slipping into what I’m calling ‘her standard teacher's tone’. But before she can really get into it, she deflates, "but it doesn't matter. I don't have the Enchanter subclass equipped."

"How do you unlock subclasses?" Beth asks while I stare at Rufka.

It takes all of two seconds, before Rufka sighs out, "I do. I mean, I have the Enchanter subclass equipped."

I wasn't sure she'd have it currently, but I clearly remembered her telling me about it when she was showing off her fancy kettle.

"Oh, interesting," Beth responds, turning to Rufka, but Josh interrupts before she can say more.

"Yeah. Interesting. But how do we unlock subclasses? I'd love to have something creative instead of all this destructive power."

"Mum says every subclass has a primary skill associated with it. You need to complete quests under the related skill's questline to unlock the subclass. Easy," Rufka replies, clearly glad to change the subject.

"Easy!? It took me six months of dedicated effort to unlock the Enchanter subclass," Tipan yells at Rufka making me wince.

"And how many times did you have to worry that you would be one head shorter if you took a single misstep during those six months?" Rufka asks, raising her eyebrows on one side with a small smirk.

"None, but-"

"Exactly. Easy. No danger required. Unless you count the boredom. Which is a significant hurdle for some," Rufka admits, shrugging at Tipan.

Before Tipan can reply, Josh fires off another question, "Cool. Cool. So, related, what if you fail to complete a step in the quest before the timer expires? Oh, and how does one go about creating Iron-grade equipment?"

"If you fail to complete a skill quest in time, then you lose any Integration points you would’ve gained. Most timed quests are like that," Tipan answers, her arms crossed and her voice grumbling as she glares at Rufka.

"Skyborne's right. Some quests are limited though, like the zone quest. We'll only ever get one shot at it. As for crafting, the easy way to create Iron-grade gear is the same as making any Mortal-grade equipment, but using Iron-grade materials," Rufka adds.

"Like, an Iron-Grade steel ingot for example," I wonder, thinking about my previous quest reward.

"Sure. Though you'd need enough to craft whatever you want to make," Rufka explains, deflating my dreams. My ingot is tiny. 0.032kg. While I'm trying to picture what I could even craft with such a small ingot, Rufka continues, "It's more common to infuse normal gear with Iron-grade shards. It takes more skill, but it's much cheaper material-wise."

"So, either way, you have to craft the item you want?" Josh questions, leaning forward, his eyes fixed on Rufka as though she’s… well, a fountain of knowledge, which she kinda is.

"Yep. Though if you're not careful you can destroy your materials when you attempt to infuse them."

"What like, I weave a cotton shirt, try to infuse it, and then it's reduced to shreds if I fail?" Josh asks.

"More like you fail to infuse it, you suffer feedback while your hard work puffs away in a cloud of blue dust, to be given to someone else by the System."

"That's never been proven," Tipan interjects, pointing a finger at Rufka.

"Whatever. Point is, all that hard work is gone."

"What's this about feedback?" Roberts interjects.

"Failing to infuse your work causes feedback damage," Rufka replies, shrugging.

When it's clear that's all Rufka is going to offer, Tipan adds, "Crafting feedback applies to all your pools. Or to you, if your pools are too low. That's why crafting subclasses aren't equipped in the field. The System has crafting buildings that prevent feedback, making it much safer."

"Yep. Crafting without an appropriate building can be dangerous. Mum says more than one crafter has gone braindead trying to infuse materials above their skill level while outside a crafting building," Rufka shrugs not seeming particularly worried.

Note to self, don't try to create copper rank gear.

"Uhm, so what does enchanting do?" I ask, moving on from that disturbing news.

"Enchanting adds new effects to your base equipment. Or changes what your equipment does."

"Speaking of which, can we please get started on enchanting the gliders," Beth requests from near the edge of the roof.

Sighing, Rufka nods, taking one of the gliders in hand while checking it over carefully, "I can modify the existing enchantment to run on Mana instead of Aero, but I'll need about ten mortal wind shards per glider. More for Rose and Roberts, since they're so heavy."

"What? How can you do it with so little essence?" Tipan demands as the rest of us pool our wind shards.

"Cause I'm amazing," Rufka says with a grin while inspecting our pile of wind shards, sorting them into separate piles then plucking several from different piles.

Then Rufka sets the glider down in a clear space on the roof, setting the shards down on a piece of leather nearby while Tipan kneels down next to her, not in her way, but watching closely.

"Is there any chance you could teach us how to do enchanting?" I request as Rufka sets several tools out. She pauses to meet my eyes.

"I’d be happy to teach you the basics, Lexi, but not now. Enchanting is delicate work. Best to teach in an Enchanter's workshop. Luckily, Tipan should be able to assist me even though she's foolish enough to go adventuring with another subclass equipped," Rufka replies, chuckling as she continues setting out tools. Most of them are a variation on screwdrivers or needle-nose pliers. There’s a mirror shaped like an octagon that stands out as well.

"The Explorer subclass is much more useful when travelling or venturing into new places," Tipan replies defensively.

"For not getting lost, sure. Not so great for modifying gear in the field though, is it?" Rufka teases as she holds each piece of gear up to her eye, inspecting it.

"Wait, what's the Explorer subclass?” I ask, glancing over at where Beth is rubbing at her forehead and glancing over the side of the building.

"It's a subclass with special exploration-based quests and general abilities. Despite Rufka's opinion, it's a very common subclass when not staying in a stronghold or rest area," Tipan explains, crossing her arms while glaring down at Rufka.

"Sure, it's common. Because most users are lazy. Enchanter can provide most of the benefits of Explorer, you just need to put in a little more preparation," Rufka claims, "now either be quiet or take the conversation over there, I need to concentrate. Why is it like... This is...."

Tipan glances in our direction for a second before hunkering down next to Rufka, watching her start. Then handing her a tool.

Looking around, since Beth's on lookout and it seems we're going to be here for a bit anyway, I open my quests, specifically reviewing my crafting quests. I was going to work on finishing my metal or stone quests, but I realize I haven't finished the basic ceramics quest yet. Now's the time to do it. No fear of failure while the moonshine is flowing through my veins.

"Quest: Plenty of pots. Description: Learn the ways of crafting with earth and fire. Requirements: Create 0/10 ceramic earthenware, raise Ceramics skill 4/25. Reward: 3 Iron-rank Integration points. Time: 2/3 days remaining."

When I Focus on the ceramics skill it indicates that clay is a good material to work with. I'm guessing the first part should be easy to accomplish.

"I'm thinking I'm going to work on one of my crafting skills while we're stopped," I decide while pulling block up near Rufka to serve as walls, a workbench and seat. Then realize that Rufka might like some too and create a second set.

"Me too!" Josh exclaims, sitting down near me while pulling out a set of clothes like the ones Roberts and I are wearing. He starts splitting the seams by running a single finger along it. Then he changes the colour of a small patch. That's kind of cool.

"Okay. But nothing you're not willing to drop. We might have to run. I'm not sure how secure we are here. That System boss could come back any moment," Beth says, sweeping her eyes along the nearby buildings as if a four-storey metal spider might be hiding just out of sight. From what I’ve seen so far, this city is immense. I couldn’t even see the far side when we were on the outer rim.

Turning back to my work, I realize Roberts is now sitting next to Josh. And our workspace is a little cramped. So I push it out further. When I’m done, Roberts has closed his eyes, and has a small orb of water gently bobbing in front of him. And then I realize I don’t have any clay. Stealing stone from the building is easy. It’s right there. But generating clay from nothing would take… testing reveals it would take hundreds of mana to create enough clay to make ten pots.

“I need to grab some clay,” I inform Beth, walking over beside her.

She nods, and that’s all the approval I need. "Please don't go too far k-slick," Beth calls as I dive off the side of the building. I give her the okay hand-gesture as I fly down to the base of the nearby cliff with my recently acquired flight.

Which is awesome.

I spend a little more time than necessary flying about before I find a clump of clay. Before I can recover it, I notice the lightning Fallen, Bel'ther, all four eyes staring down at me from above. Despite Beth's warning, I may have gone 'too far'.

When I look at her, she grins, raising her near-black hand to the sky, unleashing a bolt of lightning. Ripping a large chunk of earth out of the wall, I block the bolt before it can hit me, Pausing time while sending a flame torrent back at her. She blocks it with a transparent shield which audibly cracks and pops.

With both of our attacks neutralized, she just shrugs, then turns away flying out of sight.

Keeping an eye above me, I hastily gather the clay, which I bring back to the roof.

Then, while going over my encounter with Beth, I work the stone of the impromptu workshop to be less obvious from a distance.

Once I'm done updating Beth, I turn my attention back to my pottery. There's not much we can do about the Fallen. Not yet.

I spend the next few minutes shaping enough mugs, bowls and plates for everyone in the party to have their own. Better than pots. Still not as cool as Josh’s rose-plates. I try to make my pottery fancy with little grooved ridges at the edge, but when I try to finish the process by applying heat, I ruin most of my efforts.

It takes me several attempts to realize that I need to dry out the clay before I begin heating my results. Using water manipulation, it becomes easy to create my first bowl, though it’s a little misshapen when I finish.

"Wow, Lexi. That's a lot of broken pottery. Sure you’re not a shard-o-mancer?" Rufka jokes, as she sets the second modified glider to the side. It's been half an hour, yet we haven't seen a sign of the System boss or the Fallen since my run-in with Bel'ther.

"Yeah, yeah," I reply as I continue working.

Rufka has finished modifying the third glider by the time I finally make my first bowl. Looking at my quest, I discover it doesn't count. Focusing on my skill, it tells me I need to apply a glaze. Luckily, my skill also tells me there are two simple methods I can use. Either salt or wood ash added at a high temperature will allow me to glaze my bowl.

Flying down to the wall of earth again, I'm able to draw salt forth using earth manipulation. Handy that. Since I'm already gathering it for my ceramics, I take the time to gather some extra salt for cooking which I intend to put in my bowl once it's finished.

As I return to the roof, I see that Rufka is still finishing the last glider, while Josh has made several changes to the set of brown clothes he was working with. Which are now black. Of course.

I take the lopsided bowl, blasting it to what I realize must be an uncomfortable temperature. But I'm able to float it barely a meter in front of me with no ill effects. Just how strong is my fire resistance?

If we were in a safer situation I'd consider running through actual testing. We didn't make much use of it during our earlier training, but Roberts' basic use of Reprieve to restore Health is amazing. It only costs him 0.1 Reprieve to restore five Health every ten seconds. He can spend more to instantly refill Health at close to a one to one rate as well.

The point is, we can perform more dangerous tests than would normally be sensible, even for the average user. Which was the plan when we got back to Raz's. Kind of unlikely now. It'd be silly to do those kinds of tests without a secure location. And given that the other side has stone casters, a solid stone building isn't that secure. Hopefully, once we have flight, we'll be able to head back to Raz's.

My thoughts return to my bowl, which is even now cooling rapidly thanks to a liberal application of wind magic blowing on it.

Once it's finished, I check my quest log, finally confirming my first piece of earthenware has been created. All this effort has been good for my ceramics skill at least, I'm already sitting at 26 of the 25 I need.

Now that I have a working method, I rapidly repeat the process with another twelve bowls, having given up on my desire to create cutlery for the party. Three of which are failures. Once the last bowl is successfully completed, I receive my hard-won quest rewards.

"Quest objective completed: Plenty of pots. Rewards: 3 Iron-rank Integration points."

"Probably a good thing Link isn’t here. He’d be even more dangerous for those pots than you are."

Quest updated: Plenty of pots. Requirements: Create 0/10 Iron-grade earthenware using ceramics, raise Ceramics skill 28/100. Reward: 7 Iron-rank Integration points. Time: 30/30 days remaining."

"Thanks, Wyonna," I mumble sweeping all the broken pottery to a corner with a wave of wind magic.

That was a lot more work than levelling either of my other crafting skills, yet the three iron Integration points are all the sweeter for it.

"You done, Lex?" Rufka questions while my last bowl is cooling, drawing me out of the happy dance I may have been doing, despite Wyonna’s jab. Wow, I just realized how much I miss music. It's weird not having a soundtrack to my life. I wonder if the System can replicate… uhm… what did people use before smartphones? Radios?

"Yeah," I reply, turning to see the others experimenting with their gliders. It appears they're taking turns jumping off the side of the building under Tipan's watchful eye. Josh is currently stepping to the edge as Roberts lands smoothly, hitting the ground as if he's done this a thousand times. Josh waves at me with a weak smile that turns into an equally weak frown as he turns back, jumping off.

"You know it didn't occur to me, but how is running his glider on Mana going to help Josh," I ask Rufka, inspecting his tiny Mana pool of 36 as he circles upwards.

"Eh. By itself, that would’ve been a waste of time. I decided to use an Iron-Grade Mana shard on his glider to give him some range. It'll only give him an extra hour a day, but that should be enough to get wherever we need to while we're here. Plus, we'll be able to recharge it if we need to," Rufka answers, gesturing to the surrounding buildings.

"Wow. Thank you," I respond. She may be a bit dramatic, but it occurs to me that Rufka has been very generous since I've met her.

"It’s nothing. They’ll need more time to practice than you did, but I believe we’ll be able to outmaneuver Dhanni now," Rufka replies, her tone growing lower as she finishes speaking.

Even as Josh lands on the building, stumbling in place, Beth leaps with her glider, smoothly soaring around the building while I respond to Rufka.

"We'll take care of her. With tools like this, it's only a matter of time," I state, taking her hand and squeezing it.

Not that I have any idea how.

2.07 A Broader Perspective

July 1, 2023, 2:32 pm. Shortly after deciding to let the experienced people do the planning.

I might not know how we're going to deal with Dhanni for Rufka's quest, but I don't have to. I'm part of a team. I'm sure Roberts or Beth will have an idea.

"This is amazing. Thank you so much Rufka," Josh calls as he inspects his glider.

"It's nothing Rose," Rufka shouts back though I notice she’s wearing a half-smirk.

"I disagree. Your skill in enchanting is far beyond mine. These are impressive improvements," Tipan states from where she's watching Roberts as he launches himself once more. As he flies away, he nearly smacks into a nearby building, but Tipan uses her staff to direct him away.

Meanwhile, Beth is circling above, twisting and turning her glider with grace. It's a shame she can't use her rifle while she's flying. The gliders are designed to be used two-handed, which isn’t a problem for the Desh’ila, cause it leaves two hands free for an average K’tharn. Clearly, we humans don’t have the same option.

"It’s sufficient. Now, time for lunch, I'm starved," Rufka declares while pulling out a large haunch of meat which she holds out towards me.

"Uhm. I know I've been eating a lot lately, but that seems a little excessive," I reply, taking the unwieldy mass in both hands, barely holding it up.

Rufka chuckles, "it's not all for you. But you can reheat it for us."

"Right," I answer as I start cycling fire Mana through the haunch.

"Whoa. That's enough," Rufka exclaims as she plucks the haunch out of my hands, flipping it onto a platter where it steams.

"Oops. It didn't feel that hot," I offer sheepishly.

"New resistances. Takes time to get used to the change in feedback," Rufka explains while cutting into our grub.

"Yeah. Makes sense," I reply, accepting the plate she offers me, "Does that mean I'm not going to sweat on hot summer days or feel cold when it rains?"

"Probably. Still get wet though," she replies while wolfing down her meal.

Turning back to my own, I add a small dash of salt which turns the cuts of meat into an amazing two-minute meal. I'm faster than a microwave. Should put that on a business card. Alexis Wyonna Everette, time-stopping wizard. Faster than a microwave.

Cutting my section of the haunch into smaller pieces with a liberal application of metal manipulation, I direct my attention to my Attributes. I'm going to continue holding onto a few points, seeing as there seems to be a lot of things you can spend Integration points on. Even so, I feel like I can spend a few now that I've finished another quest.

Hmm, I have twelve points. I can probably spend four no problem, maybe even six. Obviously, I'm putting a point into Intellect and Spirit. I also decide to put a point into Perception, as well as one into Resolve. They’re the other primary stats for my class, so it feels appropriate, especially now that I don’t have negative Health edge. It’s tempting to push my Intellect to ninety but I convince myself to hold onto the rest of my points instead of spending them.

Tearing into the conveniently available meal, I indulge my system-augmented hunger while I review my adjusted stats.

Forerunner Pandora’s STATUS

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-1

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: -10

Constitution: 15

Agility: 17

Endurance: 5

Intellect: 83 > 84

Spirit: 72 > 73

Perception: 26 > 27

Resolve: 11 > 12

Storage: 3.19 > 3.23 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 2/2

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 12 > 8

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 92/94 > 92/96, Edge: [6.8], Regen: (47/day) > (48/day)

Stamina

Pool: 82/98 > 82/99, Edge: [8.7], Regen: (53/day)

Mana

Pool: 381/450 > 381/458, Edge: [43.8] > [44.5], Regen: (338/day) > (346/day)

Focus

Pool: 265/343 > 265/351, Edge: [26.2] > [26.8], Regen: (218/day) > (224/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 110/119 > 110/122, Edge: [10.2] > [10.4], Regen: (84/hour) > (86/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

There’s not much of a change, but every bit helps. Love seeing my Health edge in the positive. As I chew the warm meat, reflecting on how I can’t feel the heat, I wonder if there’s something that shows my current resistances.

Hmm…

Yeah, it’s probably that easy. ‘Resistances,’ I mentally project.

Resistance: [Additional Defensive Edge Damage Reduction]

Mana: [36.25]

Elemental: [36.25]

Temporal: [52.5]

Spatial: [52.5]

Oh, sweet. That’s a pretty huge increase to my defences.

I've only eaten about three times my pre-Akilo usual before I feel full. Considering how much I eat now, I’m glad I decided to stock up on Raz’s remarkable rations. Wasn't expecting to get stuck out here, but I’m glad I wanted to have lots of available snacks, just in case.

Rufka and I are almost finished eating when the others decide they've gotten enough practice, landing beside us. At which point Rufka pulls out another leg. I obligingly 'microwave' it for the others. Without any random hot or cold spots. And without setting it steaming. I'm improving already.

"So, what's the plan now? How're we taking these Fallen down?" I quiz Beth, since she likes to be in charge and plan and stuff.

Which is great.

The only person I want to be in charge of is me. Which is probably a good thing, since even my pet doesn't listen to me, isn't that right you little head-scritch fiend.

I almost miss Beth's answer, I'm so busy playing with Smoulder as she playfully bats at my hand while I scratch her belly. But then I Focus, and her words are processed quickly.

"I’d prefer to hit them hard, take out their leaders, then retreat. But they're all too effective at shielding. I haven't been able to get a clean hit," Beth replies while slicing through her bits of meat with her shadowy implements. “But whatever we do, we need proper intel first.”

“Now, that’s something I can help with,” Tipan offers, her face lighting up, both literally and figuratively, when she produces an illusionary map of the city. Most parts are obscured but the general shape is there, along with incredible detail in a small zig-zagging part of the map near the edge. That path is… tiny. Like, not even one percent of the whole map.

"Cool," Josh and I utter, practically in sync.

"This is the rest area," Tipan explains in her lecturing voice, zooming in on the zig-zagging area while pointing at a little, blue, glowing tent. "And the red x is where we ran into their army. The glowing green K'tharn head is us."

There are also several flags on the map. Before I can ask about them, Tipan continues, "the flags are every location where we encountered the Fallen. The white flags are from when we retreated, the blue where we won and the half black, half white flags are from where we retreated, and we saw the awakened Fallen."

"Why didn't you show us this before?" I wonder, inspecting her map more closely. It's no google maps, and it seems to have a fog-of-war effect wherever Tipan can't currently see, but it’s still very cool.

"It doesn't show much until you've explored an area. It was just a blank circle when we first arrived," Tipan replies defensively while glancing at Rufka.

"Is this an ability from the Explorer subclass?" Beth asks, smiling while rubbing her hands together.

"Yes. It's one of the higher tier abilities available," Tipan proclaims, glancing at Rufka as though expecting her to mock her.

"Huh. I take it back skyborne. If your Explorer class is this advanced, it’d be foolish to leave home without it," Rufka admits. It's not quite an apology, but Tipan seems pleased, nonetheless.

"Indeed. Are you able to enhance the areas we've explored?" Roberts inquires, setting his plate on the roof as he moves closer.

"Yes, though it’s blurry. I've only unlocked the basic version. I won't be able to upgrade it more until I advance to copper."

"Could you inspect this for a moment?" he requests, pointing at a round building that doesn't have flags or any other symbols on it.

"Sure," Tipan replies as the aforementioned building comes into focus. Kind of. It's a little grainy, but it's clear that it's a round silver building without windows or doors on it. In fact, it resembles the building from the army's camp.

"Isn't that-" I start at the same time Josh blurts out, "A silver bullet."

"What?" Roberts, Beth and I all respond as we turn towards Josh.

"It looks like a silver bullet," Josh repeats defensively.

"How is that helpful Josh?" Beth wonders while I assess the building again. I guess it does kind of resemble a bullet, rounded on top and everything.

"I don't know. I just thought…" he trails off, shrugging, "it does, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. It does," Beth replies with a gentle smile, before turning back to the floating image.

"It also resembles the building at their base camp," I offer, "can you bring that up too?"

"Of course," she replies as the other 'silver bullet' appears floating next to the original, though this one is tilted. In neither image can we see the bottom of the building. When I think about it, the destruction near the one at their camp had been as if a giant finger had dragged itself across the area. Maybe that was what happened.

I mean, not an actual giant.

But maybe the building, including its foundation, had been forcibly dragged through the rest of the city.

"They definitely look similar. Do either of you know what they're for?" Beth inquires, turning to Rufka then Tipan.

"No. The only active Builder city left is Bethreyne. And not many venture within its walls. There's been little point since the founding of the Aetherium," Tipan replies. “But it has them as well.”

"That's true. Mum always said the one good thing about the Aetherium was it freed our people from the Builders. She never mentioned these little silver buildings, but then she avoided most things Builder."

"Never mentioned 'silver bullets' either," Rufka adds after a second's pause, giving Josh a grin.

"It's interesting but I don't see that it helps us," Beth states. I don't voice it, but I'm not so certain.

When no one else seems to have anything to add, I finally say, “There's a reason they were camped out in its shadow. We just don't know what.”

"Agreed. But we seem to be reasonably safe from attack here. At least for the moment. It appears that we can get close to their base camp from the inner city," Beth says, pointing to where I'm pretty sure Rufka and I first entered the inner city.

"Yeah. It couldn't have been more than a couple hundred meters," I confirm, reviewing the map.

"Then I think we should see about setting up… here," she suggests, indicating a building inside the inner city with a clear line of sight to the Fallen camp.

When no one disagrees, we finish our lunch then ascend into the air. As we rise, I'm able to see the System boss crawling over buildings further in. There doesn't seem to be a pattern to its movements that I'm able to observe by the time we've landed on the roof near the Fallen base. We don't head there towards them directly. Instead, we set up so Beth can scope them out. The building we've chosen is higher than the camp itself but still lower than the buildings in the outer city.

While she's observing, I wonder if I can use Twilight to achieve a similar effect. I've already used it to provide myself with night vision. Creating magnification shouldn't be much harder, right?

A quick application of Twilight later, and I'm within the yellow tinted world once more. After a few minutes of shifting the shape of the barrier, I find I can indeed zoom in. However, when I do so, I make the mistake of moving my head. The nausea from the motion blur is so intense I almost throw-up.

Once I've recovered, I unzoom, turning my head towards the camp. Then, Pausing to ensure I don't move my head, I zoom in again.

The Fallen aren't just standing around like last time. Now, they're hauling dirt out of the hole we found them in. Specifically, Dhanni is lifting it out in chunks, forming walls along the edge. The lesser Fallen aren't standing around either, hauling dirt on poorly formed metal sheets, dumping it at the edges of their camp. Even as they work, they still have that glazed look in their eyes.

I inspect the camp for another couple minutes, but I can't find either of the other Triplets. So, I let my magnification end as the Pause fades.

"I'm not sure what I'm seeing here," Beth says, "but I think they're making fortifications."

"Yeah. Dhanni seems to be making rammed earth walls," I add from beside her.

"I take it Dhanni is the name of that Fallen who's lifting large cubes of earth?" Beth queries, shifting in place next to me.

"Uh. Yeah, sorry. I don't see either of the other Triplets, do you?" I redirect, still gazing in the general direction though I can't see any detail.

"Triplets?" I hear Josh question from behind us.

"I believe Alexis is referring to the awakened Fallen," Roberts answers. When I glance back, I see he's still playing with the little ball of water, standing a few steps back.

"Try doing the alphabet," I tell him when I notice he's still doing the same exercise.

"Oh? Oh my, that's challenging," Roberts exclaims as he starts forming a rough letter 'a'.

"Try using Focus when you're having difficulties," I add, watching as his 'a' snaps into shape in response. Then he creates a capital 'A' before continuing with the alphabet.

"Thank you, Alexis," Roberts responds appreciatively, continuing his practice while I turn back to Beth who's reviewing Tipan's map. Her map is currently displaying the camp’s set-up from when we were last here, in all its blurry glory.

"They've added walls here and here," Beth states, pointing along the street Rufka and I recently escaped down.

"So, do we have a plan?" I ask, to which Beth smiles, turning to me.

"I think we might. But we need more intel first. Tell me. How high do you think you can fly?"

"I have no idea. Haven't properly tested it," I answer, tilting my head back to look at the transparent dome overhead. Could I reach the dome?

"Feel up to finding out?" Beth suggests, gesturing upwards.

"Hell yeah," I declare as I summon my definitely-not-a-dinghy hoverboard. As it forms Rufka nudges my elbow before conjuring her own hoverboard.

"We're going to race, aren't we?" I ask her with a smile. There's a part of me that says now is hardly the time, but it's not very loud, so it's easy to shove it down.

"Does Vaus like her pu'shaha hard?" Rufka responds.

"Uhm, I'm guessing that's a yes?"

"Ugh. Outlanders. Yes, that's a yes," Rufka sighs while waving Tipan to come closer.

"Yes?" Tipan queries as she approaches.

"You're a true Aether, right? Can you set us an Aetherium Challenge Race?" Rufka requests while rocking side to side in the air.

"Of course. I’m guessing you want a circuit, not a destination race?" Tipan asks, smiling as she pulls out a small orb and sets it at the foot of the building. Rufka just nods in response as a gentle wind starts blowing against my face. Letting Smoulder know I’m about to go flying, she hops over to Josh, headbutting him until he picks her up.

"This is getting rather official," Beth comments with a raised brow.

"You don't know the half of it," I mutter as notifications pop up.

"User Tipan has initiated the official subsystem - Aetherium Challenge Race."

"Subsystem Terms-

- No use of magic that isn't required for flight. This is a test of skill, not combat.

- No use of special resources unless used to power flight.

- All flight spells for this event will be based on the Iron-rank lesser flight spell, using base power levels only.

- Completion of the course must be achieved within five minutes of the race’s start.

- You must grant the subsystem - Aetherium Challenge Race temporary access to your visual interface.”

"Do you agree to be bound by the terms, forfeiting any prize if you do not abide by the aforementioned terms? Y/N?"

Wow, this is impressive. And it's based on the Aetherium. I wonder what the requirements are to be able to create your own subsystem? Oh, there's a quest too.

"Quest received: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Description: Faster. Faster! FASTER!!! Requirements: Win an Aetherium Challenge Race using nothing but your flight spell and skill, 0/1 races won. Rewards: 1 Iron-rank Integration point. Time: unlimited."

"Good luck Alexis. These subsystems are one of the most beloved parts of the System. This is one of the more basic ones. There’s a similar race on Rylax. The Grand Marathon subsystem ties into their power grid and transport network creating races that run across their entire planet."

"Thanks, Wyonna," I say as I mentally confirm my consent. The moment I give my mental consent a series of rings appear in the air, overlaid on my interface. I don't have much time to inspect them because Tipan is already standing between us, holding her hands up as the gentle wind turns into a constant pressure pushing against me.

"Ready."

"Set."

"Fly!" Tipan exclaims, bring all four hands down at once.

As the pressure holding us back releases, we blast off, racing over the buildings, Rufka close behind me. I barely catch Beth sighing out, "I wanted them to go up," before we're out of range.

But then we're away.

I tilt forward, going nearly superman, cutting down the amount of air I need to shape around me. On the very first turn, I barely avoid smashing into Rufka as we both cut the corner tight.

Zooming through the next ring, we climb higher.

Neither of us is gaining a significant advantage. I've got more speed, so I pull ahead between rings, but Rufka makes it up every time we have to turn.

Higher and higher we go, through ring after ring.

We're closing in on a circle that's a checkered blue and green when I realize Rufka and I must be over a kilometer up.

Well, I guess Beth got her wish. We went up, that's for sure. I let myself get distracted for a second as we reach the peak, taking in the city below. In the distance, I make out the System boss crawling over buildings with care, leaving no sign of its passing. I can also make out several 'silver bullet' buildings. I count six total, including the one the Fallen are camped near.

While it's a beautiful view, and it might even be important intel, my distraction costs me.

Because as we pass through the checkered ring at the apex, Rufka hip checks me, sending me wide with a loud laugh.

When I recover, I find her swinging back down towards the next ring. I immediately set out after her. She's got a decent lead, but luckily the course continues in a wide looping circle.

I'm able to catch up, and even gain a small lead on Rufka, dodging her attempted hip check with a barrel roll while blowing her a raspberry.

Then, as we draw near to the others, the course switches to what I can only call a slalom, quickly eating into my narrow lead. She's right behind me when I notice her trying to cut me off. Since physical contact appears to be legal, I decide to step on her face, giving myself a needed boost, Rufka calling me names as I make the turn perfectly.

Then I see the next ring is a checkered red and blue hanging at the edge of the building where we started.

It's a straight blast to the finish.

Laughing madly, I lean into the spell, throwing myself forward at full non-Rufka-boosted speed.

I blast through the final ring, still laughing while letting my speed dwindle, only to be tackled by Rufka shortly afterwards. We go rolling across the roof into the parapet along the edge where we finally come to a stop. Thanks to Muthica's moonshine and my Health Edge, it doesn't hurt at all.

We're both laughing excitedly when Beth comes over to us.

"Congrats on your victory, slick," Beth congratulates me, reaching her hand down to each of us as I bask in my victory.

"Quest objective completed: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Rewards: 1 Iron-rank Integration point.”

"Quest updated: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Requirements: Win three Aetherium Challenge Races using nothing but your own spells and skills, 0/3 races won. Rewards: 3 Iron-rank Integration points. Time: unlimited.”

"Now, are you two ready to put those skills to work?"

Looking to Rufka, still feeling a little giddy, we both shrug. Then I reply, "Sure. Just tell us what you need."

I can fly. I can really, truly fly. I wonder… Is this what freedom feels like?

2.08 Plans? Where we're going, we don't need plans.

A note from Draith

Thanks for all the comments. I may not reply to most, but I read them all.

July 1, 2023, 3:35 pm.

"You're sure?" Beth questions us as Rufka and I calm down from our flight. I wonder if there's any sort of limit on Tipan's Aetherium Challenge Race ability. I'd love to keep racing. I mean it's an easy, and fun, way to get Integration points. What’s not to love.

"Yeah. We're ready to go. Do you want us to scout out their camp?" I reply, giving Smoulder scritches while gazing towards the camp.

"You know, that's what I was thinking. But now? Well, we should still scout their camp first, but Rufka and Tipan can do that. For you, I have another idea. Are you able to use your rapid spell casting while you're flying like that, slick?" Beth questions me, causing me to go still as I think about it.

Can I?

"I'll have to do more testing," I answer with a grin. There's a small part of me that acknowledges that maybe Muthica's moonshine plus flight may not be the best combination for a long and Healthy life. Despite the extra Health edge. But it's quashed by the part that wants to fly.

Every time I've used my time freeze while flying so far, I've slowed down or paused in place. Either because I've been trying to make use of cover or because it's hard to control my movements during a Pause. Also, I'd rather not slam myself into a wall at freeze-frame speeds. Extra ouch.

So, it hadn't occurred to me that I might be able to do a time freeze strafing run. Pretty obvious in hindsight, but the Fallen aren't usually clumped up like they are in their camp. Even now it might leave me exposed, but it's certainly worth investing some time into testing.

While I'm at it, I can test to see exactly how bad the time dilation reduction is for back to back Pausing as well.

"I imagine you're going to do your testing soon slick?" Beth queries with a significant glance.

"Uhm yeah. I was going to do it now," I reply, not sure why she's asking.

“Before you go. Look. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to call you down,” she apologizes, looking down.

Wow. I’m not sure how to respond. I’m in uncharted waters here, “Uh, apology accepted,” I shrug, slightly flustered.

"Good. While you’re out there, try to keep in between those two buildings so I can keep an eye on you, slick. Please," Beth directs, pointing at a pair of buildings that stand a couple stories taller than their neighbours, answering my unasked question with a wave of her hand.

The area between those buildings was a large swath of the inner city which the System boss had recently passed through. I suppose by extension it could include the outer city on the far side, but I imagine that isn't what Beth meant.

"Will do," I reply, recasting my flight spell while lining myself up with her proposed trajectory. It's not like I was planning to turn during this little jaunt, so keeping a clear and open route is ideal. Nice to know Beth's watching my back.

Looking over at her, I pass her Smoulder, “and please stop calling me slick. It’s awful. Kid’s fine.”

“Sure thing, kid,” Beth answers, her smile lighting up her eyes as Smoulder nuzzles against her.

Then, without further ado, I take off, dropping into Pause the moment I'm at speed. Since I'm experimenting anyway, I attempt to adjust my body but I'm right about it being resistant. But that doesn't mean I can't change my course. I'm still able to adjust my thrust. In fact, if I'd done this during my race with Rufka, I probably would’ve won by a landslide. But then again, she couldn’t use her special abilities either, so maybe not. It occurs to me I don't actually know what she has for special abilities.

Okay, back on task.

First test, paused-flight maneuverability, successful. I can steer my flight while Paused by directing thrust.

Next test, whirlwind of destruction! Maintain speed while Paused and casting spells.

What would be less than half a second later in real-time, the sky is filled with roaring winds, scorching flames and crackling lightning as I unleash a whirlwind of power. When I reach the far end, I can confirm that I'm able to keep flying at full speed even when casting. Looking down below me I realize I may have gone a little overboard in my testing.

The elemental energies I unleashed all dwindle to nothing, but there's a tumult of rough wind blowing through the others below, though Tipan quickly calms the air. And that’s with them hundreds of meters away before I started.

Oops.

After checking their Status and zooming in to confirm they’re okay, I turn to my next experiment.

Official experiment name: Time dilation's diminishing duration determination. Hehe.

Erm. Ahem, time to get serious. Let's break out the journal for this one.

Hypothesis - Consecutive time-pauses reduce effective time dilation. The suspected ratio is halving each previous time-pause's dilation but insufficient data to confirm.

Okay, I already know the second dilation is going to be two Paused minutes per one real-time second, which is confirmed as I activate it at the end of my first pause. Cost remains at 0.1 Focusand 0.1 Facet.

Now, will the next pause halve the Pause-time again? I'm leaning towards yes. But time to verify.

Holy crap. Nope.

Third consecutive Pause-time = thirty seconds, which is a quarter of the previous Pause. Real-time passage remains at one second and cost remains at 0.1 Focus and Facet.

Okay, new expected dilation. Need to be quick about this one. PT decreases to…. Uhh. Let's see. the previous pause duration times half to the power of the number of consecutive pauses?

So, that would be…..

I don't have time to figure out the answer before I start the fourth pause.

Fourth Pause = ten seconds, Realtime remains at one. Cost also remains steady.

Fifth pause. Again, ten seconds.

Sixth, seventh, and eighth pause, Pause-time, Real-time, Focus and Facet all remain stable which feels like sufficient data to be a pattern. Technically, they all vary by a few points of a second, but it’s not reliably up or down in either direction. While I'm in the relatively mild dilation of ten-to-one, I discover I'm able to move my body with relative ease. It’s a tiny bit sluggish, but it's still faster than my body could move in real-time.

Further testing reveals that if I wait five seconds after the previous dilation, I still have the minimum ten-to-one dilation.

Waiting thirty seconds resets the dilation to thirty Paused seconds to one realtime. Waiting a minute resets it two minutes and waiting two minutes resets it to the full four minutes.

I thought the fourth pause should’ve been even smaller, but it appears a different formula takes over once Pause-time approaches Real-time leaving me with eleven seconds paused time to one second of realtime at a rate of 0.1 Focus and Facet per second.

Or, 10 PTs/RTs @ (0.1f and 0.1F)/s.

Checking my status to see how much Facet I've used; I notice my Facet edge is 10.4. Could it be that my edge is setting the minimum for my dilation? Interesting.

********Alexis' Math Notes End*******

Conclusion - pause time becomes accelerated time upon the fourth consecutive activation and thereafter. Accelerated time allows me to move and interact, unlike Paused time. Pause time recovers completely after two minutes of real-time without use. At least… currently. If my Edge affects my minimum, I… I don’t know what other factors are at play here.

Now, the real question is. How do I get accelerated time as my default, with Pause as the backup?

It's literally the easiest thing I've done since I've arrived here. I simply Focus on my Facet as I'm trying to activate the effect only to discover that the Accelerated Time effect is the most basic use of temporal manipulation. I can even power either effect with Mana. In theory. Eventually.

I say eventually because the current cost to use Mana would be nearly a thousand Mana for one activation! That's more than double my current Mana pool. This means a single point of Facet is equivalent to, oh let's see, roughly ten-thousand Mana.

I suspected Facet was powerful, but….

Well, if I wasn't flying right now, I'd probably have collapsed in disbelief. As I think about it, I realize that maybe it's not quite ten-thousand Mana per Facet. It might be something more reasonable like six-thousand.

Because that's totally reasonable. Yep.

What the actual…

How did I get such a powerful resource?

"Wyonna. What the hell is up with my core? How is a thousand Mana for time manipulation even reasonable?" I demand. Even though she can't normally answer me, I've gotten plenty of temporal manipulation skill increases recently so it shouldn't be a problem.

"Mana isn't efficient at interacting with the Temporal Tides. Facet is. In fact, Facet is better at interacting with the Temporal Tides than any other resource discovered."

"Okay, that explains almost nothing. But it does remind me. There’ve been references to Temporal Tides before. What are they?"

"The Temporal Tides are the forces of time. It's a reference to the best understanding the System has to the true nature of time."

"You've got my attention Wyonna. Please continue," I urge her, waiting patiently. Did she decide to stop talking? Then I realize she probably got locked out

Figures.

Fine. I haven't done an ice torrent before. Most of my regular torrents still get an increase on every other cast, so my first ice torrent should be a guaranteed increase.

I create the familiar double helix structure, channelling the cold Mana through my arms into the work, holding it for a moment to inspect the spell structure before I release it. Even as I hold the spell, I can't help but picture my frost rimmed eyes staring back at me, a familiar chill running down my spine.

When I release the spell a thousand glistening shards reflect my gaze back at me. The shards shoot forwards for a hundred meters before gravity exerts its influence, causing them to tumble then fall on the empty city far below. I barely watch as I force myself to turn my attention back to my notifications.

"Skill increased: Ice Manipulation (64 to 65)"

"Uhm. It's not a well-documented field. On account of it being so difficult to interact with the tides. But the philosophical idea is that time is kind of like an ocean with waves, swells, tides, currents and all that. And using magic to affect time is like being on a one-person raft. With a stick. You can kind of affect it, but mostly you're just moving yourself relative to the ocean. And any disruption you might make will smooth itself out."

"But your Facet is more like having a personal motorboat. You're still not going to affect the entire ocean that much, but it's a lot better than a raft with a stick."

"Huh. Okay, that's surprisingly easy to grasp," I reply as I head back to the others now that my experiments are done. I’m surveying the city on my way back, noting the System boss seems to have settled down near the centre of the city. The boss is nestled near a building that reminds me of the Eiffel tower. If the Eiffel tower was made of the same reflective material as the 'silver bullets' throughout the city.

Huh. I wonder if that tower is related to the eye?

"Oh, and just like an ocean there are powerful creatures that lurk within the depths."

"But I'm not going to have to worry about those, right? I'm just a person in a motorboat," I worry, suddenly forgetting my previous musings.

"Well, you should be safe. Considering their existence has only been inferred. They're suspected to be behind worlds disappearing from history. But since the worlds just disappear, it's hard to know. Plus, there aren't many people in motorboats to compare you to either."

"This conversation is a little insane, Wyonna. How do you know about a world that disappears from history?" I demand, feeling myself panicking a little as I plop down on one of the buildings, staring back at the tower. This is so freaking out there. I was already worried about our world being destroyed, but apparently, there are even worse things.

"Because distance in space affects the Temporal ocean's reach. Plus, time isn't clean. It doesn't care about all the details. Just that history is close enough. When a world disappears, it leaves behind millions of little references."

"I think that this is all incredibly crazy. But it's not something I can do anything about, is it? At least not at the moment," I decide, glancing towards the Fallen camp.

Now that's something I can deal with. Yeah. Let's deal with nice normal undead K'tharn.

…

What the hell has happened to my life?

"Not really. It’s not something anyone can worry about; you know what they say. Keep calm and all that. And I'm out of ti-"

"Take care Wyonna. Thanks for the lesson," I mumble as I float down towards the others, going straight for Smoulder. She senses my discomfort, hopping straight into my arms before I've even had a chance to land.

"Hey, girl. It's okay. Just some crazy stuff is all."

"So, I take it your test was a success kid?" Beth asks, confusing me until I remember why I started experimenting in the first place.

"Yep. Complete and total success. Even figured some other stuff out," I answer, while Smoulder hops onto my shoulder. I wonder if I can incorporate a Smoulder-shoulder-holder into my flight spell. I could just get her a pouch while I figure it out.

"Excellent. While you were testing, Tipan and Rufka scouted their camp. They found something unexpected," Beth explains as Tipan brings the map up once more, showing a rough outline of the newly fortified Fallen camp.

But that's not what Beth is pointing to. At the base of the silver building, almost precisely where the awakened Fallen were camped when we first stumbled across them, is a fuzzy indistinct shape which appears to be an opening.

"Is that a tunnel?" I ask Tipan.

"I believe so. Their new defences appear to be centred around it," Tipan discloses, rotating the map, showing that they've built even more walls around their camp.

"They're not sending their squads out as far anymore either," Rufka notes, moving to stand next to me.

"Why would they be building a tunnel," I wonder, looking to the others.

"That's the question. Maybe they're trying to escape. Maybe they want a bunker. But I think the fact they're doing it in the shadow of the silver building is significant. Whatever those buildings are, these Fallen want inside,” Beth states, tapping the floating image of the entrance.

"And we're going to stop them?”

"Well, they've demonstrated they're not going to leave us alone. While we're safe from them here, that System boss makes this a less than ideal base. So, I think it's time to hit them back. The plan is pretty simple. Alexis and Rufka will attack the lesser Fallen along the flanks while the rest of us attack from these buildings here," Beth explains pointing at several buildings that run close together, leading next to the camp.

"That said, we're not in desperate straits here, and we have a fallback position, so if there's trouble, we'll fall back. If there’s an opportunity, since the Awakened Fallen are intelligent, try to take one alive for intel. That said, every one of the lesser Fallen we take down is staying down, so no need to take them all at once. If they can follow us here or we get split, Alexis should be able to contact you. If we're not able to communicate, try to make it here," Beth continues pointing at a spire-like building near the south edge of the inner city.

"It's still in the inner city, but it should be far enough out that the System boss will leave it alone."

"Questions?"

"Why don't we just finish the zone quest?" Josh asks.

"This is still our best place to safely train, assuming we can chase off or make a deal with the Fallen. Raz's has a lot of features we won't find anywhere else unless we gain access to a major Nexus. And most of those are locked away by the Aetherium or on another continent," Tipan supplies, running a hand through her fur while inspecting the map.

"Uh. But we can just access Raz's from any Nexus as long as we have this," I mention as I pull Raz's tube out of my inventory. Raz gave it to me for three shards after I'd bought my tenth meal last night saying that since I liked the food so much, I should have a way to get back. For only three shards, I hadn't even blinked before buying it.

Beth and Tipan just look at me while Rufka chuckles as Roberts pats me on the shoulder, "Ha. It's good to see one of us thought to get the device off him while we had the chance."

"I guess we do have a choice. Shall we hold a vote, people?" Beth asks, getting nods of assent from the group.

"I need to learn more about Sel’dast, and if possible, I'd like to send my sister back to Astra," Tipan confirms, "I vote we attack the Fallen."

"Hmm. As do I," Rufka agrees, glancing at me as she says so.

"Me too. They've attacked me every time they've seen me," I state, crossing my arms. What goes unsaid is that I’m silently supporting Rufka. I don't know why she doesn't want to tell the others, but I know what it's like not wanting everyone to know your business.

I shake my head, not wanting to dwell on memories of high school.

"Well, that's half our number. I'm not comfortable hurting them, but I'll be there to shield you," Roberts evades, tactfully sidestepping voting, I note.

"Josh?" Beth prompts, turning towards where he's standing. Unlike the rest of us, Josh is gazing up the hill towards their camp.

"Most are basically zombies made by the System, yeah? I say we approach them. If they're willing to talk, we talk. But if not, we blast a few of the weak ones and leave," Josh responds, turning back to face us.

"Okay. That sounds reasonable. I'm personally all for confronting them. Considering their track record so far, I don't think we'll be talking, but we'll stay open to it. But there's something dangerous going on here. I'd rather take it on than leave it behind us," Beth states, getting nods from all of us.

"So…. If we're going to try to talk, I guess we're not going to fly up then just start shooting?" I mention, shooting hand-pistols at the map. The little balls of wind and water that fly from the tips of my fingers are only one small part of why having magic is great.

"We'll see. We'll all get into place on this building, then Alexis and Rufka can watch our flanks as we move in," Beth replies, pointing at the nearby building. After we all make noises of assent, she grabs her glider from where it rests nearby, moving to the edge of the roof.

The others copy her, grabbing their own while Rufka and I cast our hoverboard spells.

Once everyone’s ready, Beth smiles, standing on the edge of the building before leaping off while calling, "Let's do this, people."

And so, we follow her. I know Josh is hoping for peace, but I don't think it's likely. They've attacked me repeatedly without provocation.

If they give us peace, then okay. We're all alive and Healthy. We can give them peace.

But if they don't.

Well, as the saying goes, 'War... War never changes'.

Also, maybe I can just wrap them in a block of ice. No need to breathe if you’re undead.

Right?

2.09 All Out Elemental Action

July 1, 2023, 4:02pm. Finally, time to play with magic! Err. Talk. Eh, we'll see.

The gliders make it trivial to get in position though I do have to use a fire Torrent to deal with a few scattered Fallen who attack us on sight. Not a total surprise. A few arrows from Rufka quietly take out the remaining System Fallen nearby.

As the others land, I scan the nearby rooftops. But other than the handful Rufka silenced, there don't appear to be any Fallen in the vicinity. As the others detach from their gliders Rufka and I float in place, keeping watch. I urge Smoulder to join the others. She'll be of more use to them than trying to balance on my back.

Moments later Rufka and I float to the sides as the others cross the rooftop towards the Fallen.

I activate accelerated time the moment we start moving forward, my water shield active with a chunk of stone held ready. I've also shaped armour plates from my metal, which my skill informs me is iron. Handy that my skill lets me identify specific metals now that it’s improved. The iron plates hang on my shoulders, ready for me to shift into place should I need them.

A blast of fire appears from ahead which I'm able to easily neutralize with a water shield. Ahead several of the System's imitation Fallen are landing on the roof. Behind them, the white Fallen Triplet, Sel'dast, is lifting them into place. More spells start flying towards us as I glance at the others running across the roof.

I see Smoulder smash through a Fallen, but she stays close to the others, not running out ahead.

Beth calls out to them, but before she can get out more than the word “We,” another ball of fire roars towards her.

Beside her, Josh is in his full rose petal armour, wielding a spear in one hand, a shield in the other which he uses to block the fireball. As the flames lick the edge, I note that despite the large shield being composed of four oversized rose petals supported and rimmed by the rose stems, it remains unburnt. When a Fallen leaps from the side of the building, and he impales it on a spear formed of several thick rose stems twisted together with an incredibly jagged tip on the end. A tip that tears the Fallen apart as Josh yanks it out.

He takes several simultaneous spells on the shield but it holds. Well, that's a relief. Looks like Roberts isn’t going to do as much heavy lifting.

Knowing the others are safe from small spell fire, I Focus on blocking the larger incoming attacks while returning fire with barely aimed lightning torrents, trusting in their auto-aiming and chaining properties to inflict maximum damage with minimal attention. It works remarkably well, the others only needing to pick off a couple of stragglers as we continue forward, Beth still trying to scream over the sound of spells flying.

She needs to figure out how to amplify her voice.

Tipan is using her blasts of wind magic with surgical precision, only attacking when she has a clear shot or to ensure the Fallen are kept off-balance.

As I survey our situation, Beth lands a hit on Sel'dast’s shoulder, her white-fur going dark. Guess Beth got tired of being ignored. Sel'dast tumbles out of sight with a screech that sounds like nails on a chalkboard. Unlike Beth, she’s easy to hear over the sound of exploding spells.

Then we reach the end of the building. Josh has joined his voice to Beth’s, yelling out several times that we want to talk. But each time more spells have come flying back in their direction.

Not exactly subtle, but it is a clear response.

So, since they don't want to talk, I Pause time while maintaining speed. There are so many spells flying towards me that I immediately direct a huge amount of thrust into adjusting my vector instead of blocking. With the first step of dodging initiated, I start returning fire, mostly relying on lightning torrents.

I've discovered that ice and stone, and to a lesser extent earth, are the best at blocking lightning. Meanwhile, most other elemental shields offer no effective resistance. I've also noticed that other than Dhanni, the Fallen have very few manipulators who use any of those elements. In fact, the majority use wind and lightning. And most aren’t able to direct lightning away such as the dark-furred Triplet, Bel'ther.

Taking in the battle from my new, higher view, I realize I'm a priority target. There are twenty Fallen targeting me for every Fallen targeting the others. I'm pretty sure they're going to regret not taking the others more seriously.

Then again, I'm sure the System Fallen are in trouble no matter what they do.

Not that they’re going to be pushovers. Especially the Triplets. Who I haven't seen a sign of since one-eyed Sel'dast went screeching away.

As I change my flight path again, I start working a few twilight torrents in, obscuring the battlefield while I look for the real threats. Which is why I notice the stone roof shifting behind the others.

Somehow Beth seems to have noticed it as well. Before I can call out a warning, she's already turning in place, her rifle sliding into place as she calls out. In the same instant, Roberts' barrier flickers into existence.

This is when the dark lightning Triplet, Bel'ther, blasts out from behind the silver building, lightning already sparking in each hand. She sends a massive pair of lightning bolts arcing in the sky, making my torrents seem small in comparison. I'm too far away to shield the others, but Roberts' shield holds as the lightning splashes against it. His Reprieve does fall by nearly half from those two bolts though.

I don't remain idle while she strikes the others, blasting directly towards her which has the side benefit of completely throwing off the aim of the Fallen below. I start with a torrent of ice as my Pause ends, dropping into accelerated time while hoping to get her to chill out.

Given her ability to redirect lightning, I proceed to unleash a wind torrent next, aiming for where I expect her to dodge to avoid the ice torrent.

I get lucky. Not only does she get knocked into the silver building by my wind torrent, but she also gets clipped by my ice torrent, which spins her around before slamming her head against the building hard. Hitting the building only slows her for half a second before she starts moving again. However, that's half a second in real-time.

Which means it’s more than enough time for me to finish a fire torrent to box her in while closing in further.

As she turns back, she dodges to the side, getting herself caught full-on by the scorching heat. It must’ve gotten past her Health because she screams madly as she charges directly at me. Suddenly, it occurs to me that I'm probably closer than I need to be to capture her. I reverse at full speed, letting my flight spell chunk through my Mana as I try to escape.

But then she's gone, a bolt of lightning taking her place.

I'm too close to pull my stone shield into place before I'm struck by a massive bolt of lightning. I'm pushed back as Bel'ther appears, her hand sliding past my face in the wake of her powerful attack.

I shriek as I take…. two points… two points of Health damage.

That's it?

Cackling with glee, I pause time once more. This time I don't hit her with a single ice torrent. I use thirteen. For luck.

Then I grab the ice and wrap it around her, using it to bind her in place.

However, she flashes in a burst of lightning again. I turn, trying to anticipate where she’ll turn up. But there’s nothing. Then I see a small flash, halfway across the city. Still in Paused time, I zoom in. And sure enough, Bel'ther is there, stumbling across the roof, chunks of ice around every limb except her left leg. She gets to the side of the building, looking back for a second as she stands there. Then she drops off the side and is gone.

Well… she’s probably not getting free for a while.

Turning back, I notice a glittering crystal falling in a small puff of blue dust. Manipulating it into my hand with wind, I realize I have a quest update.

"Quest updated: Lay her to rest - Dhanni. Hidden requirement: Prevent Bel'ther from regenerating by separating her from her soulstone. Reward: 1 Iron-rank Integration point. Class reward: Voltranger ability unlocked: Lightning Warp."

"Okay, that's new. You learned her ability. That's not how it normally works. One second, what was it your class description said? Oh yeah, this is just the beginning."

So, I'm learning other class' abilities? That seems broken.

"Also, wow, you absolutely stomped her."

Yeah, I really did, didn't I? Too bad she got away.

"Ability - Lightning Warp: Channel yourself into a bolt of lightning, travelling with the bolt until it strikes a target or you reach maximum range. This ability uses Stamina. Note this ability must be purchased with an ability point."

"This might be useful for expanding your mobility options."

Huh. I need to 'purchase' the ability. That's a little less broken. I wonder if it's going to be the same with the terramancy spell.

"Updating Ability - Lightning Warp: compatible matrix detected. This ability will use Matrix resource Facet instead of Stamina."

"That's interesting. I don't imagine that's going to happen with every ability."

That change makes Lightning Warp much more tempting. But I guess I'll have to see what abilities I unlock when I level my class. Wonder if I can figure out how to make it into a spell instead?

I'm turning back to the others, who I see are under assault by Sel'dast, Dhanni and nearly a hundred Fallen, when several elemental spells slam into me.

While I am knocked back by the combined fire, I don't take a single point of damage. It would appear my elemental resistance is strong enough that the spells the System Fallen are hitting me with are nothing to me. Ignoring the Fallen below I unleash blazing torrents on the ranks of enemies assaulting my friends.

With the Fallen Triplets down to just the two and the lesser Fallen beneath my notice, I turn my attention to Sel'dast. She's slowly turning back to face me when I drop from Paused-time into accelerated-time. I don't see any fear on her face, but there appears to be a new sense of wariness as she flies away from me, literally throwing lesser Fallen at me.

Laughing as I approach her, I dismiss the lesser Fallen until one of them hits me for five damage. With their fist.

Right. I'm not resistant to physical damage. Other than my Health edge that is. I wonder how my resistances work with stone or metal? Am I resistant to metal spells but not swords? That would be weird.

Then again, magic.

Pausing time again while obliterating the pesky Fallen who decided to punch me with a lightning torrent, I blast forwards, using the extreme dilation to easily dodge the random Fallen Sel'dast is throwing my way.

When I've nearly reached her, I feel a massive force push me back, sending me slowly falling end over end. Right. Can't dodge a wave I can't even see. Not yet.

Unfortunately for Sel'dast, I'm already close enough to repeat my overwhelming assault. This time, without Dhanni or Bel'ther to protect her, I have no problem locking her in a cage of ice.

I laugh at my success, but as I’m watching, her face seems to relax. And then she gets a peaceful smile on her face. As her body suddenly turns to dust, I swear I hear a soft laugh.

The ice-prison bursts apart, raining shards into the street below.

And then I flip further away, buffeted by a wave of shattered ice and wind. I lose sight of her as the quest update appears. Fun fact. I'm still laughing while time is paused. It feels oddly disconnected.

"Quest updated: Lay her to rest - Dhanni. Hidden requirement: Prevent Sel'dast from regenerating by separating her from her soulstone. Reward: 1 Iron-rank Integration point. Class reward: Aeromancer Ability unlocked: Lesser Flight - Mass."

"And ostriches are now jealous of you. This would’ve been more useful before Rufka fixed those gliders."

"Ability - Lesser Flight - Mass: While channelling, grant selected targets lesser flight while within range. This ability uses Mana. Note this ability must be purchased with an ability point."

While I agree with Wyonna, my mind is still on the fact that Sel'dast was… relieved? Happy?

The System’s messages said the Fallen had some of their original memories but were they forced to be here? To attack us? Are the Awakened different? And why did she burst into dust when I was just trying to hold her?

My pondering comes to an end as I right myself, floating towards the others while the Pause also comes to its end.

There are no more Fallen attacking them. In fact, most of the remaining Fallen below have started running away in small packs, not maintaining even a semblance of discipline, unlike before.

When I float over the ridge, I find Smoulder and Josh flanking a haggard Dhanni. She still has large clumps of earth floating around her, but she's barely fast enough to get them in place to block Josh's twisting spear of thorns or Smoulder's headbutts.

She definitely doesn't raise one in time to block the crackling arrow of lightning Rufka looses from her bow. When it strikes her it knocks Dhanni to her knees.

It seems like the others have her handled, so I fly over beside Rufka.

The rooftop is nearly silent as Dhanni shudders at its centre. Her eyes scan the sky until they land on Rufka, who even now has another crackling arrow drawn.

Dhanni doesn’t attack. Instead, she reaches out towards Rufka, her hand clasping. From this close, I can see that her eyes are shot through with dark veins of blue.

“Release…” Dhanni wheezes out, causing Rufka to lower her bow for a second as everyone else backs off, even Smoulder.

“Dhanni?” Rufka asks, floating closer.

“Please,” Dhanni says, her voice cracking again. “Release me!” The final word comes out as a near scream, knocking us both back, even though we’re floating over a dozen meters away.

“I’m sorry,” Rufka says as she releases the crackling arrow.

Dhanni doesn't even try to dodge, the arrow striking her through the eye. She collapses into a heap.

Rufka keeps firing arrow after arrow into Dhanni, her eyes narrowed as I guide her down, glancing at the others’ resources. Josh is out of Petals and Thorns, but his Health and Stamina are still high. Beth has more than half her Umbra left while Roberts is low on Reprieve and Tipan is mostly full of Aero.

No one is hurt, thankfully.

Except for Josh, the others continue dealing with miscellaneous Fallen as Rufka and I land not two meters from Dhanni's mangled body. There's no blood. Except for the crimson blood from Beth’s one shot, I've yet to see a Fallen bleed. Of course, given the nature of my attacks, it hadn't been apparent until this moment that they simply don't have blood. Strange.

Rufka stops firing arrows when our feet touch the building surface, instead squeezing my hand tightly as she mutters a prayer to Astra over Dhanni’s body. It takes me a moment to realize something's wrong. Trying to figure it out, I look around, searching.

Beth's a few steps away, Roberts and Tipan beside her, but she only glances in our direction for a second before raising her rifle to aim at some distant threat. Not them.

As we stand there, I note that Josh is practically standing on top of Dhanni while Smoulder is staying true to form, marking her victory with blazing pee. But that’s normal.

Looking around, I try to figure out what’s off.

What's missing?

And then it comes to me.

There's no quest notification.

While Rufka continues to squeeze my hand hard enough it almost does damage, I Focus on the twisted and torn body of Dhanni.

She’s still alive.

Even as the fire from Smoulder makes contact with Dhanni, her body twitches, a broken bone suddenly shifting, her body starting to fix itself.

I'm already pausing time as Josh drops his spear and one of his pods, grabbing Smoulder as he rolls away.

His pod has started to explode as I follow up with an overkill of thirteen torrents, half fire, half lightning and one metal, drawing from the plates on my shoulders. Because fuck the second-form boss battle stage. It's time for this to be done.

Time for her to rest.

When the disaster that is one seed pod and thirteen combined torrents being unleashed at short range has cleared, I hear a hiss, followed by a small puff of blue dust and the missing quest update.

"Quest completed: Lay her to rest - Dhanni. Lay her to rest. Forever. Reward: 3 Iron-rank Integration points. Class reward: Terramancer Ability unlocked. Ability granted at no cost: Cloying Earth."

"Huh. Okay, that's weird. The quest completion has the System updating. One second."

"Spell - Cloying Earth: While channelling, all earth within your control radius becomes thick and viscous while being incredibly difficult for others to reshape."

When the quest update scrolls past and the pause ends, I hear Rufka sob, before she breaks out of my grip.

Wiping her tears away, Rufka breathes deeply for a second before turning to where Dhanni had been a moment ago. There's nothing left except a single crystal glistening amongst the molten metal. Seeing it reminds me of the one I'm still holding in my hand.

As Rufka reaches down to retrieve the crystal in front of her, I analyze the one from Bel'ther.

"Object analyzed - Fallen Soulstone - Bel'ther. This crystal has the soul of the Fallen Bel'ther bound within. Soul stones can be used by users with rare skills to capture a Systemless creature within. These users can then summon or interact with the trapped creature. The creature within the soulstone will possess all of its memories and personality. These are a common resource of summoner base classes.“

“Well, that explains things a little bit. There must be one of these summoners involved with this Ivicka. I have a hard time picturing a user with Swagger as their resource being a summoner. Unless they summon ale. I think you should ask Raz about summoners and soulshards. I have no information on them, which is disturbing.”

I can’t help but chuckle a little at Wyonna’s comment. It's weird though. I don’t remember seeing any summoner base classes in my list of options. Uthica’s either.

In fact, there wasn't anything close.

I'm about to show the crystal to Rufka when there's a loud buzzing in my head. The buzzing only recedes after I glance at the next notification in my log.

"Citizen Status confirmed."

"Updating analysis."

“WARNING! Fallen cannot be bound by the System. Therefore they are not safe to be used as summons. The System is unable to cleanse the corruption from Fallen Soulstones without the use of dedicated facilities. Use of an uncleansed Fallen Soulstone comes at great risk to your life, your sanity and your connection. Use at your own risk.”

"Huh, the System is still updating. Wait. Part of your log is blank. That’s weird."

Okay. Nope. Forget the soulshard.

I tuck the shard into my inventory as Rufka stands with Dhanni's in hand. She doesn't hold it long, storing the crystal after only a second's pause, turning to me with a sad smile painted across her face.

Then the buzzing is back, painfully loud. Again, it only fades once I start to read the notification.

"Corrupted Soulstone found by Citizen Pandora."

"Activating Citizen Duty Protocols."

"Citizens Pandora, Raven Queen, Rose, Roberts and Demo located on the local network."

"Sharing System Quest with all Citizens on the local network."

“Quest received - Purge Corruption. Description: There is a summoner bringing Fallen back to life. This is a perversion of System generated Soulstones. Find the summoner, prevent them from ever summoning again, destroy their research, and return any other summoned Fallen to rest. Requirements: Summoner found 0/1, Summoners neutralized 0/1, Research destroyed 0/1. Rewards: 80 Iron-rank Integration points, 4 class Progression Marks. Additional rewards for every summoned Fallen laid to rest. Time: unlimited."

"What just happened. More of your log just went blank. Wait, everything just got locked. What-"

"Citizen Anti-Corruption Systems: Fully Active."

"Uh, Wyonna? You there?" I ask as I check my log again, making a list of my questions while I wait for her response, trying not to worry.

- It clearly states that the four of us are Citizens. Does that mean that Rufka and Tipan aren't?

- Why not?

- What makes us Citizens?

- What is this local network?

- Who's this Demo?

- Was there a fifth person who arrived with us and we missed them?

- What's a Citizen Duty protocol?

- And what's with the quest rewards? Those are insane.

As I'm trying to distract myself, I keep checking my log, the final question on my list weighing on my mind.

- What happened to Wyonna?

When I still don't get a message from Wyonna after waiting a full minute, I fire a couple of twilight torrents until I get a skill increase notification. Then I wait as the others start to ask me what's wrong. And if I know anything about the quest.

But I barely register them, watching my notification screen, waiting for Wyonna to say something. Anything.

But there's nothing.

Wyonna is gone.

2.10 Citizen Pandora

July 1, 2023, 4:12 pm.

Wyonna is gone.

Reading my log, she was cut off the moment the anti-corruption system activated. Does that mean Wyonna is corrupted?

Is this because she broke out of her shackles? Or is it something else?

And seriously, System? You couldn't give us five minutes to enjoy our victory.

I'm broken out of my thoughts by Rufka squeezing my hand tightly, her concern making me feel guilty. We just had to put down- no, not put down. We had to… kill? Release? Free? Doesn’t matter, her old love was brought back from the dead and she had to undeadify her. Meanwhile I'm worrying about Wyonna being missing. It can wait. At least for a little while.

"I'm okay. It's just…" I trail off for a second before continuing, "Wyonna is gone. And this new quest is... How are you?"

"Hmm. Yes. I've never heard of a quest that grants Citizen status before,” Rufka answers, ignoring my question but giving my hand a quick squeeze.

I don't know how to respond. I barely registered that there was a difference between Citizens and Users before. It's obvious in hindsight.

"I don't know what yours says, but we're already Citizens," I tell Rufka, gesturing to indicate the others. I could keep it to myself but that feels… wrong.

"Figured," she grunts, draping her arm over my shoulder.

"But what does it even mean?" I wonder, noticing Josh walking towards us with Smoulder in hand.

"It means better than user. Obviously," Rufka states as Smoulder launches herself several meters, knocking me back before I indulge her in post-battle head-scritches.

"What means better than user?" Josh questions Rufka, shuffling his feet while looking at the still molten metal where Dhanni was moments ago.

"Being a Citizen is better than being a user," Rufka explains, staring at the 'silver bullet'.

"Better how?" I try to prod Rufka.

"I don't know. Never heard of Citizen before," she replies, tilting her head away with her ears flicking teasingly, in a gesture that has the same rough meaning as a human sticking their tongue out at me. Which is a relief, cause I can still see the strain around her eyes.

When I glance at Josh, looking for support, he flinches away. Confused, I touch my face trying to see if there's something on it, but it feels clean and smooth as I ask, "what's wrong Josh?"

"No-nothing," he stammers, turning away from me.

What the hell?

Hoping Rufka can help out, I nudge her, gesturing to myself, "is there something on my face?"

Rufka inspects me closely, scrutinizing my face while taking it in hand. She turns it this way and that, humming and hawing.

"Hmm. Interesting. Very interesting,” Rufka observes, tapping a finger against her cheek.

"What?" I demand after half a minute of waiting, "what is it?"

"Nothing. You're just as pretty as ever. Don't know what he saw. Maybe it's a Citizen thing," Rufka postulates, patting my cheek while I blush.

"I told you. It's nothing," Josh exclaims, folding his arms as he turns away again.

"It is better to check. The quest says we must worry about corruption," Rufka states as the others join us.

"Interesting. You received the quest too?" Beth questions Rufka, slinging her rifle onto her back. Beth bumps Josh with her elbow once she gets closer. He gives her a sheepish grin when she adds, "good job there, slugger."

Nodding, Rufka turns her gaze on each of us in turn, "If we are to complete this quest, then it would be best to rescue my mother. She never told me the name of her apprentice, but I know she was a summoner."

"It's possible Ivicka knows something too," Tipan hesitantly adds, "I never had a chance to read most of her letters. But minister Folthka… they were close. She might know more."

Considering their words, Beth cracks her knuckles before speaking, "Either way, it appears the Fallen have scattered now that their leaders are gone. Hopefully, they'll go back to their normal behaviour. We don't have to set a course of action yet. This new quest can wait until we're back at Raz's."

“Oh. Speaking of their leaders...” I say, suddenly remembering Bel'ther’s retreat. “The lightning one escaped… I think. She left this crystal behind, and my quest log said she was cleansed.”

“That’s… well, their lines are broken, at least.” Beth says, taking the crystal and holding it up. Then she shakes her head. "Okay, we could continue with our training, but I'd like to investigate their excavation, gather all those shiny shards then maybe pick up some of these general abilities. I can't believe there was a party chat, and no one mentioned it.” She sighs, shaking her head.

"I imagine we'll want Alexis to loot them soon. To dispose of their bodies," Roberts suggests, waving at the scores of bodies on the edge of the roof.

"Yeah, I can do that," I agree, walking to the edge of the building, looking over the edge. It's only as I'm looking down that I realize just how many Fallen fell by my hands alone. I know it should disturb me. That’d be normal, right?

Instead, I feel a sense of grim satisfaction, which pushes a smile onto my face I can’t fight off.

Then I reach out to loot everything. But there's no prompt in my interface.

That's what I was afraid of. Wyonna wasn't just giving me advice. She's been providing me assistance through the interface. And now she's gone because of this stupid quest.

Well, Citizen Pandora, I guess you're going to have to figure it out for yourself.

So, instead of dwelling, I Focus on my memory of the last time I used the ability to loot a large area.

By spending a small amount of Facet I'm able to remember the moment perfectly.

"Even when you're gone, you're still helping me. Thank you, Wyonna," I murmur, thankful I have the memory to copy.

There's an initial pulse that identifies every one of the bodies within range which I replicate using minimal Facet. The range is surprisingly wide. It seems Facet isn't disrupted by ambient Mana the way elemental Mana is.

Once I use it, the pulse provides me with feedback indicating there are 179 defeated Fallen within a hundred meters or so. The feedback doesn't include a sense of direction, but I'm already thinking of ways I might be able to turn this into a detection ability. Even a basic, 'are there monsters nearby?' pulse could be useful.

The next step of the looting process bears a resemblance to my IFF ability, though it uses weaker connections. Similar to the first pulse, I send another, but with dozens of filaments of Facet lightly tethered to it. I use these to create a connection to every target the first pulse identified. It doesn't cost any Focus and only a marginal amount of Facet to establish connections with each corpse within range.

The next step will be to Focus on the bodies, pulling at the shards stored within. But I don't intend to draw the shards out until I ensure I've discerned the step that comes after.

Starting with a single body, I attempt the part I'm certain will be the most challenging.

Teleportation.

The shard pulls on the tether, but I have to be careful at this step. Not just to get it to work, but I suspect this is the key to learning how to teleport without using a complicated set of runes.

With only my test subject targeted, I watch carefully as the shard uses the tether to travel to my hand. As the shard leaves, the body disappears in a puff of blue smoke.

As the process continues, I follow it closely. As I watch the shard travel through the bond, it's converted to pure energy, being disassembled before being sent along the bond.

It's not teleporting. At least not how I'm familiar with teleportation so far. It is reminiscent of how teleportation works in Star Trek, but I'd rather not try to disassemble and reassemble myself. Which means, I won't be able to copy the method. Not able to glean anything else of use either.

Once it reaches me, the shard reforms, floating in front of me for a second before it turns into more of the blue mist. Guess the last step needs to be set up ahead of time.

The last step is simple. All I need to do is create a connection between the interface 'looting' function and the links. Which I do, now that I know the shard disappears otherwise.

Instead of immediately looting all of the bodies, I observe several more transfers, searching for any clue that might allow me to teleport. I've gone through twenty individual bodies when I hear Rufka clear her throat from beside me.

"You want to talk about it?" Rufka offers.

For a second, I think she's talking about my experiments until my mouth opens, surprising me, "I kind of took her for granted. Wyonna that is."

"Oh?" Rufka leans against the recently Fallen-cleared parapet as she encourages me to continue. Behind us, I can hear Beth laughing with Josh before talking with Tipan and Roberts about taking the time to ensure we're not being surrounded while we investigate the Fallen camp.

"Yeah. She's been with me ever since we woke here on Akilo, though I didn't know it at first. It seems like she's been making things easier, giving me shortcuts," I share, deciding I've played enough, finally looting the rest of the bodies. The wave of blue dust that rises obscures the remaining bodies for a moment before it starts disappearing to wherever blue dust goes. Probably not the Kool-Aid factory.

"Doesn't seem as though you're crippled," Rufka comments, gesturing to the wisps of dust that haven't quite faded.

"Yeah, I'm figuring things out. But I owe her a lot. We need to finish this quest. I want her back," I decide, clenching my fist, making Smoulder look up at me.

"Hey, I'll be there Lexi," Rufka reassures me, squeezing my shoulder.

"Thanks," I reply, giving her a sad smile.

"Any time. Besides, with Tipan at our side, I think we might have a chance of being able to break my mum out," Rufka replies, her eyes sparkling as she glances over at where Tipan’s waving a cloud of blue dust away from her face.

"That would be cool," my smile is happier this time.

"If we're going that route, we may want to head east first though," Rufka adds, tapping out a familiar rhythm on the parapet as she talks.

"Why? What's east of here?" I wonder, thinking back to the standing stones. Seems like the wrong direction. It sounds like Rufka's mother and Ivicka's mentor are both somewhere in the Aetherium to the west.

"You mean other than my home and everything I've ever known?" Rufka teases, "My friend Theria. If we're going into Aetherium territory we can't have all of you running around looking like short, discoloured Builders. We'll need proper disguises and illusions."

"And Theria can help with that, I take it?" I guess while wondering how illusions work. Would that be an application of twilight? It would make sense.

"Yeah. But that's for later. I don't think we'll be leaving for a few days. You may have destroyed all these," Rufka gestures to the unlooted bodies across the far side of the camp, "but against powerful opponents, our only effective tactic is to send you into melee range so you can drop a Cataclysm worth of elemental destruction on their head."

"While you were dealing with half the army and two of the awakened Fallen, the rest of us were being overrun by Dhanni and a few squads. That's not to mention that if we're not skipping off to another training area, we'll need to deal with this Ivicka."

"Your friend Beth isn't the only one who feels training is required," Rufka declares, her jaw clenched as she squeezes her bow in tight fists.

"Uhm," I pause, not sure how to respond. It feels like Rufka literally saved my life with her skills a couple hours earlier.

"But it's okay. Because with you teaching me, maybe I'll be able to pass as a mancer yet," Rufka adds, her ears perking up excitedly.

"I think you're already awesome. But I'll teach you everything I can," I confirm, "though I don't think I'm a very good teacher."

"Ha. You're trying to teach several people how to handle the primal elements of the universe. Did you think you could really teach it in an hour?" Rufka lightly reprimands me.

"Yeah, I guess it was kind of silly. But it was so easy for me I just thought…"

"Skill is a result of hard work. Least that's what my mum always said when others were around. When it was just the two of us, she mentioned that the System did allow for shortcuts. Such as Astra's Stride."

"Well, obviously that's where all your skills came from," I tease as Rufka affects an offended air.

"Oh no. She's as dangerous with her words as her spells," Rufka proclaims loudly, pretending to slough to the ground.

"Har. Har. Now, I should probably get back to looting the rest of these," I decide, smiling at Rufka's sprawled form. She really does have well-defined muscles, I note.

"That's right. Just leave me here after mortally wounding me," Rufka exclaims, peeking up at me with one eye, which she quickly closes when she sees I noticed.

"Okay. Since you told me to," I answer, lifting into the air on my hoverboard while transferring Smoulder into her special pocket.

"Heartless. So, heartless. If only-" her monologue is lost to me as I float over to the far side of the camp. Thanks to Rufka, I'm feeling much better. Once I'm roughly over the middle of the remaining bodies, I send out another set of pulses, looting the rest of the Fallen.

There were only 83 here, which combined with the 179 Fallen I looted earlier, totals 262. When I check, I discover we received 705 mortal shards each. Mostly wind and lightning, but with a smattering of every other element mixed in. There are even two twilight shards. With so much data I can confirm that, on average, Fallen drop more than two shards each.

We also received 26 Mortal-grade Mana shards, which translates to two Integration points, plus change. This implies about one in ten Fallen drops a Mana shard. Altogether, it's a good haul for a few minutes effort.

While counting our gains, I float around their camp searching for anything that stands out. Then I realize, I never picked up Sel'dast's crystal. Flying to where she fell, it takes me a minute of searching to find it. It's more than half obscured by the loose dirt and unmelted ice it fell in. But it has a luster all its own, glinting with a soft green light. I pluck it out with a twist of earth and wind, guiding it to my hand, inspecting it to ensure it's the right crystal. Not that it's likely to be anything else.

"Object analyzed - Fallen Soulstone - Sel’dast. This crystal has the soul of the Fallen Sel’dast bound within. This soulstone requires a special facility to be cleansed.“

Sigh. It's not the same without Wyonna's extra comments after an analysis.

Putting the crystal away, I fly back to where the others are assembled on the building above. When I reach the top, I notice Tipan isn't around. When I land next to Josh, he steps away. Almost like he's hiding behind Roberts. But then I see him worrying with the straps of his glider.

You're just being silly Alexis, chill.

"Ah. Welcome back, Alexis. That was quite the bounty you gathered; wouldn't you say?" Roberts comments amiably as he starts strapping his glider on.

"Yeah. It was pretty good. Where's Tipan?" I respond, noting that Beth and Rufka are fussing over Beth's glider.

"She's doing a sweep for Fallen before we head down," Roberts points, making it easier for me to pick out her form where she's flying above.

As I watch, she channels several air blades through her shaft before disappearing from sight. A moment later, I receive a notification telling me I've received another 5 mortal shards. Then Tipan rises back into the air, continuing her patrol. It's weird receiving loot from somebody else's actions, but it's a good weird. I keep watching as Tipan finishes her patrol, landing with grace.

"Good. Okay people, now that Tipan's back, let's go see what these Fallen were so interested in," Beth commands, leading the way with her own glider, the others right behind her.

Because I'm feeling fancy, I try to leap over the parapet before casting my flight spell. But I just smack my knee on the low wall, falling backwards. It doesn't hurt, but I'm glad no one saw that.

"Smooth moves Lexi. Guess you need training too," Rufka mocks from above. Damnit. Can't a girl embarrass herself in private?

"Yeah, yeah," I reply, letting my magic carry me up and over.

Even with their lead I still make it to the ground before the others. This spell really is better than their gliders. It's a shame I don't have that mass flight ability. It would’ve made getting down instant.

Damn, I might need to pick it up, the tactical uses could be amazing. Maybe I can figure out a similar spell instead? Maybe I can make my hoverboard bigger?

We spend the next few minutes searching the small awakened camp next to the tunnel. It's surprisingly reminiscent of a campsite we might find back on earth. Or at least that's what Josh mentions to Beth.

We split into pairs to search the camp, each of us choosing a tent to investigate. Tipan, Smoulder and I browse through our empty tent, finding bedding, spare bandoleers and several low-quality knives but nothing of real interest. Well, Smoulder mostly just hops around sniffing things while being adorable. But she's part of the team. As I prepare to leave, Tipan stops me, "We should collect everything."

"Really, why?" I ask, trying to figure out what the value of the scattered items might be worth if we sold them. I can't imagine it's much.

"You never know what you might miss," Tipan informs me, opening a pouch on one of the bandoleers allowing several essence shards to spill out.

"Huh. Fair point," I respond. I've been spoiled by my looting ability.

With more care we go through everything again, packing it away neatly. Because you can carry more if things are properly compressed apparently. I totally cheat, using metal magic to create banding. At which point Tipan brings several objects outof her storage for me to help her repack.

"I really need to develop my metal manipulation skills. I didn't think of the simple utility it could grant. We don't use metal magic much in the Aetherium."

"Why not," I inquire politely, carefully packing a set of ceremonial robes that Tipan mentioned she keeps mostly for their sentimental value.

"Because it's so Mana intensive to use metal. And it's heavy. There are a few smiths who work it for their crafting quests, but most of their creations are temporary. Or weapons. Most of our possessions are made out of hide and bone since they’re already imbued with essence," Tipan explains, gesturing at her staff, which is polished ivory.

As we rejoin the others, we discover that Beth and Rufka found a list with several diagrams on it. There are short descriptions next to each item, which look like they’re some sort of power generation tech, according to Rufka and Tipan. Unfortunately, I’m unable to analyze the diagrams. It’s nice to know that the list is written on paper that requires a temperature of over three thousand degrees to burn. I’ll ask Beth if Smoulder can have a shot at it once we’re done with it. Or maybe she has a sheet without imporant diagrams on it. Yeah, that’d be better.

“Hmm. Requires materials I don’t recognize,” Rufka says after a few minutes inspecting the diagrams.

“Nor do I,” Tipan agrees. “But they do all seem to be related to the concentration of… I would say Mana, but I’m not sure.”

“Nope. Definitely not Mana. Or at least, not any I’ve seen before. These would disperse it,” Rufka says, pointing to a set of what look like knobs along the edge of a cylinder shaped device. “Well, probably.”

“Hmm. Okay, we’ll keep an eye out. This was in the lightning one’s personal effects, from what we could tell,” Beth says, folding the paper and slipping it into her pocket.

Once she puts it away, Rufka pulls out a couple enchanted cooking tools they found tucked away. Roberts gets very excited about them when Rufka describes their purpose.

"A self-heating portable pan with instant temperature control? This is amazing," Roberts exclaims while inspecting the large pan, "I need to check if Raz has any spices. No offence to his cooking, but I'm certain we're not always going to have such fine fare available."

"I'll chip in," I offer, thinking back to my diet of dried wolfadillo and berries. Rather not do that again.

The other kitchen implement is a small knife that doesn't lose its edge.

"It's not really a weapon," Rufka explains, "it's so any-user can work with infused materials easily. Mostly used for food prep."

"That would be a wonderful tool. May I hold on to it?" Roberts asks. Rufka shrugs, handing it over.

With the camp searched, there's only one thing remaining.

Cautiously, we approach the tunnel, Smoulder leading the charge, hopping her way ahead of Josh.

What will we discover inside? Treasure? An escape route? Some strange form of burial chamber?

Maybe we'll find a hint to the identity of the summoner?

Whatever lies below, it's time to find out.

2.11 Tunnel Time

July 1, 2023, 5:12 pm.

Josh leads the way, rose-shield and thorn-spear at the ready as we step inside, Beth close behind him. We're all tense, prepared for the unexpected. Well, prepared to be surprised, at least. That’s a thing you can do, right?

Shaking my head, we descend into the tunnel. Everyone is quiet and on alert. Even Smoulder is moving with care, only hopping forward once Josh checks around the corner.

The tension only lasts until we make it to the first corner. The darkness continues down, but we break out a plethora of magical aids to light our way, which seems to dispel our nervousness alongside the darkness.

"So, this new quest," Roberts starts, pausing when Smoulder twitches her large fluffy tail, switching to her flame-on mode. Somehow, she's able to cast light without burning those nearby. I wonder if that's pure skill or a special ability. I didn't see that listed on her page.

"Yeah. The rewards are huge," I note, distracted when Rufka activates a glowing rod that has a ball of flickering orange flame on the end.

Passing the torch to Beth, Rufka comments, "I agree. While Citizen status is interesting, gaining four Progression Marks from a single quest is like a story from out of legend. Mum would warn me not to take it lightly."

"Eighty Integration points also seems like a lot," Josh observes from ahead as I create a glowing bundle of light. It's more of a flower than an orb, the dawn-shifted flower of twilight casting a soft yellow glow. Not only is it useful and pretty, it also helps me practice Twilight.

"Those are quite a boost, though not surprising taken alone. The rewards from this quest are troubling. I've never heard of a quest that grants Citizen status. Plus, it’s rare to get a quest with so much information at the beginning. This must be of great importance to the System," Tipan says as she produces a harsh green light which emanates from the end of her staff, throwing her pale Mohawk and elaborately braided fur into sharp contrast.

"I'm worried about the target. It sounds like not only can they tear the System out of us, but they might be able to bring us back as Fallen," Beth's voice carries back from near the front of our procession.

There's a general murmur of agreement.

"Do you have any thoughts on who this Citizen Demo might be?" Tipan asks.

"Not one iota," I answer while Beth shrugs.

Once the lighting is sorted out, we continue down, Rufka and I at the back. Which doesn't bother me, it's nice back here. While we're walking, I decide to expand, reinforce and decorate the tunnel walls. I may as well work on my earth skills, making it safer as we explore.

"How deep did they dig?" Roberts wonders as we round the fourth bend. So far, each section has been roughly a hundred meters forward for every ten down, then a sharp turn. At least the Fallen keep their tunnels consistent.

"Hard to say. No signs or anything. It's well packed though, so probably deep," Josh answers from the front.

We continue to move slowly, taking several turns, the tunnel getting narrower the further we go. Well, in front. My continuous modifications mean that once I pass through it’s wide enough for three people to stand side-by-side. And it barely costs me any Mana.

We've continued through another six turns before we encounter our first discovery. And our first obstacle.

"There's no more tunnel," Josh calls from the front.

"Well, that's anticlimactic," Roberts grumbles from just in front of me and Rufka.

"Hold on people," Beth orders. Then there's a bunch of scuffing, scraping and even some laughter from ahead where the others are trying to switch places.

While we're waiting, I reshape the walls to our sides, pushing them further out than usual while compacting the ceiling to better support the larger chamber. By the time the scuffing sounds have died down, Roberts, Rufka and I are reclining on earthen benches along the edge of the new alcove.

A moment later Josh's dirt-covered armour appears. Apparently he dismissed his spear and shield at some point, but it's not like his armour leaves him unarmed anyway.

"Right," Josh pauses, inspecting the alcove.

"Beth could probably use your help, Alexis," Josh states, stepping further up the tunnel leaving me with plenty of room to move past him. When I reach Tipan and Beth, I don't try to squeeze past them, expanding and reinforcing the tunnel instead.

As the earth around her starts moving, Beth flails for a second, before turning her head to glare at me.

"Oops. Sorry," I apologize while halting the changes. "Josh said you needed my help," I offer by way of explanation. Not a good one, but it’s what I’ve got.

Running her hand along the edge of the recently compressed and smoothed tunnel, she shakes her head, "it's fine. You just startled me. I thought the tunnel was collapsing. You'd think at some point I'd stop being surprised by what you can do with magic."

"I highly doubt it," Tipan comments, looking at me, her eyes narrowed, "I've been studying magic for years. Alexis is the most versatile Iron-rank I've ever encountered."

"I'm sure. Now, let's get back to this," Beth redirects our attention to a small opening no larger than my hand. Inside the opening is a silvery surface, dancing in the reflection of our myriad light sources.

Stepping forward, I inspect it closely. It appears to be a section of the 'silver bullet' from above.

"Think you can open a path kid?" Beth asks while moving back out of the way. Tipan takes it a step further, retreating all the way to the alcove, while glancing in our direction.

"Definitely," I declare confidently. Reshaping earth is trivial. I start moving the dirt into the surrounding walls, weaving simple designs into the wall while clearing a larger section of the wall. I've cleared over nine square meters when I notice a change in the surface near the bottom of my excavation.

"I think I've found something," I say while continuing to excavate the area. Once I've cleared another meter or so, it starts to look like the edge of a door. The walls are incredibly sturdy by this time. I'm going to have to keep this in mind. I could easily create an entire underground base with power like this.

"What is it?" Beth asks as she steps up beside me.

"A door?" I shrug.

"Hard to tell with only the top exposed," Beth observes.

"Yeah. Give me a few, I'll get it unburied," I remark, while shooing Beth, gesturing at her to give me space.

She shakes her head as she moves up the hall, chuckling softly.

Turning back to my work, I continue to compact the dirt while creating a set of stairs leading down. When I'm finished there's the newly revealed door of course, as well as the wall it's set into. The door stands over four meters tall, and both the door and the wall are slanted slightly away from us. Which makes sense, since the ‘bullet’ above is slanted the same way.

But my efforts didn't stop there. Around the door is a sizable room, ringed by twin curving stairs that lead down to the door from either side. With a railing, for… Safety? Yeah. Let's say it's for safety. In the middle is a large alcove, complete with small benches along the side.

The whole thing only took me ten minutes.

"Okay. I think I'm finished," I yell at the others as I adjust the railing where it transitions at the top of the stairs, adding a small flourish.

"I think you may have gotten carried away kid," Beth says when she comes to inspect the room.

"You think the light recesses are too much?" I wonder, eyeing the intricately shaped recesses critically. Smoulder joins me in my inspection, sending a wave of approval at the design of our new den. She especially appreciates the aforementioned resting nooks, noting that the light recesses are perfectly sized for her. I don't bother correcting her, setting her inside of one instead. Her perpetual flames give the room a nice ambience.

"I didn't even notice…. Yes. The recesses are too much," Beth answers, sighing while I smile behind her back. If I'm going to be using my earth manipulation, there will be flourishes. No negotiations. Earth is the perfect combination of firm and moldable material for quick and easy customization.

"Well, I wasn't aware we were waiting in the economy class area," Roberts comments as the others join us outside the silvery door.

"I like it," Rufka opines.

"I'm not sure how we're going to…" Beth trails off as she sets her hand on the door, totally breaking protocol. Didn’t she tell me not to touch random doors?

"This is confusing, Alexis, Roberts. What do you think?" Beth asks as she turns to us.

"I'm sorry. Think of what, Beth?" Roberts replies but I have a suspicion. Moving next to her, my thoughts are confirmed as a notification appears overlaid on the door.

"Citizen status recognized."

"Access granted."

"Error - access hatch damaged please contact maintenance."

It takes me a minute to realize why Beth is confused. Then understanding dawns on me. The message isn't written in Vausian. It's in Astreum, a language used by the Builders. I almost forgot I'd learned more than Vausian from Uthica.

Thanks, Uthica.

"It's saying it recognizes us as Citizens and it would grant us access, but it's broken," I inform the others.

"Well, couldn't you magic the door out of the way?" Beth suggests, making a waving motion with her hand.

I guess she's not surprised I can read it. But then, considering how often I know things I've no business knowing lately, that does make sense.

Shrugging, I reach out, connecting to the building with stone and metal manipulation. It appears to be a titanium alloy, reinforced by magic. The wall itself is completely resistant to my magic, but the mechanism the door is attached to is seriously busted but partially there. I'm not able to reshape the door, but I am able to manipulate the attached mechanism, slowly sliding the door out of the way with a painful screeching noise.

The inside is dark and silent. For some reason, I was expecting to find glowing lights and quiet beeping noises.

Instead, less than a meter inside lies a skeleton of a creature I don't recognize. It lies posed as if it were sleeping in a hallway that curves out of sight to either side. The skeleton seems vaguely humanoid, but it's taller than a human. Which means it's also taller than most K'tharn. Doesn’t share their bone structure either.

"Well, that's encouraging," Roberts comments as Josh moves towards the open door.

"One second, slugger," Beth halts him with a hand on his chest.

She looks around for a moment before sighing, "kid, you want to throw a rock in there?"

"Sure, one second," I answer, pulling a nice baseball-sized rock through the wall of the staircase. The only visible stone in the room is the arching support pillars and the textured stair nosings. This means the rock needs to be pulled through roughly a meter of packed dirt, taking a few seconds.

Since it’s not one of my preferred flat skipping rocks, I hand it to Rufka instead of throwing it myself. I'd be impressed if I could get it across the threshold.

"Here goes," Rufka warns, tossing the stone into the open door, nailing the skeleton, sending the bones scattering.

"What in Vaus' pit?" Rufka swears, jumping as the bones clatter.

"What?" Beth demands, looking for the threat.

"Didn't expect it to scatter like that. I've never heard of an actual skeleton in a training area," Rufka explains sheepishly which causes me and Tipan to start laughing.

"I don't suppose the explorer subclass gives you trap detection abilities?" Beth asks Tipan while Smoulder sniffs at the opening cautiously.

"Not... Not as such," Tipan stutters out, still giggling.

"If it's still trapped after the opening mechanism is broken, then I doubt we'll be able to find it," Rufka notes, her ears laid back in embarrassment.

Josh is standing there, staring at the recently scattered skeleton.

"Josh? What do you think?" Beth prompts, her hand still on his chest.

"Huh?" Josh grunts as he jumps, turning to Beth.

"Do you think you'd be okay going through?" Beth repeats patiently, smiling at him.

"Oh sure. One sec," he answers, his helmet and shield reforming. Is it just me or was that nearly instant? It's certainly much faster than when he first did it.

His armour in place, Josh places the tip of his shield through the door but nothing happens. He follows that by putting a single finger through the door. Since he still hasn't provoked a reaction, he steps carefully through the door. Even though he's careful he still stumbles slightly when he places his foot on the slanted floor. Swiftly regaining his balance, he glances to each side.

"K, looks clear. Gravity shifts," he warns, avoiding disturbing the skeleton while moving just out of sight.

Beth follows him in, sweeping her gaze both ways, Smoulder close beside her.

"Hey kid, can you come read this," she requests a few seconds later.

"Sure," I say, stepping over the threshold. As I do, I feel the effect Josh mentioned, shifting my sense of 'down' to be perpendicular to the floor. But it's not the only thing that's off. I feel as though an unseen pressure has suddenly lifted. A pressure I've been acclimatizing to since we stepped outside of the circle of standing stones. Looking around, it takes me a moment to realize it's the ambient Mana.

Or I should say, it's the lack of ambient Mana. Because I don't feel any in the air.

"Kid?" Beth prompts.

"Right, sorry. Mana in here is weird," I say, moving next to her.

"Weird how?" she asks. She's standing in front of a metallic sign that wouldn't be out of place at an airport back on earth. Except all the words are projected by the System. Each word written on the sign has arrows next to them indicating directions.

"There's no ambient Mana. It's just air," I answer, squinting at the sign. Then, pointing at the sign, I read out, "To the right is Observation, Crew Quarters and the Cafeteria. On the left, we'll find Command, Engineering and…." I indicate each in turn. But a surge of hope runs through me when I reach the last entry.

After half a second, I add, "and a Ripple Drive-core."

"Well, let's make that our last stop, shall we," Beth decides, assigning the drive-core the exact opposite priority I would have chosen.

"Seems wise. Engines tend to be hazardous. Perhaps we can discover relevant information elsewhere first," Roberts agrees as he joins us inside the hall.

As we're moving further inside, I hear Tipan saying, "this is incredible. I doubt any-"

"Gah!" Tipan exclaims from behind us, interrupting herself. Turning, I find Tipan sprawled in a ball outside the foot of the threshold, Rufka beside her. "Vaus' tits, that looked like it hurt. Full speed collision."

"It appears we're not invited," Rufka observes, pressing her hand against an invisible barrier. The way her fur splays against the barrier is kind of pretty, I note, as she rotates her hand back and forth.

"Not sure I like the idea of splitting up," Beth states, looking at the entrance.

"It's fine. Tipan and I will keep watch for you here. If you're not back in a few hours we will meet you at Raz's," Rufka replies, as if the idea that anything bad could happen doesn't occur to her.

"I think we should at least explore this level," Roberts contributes.

While they're talking, I realize I can still feel Rufka and Tipan through IFF.

Connecting to Rufka, I ask, "Can you hear me now?" while taking a step farther down the hall.

"Yes, I can," she whispers back.

"We have comms," I declare a little louder than necessary, making Beth wince.

"Okay. That settles it. We'll explore this floor. If we lose comms or you need us, we'll hurry back," Beth decides, "let's go right first."

Josh nods, moving up the passage next to Beth, still being careful not to step on the bones. I stay in the back, collecting Smoulder so I can keep her safely in my pocket. Besides, I kind of like being at the back.

Since I'm already in the back, when I use a little bit of water to tidy the bones into a little pile, the only one who notices is Rufka. She raises her right eyebrows, grinning, but doesn't say a word. I notice she's pulled out Astra's Stride and a folding table while Tipan settles in across from her.

Huh. Should I get a folding table? Wait, I can just make my own. Metal manipulation is better than any folding table.

It only takes a minute before we come across a door labelled Crew Quarters. Next to the door are two sets of stairs, one leading up, another down. The stairs themselves are set at an uncomfortable height; each step is roughly half a meter tall.

Over the stairs going up is a sign reading Observation, Cafeteria and Crew Quarters while above the stairs heading down the sign indicates the way to Engineering and the Ripple drive-core.

"Am I reading this right? There are crew quarters here and up there?" Beth asks.

"Yeah. It looks like we can get to engineering and the drive-core by going down these stairs too."

"That would make sense. If this is some sort of ship, the engine is likely at the bottom, with engineering next to it. You'd probably want to maintain ready access," Roberts speculates while Beth leads the way into the door marked crew quarters.

"If it is a ship, then maybe we can learn something," I say, as the silver door swings on a silent hinge, revealing a long central corridor that ends in a wall at the far end. Taking the first door on the right, Beth leads us into a room bereft of furnishings with no signs of life. "Or if we're lucky, figure out how to fly it.

"Kind of empty for an alien ship. Where are all the glowing green wires?" Josh asks as we enter our third empty suite. Despite being designated as crew quarters, these rooms are huge. Each suite is bigger than our apartment back home. But then, considering the height of the doors and the rise of the stairs, the original occupants were pretty tall, so they'd need more space.

"Yeah. Looks like they packed everything up at some point," Beth agrees, scuffing her foot along the edge of the empty corridor.

We spend the next few minutes looking through rooms that are mostly the same, only slightly different in shape. There is one room that is completely different at the far end, but other than several discoloured patches, we find nothing.

"This whole excursion has been rather anticlimactic so far," Roberts remarks as we step out of the room with discoloured patches. I think it might have been a communal bathroom. Or maybe a laundry facility?

"Would you have preferred being jumped by slavering aliens who want to burrow into your chest?" Beth asks, her tone light as she leads the way.

"Hardly. But when one is given an opportunity to explore what appears to be an alien ship, it's safe to say that they expect more than a few empty rooms."

"It's how they keep their secrets," Josh whispers conspiratorially from inside his helmet.

No one has a response to that.

Since we're done searching through all the rooms without having found anything significant, Beth motions us out. With Beth leading the way, we circle around to the other side. As we're once again passing the pile of bones, it occurs to me to analyze them.

“Creature analyzed: Yrken. Gene-seed B"

Huh. That's the first time I've seen a gene-seed that isn't D.

"Yrken are a well-established and loyal servitor race. Trading their freedom for ensured genetic continuity, the Yrken are held in great esteem for their continual efforts on behalf of the Creators."

It looks like they're a servant race. I wonder what it means by genetic continuity.

"Name: Calvin Sbboh'n."

"Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Restricted.

Defences: Restricted."

It doesn't really tell me much. And there's no codex to download. Another reminder that Wyonna is gone.

I'm finished reading the analysis by the time we make it to the other side where we discover another pair of stairs. There's no door on this side though. The stairs down are labelled Engineering and Drive-core, same as on the other side, while the stairs leading up are only labelled Command. Where's the damn elevator?

"Well, I guess that's that," Beth says as we all look at the stairs.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm kind of disappointed," I say, leaning on a wall near the exit.

"Me too," Rufka replies through the link I've kept active the entire time we've been exploring, "Tipan is surprisingly good at this game."

"I'm inclined to explore another floor," Roberts contributes, looking at the stairs leading to command.

"Me too," Josh agrees quickly.

"Well, I'm down to explore another floor," I echo, giving Rufka an idea of what's going on.

"Yes. Do that. I need time for a rematch," Rufka growls through the link.

"Rufka thinks we should too," I chuckle while relaying her opinion.

"Okay then. If we're going to do this, Command seems like a good choice. If there are answers anywhere in here, I imagine they'd be there. Or Engineering," Beth concedes easily, starting to climb the stairs with bounding steps. She's immediately followed by Josh and Roberts. Funny how strange it is to see them taking half-meter stairs, two steps at a time.

I don't bother trying to match their prowess, conjuring my hoverboard to fly along behind them instead, though I note that its price is much higher than normal. No ambient mana to draw on, I guess.

Don't know who designed this place, but it takes us sixteen sets of stairs to get to command. There are several landings but no other doors. Luckily, with everyone's now superhuman resources, it hardly matters. I'm not certain but I think we must be halfway up the building. Seems about that far based on my IFF feedback from Rufka and Tipan anyway.

As I float through the door, right behind the others, we all stop to look around. There are metallic forms of what might’ve once been machines scattered about the room, but it's only in this moment that I notice there's no dust. There hasn't been dust anywhere.

"Aren't abandoned places supposed to have dust?" I wonder out loud, inspecting the nearest metallic husk as Josh and Beth lead the way into the room.

"Damnit. I should’ve noticed that," Beth remarks, shaking her head as she steps forward.

"No one notices everything," Josh offers consolingly as he moves ahead.

"No Mana and no dust. Perhaps they're related," Roberts suggests, following close behind.

"Doesn't look like there's- oh, nevermind," Josh says from where he disappeared around one of the large metal consoles.

As we all step around, it's easy to make out what Josh found.

Slumped over a still illuminated console is another Yrken skeleton, in a more intact state than the one we found below. In this position, it's easy to see that whoever they were, they stood at least three meters tall.

But that's not what draws my attention. On the screen is a clear three-dimensional map of the city. Which is great. Even better, next to it is another three-dimensional map covered in greens, blues and browns.

It's hard to say without a closer look, but I think we may have just found a map of Akilo.

As we step forwards Roberts remarks, "Now that. That is something worth seeing."

2.12 Unexpected Discoveries

July 1, 2023, 6:22 pm.

"Well, this appears to be a useful find," Roberts continues as we encircle the console. Which I immediately analyze.

"Object Analyzed: Yrken Console. Used for accessing and displaying information.

Condition: damaged."

Wow, shortest analyze description yet. Didn't even tell me anything about the material.

"So, uhm. Are we going to move the…." Josh wonders, gesturing at the Yrken skeleton.

"I think we can leave them undisturbed," Roberts suggests while I try to copy the map of Akilo into my journal, Pausing so I can dedicate time to the task.

When I'm done, it's not perfect. It's not even good, but it's pretty amazing for four minutes. It's still weird to me that I can draw with my mind yet the quality is worse than if I did it by hand. At least I have a decent outline.

There's a small flashing red dot on the easternmost part of the map which I'm guessing is our location. Just to the west of that dot is a massive mountain range that stretches the length of the entire continent, running from the north to south. In the middle of the mountain range is a yawning pit which is denoted as a giant black patch.

There are multiple other dots on the map, each one a small black dot inside a circle that doesn't flash. I'm guessing those are other Builder cities. Or points of interest at the very least.

As we're all inspecting the maps, Beth wonders, "Do you think this is really Akilo? There are only three continents and a hell of a lot of islands."

"I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. There was a time where the earth was a single landmass," Roberts reminds us while still studying the map.

"I've created a crude copy, but I wish I had proper drafting tools," I tell the others, which makes Josh jump before he shifts away from me.

Okay, seriously. What's going on? I know I didn't imagine it this time.

"Hmm. Perhaps we can ask Raz if he has any supplies," Roberts suggests as Rufka whispers in my ear, "No, you're crude and sloppy."

Even as Rufka's talking, Beth bumps the skeleton, sending it to the floor. At the same time, the map flickers, replacing Akilo with the familiar outline of Ukila but in greater detail. Trying not to laugh at Rufka's comment, I struggle to keep a straight face, but I fail, giggling as everyone else jumps back.

"It's not funny, Alexis," Josh snaps at me.

"I wasn't-," I try to apologize as he turns away, storming past one of the metal consoles out of sight.

"What the hell?" I exclaim softly, watching him stomp away.

"He's been somewhat unsettled since our battle with the Fallen," Roberts mentions his eyes following Josh.

"But what does that have to do with me?" I ask as Roberts speaks again.

"Some guys don't handle it well when a woman is more powerful than them," Beth mentions in a soft voice, looking in the direction Josh stormed off.

Roberts nods his head, then shakes it. "That is true. Far too often. But I'm not certain that's the case here. Josh has said… Well, it's his story. But he's had some bad experiences. He's also uncomfortable with how Alexis acted during our battle."

"But I'd never hurt Josh," I declare, confused and upset. I’d paid attention to my links. Not once did I throw a torrent near… oh, except with Dhanni. But he was standing back.

"I don't know what to tell you," Roberts responds with an apologetic shrug, "I just know he's afraid."

I take a deep breath before replying, "I guess that makes sense. There's a lot of crazy stuff that's happened to us pretty suddenly. I keep forgetting that you guys were out cold.” Or years of playbacks to live through, I add to myself. Don’t feel like mentioning that if Josh is already this… upset with me. Looking up, I add, “Maybe we should head back to Raz's."

Beth's eyes flick to the still glowing console before refocusing on me, "I'd prefer to investigate a little more first. I'm sure Josh will be okay for a little longer."

Nodding, I reluctantly float over to the console next to her, catching a flash of Josh's armour by the stairway.

"I'll talk to him," Roberts tells us as he moves to join Josh, his cloak rustling as he turns.

"Okay, first. Can you get Akilo back?" Beth asks.

Doing my best to put Josh's reaction out of my mind, I read through the limited symbols on the console, explaining them to Beth.

"The first one, the one sitting by itself in the top left corner reads status," I start, unable to stop myself from glancing in Josh’s direction. "Currently it says 'Stable'."

A cough from Beth draws my attention back. "This is a zoom bar, I think. There's a plus and minus symbol at least," I inform her while pointing to a bar in the lower-left corner. This time, I catch myself before looking over to Josh.

"Filter, map," I list as I point to the remaining two words in the bottom right corner.

"So, you think it's this one?" Beth checks, her finger hovering over the word ‘map’.

"Sure, probably," I answer, shrugging. If this is a map terminal, I doubt there’s much we can do to mess it up.

"Well, here's hoping," Beth mumbles quietly as she taps the map button. It doesn't bring up a map of Akilo, instead, it lists a dozen different words. It only takes a second to discern they're alphanumeric designations which I note are all variations of MWVAE-220##.

Once I tell Beth, she goes through, tapping on each one until she finds Akilo again. Or as the console calls it, MWVAE-22003. I spend another Pauseimproving my map, then my gaze drifts to the skeleton on the floor. "What do you think happened to them?"

Following my gaze, Beth shrugs. "Hard to say. Accident would be my guess."

Then turning her attention back to the screen, she looks at the screen for a moment before she tries adjusting the zoom. When it doesn’t respond she starts playing with the filters.

"Huh, the Mana-flows filter kind of resembles a weather map, doesn't it," I mention as Beth flicks to the next filter, labelled Mana-faults.

"Hmm. Kind of," Beth replies flipping back for a second before returning to the Mana-faults overlay.

The pattern is vaguely familiar. Beth is reaching to switch to the next filter when I grab her hand.

"One second," I interject as I open my rune pages while Beth stares at me, her lip quirking up with her brow raised. I barely notice, Pausing as I inspect the map, comparing it to my runes.

I was right. The fourth rune in my Return spell matches the Mana-fault map filter. Well, mostly. As I'm inspecting the map, I see dozens of mistakes that I start correcting on a new copy. When my Pause ends, the rune is vastly improved. It's also given me a theory about how the spell might be used to travel to different parts of Akilo. Too bad I'd still need to know where the other nexuses… Nexi? Nexuvians? Whatever. I’d need to know where the other teleport locations are.

"Sorry, matched one of my runes," I explain to Beth as I release her hand.

"That matches one of your runes?" Beth questions, shaking her head with a chuckle before flipping to the next filter which shows waterways.

She keeps flipping. We find geological fault lines, heat maps, precipitation patterns. Everything you might want to know about a planet, there’s a filter for it. I take as many notes as I can, even though I'm not sure any of this is going to be useful to us. Luckily, it only takes a moment to copy any mental image I've already created in my journal, so I soon have pages of maps of Akilo with rough annotations of the overall patterns.

"Does this seem like a monitoring station to you?" Beth asks after having flicked through all the filters a couple times. Several of the overlays are dynamic, changing roughly every ten seconds.

"Yeah. What do you think they were monitoring?" I wonder as Beth changes the map again.

"I'm inclined to say 'everything' ," Beth answers, the sound of Josh and Roberts talking in low voices, grabbing my attention for a moment before I refocus.

Glancing up, I see she's displaying the map of Ukila. Then she changes it to one of the other celestial bodies, a gas giant that resembles Saturn. She only reviews it for a moment before switching to the next. Cycling through.

She pauses when she gets to one labelled MWVAE-22009. It's different from the rest. It’s a facility of some type. A space station, I think. Hard to gauge the size, but if I’m reading the scale right, it’s bigger than the city we’re in now. Over a hundred kilometers across, I think. Unlike every other map, the status 'window' in the upper left corner displays the word 'Active' instead of the word 'Stable'.

"Interesting," Beth comments as she returns the screen to Akilo, "but I'm not sure how useful most of this is. It would be more useful if we could bring it with us."

"This though," Beth adds, switching her Focus over to the three-dimensional map of the city.

"Damn," Beth swears as we investigate the city map. There are a few locations noted on the map, but none of the navigation features work, so we're not able to get much other than a few points of interest and the general layout.

Not that we know what the points of interest are. They could be something like, 'find great treasure here.' But they could just as easily be 'this monster smells like sewage, avoid it.'

"I think we're done here people," Beth yells towards the centre of the room. Looking about, I realize that Josh and Roberts must’ve continued exploring while we were checking the maps, as they're no longer near the entrance.

"I think we may have found something," Roberts calls back from the far side of the room. Beth and I glance at each other before moving to investigate.

Passing by several additional dark consoles we find Josh and Roberts paging through a book.

"Hmm. Well, this is unexpected," Roberts comments as we approach.

"What is it?" Beth asks, holding her hand towards him. Josh still has his full armour up, helmet in place as he looks over Roberts' shoulder at the book in his hands. Roberts turns a solid rectangular page before he answers.

Huh, is the book made out of plastic?

"I believe it's... Yes. It's definitely pornography," Roberts answers, handing the book to Beth. I can't help staring at the pictures that show several large green creatures doing…. something. Something that looks like it would be very painful. At least for the one in the middle.

"Ha. It just gave me a quest to translate the language," Beth laughs as she flips to another page with a bunch of reader letters on it.

"I'll get you to help us with that later if you don't mind, kid," Beth asks as she stows the book in her inventory.

"Sure," I answer with a blush as Beth directs us to head towards the stairs.

"Hey, uh, Josh. I'm-" I start to apologize as we pick our way over, but Josh interrupts me.

"It's fine, Alexis. Just forget it," he snaps quickly, the odd echo from his helmet filling the room as he turns away.

Ouch.

No one says anything as we awkwardly make our way towards the stairs. As we pass by the twisted metal form of one of the consoles, I wonder if I can manipulate these. Running my hand across the surface I discover a mix of titanium with what I think is plastic. The metal is incredibly resistant to my efforts to reshape it. It’s reinforced to resist metal manipulation somehow.

I follow the others down in silence until we cross the threshold back into the room where Tipan and Rufka are still playing Astra's Stride.

"Oh? You're done? Excellent timing. We're just finished ourselves," Rufka greets us cheerily, turning away from a game she appears to be losing. Though not badly.

"We were?" Tipan leans back confused, noticing us entering and giving us a small wave.

"Yep. So, find anything interesting?" Rufka asks as she begins carefully gathering up her board.

"A few things. A console with multiple maps, another skeleton and a book. We’ll need to come back to explore the rest though," Beth answers while climbing the stairs before continuing to the tunnel above.

I barely register her words as I glance at Tipan, a thought taking hold. My brain just goes on hold as I recognize Tipan's uncanny resemblance to Sel'dast. Wait, didn’t she say something about her sister? I stare at her as I wonder if I should give her Sel'dast's crystal.

That’d make sense, right?

As I'm staring, Roberts and Josh both make their way past me. Roberts simply steps around making his way up behind Beth. But when I glance at Josh, he visibly finches before hustling up the stairs behind Roberts.

I feel a spike of anger. Anger that he's upset about me doing what I had to. Anger that he's afraid of me when I tried to capture them. It's not like they were playing nice. They were trying to kill us! If I hadn’t…

I'm about to fly after him, but before I can move, I find myself draped in Rufka's arms.

"Hey, Lexi. You look like Vaus herself just tried to crawl up your arse," she comments quietly, weighing me down as Smoulder butts against me from within her special pocket.

I can't bring myself to respond even as Tipan approaches, awkwardly patting me on the shoulder before turning away to follow the others up the stairs.

"Thanks," I finally mumble into Rufka's shoulder while trying to convince Smoulder that despite my irrational surge of anger, she doesn't need to come out to smash a hole through Josh. Smoulder's solutions tend to be a bit on the simple and brutal side, but the sentiment is appreciated.

"We'll see you guys in a few," Rufka calls when Tipan reaches the top of the stairs. Tipan turns back for a second, looking us both over before nodding then continuing ahead.

"Maybe we should stay and talk," Rufka offers.

"No. It's fine. You don't have to worry," I disagree half-heartedly, not really meaning it.

"I think I do. And I think you're not being honest," Rufka rebukes me with certainty.

"You're right." I concede, glancing up in the direction of the others.

"Of course," Rufka says, taking my hand while leading me to one of the benches at the side.

We sit for half a minute, several thoughts fluttering through my head. Josh's flinching, Tipan's awkwardness and my father's prone form, lying in bed all coalesce and before I know it, I blurt out, "Am I a monster?"

Immediately, Rufka rises from her seat, turning to face me. I'm staring down at the smooth packed floor when Rufka lifts my head to look her in the eyes. Her upper eyes are closed, ensuring I know she's dedicating her full attention to me.

"Yes," she answers, sending me reeling. But she has a solid grip on my arm. Even if I went into a Pause, I wouldn't be able to escape her grip. That doesn't stop me from clawing at her arm, trying to escape.

"Lexi, listen to me," Rufka shouts in my face, causing me to flinch before I make myself meet her eyes.

"You're a Vaus-damned monster but it doesn't matter. You think I'm any better? You think any-user is!" she declares passionately, gesturing wide.

"We're all monsters. That's part of accepting the Vaus-damned System. If you don't want to be a monster then you run away to a void-blasted Builders' city to live the remainder of your life with the rest of the cowards who refuse to face the world," her passion clear even as her voice goes low.

Staring at Rufka in shock, I can't conjure words but my relief is palpable as I hug her fiercely. Not strongly, since I'm still weak as a kitten, but as fierce as I can. Then she hugs me back.

Note to self, a K'tharn hug is very secure. And comforting.

"Every-user is a monster, Lexi. We have been since the System came. But that doesn't make us evil," she notes over my shoulder as we just stand there for half a minute.

As I'm reaching down to reassure Smoulder with some head-scritches, I can't help but wonder, "How the hell can you be such a good friend to me when you barely know me."

"Skill and dedication. At least that's what I would say, but someone seems to think I rely on shortcuts," Rufka teases me.

"So, you're just lucky then," I tease back.

"I'll say. It's been too long since I had a friend who can hold her own," Rufka informs me, causing me to blush as she pulls away from me while keeping me held secure with both left arms, "Speaking of which."

I don't know if she's trying to hold me up or prevent me from escaping, but either way, she doesn't let go. Then she pulls out two cups and her moonshine.

"Hold these for me, would you?" Rufka requests, handing me the cups.

"I'd rather have tea," I mention as she pours the first cup.

"Tea is for breakfast. Or lunch. You're such a silly outlander," Rufka states flatly, pouring the second cup.

"But we still have the buff from earlier," I point out.

"And? I need a drink. And I'd say you do too. So, drink," Rufka commands, lifting her cup.

Eyeing my cup tentatively, I sip carefully. I must be getting used to it. While it's still unpleasant, it's not that hard to down my cup. Checking my status, I confirm that it just resets the condition. It doesn't double the Health edge or stack the duration.

As I'm looking at my conditions, I notice that all of the Forerunner conditions are greyed out. NEWB protection, Survival Focus and A Good Night's Rest are still in the current conditions tab, but there's an asterisk next to them.

"There. That wasn't so bad was it?" Rufka prompts me while handing me her dirty cup, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"The only reason you keep me around is cause I do the dishes, isn't it?" I kid while checking the asterisk.

"*Unconfirmed condition: Isolated for the safety of the citizen. Please connect to the primary network for proper assessment."

"I wouldn't say the only reason," Rufka answers while I clean both our cups before handing them back to her. Looks like Wyonna's not the only thing that was locked away.

"Yeah. I'm good for drama too," I sigh. I really wish I'd stop embarrassing myself. This is why I just stayed home all the time. Caring what people think about you is such a pain to deal with.

"Yep. That's why you're my favourite monster," Rufka tells me as she starts leading me upwards.

"Thanks. I think. I'm feeling better now, we could fly to catch up to the others," I suggest but I don't cast the spell yet.

"Nah, you can just call them, right? Let them know we'll join them topside," Rufka instructs me as we pass yet another corner.

Shrugging in acquiescence, I connect to Roberts, "Uhm, Rufka and I are on our way to the surface. We'll meet you guys there."

"Excellent. Thank you, Alexis. We'll see you shortly," Roberts responds.

When we emerge, the others are gathered together, assembling their gliders. We really need to figure out a faster method for them. Tipan is able to use hers instantly, but the others don't have flight harnesses built into their regular clothing.

Instead of joining the others, Rufka pulls me to the side then we check the nearby area for Fallen before settling on a nearby roof. We sit on the edge, our feet dangling over the side, Rufka still keeping one hand in mine.

"Lexi, can I ask you a personal question?" Rufka asks as we wait, Smoulder sneaking her way out of my pocket now that we're safely settled on the roof.

"After the way I've been acting today? I'm pretty sure you deserve to ask anything you want," I answer, giving Smoulder head-scritches and dried fruit while enjoying the quiet.

"How even are your Attributes?"

"Huh?" I respond, "How is that a personal question?"

"Attributes are personal. Like your diary. Anyway, I'm uncertain, but I believe you're experiencing side effects of rapid attribute change mixed with unbalanced mental attributes," Rufka explains when I don't answer her question.

"That's a thing?"

"Yes. Mum insisted that I don't exceed a 2:1 ratio for any mental attributes or else I'd be likely to go crazier than a wennigo in rutting season. On top of that, the rapid change to your attributes may be making the situation worse. Like with resistances, you need time to adjust to the changes."

"Wait, so I'm making myself crazy with unbalanced attributes?"

"Not crazy. Just unbalanced," Rufka denies with a smile. Then, as if she's trying to change the subject, she adds, "One needs to be careful with the physical Attributes as well. There's less danger of imbalance affecting your behaviour. But it's easy to hurt yourself. Until you adjust. Mum is certain the imbalances are why the System requires us to reach the maximum in every attribute before we can advance to copper."

"So, you think if I raise my other mental attributes, I won't get angry as often?" I ask hopefully.

"Eh," Rufka shrugs noncommittally, "I don't know. But probably."

Looking at my attributes, I'm tempted to put every point I can into Resolve this moment. Instead, I just put a single point in, bringing it up to thirteen compared to my Perception of twenty-seven. I can add another point in an hour if it still feels like the right call.

“Wait… all mental attributes?” I ask, staring at the huge gulf between Resolve and Intellect.

“Mhm. That’s what mum says,” Rufka confirms, causing me to take a deep breath. Just… be mindful Lexi. It’s like… a sugar high. It’s affecting you, but it doesn’t have complete control.

The others seem just about ready to fly when I look over to them a moment later. I connect to Roberts again, telling him where we're waiting while waving down at them.

"We're headed back to Raz's for the day. Will you be joining us?" Roberts asks as he returns my wave.

"Of course," I respond, prepared to float away from the edge. But Rufka still has a firm grip on my hand.

"The others are headed back to Raz's," I tell her as we watch them assemble then strap into the gliders below.

"Good. I'm hungry," Rufka informs me. But she still doesn't stand up. Or join me in floating.

"But?"

"I think it would be best if we escorted them from a distance," Rufka suggests, pointing to where Josh is struggling with his glider.

As I'm watching I see him glance up in our direction, stumbling back when he meets my eyes, causing him to get completely entangled in his glider.

"Oh. Right," I grumble as I settle back into place, turning my gaze upwards to the night sky while settling back down.

"Wow," I whisper when I see the way the evening sun lights up the green and blue orb of Ukila in the sky above.

"Yeah," Rufka agrees, Focusing on the view beside me.

"We found a map of Ukila inside," I mention offhandedly while we gaze at the sky.

"Huh. You know, my mum used to tell me stories about Ukila."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. She told me our family made it there. Back before the System even. Her grandmum, Melcia was an explorer from the western continent back before the System arrived. They crossed the boundary. Vaus knows how they did it. Mum never was clear on that bit," Rufka starts, her eyes Focused on the distant planet.

"When they arrived, they discovered they weren't the first. There was an entire civilization of K'tharn there. Advanced beyond her understanding. Hidden from our world, so as not to 'interfere'. Some ancient agreement."

"She spent years there before returning to Akilo. But neither her nor the other explorers told anyone what they'd discovered. Not until decades later. Instead, they said it was wild and dangerous. That they'd lost half their numbers to Ukila. That there was strange and terrible magic," Rufka pauses, leaning forward then motioning for me to get up.

We fly into the air following the others back to Raz's as Rufka continues.

"They did lose half their number to Ukila, but it wasn't as dire as it sounded. Not then. The missing half were the ones who’d chosen to remain behind. Melcia wanted to stay, but she had responsibilities here. When she came home, she never expected she’d be able to go back."

"But that was before the System arrived. Melcia used to say that 'the System makes the impossible merely kind of improbable.' Mum prefers to say, 'the System makes the mundane kind of murderous.' I think they're both right."

I snort in amusement as she continues.

"Anyway, Mum said her grandmum went back. This was after she'd reached the heights of her power, shortly before the great exodus. But Ukila's great civilization had vanished with the arrival of the Mana swarms. They’d received no Builder cities or System. When we underwent inclusion, they'd been left with nothing but their own wits. Whatever they'd used to hide from us had worked on the System as well. But Mana-storms didn't care how well they hid."

"When Melcia arrived, she'd found ruined buildings and precious few survivors. She was surprised to discover there were no Manaborne there. There were only the local creatures, infused with Ukila's Mana. And the Fallen."

"Her arrival brought the System's attention to Ukila which brought the planet into the inclusion. However, the System didn't help the few K'tharn who remained free. They were little more than quest objectives for Melcia and her companions to the System. The scattered refugees that Melcia found were returned to Akilo as survivors from one lost Akilo city or another. They were escorted into the Builder cities where they could live out the rest of their System-less days."

Rufka pauses once more as we land on a rooftop, watching the others land outside the entrance to Raz's as they make their way inside.

"Every twenty years or so the System would issue a quest sending our upper copper ranks to Ukila. Until the Aetherium gained control over the portal. There hasn't been an excursion to Ukila for over a century."

"My mum said that Ukila sleeps, waiting for a great hero to find the lost civilization, which is still there, hidden out of sight."

"Wow," I mumble staring up at Ukila as it casts its reflected light across the street.

"Thanks, Rufka. For sharing," I add a second later.

"No problem Lexi. Just remember one thing."

"Yeah?"

"My mum likes to lie. A lot."

A note from Draith

If you haven't already seen it, and enjoy cyperpunk/cultivation crossover, I totally recommend Slumrat Rising. Great world building, excellent characters and dialogue. Just a really great story.

2.13 Why You Wittle Wascal

July 1, 2023, 7:13 pm.

Smacking Rufka as I raise my other hand to block out an errant ray of light from the setting sun, I ask, "was any of that true?"

"Her name was Melcia. Probably," Rufka answers grinning shamelessly before her face sobers. "But honestly? I don't know. Mum really did tell me all that. But it's hard to believe. Crossing the divide without the System. How would you even do such a thing?"

"Have you heard of Thenite Skyscreamers?" I ask Rufka, which is the closest thing that Uthica knew of to the word spaceship. They definitely flew through space.

"As in the Howling Skyscreamers of the Thenite Consortium of Free Worlds? Of course. The Aetherium won't let any-user forget about their victory over the 'mighty sky pirates'. Nevermind that it was centuries ago," Rufka declares, striking a mockingly heroic pose for a moment before shrugging.

"Well, on Earth, we have our own Skyscreamers. But they aren't used for war. I mean not directly. Actually, we have another type of… Nevermind. Point is, we have Skyscreamers that are primarily used to explore. We went to our own version of Ukila once. It was a big deal at the time. But our moon was barren and lifeless, so there wasn't much reason to go back."

"Wait, you're saying Skyscreamers could cross the divide?"

"Uhh. Yeah. You didn't know that?"

"How could any-user? There hasn't been a Skyscreamer on Akilo in centuries. How do you?" Rufka demands with a penetrating stare.

"The System," I answer, tapping my forehead.

"Ah. Right. Sorry," Rufka apologizes, "think we should head inside?"

"Probably," I shrug, holding Smoulder close while gazing up at Ukila. There’s a glint, from the edge of the dome, and I wrap my eyes in Twilight, Pausing to hold myself still as I zoom in on it, wondering if there’s a shooting star.

Instead of a shooting star, I see Ivicka on her dragon, the members of her Desh’ila floating on their gliders behind her. Her tiger-like fur is pressed back, and her mouth is stretched into a crooked grin as she flies along the edge of the city, just on the far side of the dungeon boundary. She’s moving at noticeable speed, even with time Paused.

She can’t get inside, I forcefully remind myself. Still, I watch her until she disappears into the sky to the west, lost in the setting sun. I can’t help but note, all of her Desh’ila were with her.

A shudder passes down my spine as Pause ends, and my eyes drift back to where I first spotted her. But the sky remains empty, except for Ukila’s green and blue majesty.

As I shake my head, Rufka elbows me, asking, “What is it?”

“I… Ivicka’s flying around the edge of the city.

“Oh. Yeah, that figures.” Rufka says, nodding. “So… were there any other ships that could reach Ukila?”

Instead of answering, I stare at her for a second. Then I let out a soft chuckle. "I think those 'silver bullets' might be able to cross the divide,” I reply, making a note to tell the others about seeing Ivicka. “They're like something out of a…" I pause, snapping my fingers as I try to think of what the Vausian equivalent for the word movie might be. "A memory crystal!"

"Yes. Because those are so common, any-user would know what you're talking about," Rufka drolly replies as she hefts herself over the edge, sliding down the side of the building with her earth skates. I watch as Smoulder follows, bouncing off Rufka's shoulder then the wall before landing on a piece of debris leaning against the building.

"What. You're saying you don't use memory crystals?" I ask as I follow them down. My descent isn't nearly as stylish, but I'm still thrilled to be flying.

"Only a copper rank would have the shards to spend on something so…. Frivolous. Like mum," Rufka grouses as I land next to her and Smoulder. I dismiss my flight spell, stepping towards the door.

"Huh. Uthica used them all the time," I point out as we hunch down to step through Raz's low-hanging door.

"Yes, well, Uthica was the greatest warrior queen of her time. I'm sure a few shards were nothing to a warrior of her strength."

"How many shards are we talking?" I wonder curiously before I turn to find the others gathered around a new, larger table. Roberts offers a small wave as I move to sit beside him.

"More than we gathered today, that's for sure," Rufka answers as she sits between Tipan and me.

"Welcome back," Beth greets us as Raz arrives with meals for the four of them.

"Raz here was just about to tell us what he knows about citizenship," Beth states, drawing a sigh from the short lizard creature.

"I told you, Beth. There's nothing I can tell you about Citizens except that they have special access to resources and locations that aren't available to the general user. You must be a Citizen to be able to learn about the benefits. If a Citizen were to try to tell me any of the details, I literally wouldn't be able to understand them."

"Wow. That's harsh," I note as I order my own food.

"The System has similar restrictions in place for Builders and Creators. It hardly matters. Citizens are as rare as legendary classes," Raz shrugs, his black scales making the gesture hard to follow in the dim light.

"Have you ever heard of a quest that awards Citizen status?" Roberts asks as he carefully sets a napkin in place before starting on his delicious-looking plate of fried bird, mashed tubers and a selection of unknown vegetables.

"Only once. I had a guest who stayed with me shortly after he'd finished his Citizen quest. He'd been unable to share the details, but he told me he'd had to travel to fifteen different core worlds trying to find someone. He complained to me that it had taken him twenty years to complete the quest. He did imply the rewards had been worth it though."

"Wow. Twenty years?" I burst out, "that's longer than I've been alive."

Raz looks at me then, his eyes narrowing as his gaze flicks up and down, taking me in.

"You're younger than I realized. It can be difficult to tell, once a user is integrated. Especially with new species."

"Yeah. Mum complained about that. Thought some users didn't deserve eternal youth," Rufka comments.

"Hmm. Interesting. What happens to users who integrate later in life?" Roberts asks, the reason for his interest clear as he runs a hand through his still grey hair.

"They get younger," Raz answers, "the System gives everyone the same time. But it only counts the time you're integrated."

"What do you mean gives us time?" Beth asks, setting her food to the side.

"Simply that. Every user has 144 galactic standard years of life during Iron-rank. If you haven't ranked up by that point, you die."

"Wait, so I'm going to live to be like a hundred and sixty?" I ask incredulously.

"Approximately. Assuming you don't die from other sources, of course. Naturally, most users don't die of old age at Iron-rank."

"This is true. Even most risk-averse K'tharn decide to start attempting to break through into copper once they only have a decade of life left. Since they don't know how to handle themselves, most die without success," Tipan supplies casually, as if discussing the weather.

"Well, as fascinating as the idea that we're all going to live for another hundred years is, it sounds like it's going to be a long time before any of us have to worry about it," Beth points out as she leans forward. "There are more immediate matters that require our attention."

"Indeed. Such as this Demo. Do you think there was a fifth?" Roberts asks, setting his fork to the side as he speaks.

"No. We never… we didn't see any signs that anyone else had been in the circle. I'm more inclined to think they have nothing to do with us," Beth answers, a couple loose strands of her fiery hair falling over her face as she shakes her head.

As Beth tucks the loose strands back into her loose ponytail, I ask, "are we doing the Citizen quest?"

"Not yet. Nothing to be done as we are now. Too obvious. Rufka mentioned getting assistance from her friend. With her help, maybe we'll figure out a way to deal with Ivicka once we're finished with the Dungeon. If not, we'll need to run."

"Oh. I saw her flying along the edge of the city. She’s fast." With my new flight spell, I can't help but wonder what it would take to outrun her. So I ask Tipan exactly that.

"Hmm. It depends. When she has Asterix, her bonded dragon, she is capable of incredible speed. Faster than I've seen you fly. Without Asterix, she's rather slow. For a copper rank."

"What're you thinking, kid?"

"I have a mass flight ability that I can take if we level up. Then, when we finish, we can run instead of teleporting away."

Tipan tilts her head to the side, tapping her chin as she thinks. "Hmm. I don't believe it would be enough. Not for all of us. Unless the ability is unusually fast, the spell's speed would be too low while she's with Asterix. If we were able to keep her away from Asterix for an hour or so we'd be able to disappear. Unfortunately, I've no idea how we could do so."

"What if we…." Roberts starts asking as we continue discussing possible strategies for the next half hour. Unfortunately, the closest we come to a decision is, as Beth put it, ‘wait and see’.

Beth's meal looked so good, I decided to try it myself. While I'm eating, the conversation drifts to whether Raz can play some old song Beth and Josh both like while I invest another point into Resolve, bringing it up to thirteen. Only like thirty more points until I'm at Rufka's recommended ratio. After checking the time, I decide to invest another three points in Resolve which leaves me with eight points.

Which is still more than I need, so I put another five points in. Now my Resolve will be twenty-two by morning. A solid start.

As I assign the points, I order two plates of wings and more blue fruit juice while checking my current balance of shards. I've got just over a thousand. Since this conversation isn't going anywhere, it's time to do some shopping.

Excusing myself, I head for the bathroom. Closing the heavy door, I see myself for the first time since I accepted my class.

It feels like I should be drastically different, but other than some dirt on my outfit, I basically look the same as I did this morning. There's no dark cloak or swirling galaxies floating within my eyes. I almost wish there were. Then at least I could see the reason Josh is afraid of me. Terrified, even.

Sighing, I decide to take advantage of the bath. That's what it's here for, right? Much like the shower upstairs, I don't have to create my own water. There's a set of runes at one end which I'm able to tap, which fill the tub with either hot or cold water. It's rather quick too, only taking half a minute to fill the large tub. As I get undressed Smoulder huffs, inspecting the bath for a moment before settling back on my aunt Sharon’s jacket.

Copying the new runes into my journal, I lay back, inspecting the mirror. A mental push is enough to bring up the System menu.

"Anti-Corruption System Activation detected. Re-configuring Menu. Please choose from one of the following options.

- Access Inventory

- Anti-Corruption Subsystems

- Change Preferred Spells

- Class Advancement

- Essence Conversion

- General Ability Shop

- Personal Room Customization

- Raz's Repository of Artifacts, Armours and Other Useful Things

- Set Return Point.“

Huh. A new menu option for anti-corruption. The System really takes this seriously. Before I start browsing, I figure I should let the others know about this. But since I'm in the bath, the only one I feel comfortable contacting is Beth.

"Hey Beth. I'm in the change room and when I accessed the menu, a new anti-corruption option appeared. Thought you'd want to know," I inform her as I enjoy the languid feeling of the warm bathwater, the steam so thick I can barely see through it.

"Really? One second, I want to see for myself," Beth responds as I'm holding my arm above the water catching the droplets before they can fall. When I realize what Beth said, I duck my body beneath the surface as Beth approaches the door.

"I'm not really….." I trail off as I feel Beth move into the room. But she doesn't appear in my view. Even though I can track her movement with my new sense, I realize we're in a layered space. The room is in the same place for both of us, but it's also displaced. I guess that explains why there's only one change room door.

"Whaddya know. There really are new anti-corruption options," I hear Beth say through the link. “I think I need to ask Raz about some of these costs.”

"Uhm. Yeah. I'll talk to you later," I say as I disconnect. Now that I've informed Beth, I intend to enjoy the rest of my bath in privacy. Then I 'unslot' the rest of my party members. I'd rather not know when everyone is using the bathroom. I wonder if I can set it to turn on and off every time I leave the rest area.

Knowing that Beth is probably investigating the anti-corruption options, I pull the menu up for a little light shopping as I'd originally intended when I came in.

Going through Raz's store again, I purchase several outfits I passed up the first time. They wouldn't have fit before, but with my ability to tuck and fold any outfit using Metal Manipulation, my wardrobe options are a lot more expansive.

I have four complete outfits, not counting my poor onesie. That's almost as many as I had on earth, since I didn't need many outfits.

At home, if I really wanted to change it up, I could just borrow some of mom's clothes. As long as it wasn't one of her cocktail dresses, she was happy to have me wearing them. Though if she saw me, she'd give me one of her remarks such as, "that looks almost as good on you as it does on me, sweetie. I really do have the best taste, don't I?" It did discourage me from wearing her clothes if I knew she was going to be around.

Most of my own weren't fancy. Easier to keep mom from disappearing them that way.

With my new outfits obtained, all of which I transfer directly to my inventory, I switch my attention over to exploring class advancement. I probably need one of those Progression Marks to do anything, but I'm still curious.

Cataclysm Seed - Class Advancement:

- Progress Class Level. (Requirements complete.)

- Ascend Class to next rank.

- Refine Class to next rarity.

Huh, I meet the requirements to level?

Focusing on level progression brings up a new menu.

Cataclysm Seed - Level 2 Progression Requirements:

Minimum Attributes:

- Agility = 5.

- Endurance = 5.

- Intellect = 10.

- Spirit = 10.

- Perception = 10.

- Resolve = 10.

Minimum Skill Levels:

- Mana Manipulation = 10.

- Temporal Manipulation = 10.

- Spatial Manipulation = 10.

- Fire Manipulation = 10.

- Water Manipulation = 10.

- Wind Manipulation = 10.

- Lightning Manipulation = 10.

- Stone Manipulation = 10.

- Earth Manipulation = 10.

- Metal Manipulation = 10.

- Ice Manipulation = 10.

- Twilight Manipulation = 10.

"Would you like to progress to level 2 for one class Progression Mark?"

Well, I've got even more reason to balance my attributes now. If this pattern continues, I won't be able to get to level three until I raise my endurance from five to ten though. At least the rest of the requirements seem easy.

While I'm certain I don't have a class Progression Mark, I decide I may as well try to confirm anyway. Since it's asking.

When I do, I receive a notification indicating that I have insufficient Progression Marks to advance my class at this time.

Yeah. That's what I thought. I do notice the System now adds a helpful counter under my Attributes. Right under Integration points, there's now a spot indicating Progression Marks, of which, I have zero.

Oh well, it was worth a try.

Curious to see if I can check the requirements to advance my class to copper, I prod the option leaving me pleasantly surprised when the menu changes.

Cataclysm Seed - Copper Advancement Requirements:

Minimum Attributes:

- Strength = 90

- Constitution = 90

- Agility = 105.

- Endurance = 105.

- Intellect = 125.

- Spirit = 125.

- Perception = 125.

- Resolve = 125.

Minimum Skill Levels:

- Mana Manipulation = 125.

- Temporal Manipulation = 125.

- Spatial Manipulation = 125.

- Fire Manipulation = 125.

- Water Manipulation = 125.

- Wind Manipulation = 125.

- Lightning Manipulation = 125.

- Stone Manipulation = 125.

- Earth Manipulation = 125.

- Metal Manipulation = 125.

- Ice Manipulation = 125.

- Twilight Manipulation = 125.

- Flight or Shifting = 125

Minimum System Quests Completed:

- Survival - Stage 1 - Survive for 36 days.

Minimum Lesser Iron-grade Dungeons Completed:

- Combat Dungeons = 0

- Training Dungeons = 1

- Puzzle Dungeons = 5

- Scenario Dungeons = 5

"Class section updated for easier tracking of advancement requirements."

Wow. When Rufka mentioned that you needed to have your attributes maxed out I didn't think about just how maxed that meant. Or that I'd also need to max out so many skills and complete so many dungeons. At least the survival quest should take care of itself.

On the plus side, apparently, I've got over a hundred years to get there. When I think about it that way, the requirements don't seem sobad.

Ha. I only just got my class this morning, yet I'm already thinking about advancing it to Copper. Shaking my head, I adjust the temperature of the water by channelling fire Mana into it directly as I move on, creating a fresh wave of steam.

Since I'm already perusing the menu, I give the Refine Class option a quick glance. It has two options listed, which is impressive. I didn't expect to find anything under this menu.

Cataclysm Seed - Class Refinement Options

- Black Cataclysm Lotus.

- Crimson Cataclysm Lotus.

Interesting. I wonder whether they'll show me any details.

Black Cataclysm Lotus - Rarity Refinement Requirements:

Minimum Skills Unlocked:

- Unknown.

Minimum System Quests Completed:

- Unknown.

Minimum Dungeons Completed:

- Unknown.

Ha. It's like my Paradox class all over again.

At least it's not too surprising. They told us that people have a hard time advancing their class to epic. I imagine part of that is having to figure out how to do so in the first place.

I quickly check Crimson Lotus, but predictably, the results are the same.

Hmm. Wonder if the requirements are revealed once I complete them or if there's some other way to reveal that hidden info. I don't have a quest for it, but maybe I need to do research or something. At least I've got general hints from what Wyonna told me about unlocking the knight classes. And unlocking more skills is probably important.

Hehe. I'm doing it again. Now instead of thinking about advancing to Copper, I'm pondering how to refine my class.

I consider going through the general ability shop and the anti-corruption subsystems. I’m tired, but… there might be something that can help Wyonna. So, I review them quickly, looking for anything that might pop out to me even as I find myself yawning. But nope, nothing pops. I'll go through them properly in the morning. It's… it’s been a long day and what I really want to do…

What I need to do, just for a moment, is play with magic.

Creating a ring of fire, I float it over my bath, bringing it closer to the surface. As the water starts to boil, Smoulder suddenly leaps through the ring, landing on the far side of the tub with a smug feeling of victory emanating from her.

Amused, I create a second ring of burning fire which I place further along the tub.

Smoulder only takes a second to hop through both rings before looking at me smugly.

Okay, challenge accepted.

I reach out, grabbing the stone and earth I keep in my pack while also grabbing the metal from my discarded clothes.

Mentally, with my magic, of course. No need to get out of the nice, luxurious bath. Once I have all the Mana-expensive materials in front of me, I start creating a more challenging obstacle course for Smoulder.

At first, I create simple platforms of earth, ice, metal and stone, with rings of fire, lightning and water for her to leap through. But it poses her no challenge, completing the course with ease. Even when I place a ring where it shouldn't be possible to get through, she succeeds by using the wall as a springboard.

If I thought I was getting smugness from her before, now it's practically Silver-grade.

Deciding I can up the challenge further, I start reshaping the platforms. I start with the earth platforms, which become mud with the addition of a little water.

The application of fire makes for slightly molten stone platforms which, thanks to her fire resistance, won't harm Smoulder, but should be like the mud, making it harder for her to gain traction. Plus, they look cool.

Halfway through, I realize I might not have the chops to pull off as many different platforms and rings as I want to do at once. Not while making them rotate or shift back and forth as well.

Accepting I'll have to make a couple changes, I continue. Next, I add metal platforms imbued with a hint of lightning to shock her slightly and ice platforms with a steady invisible wind to make them even more treacherous. Then, because I doubt this would be enough to hinder Smoulder at this point, I change the platforms' shapes so they're round anda couple will rotate slowly.

The final course starts at one edge of the tub and floats in the air all around us, a two-meter radius floating circle of elemental platforms. The only components remaining are the rings that will direct Smoulder along. I wonder if there's a subsystem or subclass for something like this?

Shaking the thought off, I add the rings of fire and lightning. As the rings come into place my Focus begins dropping rapidly.

Urging Smoulder to start, she tears through the course, nearly making it to the end but the small shock from the metal plate surprises her, causing her to fall into the tub.

But that doesn't discourage her. Smoulder swiftly swims back to her starting position, dries herself off with a little bit of flame-on action, then starts again. It takes her three more attempts while costing me over a hundred and fifty Focus to successfully complete the course.

When she sits beside me this time, it's not a sense of smugness she sends my way.

No, this time Smoulder sends me a sense of satisfaction and gratitude.

Totally worth.

Deciding I've played around long enough, I stow my materials back in my pack, climbing out of the bath while leaving the water where it belongs. It's amazing being able to dry myself so easily without a towel.

I don't know if it'll ever get old.

After getting dressed, I head back to the common room where I find Rufka, Roberts and Tipan.

Joining them, I order yet another meal. When I first arrive, Tipan is quiet, Rufka is subdued and I'm worried that Josh has disappeared and might be avoiding me. Yet Roberts pulls us all out of our heads, sharing stories of when he used to coach his daughter's little league team. We spend the next couple hours playing Astra's Stride, billiards and even a game of cards bought off Raz for five shards. All while listening to Roberts regale us with his tales.

A little while later, I find myself standing at a table with the others. It reminds me of billards, but Tipan calls it red vs blue. Despite one of the balls clearly being pink and another yellow. We have a game with Tipan and I vs Roberts and Rufka. It’s over so fast that Tipan and I get a single turn between the two of us.

For our second game, the teams are changed, and I find myself teamed up with Rufka against Tipan and Roberts. Which is when I ask about class ascension.

"Yes, you need an Ascension Crest. Those are rare. The only method that's guaranteed to grant an Ascension Crest is completion of the Great Dungeon," Tipan informs us while lining up a shot. Which she thankfully misses.

"Yep. Mum says there are other quests too. But they're never easier than the Great Dungeon," Rufka adds while readily sinking her shot.

"On the other side, Progression Marks are easy to find. Every unique dungeon you complete will reward at least one. More if you can complete the hidden challenges. Ha!" Tipan explains right before I fouled my shot, giving the turn over to her and Roberts.

We continue playing, the conversation dying out when Tipan manages to sink three yellow in short succession, replaced by our boos and cheers. And another story from Roberts, this one about the time he talked his way out of a traffic ticket by inviting the officer to his backyard barbeque. And the awkwardness when the officer showed up and one of Roberts’ friends jumped the fence when he recognized him.

When I make my way to bed, I'm not worried about anything. Barely shucking out of my clothes, I zonk out the moment I hit the bed.

It's been another long day.

But we made it through.

2.14 Early, but not so Bright

July 2, 2023, 6:56 am.

Yawning, I kick the soft covers off the bed, rubbing sleep from my eyes while gathering Smoulder into a tight hug. Good morning, you little floofball.

Okay, morning checklist. Freshen up a little, check the general ability store, grab breakfast then try to teach Tipan how to channel Mana along her body.

Rufka and I'd been talking excitedly about our race last night when Tipan mentioned that most users in the Aetherium didn't know how to direct ambient Mana. Most didn’t even have a spell for flight. Tipan added that anything that allows you to direct ambient Mana is restricted in the Aetherium, only taught to select enforcers. So, I offered to give Tipan what advice I could. Which would give her a talent not even her sister had.

Even though Ivicka is a Dragon Scion, she shouldn’t have that permission. In theory.

None of which makes any sense to me considering how easy it was to learn. But maybe I have a distorted perception of the difficulty due to my natural talent. Or more of Wyonna's shenanigans.

"Miss you, Wyonna," I mumble, continuing to think while scrubbing myself down using water with a touch of fire woven in for warmth.

Finishing my morning scrub-down, I pull all my clothes out. After pulling on a blue and black plaid sweater with a pair of dark blue trousers, which I quickly trim then fasten to fit, I make my way downstairs with Smoulder blasting ahead.

The common room is empty upon our arrival. Am I the first one up today? I would have thought Beth or Josh would have been here first. Oh well, breakfast time.

Ordering breakfast, I share it with Smoulder while I check over my newly increased attributes.

Forerunner Pandora’s STATUS

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-1

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: -10

Constitution: 15

Agility: 17

Endurance: 5

Intellect: 84

Spirit: 73

Perception: 27

Resolve: 12 > 22

Storage: 3.23 > 3.33 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 2/2

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 13 > 3

Progression Marks: 0

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 96/96 > 101/101, Edge: [6.8], Regen: (48/day) > (51/day)

Stamina

Pool: 99/99, Edge: [8.7], Regen: (53/day)

Mana

Pool: 458/458 > 473/474, Edge: [44.5] > [45.3], Regen: (346/day) > (360/day)

Focus

Pool: 351/351 > 383/383, Edge: [26.8] > [28.4], Regen: (224/day) > (249/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 122/122 > 127/127, Edge: [10.4] > [10.5], Regen: (86/hour) > (91/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Resistance: [Additional Defensive Edge Damage Reduction]

Mana: [36.25] > [38.75]

Elemental: [36.25] > [38.75]

Temporal: [52.5] > [57.5]

Spatial: [52.5] > [57.5]

Nothing major, but it's nice to see those points in Resolve raising all my resistances. Hopefully, the increased Resolve will help the bursts of anger too. Though if Rufka's right, it's going to take a lot more. And… I didn’t even have any last night. So, maybe it’s not my Attributes?

Even after I’ve finished my breakfast, no one else has joined me in the common room. Since everyone is taking their time, I decide to hit the change room to check out the ability shop.

When I open the shop menu, the first thing I find is a list of abbreviations at the top.

General Ability Shop price abbreviations:

- Point: Integration points

- Mark: Progression Marks

- Crest: Ascension Crests

It’s nice to see it plainly laid out that Ascension Crests aren't the same thing as Progression Marks. While I'm Focusing on the menu, I'm able to discern that I can convert a Progression Mark to ten Integration points. One-way process though. No buying levels with Integration points. I can also convert Ascension Crests into thirty Integration points, but given how rare they are, I'll hold off on that for… I don't know, probably forever.

To the side of abbreviations is the list of General Ability Categories.

General Ability Categories:

- Communication

- Essence Gathering

- Interface

- Material Gathering

- Node management

- Pet

- Safety

- Storage

- Training

- Transport

Right. Ten different categories. Going through this might eat up more time than it’ll take the others to get up. Oh well.

Focusing on each option expands the menu further. Letting me see the ability options available alongside their price. If I Focus a second longer, the description even appears directly in the menu.

General Ability Shop Abilities:

- Communication

- Contacts, 1 Iron Point.

- Allows adding users to a basic contact list. Users in the contact list can send and receive system mail and party invites through any Nexus.

- Party Voice, 2 Iron Points.

- Provides party voice chat between all members who have the ability unlocked and enabled.

- Party Text, 2 Iron Points.

- Provides party text chat between all members who have the ability unlocked and enabled.

Okay. The contact list seems kind of useful. It's neat that you can send mail or invite people to a party at a distance. Too bad it's limited to being at a Nexus.

Party text would be excellent for silent communication. I wonder if we can just shoot thoughts as text. That'd be great.

- Essence Gathering

- Autoloot - Touch - Mortal, 1 Iron Point.

- Allows automatic gathering of any Mortal-grade Manaborne or Mana-infused creature with a touch. Can be toggled on/off.

Well, that seems weak. Limited to touch and only Mortal-grade creatures. I'm hoping there's an upgrade I can't see. Tipan did mention the shop only shows abilities you have unlocked. Either way, it's unlikely I'll be taking this or any of its upgrades, not with my amazing aoe looting option.

- Interface

- Analyze - Touch - Mortal, 1 Iron Point.

- Allows automatic analysis of any Mortal-grade object or creature with a touch. Can be toggled on/off.

- Citizen Class Training Area, 1 Iron Crest.

- Allows access to a mental space training area. It can be linked to any other citizen who has their own training area unlocked. Requires a Nexus.

- Journal - Spellbook upgrade- Copper-grade, 2 Copper Marks.

- Allows recording and refinement of spell runes of Copper grade. It has lesser quality when copying runes of silver-grade or above.

- Remote System Access, 1 Iron Crest.

- Allows remote access to any unlocked system Nexus menu on the local network. Charges 1/1. Cooldown 36 hours.

- Remote System Access recharge, 1 Iron Point.

- Recharges the remote access ability.

- Threat Tracking, 2 Iron Marks.

- Creates a heads up overlay of confirmed threats based on a user's ability to perceive them.

There's a lot more options under interface. Most of them are interesting. Remote System Access and Threat tracking? Yes please. Too bad they're so expensive. Threat tracking costs the equivalent of two levels by itself.

Wish I could get the Crest for the citizen training room. Wyonna said she was there, so maybe if I get access, I'll be able to talk to her again. Maybe. Damn, I don't actually know.

- Material Gathering

- Autoclaim - Touch, 1 Iron Mark

- Allows automatic claiming of any Mortal-grade Manaborne or Mana-infused creature with a touch. Can be toggled on/off.

I'm not even sure how useful this is. What does it mean by auto-claim? And how is that worth more than auto-looting? More questions for later.

- Node management

- Basic Access - Nexus, 1 Iron Crest

- Allows Basic Access to Nexus Node management Features.

Another category with a single entry. Even the description doesn't tell me much.

- Pet

- Basic - Development Menu, 5 Iron Points

- Provides additional options for developing bound pets.

I'm going to need to get this for Smoulder! Because I don't have enough things to spend Integration points on. Still, I think this will be my first major purchase here.

- Safety

- Protection - Iron-Grade, 4 Iron Points, Cooldown 36 hours.

- Upon receiving critical damage that would render a user dead, receive a linked condition instead. Less effective against Copper rank or higher sources of damage.

- Protection - recharge, 1 Iron Point.

- Recharges the Protection ability.

- Restoration, (Citizen) 1 Iron Mark.

- Upon death, this ability will restore an Iron-Grade citizen to their last assigned return point 36 minutes later if they have not been revived. Cooldown: 36 days.

- Restoration - recharge, 1 Iron Point.

- Recharges the Restoration ability.

Hmm, protection. I might need to get that. Okay, next is restoration. Wait…. I can't be reading this right. Upon death? As in, if we die, we can come back to life? A single level to have that kind of backup seems way too cheap.

I stop reading through the general abilities as I turn to Smoulder.

"So, there's an ability that lets us come back to life. How crazy is that?" I ask my furry friend. She just looks at me wondering if we're done staring at the mirror yet. She knows she's pretty, but there's only so much self-admiring she can do before lunch.

Right. Finish reading through the abilities before the others get up. And hope there’s something that might unlock Wyonna. Be astounded by their life-changing, and apparently life-restoring, abilities later when I talk to the others.

Even as I'm thinking that, I can't help but skim the rest of the options, only giving them a cursory glance.

- Storage

- Personal Repository, 1 Iron Mark.

- Training

- Citizen Dungeon Training subsystems, Iron-grade, 5 Iron Points.

- Transport

- Citizen Teleport, 2 Iron Marks. Cooldown 36 hours.

- Teleport to any unlocked return point.

- Teleport, 2 Copper Marks. Cooldown 36 hours.

- Teleport to any unlocked return point.

- Teleport - recharge, 1 Iron Point.

- Recharges Teleport or Citizen Teleport ability.

- Return, 1 Iron Mark. Cooldown 36 minutes.

- Return to your designated return point.

When I get to the bottom of the list, it takes me a second to realize I've finished. Then I pop open the anti-corruption shop. But they all require weird components to buy, like a silver wolf’s greater frost-fang. So I drop out of the menu, grabbing Smoulder from her place on the floor then rushing out of the change room.

Most of the others are still in bed but Roberts is eating breakfast at the new larger table when I run over.

"Dr Roberts!" I exclaim, startling him as I get close, causing him to drop his sausage.

"Good morning, Alexis. You're certainly excited this morning. Discover something interesting?" he asks, before trying to take a bite of the sausage of unknown origin. I know better than to ask. They're too tasty to wonder what they're from.

"Yeah. That's an understatement, Dr Roberts," I reply, practically dropping into the chair across from him.

"Alexis, you really don't need to call me doctor or Roberts. Westley or Wes will do just fine."

"Wait. Westley? Really?" I ask, momentarily distracted as Smoulder pushes her way free of my overly excited hug.

"Or Wes. Yes," he offers while dabbing his chin with a napkin.

"Okay then, Wes," I start slowly. "There's an ability in the general ability shop that lets you, get this, come back to life!" I end up blurting out excitedly.

"Interesting. I wonder what that would entail precisely," Roberts or… Wes replies, leaning forward while steepling his fingers before his face.

"Uhm. I don't know. I guess it's not that clear. It says it restores a Citizen thirty-six minutes after death at their last return point," I supply as I start thinking about it myself. How does the System bring us back to life? Are there limits?

"A Citizen you say? So, this isn't available to everyone then. An unexpected perk. And likely a contentious one as well. There are many who would pay dearly for such a thing."

"I didn't think of that. Besides, with a cooldown of 36 days, it's not like it'll come up that often, right?"

"That is quite a short amount of time. Especially to return to life, I'd say. And any who witnessed your death would likely be very surprised to find you alive after," Roberts, it's tough to think of him as Wes, points out as the familiar tapping of Tipan's staff echoes from the stairs.

“Yeah. That would be kind of freaky, wouldn’t it?” I admit, thinking of what would happen if I had to watch Sab die then have her pop back up. With a shudder, I ask, “Do you think that’s similar to what happens with the Fallen?"

"Good morning," Tipan greets while Roberts taps his fingers together in thought.

"Good morning, Tipan," Roberts responds while I give her a friendly, "morning," and a welcoming smile when she joins us, unknowingly interrupting our conversation.

"I'm quite looking forward to learning about external channelling. Thank you for offering to instruct me," Tipan says, dipping her head slightly in my direction.

"No problem," I shrug, "though I'm not certain how much I'll be able to help. I'm not that good. And it did come sort of naturally to me."

"It's such a rare skill that any guidance will be useful," Tipan disagrees, shaking her head as her breakfast floats out from behind the bar.

“Alexis will be a fine instructor, I’m sure,” Roberts offers, starting back into his meal.

I just shrug with a helpless smile, waving a finger in her direction. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."

"I would never," Tipan gasps, holding a hand against her chest.

"It's okay. It's just an expression from home," I calm her quickly while Roberts chuckles quietly. Our conversation putters out after that as they both set to eating. Meanwhile I open up my journal, inspecting the two runes I stole from the pillar but haven't experimented with yet.

The first is similar to my torrent spells in that it's a helix. But the helix is twisted into an infinity symbol. Since it's three dimensional it doesn't quite cross back over itself in the middle. I'm not certain what it's for, but it's the first full rune I've found that has two connection points built into it.

The second rune is a box. Not like a cube, but as if I'd taken a cardboard box, cut all the flaps loose then splayed them outwards. Maybe more like a fat plus sign? Again, no idea what this one is going to do, but I figure I can test both my new runes today. Especially since I seem to be up early. Which is weird. It’s eight and so this is the first time it’s felt like I’ve been awake early since I arrived.

Maybe it’s cause there's still no sign of Josh, Rufka or Beth. Even by the time Tipan has finished her breakfast. So, letting Roberts know that we're headed into the garden, Tipan and I begin her training.

"So, the first thing you're going to want to do is get a feel for your Mana," I tell Tipan who's sitting in a meditative pose, her eyes closed, all of her arms and both legs crossed.

"The most basic use of Mana manipulation. This is a logical starting point," Tipan comments as I continue.

"Yeah. Okay, now when your Mana is within your body, it follows your instructions naturally, right?"

"Correct."

"But if you try to draw it out without a rune it just dissipates?" I ask, not sure about this part.

"Yes. Unless I use my staff," Tipan confirms while nodding deeply. Which sets her Mohawk quivering. Stifling a giggle, I continue.

"Cool. The point of this is to allow you to control your unstructured Mana at a distance. Or at least that's why I learned it. Anyway, if you adjust the Mana beneath your skin, you can direct it to stay in place."

"Hmm. Yes. This is fairly simple so far."

"Good. I kind of thought so myself. Now, the next step is to shape your Mana into channels that’ll direct the ambient Mana. You can use Focus to help hold it in place. This should create a stable zone around you where the Mana behaves. Mostly."

At this point, I stop talking then settle down next to her to watch, Smoulder climbing into my lap. It took me a while to figure this part out, but I'm not sure if I can explain how I created the channels. Certain patterns worked and other ones didn't.

Oh. Maybe I should mention that part.

"Ah. I think I've-" Tipan starts to say as I'm suddenly thrown backwards by an explosive wave. Before I have time to realize what’s happening, I’m lifted into the air, my skin tingling fiercely. As I start processing, my head smacks into a nearby tree with a thwack that would make me wince at the sound alone, losing over half my Health before falling to the ground below.

Looking up, I see Tipan is covered in glowing green and purple runes. Pushing myself to my feet, I retrieve a rather miffed Smoulder from where she landed next to me, completely unharmed. I'm going to guess Tipan was successful. Probably. I don't remember there being an explosion when I did it. The glowing lines running over the surface of her fur are familiar at least.

Once more thanking the System for my Health resource, I make my way towards Tipan while holding Smoulder. When I get close, she leaps to the side, keeping her distance while staring at Tipan suspiciously. Tipan managed to throw us over ten meters with that little explosion. Impressive. I'm glad we did this first thing. Hopefully, Roberts can heal me before we head out for whatever Beth has planned for today.

Tipan remains sitting with her eyes closed, a smile the size of Ukila plastered to her face. Since she's having fun, I decide not to disturb her. I also try to impress on Smoulder that the explosion was an accident, which she accepts easily. I'm only confused for a second before Smoulder reminds me of how often things explode in my vicinity.

Ouch. Still, fair point.

I watch as Tipan's runes flare brighter then dim before flaring so bright it's like staring into the sun. Which means I start taking Health damage from looking at her.

Turning my eyes away, I wait until the ambient light dies down before calling out to her.

"So, I take it you've got it?"

"Oh. Oh yes. I'm sorry. I forgot you were here," Tipan exclaims, the runes dying down to a bare flicker as she looks in my direction. Then her eyes go wide as she scrambles to her feet.

"Are you okay? What happened?" she asks as she approaches.

"I'm fine. Why do you… Oh," I laugh as she picks a branch out of my hair.

"You may have exploded a little," I admit with what I hope is a teasing smile.

"I did? I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I was just so focused on the channels. Everything was so easy. It was just like you said. Especially once I started using Focus. And then it was working. So, I started experimenting. It was just so liberating, being able to use Mana without a rune or ability. And I'm rambling. I'm…. I'm sorry," Tipan rambles adorably, her ears laying flat in embarrassment as she stumbles to a stop.

"It's fine. You're forgiven. No harm done. And you did it, right? Unlocked the skill?" I verbally forgive her, which I'd already done in my mind because it was obviously an accident.

"I did. I can't believe it took me so long. But all the lessons said to never lock… Ma… na… they purposely mislead us," Tipan cries, all her eyes going wide in shock.

"I guess so?" I reply, not as surprised as Tipan. Seems like they're pretty big liars at this point.

"But this means… I have to relearn so much. What else did they teach me that's founded on lies? First, my sister. And now the basis for Aetherium magic itself. What if…" Tipan frets, rubbing two hands through her Mohawk.

"What if Rufka is correct? What if the Pernian academy was established by a pu'shaha?"

"Then it's established by a male, not a big deal, right?" I shrug. Sure, there aren't a lot of intelligent pu'shaha, but Pern was famous in his time. And likely the founder of this academy, now that I think about it.

"You don't understand. We don't have any males," Tipan informs me while striding back and forth.

"The pu'shaha. They're gone."

2.15 What is a Father Anyway?

July 2, 2023, 9:05 am.

"Uhm. What do you mean, gone? How can you not have males? How do you get, you know, little K'tharn?" I ask, tugging at my jacket that I realized is sitting weird after being tossed by Tipan.

"We stopped having them. After all, we don't need males. Any user can choose who they want the partner to be. If they even want a partner. If they spend the extra irons, they can choose the gender of the child. It's been years since I've heard of a pu'shaha being born. Why would any K'tharn want to use one of their limited children on a male? Especially since everyone knows that females accomplished everythingof importance!" Tipan practically screams as she turns, throwing herself on the grass. I'm sure she's being flippant but it's hard to tell, now that she's face down.

"I thought Ivicka said you had a father," I remind her, still confused.

"Of course, I had a father. She was just trying to insult her. How else would I have learned magic?" Tipan mumbles from where she has her face buried in the grass. Smoulder moves up next to her before glancing at me for a second then nudging Tipan with her nose.

"Uhm. What do you mean, her? And what does learning magic have to do with being a father?" Her explanations are doing the opposite of helping me understand.

"Your father is whichever mother teaches you literacy and magic, especially using magic in combat," Tipan explains distractedly from where her face is planted on the lawn, her head being gently butted by Smoulder.

Well, that's embarrassing. And kind of funny. I guess my translation from Uthica isn't perfect. I can see how 'father' could come to mean magic teacher, given that's kind of what Pern did. And Uthica was the one who basically introduced the word to her people by referring to Pern as her father.

"Well. That's not what Uthica meant that word for at all," I comment as Tipan flops over onto her back, her arms and legs splayed out. Which makes a perfect landing pad for Smoulder.

"Yes. Well, it would appear that a great deal of the world I thought I knew is built on lies," Tipan grumbles disconsolately even as she gives Smoulder scritches.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure that's how it always works. At least I think that's the point Mr. Heinsberg was trying to make in my grade ten social studies class. He may also have been perma-stoned, so, who knows," I respond laying down on the grass beside Tipan.

"What?" Tipan responds in confusion, shifting to stare at me.

"Nothing. Point is, history is usually 'edited' to favour the people in charge," I explain with air quotes which Tipan probably doesn't understand either.

"But why would they hide such a thing. So, pu'shaha aren't useless. Why hide it? What is there to gain?"

"Not my area of expertise," I shrug helplessly.

"Thank you. For helping me with my channelling. And for dealing with my sister. It is still hard for me to believe that both her and Bel'ther returned as Fallen. And the thought that perhaps Ivicka caused their deaths then turned them into servants," Tipan trails off as she shudders.

"You're welcome," I reply, patting her hand as I sit up. "Speaking of your sisters. I'm not sure if you want these?"

Holding out the crystals for her inspection, Tipan just stares at them for a moment, "are those… soulstones?"

"Yeah. Apparently, they're linked to your sisters. They're corrupted though."

"I think it would be best if you held on to them. For now," Tipan decides, closing my hand over the soulstones before laying back in the grass.

We sit silently for a minute before I start getting a little antsy. "Okay. Listen. I have some tests with new runes I want to run, but I don't want to wreck the garden. You can come with me if you want."

"I think I'd like that," Tipan decides after considering silently for a moment.

"Cool. Tell you what, you show me yours, I'll show you mine."

"I'm sorry. What do you mean?" Tipan asks as she pushes herself to her feet.

"I mean you probably know runes that I don't, right? And maybe I know some you don't. So, we trade them," I answer as we walk back to the common room.

"Ah. That may be challenging. While you're able to conjure runes in the air for easy study I'm... Oh…." Tipan trails off for a moment, her eyes going wide as she realizes she can do the same now. Then she turns to me with excitement, "Yes! Yes, we should do this!"

"Sweet. I just want to get Roberts, I mean Wes, to heal me up a bit," I mention looking about the public room for him. He's not here, but the moment I decide to check for him with my IFF, I realize he's in the change room.

"Uh. I guess we should wait. Looks like he's busy," I inform Tipan while grabbing a seat at the table.

"Surely we can share runes. There should be little harm in that," Tipan suggests.

Eagerly agreeing, we start trading spells. Tipan has the basic shield spell and the swept rune that produces a flamethrower effect. The one I never use. I already showed her Umbrella and flight when I was demonstrating them for the others, though she takes a little while to correct her notes.

As we're talking about flight, I mention, "You know when you were practicing your channelling, I noticed you were flickering green and purple." It was hard not to, considering how bright it got.

"Ah, I was channelling my natural Mana. I have a strong affinity with wind Mana, which I was encouraged to focus on. I also have some affinity with lightning, but I never worked on the skill," Tipan explains as I bring up my pierce spell.

"This is a strange combination," Tipan comments, inspecting the floating water sculpture I hold in place in the shape of my pierce rune.

"Oh? It's kind of weak. But it was my first spell," I offer, proud and embarrassed at the same time.

"Well, I can discern the intent behind it. It is meant to bypass barriers, correct?"

"Yeah. That was what I thought I needed at the time," I confirm while blushing. That was an awful mistake.

"Strange that you didn't use it against the Fallen. I imagine it would have worked quite well at ignoring their shields," Tipan observes, while rubbing her hand along the shimmering water structure.

"Uh. Oops." That's totally not because I forgot that it was more effective against barriers. Nope.

"I don't have any spells like this one. Excuse me for a moment."

"So, is there a primer to how runes work somewhere?" I wonder as Tipan adopts the familiar I'm-checking-my-interface look.

"There is. But I'm no longer sure how useful it might be. One of the earliest lessons was to never lock your Mana in place. I can only imagine how many other portions are incorrect," Tipan answers while gesturing for me to rotate the rune for her.

"Huh. Good point," I reply as we continue. Tipan shows me her rune for firing a flat spinning disk. Which I want to test out, but until Roberts returns, I hold off. As she's demonstrating her disk, she explains that she usually forms it out of Aero instead of Mana.

"That reminds me, do you want me to unlock your codex for Aero?"

"That would be excellent. The only description I have is from the Aetherium's codex library. Who knows how much they tried to mislead me," Tipan exclaims, clasping my hand in excitement.

"You have received a request to examine Tipan of clan Lithania's resource. Would you like to know more? Obtain the full codex for 21.6 Focus and 14.5 Facet. Note, the codex will be shared with Tipan of clan Lithania."

The cost of these codices has really come down. Confirming, Tipan and I read over her codex.

“Codex obtained: Resource - Aero.

Iron-Grade higher concept resource.

Current known users: Tipan of clan Lithania.”

“Description: Drawing on very limited knowledge of the System’s understanding of aerial fluidics, Aero is slightly destructive, but is especially good at slicing attacks. It can also be passively channelled to slow or accelerate a user's descent through the atmosphere.”

“Aero’s primary contributing attributes are Intellect and Spirit, with a lesser contribution from Perception and Resolve and a minor contribution from all other attributes.

“Like most Iron-Grade higher concept resources, Aero may not be fashioned into armour.”

Wow, Aero is almost the same as Smoulder's Ignis. Just for wind instead of fire.

"Well, it's nice to see that at least this matches what I was told. Though it didn't mention the increased contribution from Perception and Resolve. Hardly a critical mistake seeing as they recommend them for an Aeromancer anyway."

"Maybe that primer could be useful if they're only partially mistaken," I suggest.

Even as I'm speaking, Tipan is already shaking her head, "your understanding is already beyond the primer. It only covers the three basic runes as well as fundamentals on how to unlock an element. It also claims that trying to develop more than one element is a path that will limit a user. Clearly, that too, was a lie."

"They're really trying to keep you guys down, aren't they?" I ask rhetorically to which Tipan nods dejectedly before resting her head in her hands.

"Hey, why don't we continue? I haven't even shown you my best spell yet," I offer, perking her up.

"Yes. Yes please," Tipan replies, shaking her head before nodding resolutely.

As I'm showing her the torrent’s twin helix design and explaining why you need to point the outputs to the sides, a thought occurs to me.

"You know, now that you have the helix, you should really use it with lightning Mana. It has a kind of auto-aim and auto-chaining effect."

"I… I can do that. I think," she replies as she continues copying my rune. Then, once Tipan has copied the twin helix, I show her the runes I don't understand yet.

"Well, I don't know that it's the only use, but I've heard that an infinity helix is a type of capacity rune for creating delayed effects. Properly integrated into a spell it should allow us to create a continual effect. I've created a similar effect with the standard shield rune, though it tends to store very little energy," she explains as she records it in her own spellbook.

The unfolded cardboard box rune is a mystery to both of us. Tipan guesses that it might be a connection type rune, which I'm inclined to agree with. After all, it was connected to a lot of other runes when I first discovered it.

Demonstrating the double helix torrent rune again, Tipan starts making adjustments to her spell when Beth and Josh walk in from the garden. Huh. I guess we missed them.

"Uh. Good morning, Alexis. Tipan," Josh says as he takes the chair across from me.

"Morning," I grumble back. I'm still kind of upset at how he snapped at, then avoided and flinched, from me yesterday. I'm trying not to hold it against him but argh. Felt awful and not sure that’s just my unbalanced Attributes talking.

"Was that explosion earlier, you, Alexis?" Beth asks while tucking her fiery orange hair into a ponytail. Is it just me or is it more vibrant than when we got here?

"Actually, that was me," Tipan interrupts with a wave of her paw, quickly telling them about our lessons before sharing her revelations about how misinformed she is. While they're talking, I happen to glance over at Josh, yet he doesn't flinch away. Giving me a tentative smile, he offers a small wave.

I don't really know how to respond. I'm happy he's not flinching away from me anymore, obviously, but I'm still feeling kind of peeved that he was in the first place.

I give him a small wave back, but I can't find it in myself to return the smile.

"I'm afraid I've discovered I know nothing of our world. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be useful," Tipan finishes, gently drawing her claw across the surface of the table, unable to meet Beth's eyes.

"Uhm…" I start to object, trying to voice my disagreement but Beth beats me to it, "Tipan, you likely saved us from a brutal death at the hands of your sister. You brought us here, giving us time to grow in relative safety. And yes, some of your intel was incorrect, the only things you were wrong about are so outside the norm that the System has issued a quest to fix them. We owe you. Big time."

"Thank you. But I meant I'm not going to be useful for knowing what lies ahead," Tipan clarifies while smiling bashfully.

"Really. I know I've said it before but thank you Tipan. And not knowing what lies ahead just puts you in the same boat as the rest of us," Beth counters giving Tipan's shoulder a squeeze. Then Beth stands, leaning on the table. "Anyway, I wanted to visit some of these training challenges, see what they're about. What do you say, kid?"

"Training challenges?" I respond, curious.

"Yeah. Under training in the general abilities menu," Beth answers, "it lets a citizen initiate special challenges."

"Must have missed that when I saw the Restoration option," I muse.

"Well, I picked it up. Looks like you don't have to buy it either. The ability gives a basic map of the dungeon with icons for each of the challenges and the ability to activate it for the party."

"This sounds amazing. Being a Citizen is going to change so much," Tipan remarks.

"What? Just because we can complete challenges?" I ask.

"Challenges are hard to find. The records indicate there's at least one challenge in every dungeon. Unfortunately, unless you stumble across one, they remain hidden. And their rewards with them. When a challenge is discovered, it's recorded in the Aetherium's sealed records for special training. They pay small fortunes for new challenges. Which I thought was generous. But it's just another form of control isn't it?" Tipan complains, small gusts of winds batting the fur of her clenched fists around.

"See Tipan. Useful knowledge already. It sounds as though it'll be worth the investment," Beth observes, not commenting on Tipan's last question.

"I didn't realize I had such prestigious guests. It's not often I have visitors who are capable of having conversations I don't understand," Raz comments with his teeth fully on display as he brings a pitcher of juice to the table.

"Wait, you can't understand us?" I ask. We were talking in Vausian, so it's not like we were hiding our discussion. Even as I ask, Roberts emerges from the change room, walking towards us.

"I imagine you're talking about your Citizen benefits. No. No. Don't bother trying to tell me. It'll all just end up as useless noise anyway," Raz protests, both his razor-clawed hands held up to forestall Beth who was about to answer.

"Thank you for the juice," Beth replies instead, a playful smile tugging at her lips.

"You're quite welcome. And if any of you fine citizens are interested in custom equipment, please, don't hesitate to ask," Raz finishes with a bow before retreating from the table.

"Wes. Any chance you can heal me up? I've got more experiments I'd like to run," I interject, making a conscious effort to call him by name.

"Absolutely, Alexis. One moment," he responds, stopping a half-meter away while closing his eyes. I'm about to ask what he's doing when I feel his energy wash over me, replenishing my Health.

"I've managed to extend my range, just a little," Roberts explains with a surprisingly shy smile.

"Sorry, could we back up a second here. Your name is Wes?" Beth asks with a chuckle.

"Westley, actually," I supply before Roberts can respond.

"Well, congratulations on your progress, Westley. Has anyone heard from Rufka? I'd like to head out soon," Beth asks while looking around the table.

"No. But give me a second," I reply as we all shake our heads.

Reactivating my connection to Rufka I realize it's pointing me towards the door leading back into the streets. But the connection is really weak.

"I think she's already outside," I inform Beth getting up from the table.

"Good. Everyone ready to go in, say, five minutes?" Beth asks, looking to each of us.

"Indeed. I'm ready to test myself," Roberts declares, a transparent staff shimmering into existence in his hand while his body is encased in a similar set of transparent plates.

"Wow. Sweet upgrades," Josh exclaims, holding his hand up to the doctor.

"I modelled them after your own. Your instructions yesterday were quite helpful. Thank you again," Roberts replies as he politely high fives Josh. I didn't realize you could politely high five. Not until that moment.

While they're casually testing the effectiveness of Roberts' new armour, I bump Tipan's shoulder then gesture to the door. This is a perfect opportunity for us to test some spells.

Rising beside me, we make our way out. The moment we step through the door my sense of Rufka gets stronger, snapping upwards. I look up just in time to see a large fluffy shape descending on us.

"Eep," I barely squeak out before Tipan and I are squashed by Rufka.

"Good morning, sleepy-cubs," Rufka howls out while laughing from on top of us.

"Rufka. How could you? I nearly blasted you," Tipan declares as she struggles to free herself.

"Mum always says, don't forget to look up," Rufka answers unashamed as she extends a hand to each of us. Which I accept while Tipan stands on her own.

"I don't believe that applies to rest areas," Tipan exclaims while dusting herself off.

"Of course it does. Fallen like we saw yesterday? Those aren't going to play nice. And neither is your sister. We can't count on the rules you're used to skyborne," Rufka disagrees, her grin still in place.

"That… Those are valid points," Tipan concedes casting her eyes down ruefully.

"Hey, what did I just say about looking up?" Rufka asks, grabbing Tipan by the chin then guiding her head towards the horizon as I watch, trying not to giggle at poor Tipan's expression. Then she moves Tipan's head back and forth several times before lightly bopping her on the head just as Beth and Josh step out of the door behind them.

"What'd we miss?" Beth asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, just flying death kitties, raining from above," I chuckle as I activate my spell, floating upwards.

"Ohhh. Yes. I'm totally a flying death kitten who reigns from above," Rufka declares as she leaps into the air beside me, drawing her bow while striking a pose.

"Aww. That's so adorable," I admire in my best mocking tone. After the practice Sab and I put in, it’s pretty good.

"Damn. I was going for majestic," Rufka replies as Beth whistles, getting everyone's attention.

"Okay people. Turns out there are hidden challenges in these dungeons. Now, I've unlocked the subsystem that will lead us to them, but we're still going to have to fly to each one. Turns out none of them are next to the rest area. Now, we may’ve broken the Fallen encampment, but at least one of their leaders survived. We don’t know if she’ll be back, or what else is waiting for us, so let's try to pay attention."

"Questions?" Beth calls once she's finished.

"What type of challenges?" Rufka asks as she tries to lean on me. But I float away just enough she has to keep floating over until I suddenly stop, causing her to run into my elbow.

"It doesn't tell me that part. I guess we'll have to go and see," Beth replies as everyone else starts strapping into their gliders. Except Tipan, who is now able to join me and Rufka.

"I wish I could’ve retrieved the core control for the gliders," Tipan sighs as she floats beside us while watching the others.

"That's why they're all so inefficient!" Rufka exclaims from beside us.

"What?" I ask from next to her, wondering if her outburst cost me any Health. It seemed loud enough.

"The gliders should be more efficient than a flight spell. They're properly crafted artifacts after all. But I had to install that Mana-battery just so Josh could stay in the air. But obviously there's a master control so that they can't just be stolen. It's what mum would do," Rufka sighs.

Moments later we're flying towards the nearest challenge that's also in the direction of the 'silver bullet' we started exploring yesterday. Because we haven't finished with that yet. I never got a chance to test my new runes either.

On our way, we discover several packs of Fallen, but between our aerial mobility and spells, they're picked off easily. Since they're small packs, Tipan recommends I don't waste my Facet on my area looting. She instructs us that if we have a class we can loot for free.

Trying the process, I discover I have to touch the body, send Mana into it then confirm that I want to loot it, at which point it'll deposit the shards into our inventory. Testing with my area technique proves that looting everything within three meters is cheap enough that manually looting isn't worth the extra time and effort.

Then we arrive at the challenge location where a single large slab leans against a nearby building. There's nothing else here.

Flying next to Beth, I search the area again before asking the question I’m guessing is on everyone’s mind.

"So, uh, Beth… where's the challenge?"

2.16 Challenge Accepted

July 2, 2023, 10:30 am.

Looking around, I can't discern anything that might serve as this challenge we’re looking for. Maybe we're supposed to copy the giant slab of rock, taking turns leaning on the nearby building? Heh, maybe we could do a lean off, each of us demonstrating our best slack-off moves.

That'd be a great challenge. Unless we had to do it for an hour. Marathon leaning session, no thanks.

While I'm searching for another possible challenge, Beth approaches the leaning slab, squinting underneath it. Then she starts chuckling.

Landing beside her, I hear Tipan asking, "What is so amusing, Beth?"

Backing up, Beth points into the shadow of the pillar while we crowd around, "the challenge is started by climbing through those."

Moving closer, I see several small holes in the wall that lead into the building. Small holes which are arranged in the shape of a smiley face with cat ears. Joining Beth in her chuckling, I note it'd be easy for me to make my way through but I'm not sure if Josh or Roberts will be able to fit.

"Ah. Well, this is most unusual," Roberts comments, kneeling next to Beth while inspecting the holes.

Moving up next to the closest hole, Beth stops, gazing ahead unfocused.

"Okay, it says this is a movement challenge. Everyone, find yourselves an entrance. Josh, it looks like the eyes are bigger, so you and Roberts can use those," Beth instructs us, stepping out of the way.

Nodding, Josh slides under the stone slab, Roberts close behind him.

As I move into position near the bottom of the mouth, Smoulder decides to take her own hole beside me.

Smiling at her, I position myself to climb into the opening in front of me. It's only half a meter off the ground, which makes it a little awkward.

"Betcha a hundred shards I'll finish before you, skyborne," Rufka boasts as she and Tipan file into the tunnel.

"Only a hundred shards? So little. Are you afraid of losing? Why don't we make it five?" Tipan counters as she steps to her entrance.

"Hah. Solid silver. Deal, five hundred shards. Last one to the end loses," Rufka confirms, shaking Tipan's hand with a two-handed shake.

Once we're all in position, I receive a new notification.

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective revealed: Complete the hidden challenges located throughout the Fallen City of Lescodo. Requirements 0/7 unique hidden challenges completed. Rewards: 14 Iron-rank Integration points, 1 Iron-rank class Progression Mark, 1 piece of Iron-Grade gear. Time: 5/7 days remaining."

Wow, those rewards are greater than the base zone quest.

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective revealed: Complete the obstacle course challenge, 'The Collapse' using only your base attributes and movement skills. Use of any ability, spell or movement item will result in a failure of this challenge. This challenge may be attempted repeatedly. Requirements 0/1 collapsing buildings escaped. Rewards: +1 current Agility, 2 Iron-rank Integration points, 1 Iron-Grade Mana shard. Time: 5/7 days remaining."

"Your discovered skills which are allowed for this challenge are running, swimming, and climbing."

"Uhm. Does anybody else have a notification saying we need to escape a collapsing building? This seems dangerous," I mention, a little worried. This is crazy restrictive. No flying and I'm pretty sure my time freeze counts as an ability.

"Yep. But don't worry. Mum said obstacle courses won't kill you," Rufka answers while rubbing her hand together in anticipation before adding, "Though some of the conditions they leave you in might make you wish you were dead."

"Not helping," I reply, wondering if this is really worth it.

"She's exaggerating. With the power Roberts has displayed, we should be fine. And if he is unable to heal us, all such conditions go away after one or two nights rest," Tipan corrects Rufka with a glance and a rare smile.

"See kid. We're good to go," Beth smiles as she sets her own hands in place.

"Raven Queen would like to initiate the challenge, The Collapse. Are you ready? Y/N?"

A little after everyone else has mumbled their affirmation, I sigh, then quietly exhale my, "ready."

In response, a new overlay appears, similar to the one from the challenge race. Oh hey, challenge race. That makes me feel better, that was one-hundred percent non-hostile. Can't believe I didn't…. Right. Not the time.

Crawling into the hole, I follow the glowing blue arrow forward.

When I emerge on the other side, I find myself alone, kneeling on the broken remnants of a floor with a counter telling me I'm twenty stories up. Considering we were at ground level when I started squirming my way in, I'm guessing there are dimensional or mental shenanigans in play.

I don't have much time to reflect on what's going on because the floor under my knees begins shifting.

Looking for something, anything, to hold onto, I grab a round piece of metal protruding out of the wall pulling myself to my feet. Even as I stand, the floor lurches before settling into a ramp leading to the floor below.

Convenient.

As I'm inspecting my path, I realize the blue arrow is pointing down. It's not showing me a safe path to follow. It's simply pointing straight through the solid floor-turned-ramp.

Okay, looks like I need to do this myself. I wish I could fly, but it clearly stated no spells allowed. Why would it do that, I wonder?

Doesn't matter, it's time to get on with this. I carefully try to walk down the sloped floor. The moment I let go of the wall, putting my full weight on the floor, it shifts again knocking me on my butt.

Suddenly, I find myself scrambling for purchase, but the floor keeps shifting. And then a large chunk of stone falls from above landing between my sprawled legs.

Giving up my attempts to make a smooth transition, I slide down the ramp, following the stone. My Health takes a small hit when I slam into the wall at the bottom, but I avoid falling off the side.

Should've asked Rufka for some moonshine before we started. Live and learn. Probably.

Another large chunk of stone crashes down, reminding me to get moving.

Glancing up, I see that parts of the building above are collapsing. As I dodge another falling rock, I happen to catch a glimpse out a window. Which leads to yet another fun discovery. The building isn't just collapsing, it's swaying back and forth. Either that or the entire skyline is shifting.

Deciding I really should get on with it, I inch over to the edge finding more collapsed floor a meter below. There are several sections leading down, and I think I can see a clear path for several floors. Sweet. This, I can do.

The first jump is even easier than I was anticipating, and I continue to make my way down, moving from mostly intact sections to wide ledges to narrow beams.

I'm making decent time, when after jumping and balancing my way three floors down, the building shifts again, causing me to slip on a piece of loose rubble.

I try to catch my balance, but I'm thrown clear.

I feel my heart in my throat as I'm suddenly looking down into a gap that stretches at least four floors before there's anything solid to land on. Thrashing in the air, my hand grabs a piece of twisted round metal. Jerking to a stop, I find myself hanging out over the open gap that stretches down through the tower.

"This challenge is insane," I grumble to myself as my heart beats in my ears. It's tempting to just cast fly. To give up. But the others are doing this challenge too. Even Smoulder. I'm not sure I’ll be able to look her in the eyes if she finishes and I don't give it an honest try.

Gritting my teeth, I find a nearby ledge that might work. It's four meters down, but it's the closest spot I can see on this side. I swing myself side to side, building momentum. When I let go, I almost miss the ledge but manage to throw myself forwards, hitting the wall. It's not pretty, but I'm secure.

Steadying myself, I prepare to continue. I'm on the wrong side of the building though. Where before there’d been a relatively easy path, now I'm forced to make longer jumps to less stable looking remnants of what passes for a floor. On the plus side, since the platforms are further down, I'm making my way out of the tower faster.

I'm at a clearly marked floor twelve when I run out of platforms on my side of the tower. Just ten meters down is a mostly intact floor where a great deal of rubble has accumulated. It looks like there's only one path forward once I'm down there, so hopefully, I'll be able to get back on the easier path.

Only ten measly meters of open-air between me and easy mode. Funny how much further that seems when it’s all down.

Checking around me I see a platform that's slightly higher that has more of the twisted metal rod. There are several protrusions clumped against the wall that appear to offer good handholds.

It's only a couple meters, but the only way I see to get to it is by inching my way along a very narrow ledge. If the building shifts while I'm on that ledge, I'm not sure I'll be able to hold on.

So, I wait a few seconds for the building to shift again. Unfortunately, it doesn't oblige. And rocks are still falling. I wait another five seconds before deciding I should go for it. I make it to the other platform right as the building shifts again. But I've already got my hands wrapped around the metal rod, holding myself in place. Moving quickly but carefully, I start climbing down, the cold metal bars bending slightly under my hurried efforts.

The protrusions end about two meters above the floor below. Trying to choose a nice clear landing spot, I swing myself slightly then let go.

As I land on floor ten, only stumbling forward a little, my interface updates, adding a green timer.

5:00

4:59

Oh joy.

4:58

I rush across the floor to the only opening below. However, during my time on the wrong side of the tower, I forgot about watching for falling rocks. I'm struck from behind just as I reach the opening. The blow costs me twelve Health while knocking me off balance. Landing on my hands and knees next to the opening, I shrug the rubble off, trying to ignore just what that would’ve done to me without Health. 4:32

Not bothering to stand, I investigate the opening then drop to the next ledge in my path. Now that there's a timer, I move even quicker from ledge to ledge, jumping, running and climbing as quickly as I can. Luckily, they're the easy ledges from the beginning of my run. 4:14

I keep going through the next few floors, catching myself several times when the building shifts. Even though I'm expecting it, it's still hard to be ready for those, since they don’t follow a standard rhythm. When I'm five floors from the ground, I stop seeing windows. Guess they don't want me jumping down the outside. I'm only three floors from the end with two whole minutes on the clock when the entire building makes a disturbing screeching noise. 2:17

Even as I continue, making my way to the big obvious door at ground level, large sections of stone start raining down around me. I'm only a couple of meters from the door when a massive block falls in front of me knocking me from my feet. 1:31

Luckily, it only knocked me down. 1:24

Looking up, I see that I was wrong. It also knocked my Health down to two while completely covering the exit. The big blue arrow is still pointing right through the slab. 1:18

"Okay. That's just not fair," I mutter as I search for another option. 1:10

But there are no other exits. Moving next to the giant block, I find it's leaning against the door like the beginning of the challenge. However, any exit to be found is buried in rubble. I start pulling the rubble out of the way. After a few seconds of work, I find what I'm hoping for. Daylight. 0:54

Pulling more rubble out of the way, I hit the ground then start squeezing through the gap pushing my way out while the clock continues counting down, hoping I don’t tear aunt Sharon’s jacket. 0:33

I'm nearly out when my leg gets stuck on something. Pulling desperately, I groan when I hear a rip. That was my fault on more than one level. 0:15

I keep pulling myself forward through the surprisingly long tunnel until the timer finally stops, blinking at 0:08. The timer is replaced by a quest notification as I pull myself out of the wall.

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective completed: Requirements 1/1 collapsing buildings escaped. Rewards: +1 current Agility, 2 Iron-rank Integration points, 1 Iron-Grade Mana shard."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

"Wow, Lexi. Looks like you had fun," I hear Rufka say from beside me. Looking up I find everyone else standing around. Smoulder is right in front of me feeling satisfied.

"I have to say, I found it quite exhilarating myself," Roberts proclaims as he and Rufka both extend a hand, helping me to my feet while Smoulder hops onto my shoulder.

"Yeah. That was amazing. And those random steel balls with all the spikes? Those really kept me on my toes," Rufka agrees.

"I must have missed those," I note, inspecting my clothing. Yep, that was a real rip. But my Health is back at full. With Roberts here, I kind of wish it was the other way around.

"Me too," Josh says from where he's standing. Tipan and Beth are talking in low tones just behind him.

"Indeed. It seems to have given us different challenges based on our individual skills or attributes. While I had no spiked balls of death, I did have to descend from forty floors whereas Beth only had to descend twenty or so," Roberts contributes.

"Yeah. I think I had a hundred," Rufka adds while draping her arm over my shoulder. "So, how many did you have?"

"Uh. Just twenty," I answer even as I add a point to my Resolve.

"Huh. Well, at least we all finished it on our first try, right?" Rufka grins while shaking me gently.

"Agreed. And now that we've seen just what these challenges are about, we'll be more prepared for next time," Beth notes, her Umbra armour soaking up the sun as she approaches. I wonder if she gets hot while wearing that?

"We're done here. Let's get ready to move people," Beth commands while bringing her glider out.

On that note, Josh and Roberts start setting up their own gliders. While they're busy I turn to Rufka.

"Uhh Rufka, do you think I could have some more of that moonshine?" I ask quietly. It's still kind of early, but that Health edge is just so huge for me.

"Sure thing, Lexi," Rufka replies, pulling everything out then handing me a cup.

"Thanks. Cheers," I raise my cup before once again gasping at the burning. So bad. But that Health edge is so good.

"Anytime, Lexi. Anytime," Rufka says as I wash our cups.

With that out of the way, and with the others still working on their gliders, I decide now's a good time to try Tipan's rune.

"Just going to test something before we fly," I let Rufka know, moving slightly away from the others.

"Oh yeah. Me too. Thanks for reminding me," Rufka replies before flying up over the dull grey building we just emerged from.

Turning back to my own experiments, I pick out a loose stone block twenty meters away as a target. Creating the disc in my head, I imbue it with wind Mana. It's what Tipan uses, so it only feels right starting here.

It works exactly as I'd seen when Tipan used it, slicing off part of the stone block. Watching the stone slough off, I start bombarding it with all my cheap elements. I get similar results with water, removing another corner. Nice to know that even if I didn't have stone shaping, I could still carve it.

Continuing, I find that fire and lightning scorch my practice target while the earth disc just crumbles, not having much effect. Meanwhile, the twilight disk produces a small field of shadows or glowing yellow light.

Finally, I use a disc of stone taken from my pack, firing it forward. My disc and target shatter in an amazing example of mutually assured destruction, the impact far louder than any of the other discs so far.

"The hell was that, kid!?" Beth yells from where they're lifting into the air.

"Just a test," I call back as I activate my hoverboard, joining them above. When I arrive, I find a dozen Fallen bodies on the nearby building with Rufka's arrows protruding from them. So I loot them.

"Right. Just a test. Figures."

"Come on, let's go do some exploring. Then we'll see if we can't find another challenge," Beth commands. Following along, I notice we're taking an indirect route, but Beth's leading the way towards the silver bullet from yesterday.

The same silver bullet where I was cut off from Wyonna. Which reminds me.

I ask Rufka and Tipan about some of the components I read about in the anti-corruption shop, which gets Beth’s attention as well.

“Most of those would require travelling to the southern parts of the Eastern continent,” Tipan says, shaking her head. “And I’ve never even heard of an Elswyrm or it’s levitation gland.”

“Mum might have some of those. But they’d be locked to her personal mana-signature. And only Vaus knows where she’d put them. Mum’s not the most organized user.”

Tipan nods, as we swing wide around a mostly collapsed building. “I suppose my mother might also be able to acquire some of the ingredients. She deals with a lot of the Aetherium’s more unusual trade requests. But it wouldn’t be quick. And we’d need to get into the heart of Aethire. Not easy when we stand out as much as we do.”

Beth chuckles at this. “Yeah, I imagine having all white fur would stand out.”

“I… well, yes. It is rather rare. But I was actually referring to you all being elvenoids. We don’t have that many outlanders in the capital.”

“Mum’d have a way in. But you’re right, skyborne. You’d all stand out like a Zanbia in a pink sash on Odean’s birthday.”

Tipan shakes her head. “Actually, I’d be fine… I have something that… alters my fur colouration.”

We all look at her, but Tipan refuses to say more.

Beth shakes her head. “Well. We’ll keep our eyes out. Maybe we’ll find something in the ruins. It’s a big city, after all.”

Nodding, I resign myself to the fact that there's no easy way to get Wyonna back through the anti-corruption menu. Not unless we stumble across the rare components.

We encounter another two squads of lesser Fallen on the way, attacking us as soon as they see us. I don't even have to help.

Now that Tipan has access to lightning torrent and a flight spell she's nearly as scary as I am. And she's much more graceful. Plus, Rufka is trying her hand at Tipan's disks. They're not as potent as mine and Tipan's, but she has amazing aim. Plus, she’s using lightning.

Once we get near the tunnel, the Fallen seem to disappear. I guess they don't like it here anymore.

As we land, I inspect the opening leading down. It's kind of lacking that special something.

"I'm gonna stay topside. Keep an eye out for that Fallen," Rufka informs us as I start reshaping the earth around the entrance to be more of a general sphere.

While I start shaping large clumps of earth into neat blocks, I see Tipan nodding as she adds, "Seeing as we can't join you inside, I'll wait here with Rufka. I wish to practice further with these new runes I learned from Alexis."

I'm just about finished placing a small sphere over the tunnel entrance when Beth acknowledges Tipan, "Sounds good. Alexis, stay in contact with Rufka. Tipan, let's test party chat."

"Testing. Testing…." Beth's voice cuts out as she steps away.

"Yes. I wish we could explore as well," Tipan answers as I decide my entrance needs sharp protrusions stretching into the sky.

"Uhh, kid," Beth mutters when she returns.

"Yeah, Beth?" I reply as I float two balls of burning flame into the recessed nooks on each side.

"Why the hell did you make the entrance into a giant bunny head?"

Looking at it critically, I turn to Smoulder for a second, receiving an approving nod before answering.

"Ambience."

A note from Draith

Thank you, Micro-shock and Quinn Voidheart, for your kind reviews.

2.17 Fear Not The Bunny!

July 2, 2023, 11:42 am.

Beth just shakes her head at my slightly larger than life representation of Smoulder before suggesting we eat.

This whole, eating more food thing is a lot more fun when we're at Raz's. Not so much when working my way through jerky. It's tasty enough, but I'm starting to get tired of it. Wait. Have I even tried storing fresh food?

Damnit. If only I had two people who grew up with the System within arm's reach I could ask.

"Quick question. What happens if I put fresh food in dimensional storage?" I ask, noticing that Rufka is eating some sort of sausage. A sausage that appears to be warm.

"It goes in," Rufka answers with a chuckle.

I glare at her but she just smirks back. Luckily, Tipan is here too. And like usual she provides a more useful response, "if you're wondering about long term storage and spoilage, there isn't any. A freshly prepared steak will stay hot and sizzling."

"I thought you just liked jerky, kid," Beth laughs as she pulls out a fresh pulled-meat sandwich.

Looking at Josh and Roberts, I realize they both have similar sandwiches. Josh gives me an apologetic shrug as he takes another bite while Roberts doesn't even notice my question, gazing out across the city as he takes another neat bite.

"Doesn't always taste the same," Rufka notes even as she takes another large bite of sausage. I keep chewing on my jerky while making a mental note to pick up as many interesting dishes as I can reasonably fit once we get back.

When we're finished, the others hand their gliders over to Rufka and Tipan. Rufka has some thoughts about how to improve them, to make it so they work without the missing core. But, of course, she needs to experiment with one first.

As we descend into the bunny tunnel of terror, the others start a discussion about the differences in their armour. Beth mentions that using different amounts of Umbra seems to increase its effectiveness and Josh confirms it's similar for him. When they start talking about feedback and maneuverability, I kind of zone out. Instead, I start playing with a pseudo-scale model of earth's solar system formed out of twilight. Sab would probably give me an earful about incorrect distances and other inaccuracies. Ignoring the pang that random thought brings, I concentrate on setting the System in motion while pampering Smoulder with snuggles and head-scritches.

Once we reach the ship, Smoulder returns to my shoulder while I simplify my twilight into an orb. Then Beth takes us towards the crew quarters. She sends us through the next floor, which we search quickly. Still just a bunch of empty rooms. Same as we found when we searched the first floor yesterday.

Deciding to skip past the rest, for now, we continue up for another six floors. Finally, after we've passed our eighth floor of crew quarters, we come across the Cafeteria.

While not being quite as empty as the crew quarters, it does have an abandoned feeling to it. Even so, the room is reminiscent of my old school cafeteria back on earth. The tables and benches scattered throughout are all firmly attached to the floor, and they show signs of use, divots and bends in the metal.

But for all the familiarity, exploring the cafeteria makes me feel like I'm a child in a room meant for adults. More than any other part of the ship, that is. The height of everything is just… a lot. I’m able to walk under one of the tables, the bottom not even brushing the top of my head. Though Josh has to duck when he follows me. I’m thankful there’s no gum stuck to the bottom of anything.

Deciding it'll be easier to scout the room from above, Beth starts marching along the top of the tables, easily bounding from one to the next while Roberts follows behind her. So, I float into the air at the back, letting Josh get ahead. Smoulder isn’t having any of it. Now that there's hopping involved, she’s right beside Beth.

Now that we’re up, I can see Beth’s new destination. At the back of the cafeteria is a kitchen area, separated from the rest of the room by a long counter and a pair of solid metal doors. Very sterile and boring, including the giant push bar that sits even higher than the tables.

We don't find anything of interest on the way. Just benches, tables and a whole bunch of hopping. Instead of trying the doors, Beth leads us directly over the counter. Entering the kitchen we find several devices that look like they could’ve been stoves or ovens at one point. It's… creepy. And not just the kitchen. This ship feels… abandoned. Lifeless and sterile and like… like it all just stopped.

We continue our search, finding a sealed door at the back of the kitchen that reads, "Chef Bana only! This includes you, captain!"

"What do you think is inside?" I wonder as Beth steps back from the door.

"Food, I imagine. It appears to be a larder or perhaps a walk-in cooler," Roberts speculates while Beth tries interacting with the door only to discover it's locked.

Unable to make any more progress than the aforementioned captain, and not wanting to waste time on something that's likely useless, Beth leads us up through the 'bullet' once more. We travel past ten more floors of crew quarters until we finally run out of stairs, leaving us outside the door to the Observatory.

When we arrive, we're all left waiting on the platform as Beth touches the door. She stops for a moment, as a familiar notification appears on the door.

"Citizen status recognized."

"Access granted."

When the door swings open, we all just stand and stare for a second.

Just inside is a small observation platform that looks out over the room below. Split up into several sections, this room is as full as every previous room was empty. And it's not a small room. The room must take up the entirety of the top section of the 'bullet', its ceiling curving out of sight above, disappearing into darkness.

There's a low thrumming noise coming from the otherwise quiet, but apparently still functional, machinery. Everywhere I look, there's a different display, momentarily lighting up then going dark.

"Wow. I was honestly expecting more empty rooms," Beth admits staring about in surprise.

"I… I don't even know where to start," I agree, stepping up next to her. Some of the flashing screens show us the familiar map of Akilo, but others are just lines of numbers or pages of text.

"Let's not get worried about the computers yet. Take a look around, see if we can't find anything else of interest," Beth suggests, starting our search as she's talking, heading to the right. Not even four steps along and we find a pad lying on the ground.

Picking it up, Beth turns it on. It contains written stories about "The Adventures of Superbug Bo'ktoz Azin and his robo-slug sidekick Rax." Again, I need to read it for her, but this might be all we need to teach her Astreum. When I attempt to swipe the page to the side, the next page flashes up. Before I’ve swiped my finger across. The pads seem to react to mental input. While there might be more to discover, Beth motions us onward, intent on sweeping the room first.

So we continue, finding more pads, a few plastic books about K'tharn and what might’ve once been a lunchbox. It even has coloured pictures of big green men standing heroically on it. It's easier to make out the cartoonish features on the lunchbox than the magazine we found. There weren't any visible faces in that, the publication choosing to prioritize other assets. At least on the page I saw.

But anyway, I'm calling it right here. Yrken are orcs with a great dental plan. The ones on the lunchbox have a very superman-esque vibe to them, all spandex and heroic poses. But they've also got the muscles, stature, green pointed ears and even the tusks of an orc.

"Huh. Orcs," Josh comments, echoing my thoughts as Beth prompts us to finish investigating the room.

Ten minutes later we've gathered everything we found after a casual search.

"Well, we certainly have a lot to go through," Beth states, looking at the pads, hard plastic books and more than one lunchbox. Everything is somewhat neatly stacked near the centre of the room.

"Anyone else feel like we've gathered up the lost belongings of a bunch of kids on a field trip?" I ask looking at the pile.

"Yeah," Josh agrees soberly while staring at the pile.

We all stare at the pile for a few seconds, an unspoken tension resting between us.

Suddenly, a loud thump sounds out as Smoulder lands in the middle of the pile scattering everything. Looking up at us, I can feel her fake innocence as she gives me an 'oops, did I do that?' look that doesn’t match with the smugness she’s clearly radiating over our bond.

"Well, she certainly knows how to make a splash, doesn't she?" Roberts chuckles, picking up one of the books Smoulder just displaced.

"Always ready for a hopping good time," Josh tries, getting a small laugh from Beth as I collect Smoulder, mentally thanking her for the distraction, even though I probably shouldn’t be encouraging such behaviour.

"I think we should take the time to learn their language. We certainly have plenty of source material," Beth suggests, grabbing a book of her own then looking to me. So, we start working on everyone's lessons while I browse through some of the contents on the computers. Further analysis reveals they're tracking all sorts of information about Akilo. It's basically the maps from before but now with numbers. Lots and lots of numbers.

"Do you think these have anything to do with the System?" I ask as I look at another page of data on the amount of precipitation received in grid E12 of quadrant A3 of sector 2. Reaching down to give Smoulder scritches, I discover she wandered off. A quick pull at the bond and a glance later, I spot her hopping around from computer to computer, searching for a good hidey hole. Just in case.

"I have no clue. I'm sure that with the right equipment, all this information could be valuable. Just not certain we have the tools to get anything from it. Nor do I think we need it," Beth responds before she tells me the name of yet another letter from the book beside her. Which she gets wrong. Again.

Still, she's learning faster than Josh who's working with Roberts. Apparently, Roberts was able to finish half the quest just using the porn magazine last night. Which meant he was able to finish pretty quickly once I started instructing him. Not really sure how to feel about that, but decide it's none of my business why he picked it up so quickly. He certainly wasn't ashamed of how he'd made progress.

It takes another half hour with Beth for her to finish the quest. During that time, I discovered there are definitely more Builder cities on the continent. Looking to see if there's anything else that might be useful doesn't yield any results. It feels like these are general purpose monitors like you might find on an exhibit, loaded with certain pre-recorded messages. Plus the ongoing analysis, of course.

"Thanks, kid. Now let's see," Beth says as she starts taking a turn at the computer with no protests from me.

I mean, why should I complain. Maybe she can find something I couldn't.

While she's doing that, I start contemplating the spatial aspect of my Facet. I've really been under-utilizing it. There must be a way for me to achieve a short range teleport.

"I'm going to do some testing again," I inform the others, getting a nod from Beth and a thumbs up from Roberts. Josh is busy focusing on the letters very carefully.

Experimenting with the tethers I used for my aoe looting, I attach one to a lunchbox. Then I erect the shield around myself. I'm not really sure how to push with my ability so I try to pull myself towards the lunch box.

Instead of teleporting when I exert myself, I feel the tether dissolve, unable to sustain the connection.

Huh. Interesting.

Not very useful, but interesting.

Thinking back to my return spell, I try to figure out what it was that let me use it. It was a combination of runes, yes. But the combination feels like it was mostly about having a precise location. It allowed me to lock on to a specific target. Like an address.

But I'm able to use my tether for a location. Maybe I just need a more solid object?

Looking around the room, my eyes settle on a computer mounted on the far side of the room. Linking to the computer, I take a deep breath, then I pull.

It's not like when I cast the return spell.

There's no feeling of being on a moving escalator. It's much quicker than that. One second I'm standing next to Beth on one side of the room, the next I'm falling through the air to land on the computer on the far side.

"Alexis! Are you okay? What'd you do now?" Beth yells out as I look at my Health. Only lost twenty points. I really need to work on that landing though.

"Uh yeah. I'm fine. Just, you know, playing with magic again," I reply from my awkward position.

"I thought you were just testing something?" Beth says as she strolls closer to me.

"Yep. I was testing to see if I could teleport," I answer as I stand. "Looks like I can."

"Wait? This I need to see. Can you do it again?" Beth requests more than demands, despite crossing her arms while scrutinizing me.

"Uh, sure. One second," I agree. It's… nice that she's encouraging me. Makes me feel… warm? And only a little distracted.

Checking my Facet, I discover my experiment consumed nine Facet to cross twenty meters.

Throwing another tether to a computer back towards the guys, but only about ten meters away, I repeat my trick. This time I'm even higher up when I appear, but I have less forward momentum, so I don't slam into this computer. I do fall rather ungracefully to the floor though.

"Why do you appear so high up?" Beth asks as she approaches.

"I'm not sure. Still figuring this out," I respond while considering her question and checking my Facet. Hmm. Still used four Facet that time. Need to test an even shorter teleport.

Choosing another computer, this time I pay closer attention to where my tether lands. When I realize it's on top of the monstrous computer station, I send out a new tether which I stick closer to waist height.

When I make the four-meter teleport, I come out only twenty centimeters or so up, which makes landing much easier. I only stumble a tiny bit. The teleport only cost 0.1 Facet and Focus too.

"Well, that was definitely an improvement. Are you able to teleport others as well?" Beth asks as I teleport to a slightly farther target, trying to lock down the range.

"I haven't tried yet. I'm a little worried about it failing. It could be pretty nasty," I answer as I try another slightly longer teleport.

This time I'm not as careful, falling half a meter when I emerge. Did I mention how much I love the effect of Rufka's moonshine? That extra Health edge makes all these falls painless. I wonder if I could get a flask of my own. Or maybe something with the same effect that tastes better.

"I suppose that's true. What about objects. Why don't you try teleporting a weapon into your hand?" Beth proposes, staying back.

"How about I start with a lunchbox," I counter, reaching out a tether to the lunchbox from earlier. I try pulling on it again, but changing the direction… isn’t quite the right word. The… flow or momentum are better, but neither are quite right. Either way, I reverse the final pull. A moment later I'm hit by a twisted piece of metal accompanied by a horrible screeching noise.

"Wow. Good call on testing with a lunchbox. That thing was destroyed," Beth notes, kicking the tangled mess at my feet.

"No kidding. I almost feel bad for it."

"Well, it was kind of asking for it, sitting there all defenceless and empty. Only thing better for target practice would be empty beer bottles," Beth chuckles as I study the crushed lunchbox.

She's right. It is empty. And when I look closer, it looks like it collapsed inwards. I try searching around the room for something to fill another one with when I realize I can just grab materials from my pack.

"Uhh, kid?" Beth voices as I start floating a bunch of earth into another lunchbox.

"Look at the way it's been crushed. I'm thinking that maybe if I teleport a solid object it'll come out intact. I hope," I reply, setting the now full lunchbox down while stepping away.

Creating a new tether, I pull the lunchbox towards me excitedly. Instead of a piercing screeching there's only a low groan and the lunch box arrives in my hands mostly intact. Not that I actually catch it. I wasn't as prepared for it as I should have been, so I may have let it slip, dropping it on my foot. Which didn’t hurt, yet still managed to elicit a small ‘ow’ of surprise.

"At least it was quieter," Beth comments, apparently losing interest as she starts to flip through one of the K'tharn books. While Beth reads, I inspect the damaged but not crushed lunchbox which tried to seek revenge on me via foot assassination.

Before I can inspect it closely, Smoulder ignites the offending object. When I glance over, I notice her doing the same to the first lunchbox.

As I watch it melt together, I ponder what I could do if I were able to teleport others. It would be huge if I could use teleport with timestop, swapping people on the battlefield. Moving people out of the way for my attacks then moving them back? Okay, probably not that. Not yet.

As I'm staring at the box I can't help but wish I could shield it. It's obvious that pulling it to me is what's damaging it. I try copying my personal shield, but unless I'm holding the box I can't form the shield. And the second I set it down, the shield comes undone. I'm going to need a way to keep the shield in place before I can teleport objects to me.

And this still doesn't help me teleport others. Am I being too greedy? I did just figure out how to teleport myself. Shouldn't that be enough?

…

Nah.

While I mull over how I might teleport others, I keep experimenting. I start teleporting myself while carrying objects, stretching my shield over them. My next test object is a five kilo block of stone drawn from my inventory.

When I succeed without damaging the stone, not counting the crack from when I dropped it, of course, I try teleporting a few different plastic books.

After those tests are successful, I spend some time teleporting myself around the room. Five minutes and I'm getting the hang of not falling when I teleport. The biggest discovery was realizing I could anchor myself to the ground. I always come up a meter short of where I target my tether but I'm consistently arriving on my feet now.

For my last test I swap out the books for another lunchbox which makes it intact.

Okay. Looking good.

Still, before I go any further, I open my skills to take a look at my spatial manipulation, which is already over fifty. That’s a significant jump.

Now, whether the skill going up is enough to say I can bring Smoulder with me when I teleport… well, still not sure if I should test it with her.

Sitting down next to her, I take her in my arms while projecting my thoughts to her, wondering if she wants to try teleporting.

In response Smoulder reminds me that she's a hare.

Hopping comes naturally to her.

A note from Draith

Huge thanks to MDW and Youngish Oldster for their amazing reviews.

2.18 Crew Quarters

July 2, 2023, 3:33 pm.

Okay. Yes, Smoulder, I know you're a master of hopping. But teleporting isn't quite the same. As I'm pointing out this minor difference, I'm broken out of my thoughts by Josh suddenly raising his arms over his head.

"Finally!" Josh exclaims before slumping over the table he and Roberts are using for his lessons.

"I guess he finished," I whisper to Smoulder while Roberts ensures Josh doesn't smack his head. I wonder what Josh's Intellect is? Does it apply a modifier for when we're trying to complete these quests?

Smoulder doesn't appreciate me trying to change the subject and reminds me that I need to try hopping while holding her tight.

"Excellent. Once Josh recovers, I think it's time to continue exploring. We'll double-check the Crew Quarters then see if we can't find another challenge," Beth decides, tossing the book she was perusing into the scattered pile.

While she's doing that, I put Smoulder in my special pocket for her, making triple sure that my shield is wrapped around her. I don't feel entirely ready to subject her to this, but it was my idea. If you don’t want to do something, don’t suggest it Alexis.

So, with a deep breath, I teleport across the room. Then I check to make sure Smoulder's okay, flicking a glance at her status even as I'm pulling her out of my pocket. She didn't take so much as a single point of damage. Cuddling her close, I whisper, "that was easier than I expected."

Smoulder just nuzzles me back while conveying a feeling that can best be summed up as, ‘I told you so.’ Admitting the foolishness of my trepidation, I look back to the others and the pile of miscellaneous loot we've gathered.

Not willing to leave anything behind, I start preparing it for dimensional storage.

Stacking everything neatly, I set aside one copy of each of the books. There are three different books from what I can see, all about different K'tharn cultures from before their apocalypse. Might be worth something to Rufka or Tipan, but we've got at least six of every book, so I'm keeping copies for myself.

We all take one of the pads as well. They're a little large, roughly forty by twenty cm. I imagine they're sized for the Yrken. When I started packing things away, Beth was tinkering with one of the pads. While I’d been experimenting with my teleportation, apparently she’s determined how to use them to bring up a display of any aspect of the System we've interacted with. This includes things we'd only glanced at, such as the abilities in the shop as well as the maps and the data on the consoles. Pretty useful feature. Doesn’t let us buy anything, but still useful.

The lunchboxes turn out to be titanium I can manipulate. I keep one lunchbox intact which I put my K'tharn books in, but the rest become raw material. They only add up to a kilo, but that's still a decent amount of titanium. I'm not sure it'll be more effective than steel, but I can't wait to test it.

Everything we didn't set aside; I wrap into several large bundles that I put in my pack.

Then we continue our way down the tower, quickly searching through the crew quarters below. Now that we've found something, Beth doesn't want to leave any room unchecked. Even so, the search is only cursory, and we split into teams of two on each floor to cover ground faster.

Roberts and I are checking the floor above the cafeteria when we stumble across a door that doesn't immediately slide open. When Roberts pushes against it, it flashes the notification about citizen authorization then opens. It isn't empty. Calling out to Beth, we stay out of the room even as I note its contents. Against the far wall is a humming machine covered in glass, like a grocery store frozen foods cooler. There's also a desk with its matching chair and an end table. All sized for a giant, several meter tall creature of course.

"What'd you find," Beth asks when she and Josh run over.

"I'm not certain, but I believe we've found an office," Roberts replies as Beth approaches the room.

Scanning the room through the open doorway, Beth doesn't say anything.

Taking our cue from her, we all remain silent. That is until Roberts decides to ask, "what do you think? Should we investigate?"

"Yeah. I just don't want to look in that thing," she gestures at the frozen foods cooler with a shudder. "I'm afraid we're going to find a half-rotten, what did you call them?"

"Orc," Josh answers with a grin, looking in with interest.

"Yeah, a half-rotten orc."

"Well, if that's your concern, I can check. I've seen far worse than a rotten cadaver," Roberts offers, his transparent staff resting above his shoulder. Which I think is on his armour. There are times I can't tell his armour’s there. Like now.

"That'd be great," Beth motions him forwards while forming a large pistol out of Umbra. When did she add that to her arsenal?

Beth notices me staring and explains as Roberts cautiously approaches the machine, poking it with his staff. "The rifle isn't useful in close quarters. Or against quick targets or crowds. I figured I should have a couple more options." She demonstrates, shifting the pistol to some sort of assault rifle.

"Wow. You're a lot quicker with that than you used to be," I observe, somewhat obviously.

"Yep. Turns out it only takes a long time to form it the first time. Fairly handy."

"Yeah, no kidding," I reply as we look back into the room. Roberts is standing next to the machine, standing on his tiptoes to peek inside.

"Interesting," he mumbles before carefully climbing up the machine to get a better view.

"It appears to be a medical chamber of some kind. An empty medical chamber," Roberts calls from his balanced perch.

Only as he says it, does it occur to me to Focus on it.

"Object analyzed - Stasis Chamber - Registered Builder: Kuie Lin. This chamber holds its registered builder frozen in time, preventing all aging effects.“

I quickly pass the information on to the others while Roberts hops down from the chamber.

"Okay. Josh, can you watch the door while we search the room," Beth requests as we step inside.

As Josh mumbles his assent, we move into the room. Beth motions me towards the desk while she investigates the end table. Flying up to the table, I discover it's strewn with several plastic pages similar to the ones in the books we've found so far. But these are all loose and it looks as though whoever was using them was writing on them freehand. I try to read them, but whoever used this desk, they didn’t exactly have the most legible of notes.

After reading through half of them, I realize they're crossing parts of the writing out, then scribbling notes in the margins.

"Tastes better with…"

"... need to add ….. moonseng then…"

"Only remove roast …... the oven after…"

As I rifle through the notes, I say, "I think this may have been the cook's room."

"See if you can find anything about the kitchen. I'd like to check that locked room if it doesn't take too long," Beth requests as I hear a loud thunk from her direction. Which is just her pulling open a drawer in the end table, checking inside.

"Sure," I reply while trying to sort the notes. Okay, recipes here. More recipes there. Seriously, I don't think there's anything but recipes. How many different ways do you need to prepare, let's see, Vhethal? Wait, isn't that the name of the deer-thing we ate the first day? Huh, maybe Roberts would like these.

I spend five minutes searching through the desk's contents, but I come up empty. The only thing I got out of reading through all these recipes, is hungry.

"I don't think there's anything but recipes here," I tell them as I sort my neat stacks of plastic while sharing more fruit jerky with Smoulder. I got a little better at reading the hand-scratch writing, so now the recipes are organized by meat, fish, fowl and baking.

"No sign of anything useful in the cabinet either. Not a huge loss. It's unlikely there would be much of use in the larder anyway. Let's keep moving," Beth directs us as we once more split into teams.

"Thought you might want these," I say as I proffer the recipes to Roberts.

"Thank you, Alexis. Are these local recipes? Hmm. Yes, these will prove to be interesting. I'm not certain how compatible we'll be with these creatures, but it appears they at least prepared similar foods," Roberts replies as he accepts the recipes, rifling through them as we walk.

We don't find anything else, additional stasis chambers or otherwise as we sweep the rest of the floor.

We check the Cafeteria again quickly, Beth checking to see if having the pads or the recipes helps with the door but nothing happens. So, we go loping down the ridiculous stairs to the floor below. As is becoming our standard routine, Roberts and I start with the room on the right while Josh and Beth go left. The moment we touch the door, I call out.

"We've got another one," I tell Beth and Josh as they join us.

"We might have something on the other side too. Door's partially open but it seems to be stuck," Beth informs me as she and Josh take up ready positions.

Once they’re done, Roberts cautiously steps inside our room, investigating the stasis chamber.

The former occupant seems to have had a thing for model ships. Like the cook's room, the room has a giant chair and desk. But they're frankly overshadowed by the prominent display cases. The numerous display cases, which clutter the space as if the owner had run out of room but insisted on having all the models close. Each case contains intricately detailed miniature ships, all neatly arranged, a complete contrast to the display cases themselves.

Focusing on the model of a ship that seems familiar, the System reveals the name is the Thenite Skyscreamer. Its blocky design has two nasty-looking spikes projecting from either side of its cabin. It's in a stand next to a spherical ship with several tubes sticking out of its back that the System labels as a "Phothen World-ship." When I look back at the Thenite Skyscreamer, I notice the prompts.

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Thenite Skyscreamer for 18.6 Focus and 13.7 Facet."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Phothen World-ship for 18.6 Focus and 13.7 Facet."

"Wow. Apparently, I can download a codex for each of these. And not the models, the actual ships," I mention distractedly as I squint at one that’s shaped like a spiral and is called a Herex.

"Interesting. That might give us a lot of useful information. Once we're sure the room is safe, you should download a few," Beth suggests as we wait for Roberts. He's balanced on the edge of the chamber gazing inside.

"Yes. About that. It would appear we've found someone. I think they're still alive," Roberts informs us, causing my gaze to snap over to where he’s still hanging on the edge of the chamber.

"Interesting. Are they asleep or in stasis or whatever the term is?" Beth asks while we all edge closer to the humming machine.

"Hold on," Roberts responds as he closes his eyes while staring at the occupant. Yep, Roberts is capable of staring with his eyes closed. Kind of impressive really.

"Ah. It looks like they're in stasis. It would appear he is greatly injured. I can't do anything at the moment, but I believe I could restore him, if we were to bring him out," Roberts answers before jumping down next to us.

"Okay, let's see what we can find first. I'd rather not be messing with any of… this, with no understanding of what's keeping them in there. Alexis, do you have a codex for these people?" Beth checks as she moves to the end table.

"Huh. Not yet. One sec," I reply as I fly above the Yrken in the chamber. Yeah, it's an orc all right. This specimen is roughly three and a half meters tall.

“Creature analyzed: Yrken. Gene-seed B"

"Yrken are a well-established and loyal servitor race. Trading their freedom for ensured genetic continuity, the Yrken are held in great esteem for their continual efforts on behalf of the Creators."

"Name: Luggett Ell

"Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme."

"Attacks: Restricted."

"Defences: Restricted."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Yrken Builders for 18.6 Focus and 13.7 Facet."

"Okay. I have the codex available to me. I'm just gonna lie down first though," I tell the others as I float to a spot near the floor, pulling my pack off to use as a pillow.

Before I can get settled in, Beth objects, "Hold on, kid. If it's going to put you out, I'd like to secure the floor first."

"Oh. Right. Sorry," I apologize as I shrug my pack back on.

"No problem kid. Appreciate the enthusiasm," Beth reassures me while we continue searching the room.

By the time we're done, I've received more than a hundred different 'Would you like to know more?' notifications. There are so many interesting ships. The Alston Library Ship has no visible weapons or protrusions unlike most of the other ships. It's blocky form simply resembles a thick plus symbol.

There's one which appears to be a specific ship. Abapira's Wanderer is a strange mish-mash of parts that seems as though it's been blown apart several times before being reassembled. I'm not certain, but it seems like it started life as a small fighter but now it's much larger and more durable. I bet there's quite a story there.

There's another of the pads in the end table but otherwise, the room only holds the Yrken and the model ships.

Since we already know the room across the hall isn't empty, Josh leads the way directly there. Like Beth was saying, the door is stuck. I'm not able to manipulate it, the door having the same resistance as the rest of the ship.

There's an opening in the upper corner I could fly through, and I spot a chamber inside. But before I can volunteer to do so, Josh steps forward and manages to force the door wide enough for each of them to squeeze through the bottom.

We don't immediately enter, Beth holding up her hand then scanning the room. Once she’s satisfied, she gestures Roberts forwards to check the chamber.

"Empty," He declares as Beth and I enter. "And this one doesn't seem to be functional."

This room has several containers scattered around the corners. When we investigate them, they're all full of pipes, fasteners and bends. Everything appears to be made of the same material as the walls, highly resistant to my manipulation skills.

"Whatever was here, it seems like someone took everything of worth. And just left the plumbing," Beth observes, hoisting herself up to look into the empty stasis chamber.

"So it would appear," Roberts agrees as we move to the next room. We don't find any additional stasis chambers in the remaining rooms on this level, but we do discover three standing devices in the normally empty chamber at the end.

"Object analyzed. Yrken cleansing unit. This simple device uses pressurized water to cleanse a Yrken of whatever filth and grime that may build up throughout the course of their day. Designed to provide Yrken with maximum relaxation and comfort for a minimum of fifteen minutes per day."

"Condition: Functional."

"I think it's a shower, though analysis calls it a cleansing unit that uses pressurized water," I inform the others while floating up to tug at the transparent door.

"Finally, a shower where the faucet is over my head," Josh kids, setting a hand on its side while peeking inside.

"I'm not sure I'd want to take a shower that's meant for a creature that large. It'd be like stepping under a waterfall," Beth laughs, her pistol held casually. I wonder if she has an automatic safety feature. It uses her resource to fire, so she must be in greater control than with a normal gun, right? I mean, it's not like my spells activate unless I want them to.

"Personally, I've always found bathing beneath waterfalls quite refreshing. If occasionally challenging," Roberts opines while keeping a watch behind us.

"You've gone bathing beneath waterfalls?" I ask Roberts, shifting back to let Beth step past me into the shower.

"Oh yes. Every summer. I used to take our daughter and her family to our cabin up near Bear Lake. Julie loved taking her kids out there, and it was a great excuse for me to visit the falls," Roberts answers, his eyes going unfocused for a moment before turning back to me.

"I have no idea where that is," I reply honestly which causes him to chuckle.

"Few people do. It's a small village a short distance north of Prince George," he informs me. I'm not sure where Prince George is either, but at least I've heard of it.

"It's a pretty cool name. Bear Lake," I note instead of admitting my ignorance.

"I agree. That's why I say my cabin is near Bear Lake instead of Prince George," Roberts admits as Beth finishes her sweep.

"I think I've been there," Josh mentions, "you have to drive through to get to Alaska, right?"

"Yes. If you're going through British Columbia," Roberts confirms, continuing to describe the beauty of an alternate route through Alberta.

He’s still expounding on the beauty of Jasper when Beth leads us back to the room where the models and the Yrken lie preserved together.

"Okay kid. I think it's time for you to download that codex. Be careful," Beth warns when Roberts finishes his declaration that I really need to go to Banff and Jasper national parks since I've never been to either.

"Will do," I acknowledge as I put my pack on the floor while pulling Smoulder close.

Okay, time to download the codex on the Yrken. I wonder if this is going to be nice and simple like with our resources or if this is going to be more like Uthica. I'm expecting Uthica-like, ergo the laying down.

Welp. Time to find out.

"Yrken Codex downloading."

"Remote Access requested. Local Network under Anti-Corruption Lockdown. Download paused."

"Please wait. Verifying Identity."

Huh. This is new. I give Smoulder head-scritches while we wait to see if the System will let us download the codex.

"Identity confirmed. Welcome back, Citizen Pandora."

"Download commenced."

"Codex obtained: System Species - Yrken. Gene seed B.

Description: Yrken are a biological bipedal species with a long history of administration and rescue operations within the System. Yrken maintain a nuclear family structure. Their mate-bond is permanent once formed. This bond shapes them greatly throughout their first life. A Yrken who loses their partner will die within a month, unable to function without their literal other halves. A Yrken who has not chosen a mate-bond isn't considered an adult, as no Yrken can be considered whole by themselves."

I forgot that downloading a codex came with an intimate understanding of the subject's biology and mating habits. Ugh. I'm sure nothing in that magazine could surprise me now. Note, mate-bonded they may be, but that doesn't preclude them from having 'special friends' as well.

"Yrken nearly wiped themselves out after first gaining access to apocalypse class weapons. There were several tribes of their original people who happened to stumble across Creators. The Creators had arrived to investigate the aftermath as per Apocalypse weapon protocol D-34-003. These tribes asked for protection, and in her infinite wisdom, the Creator Odeon added the Yrken to the ranks of her Builders.

Though the decision was uncontested at the time, the Creator Meras later expressed his dissatisfaction with the inclusion of such a warrior race serving amongst the pacifist Builders. While unwilling to divest her now favoured people from her entourage, Odeon could not simply ignore another Creator's demands.

As a compromise, the Yrken are granted a chance at a second life. In this second life, they are provided with any combat skills they desire as well as intense training. Due to the nature of their second life, they are reborn without their bond-mates. They are encouraged to vent any frustrations on whichever opponents Meras has chosen deserving of testing.

Despite this opportunity, most Yrken choose not to participate in their second life, passing beyond the veil instead. Those who remain are everything that Meras could have wished for."

Interesting. I'm reasonably sure this is the first time I've seen the names of any of the Creators.

No replay this time. That's good. But honestly, this kind of feels anticlimactic.

…

Staring at the stasis chamber I wait for the Yrken inside to wake up.

No? Oh well. It was worth a try. Guess it's time for the next codex.

Now, let's see. Which ship should I do first?

2.19 Brainfreeze

July 2, 2023, 4:19 pm.

Once I realize I'm not being put to sleep, I immediately purchase the codex for the Thenite Skyscreamer as well as the World-ship that was sitting beside it. I don't read the codexes immediately, choosing to read them later once we start searching through all the boring quarters again. And since I'm here, I decide to grab another four codexes. However, after going through five different codexes in rapid succession I discover an unfortunate side-effect.

"Alexis, you okay, kid?" Beth checks when I gasp out in shock, stopping two codexes before I'd been planning to. I barely notice Smoulder nuzzling me.

Brain-freeze. Not only is it painful, but I've also cut myself off from my Facet and Mana. Luckily, when I check conditions, I discover that it's a temporary condition called System Overload that’ll go away in five minutes. Whew.

"Yeah. Just a bit of an overload. I'll be fine in five," I respond while taking a deep breath and offering Smoulder head-scritches to reassure her.

"Perhaps I can assist," Roberts offers, leaning over.

"That would be amazing," I accept, opening my eyes to find him staring down at me, holding out a hand.

Taking his hand, I feel the strange feeling of his Reprieve washing into me. "Hmmm. Yes. I think I see," Roberts mumbles as the brain-freeze mercifully abates.

"Excellent. Now, kid. What did we learn about these guys?" Beth asks, casually gesturing her pistol at the stasis chamber.

I read out the entire codex for them, pausing at the end. "I also gained an intimate understanding of their biology. It's kind of hard to explain that part though. It’s more… intrinsic?”

Beth nods, staring at the stasis chamber, deep in thought.

"I wish I had direct access to this codex. It would be useful in ascertaining the Yrken's status," Roberts mentions, staring at the chamber as he helps me to my feet.

I laugh out loud when I see that the System seems to have heard him, a notification popping up on my screen.

"You have received a request to share the Yrken codex with Forerunner Roberts. He would like to know more. Share the full codex for 18.6 Focus and 13.7 Facet?"

"Kid?" Beth asks as I continue to laugh.

Holding up my hand, I finally control my sudden outburst as I explain, "sorry. I just thought... Nothing, it's not even funny. I can share the codex. That's all."

Honestly, I'm not entirely certain what I found so funny about the notification. I share the codex with Roberts. It's unfortunate that I have to pay the same cost to share the codex as I do to download it. But I'll get the Facet back quick enough. And I'm barely needing to use Focus lately.

"Oh. Oh my. This, this is amazing. I wish I had… GAH!" Roberts screams out as he crashes to the floor.

"What the hell just happened," Beth yells as Josh flips Roberts over, checking him for… something.

"I don't know!" I yell back, staring down at Roberts in shock while Smoulder butts against him gently. His eyes are open and his eyelids are fluttering rapidly.

"I just shared the codex and then…" I gesture at Roberts who's still lying on the floor, cradled in Josh's arms.

Then as suddenly as he collapsed, Roberts recovers, sitting up with a start, sending Smoulder dancing back in alarm.

"Roberts. You okay there? You gave us a hell of a scare," Beth checks as she drops down beside him.

"Yes. I believe so. That was thoroughly unpleasant. According to my conditions, it would appear I didn't have the 'Spirit' to receive the full codex safely without a 'System Overload,'" he informs us as Josh helps him back to his feet.

Wait, he got the same condition with only one codex? Eep.

"Sorry, uhm, Wes," I apologize to which he just waves his hand dismissively.

"Looked rough," Josh comments once he releases Roberts.

"Most definitely. But I'd say it was worth it. I now have a full understanding of our friend's biology. This is beyond what I've ever known about human biology. It's remarkable how different they are."

"Great. I'm glad you're okay, Doc. Kid, a moment?"

"Yeah Beth?" I ask as we step around the stasis chamber, Smoulder offering Roberts comfort after I grievously injured our friend.

"First you get hurt with this codex, and now Roberts. Seems kind of ominous doesn't it?" Beth asks while glancing back at the doctor.

"Uhm, I downloaded the codex without any issues. It was the other four codices I grabbed afterwards that gave me my headache," I admit, chagrined.

Beth stares at me for a second, before glancing around the room. Then she starts to laugh.

"Thanks, kid. That makes me feel better. Much better," Beth chuckles cheerfully, patting my shoulder once before moving back to the guys. "So, what do you say doc. Time to crack open the orcsicle or should we move on?"

Considering for a moment before he answers, Roberts says, "I'd like to take another look now that I have a more intimate understanding of his biology."

Beth gestures at the machine as she replies, "go ahead. We'll just get out of your way."

"One moment. Alexis, could you create a platform or ladder? It's rather awkward working here while hanging off the end of the machine," Roberts interjects as he gestures at the machine.

Wow. I got so used to not being able to change things in here I forgot one of my most basic tools. Silly Alexis.

"Yeah, sure," I answer as Smoulder hops onto my shoulder while Beth and Josh step outside the room.

"His name is Luggett Ell, by the way," I mention as Roberts stares at the Yrken with his eyes closed. "And he's way more powerful than we are. Like around Ivicka's level."

"Hmm. Well, Mr. Ull here should be fixable," Roberts replies as I pull all my metal out of my pack to fashion a platform for him to work on.

"I wanted to ask you a question. Mostly unrelated to our friend here," Roberts adds as the platform comes into place. He steps to the edge, one hand ready to climb before pausing to look at me, "do you have a codex for humans?"

"Uhm," I pause before responding, quickly checking my collection of codices. And discovering I don’t. That's kind of weird. I don't have a codex for my own species.

"No… I don't think I've ever tried to analyze a human either," I answer.

"You should try. Go ahead. Analyze me," Roberts suggests, letting go of the platform while gesturing to himself.

Well, with an invitation like that, what lady could resist.

"Creature Analyzed - Error, species not found. Gene-seed D.

First reported to the System in Galactic year 13,183 when they triggered an apocalypse level device on their homeworld, this species has very little system data available.

"Name: Roberts."

"Attributes: Physical; Minimal, Mobility; High, Magic; Low, Awareness; Low."

"Attacks: Basic physical attacks, minor water manipulation."

"Defences: Able to erect shields to protect self and allies."

"Note, for a proper analysis of this species, submit a specimen to your nearest registered Builder."

"Ha. Apparently, the System thinks your full name is Roberts," I laugh out as I read through the description. "The analysis isn't that detailed. The only thing in here that I might not have known, is that you have high Agility or Endurance. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what mobility stands for."

"Hmm. You're correct. Both were my highest attributes by a wide margin when we first arrived. They hardly reflected my abilities at the time. A strange acknowledgement of my youth, I feel."

"Oh. Do tell?" I press, intrigued.

"Perhaps later. Suffice to say, I wasn't always a doctor. And I may have taken a less… direct path to earning my education than others," Roberts avoids answering with a small chuckle. Then he turns to Beth.

"I'm certain we can wake him. However, Alexis has told me that her analysis indicates he is approximately as dangerous as Ivicka," Roberts calls to where they're waiting in the hall.

Coming back into the room, Beth pulls her pistol, holding it at the ready while beckoning me towards her.

"You said it was injured, right? Wake it up. But hold off on healing it until we know it's not going to attack us," Beth orders.

"I think not," Roberts disagrees, causing Beth to snap her head in his direction.

"Care to explain, doc?" Beth prompts, her voice flat and emotionless.

Shaking his head, Roberts does exactly that. "My understanding is that he will be in immense pain once we release him from stasis. I can't conscientiously release him from stasis to then subject him to what would essentially be torture until you're satisfied he's not dangerous."

Wow. I didn't realize it was that bad. It just looks like a couple of little nicks to me.

"I'm with Wes," Josh agrees though he doesn't put down his spear or shield.

"Okay. We do it your way, doc. Heal him as soon as we bring him out of stasis," Beth amends her order. Even as she speaks, she keeps her pistol levelled at the chamber. "Everyone else, stay frosty. We don't know what kind of Yrken we're waking up."

Ah. That explains why she's worried. It didn't even occur to me that he might be one of the combat Yrken.

Roberts starts messing with a panel on the edge of the chamber, making adjustments. Waiting patiently, I prepare to drop into Pause at a moment's notice.

The humming from the machine gets louder as whatever Roberts is doing wakes it up.

"This may take a little longer than I thought. Probably a good five minutes before the stasis lets me treat him," Roberts lets us know.

"Understood," Beth acknowledges while I decide to quickly review the codexes… codi… codices? The new codex entries.

They're interesting, but none of the information is immediately useful. Top speeds, crew capacity, cargo, weapons. I was hoping for some sort of history behind the ships, but they're all technical specs. Unlike with a biological codex, the intimate details of the ship aren't beamed directly into my brain, though the attached schematics and specs are probably useful. If a person had a facility to produce this sort of thing.

I guess if all else fails, we can… build a ship? Not sure we'd make it home in time to avert the apocalypse that way.

I'm keeping an eye on the stasis chamber as I check over the schematics. It's as I'm reviewing the fourth schematic while wondering if there's a codex for inter-material phase transducers, whatever those are, that there's movement from within the chamber.

The large form shifts only slightly but it's enough that Beth raises her gun once more while Josh stands up straight, no longer leaning on the doorframe.

"Hmm. Appears simple…. Yes," Roberts mumbles to himself as we all wait, ready to act.

The giant next to him suddenly makes a low gargle sound before pushing itself to the side while shaking violently. A moment later he stills. Then he lets out a low groan while groggily mumbling in a low rumbling voice, "what happened?"

"You were severely injured. I've dealt with the damage, but I'm afraid we've only just arrived. We've no idea as to how you sustained your injuries," Roberts responds, answering in Astreum while stepping down from the stasis chamber.

"Who… What are you?" The giant asks as it sits up, looking down at us.

"I'm doctor Roberts. An outlander, I believe we're called," Roberts answers, remaining between us and the giant, who has now turned his dark eyes on us. His dark eyes which are disquieting but beautiful, nearly black but with flecks of blue sparkled throughout.

"Obviously you're not native. I mean what species? How long have I been in stasis?" Luggett, the recently awakened orc, I mean Yrken, demands half-panicked as his eyes scan the room.

"Ah, yes. I'm not sure how to tell you this. Still, I suppose the honest approach is best. According to the records, you've been in stasis for over four hundred of your galactic cycles," Roberts answers.

"Oh, thank goodness," he exclaims as he flops backwards into his chamber, surprising me. A galactic cycle is slightly longer than a year. Why is he happy he was inside for four hundred years? Weird.

Roberts startles, glancing back in our direction. At which point, Beth steps forward, deciding to take over the discussion.

"Pardon me, Luggett. But I had some questions," Beth states as she climbs up onto the platform. As I'm watching her, I realize the platform is kind of ugly. Hardly my best work.

While he's sitting back up, I pull all my extra metal out, small amounts of gold, silver and the titanium from earlier. I've been collecting every bit of metal I can get my hands on. I've got over a cubic meter of it at this point, mostly steel, which is already in the platform.

At least the platform lets Beth stand at eye level with the giant Yrken. While he’s sitting down. She's staring into his strange eyes as he responds, "Nuh-uh. I still don't know your species. And if I don't know your species, I don't know how I should be interacting with you."

"We're humans, from a planet we call Earth. I'm Beth," she answers, holding her hand out to him while I experiment with the platform.

I use the precious metals to line several grooves, giving Beth's perch a nice subtle flair. Luggett ignores Beth's extended hand, exclaiming, "Human? Oh no. Your species isn't in the System. But you're a Citizen. This won't do. Nuh-uh, won't do at all."

The large creature pushes himself out of his stasis chamber, clumsily grasping at the side before retrieving a pad from a hidden pocket underneath. I wonder if the cook has a hidden storage spot as well. We might need to check that.

Sitting on the end of his stasis chamber, Luggett turns to Beth.

"I'm afraid we have some paperwork to do. Now, we can do a scan or you can complete the attached form," Luggett shrugs, his large muscles rippling. He hands Beth the pad as she holsters her pistol. Which she does by pressing it against her armour. Her armour reforms slightly, moulding the pistol to be part of it, holding it secure against her leg.

That is so cool.

"I have some questions I need to ask you first," Beth counters, not looking at the pad.

"Nuh-uh. I can't provide you with any information until you've been entered into the System. It's against the rules," Luggett refuses while shaking his head.

"You're sure. You can't even tell us what happened to you?" Beth prods, still not so much as glancing at the pad.

"Nuh-uh. Scan or form please."

"We just woke you from sleep, quite possibly saving you from being suspended forever. And on top of that, Roberts healed your wounds, literally saving your life!" Beth exclaims in exasperation, crossing her arms.

"Uh-huh. Thank you. Please submit to a scan or complete the form," Luggett responds, matching her gesture.

Beth sighs as she concedes, "Fine. Scan me. I don't know how the System doesn't have a scan already, but go ahead."

"Excellent. One moment. Oh. Anti-corruption measures in place. Localized systems to prevent corruption. That's why you're not in my database. Whew," Luggett sighs out as he slumps in relief against his stasis chamber.

"You know, for a minute there I was worried you were Forerunners."

…..

We all go stiff; Josh and I glance at each other for a moment. How does he not know we're Forerunners?

I mean, are we though? I hardly know anything about them at this point except they're the ones that brought us here, and Wyonna is kind of one of them. I think? I never really got any answers about them out of her either, not that I really tried to. It just didn't seem that important at the time.

But he doesn't notice our meaningful glances, rambling on, "Or Creators. Not Reavers. That would be bad too. But nope. New biped elvenoid species. No wings. Some redundant organs. Your world hasn't been integrated yet. Ah, must be explorers then. No wonder you referred to yourselves as outlanders. Locals wouldn't receive many ships that can cross the boundary."

"Or more likely you got caught up in a Mana-swarm from before the enclosure. Hate to tell you, but if that's what happened, you were out of it longer than I was."

He stops, looking up, waiting for an answer to a question he didn't ask.

"Reasonably sure we weren't caught in a Mana-storm," Beth tells him. From what I've learned, I'm not certain that's accurate. But I hold my tongue.

"Ah. So, explorers then. Excellent."

When none of us correct him, he turns back to his pad humming to himself for another couple minutes while we wait. Starting to wish we'd picked up party text. Smoulder's shifting on my shoulder reminds me I need to purchase her pet menu too. So many things to spend points on.

"Okay explorers. I don't know what you did to gain yourselves Citizen status, but congratulations and welcome to the Asimari Techdom," he proclaims with enthusiasm, nearly smacking Beth in the face with his expansive gesture as he throws his hands wide.

Asimari. Why does that sound familiar?

Wait. During my class vision, wasn't the crazy guy who blew up a planet an Asimari?

While I'm trying to remember the crazy guy's name, Luggett continues, "A new species gaining their first Citizens is normally an event celebrated throughout the Techdom. Unfortunately, with the anti-corruption measures engaged the news won't spread."

"It also means you're not going to be seeing those parties any time soon. No one will be leaving until the situation is cleared up. I'm afraid the barrier will prevent all interplanetary travel in these situations. Even Builders and Architects are trapped," he explains with a deep rumble.

"I do have some good news though."

"Oh," Beth replies while I bemoan the fact that we're not going anywhere until we deal with the summoner. I had a feeling we'd be trying to deal with it anyway, given the rewards and wanting to get Wyonna back. But now, even if we wanted to leave, we literally don't have a choice.

"It would appear that the thousand-year workmanship guarantee for my scale model ships wasn't just bold advertising," he explains happily. Stepping forwards, he lifts a model. The System labels it the Trillian Transverser, it kind of reminds me of several plates stacked on top of each other, ready to fall over. It's not one of the ships I have a codex for.

"Beautiful, aren't they?"

2.20 Model Ships

July 2, 2023, 5:08 pm.

"Uhhhh. Yeah, they're amazing," Beth answers noncommittally, glancing at the model ships for a second. "Now, any chance you can tell us what happened here, bud?"

"My name is Luggett Ell. You can call me Lugget Ell," he replies, ignoring her question while crossing his arms once more, the model ship held carefully to the side.

"Sure thing, Luggett Ell. Any chance you can tell us what happened," Beth repeats with a straight face.

"Uh-huh. Forerunners happened. They invaded during the final evacuation. Killed Calvin Sbohh'n right in front of me. Condemned poor Vincal Sbohh'n to her soul-death. She was his bond-mate," he starts, swinging his hands wide, playing out the motion of being stabbed.

"Pretty sure that's all that saved me. When she attacked them, the Forerunners ran after her, not bothering to finish me off. Then I stumbled my way up to my room. I tried to send a distress call, but we'd already taken ourselves offline in preparation for the conservatory barrier going up. Since it felt like I was dying, I finally told Cook he was an ass, locked my door, then climbed into my stasis chamber. I'm amazed the Forerunners didn't break in here to steal all my models. You know this one is worth over three-hundred points?" He asks rhetorically while cradling the small 'stack of plates'-shaped ship in his hand. Even as he's talking Beth tries to interject several times.

"Wait. Forerunners attacked you? Why?" Beth asks when he finishes, her voice with a noticeable waver in it.

"Who can know with those forge-bound fanatics. Probably because I have such great taste,” Luggett replies as he lovingly sets his ship back on the display case before turning back to her. “All I know is they boarded my ship, attacked me and ripped out every piece of System tech they could get their hands on as they were doing it. They’re almost as bad as the Reavers. Luckily, they weren’t able to stay for long before the System noticed them."

"Does this happen often, Forerunners stealing System tech?" I ask. I'm still uncertain of how I feel about them. I mean, the Forerunners kidnapped and sent us to a strange world where we had to struggle to survive. But they also gave us awesome abilities to deal with it. At least I'm thinking it was them. Plus, I'm not certain, but I have a suspicion they're the source of our citizenship too.

"Uh-huh. Once or twice a decade, at least. Course, I've been asleep for a few hundred years, so that could’ve changed. I'm a little out of date," Luggett admits as he settles himself into the chair at his desk with a grunt.

"What are these Reavers you mentioned?" Roberts inquires.

"Reavers are….. Well unpleasant. They're a genocidal hivemind whose drones are immune to the System. They create all sorts of different biological servitors. They have a bunch of different sub-species. Including their gene-morphers who show up prior to their invasions. Reavers aren't much of a threat to a core world, but out here? Well, I'm glad the barrier is up. I'd rather not be skinned alive then forced to watch something slip into my skin like a suit."

"Nasty," Josh mutters.

"This barrier. You mentioned it's shut down travel. Is there any way you can help us with the quest?" Beth asks. "Or is there another way to get off-world? We don't have a lot of time. Our home is under threat from some form of apocalypse. Something called a Mana-swarm, I believe,"

"That's unfortunate. Not much you can do once a Mana-swarm tendril starts snaking its way towards a world. Might consider the inability to get off-world a blessing. At least this way you don't have to watch your world go through the upheaval. I hear that's hard on natives."

"Is there anything you can tell us about Mana-swarms?" Beth nearly begs, her hands clenched at her side.

"Sure. Lots and lots. But you need to fill out non-disclosure form B-41, consent form A-3, non-liability form C-3124 and agree to the proprietary, Citizen-only, Mana-swarm awareness subsystem terms of service," he answers, holding a pad out in Beth's direction. When she taps the pad, her eyes go distant.

"Always was jealous of people who could do forms in their heads," Luggett sighs as Beth works.

"Are you unable to do so?" Roberts inquires politely from his position next to Josh who's just staring up at the orc.

"Ha. That's putting it mildly. Builders aren't allowed to be on the System. That's why we all have these," he answers, waving his pad in the air.

"Do you want to be on the System?" Roberts asks while leaning on his staff.

"Nuh-uh. That's more of a second life thing. I'm too young to be worried about that. I haven't even found my bond-mate yet," Luggett sighs while pulling a new model kit from his pocket which he starts assembling on the desk. "Would make the paperwork easier though."

"It says here that I'm not allowed to discuss any of the information I learn using the PCOMSAS with anyone who hasn't completed these forms or I'll face a System imposed penalty. What’s the penalty for breaking the rules?" Beth asks, her eyes focusing on Luggett.

"For a citizen, a fine of a few Integration points. Deducted from your attributes if you don't have any points saved up. You do not want to go through that process. Incredibly painful," he answers, flicking a glob of a metallic substance into the air which arcs down to land on his model. When I reach out with metal manipulation, I discover it's liquid titanium. Is he making models out of titanium? No wonder they last so long.

Beth's face twists into a grimace as she asks, "Is that every time?"

"What? Nuh-uh. Once you've broken the rules and paid the price, the System doesn't care. Most people won’t understand you though, just Citizens, so not like it matters," Luggett answers while carefully holding two pieces of his model together.

"Excellent. Then the others don't have to bother filling out the form?" Beth reaffirms with a giant grin on her face.

"Nuh-uh, not if you want to pay the costs. You'd have to be crazy to give up five Integration points to avoid some paperwork."

"Yes. But I've always hated paperwork," Beth replies with a perfectly straight face. I'm not sure what she's thought of, but I imagine she has a reason she doesn't want us all signing.

Conversation dies out for another minute while we all wait for Beth to finish. I reshape the lower part of the platform into a two-sided bench which we can all relax on. Then I form a few platforms for Smoulder. Again, I decide to create platforms using two elements at once. Lightning and stone is a useless combo. It's effectively just stone. But lightning and earth is interesting, it allows me to create a platform that kind of breathes, expanding and contracting every two seconds.

"Okay. And done," Beth proclaims as Smoulder finishes my mini obstacle course for around the fifth time.

"Really? Wow. That was quick. One second," Luggett requests while setting the model he's working on to the side. "Just let me give a quick double-check. There's usually a mistake or two."

He scans through his pad, his finger flicking against the screen repeatedly. "This is complete. Impressive. I haven't had many people fill out non-liability form C-3124 without missing either the unintentional side effects or accidental death and dismemberment sections. It's poor form design in my opinion, but I'm not going to be the one who fills out form Ω-1 to request a change."

"Thank you. So, how do I…" Beth starts before falling silent. "Ah. I see."

"Oh. This is going to be rather intensive, isn't it?" Beth adds after a moment of reading, looking up at Luggett.

"Uh-huh. But it's a comprehensive package. It should have every piece of information the System has related to the Mana-swarms. Well, I guess it's a few hundred years out of date now, but new discoveries haven't been made regarding Mana-swarms in thousands of years."

"Okay. I'll read over this tonight. I think it's time for us to head out. What about you?"

"What do you mean?" Luggett replies with a yawn. It's a big yawn, but he's a big guy and he did just wake up from four hundred years of sleep.

"Are you staying here, or do you want to join us?"

"Oh. I'm afraid I can't leave. Not allowed now that the dungeon protocol has been initiated. Going outside would be an instant end. Quick trip to my second-life," he replies with nonchalance.

Beth stops for a second, looking at him before she speaks, "So, you're just going to stay here then?"

"Uh-huh. I'll take a look at my equipment. As long as the Forerunners didn't steal the important bits, I'll let my people know I'm still here. If they did, then I'll have to cobble something together. Then I'll hop back in stasis and wait for retrieval. Luckily, the fools didn't make their way in here. No way they'd have left an original Asimari Vette behind," he proclaims while gazing at a small, sleek model that's all rounded curves and dark lines.

"Wait, if you're able to build machines from scratch, does that mean you're an engineer?" I ask, the model ships suddenly seeming like they should’ve been a dead giveaway.

"Uh-huh. I'm a communications and data specialist. Graduated shortly before deployment," he answers, puffing out his chest.

"So, if this quest wasn't in the way, could we fly this place out of here?" Beth asks.

"What? Nuh-uh. The city-ships aren’t designed to leave an integrated sanctuary world once we've installed them. The drives are one way," Luggett replies, shaking his giant head, "why not use your own ship?"

"As it happens, our own arrival was also a one-way trip," Beth answers, shrugging.

"Ah. Then I'm afraid you may be here for a while. Unless," he pauses as he uses his pad for a moment, "yes. You'll be able to travel to one of the core worlds in six months and five days. If you're copper rank that is. Which is technically possible. If you dedicate yourself to completing dungeons and are able to resolve the anti-corruption issue."

"I'm sorry, but what precisely would getting to one of these core worlds achieve?" Roberts inquires.

Luggett looks at Roberts as if he's a child, which given our size difference is kind of funny. "I don't know how you managed to earn Citizenship without knowing why you’d want to go to the core worlds. But to answer your question, you can arrange passage from any core world. Even to Systemless worlds. Though I suspect it’d cost you."

Beth stands from the benches tucking the papers into her inventory pouch before turning back to him. "Well, thank you for the answers. How much longer until you go into stasis?"

Instead of answering immediately, Luggett pulls out his pad and starts tapping it.

“Hmm, a couple of days at least. My equipment was in standby mode, from when the Forerunners attacked. It's one of the only times we're actually vulnerable. So, I'll need to reactivate it. Of course, that's assuming that the Othere-cursed Forerunners haven't stolen everything. I'll be working for a week if I have to rebuild the transmitter from scratch," he answers while setting the partially complete model to the side.

Beth nods as she prompts the rest of us to get up, "Well, if you don't mind, can we stop back in? We have a lot of questions that you could answer."

He's nodding his large head before Beth's finished speaking, "Uh-huh. It's always a pleasure to talk to those who've proven their dedication to the Techdom. There are some things I'm prohibited from sharing, even with Citizens, but I'll answer all I can."

"Thank you. We'll let you get back to your work Luggett Ell," Beth bows slightly, then the rest of us copy her.

"Nice meeting you," I add, reclaiming my metal before I follow Beth out into the hall.

"Well, that went surprisingly well," Roberts notes once the door to Luggett’s room slides shut behind him.

"Agreed. Lot of new information to go through. Let's finish sweeping these Quarters then get out of here. I'd like to hit another challenge today," Beth says, leading us to the next floor down.

"Hey Beth," Josh interjects before we start down.

"Yeah slugger?"

"Did you see him pull that pad out from under his bed? Do you think the cook had a similar storage space?"

Pausing, Beth turns back to look at him. Right, I almost forgot about that.

"I expect it's a standard feature," Roberts notes.

"Think we should ask Luggett about it?" Beth responds with a grin.

"I'll go," I volunteer.

"We can all go," Beth counters before we turn back, knocking on his door. I considered flying straight in, but now that I know it's his room, that would be weird.

"Oh. Hello again, Citizens," Luggett greets as he opens his door, casually looming over the rest of the party while I bob in front of him.

"Hi. We just had a couple more questions. Oh, I'm Alexis by the way," I inform him while holding my hand out to shake.

"How can I help citizen Alexis?" he asks, his massive fingers curling around mine, then shaking my hand gently.

"First, is it okay if we keep searching through your ship?"

"Uh-huh. According to this, everyone else is gone," he indicates his pad as he responds, "and they won't be coming back. Otherwise, now that we're in a dungeon, technically everything is free for you to take. Except my ships. Don't touch my ships."

"Oh, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't mess with any of the equipment in engineering until I've sent my message. If you find anything interesting, just ask me and I'll let you know if I need it."

"So, if we were to find something in, say, the cook's room, we could keep it?" Beth asks.

"Uh-huh. If you manage to get into his larder, you should let me know. I've always wondered what he kept in there."

"Excellent. Thanks again, Luggett Ell," Beth responds, turning away as I wave goodbye to the green giant.

Heading back up, we go straight into Cook's room, Beth and Roberts going to where we saw Luggett pull his pad from beneath his chamber.

It takes them a minute to figure out how to operate it. Roberts and Beth are arguing back and forth about how to properly lever it, to get it open, when Josh steps forward. With a quick tug, he pops the compartment panel off. Inside we find several Mana shards, a few more recipes and a journal written on the plastic book pages.

Pulling it out, the first thing we do is count the Mana shards. There are twenty-three, all Iron-rank, all Mana. That's awesome for side-loot. That's roughly the equivalent of four points for all six of us.

The journal has hundreds of entries. After a cursory check, Beth makes the executive decision to read through it later. Roberts volunteers to go through it as well as the recipes, so Beth hands them over.

Now that we've met Luggett, Beth decides we can split up for the rest of the search. I reach out to Rufka, letting her know we're just checking a few more floors.

"Good. I think I've figured out how we can modify these gliders, but it's going to take me more than a week with the tools and resources I have on hand. I think Raz might be able to help knock that down though. With the stuff I've seen him put together, he must have access to a workshop of some kind," Rufka answers. Oh yeah. I may have forgotten about the gliders.

"Cool. You know how last time we explored this place, we found almost nothing? This time, we discovered a whole bunch of stuff. We even met a Builder," I reply as we continue our search.

"Truly, what's he like?" Rufka asks. I fill her in. After telling her about Luggett, his model ships and how he'd been attacked by Forerunners, I continue expounding on our grand explorations within the haunted Builder engine of mystery. Though I may get a whee bit distracted in theory and possible tangents and applications of teleportation when I get to my experiments in the observatory.

We make excellent time as we search the remaining floors. It helps that they're completely empty. We're finishing the last room right about the time Rufka has started asking me for more details involving the Phothen world-ship. I try to tell her what I can, but she's not satisfied with my crude 'over the phone' description. She extracts a promise that I provide her with several sketches of the world-ship once we get back to Raz's.

But I don't give it to her for free. In exchange, I demand my own flask of moonshine. I tried insisting on something better tasting. Unfortunately, the next best she's seen, for Health edge at least, is a juice that provides four Health edge. And it only lasts for two hours.

"Deal. Pleasure doing business with you, Lexi. Just remember, I want at least one sketch before I give you your own flask," Rufka states as we start toward Engineering. The chamber is even more bare than above, only the huge metal pillars left behind. It’s bigger than I expected too, reaching the inside is at least as large as the arena back home. Wonder if Sab’s dad still goes to every Grizzlies game.

"What, you think I'd cheat you?" I pretend to be offended as we skirt the edge of the engineering bay, staring at the destroyed stairs that are supposed to lead further down. Guess we won’t be exploring that way.

As the other discuss whether we should search the room, or try a different ‘bullet’, Rufka answers, "Nope. Cause I'll never let you." I can practically hear the smirk in her voice.

We give the bay a cursory search, but the only thing we find is a few spare pipes and a small flat octagon with a corner chunked out of it. If not for the description when I analyze it, I’d almost think it was a nut for keeping things in place.

“Object analyzed: Damaged Builder’s Fluidic Micro-core. A component normally used for modifying mass at incredibly efficient rates, used in Builder auto-construction mechanisms. Unable to be stored in extra-dimensional storage spaces. This module’s mana-tronic core has been drained, rendering it useless.”

“That sounds like it could have all sorts of uses,” Roberts observes after I share the description.

“Anti-gravity,” Josh says, hefting the octagon.

“And possible faster than light travel,” Roberts agrees, smiling as they both start discussing what would be possible with such tech.

“Too bad this one’s broken,” Beth says, taking the octagon and hefting it in one hand. “And we can’t even tuck it in storage.”

“I’ll keep it,” Josh says, and Beth shoots him a smile before handing it over.

“Sure, slugger. Maybe we’ll figure out some way to fix it,” Beth says before turning back to the rest of us and waving us onward. With the ship explored, we make our way back through the tunnel to the surface. Even from a few bends down, it’s easy to notice the light from the surface changing in strength.

Stepping out of the bunny’s mouth, a flash of light draws my attention. Looking up, I see a stormcloud overhead with torrents of rain and lightning crashing down. But the dungeon seems to be shielding us from it, the lightning crashing against an invisible dome, but not having any other effect. Then I realize it's not just the lightning. The rain is washing up against the side of the dome as well.

"It kind of feels like looking through a windshield, doesn't it?" Josh remarks from just behind me, his rose petal helmet unfolding to reveal his face.

"Yeah. It really does," I reply, looking to him with a smile, Smoulder's tail wrapped around my neck like a scarf. A very floofy scarf.

"Another reminder of just how far we have to go," Roberts adds, leaning slightly on his transparent staff.

"Yep. And we'll never get there if we stand around gawking at the rain," Beth states, stepping forward, her dark armour contrasting her fiery hair.

"Let's get to it, people."

A note from Draith

Ah. It appears I have reached the 0.5 downvote brigade status. Wheeeeee.

Their hate only makes me moar powerful!

Mwahahahaha.

(Also, apparently the results for the poll on chapter 1.09 were hidden. Despite me making sure to click the button that said they wouldn't be. Rawr. Fixed now)

2.21 Fire Drill

July 2, 2023, 6:03 pm.

After the others retrieve their gliders from Rufka and Tipan, we make our way to the next challenge. On the way, we hunt down any Fallen we discover, though Beth has requested I hold off on assisting so everyone else can get more practice in. We stop near the challenge, and she’s shouting advice at Josh as he and Roberts trade blows with a few Fallen below while Rufka and Tipan deal with the runners.

Which is why I’m the only one able to see the black speck in the distance at the far end of the lightning bolt that crashes down on the others. To my surprise, it’s enough to send Roberts and Josh tumbling. In a single hit, Josh has lost all his Petals and is down half his Health. Thankfully, Roberts is better off.

Even as I’m taking in the sudden chaos, I Pause time. Zooming in on the black dot, the yellow tinge of Twilight highlights Bel'ther’s twisted snarl as she lowers her hand, sparks still jumping off it.

She has to be several kilometers away. There’s no way I could make it to her before my Pause ends. But I can shield the others.

So that’s what I do, interposing myself between them. But she doesn’t stick around, dropping behind one of the buildings in the distance in slow motion.

My Pause ends, and I barely pay attention as Beth starts running towards the others. Roberts’ Health is positive, and I can see his Reprieve ticking down, so I’m not worried about Josh either.

I am worried about another strike like that hitting us out of nowhere. After I shout down about Bel'ther, I remain on watch. Not for her. Not directly. The chance of me seeing her before she acts is… low. Especially at the range she’s hitting us from. No, I’m watching for more incoming strikes. I felt a buildup before that one hit, but I’d thought it was a byproduct of all the spells the Fallen were tossing around.

Well, the Fallen Josh and Roberts were fighting. The ones that weren’t trying to ambush… I mean… whatever.

When the next strike is about to hit, I catch it.

Not with my hands, of course. Even if I do consider doing so as I teleport next to the surging energy. When the lightning coalesces, heading directly towards Josh, I reach out with my own mana and boost it. Not much, but enough to redirect the bolt towards the centre of the city. And of course, I don’t even catch a glimpse of Bel'ther despite scanning for her.

“Kid, we good?” Beth calls from the roof below, following my gaze.

“Still under attack,” I call back, teleporting to another surge of building energy. This continues for a few minutes, until Beth finally spots Bel'ther. I’m only barely able to zoom in on Beth’s shouted coordinates before Beth takes a shot with her rifle.

I don’t hear it, of course. The only evidence that Beth hit our harasser is the sudden twist of Bel'ther’s body, and the arm that is suspended in the air for a few long seconds. Then she’s gone, slipping behind another building.

“Tsk,” Beth says from beside me as she shifts the rifle back to pistol form and attaches it to her hip. “Hopefully that’ll discourage her. Gonna need to stay under cover for these challenges until we can get enough mobility to track her down.”

I nod as we rejoin the others and continue to the challenge. Right as we’re landing, a Fallen bursts from a nearby doorway. For a second, I find it surprising that it’s able to run with a hole the size of my wrist drilled through its face. Then I see Beth putting her pistol back on her belt and I realize she shot it before I even noticed it stumbling its way out.

I feel her pistol is far too quiet for the damage it does, considering the hole that basically replaced the Fallen's head. Morbidly curious, I approach the Fallen, confirming that its head didn't explode in a shower of gore. Its scalp is still there. Her weapon simply disintegrated everything from the chin upwards until just above the eyebrows.

I gag a little, but it's amazing how much I've adjusted since just a few days ago.

Cause while I do gag, it's mild and easily overcome. I wonder if this is a side effect of my Attributes increasing or just the amount of dead bodies I've been around. Hard to say.

Turning back, Beth has found the entrance to the next challenge and is beckoning us over.

Beth leads us inside an office building. Well, the desks and chairs scattered throughout remind me of an office building. At least if the challenge is inside, we’ll be shielded from anymore bombardment from Bel'ther.

There are over a dozen doors leading off a single central lobby, each and every door charred black. So black I can't help but wonder if Smoulder wasn't here before us. The doors range in size, from ones that Luggett could squeeze through with only a bit of discomfort, down to a door that would barely accommodate Smoulder.

Speaking of Smoulder, I double check her status. Yep, her Agility is still at one hundred and she has two Integration points to spend. When I point it out to her, she puts both points straight into Endurance. She really likes those movement attributes.

Since Smoulder’s getting attributes from these quests too, I encourage her to take the door next to me. Reaching out, I read the notification as it appears.

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective revealed: Complete the obstacle course challenge, 'Fire Drill' using only your base attributes and movement skills. Use of any ability, spell or movement item will result in a failure of this challenge. This challenge may be attempted repeatedly. Requirements 0/1 burning buildings escaped. Rewards: +1 current Endurance, 2 Iron-rank Integration points, 1 Iron-Grade Mana shard. Time: 4/7 days remaining."

"Your discovered skills which are allowed for this challenge are running, swimming, and climbing."

Huh, endurance this time. Interesting.

"Okay, people. Ready?"

Our chorus of agreement is followed by a notification echoing Beth's question.

"Raven Queen would like to initiate the challenge, Fire Drill. Are you ready? Y/N?"

I send my redundant mental confirmation to the System as I push my way through the charred door. The other side of the door is a short hall with another door. The next door is so badly charred that it looks like it's going to collapse. Which turns out to be exactly what happens when I try to push it open.

As I release the ashes that were a door handle a moment before, a glowing arrow appears. This time the arrow is yellow with a small orange glow in the centre. The arrow is floating in the middle of a low room. The only light within the room comes from the arrow which gives off a glow that lights the surrounding. Well, the arrow and the flames licking through small gaps in the walls and the low ceiling.

Looking to the left, where the arrow is directing me, I see a hallway filled with flames. Holy crap. I know I'm theoretically resistant to flames, but going down that hallway seems like a bad idea. Then I see a collapsed wall, where the flames haven't reached yet.

Stepping over, I realize the air is full of smoke. It's not causing me to cough, but it does start draining my Health. It's only 0.1 per minute, but if I take any other damage in here, this could get bad.

Carefully climbing over the collapsed wall, I'm startled when a loud crash comes from behind me, glancing back, I find a flaming beam running across the room I just left, the nearby ceiling reduced to kindling. Remembering how many times I was hit by fallen objects during the first challenge, I decide to pick up my pace.

Squeezing through a small gap in the next wall, I find myself in a hallway full of flaming debris with no way forward except to run through them. It's not the wall to wall flames I saw in the last hallway and the fires aren't placed too closely together, so it shouldn't be too bad.

I continue forward, and the heat doesn't even bother me. Since I'm already being forced to get close to the flaming debris, I test to see how close I can approach before the flames cause me damage. I'm able to put my hand directly in the fire without losing Health. I'm taking more damage from smoke than fire.

Shaking my head at the incongruity, I decide to make my way as quickly as I can. I pass through another three sets of rooms, their hallways all full of burning flames. Which I continue to avoid. No sense pushing my luck. I seem to be outrunning the falling beams when I come across a new challenge.

In front of me, there's a four-storey drop to a blazing inferno below. The smoke in this room is so bad my Health is now falling at 0.5 per minute. The way forward is clear. There are several narrow planks leading out and over the room. There isn't a single plank that leads all the way from where I'm standing to the far side, but I can trace several paths by making transitions at the centre crossbeam.

Starting out, I balance on the narrow plank, ignoring the drop, the slight wobble and the flames below. Gotta love being immune to fear.

I make my way out to the central beam with ease. But as I set foot on it, a familiar timer appears. If I'm halfway, the five minutes the timer displays feel pretty generous.

When I take a step towards the plank I was planning to take, the central crossbeam shifts. As I'm teetering, all but one of the planks that lead to the far side fall away. And I nearly join them, the shifting of the beam catching me off guard, knocking me to the side. I latch onto the beam which crumbles under my fingers. Digging in with my fingernails, I feel the edge of the beam give until I find the solid wood buried beneath.

Okay, maybe five minutes isn't so generous.

Pulling myself up, I slowly move to the remaining plank, which is at the very end of the crossbeam. Looking at it, I sigh. I specifically avoided crossing near this side. All the planks here were in worse condition. The one in front of me looks like a solid thunk could split it in half. But it's my only choice, so I set out across the plank.

I'm just over halfway across when I hear a crack beneath my feet. Deciding that my time is running out, I dash forwards, trying to keep my feet from slipping. I'm only a meter from the end when the plank cracks, then snaps.

I slam into the edge of the balcony, taking no real damage while keeping myself from falling. For the second time in less than a minute, I find myself dragging myself away from the fire below.

But I don't have time to rest on my laurels. The timer is still counting down. Pushing myself to my feet, I continue forward. I go through another two debris-filled hallways before I come across another beam filled room. This time there are three crossbeams. Starting out, I choose a close plank instead of trying to find the best path. If they're just going to fall anyway, why bother.

When I make it to the first crossbeam, I'm ready for the shift, but I still almost slip again when it hits. These obstacle courses are almost making me want to up my agility. But it sounds like those with higher agility get harder challenges, so it wouldn't help anyway. Much.

Half of the planks are still up, so I move to the closest plank, making my way to the next crossbeam. This time, there's no shifting when I set foot on it. I wait for ten precious seconds before I decide to chance the next plank.

Amazingly, I make it to the central crossbeam and there's still no shake. Choosing another sturdy-looking plank, I make it three steps when the room shifts. The plank I'm standing on is only one of the victims, but it's the one I care about, as I'm currently heavily invested in it remaining in place.

But my desires have no bearing on reality.

As I feel myself falling, it occurs to me that I'm about to find out what the conditions are like when you fail. I really hope they're right about not being able to die in here.

Deciding, I'd rather be disqualified than find out, I cast flight, halting my fall. Unfortunately, I'm not taken directly out of the challenge.

Instead, I receive a notification.

"Challenge failed: Unauthorized use of flight."

There's more, but I don't have time to read it before I feel a heavy thud that knocks me down.

I slam into the ground with a thunderous crash, as a flaming beam comes down on top of me, smashing my shoulder into the floor. I feel shooting pain shoot up through my arm. Something's out of place. Then I feel the warmth of the flames getting hotter. It's more than uncomfortable as I try to stand, only to be held down by the beam. The pops and crackling all around me get louder as my fire resistance no longer seems to be enough to defeat the damage, my Health disappearing rapidly.

Moments later, I can't hear anything over the sound of my own scream. Then another heavy object strikes me, rendering me mercifully unconscious.

_______________________________________

When I wake, I find myself sitting on a clean bench in a room much like the one I entered the challenge in. The incredible pain is mostly gone. Until I shift, causing my right shoulder to scream at me, that is. Then, when I bump my left hand against my seat, I receive a fresh flash of pain.

Should’ve paused time before using flight, Alexis. Or at least before reading notifications in a dangerous area.

Glancing at my conditions, I discover the dislocated shoulder and burned conditions. But seeing them is a weird kind of a relief… cause I just had a burning building collapse on me, but I’m alive.

And the memory of the pain is already fading. That’s gotta be the System messing with me. As I contemplate whether the System helping me forget about temporary pain is a good thing, I take a moment to check what the conditions mean and how long I'd be stuck with them without Roberts.

Dislocated will go away after two nights of rest or if it's set back into place. It lowers my dexterity with my dislocated arm and causes me pain when it's bumped, ignoring Health.

The 'burned' condition reduces movement speed, increases Focus costs by 100%, reduces fire resistance by fifty edge while also causing pain if bumped, touched or thought about too hard. But it can be healed after three nights of rest.

After reviewing my conditions, I have to admit, as bad as my current situation is, it's still so much better than being dead. Or having similar burns in real life. Looking down at my arm, I discover the flesh is…

Well, it's really not supposed to look like that.

Gritting my teeth when I stand, I reach for the door. When I step out, I discover I'm the first one to finish this time. Makes sense. I still had three minutes left on my timer.

The exit is located in a similar office building from the one we entered, which I see across the street. There's a part of me that wants to try the challenge again. I don't need my arm for this challenge.

But that would be foolish. I can wait for Roberts to finish. Then he should be able to heal me.

Then I can attempt the challenge again.

I don't do anything productive as I wait, leaning against one of the many desks while focusing on not breathing too deeply, and keeping an eye open for potential attackers. I don't even summon any magic.

The next person to enter the lobby is Josh. He seems intact. No sign of injury or burned flesh, and his Health is still full after Roberts last round of healing.

That's good.

"Hey Josh," I try to croak out. But it comes out more like, "Glog-coff," and it really hurts. Like, it takes me a few seconds to realize Josh is calling my name level hurts.

"Alexis. Are you okay? Nevermind. Stupid question. Obviously, you're not okay," Josh deduces, reaching towards me, but stopping himself before he touches my sloughing flesh.

Despite my condition and my appearance, I'm not feeling that bad. I mean, lots of pain, sure. But the fact it's temporary somehow makes it easier to bear. I'm wondering if there's been a change due to my attribute growth. I've always been able to ignore some pain when I thought it was necessary, but this is on a whole new level.

Then again, compared to digging around in my memories, physical pain somehow seems less real.

Luckily, most of the others finish in the next half minute. Before I can get Roberts' attention, Josh is already there, practically screaming in his face, "Alexis is hurt!"

Looking up from where he was just brushing himself off, Roberts' gaze follows Josh's arm, which is pointing in my direction.

I raise my slightly burned, but mostly functional left arm in a small wave as Roberts approaches with Beth, Rufka and Josh all crowding around behind him. Roberts is only just reaching for my hand when I sense Smoulder emerge from her challenge.

Her satisfaction at having completed her trial dissipates immediately. If I thought I'd seen her move fast before, the speed at which she's by my side once she senses my pain is hard to fathom.

One second, she's emerging from her trial twenty meters away. The next, she's at my feet, bowling Roberts over with her meteoric approach.

Looking at everyone with suspicious eyes while wiggling, preparing to launch at them, it takes a few painful laughs before I'm able to tell Smoulder it wasn't them.

She shows zero remorse, concentrating on expressing her confusion and concern. Confusion, because how could I be hurt by something as wonderful as fire. Concern, because I'm still in a lot of pain. I reassure her that I'm fine. Or at least close enough. It's good to know that she's able to sense my condition through the familiar bond. I wonder if I have the same feedback if she's hurt.

"Sorry bout that," I apologize to Roberts as he brushes himself off.

"No harm done. Now, let's take a proper look," he replies, taking my hand. When he starts healing me this time, I feel my body grow distant. It's as though instead of feeling my body, I'm now reading a status report about it. While I'm in this distant state, Roberts pops my shoulder back into place then sends his healing energy through my body. Once the pain is gone, my body reconnects.

"Have I mentioned how amazing that is," I observe while standing up, stretching to test everything. Yep. Just like that, the pain is gone.

"You know, I'm not certain you have," Roberts smirks while stepping back to give me room.

"She must be the only user who hasn't," Rufka chuckles.

"That's amazing. Thank you," I repeat before stepping back towards the challenge. I'm sure I can do this. I just need to try again.

"Kid, what're you doing?"

"I'm going to do the trial again. But this time I'm going to finish it," I answer.

"Alexis, what's wrong with you?" Josh asks, causing me to stare at him.

"Why, whatever do you mean Josh?" I snark at him in response. As grateful as I am for his concern, his question feels insulting.

"Why would you go back in after what obviously just happened to you?"

I stare at Josh for a second before ignoring him, turning to Roberts, "I would appreciate it if you waited for me to try again. I might not succeed."

Roberts smiles at me as he responds, "of course Alexis. I'll wait right here."

"Good luck Lexi," Rufka offers as encouragement when I pass Smoulder over to her. As I'm giving her Smoulder, Tipan emerges from her trial looking slightly shaken but otherwise intact. Looks like I'm the only one who didn't succeed on the first try.

Congratulating her, Beth and I go to the trial start.

"You're sure you want to do this?" Beth checks as we approach the door.

I tilt my head while giving Beth an are-you-serious look as I answer, "Yes. Aren't you the one who said that it's fine because the conditions are just temporary?"

"Just checking. Didn't want you doing this if you were just trying to impress us, that's all," Beth responds as she triggers the notification for starting the challenge again.

Reading the notification, I wait for a moment, turning to Beth. "We're going to have to endure worse than burning buildings to get home. This is a safe way to increase our stats and get experience in extreme circumstances. I'm not going to leave any of these challenges uncompleted if I have a choice."

Beth smiles at me for a second before clapping me on the back, "Good. Best of luck, kid."

Thanking her, I step forward confirming my choice.

Okay. Let's try this again.

Stepping through the second door which again turns to ash with a touch, I find myself back in the same first room. Knowing what I do about the course, I quickly run through, making it to the first beam room quickly.

Taking care, I move to the centre crossbeam where it again shakes. This time I don't fall, since I'm prepared for it to move. Strangely, a couple of planks stay up this time.

I make my way across a more solid-looking beam than last time. There's no further shifting and I'm soon on my way to the next room. Another minute of dodging and crawling brings me back to the room with three crossbeams.

As I look around the room, I notice that there are notches in the ends of the planks where I’m supposed to step on them. Squinting, I count the notches. Yep, each one’s numbered separately.

This time, I purposely choose a different first plank, taking note of the three notches at its end. When I arrive at the first crossbeam, a different set of planks fall into the blazing fire below. Three of them.

Hmm. When I look at my current choices, I discover two is my lowest, so that’s the one I choose.

I race across the plank, trying to ignore the timer as I step onto the central crossbeam. No shaking, just like last time. I set a foot on the nearest plank labelled with another two. But instead of crossing, I only take a step out then wait for a second. There's no shaking, so I grit my teeth before dashing forward. I'm about to set foot on the third crossbeam when the plank wobbles under my feet.

Thankfully, the plank doesn't fall until I’m standing safely on the third crossbeam. I make my way to the second closest plank, which has only one notch on it. Since I just experienced a shift, I don't hesitate, hopping on the plank and running full speed across. This almost backfires when I near the far end. My boot grips a knot, giving me extra traction, but also causing me to push the plank backwards. I lunge forward, catching myself on the balcony as the plank tumbles down behind me.

Pulling myself up is almost as hard as making it across without falling. Now that I’m across, I almost want to stand around and pat myself on the back.

Instead, I follow the arrow through another burning hallway, working my way even deeper into the challenge.

I still have a minute and a half left when I come across an empty room with no fire and a blackened door, just like the entrance. Looking around, I try to figure out the catch. There's no way it's that easy, right?

I spend a solid fifteen seconds searching for it before I realize it's the floor. It's not as solid as it looks. The constant smoke is obscuring my view, but I'm sure there are sections that'll collapse if I put too much weight on them. Looking at the door, I judge the distance is only three meters or so. And the section in front of the door should be solid right?

Working backwards, I find two different paths that I think might work. With only thirty seconds left, I chance it and jump as far as I can to the wider looking path. When I land, I step farther than I'd intended, my left foot causing the floor to split and crack loudly, but I don’t slip through.

Carefully pulling my foot back up, I make a dash towards the exit, making it through with fifteen seconds on the clock. But there's another door. I run forward, opening the second door which finally causes the timer to stop.

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective completed: Requirements 1/1 burning buildings escaped. Rewards: +1 current Endurance, 2 Iron-rank Integration points, 1 Iron-Grade Mana shard."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

Well. At least I don’t need anymore burn treatment.

Not till the next time I talk to Rufka, anyway.

A note from Draith

Probably already seen it above me on Rising, but Sect Elder's Journey is a quality bit of Xianxia cultivation. Standard cultivation system, but the world building and story are interesting so far.

2.22 Enchanted, I'm sure

July 2, 2023, 6:29 pm.

When I emerge from my second attempt at the burning building, everyone is waiting, discussing attribute balance at a nearby desk. I've barely entered the room when Smoulder offers me her congratulations, knocking me back half a step with her enthusiasm.

Beth and Roberts both offer greetings as I join them while Josh doesn't say anything, though I notice his shoulders relax after he looks me over. Relieved that I'm okay, I think. Step up from him treating me like a monster.

Rufka throws her arm around my shoulder as we walk outside. "So, what do you say to another race? Beth thinks it might draw Bel'ther out. And Tipan claims she can set it up so all three of us can race, so even if she does show, we’ll all be grouped together."

I don't respond so much as start flying, pulling out of her grasp while blowing her a raspberry.

"Oh. You're going down," Rufka calls out as she flies after me. When we emerge, I find Tipan on the roof ahead of us, her legs gently kicking against the building while she gazes out across the city. I’d almost think she was relaxed, if her eyes weren’t scanning the horizon where I last saw Bel'ther. Actually, maybe she is. For all I know, she’s not worried about getting hit by lightning.

Glancing down, I see Josh struggling with his glider, Beth chuckling and walking over to help him while Roberts deploys his with a little kick. Considering how long it's been taking them to get ready, I float straight over to Tipan, joining her in her vigil. Though I keep my own senses attuned for anymore buildups of magic.

Once the others are ready, Tipan sets up the race.

With no sign of Bel'ther and the others ready to take to the air at a thought, we blast through it. The course is similar to the first, taking us over a fair chunk of the city, and I note that the System boss seems to be on the move again. Thankfully, it's keeping to the innermost areas for now.

Tipan wins by more than a hundred meters. She's faster than Rufka and has better handling than I do. Which means she's roughly average compared to either of us. The race should’ve been closer, but Rufka and I may have spent several corners sabotaging each other. Tipan suffered from no such drawback.

Though after her casual boasting, she's not going to enjoy that advantage for our next race.

Even with the race completed, there’s no sign of Bel'ther. So Beth has us return to Raz's, hunting down any Fallen we spot along the way. We don't find many.

Either they’re starting to get more spread out or Bel'ther’s been recruiting again. And considering the size of the city, it’d take us weeks to search it. We’ll keep our eyes open as we fly to each of the other challenges, but it looks like the easy farming of the System Fallen is over.

Once we're inside, Rufka, Raz and Tipan take over several tables, discussing modifications to the gliders. While they're doing that, we humans start talking about Luggett and what we learned about going home.

Or more accurately, not going home.

"I suppose we don't have to journey to the academy now," I offer.

"Depends on how long the trip is, kid. Especially with flight and teleportation as travel options? Who knows how quickly we can get around. A repository of information might be useful. He said his information might be out of date and they might have records that the System wouldn't show us," Beth counters, "but that’s a lot of mights, and neither is an urgent reason to rush there immediately."

Roberts nods in agreement while tapping his chin with his steepled fingers. "Indeed. I believe our primary objective needs to be increasing our strength. We're hardly capable of opposing the forces the System wants us to track down. Not as we are now. That strike from Bel'ther nearly killed Josh in a single hit."

"That's why I want to hit two more challenges tomorrow. We know for certain that we can heal the side effects if we fail," Beth confirms, before pausing. Glancing over at me for a second, she adds, "No matter how awful those side effects are."

"Yeah. Thanks again," I give Roberts a nod in appreciation.

"Absolutely. Least I could do."

"You know, with how quickly we're getting around the city, we might be able to do all five challenges tomorrow. If we start early," I suggest while rubbing my fingers through Smoulder's fur. It's really nice and soft and a little distracting.

"Like I said. At least two. If we hit all five, well, the challenges aren’t our only objective. We still need to worry about Bel'ther," Beth reminds me while leaning back from the table.

"Right. Sorry," I apologize while idly brushing my cheek with Smoulder's tail. Which earns me a what-are-you-doing look from Smoulder before I stop.

"No problem, kid. If there’s no interruptions, and we finish them all on the first try, it'd be five easy. But we can't count on either of those. You know, I nearly failed both challenges several times? I was only one wrong step from joining you."

As Beth finishes speaking, Josh suddenly rises from the table, his chair screeching across the floor. He doesn't say anything about the challenges. Or anything we've been talking about. In fact, I only just realize he hasn't said anything since we got back.

He just walks towards the stairs with a mumbled, "Goodnight."

We're all watching him leave but Beth is on her feet even as Roberts begins to rise, "I'll talk to him," she states, cutting him off with a short chop of her hand.

Roberts nods, returning to his seat as Beth hurries across the room, making sure to catch Josh before he gets to his room, for which I’m thankful. If he’d made it inside, I’d have been the only one who could contact him. The rooms are incredibly private. Other than the renter, only Raz can get in. Not only that, but they're also completely soundproof. This means we can't even knock on the door. Again, we’d have to bug Raz to buzz for us.

It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. Or so he said.

As I watch, Beth leads Josh out to the garden after her interception. Pretty sure there’s a sports metaphor in there somewhere.

Josh's behaviour reminds me of my own outbursts. Turning back, I see Roberts staring off into space and I bump another two points into Resolve. It's getting up there, but I still have a way to go. I'm considering spending several Mana shards to boost my attributes further. I'm also thinking I'm going to buy the pet interface tonight.

"Roberts. Could you give a user a second?" Rufka asks, approaching our table.

"Certainly, how can I help?"

"I've got an idea for the gliders. Might be able to modify yours and tall, dark and pinks to run off your resources. Need you to channel some of that barrier power of yours into the glider."

"Interesting." Roberts stands almost as quickly as Josh did.

I'm thinking about going to the change room when Rufka calls out to me. "Lexi, you should come check this out, you might learn something."

Interest successfully aroused, I join them at the table she has the glider spread over. This is obviously not any of their gliders, so I’m guessing it must’ve been an extra. The central carved titanium rod is no longer attached to the wings, sitting to one side. There are narrow vein like rods running up the sides where the wings were once attached. Inspecting the wings more closely, I see they’re reinforced by narrow veins of titanium that slide inside the titanium of the central rod. The runes are even designed so that they’ll overlap when inserted correctly. On the other side of the table are the control supports that normally hang from the leading edge of the glider, along with the fastening hardware for the pilot.

"Okay, now Roberts. I need you to channel your resource into this crystal," Rufka explains as I approach. The crystal is connected to the glider’s central rod by several strands of copper wire.

"Like this," Roberts asks, making the crystal glow.

"Yes. Perfect, now just hold it," Rufka orders as she starts making marks on the rod with a thick coloured marker.

"What do you think, Raz?" Rufka asks our silent host.

"I believe you're correct. The enchantment would require a significant rework to the underlying structure. I'd need to keep the gliders for several days to make the changes. It would also require at least one iron Mana shard for each glider. Plus, payment for my labour of course," he offers with his toothy grin, his dark scaly eye-ridges drawing downwards. "Only four hundred emgee. Each."

It takes me a second to realize emgee is referring to the basic elemental shards.

Rufka's hair stands on end in shock as she stares at Raz. When she recovers, turning to Roberts, "it's really your call. The gliders work well enough already."

"Hmm. That sounds rather expensive. But I'll admit, I'm basing that off the price of buying your lesser gear," he hums, plucking at his shirt.

"Not expensive," Rufka whispers in a half-choked voice.

"In truth, I prefer to create entirely new devices. I'd still require the Mana shards, but I'd be willing to create a unique flight item for five hundred emgee," Raz responds to Roberts, not commenting on Rufka's now not so quiet choking sound.

"That way you'd be able to continue using this glider. Also, my designs would be far easier to use than these generic… products," he adds with a sniff, tilting his narrow snout away.

"What kind of item?" Roberts inquires, and Raz leads him away towards the bar.

Rufka seems to recover, then motions me back to the table, pointing out the rune work carved into the side of the glider. The runes here make the ones I use in my spells feel like the equivalent of a five-year old's crayon drawing. And I don't mean a talented five-year old either. I mean one that makes the sun blue and the grass black.

The only runes that come even vaguely close are the ones in my return spell. There must be over a hundred runes here and I'm not sure where one ends and the next begins. So, of course, I Pause time then start copying every unique rune I see into my spellbook. Again, it feels like the runes I record are a crude copy, but I'm happy to add them. Just copying them into my book is causing my brain to tingle strangely.

I don't get any notifications, so it doesn't seem like the tingling means I've learned a new skill or anything. Maybe if my Mana manipulation wasn't already maxed, I'd be seeing some growth?

Coming out of Pause I hear Raz as he and Roberts cross over to the table next to us, setting a book down on it, "for you, I believe a jacket or possibly a modified vest. For your friend Rose, I feel a scarf or belt would be best."

"Hmm. Will it be similar to the cloak?"

"Yes. The jacket would require an armour slot but provide protection in addition to flight. The vest would simply provide flight," Raz answers, "do you have an armour slot available? It would be unfortunate if you had to wait until your attributes increased to use the jacket."

"I do. What do attributes have to do with equipment slots?" Roberts wonders, asking my question for me.

As Raz answers, Rufka plucks one of the fastenings I was examining out of my hand as she packs the pieces of the glider away. Then she and Tipan move to the big table. I guess they already know most of this stuff.

"Let us say you had ten in every attribute. Then you would have a total of eighty attribute points. Now, let's instead presume you have thirty in Strength. Not that it matters if it's Strength. The point is you now have a hundred points. With at least a hundred, you're able to bond a single Iron-Grade armour. Then you gain the ability to bond another piece of Iron-Grade armour for every hundred points. Understand?"

Roberts nods, then opens his mouth as if he’s about to ask a question, but Raz holds his hand up, forestalling him as I move over to glance down at the book. It’s open to pages that show spinning images of several jackets, each with their Edge bonuses and common secondary effects listed next to them. No prices though.

"Now, a couple other points. Negative attributes will count against this total. And once you advance to copper rank, you'll need a hundred points past your Iron-rank class limits to bond copper-grade armour. The same will apply for Silver. If you ever make it that far."

"Since we're on the subject, how do Copper rank attribute increases work?" I interject, getting Raz to turn towards me with a small huff.

"They're basically the same as iron. Except you need more powerful shards or Integration points. Or a lot more of them. System won't allow you to increase your attributes past their cap until you advance, but every point you invest at Iron is recorded by the System and will count as partial progress towards a copper rank attribute increase."

"Really? So, if you took your time you could save up enough points to increase your attributes in Copper as soon as you advance?" I ask, surprised. I guess that's what happens if you try to invest your points into a capped attribute.

"Yes. In fact, I've met a couple adventurers who were stuck at Iron-rank so long, they were nearly capped in Copper rank attributes when they finally advanced. That would’ve taken acquiring thousands of Iron-rank Integration points while they were still Iron, so you can understand why it's so impressive."

"So, it's similar to upgrading Mana shards then," Roberts notes.

"Exactly so," Raz confirms nodding, "so, can I interest you in the jacket?"

"Do you have a design in mind?" Roberts asks, gently pulling the book closer to them.

As they get into the finer details of the trade I move over to the 'meeting' table, placing my own order when I see Rufka and Tipan's arriving.

"Well, I was right about him being faster," Rufka boasts before tearing a bite out of her juicy looking drumstick.

"I don't believe that was in doubt. It was clear he had his own workshop," Tipan points out while demurely cutting off a piece of her own bird. The large size of the slice is a bit of a juxtaposition when compared to the care with which Tipan cuts it free.

"Yeah, well. Still right," Rufka states, taking another bite.

"Yeah. Except Roberts is getting new gear instead of upgrading the glider," I point out, playfully stealing her plate and drumstick with a gust of wind magic.

Tipan nods, not acknowledging Rufka's attempts to retrieve her plate, "That is correct. And he's providing his services at such a low fee. I'm certain he's a Copper rank crafter at the very least. To be accepting emgee for his services…"

"Yeah. Custom gear like that doesn't come cheap. Ha!" Rufka exclaims as I finally allow her to capture her drumstick. She doesn't bother with the plate, leaving it hovering in the air until I set it down.

I wonder, is the discount on custom gear another one of those benefits provided by Wyonna and the Forerunners? I can only guess. Why did they invest so much in us? Luggett made it sound like they were thieves or religious jerks.

Huh. Maybe if they're religious, this is their version of donating money to a bunch of starving kids. Wouldn't be the first time someone with good intentions has created chaos in another's life.

"Well, if he's offering his services at such a reasonable rate, I believe I'll ask to see if he can create a braiding. It'd be nice to have a proper battle enchantment," Tipan decides, pushing away from the table while running her fingers over the intricate leather woven into her fur.

"Oh. You don't use tattoos?" Rufka asks as she licks her fingers clean. I summon a ball of water in front of her. Rufka doesn't even pause, sticking her hands inside the floating ball the moment it appears as if she was expecting it. "Thanks, Lexi."

Moving her hand from the braid, Tipan traces a pattern of fur that doesn't stand quite as high as the rest of her arm as she answers "I have two. But I was unable to afford a third. With rates as low as he's offering, I would be remiss not to find out if he can create an enchanted braiding."

"True. Think he does tattoos?" Rufka wonders while gazing in Raz's direction.

"I don't believe we have the time for a proper tattoo. But I will ask," Tipan responds while moving towards Raz.

"Tattoos?" I ask, poking Rufka.

"Sure. Easiest way to make sure your enchantments last."

"Do you have any?"

"Of course. Like mum would've let me use anything as bulky as armour. Not when she was around anyway," Rufka answers as her face falls, looking at the table for a second before grinning at me.

"You wanna see?" Rufka asks excitedly.

"Sure," I reply, smiling at her enthusiasm.

The first tattoo is actually what I thought was a slightly discoloured pattern in her fur on her outer right thigh. When Rufka traces it for me, I realize this is another example of sophisticated rune work as she informs me there are over a hundred interlinked shapes within the tattoo. That's hundreds of runes in an area that's only slightly larger than my palm.

Not that I can see them. Instead, just the general shape of the runes is visible through the slightly discoloured fur. It's reminiscent of a biohazard symbol, but with the central circle replaced with a diamond shape.

Now that I know what her tattoos look like, she points out her second tattoo over her heart. I've looked at it a dozen times, at least, but I didn't know it was a tattoo. I thought it might be a scar. At a glance, it doesn't appear to be as fancy as her other tattoo, just a jagged line that crosses over her chest.

"This was my first. Mum said she was proud of me when I told her I was ready," Rufka tells me while gingerly tracing the tattoo.

"What do they do?" I ask, staring at her tattoo.

"This one," she explains while tapping the jagged shape over her heart, "is all Health and Stamina. It works like armour. Lotsa Edge and doubles its effect while I’m moving. Tried convincing mum to give me a Mana one but… you know, she worries about me."

"Wonder why,” I reply with a smirk.

She just rolls her eyes and taps her thigh. “And this one? This is an interface rune.”

"An interface rune?"

"No edge, but it allows me to slow my perspective of time when I'm aiming my bow. Mum says it's rare and that I shouldn't… uh…"

"Shouldn't what?" I ask as Rufka lays her ears against her head while turning away slightly in embarrassment.

"I shouldn't tell anyone about it," Rufka admits with a shy grin.

"It's okay. Your secret's safe with me," I promise her while squeezing her hand.

"What secret?" Tipan asks as she returns to the table.

"Sorry. Can't tell. It's hush hush," I answer, letting go of Rufka's hand while shooting Tipan a smile.

"Oh-kay," Tipan responds slowly, looking from Rufka to me then back again.

"It's about my tattoos," Rufka explains without explaining.

"Ah. Sorry. A personal topic," Tipan acknowledges.

Glancing back to where Roberts and Raz are still talking, I ask, "So, what did he say?"

Brightening, Tipan flashes us a smile that practically answers my question on its own. "He said yes. And for only five hundred emgee."

"Does he do tattoos?" Rufka clarifies.

"Oh right. Uhm. I forgot to ask," Tipan answers with a shrug and flick of her ears.

Rufka shakes her head with a grin, before dismissing herself while going to Raz.

"I think I'm going to hit the change room," I tell Tipan as I watch Rufka join the others.

Tipan nods, giving me a small wave. "Okay. Have good… Uh… change time.”

Responding in kind, Smoulder and I make our way to the glorious bathtub and its stores.

It's time to unlock Smoulder's pet interface.

2.23 Status Check

July 2, 2023, 8:00 pm.

As I prep the water for tonight's bath, Smoulder and I start on her obstacle course, though I only put up a couple basic sections at the moment.

Despite the lack of skill increases, it feels like practicing these complicated manipulations helps me refine my skill. In fact, the more I experiment, the less accurate I feel the notification increases are. Sure, they seem to reflect some tangible change to the ease with which I draw Mana forth and direct it into my spells. But they don't reflect my increasingly fine control over each element.

Nor does it entirely explain why I'm still noticing improvements in my ability to handle multiple objects at once.

Perhaps the System only regulates how much power I can bring forth? It doesn't feel like the change is coming from outside myself. But maybe that's just how deeply the System is ingrained inside me.

I contemplate this strange conundrum for several minutes but there's no clear answer.

Adding another note to self, I bring up the ability shop then go straight to the pet sub-option, Basic - Development Menu.

Purchasing it for five points, I bring up Smoulder's new and improved interface.

- Smoulder Development - Basic options.

"Warning! You have bound a Mana-warped creature as a companion. Your choices will be proposed but must be confirmed by your companion to take effect."

"Huh. I knew you were special," I say to Smoulder before climbing into the bath then turning back to the screen.

Basic Options:

- Class selection available:

- Pyroskimmer (uncommon):

- Attributes: Moderate increase to Agility maximum.

- Resources: Huge increase to Stamina and Focus, minor increase to Health.

- Abilities: Uncommon. Fire. Increased mobility. Moderate damage in a small area.”

- Pyroranger (uncommon)

- Attributes: Moderate increase to Agility and Endurance maximum.

- Resources: Huge increase to Stamina and Focus, small increase to Health, minor increase to Mana.

- Abilities: Uncommon. Fire. Increased mobility. Moderate damage in a small area.

"What do you think, Smoulder? Are you ready to choose a class? Or do you want to hold off? Maybe we'll unlock something even better!" I ask Smoulder as I read through the short list again.

Smoulder sends a general feeling of not being impressed with any of her available options. She wants something more distinctly fire-based.

Laughing, I move on to the next menu while trying to think of how we might improve Smoulder's options.

- Synergistic abilities unlocked:

- The Bunny House: Creates an extradimensional home for Smoulder. Unlocked by Temporal and Spatial manipulation of fifty each. Cost: 1 user's class ability point.

- Here Bunny. Summon Smoulder from anywhere within range. The range is limited by the user's available Facet. Current estimated range: 157km. Unlocked by Return spell and spatial manipulation of fifty. Cost: 1 user's class ability point.

- Hotfoot: Smoulder is able to create tangible platforms of flame. She can use these to hop through the air or as low strength shields. Unlocked by Flight spell and fire manipulation of fifty. Cost: 1 pet's class ability point. (requires pet class)

- Flaming Ball o'doom: Smoulder is able to leave a fiery wake, blasting forward at the head of a raging whirlwind of fire. Unlocked by Blazing Torrent spell and fire manipulation of fifty. Cost: 1 pet's class ability point. (requires pet class)

Okay. I might pick up both the first and second abilities. The others are cool but useless. Until Smoulder has a class that is.

- Known Species Evolutions: (requires pet class)

- Magma-Hare, (Uncommon), Cost: 1 pet Ascension Crest. (Requirements not met)

- Ash-Hare, (Uncommon), Cost: 1 pet Ascension Crest. (Requirements not met)

- Steam-Hare, (Uncommon), Cost: 1 pet Ascension Crest. (Requirements not met)

- Fire-Storm-Hare, (Rare), Cost: 1 pet Ascension Crest. (Requirements not met)

Wow. A lot of choices are locked out due to her not having a class. It won't even give me more details on the options, just indicating that Smoulder requires a class. I guess I should be grateful it's even allowing us to see the options.

…

Nope. Jerk move. Show me more or keep it to yourself.

When I float the idea of becoming an Ash- or Magma-Hare by Smoulder, her response is along the lines of 'does it make her even more hotter than hot?'

Letting her know I have no idea, I shrug then move on to the last section.

- Point conversion:

- Integration point rate: 3:7, three user Integration points will grant seven Integration points of an equivalent rank to their pet.

- Progression Mark rate: 1:2, one user Progression Mark will grant two Progression Marks of an equivalent rank to their pet.

- Ascension Crest rate: 1:1, one user Ascension Crest will grant one Ascension Crest of an equivalent rank to their pet.

Seems like there's a lot of resources required to keep Smoulder in the same relative power level. Luckily, Raz indicated that with enough time, even a regular user could get enough points to increase their attributes well into the early Copper equivalent. It might require a bit of investment, but keeping Smoulder at comparable levels should be negligible. Well, compared to the thousands of points increasing Copper rank attributes would take, anyway.

Status: Smoulder

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 12

Constitution: 14

Agility: 100

Endurance: 50

Intellect: 11

Spirit: 21

Perception: 82

Resolve: 75

Integration Points: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 238/238, Edge: [11.3], Regen: (146/day)

Stamina

Pool: 260/273, Edge: [26.3], Regen: (208/day)

Mana

Pool: 232/242, Edge: [12.2], Regen: (151/day)

Focus

Pool: 301/320, Edge: [25.5], Regen: (242/day)

Matrix Resources

Ignis

Pool: 67/71, Edge: [4.4], Regen: (47/hour)

It's almost too bad Smoulder doesn't want either of her class options. I could level her up twice as fast as I could level myself.

Then again, I might not need to spend any resources on her, now that I think about it. If she's getting her own quest rewards, I wonder if that means she'll get the rewards from the overarching quest?

Deciding I should reach out to Rufka, since she's the only other pet owner I know, I connect.

"Hey, Rufka?" I start, not caring if I disturb her in the middle of something. She probably deserves it.

"Oh, hey Lexi. You're getting kind of lazy, using this when we're in the same building." Rufka teases. Yep. Definitely deserves it.

"Just didn't want to leave my bath, ya know?" I respond while letting the water trail through my fingers. While it's floating upwards. Because I can.

There's a pause on the other end before Rufka responds, "You're contacting me from the bath? Are you bored or something? I have aids that can make bath time more fun."

Blushing I'm suddenly glad I'm alone where no one can see me.

"Uh. No… At least that's not what I wanted to talk to you about," I quickly object. I most certainly wasn'tthinking about that. Even if I am kind of curious what a K'tharn would use. I mean, they didn't keep their pu'shaha around. What would that mean for…

Right, not important. Pet upgrades.

"Oh, so you are interested?" Rufka asks before I can ask about Smoulder.

"Never said that," I half-heartedly deny while moving on, "I had questions about pets."

"Oh. Pets. Boring," Rufka chuckles, "what about them?"

"Smoulder isn't boring," I object. "I wanted to know if pets can receive Progression Marks as quest rewards or if they're limited to Integration points?"

"They get the rewards that are listed in your quest log if it has the pet tag. Wait, is one of our quests… Why of all the Vaus blasted balthen-sucking…." Rufka's voice trails off into quieter and more obscure sounding curse words.

"Wow, you okay there Rufka?"

"I'm not going to be able to take Tuffie to any of these challenges, that's all. Advantages to having a pocket sized pet, I guess."

"Oh. Finally seeing Smoulder’s worth?”

“Mhm. Still not as interesting as toys, are you sure-” Rufka starts, but I cut her off.

“Oh, look at my Facet. Where’d it all go? Talk to you later," I gush out, cutting the connection before she can respond while sinking deeper into the tub.

After a few seconds with my head below the water level, which is totally the only reason my cheeks are flushed, I check my quest log for this pet tag she was talking about.

It's very apparent. It has the word {pet} inside brackets with a little icon of a round head with bunny ears. Strangely, the challenge hidden quest is marked with the pet tag but the main quest isn't. None of my personal quests are marked with the pet tag, nor are the survival or anti-corruption quests.

"Well, it looks like you don't get rewards from most quests, do you?" I say to Smoulder. She just replies with a general sense of disinterest, wondering if I'm going to set up an obstacle course already.

Laughing, I bring her course up, creating new obstacles inspired by today's challenges including collapsing platforms. I consider adding balancing beams but realize Smoulder could jump past any beam I create. Wiggling, Smoulder launches herself at the course while I lay back.

If I could move like Smoulder does, I'd never have trouble with these obstacle course challenges.

Once Smoulder and I are finished indulging ourselves, we head back to the common room where we spend the next couple hours with Roberts, Tipan and Rufka.

When I suggest we should spend some of our Mana shards, we spend five minutes discussing how many each of us should use. Eventually, we decide on holding three in reserve while using the rest. For me, this means I'm gaining seven Integration points from our shardfall… shardalance? Whatever. Seven points.

The process feels similar to submerging myself in a bath, the essence washing over me, before sinking through my skin. A very quick bath that lasts for a fraction of a fraction of a second.

Investing my points in Resolve, I ask Raz if he has any drafting supplies. He provides me with a huge stack of paper, several crude pencils and a question for a small handful of elemental shards.

“What sort of manipulation skills do you have?”

A simple question that had him taking back the pencils while recommending I use my skills to create an effectively infinite pencil.

He demonstrates, by creating graphite inside a steel pen-like holder.

It takes me a few tries to get my own to look decent, but eventually I get it. Mana-wise, graphite is surprisingly cheap, at least for the quantity I'm using. Earth manipulation also works as an incredible eraser, lifting any graphite away from the paper without leaving smudges. My efforts to use magic to draw directly are abysmal though.

With pencil and supplies secured, I join the others in feasting on a small mountain of different foods. As I finish a bowl of fruit salad, I begin drawing the promised Phothean world-ship designs.

Once I finish the first sketches I’d promised her, Rufka prods me to provide drawings of the other ships. Since I'm enjoying drawing freehand, I acquiesce far too easily. Roberts and Tipan aren't as interested in the ships as Rufka but everyone makes a game of guessing what each ship is designed for. Even though I know the technical specs, I don't have as much of an advantage as I'd like.

Now that Rufka has her drawings in hand, it's with some trepidation that I add a flask of moonshine to my pack.

No matter how useful, it still tastes awful.

Rufka assures me there's enough for a full thirty days in the flask. And not only does she have more, but she can make moonshine with the right ingredients with a couple basic tools she carries with her. I'm hoping I don't need it thirty days from now, but it's important information to have.

Even though I gave her the drawings, Rufka keeps bugging me for more details about the Phothen ship as we play another game of billiards. So, Roberts suggests she just get the codex from me, mentioning it might cause a headache.

Rufka eagerly accepts, but no headache ensues. Guess she has enough Spirit?

Heading to bed, I can't help but wonder what's going on with Josh. He keeps avoiding me. And when he's not avoiding me, he's snapping or flinching away. At least today was better than yesterday.

Sighing, I pull Smoulder close while weaving a picture out of twilight. It's the old picture from the end table in my apartment. The one where Mr. Thompson was cut out. But when I recreate it, I leave him in. It was never his fault, so why did I keep blaming him?

When sleep takes me, one last half-formed thought flits through my mind.

I wonder if Mr. Thompson has his own version of a pink bathrobe.

When I wake, Smoulder is sleeping on my chest, her fluffy tail dominating my view. Not wanting to disturb her, I take a quick look over my newly increased attributes.

Status: PANDORA

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-1

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: -10

Constitution: 15

Agility: 17 > 18

Endurance: 5 > 6

Intellect: 84

Spirit: 73

Perception: 27

Resolve: 22 > 32

Storage: 3.33 > 3.45 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 2/2

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 10 > 0

Progression Marks: 0

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 101/101 > 101/109, Edge: [6.8] > [6.9], Regen: (51/day) > (55/day)

Stamina

Pool: 99/99 > 99/102, Edge: [8.7] > [9.1], Regen: (53/day) > (55/day)

Mana

Pool: 473/474 > 473/492, Edge: [45.3] > [46.1], Regen: (360/day) > (375/day)

Focus

Pool: 383/383 > 383/415, Edge: [28.4] > [30], Regen: (249/day) > (274/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 127/127 > 127/132, Edge: [10.5] > [10.8], Regen: (91/hour) > (96/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Resistance: [Additional Defensive Edge Damage Reduction]

Mana: [38.75] > [41.5]

Elemental: [38.75] > [41.5]

Temporal: [57.5] > [62.5]

Spatial: [57.5] > [62.5]

Matrix Skills

Mana: 84

Spatial: 55

Temporal: 84

Combat Skills:

Throwing: 13

Elemental Skills:

Earth: 84

Fire: 84

Ice: 66

Lightning: 84

Metal: 57

Stone: 75

Twilight: 51

Water: 84

Wind: 84

Knowledge Skills:

Gaming: 21

Engineering: 41

Survival - Temperate Forest: 13

Support Skills:

Cleaning: 60

Cooking: 0

Crafting Skills:

Ceramics: 28

Metal Shaping: 40

Stone Shaping: 37

Tailoring: 3

Woodworking: 1

Movement Skills:

Climbing: 8

Flight: 31

Riding: 8

Running: 11

Swimming: 1

While I'm at it I decide to reorganize my skills. It only takes a minute to organize them alphabetically while shortening several of the skill names. Then, as I'm laying here, I realize I haven't looked at my party members' resources in a while either, so I bring them up, arranging everything in front of me, all at once.

Forerunner Rose’s Resources

Health

Pool: 180/180, Edge: [15.3], Regen: (118/day)

Stamina

Pool: 171/171, Edge: [10.7], Regen: (104/day)

Mana

Pool: 76/76, Edge: [2.1], Regen: (40/day)

Focus

Pool: 76/76, Edge: [8.2], Regen: (44/day)

Matrix Resources

Petal

Pool: 45/45, Edge: [3.6], Regen: (29/hour)

Thorn

Pool: 18/18, Edge: [1.3], Regen: (11/hour)

Forerunner Raven Queen’s Resources

Health

Pool: 154/154, Edge: [8.8], Regen: (90/day)

Stamina

Pool: 154/154, Edge: [8.8], Regen: (91/day)

Mana

Pool: 219/219, Edge: [13.2], Regen: (138/day)

Focus

Pool: 262/262, Edge: [21.9], Regen: (188/day)

Matrix Resources

Umbra

Pool: 68/68, Edge: [5.3], Regen: (48/hour)

Forerunner Roberts’ Resources

Health

Pool: 144/144, Edge: [6.7], Regen: (82/day)

Stamina

Pool: 186/186, Edge: [18.7], Regen: (127/day)

Mana

Pool: 101/113, Edge: [7.3], Regen: (65/day)

Focus

Pool: 104/116, Edge: [6], Regen: (65/day)

Matrix Resources

Reprieve

Pool: 48/48, Edge: [4.3], Regen: (32/hour)

User Rufka’s Resources

Health

Pool: 434/434, Edge: [26.5], Regen: (299/day)

Stamina

Pool: 554/554, Edge: [49.4], Regen: (444/day)

Mana

Pool: 316/316, Edge: [18.7], Regen: (199/day)

Focus

Pool: 344/344, Edge: [22.2], Regen: (225/day)

Matrix Resources

Blitz

Pool: 165/165, Edge: [13.9], Regen: (122/hour)

User Tipan’s Resources

Health

Pool: 235/235, Edge: [13.3], Regen: (148/day)

Stamina

Pool: 247/247, Edge: [14.8], Regen: (154/day)

Mana

Pool: 582/582, Edge: [38], Regen: (404/day)

Focus

Pool: 506/506, Edge: [32.6], Regen: (336/day)

Matrix Resources

Aero

Pool: 93/93, Edge: [5.5], Regen: (59/hour)

I've only started to give everything a cursory review when Smoulder wakes up, insisting we go downstairs. Obliging her, I glance over my status for anything that leaps out as I get dressed for another day. The only thing I notice is that my Mana edge is much higher than Tipan's, yet her pool is still bigger than mine. Wonder if that's from an attribute or class difference?

I head downstairs, finding Josh alone, picking at his breakfast.

Deciding this is a good time to get answers or apologize or… something, I approach the table, Smoulder already dozing in my pocket again.

"Morning Josh," I greet him as I take a seat next to him causing him to nearly collapse to the floor in shock.

"Gah! Holy crap, Alexis. You scared me," Josh exclaims, clutching at his chest.

"Yeah. I seem to be doing that a lot lately," I reply, trying not to feel too put out. I did just startle him.

Josh doesn't answer, poking at his plate.

We sit in awkward silence for a second then both start trying to speak at the same time.

"Listen, Lex. I'm…"

"Josh, I'm..."

We look at each other before we both start chuckling nervously.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," Josh continues, "it's just that when you went all raging avatar of destruction. Well, it reminded me of my sister, Ariane. And not in a good way."

"Oh?" I say, not sure how else to respond.

"When I looked at you, I couldn't stop seeing her face. Hearing her laugh."

"That's… weird," I say, trying to figure out where he's going with this.

"She kind of went crazy. She shot a kid."

"What? I need more than that Josh," I demand suddenly feeling much worse for the comparison.

"Sorry. Right. So, I was hanging out with this group of friends. And since my sister followed me everywhere, she was too. Not a big deal, having her along. The others didn't seem to mind, and she didn't get in the way. But it turned out these people weren't just a group of friends, they were a gang. With rivals and all that shit."

"Okay," I acknowledge, still unsure where his story’s going.

"And I find out after, one of the members, Belle, had been showing her how to use a gun," he pauses, locking his eyes with mine, "Ariane was only ten years old."

That gets me to open my eyes in shock.

"Yeah. Ten. Anyway, one Saturday we're hanging out together, when another gang comes by, smashing shit, shooting the place up. Next thing I know, there's this kid standing over me with a gun. Couldn't have been older than sixteen," Josh continues, his eyes returning to his plate.

"Holy crap," I exclaim.

"Yeah. I was terrified. Couldn't move. Not my sister though. As I'm staring up at him, out of nowhere, my ears start ringing then blood blossoms from his chest. It took a few seconds to realize Ariane had shot him. I don't know where she got the gun, but she was smiling at me. Laughing. She killed a kid then laughed about it."

"Well. At least you were both okay, right?" I offer consolingly.

"Yeah. I guess. I know she saved my life. But then she asked me if I was proud of her. If she'd done good. I didn't know how to answer her, so I didn't. But the other members of the gang told her how great she was," Josh says before taking a big breath.

"That's kind of messed up," I admit.

"Yeah. We didn't tell our parents, but it wasn't the same. I wanted to split, stop hanging with them but Ariane wanted to stay. The gang took her in as a mascot. So, I stayed too. I wasn't going to leave Ariane alone with them after that," he says as I listen.

"But then she did it again. Only this time someone testified and Ariane got sent to juvie," his eyes meet mine again, glistening in the corner of his eyes.

"Oh Josh, I'm sorry," I say while squeezing his hand, hoping it'll help.

"Yeah. Anyway, I guess when you started blowing people away, it hit pretty hard. Especially since you're like a little sister to me, ya know?"

"Uhm. Really?" I ask, surprised. I mean yeah, he's been there for me but I never really thought he was annoying enough to be a brother. Or even a cousin. Maybe an uncle?

Rufka on the other hand… Yeah, she's annoying enough to be a sister. In a good way.

"Yeah. Sorry. Projecting or something I guess. I thought I'd dealt with all this shit, but apparently not. Beth tried to help me figure it out last night. Rufka mentioned it might be an attribute imbalance, but I feel like that's just an excuse, ya know?"

The second he finishes, I'm already adamantly shaking my head. “Uh… yeah. I get it. Like, the System is guaranteed screwing with our brains. I've been dealing with its… intricacies a lot. I have a whole new sense which feels completely natural. Like I've always had it. If the System can do that, then having it affect our behaviour seems like a pretty small leap. But we’re still us, right?"

"Huh. So, you think part of it might really be because of an attribute imbalance?" Josh asks, his shoulders slumping as if a massive weight just slipped off his shoulders. Then he attacks his plate with sudden gusto.

"Uh. I wouldn't dismiss it," I answer, watching him devour his meal as another floats out. Right, I should get my own.

"But seriously. Me, your sister?" I ask minutes later as we both finish our breakfasts.

"Well, yeah. You were the same age as my sister when I first met ya. You reminded me of her."

"Really?" I reply, trying to understand how I reminded him of his gun-toting sister.

"Yep. Like I said, same age. Kinda acted like her from before the shooting. Quiet and reserved, but brave."

"Brave?" I choke out. That's a word I've never associated with myself.

"Yeah. You weren't afraid of anyone. No matter who came, you'd answer that door. I've seen you send men away that left me quivering."

"But those were just mom's boyfriends," I shrug, not exactly a big deal telling them to get lost when mom wasn't even home. "That's nothing like standing up to a guy with a gun."

"If you say so," Josh says, crunching into a third helping of breakfast bacon. "Still weird that it hit me so hard. Kept seeing her face all day."

"Huh. And I thought my imbalance was bad," I say while sitting back, playing with Smoulder's tail.

"You had an imbalance too?" Josh asks, sounding more relieved.

"Have, yeah. The System should come with a warning, like 'attribute imbalances will seriously mess with your mind' or something."

"I get the impression the System isn't really here to help us," Josh notes as I hear the sound of footsteps from the stairs.

I shrug while changing the topic, "you know. I think you'd make a pretty great big brother."

"Thanks, Lex. I really am sorry," Josh apologizes again.

"Geez. You're more Canadian than I am," I kid, bumping his elbow as Tipan emerges from the stairs.

Tipan, Roberts and Beth all join us over the course of the next minute. Even as they're sitting, Tipan mentions how hungry she is after using her Mana shards last night. Which prompts Josh to push away from the table, claiming he needs to use his too.

With everyone accounted for except Rufka, I check my connection to her. I'm not entirely surprised it leads upstairs. Such a lazy-bones.

"We're all up and ready to go. Get your lazy butt down here," I whisper through the connection. Not totally true, but whatever.

"What? Mum? Is that you? What're you doing in my room?" Rufka asks, clearly only half awake.

"Nope. This is your captain speaking. Your final boarding for breakfast will be in five minutes."

"Lexi? You're using your ability to interrupt my sleep? I knew we should’ve stopped you before you went mad with power."

"No power in the verse can stop me," I reply, putting every ounce of menace I can squeeze in, letting my voice rise into a high shrill pitch before laughing maniacally.

An "ahem" causes me to look up, only to find everyone at the table looking at me.

"What?" I ask to the sound of Rufka's laughter while the others all just shake their heads.

Breakfast at its finest.

A note from Draith

Thank you Sparkletop and Sherny for the kind reviews.

2.24 Deep Cleansing, Soul Deep

July 3, 2023, 7:24 am.

Rufka decides to stay in her room for another fifteen minutes before finally gracing us with her presence. In that time, Beth finishes her breakfast. This means that before Rufka is finished sitting, Beth has already started to lay out our proposed plans for the day.

"Mostly the plan is the same as yesterday, except we're going to try to fit in as many challenges as we can," she dictates, pointing at several points on Tipan's map of the city. "If we have time after we complete the challenges, we'll stop by to visit Luggett again. It's possible he'll have a method for dealing with Ivicka. If not, I expect we'll be making use of Tipan's teleport once the dungeon completes. We still have several days, so let me know if anyone has another idea."

“Ah, I may be interrupting,” Raz says as he sets a black case on the table. “But I was able to acquire one of those monster parts you asked for.”

“Monster parts,” Roberts asks, his surprise matching my own.

“For the anti-corruption shop,” Beth says, pushing the map that had been dominating the table to the side. “What’d you find me?”

“Well, I was working on a project for a friend, incorporating fire-jackal fur into-“ Raz stops himself with a chuckle, tapping the box. “Anyway, I have several Iron-rank aevir horns. They’re mostly drained, and I don’t really need them anymore, so I can let you have them for only three Irons.”

“That’d be great,” Beth replies, her hand already drawing forth some of the larger mana-shards from her wallet. “Well, I guess plans are changing already. I need to see what I can unlock with this. Kid, you’ve got the soulstones, right?”

“Yep. New as the day they fell from the sky,” I confirm, drawing them from my inventory.

“Great. I’ll be back shortly,” Beth says, leaving me with both soulstones glistening in my hand.

“Can I?” Tipan asks, extending her hand forward. Then she stops. “Which one is my sister?”

I look down at the soulstones. While one is a dark blue and the other is a sparkling purple, I have to Focus to tell them apart. Picking out Sel’dast’s soulstone, I hand the dark blue crystal to Tipan.

“I… I can’t believe Sel’dast is inside this stone,” Tipan says while holding it up in front of her.

“Can you feel her?” Rufka asks, her voice low.

Tipan stops turning the soul stone, her upper eyes closing as she focuses her lower eyes on its glistening surface. I try to do the same with the stone in my hand. But I don’t feel anything.

“I… there’s something. A sense of peace, I think,” Tipan says, her eyes going wide as her voice drops to nearly a whisper. Then she lowers her hand, pulling it against her chest.

“Lucky,” Rufka grunts out, though it’s quiet enough that if I wasn’t sitting next to her I don’t think I would’ve heard her.

The table remains silent until Beth comes back from the change-room.

“Hey Raz. Is it okay if we use the garden for this? Apparently it needs room. And may be a bit of a permanent feature,” Beth asks, holding a pair of sticks in her hand.

Raz nods from his spot by the bar. “Try not to damage the flowers. They’re hard to replace when I’m this far out.”

As we all stand to follow Beth, I squeeze Rufka’s shoulder. She gives me a small smile, then inclines her head in the direction of the others.

We follow Beth into the garden, and she moves forward, holding up the two sticks, which project a stickframe structure over the empty grass. When she swings it over the pond, the structure even adjusts to have stilts to hold it up.

“Huh, that works,” Beth says, setting the frame of the gazebo-like structure over the edge of the pond. Then she squeezes the sticks, causing them to crack. The cracking echoes as the sticks crumble, the dust floating outward to fill in the lines of the gazebo. All of which, I watch from Paused time as I study the effect. It’s conjuring most of the materials, and only using the dust as a stabilizer.

I think…

When it’s done, a simple white and gold structure sits on the edge of the garden, an equally simple table sitting at its centre.

“Object Analyzed: Soulstone cleansing pavilion. This structure has been created from the remnants of a Reaver purifier, repurposed to cleanse soulstone’s of corrupted mana-influences. Placing a corrupted soulstone at the centre of the table will allow a user to purify it. Due to *RESTRICTED*, this pavilion is only usable once per user.”

Beth dusts off her hands with a nod, striding across the bridge that the design added to accommodate her placement. The others follow her while I kneel down to inspect the final product more closely. There’s no trace of the original dust, and the finish is cool to the touch. My metal manipulation tells me it's a mixture of steel, titanium and several other metals. But the texture is almost like wood.

Looking up, I realize Tipan is standing at the table, her hands spread around the edge.

I shuffle closer, making sure to stay quiet as I take my place across from Tipan.

“You’re certain we will each only be able to use the table once?” Tipan asks, staring at the centre of the table. Where I realize a soulstone is held suspended over it.

“Mhm. It was the most efficient option available. And I figured with only three stones,” Beth shrugs, waving at the rest of us. “That said, if you don’t mind, I’ll take Bel’ther’s soulstone kid.”

“Oh, yeah,” I reply, pulling it out of my inventory and handing it over. Kinda glad to be rid of the soulstones.

“I’m ready to start,” Tipan informs us, a slight waver in her voice. Then she leans forward, and the blue soulstone flashes through the spectrum. And I can tell it’s not just colours. It’s being flushed by all the different types of Mana, pulsing into the crystal, then away. And each time they do so, the crystal becomes slightly less blue, and a little more green.

I’m lost in the flows of mana as Tipan works. The process seems more brute force than precise, though the gazebo seems to contain the Mana, recycling it for continual use in the cleansing process. It takes almost five minutes, and by the end, Tipan is breathing heavily in a way I’ve barely heard since coming to Akilo.

When the soulstone is a vivid green, the energies finally stop, and Tipan sags forward. Her Mana and Stamina are both empty, and her Focus is pretty low too.

“You okay, skyborne?” Rufka asks as Roberts steps forward to check on her.

Tipan waves him off as she stares at the floating stone, one hand reaching out for it. When she clasps it, a soft breeze causes her mohawk to waver, making me realize that despite all the movement of mana, the air itself remained still.

There are another few seconds of silence before Beth breaks it. “So, did it work? Any quest updates?”

“I… yes, I can… I need to use the Nexus,” Tipan says while taking a deep breath. “My sister has been cleansed of the Fallen status. And I believe I can restore her.”

“What?” Rufka practically demands as she steps forward, putting her hands on the table. “How do I work this… ah.”

Tipan blinks all four eyes, stepping back from the table. Then Rufka sets Dhanni’s soulstone in place. Dhanni’s stone is almost completely black, with very little light coming off of it.

“I… I’ll be back shortly,” Tipan says as Rufka creases her forehead. Then Tipan’s gone, running across the bridge. For a second, I’m torn, not wanting Tipan to be alone. But I can’t follow Tipan into the change room anyway.

So, instead, I place a hand on Rufka’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. She gives a small nod, which is enough for me to keep my hand there. When she starts the process, I can feel a slight tug at my Mana. I let it flow, and it passes through Rufka, supplementing her own.

And I realize I can exert a tiny amount of control on the process. It’s almost completely ineffective, but I could redirect the flows. Since I have no idea if that would help, I let the process run on its own. No reason to accidentally break it.

Even using my Mana to supplement Rufka’s, it takes much longer to cleanse Dhanni’s soulstone. Twenty minutes later, and the stone has only shifted slightly in colour, a glint of a rich brown shining through from beneath.

Tipan’s returned, and she’s talking in a low voice with Beth off to the side of the gazebo. They’re gesturing in the direction of the gazebo, but the cleansing process seems to have a sound-dampening effect. Cause I can’t hear a single word they’re saying.

Thankfully, after another ten minutes, we seem to hit some sort of critical point and the cleansing visibly speeds up, the darkness being replaced by more and more rich browns. A minute after the breaking point and the Mana stops cycling, getting sucked away by the gazebo. Rufka stares off into space, then her shoulder shakes.

She turns to look at Tipan, who’s smiling softly.

Rufka takes a deep breath, then turns away, standing at the edge of the gazebo, looking out.

“So, Tipan here has a quest to upgrade her class. If she succeeds she’ll become an official soulstone summoner,” Beth says, her hand clasped on Tipan’s shoulder.

Tipan nods, her eyes darting about our group. “I… if I succeed, the System said I’d be able to bring my sister back. At least, for a time.”

“That… is an incredibly brave choice,” Roberts says, speaking for the first time since we’ve come out. “It is never easy, having the fate of a loved one in your hands.”

Behind Roberts, Josh frowns, looking away.

“It’ll also be useful. Tipan’s agreed to ask about Bel’ther. Somehow, I doubt we’ll get much useful intel from her soulstone. But she needs to use the gazebo to do her ritual. I’ll be cleansing Bel’ther’s soulstone first, but if we’re right, we don’t expect that to take long.”

Tipan nods, and we all make room as Beth clasps the edge of the table. Her casual disregard as she places the purple soulstone in place… after the way Tipan and Rufka placed the soulstones… it’s jarring.

As Beth focuses on the crystal, the energy in the room starts to hum. And then almost immediately stops. The soulstone hasn’t changed, much, and is only the tiniest bit brighter.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Beth says, shaking her head.

“What?” I ask, feeling like I missed something when she was having her conversation with Tipan earlier.

“Simple. Since Bel’ther’s still running around, we can’t cleanse the soulstone.”

“Not until she’s destroyed.”

2.25 Soulstone Summoner

July 3, 2023, 8:33 am.

Gathered around the sparking purple gemstone with my party, I can’t help but wonder if destroying Bel’ther is the best way to deal with her.

With no one using the table, a gentle wind blows through the gazebo, carrying the scents of the garden. Tipan steps forward, looking towards Beth.

“I’m going to… attempt the ritual,” Tipan says, placing her staff on the table.

“Is there anything we can do?” I ask, my eyes drifting down to the still sparking soulstone above the table. Which Beth plucks out, slipping it into her inventory.

“I… believe you can contribute, much like you did with Rufka’s cleansing,” Tipan pauses, glancing at Roberts. “Also, if you could be ready to heal me. The System warned that this may… well, it said a class transformation can be dangerous.”

“Of course,” Roberts replies, a small frown creasing his forehead.

Before the rest of us can act, Rufka already has her hand on Tipan’s shoulder. Even though she’s low on Mana.

“Shouldn’t we… wait until you’ve got more resources?” I ask, not sure where to put my hand. There’s not that much room behind Tipan.

She shakes her head, her mohawk bobbing as she gives me a small smile. “I have to do it in the next hour.”

“Oh. Yeah, that’d… okay,” I say, even as Rufka places my hand over hers on Tipan’s shoulder.

Once we’ve done some shuffling, we’re all standing behind Tipan, only slightly squashed together. It almost feels suffocating, even though there’s space between me and the others. Then Tipan sets her staff in the centre of the table, her sister’s sparkling green soulstone set at its head. My discomfort is forgotten as she tugs at my Mana.

It’s different, the pull isn’t as steady, and she draws on all of my Resources, even Health. The gazebo isn’t basked in Mana either. Instead, everything is channeled into the staff which breaks apart. In a process almost the reverse of the gazebo, it splits into component parts, each one shifting. Then they start to slide back together. The shape is similar to her original staff, but the details are different. The wide head now has empty sockets in it.

More importantly, the staff has a different feel to it. To my Mana senses, it’s more real than ever, but my eyes can see through its transparent form. Then Tipan gasps, and we’re all knocked back by a surge of wind.

When I emerge from the pile of limbs with a smidge of assistance from accelerated time, she’s leaning on the staff while taking deep, heavy breathes.

“Did it work?” I ask, even while extending a hand down to help Rufka to her feet. Which almost results in her pulling me off mine. Right. Still weak.

Tipan’s face lights up in a smile, her hand running down the length of the staff. Then it blinks, disappearing. A second later, it reappears. Tipan coughs, but her smile remains. “It did. I… need to rest before I’ll be ready to talk to Sel’dast. But I have a real chance now. Thank you. All of you.”

“Glad we could help. Least we could do after you saved us,” Beth says, clapping Tipan on the shoulder. Then Beth turns to the rest of us. “We’ll take a few hours to recover, talk to Tipan’s sister, then hit the closest challenge. We’ll keep today light. Unless someone has another suggestion?”

We all shake our heads, though I note Roberts is tapping his chin.

Before I can ask him about it, he steps out of the gazebo, followed closely by Josh and Beth. As I’m about to follow, Rufka crosses in front of me, towards Tipan, who was still staring off into the distance. Taking a deep breath, Rufka says, “Skyborne.”

“Yes?” Tipan asks, her tired smile still present as she turns towards us.

“I hope this can help you.” Then Rufka profers Dhanni’s rich brown soulstone, holding the purified soulstone in her lower hand toward Tipan.

“I… oh. I’m sorry,” Tipan says, looking up to Rufka. Who I only now notice has matted fur just under her eyes.

Then Rufka blinks, and the moisture is whisked away. “It’s… fine. I mourned her a long time ago. It was… now she’s truly at peace. It’s just… it’s not her. Not anymore.”

“I can try to talk to-“

“Read the description again,” Rufka says, holding up her hand.

At this, I Focus on the soulstone in Tipan’s hand.

“Object Analyzed: Soulstone - Earth Elemental. This crystal has the captured essence of a powerful earth user, cleansed of the corrupted Fallen effect.”

My eyes switch over to the green soulstone set into Tipan’s staff.

“Object Analyzed: Soulstone - Sel’dast. This crystal has the captured essence of a powerful wind user, who’s presence has been preserved despite being cleansed of the corrupted Fallen effect.”

Oh.

I don’t really register it until her fur is already pressing against my face as I step forward to hug Rufka.

“Alexis,” Rufka says with a rough grumble, but there’s a bit of a chuckle underneath.

“Sorry! Sorry,” I mumble stepping away as my cheeks flush. “I just… you know. She was important to you.”

“She is,” Rufka agrees, turning back to Tipan. “Please skyborne… Tipan. It’s not much, but she’d be happy to have even a small chance to strike back at her killer.”

“I… of course,” Tipan says, taking the soulstone from Rufka. She stares at it for a few seconds before placing it into her staff. “Now, what do you say we get something to eat. I’m certain I saw some restoratives on Raz’s menu.”

Neither of us say anything, but we follow Tipan out to the dining room. There’s a quiet mood for a few minutes, but then the food arrives and we start joking as Roberts tells a story of his time in med school. I’m not sure how they got that many rubber ducks, and I’m pretty sure filling an entire storage closet with them had to have been against hospital policy, but the story does get me to smile.

I spend some time teleporting a pencil sized stick of metal around the table as Smoulder gets up, giving her a chance to stretch her legs.

When the morning has passed, most of our resources have recovered, thanks mostly to some potent regeneration boosting foods. Some of which I’ve tucked away in my inventory.

We make our way back to the gazebo, the mood lighter than earlier. Rufka’s still pretty quiet, but I think that’s to be expected. When I Focus on the gazebo again, I note that its description has been updated, now indicating that it can serve as a ritual focus for Soulstone Purifier category classes.

Tipan once more places her staff atop the table, where it floats upright in the centre of the gazebo. Then she starts chanting, though the words are actually closer to a quiet plea to her sister.

Then there’s a flash of the soulstone, and a notification that tickles at my attention softly, as if the System knows its intruding.

“User Tipan has invited you to partake in the ritual of Astra’s Last Visit. Do you accept?”

Confirming that, yes, I do want to be here for Tipan. I turn back to where the green soulstone is growing in brightness as a face emerges from the glowing energies. Considering the fidelity of Tipan’s map, the blurriness is surprising.

Despite the fact the face is green and blurred, I can see more resemblance to Tipan in Sel’dast’s ghostly face than when she was alive. There’s a sort of keen focus they share, the way they narrow all four eyes when engaged in conversation.

“Tipan, what is…” Sel’dast asks, her voice deeper than Tipan’s, but still similar.

“I… you’re dead, sister,” Tipan says, her hands squeezing the edge of the table. “Ivicka…”

“Yes. I remember. Ivicka’s experiment didn’t exactly go as she had hoped,” Sel’dast replies, her face wavering as she closes her upper eyes. “And then… Hmm. I remember she was hunting for something. A lost technology her mentor was obsessed with. Something she read about in the Builder's Library.”

“Is that why you were here, in the dungeon?” Tipan asks, waving around at the garden. I helpfully don’t point out that we’re not really in the dungeon at the moment.

“Sorry fuzzball, but I don’t really remember why we were in the dungeon. I just remember that it hurt. And that I had to obey Bel’ther.”

“I… do you want me to tell mom anything? Or send a message to father?”

“Oh Vaus’s tits. Yeah, but… how much time do I have? I’d like to think about it if I can.”

“We have a few hours, I believe. And… there’s a way for more but…” Tipan trails off, glancing to the side where Beth is standing. “We can talk about that later. I have a companion who had some questions for you, if you’d prefer?”

“Sure. That’ll be easier than… what am I even going to say? Sorry I died mom, love you?”

“That… would be a solid start, yes,” Tipan says, her eyes moistening.

“Oh geez, sorry fuzzball,” Sel’dast says, the head floating forwards and a trace of wind rustling Tipan’s fur as the faintest outline of arms reaches towards her. “Well, that’s frustrating.”

With a choked laugh, Tipan nods, wiping her face as she steps back and waves at Beth.

Beth steps forward, yet Sel’dast doesn’t look in her direction. Instead she watches her sister for several more seconds. Then Beth starts asking Sel’dast questions, mostly about what they’ve done here. Sel’dasts memory is full of holes, and she doesn’t even remember fighting us, except the battle where I entombed her. Which is when we discover she used her coffin as a way to bypass the rigid rules she was bound to. She’d been told to keep Bel’ther safe, to obey her direct orders, and not to target herself with her magic. But she’d managed to realize she’d be destroyed by the backlash alone. She felt especially proud to have outsmarted her summoner. Who wasn’t Ivicka.

“You’re sure Ivicka didn’t summon you?” Beth asks again, frowning as she shifts her grip on the pistol at her waist.

“No. It was… she had golden fur, like the rising sun. But I never knew her name,” Sel’dast replies, shaking her disembodied head.

I feel like this whole process would’ve felt way creepier if we were kidnapped from earth a hundred years earlier. Did they even have the concept of holograms back then?

“Sound familiar?” Beth asks our K’tharn allies, but they both shake their heads. “Figured.”

Her questioning continues for some time, and she manages to figure out that Ivicka was looking for something specific inside the bullet, though Sel’dast still isn’t sure what it was. But she is sure that Bel’ther found it and hadn’t delivered it yet.

Turns out they’d been inside the ship several times, bypassing the Citizen restriction on the technicality that they were summons. And bypassing the dirt with Dhanni. She was literally just there to open and close the door. Sel’dast didn’t even know her name. When Rufka hears that, she snaps one of the railings of the gazebo, which almost throws the ritual out of balance. It takes Tipan ten minutes to restore it, with Rufka apologizing throughout.

When Beth is done, Tipan asks to be alone with her sister and we all return to the dining room once more. Our discussion is short, Beth again reiterating our plans to hit a challenge once Tipan is done. But then we drop into silence. Josh ends up telling a story about one of his first events at the SCA, before he’d ever tried using a spear.

But I’m not really listening. I’m thinking about what it would be like if I only had one chance to say goodbye to my aunt Sharon. Or Sab. Or what it might be like for them now, with no way to know how I’m doing, and nothing but whatever Wyonna left for them.

Yeah. I need to get home.

And I need to survive until we find the way.

2.26 Checklisting Challenges

July 3, 2023, 12:25 am.

When Tipan emerges from talking with her sister, she stands taller. The green soulstone set into the head of her staff churns with violent energy. Her mohawk bobs as she nods in our direction. “I’m ready.”

“Finally,” Rufka huffs out, though it’s quiet enough I doubt Tipan heard her. Then she adds, in a much louder voice, “Let’s go wreck some Fallen.”

While we were waiting, I pulled Beth to the side, to mention that if she wants me to sit to the side again, I’d like to work on modifying my return spell. A better way to teleport feels like it could be a path to getting us home. And modifying return feels like the best place to start. Especially if I'm able to figure out how to use it to not just return, but teleport.

So as the others prepare to take to the sky, I’m already reviewing the rune-structure in my journal, splitting off several different versions of the design as I try to isolate which variables are most important.

Which is probably why I’m shocked when we blast forward across the city. While I’d noticed Rufka pulling me into position behind Tipan, with the others, I hadn’t paid much attention, flying along behind them.

And then we’d accelerated to more than twice our previous speed with no extra effort.

Tipan’s in front of the cramped formation, with each of us spread around her. Just past the edge of the formation is a thin green veil, shaped like a tear-drop.

“What’s going on?” I ask, surprised to find that my voice carries without a problem.

“Tipan’s using an aspect of Sel’dast to increase our speed,” Josh answers from the far side of the formation. I squint at him when I realize he’s about as far as he can get.

“Indeed. It should be useful for long distance travel. Shame it’s limited in size,” Roberts says, and I realize just how close I drifted to the edge while distracted. “And that it takes her so much concentration.”

Glancing forward, I notice that Tipan is squinting, her ears full and stiff.

With Tipan’s boost, we’re soon in the vicinity of the first challenge. The entrance is beneath several slabs, all leaning against each other. Apparently Rufka bought an upgrade that lets her summon her pet wolfadillo.

I discover this fact when she summons him out of thin air as Beth is asking us if we’re ready.

Which, of course, leads to Beth shooting him. And Roberts healing him. And a short yelling bout between Rufka and Beth about proper party etiquette, which can be summed up as, don’t summon a giant monster without telling us, please.

The please is implied, or so I assume.

With that settled, we start the challenge.

Once inside, I discover the appearance and terrain are similar to 'The Collapse,' except there are two slanted buildings leaning against each other. And it's a rescue challenge. My interface doesn't have an arrow leading through the buildings. Instead, there are several glowing areas labelled as 'safe zones' and a counter with a little stick figure icon. The four arms make it apparent that it represents K'tharn, but it takes me a minute to find the first one I'm supposed to rescue.

The strange doll kind of resembles a K'tharn. If they were furless. When I pick up the doll an arrow directs me to the closest 'safe zone' where I deposit the doll before continuing. Once I understand the idea, the rest of the challenge is simple, allowing me to finish with plenty of time to spare. My rewards, +1 Agility, 2 Iron points and a Mana-shard. Good to know the loot’s kind of fixed.

The only one who fails on our first attempt is Josh. Everyone else finished it, even Smoulder and Tuffie.

Josh didn't get crushed or anything dramatic. He was just slow.

While Josh goes back in, Rufka, Tipan and I hold an impromptu race while Beth and Roberts set up in case Bel’ther attacks. Our race isn't as speedy as usual. In fact, Josh is done his trial by the time we make it past the final ring.

This may have been due to a considerable amount of 'course corrections' as we interfered with each other. And Tipan wasn't exempt this time.

I end up winning mostly by dint of being at the leading edge of our rolling ball of elbows when we cross the finish line. As I'm lying there, basking in my victory, I can't help but note that Health edge makes rough-housing more fun than I remember.

The others are getting faster at getting into their gliders. So, as we're still picking ourselves up, they’re ready to set out for the next challenge.

“Not quite the day I was hoping for. Was hoping for more lightning," Rufka sighs as we fly after them.

"Yes, because getting struck by lightning is such a great thing when flying between challenges," Tipan retorts even as she fires a lightning torrent at a group of Fallen who didn't even notice us.

Rufka shrugs, "I mean, I’d rather be able to remove her as a threat. And it's more entertaining than sitting around playing Astra’s Stride by ourselves."

"Crazy. I swear you must have been utterly chaotic as a child," Tipan mutters before we fly towards the others.

After I'm finished looting, that is. We haven't hit a distance restriction to the auto-sharing part of the party looting yet. When I ask about the range, Tipan says it should share loot throughout the entire training area, though there's a hard limit of 1.2 kilometers outside of the dungeons. Which, she adds offhandedly, is also the range for the party screen and voice chat functions.

Good to know.

Then she’s in the lead, once more channeling the aspect of Sel’dast. This time, since I’m paying attention, I see the faint image of her sister spread her arms before wrapping around us, as if giving us a big group hug. I also swear I hear her voice. And then we’re zooming forward inside of a tear-drop. The form of which I’m totally stealing to try to improve my flight spell, despite Tipan claiming it only enhances existing flight.

Yet despite the speed upgrade, she’s still not certain we can outrun Ivicka in a straight line. Dragons be fast. Magicked up dragons, even faster.

The second challenge of the day is located in a busted-up building that's partially flooded. When we activate the prompt, I'm excited at first, because it allows the flight skill. But once we're inside I discover it's a flooding building, and we're forced to use our swimming skill to rescue the 'helpless' K'tharn trapped within. I end up using swimming a lot more than flight. I'm guessing that's why this challenge gives +1 Endurance.

Roberts is the only one who manages to complete the challenge successfully on the first try. Rufka says that her dolls kept panicking then running away in different directions. Mine didn't move, so I didn't have that problem. But between the fact that they're submerged and the fact I can’t see far underwater, they're much harder to find than the first rescue scenario. That's the only thing that kept me from completing it on my first attempt. I couldn't find the last doll.

The second attempt is easier. Not all the dolls are in the same positions, but I have a better idea of what I'm doing. I'm glad mine don't panic like Rufka's though. I don't have the skills to handle that. Capital 'S' Skills either. When I finish my second attempt successfully, Roberts informs me that Rufka had to start a third time.

Apparently, destroying the dolls causes you to get disqualified.

I end up talking to Tipan, who quietly informs me that she and Sel’dast have come to a bit of an agreement.

“My sister’s not gone. Not as long as I’m alive,” Tipan says, her hand resting on the glistening green stone. The energy within almost seems to hum in response. “She’s… I can talk to her, by spending Aether and Focus. I was wondering if you could tell me about your ability to link to people. I’m hoping to find a way to talk to her for more than a few seconds.”

“Aether?” I ask, then shake my head. “Nevermind. I’ll tell you all I can.”

So, I do exactly that, describing what I know about connecting to others, how the links form, what it feels like, how long it lasts when I use minimal resources. Everything.

By the time I’m done, Rufka is emerging from the trial. Other than Rufka everyone completed theirs on their second attempt. Rufka is grinning as she steps out, and hasn’t uttered a single curse, so I’m guessing she succeeded.

As she joins us, I sling my arm over her shoulder. "You know, for the fastest person here, that took you a long time," I tease while squeezing her close.

"The Vaus-blasted doll smacked me on the face hard enough I took damage. I reacted with an appropriate measure of force. The challenges are just finicky," Rufka protests while Tuffie comes over to give her a big nuzzle. Huh, I wonder how Smoulder and Tuffie are handling the rescue aspect? I guess Tuffie could grab the doll with his maw.

"Sure, they are," I acknowledge Rufka with a condescending tone before sending the general idea of my question to Smoulder. Her answer is headbutts. She's been pushing the doll to 'safety'.

With headbutts.

I also get the impression that her dolls are much smaller than mine.

With that answered, I begin flying after the others. I suspect Beth is happy with our progress. It's been less than an hour, yet we've already managed to complete two of the challenges. Tipan’s aspect is really helping make up for the time we spent cleansing the soulstones.

The third challenge of the day is next to another silver bullet, though this one’s intact. So we take a detour, and discover that the entrances are normally at ground level. Even though the outer shell is intact, after checking the observation deck and engineering, we discover it’s even more empty than the one where we found Luggett. To top it off, the engine room is just an empty frame, stuffed full of dirt.

We leave it behind disappointed, but not having wasted too much time, turning our attention to the challenge, which is housed inside a partially sunken building, the entrance inside of a still functional water feature that floods the submerged plaza. The challenge itself is a building that's flooding again, but this time it's an escape, not a rescue. And the building is collapsing. Whee!

As I pass the halfway point and the timer appears, a piece of rubble falls over the only exit. With my pathetic strength and inability to use manipulation skills, I'm unable to get through the massive slab.

Since I can't find a way around, I realize I'm trapped as the rising water starts reducing the size of my air bubble. Rather than subject myself to drowning, I create a bubble of wind, which leads to a disqualification notice. Thirty seconds later I'm ejected after being told to 'please try again'. When I emerge, I discover everyone except me and Josh completed their version on their first try. Oh well.

Tipan is talking excitedly with Beth and Rufka, pointing west with two hands and repeating Builder and Tower. I’m tempted to listen in, but I don’t want to hold the others up.

As we hike over to the submerged lobby to restart, Josh mentions he had a similar problem, except the collapse was so far ahead he didn't know where the door was. Which meant he had to dig through rubble searching for it. He did find his way out, but he ended up running short of time before he made it to the end. Apparently, he can hold his breath for an especially long time now, so he wasn't in any danger of drowning.

My second attempt goes smoothly. Knowing the route, I make it through before the rubble can block my path. Once I'm at the end, I emerge from the challenge, disconcertingly dry with another +1 to Agility.

I'm practicing using fire and metal together in a glowing orb of silvery metal when Josh emerges from his trial. He's holding his fists up in triumph this time, so I'm going to assume it was a success. Roberts and Beth both congratulate him. And I even give him a high five.

Still feels a little awkward but it's a step back towards normal. Yay.

As we set off towards the fourth challenge, my thoughts turn to food. I finally picked up several interesting meals from Raz which I intend to enjoy while lounging around on a rooftop near the fourth challenge.

We've been absolutely tearing through the city as we go. There’s been no sign of Bel’ther, and with Tipan’s new aspect we've swept nearly half the city at this point. There were several pockets of Fallen we deemed worth stopping for, and even one that was thick enough that Beth gave me the okay to participate. But mostly I've watched the others practice while gathering loot afterwards.

It's not thrilling, but we're racking up a huge amount of shards. Close to two thousand emgee this morning. The twilight shards remain rare, to the point we have more pure Mana shards than twilight, but they do show up.

I’ve noted that not a single Fallen we've encountered wields twilight, though they’re using every other element, to some degree.

As we land in the street near the fourth trial, at my suggestion, Beth agrees we should eat before the challenge, to keep our resources full. Just in case.

Letting the others know I'm going to the roof; I sit on the edge of the building where Tipan joins me, her hand playing over her new staff.

We watch as Rufka dashes across nearby buildings, taking Tuffie for a 'run'. As she bounds along ahead of him, I realize Rufka is at least as fast as her wolfadillo.

"Huh. I wonder why she even rides him," I comment offhandedly before taking another bite of my delicious pulled pork sandwich. The sandwich has a pleasant bite I can't identify and is definitely worth every shard I spent on it.

"Certain abilities or skills only work with a bonded companion," Tipan supplies in between bites of her own crispy meat chips. "But I suspect she just likes him," Tipan adds with a half-smile.

"Yeah. I can understand that. Even if Smoulder was useless in battle, I'd still want her around," I agree while giving the aforementioned floofball some of my sandwich, so she knows I love her.

Nodding, Tipan says, “I think we might have a better target for my teleportation ritual. We’ll need a power source though. We could use mana shards, but it would take nearly a hundred Irons to power it.”

Whistling, I take another bite of my sandwich before responding. “That’s expensive. Where would we even be going?”

“The Lathiac Tower. The main location of the Builder’s library. And if we’re lucky, a way for you to go home.”

A note from Draith

Big shoutout to Shipcore. Ships. Sci-fi versions of magical girls. Super-overpowered MC.

I love this story, especially the first two arcs. There was a bit of a weird event in the early 3rd arc, but we're back to fun waters as of the latest chapters. Has my two thumbs upping.

2.27 Bonus Rounds

July 3, 2023, 3:45 pm.

Tipan and I finish the rest of our lunch in relative quiet, while I’m processing her news. The Builder’s library. The very same library sealed by the Aetherium. And she thinks she has a way inside.

As I polish off my lunch, I ask, “How did you… even come up with this?”

“When I was trying to talk with Sel’dast, we realized she could share her class abilities with me. And after your creative use of the interface, we started testing what else she could share. One of the options seems to include teleportation nodes for my ritual. However, for some reason there are huge energy costs for any of her destinations.”

“Like, a hundred Iron Mana shards?” I ask, holding up one of the shards in question, though only a mortal grade one. The sliver of black Mana glows as I look at it. “Seems expensive. I doubt we’ll be able to go soon.”

“Agreed. But perhaps an excursion to the jungles of Ael’doon would be enough. There are swarms of Mana-borne there, and with this party… we could probably harvest enough materials in a month or so.”

“A… month?” I say, giving Tipan some side-eye. “We haven’t even been here a week, and you want us to spend a month in the middle of a jungle?”

“I… that is a conservative estimate,” Tipan admits, hefting her staff to run her finger over the still glowing soulstones. “I think… it would depend on how hard it is for you to find the Mana-borne.”

“You wouldn’t be coming with us, would you?”

“I don’t know. This is… I didn’t exactly have a plan for what happened after I got your companions out. I just couldn’t leave them there,” Tipan says, her eyes narrowing as we look over at where the others are gathered on the roof across from us.

Beth is already standing, and calling out orders. I squeeze Tipan’s shoulder. “You’re good people, Tipan. Thank you.”

Her ears flick back, giving me a shallow nod as she pushes herself to her feet with her staff. Then we’re following Beth into the next challenge.

This challenge is a fire rescue, which turns out to be the most difficult we've done so far. Smoulder is the only one who finishes it on our first try.

I rescue the first doll easily enough, but another catches fire and I'm not able to douse it in time causing an immediate failure.

Rufka has a similar problem, but her dolls were also running around and panicking.

My second attempt doesn't fare much better. I end up crushed under a beam trying to 'save' a doll trapped beneath it. A little after I come out, Josh joins Smoulder in the winner's circle while the rest of us head back in for our third attempt.

After a quick round of healing from Roberts, that is.

For this attempt, I take my time, moving confidently between rooms but watching for falling debris. I still almost fall to my 'death' when the floor collapses from under me near the end of the trial, but I manage to pull myself up. This trial was a test of endurance, so it feels appropriate that I get a plus one to the attribute when I finish.

Now that the trial's complete, I find Roberts waiting with Josh, Smoulder and Tuffie. Smoulder is curled up in Roberts' lap, greedily absorbing as many head-scritches as possible while Tuffie is flopped at their feet partially obscuring them from view with his large frame.

"Rufka is on her fifth attempt," Roberts mentions as I join them.

"Really?" I reply, reaching out for Smoulder who gladly trades Roberts' head-scritches for my own.

"Yeah. She messed up early on her third try. She was pretty upset. Charged straight back in then popped back out again a minute later. She seemed very pleased with herself for such a quick failure," Josh informs me while holding his fist up for a fist bump.

Alright, more normal!

Returning the fist bump, I listen to Roberts describe his version as Beth and Tipan join us. Basically, it was like mine with a couple more rescues required and burning beams to run across.

When Rufka appears, she's not looking very good. Roberts' rushes over to her. Once she's healed, she just howls with laughter before walking back over to the challenge.

"I guess we might only get four today," I mention to Beth as we all play Astral Stride. Josh apparently borrowed it from Rufka back when we were doing the first trial.

"Hmm. Or Rufka can come back once she's had a chance to cool off," Beth replies as we continue the game. Beth and I have both finished our 'magic zones' when Rufka emerges from the challenge again. She's intact and grinning like a madwoman, so I'm guess-

"Lexi. Pour me a drink to celebrate!" Rufka cries, her eyes locking on me the second she emerges.

Obliging her, I pull out two cups then pour each of us a drink. Can't let her drink alone, now, can I?

Handing Rufka her cup, I raise my own, "congratulations. Finally."

"Ukila above. Finally, is right. One of those Vaus-cursed dolls decided that jumping out the window of a twenty storey building was better than burning."

"Seriously?" Josh asks, beating me to it.

"Yeah. And then it had the nerve to beat on me once I rescued it from certain death."

"You truly have trials far and away more intense than mine," Roberts observes.

"Agreed. Do you need a minute before we move out, Rufka?" Beth checks while pushing herself to her feet.

"Nah. We're this close to finishing this thing. Let's get to it," Rufka responds, handing me her still dirty cup with a grin.

"Excellent. Let's hit it, people," Beth commands as Josh packs up the game.

This time when we take to the sky, there's a celebratory mood. We still have one challenge to go, but we have hours left in the day, Bel’ther seems to be wary of us and we’re barely winded. At this rate, we'll be back at Raz's before the sun has a chance to set.

Minutes later as we're flying towards the last challenge, I'm looking over at the System boss watching the now familiar movements when I notice something.

"Hey, Tipan," I say, thankful she’s floating close above me in the formation.

"Yes, Alexis?" Tipan responds while scanning the city below for more Fallen. She’s the one that has to react first if we spot a big enough group.

"Is it just me, or does that thing have more eyes than it did when we arrived here?" I ask pointing at the System boss.

Looking in the direction I'm pointing, Tipan doesn't answer for a second.

"Interesting. I had no idea…"

"Beth," I grab her attention while Tipan is still muttering to herself.

"Yeah kid," Beth responds, the sound of rushing air slightly distorting her voice until she pulls back from where she and Josh were hovering near the edge of Tipan’s teardrop.

"I think the System boss is being affected by the challenges."

Ahead, where Beth is flying in her glider, I see her raise up, floating inwards towards the city centre slightly closer to where the boss is patrolling.

A few seconds later I hear her swearing before she remembers I'm talking to her, "Good catch kid. Looks like we're going to have a more interesting time than expected."

"Yeah. I guess so," I reply. Which is when Tipan decides to drop Sel’dast’s aspect of flight.

We follow Beth down to a nearby building that is somehow more grey than the rest.

Landing beside her, it turns out we're not just stopping because of the boss. The final challenge starts from the top of this building. Beth does spend a minute staring at the System boss before we start though.

There are numerous ladders, all descending into the dark. The moment I set my hand on one of the ladders the familiar notification appears. This time it's a +1 to Agility again. I wait, with the notification hanging in front of me as everyone gets ready. They're even setting their gliders to the side carefully so they can get into them more quickly after we're done here. They're really getting a system down.

Smoulder gives me a quick headbutt to remind me not to mess up again before heading to her own ladder as I stick my tongue out at her back, smiling as the prompt appears in front of me.

"Raven Queen would like to initiate the challenge, Catwalk. Are you ready? Y/N?"

When I descend, it's as though the light has been stolen away, leaving me climbing in the dark until I set foot on a platform below. Then the entire building lights up, revealing a massive warehouse full of catwalks, steel ladders and flickering lights. Glancing down, I discover the floor is covered in jagged and torn steel plates.

It's not a bunch of pits full of spikes, but it's nasty enough.

Unsurprisingly, the entire building shifts regularly as I follow the steel grey arrow across the room. As I cross, catwalks fall and ladders shake loose to join the other twisted metal below.

It feels easier than it was yesterday. I'm not certain, but I'm starting to feel like there's more to our capabilities than our attributes and skill sheet. My Agility has increased by a meagre three points since I ran through "The Collapse," yet I'm feeling much more capable of balancing. I'm starting to suspect there are skills the System either isn't capable of or doesn't bother tracking. Or maybe my Resolve is affecting things in a way I don't understand? It's hard to say.

Reaching the steel ladder leading out on the far side of the room, I look back across the warehouse. Most of the catwalks have fallen away at this point. I can hear the screeching and rattling of another catwalk crashing to the floor as I start my ascent, well ahead of the clock.

I think I'm going to miss these challenges.

When I step away from the ladder, the challenge completed, the usual notification appears.

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective completed: Requirements 1/1 collapsing warehouses successfully crossed. Rewards: +1 current Agility, 2 Iron-rank Integration points, 1 Iron-Grade Mana shard."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

The final quest notification I'm expecting now that we've completed all the challenges doesn't show up though. I know there was a quest for it.

While I'm wondering what's going on, I join Beth and Josh at the edge of the building, where they're already relaxing. After a quick greeting, I plop down next to them as we wait for everyone else to finish, confirming that they haven't received a notification yet either.

“Still no sign of Bel’ther,” I ask, my eyes playing across the skyline.

“No. No notification and no Bel’ther. We’ll talk about next steps once the others are finished,” Beth answers, lifting a pair of binoculars to her eyes. I startle at them until I realize they’re made of umbra. Right, she’s able to make utility stuff too.

We remain quiet as we wait for the others, and it doesn’t take long for them to join us, Tipan being the last to finish. Even as she's setting foot on the smooth grey stone, the notification I was expecting earlier appears.

"All party members have completed all Zone challenges."

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective completed: Requirements 7/7 unique hidden challenges completed. Rewards: 14 Iron-rank Integration points, 1 Iron-rank class Progression Mark, 1 Staff of the Elementalist."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

Even as I'm reading over the rewards, we receive another notification.

"Zone Quest updated: Reach the Eye. Having denied the Destroyer their lesser prizes, they turn their sights to you instead. Requirements 0/1 Spider Destroyer destroyed. Rewards: 18 Iron-rank Integration points, 1 Iron-rank class Progression Mark, 1 piece of Iron-Grade gear. Time: 2/2 hours remaining."

"Rest areas have been disabled. Training area countdown has been set to two hours, five minutes (2:05)."

Looking up, I see the silver legs of the giant spider bot shifting. The System boss that's been ignoring us this whole time, turns towards us, its red eyes glinting as it starts to approach. Then there’s a crack of thunder, as a bolt of lightning splits the sky on the far side of the city.

As we're all staring, Rufka summarizes our thoughts rather succinctly.

"Vaus-Damnit!"

2.28 Ugh, Spiders

July 3, 2023, 5:00 pm.

The notifications weren't the last of it, nope.

The swarm of spiders that normally clamber around, following in the System boss's wake, have grown silvery wings. They rise into the air like a swarm of angry locusts.

So now, the System boss is surrounded by a swarm of flying spider bots. On top of that, its single red eye is now ringed by eight other eyes, each shining with that same crimson glow.

Oh, and most importantly, it's headed straight for us, crushing buildings beneath its feet as it slowly drags itself forward. On the plus side, after that single bolt of lightning, Bel’ther seems to have made herself scarce.

Standing on the roof, inspecting the changes wrought upon the System boss, Rufka swears again.

"I never got a chance to get Tuffie to the other challenges," she offers by way of explanation.

I give her a long side look, blinking slowly. That's what she's worried about?

"Okay, people. Looks like we just got shoved in the deep end," Beth remarks. The others are already getting ready. Josh's armour encloses him. Then as he makes a giant leap towards the nearby building, large wing-like rose petals blossom forth from the shoulders. As Josh glides down, Roberts dashes across the gap, using transparent panels as stepping stones. Though perhaps since he's spread them nearly two meters apart, it'd be more accurate to call them leaping stones. Rufka's wolfadillo follows them, clearing the distance in a single leap.

They're only slightly closer than we are but it seems like they're planning to serve as a shield for the less mobile Beth. Not that it makes that big a difference yet, what with the boss still half a city away.

Then the flying spiders break away from the boss, buzzing towards us at incredible speed making defence a three-dimensional challenge.

Beth has her rifle out, taking aim while Tipan, Rufka and I rise into the air, spreading out. I'm hoping we can destroy these flying spiders quickly.

Really didn't need flying spiders.

A moment later, Beth's shot finds its mark. Even from more than a kilometer away, the effect is noticeable.

I barely notice one of the smaller eyes flicker but I'm definitely able to see the central eye when it starts glowing brighter. In fact, it's much brighter than it was a second earlier.

"Incoming," Beth screams out, diving over the edge of the building in front of her.

After an afternoon full of dodging falling objects, everyone scatters remarkably well.

Beth disappears out of sight just before a bright red beam strikes the spot where she was kneeling seconds ago.

The blast doesn't stop there though. As I fly away, I watch it carry through the collapsing roof of the building where we just completed our trial before reducing the building behind it to a pile of rubble as well.

What the hell? Note to self, do not get hit by that beam.

While the attack forced us to scatter, no one took any damage. Smoulder and Rufka are already several streets forward, fighting the flying spiders.

Smoulder seems to be having fun, slamming into spider after spider. They're not falling though. Not yet.

As I move to help, I watch more of the silvery things descend, their bodies occasionally reflecting the setting sun's light into my eyes.

Shielding my eyes with twilight, I slow time then accelerate towards Smoulder, Rufka and the flying spiders. Tipan is close behind me. Though as soon as I start messing with time, she's unable to keep up.

As I'm closing on the swarm, another shot strikes the System boss. Or Spider-Destroyer, I suppose. That is what the System called it. The dimming of its eye noticeable despite the incoming chaos. This is followed by another eye-laser of destruction ripping apart the building Beth was firing from. Gotta give it to the System. Destroyer’s a decent name for that thing.

Once I'm close enough, my first lightning torrent hits a nearby flying spider but skips over it, leaving it unmarked. So, I release a flame, wind and water torrent hoping that at least one of them will work while analyzing them for weaknesses.

“Object analyzed: Venithal attack drone."

"These drones are used to protect their Venithal tech-savant. Deployed from a central unit, their primary purpose is to disable and distract allowing the tech-savant's primary weapon to destroy its target."

"Name: A563-0221."

"Attributes: Physical; High, Mobility; Medium, Magic; Low, Awareness; Medium.

Attacks: Acidic projectile, adhesive netting.

Defences: Physical: High. Magical: High. Lightning: Immune."

As I read the analysis I watch the effects of my spells. They visually deform under fire while wind and water throw them around but are otherwise ineffective. And immune to lightning… Yep, already learned that the hard way, thanks System.

I let everyone know to watch for acid and nets before sending off another fire torrent.

A single fire-torrent isn't enough to destroy them, but it does slow them considerably.

With my temporal advantage, I'm easily dodging their acid projectiles but I've still almost been torn open several times. Definitely would've been, if not for my acceleration. Then again, if not for my time abilities, I wouldn't be fighting for my life against a horde of flying spiders.

After a few more fire torrents, I start thinking about other options.

Then I notice Rufka putting an arrow through one of the flying spiders I've deformed, taking it out of the fight.

Right, I have other spells. Too set in biggest boom is best mentality. Firing a piercing flame arrow, I'm shocked when it rips through the nearest flying spider, sending it spiralling to the ground.

Changing tactics, I cast the occasional flame torrent to slow the spiders when they're clumped up, but spend more time using my piercing spells. Considering how cheap they are compared to my torrents, I decide to try my hand at every element, including several versions of twilight.

Except for Earth, lightning and twilight, every one of my arrows tears through the flying spiders as if they're made of paper. And after I inspect one that landed on a nearby building I discover why. Each one is basically a small bundle of flesh with a thin metal casing.

As I'm inspecting it, another spider flies up, taking advantage of my distraction to shoot a globule of acid at me.

Putting an extra half dozen arrows through that one, I'm knocked flying to the next building by a heavy force.

I'm about to retaliate when my IFF tells me that Josh just carried me out of the way of the eye-laser, the building behind us crumbling in a giant explosion of twisted steel and flying rock.

I'd been so focused on the lesser spiders, I'd forgotten the main threat. Which had apparently decided I was dangerous enough to shoot at.

"Thanks," I mumble as he picks himself up, helping me to my feet before glancing towards the boss.

"You're welcome. You shouldn't stop moving like that," he advises.

"Right. Thanks again," I reply. He just looks me over quickly before giving me a quick nod then turns away, leaping to the next building, heading towards Beth.

Taking his advice to heart, I fly straight up while surveying the battlefield. All our efforts haven't been for nothing. The flying spiders are down to less than a dozen. More importantly, none of them are harassing Beth any longer. Checking my party status reveals that we've taken some hits, but no one's in desperate straits. Rufka is technically down to a quarter of her Health, but at 112/434 she still has more Health than I started this fight with.

While we've been whittling down the flyers, Beth has managed to take out another of the eyes. That's three out of eight lesser eyes. I'm not sure why she's shooting them but it definitely grabs the Destroyer's attention.

As the Destroyer crosses the city towards Beth, I notice another flying spider join it from beneath its shiny carapace.

Moving closer, I have to change course when a beam suddenly shoots from one of the smaller eyes. While I'm able to avoid the worst of it, I'm still caught on the edge. I'm sent flying towards the ground and my Health is reduced by twenty.

If I hadn't been in accelerated time, that would’ve hit me full on instead of barely glancing off. That's one good reason to be shooting those eyes.

Since I'm so high up, the lesser beam doesn't collapse buildings, but it does force me to rethink my approach. Flying directly at the Destroyer isn't going to work.

Oh, and look, another flying spider just emerged from underneath it.

Too bad there aren't any anchors up here for my teleport spell. I'd have to go back down towards the ground if I want to get closer that way. Which I really don't. I don't want to get closer at all at this point.

As I'm thinking, I notice that Tipan is firing her wind disks from nearly as far away as Beth is. Unlike my arrows, they're maintaining cohesion long enough that they're striking the Destroyer.

Huh. Well, why don't I just do that then?

Creating disks of fire, I join in the barrage. Both mine and Tipan's disks are far less effective than my piercing arrows, but they seem to be having some effect. But only when we're targeting the eyes. The rest of its body ignores our attacks entirely. Well, I manage to get some of its armor to droop slightly when I hit it with a burst of several tightly packed disks. But it’s far less effective than the visible cracks that form from a single hit on one of the lesser eyes.

With only the main eye laser having extreme range and the Destroyer not being able to aim that laser without turning its whole body, we're soon using a strategy of strafe and destroy. Beth, Josh and Roberts have all grouped up while Tipan, Rufka and I are all spread out above the boss, forcing it to split its fire.

I finally regroup with Smoulder since all the drones are down and she's done playing. It's a relief to have her back, which I express through head-scritches before setting her on my shoulder. She balances there with ease, watching my back while we continue to wear the boss down.

Finally, we seem to make noticeable progress, the last of the eight smaller eyes flickering then going dark.

Suddenly, the Destroyer starts firing its main eye-laser nonstop, destroying an entire block of buildings. It also starts ambling over the buildings twice as fast. Which doesn’t look that quick from far away, but it has to be moving faster than a car on a highway with how fast it’s leaping over buildings.

If Roberts and Josh hadn't been with her, I'm not sure Beth would’ve made it out in time. But the second the eye went dim, Roberts grabbed Beth before charging towards one of the silver bullets, using it as cover. The building stands up to the punishment fine but the resulting backlash sweeps across an even wider area, forcing the rest of us to dodge the scattered rays shooting back from the building until they emerge from behind it again. They're forced to remain on the move, barely staying ahead of the collapsing city as the Destroyer tries to chase them down.

Tipan summons a field of mud, tripping up the boss. And I realize I have a similar ability, and join my efforts to hers, dropping its speed to a near crawl. And it’s still nearly on top of the others as we continue to attack.

Without Beth's incredible damage, it takes Rufka, Tipan and I five minutes of unrelenting assault before the boss stumbles and the large red eye in the centre dims.

I feel relief for all of a second before the boss starts crashing through the buildings straight towards Roberts and Beth. Pausing time, I finally risk getting closer, flying as fast as I can while shooting elemental disks at it. Once I'm within a hundred meters, I switch to my piercing arrows. Once again, they prove remarkably effective, creating holes everywhere they strike. A thick black substance oozes from the holes though, solidifying and reducing the effect of further attacks.

Tipan joins me a real-time second later, mimicking my attacks, though at a much lower rate of casting.

As I drop out of Paused time I realize the boss doesn't have any way to shoot us. Its charge has also slowed to more of a jerky shudder.

I drift closer, trying to find a target that will let us put this thing down properly. When my eyes settle on the main eye, I notice an important detail. While dimmed, it remains intact. Floating closer, I ready myself to unload on that eye.

But I don't get the chance. Less than ten meters away, a large silver limb flashes in my peripheral as the entire Spider-Destroyer spins in place at a frightening speed. I feel Smoulder's impact as she launches from my shoulder, trying to divert the massive leg. But it keeps coming.

I Pause time, starting to fly away immediately. But it's a transparent barrier that saves me.

One paused second, a silvery leg as thick as a dumpster is flying towards me, practically guaranteed to strike me from the air.

The next, Roberts' transparent barrier is there, causing the leg to bounce off, deflecting it over my head.

Grateful, I continue flying away while unloading over fifty different piercing spells on my original target. The eye resists the first half of them before shattering when it's struck by a black bolt from Beth. The rest of my spells strike deep even as a crackling arrow from Rufka lands. Then a massive electrical burst explodes from within.

As I fly away, the boss shudders then collapses, spewing forth dozens of the flying spiders. As they take to the air, its body creaks before imploding accompanied by a horrible metallic screech.

But we have the flying spiders’ measure now, so they’re dealt with quickly. I notice that Josh is crushing them with a quick thrust of entangling vines while Roberts has discovered a method of using his shields to slice into them.

Awesome.

While we regroup, I start looting the flying spiders. The loot is, frankly, amazing. There's a veritable landslide of Mortal-grade Mana shards, a total of 93 for each of us. That's basically 9 Integration points.

While the little flying spiders are responding to my looting ability, the large body of the Destroyer is immune. I'm not sure if that's because it's still alive or if it's just too large.

"Well, that was exciting," Roberts comments once we're gathered.

As he heals her, Rufka grins, "More like awesome. I can't believe mum didn't want me coming here."

"That could have gone very wrong, very quickly," Beth points out, but Rufka just shrugs.

Once Rufka's healed, we approach the Destroyer. With caution. We still haven’t seen Bel’ther, nor have we received a quest complete message.

When we get close, we find a broken shell. It reminds me of a crumpled up beer can, empty and messily crushed.

"Think there's an alien inside waiting to jump out and glomb onto our face?" Josh asks as we approach.

Beth raises one eyebrow with a small smile as I respond, "probably. But they're most likely just trying to get you to buy into their multi-level marketing. You too can have beautiful skin if you use red lasers."

Roberts actually snorts at that while Josh nods before adding, "if only they knew that blue lasers are superior."

"Clearly," I agree, noticing Tipan glancing at Rufka, who just shrugs.

Surprisingly, when we get closer, we find something smaller lying inside. A dark brown spider creature that's merely the size of my bedroom. Most of what I can see is charred chitin, exposed through a gap where the eyes used to be.

It's flesh bubbles and pops, though it doesn't move. Either it's severely injured or it was never meant to walk on its own. After everything we just threw at it, I'm guessing it's the former.

As we approach, I analyze it.

“Creature analyzed: Venithal. Gene-seed B."

"Venithal are a race of arachnid idiot-savants that were nearly wiped from existence after attempting to subvert a trade deal with the Thenite Consortium of Free Worlds. The consortium responded with overwhelming force, crushing the Venithal. Using their superior position, the consortium forced the Venithal into indentured service. The Venithal now serve as shock troops for the Consortium, serving as an example while collecting on other's bad debts."

"Name: A563-0001."

"Attributes: Physical; High, Mobility; Low, Magic; Low, Awareness; Medium."

"Attacks: Flensing claws."

"Defences: Physical: High. Magical: Low. Acid: Immune. Fire: High."

Seeing its battered form, the flesh broken and torn, it's almost hard not to feel bad for it.

Except, ugh. Spider.

Beth doesn't hesitate. Even as I'm reading the analysis, she draws her rifle then puts a round between its two rows of eyes before I can blink.

Her shot startles me slightly, causing me to jump as the Venithal's form tilts back before slumping down. Josh handles it even worse for some reason, turning and holding his hand over his mouth like he's going to be sick.

"Oh, god. That's awful," Beth proclaims as a horrid stench wafts over me.

Oh, never mind.

Awful is an understatement.

This is worse than that time mom bought ten pounds of meat then left it in her room before disappearing for a month. Oh, and now all those bubbles are popping and I can almost see the stench.

We all back away. Quickly.

When the quest notification appears I barely acknowledge it, instead, continuing to retreat from the smell, creating a gust of wind to blow it away. Now that the boss is dead, I do send out a tether to loot it. I'm hoping that once it's looted it won't smell as bad. That's how it's worked for everything else.

A moment later we all receive three Iron-Grade Mana shards and the air gets a little less rank. Not completely though.

With that resolved, I check the quest notification.

"Zone Quest completed: Reach the Eye. Requirements 1/1 Spider Destroyer destroyed. Rewards: 18 Iron-rank Integration points, 1 Iron-rank class Progression Mark, 1 Memory Locket."

"Rest areas have been disabled. Training completed. Teleportation has been unlocked. Any users who remain within the training area in ten minutes will be sent to the exit."

Ten minutes? Damn.

"I wish you hadn't done that Beth," Tipan remarks as she stares into the empty space where the Destroyer used to be.

"Yeah. Wouldn't have stood so close if I'd known."

"I mean shooting it so soon. The gliders are buried back there," Tipan points out.

"Crap. Can you guys go see if you can find them?"

"Yes, but we need to be together if we want to use my exit teleport," Tipan reminds us. It also reminds me that I never finished working on improving my return spell.

"We can carry them," I point out. "I carried Rufka before. It's awkward and slower, but better than hoofing it across a destroyed city."

"Good call, kid. I'm with Alexis. Rufka, you think you can handle Josh?"

"Ha. Are you kidding? If Lexi, can do it, so can I," Rufka boasts, walking over to Josh. She hoists him into the air before he can react. "See?"

While Rufka's showing off, Roberts and Tipan are already floating out of sight.

"Excellent. I see we're ready to go. Let's move," Beth says, stepping next to me. I lay down so she can sit on my back while Smoulder sneaks into my pocket where she'll be secure. I'm not like Rufka. If I tried to carry Beth normally, I'd drop her.

It takes us nearly two precious minutes to find the building we were on when the encounter started. Half a building and six minutes of searching later, we've only recovered one of the gliders.

It's at this point that Beth calls out. "Okay, people. Looks like they're lost. Let's not push this any further. Gather up."

I’m moving to join the others when there’s a crack. I’ve Paused time, and am able to watch in slow motion as Bel’ther appears amongst us in a flash of lightning. It washes over me, but finds no purchase. However, it does send the others sprawling. She already has her hands raised, sparks leaping between her fingers, prepared to follow up.

Technically, I have the time to consider my actions. To debate what I should do.

I don’t.

Not willing to risk whatever she might pull while the others are disabled, I put a piercing bolt of fire straight through her forehead, followed by bolts of several other elements.

As her body collapses, I create a link to Bel’ther’s body, not connecting to the auto-deposit. When I tug on the connection, a single lightning shard lands in my hand. Mortal-grade. It’s… not a lot. If this was her whole life, distilled into a moment…

Her body explodes into blue dust, her pack collapsing to the ground with a solid thud as I turn the sparkling purple shard.

Well, I asked Rufka not so long ago if I was a monster. Staring at the little crystal in my hand, I feel… uncertain. I could’ve found a better solution. Right?

As Roberts leans over Josh, helping him up, I shake my head. I’ll have time to think about this later, when we’re somewhere secure, like Raz’s.

Then I move to help, but everyone is already recovering. Soon everyone shakes off the stun, though there are several choice curses shared by Beth and Rufka. It sounds like they’re learning from each other.

I kneel next to the pack and pull out a familiar octagon. Unlike the one we found in the bullet, this one doesn’t have the missing chunk torn out of its side. The center is also filled with a glowing silver fluid.

“Object analyzed: Builder’s Fluidic Micro-core. A component for modifying mass at incredibly efficient rates, used in Builder auto-construction mechanisms. Unable to be stored in extra-dimensional storage spaces.”

“Oh. I… Rufka, I think we can use that,” Tipan says, and they quickly start throwing numbers back and forth. Tipan also seems to be asking her sister questions, if I’m not mistaken. Then she waves us all closer. “I’m… not certain this will work. But we should be able to use it reduce our effective mass for teleportation.”

“What’s that do?” I ask, even as I take Rufka’s and Tipan’s arms.

“It means we might just be able to get to the tower,” Rufka grins as we all finish linking together.

“I can’t make any promises. Not until the System finishes,” Tipan says, as she uses furrows of wind to carve runes into the ground beneath our feet. Then she has us stand in triangles, all facing a central set of runes. "Also, this may be a bit uncomfortable. It's System enhanced but most people don't handle teleportation well.”

“Mum says that’s because the spells are poorly aligned,” Rufka says, giving my arm a squeeze.

"Ready?" Tipan asks. As our affirmation rings out I Pause time, trying to watch the effect carefully. The runes that form start interacting with Tipan’s laid out circle, and the micro-core floats up.

The runes are difficult to follow and barely visible. If I hadn't Paused, they wouldn't just be difficult to track, they'd be impossible. In just ten Paused seconds the entire structure expands into a sophisticated interwoven runescape that flow out from the runes beneath our feet until they've encapsulated us, and pull us off the surface. Then the runescape shrinks, condensing us within.

We surge sideways, everything passing in a blur of swirling not-colour. Then we're through, everyone else stumbling, breaking the link as they lose their lunches. I'm completely unaffected, barely noticing their discomfort as I take in our new surroundings, searching for trouble. We're in a forest of beautiful trees, covered in pink and white blossoms. Like cherry blossoms but a little more triangular at the ends.

Through small gaps in the well kept forest looms a stone wall, inscribed with gently glowing runes. There's a packed dirt path that leads towards the wall before turning sharply to the right a mere ten meters away. The surroundings are quite picturesque, but they don't allow for much of a view.

The micro-core lies in the middle of the path, and I reach down and pick it up. Scanning the forest once more, I summon a ball of water. Looking down at Rufka, then the others, I can't help but wonder if scrubbing vomit off a forest floor will increase my cleaning skill.

2.29 Tallest Tower

2:03 pm, local time. (July 3, 2023, 6:03 pm.)

As it turns out, cleaning the forest floor of vomit doesgive me an increase to my cleaning skill. Or maybe it's from helping the others clean off. Either way, everyone is clean and we seem to be in the clear, at least for the moment.

Once I’ve confirmed the others are recovering and nothing else is going to charge out of the forest to attack us, I whip the waste into the bush.

“This… it actually worked,” Tipan says as she finally notices our surroundings.

“Yep, it’s just like mum said it’d be, we’re in the Lathiac Tower,” Rufka says from where she’s standing several paces further down the path.

Scanning the woods, I move to join Rufka, looking up at the tower with Smoulder on my shoulder. Tower is a poor descriptor, I realize, the stone buildings floating around the central shaft don’t have the connecting material I’m used to. “Is that…”

Tipan’s mouth hangs open as Rufka answers, “Right where we wanted to be. The Lathiac Tower. You wanted to get into the Builder’s library? Well, the skyborne did it.”

“This… it was just an idea. A silly attempt. It should’ve been impossible,” Tipan confesses, closing all four eyes while rubbing the spot between them with her thumb.

“Mum always said the impossible’s just for people who aren’t trying hard enough,” Rufka says, her grin spread across her face.

Beth joins us, craning her neck upward. “You’re sure this is the Tower we need? There aren’t more of these floating towns spread around your world?”

“Not like this,” Tipan says. “Aethire is… we built Aethire ourselves. This is a System stronghold.”

“Mhm,” Rufka agrees, then starts walking down the path towards the rest of the academy, Smoulder right behind.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Beth asks, glaring after Rufka. And me, since I’d already taken a step to follow her and Smoulder.

“To check out the Tower, of course,” Rufka answers without slowing down or turning back.

I take another step after her, but look back to Beth, who has her eyes closed and is muttering under her breath.

“Can we at least have a few minutes to spend our points first?” Beth says, projecting her voice without quite yelling.

At this, Rufka pauses, looking up between the trees before turning back to face Beth. Then she rolls her eyes and waves in our direction.

“Okay, and while we’re stopped. Is there a Nexus point here? Can we use it to get to Raz’s?”

“I believe it’s on the surface, near the mana-vent,” Tipan answers, still looking up at the floating buildings above us.

“Right, best be quick people,” Beth says, chopping downward.

Taking this as the sign it is, I quickly open my status.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-1 > Iron-2

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: -10

Constitution: 15

Agility: 18 > 21

Endurance: 6 > 8

Intellect: 84

Spirit: 73 > 84

Perception: 27 > 42

Resolve: 32 > 42

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 42 > 7

Progression Marks: 2 > 1

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 87/109 > 87/127, Edge: [6.9] > [7.3], Regen: (55/day) > (65/day)

Stamina

Pool: 77/102 > 77/120, Edge: [9.1] > [10], Regen: (55/day) > (66/day)

Mana

Pool: 337/492 > 337/581, Edge: [46.1] > [50.3], Regen: (375/day) > (453/day)

Focus

Pool: 361/415 > 361/504, Edge: [30.0] > [37.8], Regen: (274/day) > (352/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 125/132 > 125/163, Edge: [10.8] > [12.6], Regen: (96/hour) > (119/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 0/1

Elemental Chakram: 0/3

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Forty-two points. Wow.

It’s… that’s more points than I need to even out my attributes. And I’m not sure I even need to. I’ve barely had a problem since… well, since Josh flipped out on me in the silver bullet.

Looking over at Josh, I shake my head. Maybe it’s just a superstition, but I like the idea of being in charge of my own emotions. I have forty-two points to spend, not including any shards. It’s an easy choice to spend fifteen on Perception and ten on Resolve, bringing them both to forty-two, half my Intellect. Which leaves me with seventeen points. I can safely bump Spirit up eleven points, to match Intellect at eighty-four. And… I’ll just hold onto the last seven points.

With the majority of my points spent, I use my Nexus remote access. According to Tipan, it’s pretty much useless except for two things. Checking mail and purchasing class levels. Less useful than I’d been hoping, but it’s enough for me to buy a single level. Technically, I could afford two, but I’m saving my other Mark to buy the Restoration ability.

"Your Class - Cataclysm Seed has progressed to Iron Rank - level 2."

- +1 Class Ability Point

- New Abilities unlocked. Elemental Cascade, Elemental Chakram

- Health and Stamina have increased: +2 pool, [+0.1 edge], (+1 regen/day).

- Mana and Focus have increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+6 regen/day).

- Facet has increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+3 regen/hour).

Nothing surprising there. The names of the new elemental abilities are cool.

Focusing on my class, I bring up the available ability choices.

Ability points: 1

Iron Rank Class Abilities unlocked:

- Increased Facet Pool 0/10, + 15/rank

- Increased Facet Edge 0/10, + [1.0]/rank

- Increased Facet Regen 0/10, + (5/hr)/rank

- Transcendent Link (IFF / Identify Friend or Foe) 1/1, maintain constant awareness of selected targets.

- Elemental Cascade: 0/1, by chaining different elements, you can increase the damage each deals against a target. Each different element a user uses on a target will increase the damage of the next spell. This bonus resets if the user hits the target with the same element twice.

- Elemental Chakram: 0/3, Grants Proficiency (1/3)/Expertise (2/3)/Mastery (3/3) with Chakram and Elemental Chakram. Taking ten minutes, a user can create a chakram from any element. The chakram can be used as a melee or ranged weapon. A user can channel their spells through their chakram for an increase to the spell's damage. The maximum number of chakram is equal to the number of ranks in this ability.

Iron Rank Quest Abilities unlocked:

- Lightning Warp: Channel yourself into a bolt of lightning travelling with the bolt until it strikes a target or you reach maximum range. This ability uses Facet. 0/1

- Lesser Flight - Mass: While channelling, grant selected targets lesser flight while within range. This ability uses Mana. 0/1

- Cloying Earth: While channelling, all earth within your control radius becomes thick and viscous while being incredibly difficult to reshape by others. 1/1

Iron Rank Pet Abilities unlocked:

- The Bunny House: 0/1, Creates an extradimensional home for Smoulder. Unlocked by Temporal and Spatial manipulation of fifty.

- Here Bunny. 0/1, Summon Smoulder from anywhere within range. The range is limited by the user's available Facet. Current estimated range: 170 km. Unlocked by Return spell and spatial manipulation of fifty.

Well. That's a lot of new abilities.

Cascade or Chakram would increase my punch, which probably would’ve helped with the System boss. Then again, despite how long it took, the giant spider didn't feel that dangerous. Not that I even had the option.

Too bad there aren't any numbers to indicate the strength of either ability. Chakram does have the advantage of being the weapon of my favourite warrior princess though.

Lightning Warp is cool, but automatically out since I can teleport now.

Tipan and I are already working on a spell to duplicate the effects of Lesser Flight - Mass, so that'd be redundant. And I already have Cloying Earth. Even used it on the System boss.

Wonder if I can learn more about cribbing my own spells from System abilities by studying it.

Remembering why I used my access; I turn back to my other abilities. I want both of the abilities for Smoulder, but I try to consider my choices rationally.

The elemental choices are the only ones I can honestly consider at the moment. And with the conditions that apply to Elemental Cascade, it feels practically tailored for me.

Pause, hit a target with a bunch of arrow spells to build up the damage, then unleash a powered-up torrent. Or just a whole bunch of arrows or torrents. Wonder if the channelled flamethrower counts as a separate spell every second or so?

I could really use some practice dummies.

While I'm leaning towards Elemental Cascade, I decide to put off the choice until we know our situation. Unlike the class advancement itself, I can use my ability point at any time.

With my class leveled and my attributes on the way towards being balanced, I feel optimistic. Hopeful, even.

Of course, that’s probably the moonshine, but that’s fine too.

After just a minute in our menus, we move up the path. Which doesn’t actually go very far before coming to the edge. Not only are there floating buildings above, but it looks like there are more below. A lot more. Which implies that we’re on one too. As soon as that’s apparent, Smoulder makes her way into my pocket, refusing to come out until we’re safely on the ground.

All around us, the land beyond the tower is… cracked, almost. Crooked lines of green and blue set below an otherwise flat, and very orange, landscape. At a glance, I count hundreds, maybe thousands of canyons, all radiating outward from the tower, occasionally intersecting with each other.

“Oh. This makes things… difficult,” Tipan says, squinting downward. “We were supposed to start at the bottom. I… don’t know how we’re supposed to find the library without the System guide.”

Her comment has me follow her gaze. There are dozens of buildings below us. And just as many above us. And there are also islands that seem to be nothing more than parks. Every island is connected by bridges to at least two others.

Beth joins us, clenching her jaw as she looks upward. “So, we have no way of knowing which of these buildings is the library?”

“Unfortunately, Sel’dast never used it her-“

“That one,” I interrupt, pointing to a building only a few hundred meters up, with a thin wall around it. And which has a sign hanging over the entrance arch that says library in Astreum. “Says so on the tin.”

Rufka laughs, and she pats my shoulder. “That’s the one. Mum said it was disappointing, and now I see what she means.”

I nod. Just across from us is another building. It has golden gates flanking and dark stone walls. Even the top of the fence is adorned with gold spikes. The library has a simple brick exterior, with wooden windows and shutters. That happens to be floating several hundred meters in the air.

Yep, a smidge disappointing.

“Who do you think lives there?” Rufka asks, staring across at the fancy building.

“Lives?” I ask.

“Mhm. There are a bunch of Coppers who live here. Mages who don’t want to be disturbed. Some of them are supposed to be interesting,” Rufka says, squinting at the building as though she can discern who’s inside by Focusing on it. When I pass my own gaze over it, my analyze just tells me it’s a mana-infused building.

“We’re gonna hit the library, right?” I ask, causing the others to turn back to me. “We don’t want to poke our noses in anywhere else, right?”

“Indeed,” Roberts agrees, giving Beth a vicious grin for some reason.

Beth just nods, clapping Rufka on the shoulder. “Sorry slick. Maybe next time.”

Rufka just shrugs, then looks across. “So, piggy back, but with Tipan using her aspect?”

“Do we need to? And will it even work?” I ask. We do have a straight shot to the library’s lawn.

“It should,” Tipan says, stepping forward. “But I won’t be able to carry anyone. And it would be best if we knew. I suspect that if anyone discovers we’re here, they may elect to evict us.”

“That’s fine. We still have one glider,” Beth says, already handing it to Josh, and helping him buckle in.

Then she climbs on my back as I bob behind Tipan, prepared to shoot across to the other side. Tipan watches her sister carefully, waiting. And then we’re moving, her aspect pulling us forward without warning. And without active movement on my part.

As soon as it started, it stops. There’s no sudden outcry from below, but we don’t chance waiting around. Instead, we head up the stone steps of the library. There’s no door, just an empty doorway where one should be. Josh is forced to hobble up while still strapped into the glider, and I end up pushing him along with a burst of wind. I’m the last to cross the threshold and receive the notification.

“You have entered a System enforced safe zone: The Builder’s Library of Akilo.”

When the notification appears, I glance over my shoulder, almost expecting Ivicka to appear, but the lawn remains empty. I wonder if Rufka's disappointed we made it inside without being caught?

I turn around, ready to explore the library, only to realize the others have all stopped, and are staring at a giant pile of books. Except, as I’m looking at it, I realize it’s not a pile of books. It’s a paper-golem. Specifically, a paper-dragon that seems to stand at a little over twice my height.

The paper-dragon isn’t origami. Instead, it’s as if hundreds of books were bound together into scales, loose pages flapping and rustling as it turns to look at us. And along its back is what I’d originally taken to be a big book, thick book spines with characters written in eastern Vausian, telling the story of its creation in golden letters. Maybe it’s more of a book-dragon than paper-dragon.

Well, guess it’s time for some aggressive learning.

2.30 Unlimited Library Card

2:14 pm, local time. (July 3, 2023, 6:14 pm.)

The book-dragon, blinked its pages, seeming to take us in one at a time as its binding-snout shifted. Then it took a deep breath, pages fluttering inward. “Ah, so good to have visitors,” the book-dragon greets us, its voice reminiscent of the quick turning of pages, rapidly slapping against each other. “Far too few worthy learners these days, what with the new management.”

“How may this humble keeper of knowledge assist your search today?” the book-dragon continues, lowering his snout in a slight bow. I can’t help but analyze it.

“Creature analyzed: Knowledge Golem. Mana seed: 2.”

“A golem created by the Builder’s to safeguard their knowledge, he has been left to test and disseminate the knowledge to those who the System deems worthy. Will eject any who disturb the peace of the Library.”

“Name: Ritmol.”

Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Restricted.

Defences: Restricted."

Not that I was planning to, but note to self, do not fight the librarian.

“We need a way to get back to Earth,” Beth says, deciding to go for broke even as I send his details over party chat.

“The most humblest of apologies, I have no record of an Earth settlement within my vast collection of data. Is that a new outlander settlement? I’m afraid that the new management fails to put me to proper use, only utilizing a mere point-one percent of my prodigious geographical comprehension,” the book-dragon apologizes while fluttering one of its book-eyes in her direction.

“No… It’s another planet,” Beth clarifies, while I step to the side. As interesting as the dragon is, I can't help but want a closer look at the library itself. Especially since I happened to notice that the library is bigger on the inside. Only in height though. The exterior walls match up perfectly, from what I can tell.

“Oh. Then portals and ship designs are your field of interest. I’m afraid all reference materials to creating portals have been moved to the restricted section. And while there are several design manuals for voidcraft, I have none capable of piercing the Sanctuary-field. Such a craft would be illegal, and hardly appropriate knowledge to be held in this learned hall,” the book-dragon answers, fluttering his eye-books as if scandalized Beth would even ask.

“Oh. Does that mean there’s somewhere less reputable that might have access to either of those methods?” Beth asks, holding a hand over her heart.

“I suppose if one were a true seeker of knowledge, they would venture to the Pernian academy. Despite their limited capacity for data sorting, there is no knowledge they consider forbidden. Though I’ve heard they are discriminating in who they grant access to. A glorious Mark MX-001 knowledge golem such as myself wouldn't even be allowed inside. I’m afraid visiting our august institution is enough for them to bar such an esteemed Citizen’s entry,” the book-dragon replies, managing to prostrate itself in a fluttering of pages that reminds me of someone ripping open an innocent student’s binders because they thought it would be funny.

Stupid Magdeline. Total jerk. There’s one person from Earth I certainly don’t miss.

“Do you have an enchanting section?” Rufka asks, stepping forward and rubbing her hands together as her eyes roam over the shelves above.

“Of course, though our public knowledge is lacking, due to limitations imposed by administration. Third floor, next to the workshop,” the dragon responds, one of its book arms reshaping into an arrow. As I look where it’s pointing, I realize there are no stairs. Instead, there are wooden ladders that run up between the shelves.

Rufka is on the one he pointed to before he’s even stopped talking, leaping upward. In a single leap, she reaches the third level, nodding to herself as she disappears into the shelves. I’m tempted to follow her, but I suspect it’ll be akin to trying to study calculus when I’m still working on two plus two. Won’t stop me from copying all her notes into my journal later.

“And how about teleportation?” I ask, frankly unable to believe the resources we have available to us. These are the Builder’s own archives. We could spend weeks here.

“Teleportation and linked dimensional magics are in the physics section,” he says, waving a single level up. Deciding to follow Rufka’s example, I heft myself up the ladder. Though unlike her, I have to use every step. Still, it’s a noticeable improvement over before Akilo. I guess those few points in Strength did make a difference. As I look over the shelves, I make sure to remind Smoulder that nothing here is to be played with. Especially the librarian.

As I approach the books, I realize I have no idea where to start. There are hundreds of actual books on the shelfs, and no visible way to sort through them. Well, except judging them by their names. When I try Focusing on them, I get their names and brief descriptions.

“Teleportation under the Consortium. Circa 12100. A guide to price structures, scheduling and tax laws of the Thenite Consortium when establishing teleportation networks or for personal use.”

Not… useful. And no option to download a codex either.

“Healer’s Guide to Spatial Compression. Immortal Edition. This compendium of tales tells the story of a teleportation specialist who traveled the stars with bosom companions. Any claims of immortality through reincarnation are believed to be fictional.”

Huh. Sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it. And it’s tagged as fiction. Lame.

I go through a dozen more titles before retreating and asking for further assistance. Ritmol, the knowledge golem, splits an arm off, even as he continues talking to Beth. The arm reforms into a smaller version of himself, fluttering down next to me.

“Uhm, hi. Could you show me practical books for learning teleportation?”

“Of course. I am always pleased to assist knowledge seekers on their quest. I once helped Pern himself learn the basics of elemental magic, you know. Were you looking for beginner’s level or something more advanced?” The smaller version of Ritmol asks, several books already floating off the shelves behind him. I'm almost distracted by the mention of Pern, but I can ask about him later.

“Both? I doubt we’ll be able to return for a long time. Oh, and is there a way to check out copies or something?” I ask, daunted at the pure number of books that are gathering behind him. At this rate he’ll be able to build another golem out of the books he’s retrieved.

“Hmm. Normally, no. But Citizen’s do have special rights. Still, unless you have a compatible storage device, there is little I can-“

“Like this?” I ask, pulling out one of the pads we collected in the bullet.

The book-dragon blinks its eye-books several times before responding. “Yes. Yes, this will work perfectly. Oh, to finally be able to help again. You’ll need Woliam’s primer. And the dual Sledian’s theorem of everything, everywhere. We can’t forget…”

I blink as the dragon continues listing off titles. And even more books start appearing out of nowhere. He’s teleporting books about teleportation. I’m unable to keep from smiling when I realize that.

He takes my pad, then places it on each of the books. It takes less than a second, then he moves to the next book, the last popping back to its shelf. As he’s doing that, I use party chat to let the others know we can copy books as Citizens. It only takes a couple minutes before he’s finished. He almost looks smug, with his crossed arms and narrowed book-eyes.

“Now, it is hardly as good as having my personal tutelage, but I have prepared a reading order for your first few books. Without my guidance, it may take you a while before you’re capable of the basics. A few years is normal for most to use non-System granted teleportation abilities. It is one of the most complicated-“

I’m unable to resist tugging the pad, teleporting it back into my hand, completely unharmed. “I might have a small advantage.”

“Oh? Oh! Well, I believe we’ll need a couple more…” he trails off, as he holds out an open book for the pad. I give it over, watching his book-hand curl around it. Then another three books appear. After scanning them, he nods. “I’ve updated the reading list. Given your capability and my judgement of your value as a Citizen, I’ve been able to bypass the suggestions to keep portal knowledge to those who can safely handle it, adding all the liminal works on creating portals. However, for your safety, I’ve locked them until you reach Copper rank. There are also skill requirements, but those should be easy enough for a Citizen to reach.”

“Portals?” I ask, staring at the pad. That’s… he said it was a way home. Sure, we’re nowhere near Copper rank, but if… I have to tell the others.

But when I return to the main level, I discover the others are also searching through the library. Unsurprisingly, Roberts is looking through their medical section. Meanwhile, Josh is helping Tipan find everything they can about soulstone summoning and Beth is helping Rufka copy enchanting books. So, I send the group a text about the possible way home.

I move to join Beth and Rufka, but there’s a squeak from behind me.

When I turn, I see a K’tharn standing in the doorway. She’s staring at me, her eyes wide as she runs a hand through her dark black fur. As it falls back down to cover her right eyes, I notice it has just the faintest tinge of red to it. Pretty sure, I’ve seen her before, one of the original members of Ivicka’s first Desh’ila. She was in the tent with Roberts and Josh at least once.

“Oh Vaus strike me down. What are you doing here?” she hisses, looking over her shoulder as if expecting someone to storm in after her. I follow her gaze, but the lawn outside the library is empty.

“Checking out books,” I answer automatically, giving her a shrug. “You know, library things.”

With a shake of her dark fur, she sighs. “You can’t… if Ivicka finds out you’re here…”

“Uhm. Don’t tell her,” I suggest even as I message the others. If this is going to turn into a fight…

“Ha! As if I’d… I’m the last K’tharn who’d tell that void-brain anything. She and her glorious revival can-“ the K’tharn cuts off as her eyes flick over my shoulder. I don’t have to look, my IFF letting me know that Josh and Tipan are standing there. “Sub-commander. Thank goodness. Maybe you can talk some sense into your sister.”

“Kythee, I’m not sure what… I’m afraid that Ivicka isn’t the sister I used to know,” Tipan replies. With those words, I see Kythee visibly deflate.

“Then… well, at least I’ll be safe here,” Kythee says, stepping to the side, and slumping down into one of the benchs near the entrance.

“Safe from Ivicka?” I ask, glancing back towards the lawn. But it remains empty.

Kythee nods, covering her eyes with her right arms. “Mhm. I’m not her favorite user right now.”

“What did you do?”

“Oh. Nothing much. Just messed with her little pet’s orders.”

“What pet?” Tipan asks, kneeling down in front of Kythee. “Asterix would never listen to anyone but Ivicka.”

“Oh. I thought you would’ve met them. She sent three of her pet Fallen into the city,” Kythee says, not bothering to lift her arm to address Tipan. “But I instructed Bel’ther to avoid the System boss’s territory. Then I ran.”

“My sister has killed for less,” Tipan says, stepping back and looking at Kythee out the side of her eyes.

“Vaus’s raggedy tits, why do you think I ran to the one place she couldn’t hurt me?” Kythee asks, throwing her arms into the air before pushing her way to her feet. “Now, if you’ll excuse me sub-commander, I have a student’s pass and a sudden desire to learn. Maybe there’ll be a way out, somewhere in here. Or maybe your sister will forget about me when she sees you.”

“Of course. May Astra watch over you,” Tipan replies, and I copy her as Kythee walks to where the book-dragon has been observing our discussion. It greets her as an honoured student, asking if she would like to invoke her protected tutelage.

As it takes her to the same books on teleportation I was just looking through, I turn to Tipan. Then we both look towards the entrance.

“You don’t think?” I ask, not wanting to say it.

“It would be rather unfortunate. However, my mother would remind me that hoping for the best without preparing for the worst leads to crashed airships,” Tipan says, stepping toward the entrance. I follow her, and soon we’re looking over the edge.

“You know, sometimes it sucks being right,” I say.

Below us, floating from island to island in groups of three, are K’tharn on the trademark glider of the Desh’ila. And outside the tower are the familiar scales of Asterix, with Ivicka sitting atop his back.

Well. So much for getting to relax and study forever in the library.

2.31 Account Cancellation

2:23 pm, local time. (July 3, 2023, 6:23 pm.)

Tipan and I quickly retreat back inside, and I realize Josh was standing nearby, his shield summoned and his eyes watching for danger. When our eyes meet, he nods to me, a small smile sneaking onto his face.

I smile back.

Then we’re inside where the others have gathered. Beth is pacing, looking past us while Roberts is standing nearby, consulting in low tones with the book-dragon.

“Ivicka’s definitely looking for something. Or someone,” I say, my eyes drifting up to where Kythee is studying.

“Options?” Beth asks, her face relaxed as she looks around at us.

“We could stay here, study,” Roberts says, waving at the shelves behind the dragon.

“If I have time, I might be able to figure out how to teleport us,” I suggest. “Though I haven't had time to read anything yet, never mind practice.”

“Ah. I’m afraid that long distance teleportation isn’t allowed within the tower. The potential for theft is too great,” the book-dragon says, shaking its head. “And any attempts to do so will result in immediate ejection. My apologies Citizens, but even you are not exempt.”

Despite not knowing what the book-dragon said, Smoulder picks up on my frustration and wonders if I’m sure she can’t light him on fire. Which gets me to smile as I shake my head and give her scritches.

“Okay. So, we’ll call that plan C. Maybe set up outside the tower and activate a teleport ritual.”

“You’re not going to be able to hide here forever,” Kythee says, leaning over the railing from above. “Ivicka’s got administrator access. She can kick you out. And I can’t share my pass.”

Beth turns towards the book-dragon and it shakes its head, clearly anticipating her question. “No, she does not have the authority to eject you.” Then it’s book-lids crumple as it looks at Tipan. “Though your companions have no such protection.”

“Right. And Ivicka would totally be able to use either of you against us,” Beth says, shaking her head. “And there’s no way she wouldn’t notice you, Tipan.”

“No, I imagine not,” Tipan agrees, her brows furrowed. “But I… might have an idea. We’ll need the gliders though.”

“Which means we need to use the workshop,” Rufka says, rubbing her hands together. “I can’t wait to see what Builders keep in their enchanting workshops.”

“I admit, I share your curiosity,” Tipan says, her eyes drifting upward.

“Oh, I definitely want to check out an enchanting workshop,” I say, taking a step towards the ladder, then stopping to look back at Beth.

“Go. Whatever we decide, having the gliders will expand our options. I’ll go keep watch. See how much time we have,” Beth says. Even as she speaks, her armour shifts to blend with the background of the library. It’s not perfect, but she’s hard to pick out at a glance.

Josh and Roberts move to flank the door as we ascend.

Then we head up to the enchanting room, stopping on entry.

“Sub-zone entered: Enchanting Workshop - Copper Rank. Any enchantment crafted within an enchanting Workshop is more stable. Costs to create enchantments are reduced based on the quality of the enchantment, workshop and user skill level.”

The room itself is pretty plain, the same stone as the rest of the building. The shelves are just as boring, little more than dull grey metal. But they're full of tools, similar to the ones I’ve seen Rufka using to tinker with our gliders. In addition, there’s something that resembles a vacuum, and several cylinders on the far wall. Along the ceiling runs a thick set of cables, with smaller ones floating just overhead. All of them look pristine, as if they've barely been used.

It's amazing.

“Wow, pathetic,” Rufka says, shaking her head as she moves to the workbench that runs alongside the far wall.

“I… what?” I ask, double-checking the tools as Tipan steps into the room. I go through a dozen quick scans, and each one says that the tools are premium Copper-rank equipment.

“A full System-workshop, and they don’t even have a mana-lathe or compression chamber. And I understand not having a reve-fuser in a public workspace, but you’d think they’d have a tach-fuser, at the very least,” Rufka grumps, kneeling down to retrieve something from the second shelf.

“Wow, a Copper workshop, and you have nothing but complaints,” Tipan says, seeming to share in my own wonder of the room. “You really are spoiled, aren’t you?”

Rufka grunts, pulling forth a set of rather ordinary looking clamps and setting them along the edge of the counter. Then she retrieves the partially disassembled glider she was working on at Raz’s. “Give me a hand here.”

I step forward, and watch as she rapidly reassembles the glider. It takes her less than a minute, and Tipan seems to know what Rufka is doing, handing her the correct tool before Rufka asks for it.

With a grunt, Rufka pulls the glider free. Then she makes a grabbing motion in Tipan’s direction. “You’ve got another, right? Of the unmodified ones?”

“Oh, right, yes,” Tipan replies, pulling out another glider. The process this time is a little slower, but all I can do is watch as they work in concert. Three minutes later, they have a second glider completed to Rufka’s satisfaction.

When they’re finished, I look it over, running my hand along the spine. “Think it’ll be enough?”

“Hmm. I’d like to have a few days to look over Skyborne’s staff,” Rufka says, shaking her head. “I suspect we could borrow some of the System’s design for the gliders.”

“In regards to my aspect. I believe I can increase the effectiveness. I will need an open sky, and some assistance from Rufka to modify one of the rituals I found. Together, we may be able to create something that will allow us a single attempt at escape,” Tipan says, shaking her head.

I decide to step back for a moment, contemplating my modified return spell. Once we’re out of the tower, it should be a viable escape route. Unfortunately, I have a lot of reading to do. Which I start doing inside of hasted time.

Then Tipan breaks me out of my contemplation with a small cheer, a smile on her face. When I look at her, she says, “We figured it out. There’s just one little complication.”

“More like two major problems,” Rufka says, her arm over Tipan’s shoulder.

We move downstairs, where the others are still watching the entrance.

Beth reappears just inside the door as Tipan shares their progress.

“Well, it looks like we have about half an hour before they get close. Ivicka seems to be waiting with her dragon. The moment they get eyeballs on us, she’s going to respond,” Beth says, looking at each of us. “And she’s not looking happy.”

“And we haven’t had any other ideas,” Josh says, shaking his head. “Unless jumping off the tower and falling really fast counts.”

“I… that is not entirely dissimilar from my idea,” Tipan admits with a tilted head and a small frown. “Though I intended to use a modified ritual.”

“Indeed?” Roberts asks, even as he keeps his eyes fixed outward.

“The ritual will allow us to travel quickly, but it needs power. More than we could supply without leaving ourselves empty. And without some sort of framework, it’ll just be a straight line that’s easy to follow,” Tipan says, projecting a map of the surrounding area with a thick line leading away. “We could move faster than Ivicka, for a time. But then we’d be out of Mana and she’d know where we are. She’d catch us shortly after.”

“Makes it more exciting,” Rufka chuckles, rubbing her hands together.

Deciding not to dignify that with a response, I turn back to Tipan’s map. “So… you said we need a framework, right?” I ask, studying the wide smooth line. “Any chance you could use the race function? It lets you set a rough route, right?”

“And couldn’t you use the micro-core for power? It seemed to have plenty when we teleported,” Josh adds, pointing at Tipan’s waist.

“I… might be able to tie the ritual into the subsystem with Rufka’s assistance. It would further increase the power cost. As for the micro-core,” Tipan detaches it from her waist, frowning at it as she turns it in her lower hands. “I didn’t have to do anything to get it to work for the teleportation ritual. The System did most of the work. This ritual… we’re working outside the System’s normal parameters. Unguided crafting isn’t reliable. And the architecture is completely foreign to me.”

“Uhm, can I?” I ask, holding out my hand. Turning it over, I compare it to several of the ship parts in my codices until I find one that’s… almost similar. “I’m not a hundred percent certain, but these should be the input and output connectors,” I say, pointing to two sets of runes surrounding small dimples in the octagon. Then I tap its centre. “And if it’s like the one in my codex, it should be self-regulating.”

“You’re… sure?” Tipan asks, taking the micro-core back from me.

“Nope. It’s not the same. I give it seventy percent odds, at best,” I reply with a shrug. “Oh, but this is what the part I’m a hundred percent about looks like. And the connectors,” I add, while creating a model of the part out of water, adding just enough earth to make it easy to see.

“Okay. That’s… simple. Rufka?”

“Yeah. I think I can make something that’ll work. Might take a couple Irons to do it quick. And we’d have to leave it behind.”

“Can you have it self-destruct?” Beth asks, frowning at the micro-core. “I’d rather not leave it for Ivicka to get her hands on it.”

“Can’t promise anything,” Rufka says, but her smirk makes me think she’s going to put in the effort.

I go with them. Rufka gets me to zoom in on the connectors, making notes of their flow rates, apparent through rates and a dozen other little details I don’t know the significance of. She asks Tipan similar questions, though Tipan is holding a pair of tools that help with inspection. The entire time, Rufka continues poking at the race orb.

Less than a minute later, they’ve merged the octagonal micro-core to the orb of Tipan’s race interface. It takes them another half-minute to program the route into a substitute for Tipan’s orb. Apparently it costs ten Iron-rank Mana shards to buy, so the pair of Iron shards Rufka uses instead is a bargain. And should increase the chance of it exploding when we’re done.

Then we return to the lobby, where the others are flanking the door, watching for… well, Ivicka. We join them, Tipan smiling as she says, “We’ve got something that should work. But we’ll have to leave the micro-core behind.”

“No big loss. Unless you think we could use it to take out Ivicka?”

“I… I don’t believe we would survive anything that would allow us to harm my sister,” Tipan admits, her smile faltering. “But we should be able to hide.” With this, she holds out a map showing a route that will hide us inside the canyons below, spiraling around the north side of the tower before changing course entirely. After travelling south for several hundred kilometers, the route eventually emerges near a giant river.

“Well, it’s not as good as a fight. But racing our way to freedom should be fun,” Rufka says, holding her left arms up to Tipan.

Tipan eagerly high tens Rufka, then turns back to where Beth is nodding at the map. Roberts is smiling, and Josh… well, he looks a little less worried than usual.

I can’t help but smile at Tipan’s enthusiasm. Then my eyes flick to the edge. There are Desh’ila on the island we arrived on. It’s only a matter of time before they make it to the library.

Time to race.

2.32 No Checkered flags

2:50 pm, local time. (July 3, 2023, 6:50 pm.)

With the others getting into their newly rebuilt gliders, Rufka and I help Tipan set up the ritual circle around the modified micro-core. As Smoulder starts to understand what this race is going to entail, she informs me she’ll be taking a nap, and not to disturb her unless absolutely necessary. And that she’s definitely not worried about flying.

Once Tipan moves to the finicky steps I can’t help with, I open my interface and put a point into Elemental Cascade. If things go wrong, I want it ready. If we get caught, the scaling damage might be the only way I can do enough damage to Ivicka for it to matter. At least with my regular spells.

Rather not be trussed up like Josh and Roberts were. Or worse.

“Okay, I’m… Rufka, you should probably help them,” Tipan says, waving at where Josh and Roberts are struggling with one of the gliders.

There’s some swearing from Rufka as she makes a last second adjustment.

“Okay, so, we’re going to be relying on the three of you to cover for us,” Beth says as she walks over, side-eyeing the others. “I hate having my hands tied up while flying.”

“Yeah, we need to fix that,” I agree, though looking at the gliders, I don’t see how we’d be able to. Not without a complete redesign of the harness. And I’m not sure how they’d steer. Not without enough wind manipulation to make it a moot point in the first place. “I think Rufka would’ve done that already if she could.”

“Yeah, I know, kid. Just makes me uncomfortable.”

I nod as the others come over, Rufka giving me four thumbs up. I smile back while turning towards Tipan. She’s standing just out of sight of the edge, her staff held up as we get a notification.

"User Tipan has initiated an un-official modification of subsystem - Aetherium Challenge Race."

“As these modifications are not sanctioned, quest rewards will be determined upon completion. Terms and restrictions have been removed. Course stability not guaranteed.”

"Quest received: Past the Redline. With the Aetherium closing in, you have chosen to slip away peacefully. Weave your way through the canyons of the shattered plains at speeds that would cripple a mortal user’s body. All in an attempt to gain your freedom. Requirements: Escape beyond the Aetherium’s reach 0/1. Rewards: unknown. Time: Unlimited."

I close the window while moving closer to the edge. I can feel the slight wind that normally pushes against us at my back, trying to teeter me towards the ledge as symbols populate my vision. They’re different from the rings we used before, reduced to simple arrows pointing in the direction of the next. They spiral down, using the floating buildings for cover as they plummet towards the ground. Then they disappear into several of the canyons at the foot of the tower. Just in case we’re forced off course.

“Okay, people let’s-“

“We’re moving,” Tipan interrupts, waving us forward as the wind suddenly gets stronger, sweeping me off my feet. I’m forced to Accelerate time just to get my flight spell in place.

As soon as I do, I reach out and correct Beth’s trajectory, keeping her from slamming into Roberts. Even then, we barely avoid slamming into the side of the first island on our way down.

I spend the first few seconds just adjusting their course. We’re going way faster than when Tipan normally boosts us and I’m forced to Pause as we get close to the ground. I use several wind torrents, not to attack, but just to change the other’s trajectories. Except Tipan and Rufka. They’re both fine. By the time my Pause ends, we’re rocketing down a canyon.

Then we nearly grind to a stop, the wind blowing back against us.

“What’s going on?” I ask as I glance back and see a squad of three K’tharn fly over. One of them is already pointing at us.

“The System is objecting to our-“

The rest of Tipan’s words are ripped away as the wind in the valley once more changes directions. We’re thrown forward, but we only barely make it around the corner before the wind dies out again. This time, Tipan gets us back into formation before closing her eyes.

“I’m not going to be able to do anything except concentrate on maintaining Sel’dast’s aspect if we want to get out of here,” Tipan says through clenched teeth.

“Copy, kid, it’s on you and Rufka,” Beth says even as she straightens out her glider.

I nod, and we gather together. A shadow passes over us, and when I look up, I see Ivicka on the back of Asterix, grinning down at us. She holds out a weapon, some sort of pistol and lines it up. I can tell it's not aimed at us, but instead just ahead. Several lines suddenly appear, tracing out of the pistol before impacting with the canyon ahead. And walls start to crumble.

But then I feel Tipan’s magic take form around us. I’m unable to help myself as I grin up at Ivicka as the aspect kicks in. Even as the cliffs start to collapse, we disappear in a ripple of wind, tearing around the corner at frankly insane speed. I have no clue how fast we’re going, but even with accelerated time, Rufka and I are barely able to keep the others on course.

“You might’ve overdone the speed,” Beth yells as I manage to get her further inside the bubble of Tipan’s aspect, suddenly making it much easier to keep her controlled. Then I move Roberts over while Rufka does the same for Josh.

“My apologies. I’ve never modified a subsystem before,” Tipan says through gritted teeth, her upper eyes closed.

“Don’t suck on her Vaus-taint, Tipan,” Rufka says, her face pulled up in a grin. “Mum would’ve had a hard time putting this together as fast as we did.”

“I… thank you, I suppose,” Tipan says, though her grimace doesn’t change.

“Update. Due to excessive mana-flow, the boundary of the race has been compromised. Mana-borne approaching.”

Before I have time to wonder why it's warning us about mana-borne, flying snakes emerge. There are dozens of them, and each one is horrible in its own way. Teeth and bones protruding in ways that are obviously painful. Despite feeling bad for all of them, I also don't want them hurting the others. And after a couple of wind torrents fail to do more than redirect them slightly, I send a few slicing disks at them.

Which completely miss. Even using accelerated time.

A lightning torrent is partially effective, but only catches two.

So... I create a link to one, and pull it through space. Without using a barrier to protect it. It arrives as nothing more than a bloody mess that would've splattered all over me if I hadn't been blasting others away with another wind torrent.

While I successfully avoid vomiting, I’m hesitant to repeat the process. But they’re too slippery to nail with spells, even for Rufka. I create links to the rest on my side while putting up an Umbrella. Something I should've done earlier. Then I pull them all. The rain of viscera is so thick it reaches around the side of the shield before being lost in our wake, though not before I retrieve their shards.

When I switch to her side, I realize Rufka's dealt with most hers with a spray of arrows that didn’t leave room to dodge. Resource intensive, but effective.

My attention may linger a moment longer than necessary as I snort at the pose she’s striking, with the bow held forth and her lower hands on her hips. Which is my excuse for not immediately noticing the flaming boar running across the canyon ahead of us. It's charging back and forth, squealing and throwing bursts of flame in our direction. But now that I’m paying attention, they’re easily deflected. It’s far enough below us, that other than blocking its attacks, we ignore it.

We pass over the boar and spend the next fifteen minutes crashing through the canyons, barely avoiding the cliff faces. I spot Ivicka once more, but we're past so quickly she doesn't even have time to turn her head in our direction. I'm not even trying to adjust course directly anymore, simply following in Tipan's wake. We're moving faster than when we first plummeted down the tower. And with all of us practically on top of each other, there isn't so much as a ripple from our passage.

When we start moving south, we’re forced to slow as we start running into more mana-borne creatures. Monkey-wolf hybrids... the ugly parts of both. Until I saw these combinations, I wouldn't have said wolves had any ugly parts. They swing down at us from brown webs, trying to snare us with strands of woven earth. One nearly knocks Josh out of Tipan's tear-shaped bubble. With a quick teleport and a gust of wind, I push him back inside. Then I teleport beside them before I can be left behind.

Total time to retrieve, less than a second.

After we clear the monkey-wolfs, several other mana-borne attack, though to even less effect.

We're just moving too fast.

And despite our speed, it still takes us several hours to make our way to the end of the canyons. I spend the time blocking mana-borne and trying not to get bored. Despite the initial tension, Roberts breaks the tedium by telling stories. Which are punctuated by brief bursts of excitement. And between Paused-time and my ability to pop most of them with a simple pull, those aren’t much more interesting. Barely even give us any loot either.

“Woo! Nice shot Lexi,” Josh cries as I pull the latest mana-borne through my teleport to smack its remains into another. The ugly possum-bat creature spins downwards, trapped in the viscera of its former companion.

“Thanks,” I reply, while scanning the air for more. But again they come in a quick wave then we’re past them. Even when we broke into a swarm of millions of beetles the size of my foot, we only had to deflect a handful before we left them behind.

I’ve discovered that trying to use pull on larger creatures is much more expensive. And even more disgusting. Gorilla-gliders are best dealt with a rapid set of piercing arrows through their forehead, the power of my Elemental Cascade ensuring they drop by the fifth shot. Without it, they take more than twenty.

“Hey Lex,” Josh says, his voice low as he floats closer.

“Yeah?” I ask, my eyes still watching the sides.

“I… I’m sorry. Been a dick, the last couple days. And I know better than to blame the System or stress. Could’ve handled it better.”

“Uh,” I say, putting a flaming Pierce through a gorilla-glider that was hanging in ambush a short ways ahead. “You’re forgiven.”

“Right. You’re busy. Ha, can’t wait till I’m actually useful,” Josh says, chuckling softly. Which draws my attention away from the wall long enough to see him frowning, his hands gripping the handles of the glider tight. Stamina’s probably helping make that comfortable, but it still can’t be fun basically being strapped in place.

As my attention returns to the wall, I reflect on the implication. That I’m useful. As I drop another few of the bat-possums, I realize that I really am. And not just for pest removal. I direct Beth slightly lower before she hits the edge of the bubble and causes yet another plume of plants and water to shoot upward.

It’s been over an hour since the last time she did that, but it’ll be hard to stay hidden if she does it again. Pretty sure her desire to have a better view of the upcoming dangers has her subconsciously floating out from behind Tipan. Roberts just seems to be having trouble controlling his, little jerks and twitches every minute or so.

Another half hour passes without incident. Seems the mana-borne finally lost interest.

We’re passing through another tight corner when there’s a sudden lurch, our speed dropping drastically. With a chorus of cursing and a little assistance from me in Paused time, the others manage not to slam into Tipan. We still have good momentum, and we drift around one last corner which opens out onto a winding river. Even as we clear the edge, I receive a notification.

“Quest completed: Past the Redline. Requirements: Escape beyond the Aetherium’s reach 1/1. Rewards: Freedom, seventy-two hour protection from tracking spells, Seven Iron Integration Points."

I can’t help but smile at the quest reward.

Floating higher, I look back. The top of the canyon we emerged from looks unfamiliar, covered in brilliant foliage. Once I’m able to see over it, I drop into Pause and scan the horizon. Even after two Pauses I find no sign of Ivicka, her dragon or any of her followers.

As we pass down into a nearby forest to regroup, the others already talking about our next move, I can’t help but feel strangely free. I look at where Rufka is laughing next to Tipan, pointing to the north. And where Josh, Roberts and Beth are already talking about what we pillaged from the library. Finally, my attention shifts to Smoulder, who is defiantly sitting on my shoulder now that we’ve landed, sending a reminder that she totally could’ve handled being there for the whole trip.

I grin at her confidence, choosing not to disagree. Then we step out of the forest, onto a rise that grants a clear view to the east.

Cascading waterfalls fill the horizon, stretch layer upon layer, reaching upwards. We all stop to stare, even Tipan and Rufka.

Maybe we can’t make our way home immediately…

But maybe…

Maybe that’s not so bad.

2.33 What Friends Do

5:35 pm, local time. (July 3, 2023, 9:35 pm.)

Today was not a good day for Cristha.

It had started well enough. Better than most of the last month, even.

But her friend was upset. For the last few days, Cristha had been working directly for the commander, and Ivicka had been keeping the others from bothering her. She’d even spent the morning taking Cristha through the basic combat forms Cristha should’ve already known. Cristha knew most K’tharn went through an extensive boot camp before joining the Desh’ila, but she’d received special dispensation. All because her mother was the Minister of Transportation and had insisted Cristha serve with Ivicka, the Aetherium’s great hero.

While Cristha didn’t know the first thing about fighting, having been raised learning about administration and trade, she’d done all she could to prove she wasn’t just some spoiled child of the Six. She'd volunteered for every rotten or unpleasant task she could.

It didn’t keep the others from looking down on her. It didn't help that her mother provided their squad with priority access to the Aetherium's transport network. It was just one more sign she wouldn't have made it if not for her mother's interference.

She thought Kythee might’ve been a friend. They’d shared more than a couple meals while watching the prisoners. But then she’d disappeared less than a day after the disaster with the sub-commander. Two deserters in less than a day had the whole Desh’ila whispering. And a lot of unkind eyes turned to Cristha, who’d been close to both. As if it was her fault that she and Tipan had been treated as outsiders by the rest. Cristha realized that it didn’t help that she’d been the only other K’tharn to watch over the Outlanders.

Still, it wasn’t her fault the others had helped the Outlanders escape.

Cristha had been called to Ivicka’s tent and kept at her side since. Which had only increased the grumbling when she ran errands for the commander. Still the others had left her alone. And Ivicka was asking her about home. And about her parents. She'd started inviting Cristha to eat with her, and had started regaling her with stories.

There was no doubt, Cristha's mom would've been as happy as she was. This was the whole reason she'd been sent here. Ivicka was treating her like an apprentice. And maybe even a friend.

And then the Outlanders had slipped free of the commander’s second trap. Thankfully, the rest of the Desh’ila was too busy scrambling to their gliders to bother her. The Outlanders hadn’t been at either of the expected exits, further ruining Ivicka’s plans. Cristha had been worried they'd be scouring half the continent, but the commander had decided to cut her losses, and go after Kythee. Deserters couldn’t be allowed to run.

As the others flew their search, Cristha stayed beside Ivicka. Ivicka had suddenly whooped in excitement when the Outlanders had been spotted, patting Cristha on the back so hard it had sent her a dozen steps forward. That excitement turned into frustration as they avoided Ivicka’s attempts to retrieve them. And that frustration only mounted when Kythee was found in the Library and Ivicka discovered she couldn’t evict her because she'd been sponsored by the Taken.

Most K'tharn didn't know about the Taken, other than the occasional whisper of assassins in the night. But as the daughter of the Minister of Transportation, Cristha knew they were far more dangerous than most of the rumours said. And they were also separate from the Aetherium's hierarchy, answering to their own version of a minister, the K'mintar.

Now Cristha was standing with Ivicka and Asterix atop a ridge far to the north of the tower as the commander stormed back and forth, waving a small octagon around. Cristha wouldn't say Ivicka was ranting, per se. More like expressing disappointment in long, rambling sentences.

"You know, Cristha, we once had enough K'tharn warriors that the entire rise would be full of them?" Ivicka asked, suddenly coming to a stop as she looked south. "We stopped outlanders in their tracks, as they attempted to claim our world for themselves. Even now, you can see the scars of our battles."

It took Cristha a second, as she followed Ivicka's gaze before she realized what she was talking about. "The canyons?"

"Yes, the canyons. This was a rolling savannah, full of devious prey before the Corshite Troopers arrived. A hundred thousand copper-rank soldiers, all with their enchanted weapons, and near-impervious armor. And our warriors defeated them by the dozen as they landed. Now we can barely track a handful of Iron outlanders."

"I'm sorry, commander," Cristha said, bowing her head to Ivicka.

Finally Ivicka came to a stop, shaking her head. “It's not your fault, Cristha. I should’ve expected this from puppets. Cristha, this is why you only trust K’tharn with important tasks.” As Ivicka said this, she laid her massive hand over Cristha’s shoulder.

The orange and black fur blocked most of her vision, but Cristha still nodded in agreement. “Of course, commander.”

“Kythee was a mistake. I allowed sentiment to move me. She reminded me of… nevermind,” Ivicka said, releasing Cristha’s shoulder and turned to look over the valley to the south. “It seems my sister has decided to lay her trust with the Outlanders. I'd been hoping she’d been playing the long game, but now it’s clear she’s been corrupted.”

“Corrupted?” Cristha ventured to ask. It was hard to believe that someone as kind as the sub-commander was corrupted. She’d learned over the last couple days that Ivicka preferred she ask questions, though whether Ivicka would choose to answer was another matter.

“She has given up on the Aetherium. We can’t know if she’s serving the squids or… no matter. I’ll need to adapt, but the glider’s in the air. This won’t be enough to crash it.” Ivicka paused in her pacing, looking to the tower to the south. Cristha followed her gaze, and if she squinted, she could almost see the traces of where the Outlanders had charged down the tower. The explosion had left an imprint in the outer edges of the track, but only near the tower. Cristha had spent enough time searching with the others to know that the rest of the track was gone.

With a heavy sigh, Cristha looked to the north, hoping that if they came across the sub-commander, she could talk to her. Cristha was sure it was all a misunderstanding. She didn’t have many friends, and the fact both sisters who had befriended her seemed to be at odds bothered her.

“We’ll need to visit the coast. The squids need a reminder,” Ivicka said, turning back to Cristha. “And while we’re there, I’ll need you to do some errands for me.”

Cristha gave a solid nod even as Ivicka continued to talk about their next steps. It was good that Tipan was on her friend list. It made it easy to find her. And if she had an opportunity, Cristha would do all she could to reunite Ivicka with Tipan. She knew how close they’d been.

And that’s what friends did, right?

A note from Draith

Next arc will start on Monday, 1am PDT, with a chapter every 4 hours. If you've enjoyed so far, please drop a rating. The rewrite' every little bit helps.

Oh, you can stop by my discord, where I occasionally talk to people.

See ya next week!

3.00 Change of Plans

A note from Draith

Chapter every 4 hours all the way through to Sunday. Let's gooooooo!

5:35 pm, local time. (July 3, 2023, 9:35 pm.)

The winds of the abyss whipped Traxla’s robes about her, her mane blowing free as she leaned out over the marble railing encircling the upper balcony of the World’s End Palace. The untamed winds were an affectation she afforded herself, the natural movement clearing her mind in a way that System-controlled environments didn’t.

Soft footfalls announced the arrival of her assistant. A child, barely into her fifties. Traxla had gathered her loose mane into neat braids before her assistant arrived, the only sign of her indulgence the gentle sway of her robes.

“Minister, I have the latest census. It’s as you fear-“

A single crooked finger was enough to get Pethena to stop talking.

Traxla retrieved the pad from her assistant, looking it over. She knew some of her fellow ministers considered her preference for the pad archaic. But it was another affectation she enjoyed. A way to stay connected to the world they lived in. One she’d picked up from her time around Genitha, of all users. She frowned as she looked over the numbers. “The decline is getting faster.”

“Yes, Minister Lithania. And if you turn to the next page,” Pethana said, not quite an order. Enough to get a reprimand from some of the more traditional Ministers. But Traxla had grown up amongst the M’tari.

“Quests are down too? Even the Exterminations? That’s… those have remained stable for decades. What’s changed?” Traxla asked, though the words were rhetorical. Pethana would’ve included any theories in the report.

“I…”

Pethana’s unexpected mutter caused Traxla to focus her lower eyes on her assistant. The younger K’tharn glanced over her shoulder, as if a spy in the World’s End Palace could be spotted by such a mundane gesture. Still, Traxla understood that Pethana didn’t have the refined control most of the other assistants would display.

Another point in her favor.

“I believe we have a Vel’tath incident,” Pelthana said, her voice so low that even Traxla’s Copper Perception barely caught the words.

The winds blew for several seconds, tugging at Traxla’s braids as she registered Pelthana’s words. Vel’tath had caused the Aetherium to lose half their war-barges in a single year, all because she’d decided the Aetherium was losing its edge. And attempted to attack one of the M’tari strongholds to prove otherwise.

The attack had been successful enough to earn Vel’tath some accolades at first, killing thousands of users and the governing Lord.

The M’tari had responded with enough Dusk Athma to reduce the fleet to little more than a memory. Including most of the supply barges. The Aetherium was forced to buy food for its citizens from the System, or risk starvation as all trade with its outer provinces was cut off.

There were still signs of the attack along the south side of the Lathiac sea, if one knew where to look. Traxla had gone there with her daughter only a year earlier. The thought of her daughter made her refocus.

“What, exactly have you heard?” Traxla asked, twisting one of the many rings on her finger. A sudden mana-dead zone enveloped them, with a furious windstorm whipped off outside, cutting off all but the most basic of mundane hearing.

“The minister of Defence has brought in… I… you’d have to see it. I almost... If Shevika hadn’t…” Pelthana said, the usual calm demeanor Traxla was used to, completely gone.

“Trust that I have seen more than you can imagine. Tell me,” Traxla said, only barely keeping herself from affectionately referring to Pelthana as child.

“Fallen. Minister Yelthen is planning to supplement the Desh’ila with Fallen,” Pelthana said, her tone not even trying to hide her disgust as her ears flicked in agitation.

“She wouldn’t,” Traxla said, but she knew better. In an instant, hundreds of conversations and little snide comments fell into place. Missing enchanting supplies, delayed patrols and the trouble she’d been having with her contact in the Ascendancy. And if Pelthana had heard of this… “She’s sure it’ll go through. Pelthana. Leave the city, go home. Return to the Ascendancy.”

“Minister?” Pelthana asked, her eyes wide.

“Go. Now,” Traxla said, canceling the anti-mana field. If she was right, she didn’t have much time. She’d been too distracted by the negotiations with the Grand Milieu. She’d been too lax in her consideration of the upcoming vote to refocus Yelthen’s department. Changing the Minister of Defence to the Minister of Fertility had apparently forced Yelthen to move.

As Traxla stormed up the steps towards the council chamber, she shook her head. She should’ve known better. Of course, Yelthen would attempt to keep her old position. The Minister of Defence had the sort of pride that was only equaled by the depths of the infinite abyss.

This was her own fault. Fallen. Serving in the Desh’ila. Such madness would only be the beginning. If she didn’t-

Traxla stopped at the top of the stairs, the mana being drained from her surroundings. Even as Traxla whipped around to find the source, Yelthen stepped forward.

The black and grey K’tharn wore heavy purple robes, embroidered with gold. Similar to the enchanted robes the rest of the Ministers wore, if more ostentatious than most. Behind her stood several silent K’tharn. Royal guards, defenders of the palace and the elected council, though not ones that should’ve been on shift.

“Yelthen,” Traxla said, immediately squeezing her hand around her escape token. To be confronted like this was a bad sign. If Yelthen was this bold, then things were worse than she thought.

“My dear friend,” Yelthen said, extending her arm as if to embrace Traxla.

Which was enough of a warning for her. She crushed the token in her hand. Yet even as Yelthen’s arm landed across Traxla’s shoulders, she remained in place.

“You’ve deployed the wards?” Traxla hissed, unable to believe the extent Yelthen had gone to. There were only one set of protections that could prevent teleportation within the palace. “You know the deep runes aren’t meant to be invoked lightly.”

“Walk with me my friend,” Yelthen replied, ignoring Traxla’s words as the guards fell in behind them.

Traxla considered her options. She had many. There were few Copper ranks within the Aetherium. And even fewer archmages amongst them. Despite the wards, she could overwhelm the guards, and Yelthen herself.

But that would put her family at risk. She’d need to move fast once she started. And for that she’d need to buy time.

So she pretended to listen as Yelthen droned on about how the Fallen would revitalize the Aetherium’s flagging strength. And the value of their undying dedication to the cause. All the while, Traxla was making plans. Then they stopped outside the very room that the wards had been activated in, and Traxla realized she’d miscalculated.

The wards were indeed active. But they hadn’t simply been preventing her teleportation. The entire suite was active, burning through hundreds worth of Iron shards per minute.

“Ah, there it is,” Minister Yelthen said, squeezing Traxla’s shoulder. “You were always too smart, you know that?”

“Sit on a coral,” Traxla replied, pulling the other K’tharn’s arm from her shoulder. Then her vision did something unusual. It wavered, dark edges pushing in.

“Goodnight, old friend. May you always serve the cause.”

The words came, as though through a thick curtain, and the last thing Traxla saw was the foot of one of the guards step forward.

She woke inside a tube. Her arms felt… weak, and there was something down her throat. Outside her tank, she saw a massive K’tharn, kneeling down to look her in the eyes.

It only took her a few seconds to realize it was Ivicka. The same K’tharn Traxla had sent her daughter to spy on. Behind her stood an elvenoid, wearing a strange outfit of tight clothes made of fur. As if they were a poor imitation of a K’tharn.

Other than a brief surge of fear for Cristha’s safety, Traxla’s thoughts felt mired, as if buried beneath a thousand layers of seaweed.

As she prayed for Astra to watch over her daughter, her awareness faded.

Again, Traxla awakened. But this time, she had no voice. She knew this because her first impulse was to scream, but her throat was empty. Pain tore through her everything, wrapping itself within her mind. It pulsed for an eternity before gradually receding to a dull ache that lay at the centre of her breasts.

Once it had faded, she opened her eyes. She was on a stone slab. Her fur felt horribly matted and all her bonded equipment was gone. And so was access to her inventory. Was she still locked inside the palace?

A casual inspection of the ambient Mana suggested it was unlikely. There was far too much metal and stone Mana in the room. And an almost disturbing lack of wind Mana. Further consideration of her circumstances made her realize she was not bound, physically or magically. As she created the framework for her Copper-tier spell, Infernum Shower, nothing inhibited her.

Neither was she inhibited when she made a few small changes to the framework to use it as a teleportation matrix. However, when she went to use the spell to escape the room she’d been left in, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She wanted to. More than anything, she wanted to teleport away, to make sure her daughter was safe.

But she couldn’t bring herself to cast the spell. Her will would just… dissipate.

A few minutes, and a half melted room later, Traxla confirmed that she could cast spells. She just couldn’t do anything to leave. Not so much as a single step beyond her cell. Someone had used mind-magic on her. Illegal, even under the System’s most fundamental laws. No user could control another. Except, clearly someone could.

She’d barely accepted that someone had found a loophole when the far wall melted away, though in a manner consistent with manipulation and not destructive as she’d done. Traxla wasn’t startled by such a common security feature. She was, however, surprised to find Ivicka on the other side. She hadn’t been sure she’d dreamed her, during that brief moment of lucidity in the tank.

“Ah. You’re awake. Good. I’d hoped we’d have more time to talk, but I have need of your skills. I have some uninvited guests. Come along,” Ivicka said, her voice carrying a deep chuckle Traxla found unsettling.

Though not as unsettling as when her feet started following of their own accord.

As her eyes found Ivicka’s back, she realized exactly who she’d been bound to. Even as Ivicka ordered Traxla to defend her lands, Traxla’s eyes narrowed.

She didn’t know what Ivicka had done to her, but she’d find a way to break free.

No matter what bound her, Traxla was still the Aetherium’s greatest archmage.

A note from Draith

Shoutout for a fun litRPG that's been tearing up rising, Wolf of the Blood Moon.

Spoiler

It's nothing revolutionary, but it has fun characters in a sort of MGG world, but with more of a sassy and self-assured main character. The System is pretty standard, but it serves to deliver the powers in a satisfying way.

The style it pretty solid, with only the occasional little grammar oddity. And Wolf is pretty good at making corrections based on feedback. At least, he has been so far.

Come join the tail gang, and help convince Wolf that Scarlet needs a tail!

3.01 A Walk in the Forest

4:32 pm, local time. (July 3, 2023, 8:32 pm.)

As we take in the way the waterfalls catch the last rays of light of the setting sun behind us, I can’t help but close my eyes and just let the wind tug at my hair, enjoying the moment. It’s a very zennish moment, all peaceful and stuff.

Which, of course, means it’s time for Smoulder to nudge my hand into giving her scritches.

The race away from the tower worked pretty much as well as we could’ve hoped for. Sure, we’re still stuck on Akilo with no way home, but at least we’ve escaped Ivicka’s notice. And with some luck, Rufka and Tipan’s modifications overloaded the micro-core making it useless to Ivicka.

That’s mostly wishful thinking on my part though.

This wasn't our original destination. Despite all the amazing waterfalls, I’m pretty sure we're further inside the Aetherium's territory than we’d been hoping.

Thankfully, we all made it out intact. As I look over the others, I realize that’s only mostly true. Josh’s glider seems to have overloaded, melted material clinging to his rose-petal armour as he shakes himself free. And Roberts’ glider is locked into place, forcing him to move around as though strapped to a kite. Which would explain why I had to make so many last second adjustments for him near the end of the race.

At least we didn’t end up next to the capital city, Aethire. That had been looking like an option in the early stretch.

That said, while the quest reward might prevent magical tracking, there are only so many places we could emerge. And the forest below us covers a lot of them. Most of the exits on the south side, in fact.

And that means we need to move.

Unfortunately, we haven't decided on a destination since we thought we still had a few days of planning and training ahead. Which might work out since we’re not anywhere close to our original teleportation target anyway.

"Okay people. We can't stay here and we're down to a single glider and Tipan’s out of Mana. Luckily, this forest will make it harder for them to spot us by air but we're going to need to hoof it until we can make repairs. Tipan, suggestions?" Beth requests as I help Josh escape from the burnt remains of his armour.

Tipan pulls a piece of thick leather from her inventory, unrolling it for Beth to see.

"Okay. Uhm. One second," Tipan mutters as she struggles with the map, trying to fold it. Noticing how awkward it is for them, I fashion a floating table out of metal. It takes some time, but I even add little clips to hold the map in place. Even as I'm forming the table, we start down into the forest away from the rise and the stunning view.

Tipan isn't even fazed, simply setting the map in place with a polite, "Thank you."

Then she continues walking, pushing the giant floating clipboard in front of her. "We're here," Tipan starts, pointing at a mountain, the lake and a little ripple that does a wholely inadequate job of portraying the majesty of the waterfalls. Her finger taps the forests that run along the edge of the river as Smoulder hops on the corner of the map to see what all the fuss is about. Thankfully, she’s not feeling burny, so I’m not compelled to chase her away.

"As we've discussed, this is the core of the Aetherium, which we want to avoid," Tipan continues, petting Smoulder with one hand while pointing to a large area that includes a huge yawning pit. The one I mentally refer to as 'the giant hole in Akilo's backside'. Tipan also indicates that the Atherium’s core territory includes a great deal of land to the southwest of that pit. These 'lowlands,' run almost all the way to the ocean, only stopping fifty kilometers from the coast. Our little forest is on the south side of this territory. We're inside their borders, but not by much.

"This is the effective reach of the Aetherium," she continues highlighting the whole freaking continent excluding a small area at the Northernmost end. "They're much less likely to find us in these areas, but if they do, they can reach us in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, I don't know if it's just Ivicka who will be after us, or if the minister has more allies amongst the council. If it’s just Ivicka, her teleportation budget should be limited. If it’s the council…"

"When we were talking about the Pernian academy, you mentioned it was outside the Aetherium's control," Beth notes as we all look at the map. Except Smoulder. She decides it's boring, hopping to my shoulder for head-scritches and treats.

"Yes. The academy is located here, on the isle of Yellow Winds," Tipan says, pointing at an island that I'm pretty sure I recorded. I think it had a…. Yep, there's a volcano.

"So, how long would it take to fly there? If we could get more gliders?"

"To the coast, it would take a week, at least. That's assuming we fly at night to avoid being spotted by any Desh’ila, shelter if we run into Mana-storms and use my aspect as Mana allows. And assuming we don’t get ambushed by any dangerous mana-warped," Tipan answers, drawing her hand across the map in a straight line west, leaving a visible trail hovering over it.

"A week doesn't seem that bad. Do you expect we'll have to deal with all of that?" Beth responds while scanning the forest around us.

"Mana-storms can strike at any time. Especially, since we haven't seen one in a week. And once we're outside of the Aetherium's core territory, the Mana-borne will no longer be kept in check," Tipan explains as we round a corner that leads to another short path before turning in the other direction.

“You… call what we just went through, in check?” I can’t help but ask.

“Indeed. You’ll note that they were all confined to the canyons. They are farmed when they grow too thick,” Tipan replies, once more changing direction.

All these twists and turns make it feel like this was a wild forest once. I suspect they only added the neatly packed path afterwards. Wonder if they didn’t bother making it straight since most people this far out can just fly?

"But we only have a single non-busted glider. We'd be carrying them, which would be slower and more dangerous. Especially if we drop them," Rufka counters as we make the next turn, moving further away from the mountain. "Besides, we wouldn't be able to keep flying once we hit the coast."

"Why not?" Josh asks as I start analyzing the nearby trees. Oh hey, some of these are fruit trees. And they're in season.

While I'm grabbing several peachaples, which taste like peach but resemble a blue apple, right down to the crispness, Rufka explains, "cause of the Lords of the Deep. Mum says they're not too keen on the Aetherium flying over their oceans. And they're more of a cast first, ask questions of the corpse kind of people."

As I give Smoulder her own entire peachaple, Tipan nods, adding, "They're the reason the Aetherium's borders don't reach the ocean. Then again, they're also the only reason the borders are anywhere near the ocean, as they’re open to trade."

Rufka intercepts the next peachaple as I toss it towards Beth. She smiles as she takes a big bite. "Yep. But only with approved captains. Mum says they prefer to avoid Aetherium loyalists sailing on their waters. Heard they encourage tourism to their dungeons though. That'd be something to experience."

"It's true, they only allow licenced captains to sail their waters. If we want to go to the academy, we'll need to book passage," Tipan agrees, her lower hand idly tapping the island.

"Do we? Want to go, I mean?" Roberts questions Beth, who stops studying the map to meet his gaze.

"I don't know. What we need is access to a Nexus point and a whole lot of food. Then we can safely spend all the resources we received."

She's right. I still want to pick up Restoration. And after all the points I spent at the Laician Tower, I’m burning through tons of snacks.

Hmm. I've still got the summoning device for Raz's. With that, all we need is a Nexus point. In fact, couldn't I….?

Flying up to collect more fruit, I open my spell list to check on my Return spell's cost.

What the hell? Why does my Return spell indicate it would only cost me one Facet to return? We're way further away. Did I improve it that much?

I could go to the standing stones right now. But I'm not sure mentioning that would be helpful. Not until I can transport everyone. I do have tons of notes, but those are going take a while to read through.

Damn. I need to upgrade this spell to full-on teleport. Might have to purchase the ability from the shop. Except, checking my pad, I see that the cost was two iron Progression Marks. Two levels or unlock teleportation, that's an expensive choice. Either way, I decide to mention Raz's device.

Beth responds from below, "That's good, kid. That means all we need is a Nexus point."

"Unfortunately, the only Nexus points I know of are all controlled by the Aetherium," Tipan complains before taking a bite of the peachaple I drop to her. Then she creates a grid of glowing dots that are within the Aetherium's core territory. One of which is only a few dozen kilometers to the east of our current position.

"Kid. Do these look familiar to you?" Beth asks, tracing her finger from dot to dot.

"Kind of. But I don't remember…" I trail off while staring at the map, trying to picture it.

"When we were looking at the filters. You asked me to go back to the Mana-faults. Don't these correlate to several of the brightest points?" Beth reminds me, pointing at a small cluster around the edge of the giant hole. Crap, she's right. And I have a better copy of that map than any of the others because it's part of the rune that I keep tweaking.

Following Tipan's example, I create an overlay out of twilight. It takes some adjusting since her map is flat while my rune is round, but after a few minutes, I have it mostly aligned. I think.

Then I spend half a minute getting rid of all the lines between points. This is made easier by the fact they're thinner than the spots Tipan indicated. This still leaves us with over a hundred glowing points, over half of them outside the central area.

There are only three which appear to be within a few day's travel though. One of which would have us heading the opposite direction from the coast and the Pernian academy.

"Wow. That's amazing. The Aetherium would kill for a copy of this map," Tipan exclaims once it's finished.

"Literally," Rufka adds, floating above the others on her stomach while carving pieces out of the peachapple I gave her.

"Yeah. Probably," Tipan concedes, her body deflating alongside her enthusiasm as if she were a balloon and Rufka attacked her with an entire box of needles. Gathering herself, she continues, "this one is the coastal Stronghold of Mithan. There's guaranteed to be an Aetherium presence but they're not in control. It's a settlement governed by the Lords of the Deep."

"Who are these 'Lords of the Deep' you keep mentioning," Roberts asks as I gather even more of the peachaple after having given several to the others.

We seem to be in an orchard. And since it's available, I've decided to fill my stock with fruit jerky, dehydrating it then storing it away. Free food is great when you're an outlaw on the run and don't know where your next meal is coming from. Which I think we are.

"They're like the Aetherium, but instead of controlling the skies, they control the oceans," Rufka supplies, not telling us anything we hadn't already gathered from context.

But Tipan continues the explanation without missing a beat, "The Lords of the Deep are a powerful species who live below the waves. I've never seen one, but I've heard them described as massive creatures the size of a dragon. They have long tentacles that can squeeze the life out of an Iron-ranker in seconds. And that's before they receive their class."

"Mum says their command of storm and twilight magic is unparalleled. Especially amongst the K'tharn," Rufka interjects when Tipan pauses for half a second. Rufka is also following my example, plucking fruit from the trees as we continue walking through the forest. Though she doesn't have a greedy little Mana-hare stealing a quarter of it, does she, Smoulder?

"Kind of sounds like an octopus or squid," Josh notes, using the English words. There isn't really a Vausian equivalent.

"I've heard they have cities the size of mountains buried beneath the waves," Tipan notes dreamily while staring off into the trees.

"There's no guarantee they'll be any happier to see us than they are to see the Aetherium, is there?" Beth remarks, gesturing to me and the guys.

"They're unlikely to care about outlanders as long as you follow their rules. And if we're not going to the coast, we need disguises. You four stick out like a Zanbia in mating season. And the skyborne is nearly as bad," Rufka answers, pointing at Tipan.

"And disguises means magic. Powerful magic if we want to circumvent the Aetherium's detection measures," Tipan sighs.

"Yep. Too bad all my friends who know magic like that are locked away in an Aetherium prison. Or back in the reaches," Rufka states before adding with a smile, "These are sooooo good."

Then she gobbles down another peachaple while Tipan droops her head. I squeeze Tipan's shoulder in what I hope is a reassuring gesture but she doesn't respond.

"So, what are our options then? Book passage to this academy and hope they can teach us powerful illusion magic? Any other ideas?" Beth asks, clearly hoping for one of us to say something.

"Isn't your resource made for deception?" I ask Beth while bringing the relevant section up.

“Description: Drawing on extensive knowledge of the System’s understanding of that which exists between, Umbra is incredibly destructive to standard matter. It can also be wielded to counter any sense which relies upon standard matter.”

Yep, there it is. Counters any sense that relies on standard matter.

"Hmm. You might have a point, kid. I haven't experimented with that part much outside of basic camouflage."

"Well, it would be a start. At least then you and Rufka may be able to venture into an enclave to trade. Maybe buy some gliders so we can get to one of these Nexus nodes," Tipan nods excitedly, though it almost seems like she's forcing it.

"Yep. Shouldn't be too hard. If you're able to maintain a decent illusion. Rather not go solo."

"Okay. I'll start…" Beth stops mid-sentence when a loud rustling noise issues from the east, back the way we came.

"Maybe we'll save this for later," Beth suggests, handing the map to Tipan while I reclaim my metal, folding it into a thin slat before attempting to store it in my pack. My pack which is so full thanks to the dried fruit I've been gathering that it doesn't fit. I end up tossing a bunch of stone on the ground to make room as we continue away from the crashing noise that's getting louder.

By this point, everyone is moving as quickly as they can down the path. Breaking away, Rufka flies above the trees for a second before returning, her fur standing on end.

"There's a Mana-warped Zanbia headed our way. We need to move faster!" Rufka exclaims, grabbing Josh by the shoulders, not giving him time to react before rocketing away through the canopy.

Tipan scoops Roberts up with nearly the same ease while I attempt to follow their lead. I try to wrap my arms around Beth, but I'm unable to hold her with my own strength. Even as I'm struggling, Smoulder makes her way into her pocket. At least one passenger is secure.

Grabbing ahold of me, Beth jumps on my back, arms and legs wrapping around me before yelling at me to fly. I struggle upwards through the forest canopy, branches slapping against my face until I summon a shield. The second I'm clear I make the mistake of glancing back.

There, behind us, is one of the gentle giant dinosaurs I saw the day we arrived. I pause time the second I see it because it's only three meters away from engulfing Beth and I in its massive mouth. A massive mouth filled with an impressive array of sharp, pointy teeth that are also crackling with electricity. Because why not.

Several of the teeth are at strange angles, protruding through the creature's lips or into the roof of its mouth but there are more than enough in their proper position to tear us to pieces.

As I zoom away, taking full advantage of the extra speed I can get while Paused, I analyze it.

“Creature analyzed: Lightning-Zanbia. Gene-seed D."

"This unfortunate creature now feeds solely on Mana-attuned creatures seeking the brief respite that consuming them provides. This is a devolved form of the uncommon Zanbia, a large herbivore found all across the surface of Akilo."

"Name: (The complete but agonizing understanding of torment created by a perpetually overcharged nervous system)"

“Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; High, Magic; High, Awareness; High.

Attacks: Electrical discharge, Extreme Blunt Force, Stomp, Crushing bite.

Defences: Physical: Extreme. Magical: High. Immunity to lightning."

Well, an analysis that actually makes me feel a little better. At least none of its description is restricted. And only one of its attribute groups is extreme. Practically a cakewalk.

Since time is Paused anyway, I let loose a few torrents and arrows, trying to gauge how strong it is. Every attack splashes against its hide in a colourful but ineffective display of power.

And, oh look, it destroyed several trees when it made a hundred-meter lunge while trying to swallow us. It missed by dozens of meters, so it's fine.

I keep flying away as fast as we can. It's kind of exhilarating. I know I should probably be more Focused on the escaping part, but skimming over the trees with a five-storey dinosaur chasing behind us is kind of epic.

I'm seriously considering spending the Mark to be able to revive from death instead of levelling though. If we're going to keep running into stuff like this when we're just walking around, having a safety net like that is going to be critical.

After another few hundred meters I realize it would be much simpler to fly up. That's when I spot the others who are behind us, but they're much higher. Once I've gotten above its head height, plus an extra few hundred meters to be safe, we regroup with the others.

It's still staring at us balefully as Beth says, "Well, that was horrific. But at least we're in the air. What direction were we headed?"

Tipan doesn't respond, still staring down at the Mana-twisted creature below.

"Should be that way," Rufka instructs, pointing past where the forest ends along the river I saw when we first emerged from the race.

"Tipan?" Beth prompts gently as I float closer to Tipan and Roberts.

"Huh? Sorry," Tipan responds, turning to Beth.

"You okay?" Beth asks as I look away, trying not to embarrass Tipan.

"What? I'm fine. It's… there shouldn't be anything like that here. We're inside the Aetherium's core territories. Hunting down monsters like that are why the Desh’ila exist."

"Which probably means a Desh’ila is on their way," Rufka observes, flying back to us after she realizes we weren't following her.

"Good point, let's move people," Beth commands, before muttering, "And let's hope that thing doesn't chase us."

"Don't you know better than to say things like that?" I ask Beth as we fly off into the sunset.

"It's fine, kid. If it does chase us, we'll use it as a distraction when the real trouble shows up."

"Oh," I respond, wondering how in the two worlds she intends to do that.

3.02 Fly by Night

5:03 pm, local time. (July 3, 2023, 9:03 pm.)

The Mana-warped Zanbia decides not to chase us as we fly even higher. We quickly deliberate whether we should fight it but decide to head out before the Aetherium shows up. As we're leaving, the Zanbia, denied its prize as we fly away, resorts to the solution of spoiled creatures everywhere.

The tantrum.

Demonstrating just how loud a five-storey creature can wail, it thrashes about, knocking over trees in its vicinity with little regard for anything other than its dissatisfaction. Even though we're speeding away, it prevents easy conversation for a good two minutes.

Glad we didn't fight it. That's definitely going to draw attention.

Once we clear the edge of the forest and we're sure we've left the beast behind, Tipan suggests we fly closer to the ground. When within the core territory, most Aetherium forces attack any high-flying creature that isn't clearly marked. That basically means anything other than a glider accompanying a dragon or one of the Aetherium's airships. There are a couple of other exceptions, though none we can imitate.

While gliders are exempt from being shot on sight, apparently using one if you're not a member of a Desh’ila is technically illegal. But it's the kind of illegal that isn't usually enforced. Since most of the gliders we have at the moment are busted, it's kind of irrelevant.

So, as per Tipan's suggestion, we fly a few meters above the surface. Turns out carrying the others is working well, so we don't need more gliders yet. At least not for long haul travel. I'd hate to try to fight burdened like this.

Half an hour later we discover our very first Aetherium ranch. The 'ranch house' is floating half a kilometer in the air, tethered in place by a thin, glistening rope. The rope is so thin, I half expect it to rip free at a strong gust of wind

"It's called Pelthian's infused recombinant tethering system," Tipan explains when I ask her what the rope is made of.

"Most users just call it P-rope," Rufka adds unprompted.

"Well, yes. But P-rope just feels so inadequate. It's a marvel of enchantment design. Even the Lords trade for it."

"Yep. It's great. Users still call it P-rope," Rufka shrugs as we move past a sleepy herd of shaggy, four-legged creatures that are grazing on the wild-looking grass.

“Creature analyzed: Gruffullo. Gene-seed D."

"This herbivore is a central component of most K'tharn diets. Having enjoyed the protection of K'tharn for several millennia, this is one of the few creatures to remain mostly unchanged by the arrival of Mana. An excellent source of vitamins and minerals but not essence."

"Name: None. Insufficient sense of self."

Wow, my analysis doesn't even give me details on attacks or defences. That's new.

As we get closer, I'm able to discern that the walls of the 'ranch house' are made of the same leathery material as the gliders. Combined with the tether, it gives the building a kind of leather balloon sort of appearance.

Except this balloon is bigger than my apartment building back on earth, and the fancy zigzag patterns are composed of compacted bones that serve as walkways and access scaffolds.

"Mum says the Aetherium uses Mana-infused parts from powerful beasts because they're lighter but mostly because the Aetherium is cheap," Rufka informs me when she sees me staring.

"They're also the most plentiful copper-grade material on Akilo. Which is important when you're trying to provide people shelter," Tipan adds, defending the Aetherium's architectural decisions.

Rufka nods, "Yep. That's why it's cheap. It's a great idea."

"If the tether is broken, do they float away?" Josh asks while Tipan glares at Rufka and I stifle a laugh.

"If the tethering is disconnected or cut, yes. The house is more likely to be destroyed than the tether is to break on its own though," Tipan explains a second later, expanding her hand in a mock explosion effect for emphasis.

Huh, that's pretty impressive.

"Awesome," Josh exclaims, staring while I bring Smoulder out so she can take in the sights.

The conversation continues in low tones as we pass beneath the floating ranch house. Beth wanted to go around, but Tipan insists that we're no more likely to be noticed moving beneath than if we’d detoured. Especially since we're travelling along the ground.

Surprisingly, Rufka agrees with her without any mocking or teasing.

By the time the ranch house is behind us, the conversation has shifted to what we're going to do next. While escaping the core of the Aetherium and finding a Nexus are both mandatory, we still don't know where we're headed after.

Unfortunately, neither Tipan nor Rufka know much about the dungeons on this side of the Aetherium. So, if we're going to get more powerful, we're going to need a new map. Or a guide. The academy is looking like a better and better prospect just because we don't have many other choices.

Half an hour after we've left the ranch house behind, Roberts points out that we've crossed a few rough dirt roads that don't seem to go anywhere. It only takes me a second to confirm that the nearest two only run the length of a field or three then stop.

"Why aren't there any major routes connecting these?" Roberts asks.

"There are trade routes near Aethire, but why would the Aetherium build them here? There's hardly anyone out here. And trade with the Lords is done by river," Tipan explains as we cross another of the short paths.

"Sides, the Aetherium doesn't like to set their feet on the ground 'less they have to," Rufka chimes in, "Cept these ranchers. They know it's easier to move their equipment between fields using roads. Equipment like that."

At first, I think Rufka's pointing at a collection of sticks but then I realize it's a dome-shaped pile of sticks.

"Is it under the sticks?" Josh asks, staring intently at where Rufka's pointing.

"I believe it is the sticks," Roberts comments from Tipan's back as we go over a low ditch.

"Yep. They mix natural camouflage with ambient camouflage and low power 'nothing interesting here' mental enchantments to keep the harvesters protected when not in use."

"You know, Rufka. For someone so opposed to the Aetherium, you seem to know a lot about it," Beth comments as we fly over another field.

"Course. I live in its shadow. And they make a habit of conscripting or capturing my mum. Not that it ever did them much good before," Rufka grumbles, throwing a glare over her and Josh's shoulders, back the way we came.

"Once we make our way into the Aetherium, rescuing your mother will be one of our top priorities," I promise, looking to the others for confirmation. Josh and Roberts nod while Tipan shrugs.

Rufka smiles at me for a second but then she looks to Beth.

Beth shifts on my back, meeting Rufka's gaze for a few long seconds before answering, "If what you've said about your mother is true, it would be foolish not to enlist her assistance. I'm not certain we'd be capable of rescuing her without a great deal of preparation though."

"Oh, Vaus knows, that's an understatement," Rufka chuckles as we pass over the end of the fields. From here forward, as far as I can see is rolling forest. I wonder if we're out of their core territory.

Even as we fly, I continue experimenting, using twilight to shroud myself, trying to find a method that will travel with us. Using the umbrella spell as a base does allow for a mobile shadow shield. But it's only in a single direction and blocks my vision as much as anyone else's. A change to the shield to match my night vision use of twilight creates a shield that grants everyone on this side night vision. It's more accurate to say that everything seen through the shield appears in that same dusky yellow.

I'm not the only one experimenting. Partway through my tests, I feel unexpected bouyancy as Beth figures out her own way to create wings.

"Nothing personal kid, but I didn't feel entirely comfortable not having a safe way to the ground."

"Yeah. Totally understandable Beth," I reply while checking my Mana to see if it’s back to full.

Which it is, but I also discover my Health is decreasing. I don't want to say anything, but I think carrying Beth on my back is starting to lower my Health. Either that or something involving her experiment. It's only 0.1 per minute, but it was nothing when we first left the forest by the dungeon.

"Uhm Beth," I start even as I take a better look at the terrain we're flying over. The trees here are taller than the ones in the reaches. Trees I doubt even a five-storey tall dinosaur would be able to peep over.

"Yeah, kid?"

"I think you're hurting me," I respond, unconsciously flying a little bit closer to the forest below before catching myself then regaining altitude.

"Weird. Are you in pain?"

"No. I just seem to be losing Health. It's not that bad, I can probably keep going for another few hours as long as it doesn't get worse," I answer as Beth waves Roberts and Tipan closer.

"Roberts, can you heal the kid? And let me know if you find anything strange."

"Absolutely. One moment," Roberts affirms, reaching out to grab my shoulder. The familiar tingle washes over me though it feels more invigorating than it used to. When I check my resources, I discover he didn't just heal me, he fixed the Health loss. Furthermore, he increased my Health edge by one.

"Wow. You're even increasing Health edge now?" I gasp, slowing slightly in surprise.

"It doesn't last long I'm afraid. No more than a minute. But I'm hoping to improve that," Roberts replies with a grin.

"I'm starting to feel like I haven't been spending enough time practicing. That's great, doc. Good job," Beth congratulates Roberts with a slap on the shoulder, slightly unbalancing me.

We continue flying over the forest for another hour when Rufka speaks up, "I'm not going to be able fly much longer. My Mana is getting low."

Checking her Mana, I'm surprised to see she only has 30/318 left. Even as I'm watching it drops to 29.

"Understood. Let me know if you see any promising shelter," Beth responds, causing me to start laughing.

"What's so funny, kid?"

I start pointing at the ground, swinging my arm back and forth as I proclaim, "shelter here, shelter there, shelters every, everywhere."

Rufka and Tipan both start laughing along with me but it takes Beth a moment to realize what I'm saying.

"Right. Nevermind, kid. Just find a clear spot I guess?"

Rufka's already leading the way to the ground, so I follow her down, with Tipan just behind me.

Landing in a small clearing with a babbling brook running through it, we check the perimeter as Rufka says, "Going to need some sleep before I'm able to fly again."

"Indeed. I'm starting to feel the effects of our long day myself," Roberts notes with a large yawn.

"Okay, kid. Do your thing," Beth instructs me, waving her arm in a gesture I suspect is supposed to indicate magic.

Nodding, I start fashioning an underground space. Shaping the entrance so it's hard to spot from above is tricky, holding me up for a minute before I achieve any progress.

Eventually, I create a lumpy hill with a recessed staircase covered by sod. Not perfect, but it should be sufficient. Next, I continue down, creating a large central chamber with packed earthen benches around a table. While I'm working, I stack all the stone to the side. I'm going to need it later. Once I have the central chamber finished, I inform the others.

"Uh. It's nice, kid, but where are we supposed to sleep?" Beth asks as they file in.

"Oh, I'm just getting started. But I thought everyone would prefer to wait in here," I explain, before turning back to my work.

Before I'm able to step away, Beth mentions that we're going to take shifts watching the entrance. She and Josh will go first. Rufka and I agree to do the second shift, with Tipan and Roberts on the morning shift. Even as the shifts are confirmed, she and Josh walk back out to the clearing, followed shortly thereafter by everyone except Rufka. And Smoulder, of course.

But I'm hardly paying attention, shaping earth again. I wonder if I'll have time to teach the others some earth magic tomorrow? It'd be cool if we could all create places like this.

Off the central chamber, I create three small nooks. One to each side, and one at the opposite end from the stairs. Each of these nooks is going to serve as a hallway once I'm done, but for the moment they're just reminders.

As I'm working, Rufka and Smoulder both give me feedback on the design. Smoulder requests I put in running tracks along the top of the walls as well as more 'bunny nooks'. Rufka asks for a lounging chair instead of a bench.

Starting with the passage on the left, I create three rooms. Each room comes complete with my trademark, softer than stone, beds.

I miss Raz's already. I should figure out a better system for creating beds on the go. Or just keep hammocks.

With the first hall complete, I repeat my efforts on the opposite side, creating another three bedrooms. Once the bedrooms are complete, I inform the others.

Rufka is already asleep in her chair, but when the others make their way down, their not-so-quiet conversation wakes her. After she realizes the beds are ready, she and Roberts both thank me before heading down opposite hallways.

Coming in slightly later, Beth sits at the table experimenting with her camouflage power under Tipan's guidance while Josh watches them closely.

While they're doing that, I finish the last hall. I'm using this one to create enough bathrooms for everyone. I ensure each bathroom includes several sinks. Once the fixtures are in place, I fill each and every sink with clean water.

I'd rather not have to clean up after the others. Then I start on the truly masterful part of my abode.

Doors. The stone I've been collecting as I've been working makes for excellent doors. Starting with our main entrance, I form my door in place, fusing the pegs to the door slab. Unfortunately, I didn't think to reinforce the hinges, so the door starts tilting wildly. When I try reinforcing the hinges the door still shifts enough that I'd be the only one able to use it.

So, I use more stone to reinforce the entire door frame, only leaving round holes in the roof and floor for pegs.

The degree with which I'm able to fit the moving parts would be nigh impossible without magic. Or maybe with the right technology back on earth. We did have some pretty amazing stuff.

Once the door is complete, I consider locking mechanisms before deciding on a pair of simple bars that can be slid into place. It almost takes as long to create proper holders for the bars as it did to create the door but eventually, I have a working system.

That complete, I replicate my doors in each hallway. But with a simple latch and handle instead.

Checking my stone shaping skill, I see that it's increased to fifty-four. With our temporary shelter complete, I rejoin the others at the table, yawning as I sit.

"Hey Lex, did you put in ventilation?" Josh asks, staring at the solid stone door. I just blink at him for a moment before standing back up then carving several small holes in each door. At which point Smoulder requests a bunny hole to bypass the door. I'm glad she caught me before I sat down, I'm starting to feel tired myself.

Which makes sense, it's 3:23 in the am, locally. And we're another three hours ahead from where we were this… yesterday morning.

And that means it's been nearly twenty-eight hours since I woke up. Yet I only feel as tired as I normally do after a long day.

"Yep," I reply to Josh's question, rather belatedly, as I plop down next to them.

Beth is still experimenting. At this point, she's turned her right hand completely black. It's kind of painful to look at. So, I don't. While she and Tipan murmur in excited tones, I pull out dried fruit jerky, sharing with Smoulder obviously, then check my attributes.

Thirteen whole points. And the Mark I’m saving.

I want to bump my stats, but before assigning any of my points, I bring up my quest log.

Zone Quests:

None.

System Quests:

“Quest: Survival. Requirements: Survive for 36 days. Reward: Variable. Time: 29/36 days remaining.”

“Purge Corruption. Requirements: Summoner found 0/1, Summoners neutralized 0/1, Research destroyed 0/1. Rewards: 80 Iron-rank Integration points, 4 class Progression Marks. Additional rewards for every summoned Fallen laid to rest. Time: unlimited."

Personal Quests:

“Quest: Return to Earth. Requirements: Find a way to return to Earth 0/1. Reward: Variable. Time remaining: 353/360 days.”

"Quest: Master the Basics. Requirements: 0/9 Elemental Skills at 100. Rewards: 11 Iron-rank Integration points, increase Mana edge by 1.0. Time: unlimited.”

“Quest: Knock knock. Requirements: open 0/1 doors. Reward: 5 Iron-rank Integration points; unknown. Time: unlimited.”

"Quest: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Requirements: 1/3 races won. Rewards: Three Iron-rank Integration points. Time: unlimited.

Personal Crafting Quests:

"Quest: If you build it, they won't come. Requirements: create 0/1 Iron-Grade stone structure, 0/1 Iron-Grade stone tools, raise Stone Shaping skill 55/100. Reward: 7 Iron-rank Integration points. Time: 30/36 days remaining."

"Quest: Metal in the Making. Requirements: Create 0/5 Iron-Grade tools using Metal Manipulation, raise Metal Shaping skill 45/100. Reward: 7 Iron-rank Integration points. Time: 30/36 days remaining."

“Quest: Plenty of pots. Requirements: Create 0/10 Iron-Grade earthenware using ceramics, raise Ceramics skill 33/100. Reward: 7 Iron-rank Integration points. Time: 34/36 days remaining."

Huh. If I can finish my crafting quests, I could almost get my Spirit and Intellect to a hundred. With my mental attributes at a hundred, I could finish my 'Mastering the Basics' quest. That’d let me get enough points to get my Perception and Resolve most of the way to fifty.

Let's see, I need sixteen points each to raise Intellect and Spirit to a hundred, for a total of thirty-two. Which is… way more than I have. But I have shards I can convert. More than enough to get the extra three points to get Intellect to a hundred.

Then I can finish my manipulation quest, ensuring I get my Temporal and Spatial skills to a hundred first, just in case there’s hidden quests. Then I can use those points to bring me back in balance. Especially if there's another hidden reward.

After finishing my crafting quests and bringing my mental into balance, I can invest future points into Constitution. Or maybe balance my physical stats.

…

Nah.

After some quick math to confirm my estimates, I assign all thirteen points to Intellect, using enough shards to boost it to sixteen. Now that I know the mechanism behind them, it only takes me a moment to add my maximum storage and armour to my character status.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-2

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: -10

Constitution: 15

Agility: 21

Endurance: 8

Intellect: 84 > 100

Spirit: 84

Perception: 42

Resolve: 42

Storage: 3.86 > 4.02 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 2/2 > 2/3

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 13 > 0

Progression Marks: 1

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 122/127, Edge: [7.3], Regen: (65/day)

Stamina

Pool: 117/120 > 117/128, Edge: [10], Regen: (66/day) > (71/day)

Mana

Pool: 305/581 > 305/606, Edge: [50.3] > [55.5], Regen: (453/day) > (492/day)

Focus

Pool: 361/504 > 361/530, Edge: [37.8] > [39.1], Regen: (352/day) > (374/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 163/163 > 163/170, Edge: [12.6] > [13.5], Regen: (119/hour) > (129/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 0/3

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Then, since I’m still starving, I pull out a large plate of steak, mashed tubers and still sizzling veggies.

"Wow, Lex. I take it you spent some points?" Josh asks as he pulls out his own meal that practically mirrors mine.

"Spent most of them earlier. But I do like spending them right before bed. That way they increase while I'm sleeping."

"Cool. Totally spend mine every time we get em. It's like a compulsion."

"It's a little unnerving to receive so many at once," Tipan admits from where she and Beth have been sitting silently for the last minute. Glancing over at her, I almost choke when I see two Tipan's staring back at me.

"I'd say the illusion is working," Beth notes, her voice issuing from the second Tipan's mouth.

"Awesome Beth. That's amazing," Josh cheers as I stare at her with awe.

"Huh. So, this must be how you feel most of the time kid?" Beth teases, lightly punching my shoulder with a hand that looks entirely like Tipan's, fur and everything.

"So cool," I answer, running my hand across hers. "It feels like real fur."

"Yeah. Tipan pointed out that I'm not limited to sight. Tactile, olfactory, even aural," Beth declares, her voice shifting until she sounds just like Tipan.

"But I've still only got two functional arms. I can only move the ones that align with my real arms," Beth explains further, drawing my attention to the fact her lower arms have remained crossed in her lap since she started talking.

"Luckily, many K'tharn have a dominant pair of arms. It shouldn't be too noticeable," Tipan reassures us even as Beth's illusion breaks apart, turning into blue dust before fading away.

"You meant for that to happen, right?" I ask as Beth shakes her only two arms as if they'd fallen asleep.

"Not really. I had an itch that I couldn't reach while disguised and for a second I wished I wasn't," Beth explains as she scratches at her elbow.

"Huh. That's a strange side effect. But it could be worse, right?"

"Yeah. It could make you smell like watermelon," Josh states.

"What's wrong with watermelon?" I can't help but ask, morbidly curious.

Josh is unfazed as Beth and I both turn to stare at him.

"It's gross. Anyway, bio-break," Josh states, heading towards the bathroom with a quick step.

"Yeah. Watermelon's gross," I sigh as I push away from the table.

"Wake me when it's my shift?" I request from Beth.

"Sure thing. Night, kid." Beth waves. Even as I'm stepping away Tipan joins in the round of goodnights, heading for the opposite hall. I find an unoccupied room near Rufka. Might as well sleep on the same side as my shift partner, right?

As I climb into my earthen bed, Smoulder settles in on my chest then I try to fall asleep.

To my surprise, it takes me instantly.

3.03 Pick me ups

8:32 am, local time. (July 4, 2023, 12:32 pm.)

Rufka and I are roused from bed at what can only be called an unreasonable time. Well, it would’ve been reasonable if we hadn't stayed up chatting until after four am. Point is, I'm far grumpier at being roused for my watch than I was expecting.

As I'm walking towards the central chamber, grumbling under my breath, I stop. Smoulder's still sleeping in my room. When I turn back, I notice Josh and Beth standing close together. Then Beth gives him a quick peck on the lips before pulling him into what, at some point, I mentally labelled as Beth's bedroom.

I stare at the entrance. It takes several seconds for my recently awoken brain to kick in and understand what's happening.

Oh. Oh!

Good for them.

Instead of going back to retrieve Smoulder, I close the stone door behind me, giving them some privacy.

Even though I'm feeling giddy at Beth and Josh apparently being together, I'm still kind of grumbly when I greet Rufka for our late morning/middle of my sleeping period watch. I'm gid-rumbly?

Nope, doesn't work.

However, Rufka makes us a new tea. As I take my first sip, my grumbling transitions to contentment.

"Substance analyzed: Rufka's Nightwatch tea blend.

Description: Grants improved night vision, alertness and reduces effects of fatigue for one hour. Reduced effectiveness on copper rank or above. Toxic to mortals."

"The description should include that it tastes like oranges," I tell Rufka as we sit in a pair of thrones I've formed out of the benches. I say thrones instead of chairs because these are grand and majestic and difficult to move in and out of. Rather comfy for a bunch of packed dirt though.

"Nah. Where's your sense of discovery," Rufka counters, taking another sip of her tea.

"I reserve my sense of discovery for magic, exploration and food. And no, tea isn't food," I declare as I set my tea on the large flat space that joins our thrones together.

I consider mentioning Beth and Josh, but decide that if they wanted us to know they'd tell us. Instead, I tell Rufka the beginning of a story from earth about a young wizard who went to an amazing school to learn about wizardry.

There’s more back and forth than I was expecting, I use magic to illustrate my story. Rufka doesn't have any sense of wonder when I talk about magic, but when I mention cars and trains it takes over an hour before we get back to the story.

At least the digression is good for practicing my elemental skills. Now that the caps are raised, creating small replicas of cars and trains is giving me increases again. I decide that ice will be my control element. If I don't level ice, I can ensure I'll get both Temporal and Spatial to a hundred without accidentally completing the quest.

Temporal is already capped at eighty-eight. And given the frequency with which I use Pause, I'm not worried about getting it to a hundred.

Spatial is going to require active practice though. Which is a good thing, because I'm continually forgetting about it in combat.

So, since the story is derailed anyway and most of my elemental skills are at eighty-six, I start practicing. Rufka happily volunteers to help me train, firing arrow after arrow at me.

As we're practicing, I pause time. I've been meaning to test this since I figured out how to teleport, but never seem to have the time or safety to experiment. Now we're in an underground bunker, with hours of nothing to do except ensure no one gets slaughtered in their sleep. Perfect opportunity to practice.

I reach out, forming the tether and everything is going as expected until I reappear. At this point I discover not only is time unpaused, I'm unable to re-enter pause. Before I have time to reflect on this, an arrow hits my shoulder, spinning me about. I thump off the nearby wall, but I'm not hurt. Other than the lost Health, that is.

"Lexi? You okay?" Rufka calls with a higher-pitched voice than usual when I don't stand up right away.

"Yeah. Forgot to mention I was trying something new," I inform Rufka as she comes over. She sighs, slumping down beside me while draping her upper arm over my shoulder. There's no new condition listed, so I'm waiting to discover when I'll have the ability to pause time again.

"You do that a lot. Worries me," Rufka says, squeezing me closer for a second. My ability still hasn't recovered. Even though we're sitting I'm still idly playing with twilight, running it through my fingers.

"Sorry. It's just so amazing, you know?" I reply a few seconds later, leaning my head on her shoulder.

"You... it really is," Rufka responds. Even as she's speaking my pause finishes recharging, activating as I test it. It looks like it takes thirty-six seconds after teleporting to recharge. On the plus side, now I know it takes me out of pause. Which means there should be another way to end my Pause without teleporting.

That'd be nice.

Since I'm in pause mode again, I attempt to do exactly that. Reaching for my Facet, I Focus as I teleport again, trying to determine exactly what causes my pause to end. As I'm porting, I realize that my isolated bubble of time shrinks with me but doesn't reappear after I'm through my teleport.

"Ukila above, Lexi!" Rufka swears from across the room, causing me to turn to look at her in confusion. Then I realize I didn't warn her. Again.

"Sorry," I mumble as I feel my cheeks burning.

"By Vaus' tits, you're gonna be. You better get moving, Lexi," Rufka says as she draws her bow. Looks like practice is back on.

As she takes aim at me once more, a grin spreads across her face. The arrows are coming quicker now, but I'm having no trouble dodging. I don't have a mirror but I'm sure my grin is a rival for hers, the arrows flying towards me failing to find purchase.

As if I'd make it that easy for her.

Teleporting away, I test accelerated time with teleport next. Same result. I have to wait before I can use my personal haste after I port. Luckily, teleport isn't on cooldown, so I keep porting away as Rufka's arrows send chunks of earth flying.

Reactivating haste once the cooldown is over, which is thirty-six seconds, again, I dodge her arrow by jumping away. This time I'm trying something slightly different. As another arrow thunks into the spot I recently vacated, I teleport after deactivating haste. This time when I activate it again, there's no cooldown.

Sweet, all I need to do is time haste with teleport and I can use them both together. I wonder what's causing the cooldown to kick in? Even as I'm thinking, I'm still dodging but my next teleport fails to activate as quickly as I'd like, causing me to take another arrow. This one strikes me in my butt, spinning me around.

Even as I stumble to remain standing, I discover I was so distracted I didn't realize my Facet was nearly empty. If not for its rapid regen, I'd be at zero. Which I'm pretty sure is what slowed my teleport. I guess we have been going non-stop for over an hour, not counting our short break.

But I had over fifty Facet left, even after my first experiments.

Is teleporting combined with haste more expensive?

"Spent already?" Rufka teases as she comes over, draping her arm over my shoulder while settling her other on my hip.

"Yeah. I think using teleport while hasted costs me more Facet," I postulate as I catch a sniff of…? Is that lavender?

Turning my head towards Rufka, I sniff her before I consciously realize what I'm doing. Even as I confirm that, yes, the pleasant lavenderesque smell is coming from Rufka, my cheeks start burning. I start to turn away, but I don't actually try to escape her hold on me as she chuckles.

"You know, that's a rather bold move, Lexi," Rufka teases with a small smile.

"Sorry. You smell, uhm, good," I chuckle nervously. I'm suddenly acutely aware of how closely Rufka's holding me. I blame Josh and Beth, but I can't help thinking about the other night when I was in the bath and the first thing she mentioned was toys.

Is Rufka…

I mean they don't have males. And their thiani are all females. Am I that dense? Is Rufka into me?

Thinking back, I realize she's only prone to throwing her arms around me. No one else gets that preferential treatment.

"Thanks, Lexi. You smell good too," Rufka replies after a quiet moment.

I think there's a slight tremor to her voice. I mean, I might be wrong. Hate to misinterpret her just being friendly. I don't know how I feel about it either way, but I know I'm fond of her. So, I wrap my arm around her then lean my head on her shoulder.

"I'd ask if you want to sit, but we kind of wrecked the furniture," Rufka observes.

Looking around, I realize she's right. Though, technically, she's the one that did most of the wrecking, her arrows chipping away at our thrones, the table and the benches. I'm glad I took the time to craft doors for the bedrooms. I'd hate to imagine how loud we've been. I guess that goes both ways. I haven't heard anything from Beth and Josh either, though it's possible they just went to sleep.

Returning my attention to the lack of appropriate seating, it only takes a moment to craft a new, wider two-seat throne, which I find myself guiding Rufka towards once it’s complete.

"I have a confession," Rufka says as we're sitting on the bench. Her words cause my stomach to get all fluttery.

Before she makes her confession, I need to get myself sorted. So, I cheat, pausing time before she can continue.

How do I feel about her? I like her. A lot. But she's a girl. I've only ever been attracted to one girl before. Then again, I've only ever been attracted to a couple of guys too. And that was only after I got to know them.

Sab suggested I might be pansexual once, but I countered with the fact I'd never wanted to date a girl before. So much for that idea.

I mean sure, I've admired a few girls who were pretty but never had uh-uh thoughts about them.

And now that I think that, I'm having those kinds of thoughts about Rufka. She is rather pretty. And she did mention having toys and…

Not right now Alexis. Concentrate. You're trying to get sorted.

What else? Okay, she's not human. I should probably keep that in mind. It's technically an issue. But for some reason, it doesn't feel like a relevant factor.

It's not remotely as important as the fact that we're from different worlds. And I'm trying to go home. Will she be able to come with me? Would she want me to stay here? Would we have to break up?

And is she even interested? I don't know that she is. Maybe I'm only hoping she is?

Wow. All this time to think isn't helping as much as I'd been expecting.

Except for one thing. If Rufka is into me. Well, I'm sure I'm into her right back. I definitely don't want her to stop holding me.

There's still another minute of pause-time left but I'd prefer to resume talking to Rufka right now. Since I've just witnessed one way to end my pause early, I attempt to replicate the result without porting away.

Drawing the shield in doesn't work as I cautiously tug at it. It's only when I exert strong mental pressure that it rapidly collapses, returning me to the regular flow of time. Which I suspect is how I was supposed to end the barrier the very first time. Oops.

After another couple seconds, Rufka hasn't continued speaking, so I nudge her side, "what confession?"

"Hmm. When I joined you, I was only sticking around cause I was hoping to use you to free my mum," Rufka admits, which completely derails my thoughts. Not the confession I was expecting.

Hoping for? I don't know.

"The fact that you were actively going against the Aetherium seemed like something I could work with. I didn't expect to have so much fun with everyone. Even Tipan's not so bad. Never thought I'd meet a skyborne who didn't look down her nose at me."

I nod, not sure what the big deal is. I already told her we'd go after her mum.

"What I'm trying to say is. Mum told me that I should be true to my heart." I pull away from her, enough to look into her eyes, but she's staring at the door leading to where Tipan and Roberts are sleeping.

"Oh?" I ask, suddenly worrying that maybe she sees me as a friend and it's Tipan she has feelings for.

That's fine. I'm cool. We're still cuddling, right?

Right.

"Yeah. And my heart is telling me I need to get mum out as soon as possible. I shouldn't be relying on the mysterious power of outlanders to do it for me."

Wait. What?

"And I won't drag you into it. There's no way I'd put you at risk like that. Not now."

"What do you mean, won't put me at risk?" I demand. There's a confusing mix of conflicting emotions behind my question. Anger that she thinks she gets to make my decisions for me. Delight that she cares. Fear that she'll go off and get herself hurt or killed. Probably a couple more in there too.

"I don't want you to get killed or worse. Like Beth and Roberts keep saying, you need to be stronger before you can take on the Aetherium."

"Well, what if I don't want you getting killed either?" I counter, wrapping my other arm around her, pulling her into an awkwardly angled hug. The throne wasn't designed for sitting hugs. Even as I maintain my hug, I change that.

"I'll be fine. I've snuck into Aethire before. And I'm not the one being hunted. Now that I have all these shards from our dungeon run, I can free my mum without putting all of you in danger. It'll be expensive, but with this sort of untraceable wealth, Theria and I can buy her freedom," Rufka reassures me while returning my hug with all four arms.

We sit quietly as Rufka brushes one hand through my hair.

"I don't want you to leave," I admit after a minute of her continuing to stroke my hair.

"I won't. Not yet. I'll make sure you're all safely outside the Aetherium first. Besides, I have every intention of coming back. I'm not sure if I've mentioned, but mum's an Archmage," Rufka teases, "Once she's free, she can teleport us to any Nexus on the continent. You'll see us in a matter of hours. As long as you're not busy becoming even more awesome inside a dungeon, that is."

"Good. That's good," I say, releasing her from my two-armed hug. This time when I look at her, she's staring right back at me, her upper eyes closed.

"What's your full name?" Rufka asks as I stare into her golden eyes.

It takes me several long seconds before I'm able to answer her question. "Uhm. I guess it would be Alexis Wyonna Everette?" I reply, confused as to why she'd want to know my full name.

I listen as she tries to get it right, repeating it several times. I find it incredibly endearing.

At her request, I correct her until she's saying my name mostly properly. There's still a couple extra r sounds. When I mention it, she insists she wants to pronounce it perfectly. It takes a couple of minutes for her to stop adding the r's, but eventually, she's saying 'Alexis Wyonna Everette' like a pro.

As soon as she confirms she's saying it perfectly, she states "I, Rufka of clan Plethesa, would like Alexis Wyonna Everette, to be my friend."

"User Rufka of clan Plethesa has issued Citizen Alexis Wyonna Everette a Friend Request. WARNING! Friends will be able to use Nexus hubs to determine each other's approximate direction and distance. Do not add a friend you do not trust. Would you like to be her friend?"

"The Friend Request ability has been unlocked in the general ability shop."

"Yes. Of course, I'll be your friend," I grin at her while mentally confirming with the System at the same time. It's so much more formal than social media. And it warns you about potential stalker abuse.

"Friend added. Purchase the Contacts or Friend Request ability to remove friends."

Being friends is good. Much better than not friends.

"Good. When I leave, I'll send mail whenever I have access to a Nexus hub if you do the same," Rufka offers as I snuggle in next to her.

"Definitely," I confirm. Not sure where I expected this to go, but I'm okay with just snuggles. For the moment.

However, I'm still worried about the idea of Rufka going into Aethire alone.

But I have an idea. All I need is to improve my twilight magic to create illusions like Beth. Then, once I look like some random K'tharn, I'll be able to go in beside her. It could all go wrong, of course.

But being there for each other is what friends are for, right?

A note from Draith

Wow, went to check a friend's ad and saw the rating. Less than a 4.5 average. That's... wow, wish I hadn't seen that.

3.04 Small Improvements

11:52 am, local time. (July 4, 2023, 3:52 pm.)

Even as Rufka and I cuddle in the two-person throne, I start on my efforts with twilight, creating a dusky orb in front of me. Twilight is the most finicky of the elements. From what I've discovered so far, there are more ways to change twilight than any other two elements combined.

However, none of my efforts have discovered a way to do damage with it. I wonder if that's why so few K'tharn use it. When we were talking about it, Tipan mentioned that the only user she knows of is Rufka's mother. She suspects there are members of the Aetherial council who know how to use twilight as well, as a couple are known elementalists, but she doesn't know for certain.

Even as I'm playing with twilight, I feel Rufka playing with my hair. Leaning into it, I watch as my twilight shield changes shape. Wait, could that be it?

I need to tie my spell to the surface of my body.

Creating a dizzying array of simple circle runes linked together, I attempt creating a shroud over myself.

The gentle playing turns into a sharp tug as my sight is suddenly blocked. I feel Rufka extricate her hand as I inspect the spell.

"Uhm, Lexi," Rufka quietly grumbles from where she's sitting beside me.

"Err. Yeah, Rufka?" I respond, trying to split my attention between her and discerning how well the spell is working.

"Did you just casually create an invisibility spell?"

"Invisible? Damnit," I reply as I dismiss the rune-structure. No spell appeared for whatever reason, but invisible isn't what I was going for. Also, seeing would be nice.

"Lexi, are you complaining about being able to go invisible?" Rufka questions, incredulity dripping from her lips as she pokes me in the nose.

I stop working on a revised spell structure to look up into her eyes. She's looking at me, but her eyebrows on the right side are both raised.

"No?" I try, hoping not to incur her wrath. I'm really quite comfortable at the moment.

She stares at me for another couple seconds before chuckling.

"You're almost as bad as my mum," Rufka chides while shaking her head.

Crisis averted, I lower my head back onto her shoulder as I reply, "I'm working on my twilight magic. I'm trying to create an illusion to allow me to pass as a K'tharn."

"Besides that wasn't a spell it was an effect," I mumble as I continue experimenting. We spend another half hour cuddling while I practice. Once most of my Facet has recharged, Rufka reminds me of our teleport practice.

I think she's just getting miffed at me continually disappearing from sight. I'm still unable to create a disguise spell, but I've mastered a stationary invisibility spell. That only works in the dark.

Yeah, it's not amazing, but it's a start. Better than the murky shadows that I had the first time I experimented with twilight. And I can see out of it now. If I don't need to turn my head.

It's a work in progress.

This time when Rufka and I work on my teleporting, I start throwing low powered spells back at Rufka. My aim is amazingly bad without haste or pause. Unless she's standing still, I have a hard time hitting her. Actually, even when she agrees to stay in one spot it's difficult to hit her while dodging her arrows. I'm only striking her with one in ten shots.

I'm dodging another arrow from Rufka when suddenly a transparent barrier pops into place, causing me to halt. Glancing over to where Roberts and Tipan were sleeping, I find Roberts staring at us.

Then, without saying a word his eyes sweep the room before they rest on me again. Looking around, I realize we've destroyed most of the furniture. Again. We also collapsed the entrance leading into the bathrooms when we were getting particularly violent.

"Oops?" I offer as I clear a path to the bathrooms, triple reinforcing the attached entrance and hallway.

"Thank you," Roberts politely says as he steps past me into his marked stall.

"No problem," I reply, stepping back into the main room where I begin cleaning up.

"I guess we got a bit carried away," Rufka chuckles as she patches some minor damage to the only intact bench.

"Maybe," I reply. It was fun and it maxed my spatial and most of my elemental skills at eighty-six. Once we sleep for the rest of the night… Err, day? Well, once we do that, I’ll be able to finish some quests.

Besides, repairing everything is good for my ceramics skill. As long as I infuse things with fire to bake it.

When Roberts is done with his morning ablutions, he rouses Tipan allowing Rufka and I to slip off to sleep. Which is when I realize I want Rufka to cuddle up with me, but I don't know how to ask her.

Instead of asking something that might only make things awkward, I head towards my previous bunk where I find Smoulder still dozing away in her nook. Now there's a cuddler I don't have to worry about messing things up with.

"Sleep well, Lexi," Rufka says from behind me, causing me to turn.

"You too, Roofie… Nope, forget I said that," I retract, waving my hand back and forth as if I can erase my attempt. "Sleep well, Rufka."

She chuckles at my words before slipping into her alcove across from mine. I stand there for a couple seconds before turning around and snuggling up next to Smoulder on the cold, hard-packed dirt. My improved Health edge keeps it from being uncomfortable, but it's still no bed.

Even as I slip into sleep I swear I feel Rufka's golden eyes watching over me. They're a lot more comforting than the frosted brown eyes that normally plague my sleep.

When I wake in the afternoon, it's on my own, without anyone shaking me or an alarm going off. Though the volume of Smoulder's rumbling should almost count.

With a quick glance at my mana regen, I grin. It’s so high I could literally recharge the fancy standing circle protection on a daily basis. That's one hundred percent pure awesome.

As a side effect of this, I'm rarely not playing with magic. It's at the point where even while I'm checking over my status, I have flames and electricity skipping and arcing playfully above my hands as I give Smoulder morning head-scritches.

Now that my Intellect is at a hundred, my personal next goal is to get Temporal and Spatial up. I'm almost tempted to stay in my room to practice. There's a high likelihood that as soon as I join the others Beth will take charge and we'll be out the door.

With that thought in mind, I dig a new practice chamber, leading down a set of stairs where my bed was, moments earlier. Even as I enlarge the room, I find water dripping through the dark earth. Baking more earth in response, I use it to direct the water away. Once I've cleared a decent-sized space, I start practicing.

It only takes me half an hour of pausing, teleporting and casting useless spells before I've raised not just my matrix skills but several of my elemental skills to a hundred. When teleport finally hits a hundred the hidden quest completion pops up.

"Hidden Quest Objective Completed: Master the Basics. Requirements: 1/1 Temporal Manipulation at 100, 1/1 Spatial Manipulation at 100. Rewards: 3 iron rank Integration points. Increase Facet edge by 1.0.”

I might be a little greedy, but I really thought I'd get more Integration points from this quest. Then again, plus 1.0 to my Facet edge is pretty huge when I think about it.

I invest one point each in Resolve, Spirit and Perception then finally go to join the others. My regular manipulation skills can easily be practiced while we're travelling.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-2

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: -10

Constitution: 15

Agility: 21

Endurance: 8

Intellect: 100

Spirit: 84 > 86

Perception: 42 > 48

Resolve: 42 > 48

Storage: 4.02 > 4.16 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 2/3

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 17 > 3

Progression Marks: 1

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 125/127 > 125/132, Edge: [7.3], Regen: (65/day) > (67/day)

Stamina

Pool: 122/128 > 122/132, Edge: [10], Regen: (71/day) > (73/day)

Mana

Pool: 503/606 > 503/632, Edge: [55.5] > [57.7], Regen: (492/day) > (518/day)

Focus

Pool: 425/530 > 425/562, Edge: [39.1] > [42.1], Regen: (374/day) > (408/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 168/170 > 168/178, Edge: [13.5] > [15], Regen: (129/hour) > (135/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 0/3

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

When I emerge into the central chamber, the only thing I find is a note saying, "I hope you slept well, Alexis. We're all on the surface enjoying the sunlight. Westley."

Emerging from underground, I find everyone floating in the air.

Okay, I know I slept in a bit. And then stayed in my room to practice. But what the hell did I miss?

"Oh. Morning Alexis," Tipan calls, causing everyone to wobble in place. This is slightly exacerbated by Smoulder deciding that this looks like an opportunity to play, leaping from Beth's shoulder to Josh's elbow to Roberts’ knee.

As I apologize to everyone while recovering Smoulder, Tipan explains that she's figured out a way to create secondary levitation spells linked to her aspect. She's still in the early stages and it keeps collapsing if her attention wavers though.

Seconds after Tipan's finished explaining, Beth has us starting on our journey again. We're only a half day's travel from the Nexus point, and she'd like to get there, so we can access Raz's and level up. Well, so they can level up. I spent the only Mark I wanted to with my remote access. Too bad I couldn’t share it with the others.

I give Rufka a quick hug before we launch ourselves above the forest. We're not as tightly grouped today, Tipan’s experiments allowing each pair to fly farther apart as we enjoy the afternoon sun.

I'm partnered with Beth again, who's kind of chatty this morning. She decides to tell me a story of an adventure she had in Spain once. I don't really get her references, but she mentions a place called Del Prado or something she visited as well as several people she met.

One of whom she fucked then ended up having to kill. Her words. The casual way she describes it as an unexpected conflict of interest leaves me worried for Josh.

"Did you seriously kill an ex-lover?" I can't help but ask.

"Technically. But it wasn't like I had feelings for him. It was just sex," Beth shrugs, shifting on my back. "And he tried to kill me first. Or at least he was planning on it. Got a wicked scar."

"Oh," I mumble. I hope that means Josh is safe. But does that mean she's just using Josh for sex? I guess it's none of my business.

"You okay, kid?" Beth checks, continuing before I can respond, "Sorry. Sometimes I forget not everyone's had the life I've had."

"Yeah. It's pretty crazy," I comment as we drift further away from the others. "So. You and Josh? Do I need to worry for him?"

"What? No. Of course not," I can feel Beth lean back in what I'm guessing is shock as she answers my rather blunt question.

"Okay. Good," I reply, drifting back towards the others.

"I'm guessing that means you've noticed our closeness," Beth asks quietly.

"Well, I saw you guys last night. Why? Was there something else?"

Beth doesn't answer for a second, "Last night was the first time we were intimate."

It's weird hearing Beth use the word intimate. She's usually so straightforward yet now she almost sounds bashful. Yep. Weird.

I just nod, and we continue flying in silence for a while.

Eventually, we start talking again, Beth telling me another story about her past. This time about a job in eastern Europe. Nobody dies in this story, but one donkey does end up distressingly drunk. She assures me the donkey was fine.

We've just gathered as a group preparing to land when my continual practice with ice magic finally triggers the notification I've been waiting for.

"Quest Completed: Master the Basics. Requirements: 9/9 Elemental Skills at 100. Rewards: 11 iron rank Integration points, Mana edge permanently increased by 1.0.”

Even as I follow Tipan to a nearby outcrop projecting above the trees, I wait, wondering if there's a 'next' stage. But once I've landed and let Beth off my back, I accept that I've finally finished the entire chain. It was nice while it lasted.

With eleven points, I increase Perception and Resolve by five points each and Spirit by one, then join the others for dinner. We all pull out several full plates before we're done. I'm not the only one who's been completing skill quests and it takes us over an hour before we're all satiated.

As we return to the sky, there's a bit of excitement as we engage in a piggyback version of Tipan's race. At this point, all three of our passengers are capable of slowing their descent enough that Beth thinks we should practice maneuvering fully loaded.

In theory, I thought we'd be more careful while racing with passengers, especially since there’s a condition that we can't win without them.

However, these delusions are soon revealed for what they are. Silly.

On the first corner, I drop Beth when Josh and Rufka bump us. I'm terrified for a second until I turn to find her floating on black raven wings a short distance below. We're behind for the first half of the race, only catching up when Tipan and Rufka collide, causing both of them to fly outside the ring as they recover their passengers.

Taking full advantage, Beth and I make it all the way across the finish line before the others finally catch up.

The best part is, we're even heading in the right direction. While we first used Tipan’s destination template to escape, it works just as well for these challenge races.

Once she discovers she gets credit for winning, even as a passenger, Beth has us try them all. By the time we make it to the Nexus, we've completed each version of the race over a dozen times, earning us even more Integration points.

"Quest objective completed: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Rewards: 3 iron rank Integration points."

We didn't do half bad, throughout. I almost finished the next quest by the time I look at the notification.

"Quest updated: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Requirements: Win five Aetherium Challenge Races using nothing but your own spells and skills, 4/5 races won. Rewards: Five iron rank Integration points. Time: unlimited."

It also pushed my flight skill to an even hundred. As I read it, it informs me I need to increase my attributes to increase it further. Huh, I guess flight is based on Intellect.

Even though I only need one more race, we're finally at the Nexus. It's buried so far beneath the forest canopy, that if we didn't have the map, I doubt we’d have been able to find it.

As we descend through the thick branches, I notice that there's a lot of sleeping wildlife in the nearby trees. There's a giant cat the size of a wolfadillo that watches us pass. It reminds me of the jungle predators from home except it has six legs instead of four.

“Creature analyzed: Vexthera. Gene-seed D."

"This carnivore is highly territorial and mana sensitive. Despite this, they gather in large colonies, ranging over huge territories to hunt their prey. Rarely seen near K'tharn territories, these predators not only excel in ambushes, they know when not to fight."

"Name: (Concept of silent death at night)."

"Attributes: Physical; Low, Mobility; Medium, Magic; Low, Awareness; Medium."

"Attacks: Rending claws. Vicious Bite."

"Defences: Physical: Low. Magical: Low."

No one speaks as we get closer, everyone following my lead since I have the best indication for where the Nexus should be.

As we reach the forest floor, I finally spot what I assume is the Nexus.

There's a large tree, at least twice the girth of any of those around it. That's the least interesting thing about it. Its branches are home to more of the Vexthera. There are no fruit growing from this tree, but there are large acorn-like nuts hanging from its boughs. The bottom of the tree expands even further, creating a bulb, like an upside-down bowl woven from cherry stems. Under the hundreds of twisting roots is an open area, barely visible through the tangled mass.

Moving closer, I can see the edge of a table with several chairs set around it beneath those roots, all seemingly made of the same material as the tree itself. And in one of those chairs is a short figure who is lacking the extra set of arms while wearing too many clothes to be a K'tharn. Yet they also have too much blue fur to be human. They're not looking in our direction. And they don't appear to be concerned about being out here alone.

At least I'm guessing that's why they have their feet up on the table with the chair leaning back as they toss several dull grey objects in the air.

I look to Beth, who holds a hand up for the others to hold position, then motions me to drop her.

Letting her down, I float upwards as Josh and Roberts follow Beth's lead. Once everyone is in position, weapons out and armour activated, Beth calls out, "Hello there."

The figure catches the objects, each one making a heavy thud in their hands as they catch them before fastening them to their belt. Then they turn to look at Beth with a grin, their dark green eyes dancing behind their very fox-like face. Except instead of the red and white’s I’m familiar with they have two tones of blue. They take in the rest of us with a glance before once more focusing on Beth.

"It's about time yeh showed up," they declare as they stand, stretching their lithe, muscled form to nearly two metres tall. A bevy of fox-like tails splays out behind them. I have to say, everything about them screams kitsune.

I mean, except for the wooden toothpick protruding from their mouth. And the newsboy-esque hat on their head. Or the rolled-up white sleeves and black suspenders. Not to mention the round grenade type objects at their waist.

But everything else? Yeah, totally giving me forest fox spirit vibes.

"You were expecting us?" Beth asks, not aiming at the fox creature but keeping her pistol in hand.

"Aye. Pleasure to meet yeh," they greet while sketching a shallow bow.

"Nice to meet you too," Beth replies before slightly raising her pistol as she demands, "Who are you?"

"Ah. I'm Demo. I'm sure yeh have more questions but first, if yeh'd be so kind, yeh could tell me," they start, their grin fading as they speak, the toothpick hanging by just a sliver.

"What in Odeon's name did yeh do to me?"

A note from Draith

Thank you Plus1 for the amazing review!

3.05 Demo

10:52 pm, local time. (July 4, 2023, 3:52 am.)

The fox person is grinning at us, the toothpick protruding as they wait for a response. Well, we were wondering who Demo was. Now we know.

As we stand there, I pause, using the opportunity to scan them.

"Creature Analyzed: Phothen. Gene Seed D."

"Despite being a long-established member species, the homeworld and culture of the Phothen has never been discovered. All that is generally known is that they are a culture of explorers who prefer peaceful resolutions to conflict."

"Name: Demo."

"Attributes: Physical; Low, Mobility; Medium, Magic; Medium, Awareness; Medium.

Attacks: Explosives. Projectiles. Ice.

Defences: Physical: Medium. Magical: Medium. Ice: High."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Phothen Exploriat for 7.9 Focus and 10.0 Facet."

Wow, that's impressive. The codex now costs more Facet than Focus. As I'm reading their status, I stare at the dull grey orb they're holding in their hand.

That's an explosive, isn't it? Not sure how explosives and peaceful go together.

Ending my pause, I feel a pressure followed by a faint tingling sensation wash over me as Demo stares at me. The sensation fades and his grin grows wider as he tosses the baseball-sized orb up before snatching it out of the air with a flourish.

"You're Demo?" Beth asks, not holstering her pistol, but lowering it further.

"Yep. Pure Phothen genius, yeh are," they say with a smirk while inspecting each of us in turn. "Now, I've answered your question. What system-tainted business do you citizens have, pulling me halfway round the world away from my ship?"

"We found corrupted summoning stones," Rufka blurts out. Looking over, I see she's put her bow away and is hopping back and forth from foot to foot. "Are you a Phothen explorer? Like Ashkaban?"

Demo winces as if they've been struck, staring at Rufka before saying, "Corrupted summoning stones? Never heard of them."

He completely ignored her question about being Phothen. Jerk.

"What are you doing here?" Beth asks, trying to get things back on track while I wonder about this ship he mentioned. He wouldn't have been on a world ship, would he? Those things are huge, there's no way he crashed one here.

"Me? After the damn quest showed up, there was an update. Seemed reasonable enough, offering to put me in contact with other citizens. When I accepted, did I get a nice little call or message? Nope. I was dumped here instead. Let's see how was it phrased, 'due to a fellow Citizen's discoveries, you've been transported to a meeting point.'"

"Wait. The system brought you here? We barely knew we were coming here a day ago, when did you get your update?" I ask, forgetting to give Beth the lead.

"Oh, I'd say about a day ago. It's a nice change of scenery from the swamp I landed in, I'll admit that much."

"Do you know anything about the quest?" Beth asks as she decides to holster her pistol. At a wave from her, Josh follows suit, his spear and shield wilting away.

"Of course not. It's your System-warped quest, not mine. It did update to tell me I'd be meeting citizens here. Glorious Nexus point three-nine-two. Given the out of the way nature of the place, and your presence..."

Beth is walking towards Demo, her arm extended as she responds, "We are. I'm sorry to inform you, we're not planning on addressing the quest yet though."

"Yeh're kidding. Yeah?" Demo asks, his whiskers laying flat against his face as he stops bouncing the grey object, staring at her extended hand. Then he accepts it with two fingers, gently shaking it as though Beth might give him some flesh-eating virus.

"Afraid not, neighbour," Beth answers as she glances past him at the Nexus. He's blocking the path down, though I think there's another entrance on the far side.

"Of course not. Wish the System weren't such a pest, yeh know? No courtesy at all," Demo complains, hands on his hips, and noticeably not moving aside for her.

"Yeah. Listen, speaking of courtesy, we've been travelling all day and we're ready to take a break, maybe relax a little. Why don't you join us, tell us all about your version of the quest and what brought you to Akilo."

"Ha. Good one. Citizens of the system wanting to know what brought a Phothen to Akilo."

When Beth doesn't respond but simply stares at him, Demo decides to continue. I don't blame him; Beth can get a good glare going.

"All I know is, one second I'm investigating a space station orbiting a black hole, the next, I find myself crashed in a swamp on a sealed world. As if that weren't enough, I end up enslaved by the system, ripped away from Saratesa, then I meet yeh here," Demo states as they edge away from us, crossing inside.

He keeps the table between us even as we follow him into the rather cramped Nexus.

Oh. It's not one table, it's four tables spread around the edge with an open area in the middle. I count a total of twenty-four seats at the outer edge with none in the middle.

Rufka nudges my elbow as we take seats further from Demo, "I can't believe it. He's a real live Phothen," Rufka practically squeals in my ear as she stares at him.

"Is that special?" I ask. I mean I remember the Phothen world ship, but there were dozens of other more interesting models in that room. In fact, it didn’t even have a proper codex.

Rufka's nodding as she explains in a low voice while Beth and Demo begin trading notes. Apparently, Rufka used to read about an infamous Phothen explorer when she was young. I'm trying to listen to Beth, Roberts and Demo even as Rufka is telling me about this Ashkaban The Great yet Rarely Successful. She was a light-hearted Phothen more focused on exploring than completing whatever task she was attempting. And a rather famous figure across Akilo.

Beth mentions something about the System quest and Demo mentions the anti-corruption system but it's not until I remind Rufka that we're missing out that she quiets down, allowing me to hear them properly.

"That sounds good. We can work from there," Beth agrees, not giving me much to follow.

"If yeh're sure. This particular Nexus is lacking in pretty much every feature except basic amenities," Demo explains while maintaining a precarious balance on his chair.

"We have a way around that. Given some time and resources," Beth answers carefully.

"Good. Yeh're not gonna be a waste then. And if we're able to visit a couple of these dungeons yeh mentioned, maybe I'll be able to find a way off this mudball."

"None of us will be able to leave until we finish the System quest, unfortunately," Beth answers.

"Well, if yeh want to get stronger before dealing with the quest, I can understand that. But Yeh'll not be leaving me behind. Now that the System has its hooks in me, I'll be making use of it," Demo demands, his arms crossed.

"Hmm. We'll have to talk about it. I'm told that six is the party limit, and as you can see, we're full," Beth replies, waving to the rest of us. I glance at Rufka, whose face has fallen, her fur flattened in disappointment.

"Kid, you want to activate the device. I'd rather finish this conversation at Raz's," Beth requests, looking at me.

I'm surprised she wants to bring this Demo with us to Raz's, but Raz did indicate his place was safe for almost anyone.

Shrugging, I pull out the dark tube that Raz sold me. Then I insert a Mana shard. It hurts a little to spend what's essentially an Integration point, but the System menu here at Nexus point 392 is limited to purchasing a selection of fresh fruit (which I acquire several kilos of for ten emgee) and the Negotiation Table. The table's interesting, preventing damage to any copper rank or lower being around it. It's like a rest area that can be accessed without going into a dungeon. While we're sitting here, I'm unable to summon so much as a flicker of flame or bead of water.

On the other hand, Raz's device interfaces with the System without any issues, a simple prompt appearing when I insert the Mana shard. Holding it in place, a quiet thrumming fills the room causing everyone's conversation to die out.

A moment later, a familiar neon light starts blinking. The pink sign appears between one blink and the next. Immediately after the sign appears, another exceedingly bright flash of pink blinds me. When my vision clears, I discover the familiar plain too-small door has appeared, seamlessly interwoven with the surrounding roots.

"Doorway to Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository linked to Nexus point 392. This door will disappear in ten minutes."

"Citizen Pandora may summon this door from their system menu at the following locations: Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository, Nexus point 392."

Basically confirming what Raz told me but still nice to see.

"Interesting. Artifice magic," Demo mumbles, scrutinizing the door.

"Yeah. The innkeeper seemed to like making all sorts of things," Beth nods, observing Demo's reaction closely.

"This was done by the owner?" Demo asks while reaching for the handle.

"Indeed. He's been quite a wonderful host," Roberts notes from where he and Josh are standing on the far side of Demo.

"What do you say we get a table, have a drink and get to know each other?" Beth suggests, indicating the door in front of us.

"Yeh might have the right idea. But I think it's best that yeh go first," he replies, pulling the door open. He keeps his eyes fixed on us as Beth nods, stepping through the doorway with no hesitation. Tipan, Roberts and Josh are only a moment behind.

Rufka and I are standing next to him and Rufka is doing the foot hopping thing again when he glances at her. She's about to speak when he catches sight of her then retreats through the door. He doesn't slam it behind him, but his disinterest is clear to me.

"Isn't he cool?" Rufka exclaims rhetorically. At least I'm hoping it's rhetorical. He doesn't seem too keen to face her. And I've realized what Rufka's doing.

She's gone full-on fangirl.

Sab and I never really had fangirl moments. Okay, Sab might have gotten excited whenever we went to the observatory or she found a new article about space exploration. But that wasn't over people.

"Uh yeah. His tails are pretty awesome," I admit while sending Smoulder a mental message that her tail is awesome too. Smoulder reassures me that it's okay to look at other creature's tails. It's her fire that makes her special, not her tail.

"So awesome. And did you see his hat? I want one just like it. I wonder if Raz can make me one?"

"Probably. Speaking of Raz, why don't we head inside?"

"Right. Sorry. I'm just excited. I never thought I'd ever meet a real live Phothen, you know?" Rufka gushes as she leads the way through the door.

I nod along, thinking of what I'm going to do next, probably hit the change room then retrieve my loot. However, when I step in behind Rufka, I find we're not in the bar.

Instead, we find ourselves in an octagonal room with doors set into each side. It still looks like Raz's with the familiar hardwood floor and polished doorframes. But other than vague discolouration on each door, there's no clear indication of where to go.

Our entire group is still taking in the doors when the door to our right opens.

A short creature about a metre tall emerges. They're propelling themselves on a large number of tightly packed limbs. They kind of resemble a bundle of licorice, if a bundle of licorice could peel the very ends then use them to move. And was light pink with a single rapidly blinking eye the size of my fist on top. One of the pink… Limbs? Tentacles? One of the tentacles is curled upwards waving a clipboard as the creature speaks. I'm not entirely sure where its voice is coming from other than under its legs somewhere, but the tone is warm yet warbly. I'm not certain how, but I feel it's distinctly feminine.

"Welcome guests to Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository. Can I have your names for the waiting list?"

"Waiting list? Where's Raz? Who are you?" Beth asks in what I'm guessing is surprise. Which is fair, I'm a little shocked too. Raz mentioned he was usually busier, but I didn't expect a waiting list. Or a new face. At least, I think we're looking at her face. She's honestly a little more shocking than the waiting list.

"Yes. I'm sorry, my designation is Amanana. I'm new. Mr. R hired me on after he received an unexpected surge in popularity when he returned from his sabbatical."

"Your innkeeper was on sabbatical, was he?" Demo asks, glancing at us for a moment.

"We were here just two days ago," I mutter, wondering how much busier he could have gotten in two days.

"Oh, are you on our existing customer list? I’m terribly sorry, this all so new to me. Now let me see, he said there was a way to check for special guests," the jellyfish-like being warbles, her body undulating up and down as her complexion around her eye changes colour, resembling a blue star in a pink sky for a moment.

"Indeed. In fact, we have outstanding orders with him," Roberts mentions, "under Roberts, Rose and Tipan I believe."

"Oh. Oh! I know how to check that! One second," she responds. As the jellyfish inspects her clipboard, I inspect her.

"Creature Analyzed: Weldiqa. Gene Seed C."

"A relatively recent member species, most of the Weldiqa were annihilated shortly before their species integration. While few records of their time before integration remain, traces of apocalypse class weapons and genocidal propaganda indicate a successful eugenics campaign. The remaining Weldiqa are ruled by an autocratic council known as the Weldiqa Ten."

"Name: Amanana."

"Attributes: Physical; Minimal, Mobility; Minimal, Magic; Minimal, Awareness; Low.

Attacks: Paralyzing touch.

Defences: Physical: Minimal. Magical: Minimal."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Weldiqa Ten for 7.9 Focus and 10.0 Facet."

Okay, now I feel bad for thinking of her as a jellyfish. She's the least powerful person I've analyzed.

"Ah. Here you are. I'm so sorry, this is all much more sophisticated than I’m used to. Right this way please," she trills waving her clipboard in the direction of the door. As she's about to lead us inside, she stops for a second to look at her clipboard again, which is when I notice it's blank.

Invisible ink? Maybe she has an ability that lets her read it. Or maybe she sees in a different spectrum?

Even as I'm contemplating why she has a blank clipboard; she leads us through into a much louder and more crowded bar. In the corner is our large table, but it's currently occupied by creatures that resemble Raz. They're much larger and more colourful though.

"Yeh know, this almost makes leaving my ship behind worth it," Demo states, taking in the bar with his tails all flowing behind him. Even as I watch, they settle together near the floor. It's almost like he's only got one truly fluffy tail.

Like, super fluffy.

"This way, this way, please," Amanana trills, leading us past the bar to a pair of tables sitting in the corner. As everyone takes their seat, we discover we're short a chair. I let everyone else take a seat while I remain floating. Why stand when you can fly?

"Oh. I'm so sorry. It says here you're a party of six. I'll just. Uhm… Give me one minute, I’ll… I'll find another chair," she exclaims, spinning back and forth before disappearing between two tree-like beings. They're very humanoid, but all their features are wooden. But not fresh living wood. More like faded beachwood, a light beige and hard.

They're still expressive though, their wooden eye ridges rising in apparent surprise, or maybe annoyance, when Amanana squeezes past them.

There are several other species throughout the room and several are staring right back at us. Guess they've never seen a human before. It's kind of overwhelming, so I turn back to the conversation already starting at the table.

"Now, what did yeh have in mind to keep me from being left out?" Demo asks Beth as trays start floating over to our tables.

"Actually, I might have a solution to that," Rufka admits with a pinched face, her fur laying especially flat. "We're out of the Aetherium's core now. The only way you'll be further from the Aetherium's reach is if you decide to book passage on the narrow sea. I'm going to return to free my mum."

"The whatsit’s core?" Demo asks in confusion. Roberts explains to Demo about the Aetherium with Tipan clarifying.

At the same time, Beth narrows her eyes as she addresses Rufka, "Are you sure? I meant it when we said we'd help you."

"Yeah. My mum's been their prisoner for too long now. I was almost ready to make an attempt when Lexi came stumbling into my life," Rufka explains, squeezing my hand. "Though I do wish I could get to know Demo before going after mum. A real live Phothen. Wow."

"Well, you can get to know him when you get back with your mom, right?" I console her.

"Yeah. Mum's going to be so excited!" Rufka states, shooting me a big grin.

Amusingly, despite Rufka's worries, we spend the next half hour getting to know Demo. A solo explorer, like most Phothen who leave their world ship, Demo was investigating a strange signal being routed through the space station. His comms beeped at him. Which was a thing that should only happen in emergencies, he assures us. When he answered, he got a burst of static before he and his ship popped.

"So suddenly, I'm not in space, the hull starts creaking under the sudden change in pressure and I'm completely without power. Do I panic? Not even a little. I've flown through Reaver space which is non-stop wormholes. A little powerless flight is nothing to me."

"Awesome," Josh mutters, as Demo continues though I just raise an eyebrow.

"So, knowing a freefall spin will just end up with my guts splattered six ways to Odeon, I grab the controls, guiding Saratesa into a smooth landing in the swamp. All without power, of course," he leans back, looking satisfied.

As Josh and Rufka hover over him, I sit back as he describes fighting off the local wildlife while working on his ship. He claims to have gotten several of his ship's systems back online when we triggered the system quest, though it was still far from flight-worthy. Something about a missing engine.

While all this is interesting, and Rufka is hanging on his every word, I find myself… not. There’s something about him that bugs me. And the way he ignores Rufka’s questions is just part of it.

Which is probably why my attention keeps drifting to the surrounding bar. It reminds me of what Raz said about being able to enter from any location we've already entered. If I'm able to teleport back to the stone circle, then I'd be able to move between the two using Raz's as a waypoint. And I'd be able to set my return point here. Maybe we'd even be able to use it to travel back and forth as a group.

Before that though, I want to access the change room.

First, so I can get my loot. We never did collect our rewards from finishing the Fallen city.

And then, there's that other little thing that I wanted to pick up.

Immortality.

3.06 Sleepus Interuptus

12:15 am, local time. (July 5, 2023, 5:15 am.)

Taking my leave, I purchase my room for the night. I still haven't seen Raz but Amanana takes my shards. However, the price has increased to two emgee a night. When I ask her why the price increased, instead of answering my question, Amanana apologizes but firmly states that the price is set and she has no influence over it.

Eh. It's still worth it to sleep in their beds.

Entering the change room, Smoulder and I engage in our nightly ritual of extreme ninja-bunny while I crack open the menu.

Now that I have the chance, I need to buy Restoration.

I barely blink as I select the ability from the list.

"Are you certain you wish to purchase the Citizen ability, Restoration?"

"Upon death, this ability will restore an iron-grade citizen to their last assigned return point 36 minutes later if they have not been revived by other means. Cooldown: 36 days."

"If a citizen has a charge remaining but this ability is on cooldown, they will be restored after the cooldown has finished."

That last note makes it an even better choice. As I send my confirmation to the system my body locks up. It's like when I was first stuck in time-freeze. But I know time is still flowing. Besides my time-sense indicating I'm not paused, Smoulder's still hopping around, free as a bunny. Which, technically, she's not.

At least the process isn't painful.

As I'm watching Smoulder complete the course again, I realize her obstacles are no longer under my control yet they remain in place. Then the understanding of my circumstances really hits me. I'm completely cut off from my Mana.

I start panicking even as an insane itch starts at the very top of my skull. When it crosses my eyes, everything goes dark yet I remain conscious.

The itching expands in bursts, pushing its way down my body. After a couple of seconds, I feel Smoulder pushing up against my hand and my panic recedes slightly.

Thanks, Smoulder.

When the itching finally reaches my toes, there's a moment of increased intensity. Then the itching fades as my vision returns. A moment later I can move again. Pulling Smoulder in close I read the new notification as I scratch at a spot on my elbow that remains itchy.

"Update Complete: Citizen Pandora has fully integrated the Citizen ability, Restoration."

Wow. I need to warn the others before they go through that unprepared. The experience is worth it, but a warning would’ve made it much less panic inducing. In fact…

Even as Smoulder and I recover, I connect to Beth letting her know first. Then I inform Josh. And then finally I connect to Roberts.

While I'm talking to Roberts about it, he asks me for as detailed an experience as I can give him. So, I let him know everything I can remember about purchasing the Restoration ability.

"You know, I wonder if it's a sort of protective coma, to mitigate any self-damage you might do?" he ponders after I've described it as accurately as I can.

"Uhm. Maybe," I reply. "If you're curious you can totally give it a shot."

Even as I'm responding, my mind comes back to the word coma. My father's still stuck in a coma and I never did talk to Roberts about his condition. What if we get back and he never has an opportunity to help because I've kept it to myself?

"So. Uhm. Speaking of comas," I start, scritching Smoulder's ears for support before I continue.

"Yes. Speaking of comas?"

"My papa's in a coma back on earth. I know we're a long way away. And we might never make it home but…" I blurt out before stopping, recentering myself, then finishing slowly, "I was wondering if you could take a look at him when we get back?"

"Hmm. I don't see why not. I'll be trying to keep my abilities secret once we return, but I'm sure I can help your father."

"Oh. Thank you. Thank you soooo much."

"Out of curiosity, where is your father?"

"Pleasantview Care Home," I respond quickly. In my excitement I shift in the tub, splashing water up my nostril.

Even as I start snorting water out, Roberts chuckles, "I imagine that means something, but I was actually wondering what city and province he was in."

Recovering from my little misstep, I respond, "Sorry. It's in Burnaby. Uh, British Columbia."

"Ah. It should be easy enough to check in on him then."

"Thanks, Westley. Uhm. I should go," I mumble, pulling myself out of the tub while drying off. I use the water to shoot at Smoulder, providing a new aspect for her to adapt to as she leaps over a burning pit full of flaming bunny skulls made of stone. Her idea.

"Of course, Alexis. I'll talk to you in the morning," he replies politely. I swear I can hear his polite smile as he steeples his fingers.

"Goodnight," I agree as I end the connection.

Even as the conversation fades, it hits me.

I can come back from the dead now.

I'm going to need to keep Integration points on hand to recharge the ability. But if I die, I'll come back.

I just sit there for a while, my mind trying to process the idea. It's almost as difficult as when I first realized I was going to die one day. Poor Mr. MewMew.

After a few minutes of sitting there trying to wrap my head around it, I realize I need a distraction.

My eyes end up playing over my status, and locking onto the ability I unlocked. The one that doesn’t count as a spell, but as an actual System ability. Cloying Earth. I wanted to study it.

As I'm experimenting with it, I realize it has earth specific runes. I'm not entirely certain where they begin though. The entire structure is linked throughout. The only way I'm able to discern they exist is certain sections of the spell are incredibly dense with earth mana while others use completely unattuned mana.

Despite its complexity, using it is as easy as any of the other spells on my favourites list.

Trying to copy it, the entire ability collapses the second I open my mental notebook. So instead, I pull out my physical notebook then start taking notes. I spend half an hour trying to record the runes when I realize it was easier to draw out ship designs.

Thinking of which, I purchase another two codices. So far, I've unlocked twelve different ships, thanks to occasionally purchasing codices. Which only leaves me with another 53 to go. But from cross-referencing the different designs, I think I'm starting to see patterns.

Remembering why I came here; I turn back to the important stuff. Grabbing my loot.

"Quest rewards available. Would you like to claim them now?"

Five iron-grade mana essence join my stash. Including all the mortal shards I can rank up; this leaves me with a total of… nineteen? And that's after using the one to activate Raz’s. Nice.

I hesitate to use them to raise my attributes. I am getting pretty close to being balanced again. But they might be more useful for my crafting quests. Rufka mentioned I had to imbue items with essence to create iron grade items. I'll need to work with her on it tomorrow.

While I hold off on using most, I do use one to give myself a free Integration point. Now that they can be used to recharge my resurrection ability, I don't know if I'll ever go without at least one point held in reserve ever again.

Continuing with my loot, I receive the Staff of the Elementalist and the Memory Locket.

The staff is a dark colour that reminds me of a mana essence. Most of the colours I've come to associate with the different elements flicker throughout the length of the smooth staff. However, at its head is a small dusky yellow gem no larger than the tip of my finger. I feel certain it's an embodiment of twilight.

"Staff of the Elementalist: This is an iron-grade Staff that grants increased power to all iron-rank elemental spells cast through it.

Bonuses once bonded: Empowered. Improves the power of iron-rank elemental spells by 20% while wielded.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: one iron rank Integration point."

Huh, I wonder if this is similar to the damage bonus I can expect from the chakram? Twenty percent seems like a decent trade for only one point. Not that I’m going to spend it. Not yet.

"Memory Locket: This is an iron-grade Locket armour that sharpens a user's memory.

Bonuses once bonded: Nostalgic. Improves Mana and Focus edge by 2.0 while wielded.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: five iron rank Integration points."

Uhm. What? Five points. Seems excessively expensive for such a small bonus. Definitely need to ask Raz about the locket before I spend that many points on it.

Hmm. I think I'm done.

"Ready for bed, Smoulder?" I ask holding her up in front of me as we finally exit the change room, the staff and locket already stowed away. I almost walk back out to the common room before remembering it's not just us anymore. Deciding to avoid that, I connect to Rufka to wish her goodnight.

"Hey, Rufka. Just thought I'd let you guys know I'm heading to bed," I inform her.

"Really? Are you tired already? Why don't you come play a game of Astra's Stride first? Please?" Rufka pleads as I put my first foot on the step.

Hmm. I guess I'm not that tired. Turning back around, I rejoin the others for a quick game of Astra's Stride.

I end up staying for three hours. Most of that time I spend snuggling with Rufka while we continue playing. Demo is drawn into the game by Beth explaining that it can unlock skills and even Raz shows up long enough to play a couple of matches.

When I ask about my locket, he explains that there must be a secondary effect that isn't reflected through the normal functions of the system, so they're given a simple description instead.

"There are several items like that. Such as the jacket I made for Roberts. The flight ability is barely referenced in the description even though it's the focal point of the jacket."

Doing as Raz indicates, I analyze Roberts's new jacket.

"Raz's Leather jacket of Flight: This is a standard leather jacket modified to grant flight.

Bonuses once bonded: Durable. Improves Health edge by 4.0 while equipped.

Current Bond: Forerunner Roberts. Cost to bond: five iron rank Integration points."

"Huh. So, the memory locket probably does exactly as it says," I note, feeling slightly less inclined to use it. Especially for five points. There’ll probably be better equipment.

"I imagine so. Though there are items that have entirely hidden effects as well. Descriptions can be modified by the crafter."

We continue talking but our conversation drifts to how difficult it is for an active user to maintain an ensemble that isn't atrocious without resorting to jewellery or tattoos. It turns out tattoos are an especially popular choice for the fashion-conscious.

When we do go to bed, Rufka is still teasing me about losing the last game while Smoulder is perched between us, her tail draped over Rufka's arm, which is itself draped over my shoulder.

"It's not my fault. I just wanted to try a new strategy."

"Lexi, that strategy was a big steaming pile of Zanbia dung," Rufka informs me.

"Thanks. It's so nice to see you displaying your usual eloquence," I reply back teasingly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rufka demands. She's pulling back from our walking cuddle slightly, but it's hardly the first time she's played the offended card.

"The great and mighty Rufka. Foul-mouthed and falsely offended," I continue. It's not my best teasing but I'm feeling kind of tired. Totally ready for bed.

We make it another ten steps when Rufka pauses two steps from the top, asking in a low voice, "Is that really what you think of me?"

When I turn to look at her, she's staring away, tears in the corner of her eyes.

Shit.

"No!" I practically scream when I realize she's taking it seriously. Where did this come from?

"I thought we were just kidding," I insist earnestly.

Rufka doesn't say anything, but she leans against me as she continues the last couple steps up, moving to one of the doors that leads to her bedroom. Turns out the bedrooms are all 'stacked' on top of each other, just like the change room. Rooms?

Anyway, Raz's looks like an Inn for six yet it comfortably sleeps six hundred. Plus, there's room service. Huh, I wonder if there are multiple common rooms too?

Rufka doesn't open her door or say goodbye, she just stares ahead unmoving. I don't try to pressure her but I'm trying desperately to think of some way to apologize.

Rufka turns to me and is about to speak when a large ant-man pushes their way past, shoving me into Rufka with a grumbled, "Glarz-nart."

I don't get a chance to say anything before Rufka yells, "Hey, you Wennigo-faced moron, watch who you're shoving!"

It doesn't even glance back at us, fumbling with the next door down the hall before disappearing from sight.

"Seriously, some users," Rufka mumbles while stroking my hair.

"Hehe. Yeah. Some users," I agree quietly.

"Sorry, Lexi. Didn't mean to get worked up like that. It's just…"

She pauses, not really doing anything.

"Did you notice the way Demo looks down on me and Tipan? It's like we're not even users to him."

"I didn't notice that. I do remember him talking to Beth and Roberts a lot," I reply. I didn't pay much attention to Demo. Between cuddling with Rufka, the games and taking in all the many even stranger patrons at the bar, he kind of faded into my mental background.

"Yeah. Well, whenever either of us asked a question he'd ignore us. Then if anyone else asked, he'd respond right away."

Oh. I did notice him ignoring Rufka. I'm just going to assume she's right. "I'll have to keep my ears open for it tomorrow."

"Thanks," she grunts ruffling my hair. "We should probably get to bed. Beth wants to make it to the Lords' enclave. I agreed to stick with you guys that far."

"I want to go with you," I admit before I can catch myself.

"Well, I'd bring you along. But I'm not sure how useful an invisible patch of stationary air is going to be."

"I know. I'm working on it," I grumble. Even as I'm looking down, Rufka tilts my head up, a giant grin on her face. Then she blows a raspberry at me before disappearing through her door.

I turn to Smoulder for confirmation of what I just saw but she's totally not concerned with Rufka. She's more focused on whether I have more peachapple jerky.

Sighing, I hand Smoulder some fruit jerky while making my way down the hall to my door.

When I climb into bed, I can't help but picture Rufka's grin.

Even though it'd be a silly choice, I wish I had put the point into Smoulder's extra-dimensional house so I could have some me time. But I manage to survive without it. The fact that Smoulder has decided now is a good time to curl up on my chest, tickling my nose and causing me to sneeze, does help.

Damn Smoulder, you're just so adorable.

Her contented rumbling is like a sedative, leading me gently into dreamland.

Waking to Smoulder's far too warm tail, I realize I forgot to pull the sheets on before going to bed. Which is probably a good thing, because, for some reason, Smoulder is doing her 'I'm a living ball of fire' shtick. It's a little terrifying until I realize I'm completely fine.

Yay for fire resistance.

As I'm watching her, I realize she's sleeping, her legs kicking against me frantically but ineffectually. The fear she's projecting through our bond makes me think she's having a nightmare. I didn't know she had nightmares.

Reaching out, I start petting her while whispering soothing little nothing words.

Almost immediately, she calms down, the fire going out as the fear disappears. I'm tempted to pull the covers over us but decide that maybe, at least for tonight, it's better if we sleep without.

"Go away mom," I mutter as I wake, flailing out at a fading dream. Turns out Smoulder's not the only one who had bad dreams last night. When I open my eyes, there's a slight ozone smell in the air and smoke rising from a slightly scorched mark on the wall. Even as I watch, the wall repairs itself, returning to its original austere wooden slat appearance.

It takes me several minutes for the anger at my mother to go away. I can't even remember what she did in my dream. The anger remains, real enough to darken any enthusiasm for breakfast.

Knowing that it'll take some time before I'm ready to face the others, I open my interface, reviewing my status.

The anger is gone by the time I'm finished checking over my attributes. It's a little hard to believe the list of numbers represents me in any way. Especially with mom on my mind. Anyway, I've spent enough time ruminating.

Time for today's adventure.

And by adventure, I mean breakfast.

3.07 Cross Country

11:03 am, local time. (July 5, 2023, 4:03 pm.)

Beth barely gives me time to order breakfast before she starts our 'briefing.'

"Demo is going to accompany us as we try to 'level-up'," Beth starts, using air quotes while looking at Josh with a subtle lifting of her lips. "Rufka has decided she's not going all the way to the enclave, so she'll be leaving us today. I cleansed Bel'ther's soulstone, but Tipan's worried about having her rattling around for the rest of her life, so we don't have a way to get any info out of her. Yet. So, we'll be heading to the Lords of the Deep's enclave, Glimmering Sands," Beth adds, pointing to a spot on the map south of the original enclave we were discussing while I look to Rufka.

She doesn't say anything, but I imagine Demo ignoring her has hastened her desire to rescue her mum. Rufka accepts my hand when I reach out to her, Tipan taking over the briefing after Beth signals her forward.

"This particular enclave isn't on any major Aetherium trade routes but they still have a small presence. If I remember correctly, they should be in the single digits. It’s one of the smallest settlements. There will be a large number of unaffiliated K'tharn there, those who choose to live outside the Aetherium. There's a reasonable chance we'll run into outlanders as well. I wish I could be certain, but I've only been to Glimmering Sands once."

"What Tipan is certain of, is that we'll be able to find at least one captain who will be able to take us to the academy while guiding us to dungeons along the way," Beth interjects, Tipan nodding her agreement.

"And yeh think we'll be able to trust a random stranger? Not everyone is going to be as even-tailed as I am," Demo points out, his toothpick still present as he drops his feet to the floor, leaning forward.

Does he have an unlimited supply of those things? How funny would it be if that was one of his class abilities?

Summon toothpick.

…

Nah, that's too silly.

"We need dungeon locations, and we'd prefer to reach the academy as soon as possible. That means someone who knows where we're going and is willing to get us there. Our ability to trust them only matters so much," Beth counters meeting his level gaze with her own.

They continue back and forth for a bit, but I tune it out as I concentrate on my food. I don't know why Demo's making a big deal about it. It's not like we trust him either.

I think.

Eventually, we set out. Luckily, I had time for my second and third breakfasts while they debated. Smoulder spends almost as much time with Rufka as she does with me, clearly picking up on my desire to have Rufka stay and trying to entice her with extra Smoulder cuddles.

It's super effective.

But Rufka's still going to leave.

As I saw last night, Raz has provided Josh and Roberts with their new flight items which they're wearing now. Rufka even managed to repair her glider. Beth'll be using the glider for a little longer but she's put in an order with Raz. Apparently, it had been on the docket before we vacated the dungeon but she hadn't prioritized it.

Even as I'm watching everyone experiment with their flight items, Rufka elbows me, getting my attention.

"Hey, Lexi. I was going to tell you first, but you kind of slept in. I'll be back soon."

"Kay," I answer, a lump in my throat keeping me from saying more as I pull her in for a hug while I establish a link with her before she leaves. I'm hoping I'll be able to connect to her as I did with the others when they were captured. My ability hasn't been properly tested at long range yet.

"Oof," Rufka kids as she pretends to lose her balance, pulling us both to the floor. We tumble a bit, Smoulder landing on top of us when we finally come to a rest.

"I'm gonna miss this," I say as we sit there, looking out through the tangled roots of the Nexus tree.

"Yeah. Me too. Mum needs me though. Plus, yeh know," Rufka kids, mocking Demo's accent.

Sitting there, we watch Roberts gliding around in his fancy new jacket. The jacket itself looks like a nice durable travelling jacket. A rich brown leather. Out of that jacket, a pair of bat-like wings have unfurled. They grant him better maneuverability and freedom than gliders, but he's still not as good as me or Rufka.

Pretty badass looking when combined with his cloak though.

Josh is out there somewhere too. Raz and Josh discussed the mechanics of using a belt for thrust while Josh uses his own abilities for control. As a result, Josh is flying around in Full Petal armour, deadlier than any Rose that came before, his Petal wings taut.

Since I saw him don the armour, I know he's wearing his pristine pink bathrobe underneath. Since we’re still ‘relaxing’.

Even as I'm thinking about him, Josh darts past, Demo skating along behind, helping Josh practice his aerial dodging.

Skating, because Demo has a pair of rocket-skate boots.

Okay, they're not actually rockets, but he has boots that let him fly. And they have a blue effect that shines from the bottom. The blue changes intensity based on his actions, so they appear rockety. Demo says they're standard gear for any Phothen explorer, though he's made his own modifications. Which is also standard for any Phothen explorer.

While the others are each testing their new flying devices and Rufka and I are saying goodbye, Tipan is ensuring no one hurts themselves. She follows behind, preventing them from crashing into trees or each other, her aspect making it easier than it would be for me.

"Okay people. I think that's enough practice. Time to head out," Beth calls five minutes later, gathering everyone together. Except Demo, who settles where he is, leaning against a faraway tree.

"Rufka. It's been an honour having you with us," Beth says as she clasps Rufka's hand. Josh and Roberts' goodbyes are respectful but muted. Then Rufka turns to Tipan.

"Skyborne," Rufka smirks at Tipan.

"Reacher," Tipan replies, her face blank.

"Take care of these cubs," Rufka declares as she pulls Tipan in for a hug. It takes Tipan a moment to process before she hugs Rufka back.

"I'll try," she says in response, her voice choking up and coming out a little broken. I catch Beth's eye, who's looking at them with an amused smile.

Rufka and I wave back and forth as we fly in opposite directions, not stopping until we're out of sight.

We settle into a comfortable rhythm as we go, racing, hunting, experimenting then racing again. When I complete the next stage of the racing quest, I realize why the Aetherium isn't full of users who've maxed their stats through this system.

"Quest objective completed: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Rewards: 5 iron rank Integration points.

"Quest updated: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Requirements: Win ninety-nine Aetherium Challenge Races using nothing but your own spells and skills, 0/99 races won. Rewards: Five iron rank Integration points. Time: unlimited.”

When I relay this discovery to the others, Tipan shrugs, "most users don't have easy access to flight until they're close to their cap. The challenge is mostly for fun or bragging rights."

I nod, dropping a point into Spirit, and two each into Perception and Resolve, bringing them both to fifty. After that, the day's travels are mostly uneventful. We do come across a few packs of mana-borne creatures that we decimate with ease.

Beth's actually making us use combination attacks, trying to get everyone used to working together.

Except Demo. He watches but doesn't contribute.

It's not like we need the help. Our biggest challenge is finding targets that can hold up to more than a couple hits at this point.

We don't have access to a Nexus when we stop for the night, so it's another underground chamber. Beth gets me to dig it deeper while only setting a single person watch.

"Okay, Alexis has first watch tonight. I'd rather not risk anyone losing their head while attempting to wake her up," Beth says while setting the watches.

"I wouldn't do that," I object, staring at Beth in shock.

"Kid, you almost did last time. You put a bolt of lightning into the wall over my head, doused half the room in flame then froze that half over before cursing your mother for interrupting your sleep."

Huh. I remember being grumpy, but I didn't realize I'd manifested several elements in response to her shaking me awake. No wonder Smoulder was sleeping in the nook instead of on top of me.

"Sorry. I really didn't mean to do… Any of that," I apologize to Beth, who definitely deserves the apology. I'm officially more hazardous to wake than my mom. That's a little worrying.

"No harm done. But, I think it's best to let you wake on your own," Beth replies before heading to bed with the others.

My watch is quiet and Tipan is awake before I can rouse her for the second watch.

Heading to my room, my eyes play over what should prove to be a much comfier bed. While we were at Raz's, I picked up some cotton fabric to make impromptu cots. Sitting on the edge, I reach through the connection to Rufka contacting her. Which doesn't surprise her at all. She's still in range, but the cost is high enough it’ll eat up my entire Facet pool in ten minutes. I ask her about her flight so far. And she tells me about a herd of leaping ants she passed over earlier, mana-borne creatures that create a beautiful chirping song.

As she talks, I settle into my cot as Smoulder snuggles on my chest. I continue chatting with Rufka idly until my Facet runs low, a perfect end to the day.

It's the little things.

We continue in a similar manner the next few days, though Beth has us run through a few drills every morning and night. And when I’m not calling Rufka, I'm experimenting with my magic. Not having much luck with invisibility, it feels like I’m not approaching it right, but even talking over it with Beth hasn’t been helping.

I do manage to create a sort of magma arrow though. It's neat but not as quick as my other spells. I feel like I could do something interesting with magma if I could use it with my Cloying Earth ability, but the System Ability isn’t as flexible as an actual spell.

I also spend some time with Demo, discussing the fundamentals of rapid expansion. Also known as explosions.

Or in this particular case, fireball. A must have of any self-respecting mage. Smoulder is very pleased with my dedication.

Exploding is actually really easy. In a way, my torrents are already like a directed explosion. Just one that originates from me in a single direction. And if one of us had thought to check for basic spell structures when we were in the Library, I probably could’ve copied from there. Then again, even with the notes on teleportation, I’m not making much progress, since we’re on the move for most of the day. Doesn’t help that my teleportation seems to work on an entirely different framework than what Ritmol the book-dragon gave me.

I do get better at doing short hops, though, managing to integrate them more smoothly with flying.

But most of my focus is on my Fireball spell, playing with them whenever I get frustrated with the third fundamental parallel of folded space. Or the conjoined pairing of rippled Mana-space. Or the confounding intricacies of a collapsing twilight matrix designed to absorb and redirect light to make me invisible. Which is to say, I practice Fireball a lot.

Even if everything else fails, it always explodes.

“What yeh need is a trigger. A way to unleash the energy once it hits your target,” Demo says, after I describe my latest efforts to him. A tightly packed ball of runes around a core of equally packed fire Mana. Which gets the energy to where I want it, but doesn’t release it. Not unless I hit it with another spell.

“Yeah, I know. But I don’t know any runes for remote triggers,” I reply, pulling at the sleeve of my jacket.

“Well, yeh know, I do know a fair bit about making things explode. Might be I could help yeh,” even as he’s speaking, I see Tipan floating closer.

“Oh?” I respond, raising an eyebrow at him. “And why are you suddenly willing to help? Didn’t you tell Beth we could take our System and shove it?”

“Mana ain’t the System. And spells ain’t either,” Demo replies, his toothpick bobbing as we move behind the others. Our conversation dies out as we come across a rise. In the next valley are a herd of wild herbivore dogs, fluffy balls of fur that would remind me a Saint Bernard. If Saint Bernard’s came in bus-size. I mentally dub them good bois before I scan them, and the System ruins it by revealing that they’re called thubbles.

I decide to retain my name for them as we fly over. After we’ve left the good bois behind, our discussion returns to the matter of spells.

Demo suggests a huge number of runes, a lot of them similar to ones I know. Tipan joins us, and it doesn’t take long until our discussion has converted into a lesson for the entire party. Turns out that a lot of similar runes can be used interchangeably. Demo knows ten different versions of the rune I used in the Pierce spell. And dozens of variations of the shield runes.

Eventually, I settle on a rune that looks like a compressed spring with a bunch of loose hairs stuck to its sides. A hairy spring. This is what I will use for Fireball.

The final product is… disappointing. Barely a tiny poof the size of my hand. Still, it’s enough to function as a proof of concept, so I continue my efforts.

Once Beth is satisfied with our teamwork, Tipan starts spending more time with us each day, teaching us about Akilo. And taking us through the basics of infusing objects with essence. Without proper facilities, she only guides us through the absolute simplest designs, explaining that it's ridiculously expensive to craft without them.

That doesn't stop Josh and I from creating several lawn chairs out of his petals and stems reinforced with my metal. Which he has to enchant, since for some reason, I can’t gain the skill.

It's over a week since we've split from Rufka, who I’ve been calling every day, swapping stories. I've told her all about... well, almost everything. Sab. My aunt Sharon. Mom and papa. And she's been sharing just as much with me. Stories about her mum, the outlanders who she guides to her friend and secondary mentor, Theria. Who apparently has an entire valley where she doesn't allow casual use of magic. Despite Theria's crazy no-magic rule, Rufka is clearly fond of her.

I only call Theria weird a few times. I'm proud of my restraint.

I've just finished a call with Rufka when Tipan brings us to a stop, turning in place. There's been a kind of static feeling building in the air that I haven't been able to place, but Tipan's next words identify the source.

"There's a mana-storm coming," she explains once we're gathered together, her hand raised over her lower eyes as she squints into the distance behind us.

Following her gaze, I cover my eyes in twilight, magnifying my view. I discover a roiling mass of clouds full of flashes of lightning filling the horizon. It's still a long way away, but it seems to be coming towards us quickly.

"We need to get underground," she states, pointing at the ground.

"It's so beautiful," I mumble, watching it play across the sky for another second. Then I notice the others are already descending. I'm turning to follow when I receive a notification.

"Quest received: It's so Beautiful. Immerse yourself in a mana-storm and survive. Requirements: 0/1 mana-storms survived. Rewards: 5 iron rank Integration points. Time: 36/36 hours remaining."

As soon as the words appear, I connect to Beth.

"Beth, did you just get a quest to immerse yourself in the storm?" I ask, still following them down. The rewards honestly don't feel sufficient compared to the risk. Rufka's mentioned people disappearing for centuries when they get caught in a mana-storm. Or coming out insane. Or just plain dying.

Point is, they're dangerous. Even for fully upgraded copper ranks.

"No kid. I definitely did not get a quest to go into the storm," she replies, slowing so she's gliding beside me instead of ahead.

"Weird. Cause I just did," I inform her, reading the prompt to her.

"Agreed, that is weird. Not a risk I'd want to take," Beth notes, as we get closer to the ground. I'm inclined to agree with her.

Tipan's already working on the shelter by the time I land. Her earth manipulation is still weak, but since she unlocked Dhanni’s aspect, she’s been making better strides. Her growth is at best a tenth of mine but she's adamant that her current improvement is incredible compared to what she's used to. Considering how much quicker she’s picking things up compared to the others, I believe her.

Joining my efforts to hers, we create a deep bunker, more than twenty metres beneath the surface. Unlike the last few days, Tipan instructs me to seal us in, leaving no access to the outside. She then sets up a device that purifies the air, powering it with an iron rank wind shard. It kind of looks like a Christmas tree, glowing with sparkling green coloured lights as it works.

The storm rages outside as we play a lesser version of Astra's Stride, Rufka having the original safely stored in her inventory.

Between Josh and me, it was easy enough to create a replica. It doesn't give skill gains like Rufka's, but my elemental skills are maxed and everyone else has unlocked the skills they're interested in, so it's not a huge loss.

As Demo finishes his move, for the third time in as many days, I find myself inspecting the Phothen we've been travelling with.

He's not overtly rude, but I've noticed there's a lot of things he won't talk about. Pretty much the only things he will talk about are things that happened after he landed here. Or general statements about Phothen explorers. Not regular Phothen culture. Just the explorers.

Even as I'm watching him, he turns, meeting my gaze with his own.

"Bold move," I comment, in regards to his play.

"I live on the edge," he replies as Beth uses his last move to cross most of the board with one of her pieces.

"Might want to give some thought to moving off the edge," Roberts chuckles, as he likewise takes advantage of Demo's play.

"Oh, like maybe somewhere in the middle?" Josh asks as he places his piece, causing both him and Roberts to break into laughter.

I feel like I’m missing a reference to something.

Even as they're laughing, Tipan starts her turn. Then she stops, her hand frozen in place over the board as she looks up. She doesn't say anything, but her brows are furrowed in concern as I feel that familiar static.

A moment later I hear creaking. Creaking that is particularly ominous considering we're over twenty metres below the surface. Reaching out with my magic, I find several new weak spots in the structure and start reinforcing them, drawing earth up from below. Tipan's working on the other side of our shelter as the creaking gets louder.

To my horror, a crack forms in the ceiling directly over the table.

"Alexis, it needs support," Tipan yells at me.

In response, I pause time while creating a pillar where our game table is, connecting it to the roof in a thunderous roar of rapidly moving dirt and stone. I'm burning Mana like crazy, not restricting myself as I reinforce the pillar that now dominates our space.

The pillar reduces the creaking to a gentle cricking. Tipan and I remain vigilant, reinforcing anything we notice weakening. I feel a headache growing as we keep working.

Finally, a couple of minutes after the creaking started, the changes stop.

Tipan and I both collapse onto the uneven ground, neither of us having any Mana or Focus left. My Mana must’ve reached zero a while ago, as it's currently at negative two hundred. This is far worse than what Josh and Roberts went through but I'm in better shape. Not that I'm doing great. It feels like I wrenched something important inside myself. Not only has my Mana edge been reduced to a mere ten, my body feels sluggish, my head still aches and it's hard to concentrate.

"Yeh know, that's one way to get out of a losing game," Demo remarks.

Looking around through bleary eyes, I see I've destroyed the table, scattered the game pieces and the board itself is ruined. I feel a twinge of regret at the sight of the board. Josh and I worked on that together and we'd both been proud of it.

Luckily, the rest of the storm passes with little trouble, but no one relaxes until we're back on the surface. Tipan was in better shape, so she led the way, pushing the new tunnel to the surface. By abusing my pause mode as much as possible, I have positive Mana by the time we breach the surface. It's a mere five points, I have a lingering headache and my body's still sluggish but I’m better than I was.

The nearby flora seems mostly untouched, but the ambient magic is almost painful to walk through. I'm not certain if this is because of my overdraw or a result of the passing storm.

Testing my flight, I find it works well enough. Not going to be up to experimenting though.

"That was rather unpleasant," Roberts notes, which reminds me to ask him for healing. A moment later his energy flows through me, wiping the headache and sluggishness away.

I must have been more out of it than I realized to wait so long to ask for relief.

Now that I'm restored, we take to the sky. Ahead of us the storm continues, advancing into the distance as quickly as it came.

"Would yeh look at that. For all their faults, the worlds of the System have some of the most incredible phenomena," Demo comments, watching the storm.

I mumble my agreement as the storm disappears from sight and we continue on our way. Beautiful as it is, I'm glad I chose not to throw myself into its heart.

Who knows how that would have ended.

As I'm following the retreating storm with my magnified vision, I make out the coastline a long way ahead. Not too much longer and we'll finally be there.

The enclave that Tipan's been leading us towards for over a week.

Glimmering Sands.

3.08 Glimmering Sands

3:05 pm, local time. (July 13, 2023, 9:05 pm.)

Once I inform the others I've seen the coastline, not much changes. I keep practicing magic, Beth keeps running us through practice formations and Roberts and Josh keep making references to movies I’ve never seen. Yep, same old, same old. While our current travel is unremarkable, we have seen a few interesting sights over the past few days.

Before we finished leaving the forest, we skimmed over a glade filled with snapping flowers that Demo insisted he needed a sample of.

After the forest, we flew over dry, grassy fields with lion-esque six-legged felines that watched us with bemused detachment. Not as cute as the good bois, but they get a pass. Thinking about the state of those fields reminds me that it's autumn where we arrived.

Good thing we’re near the equator.

The last distinctive creatures we came across were a herd of the grazing deer-like creatures prancing across the surface of a tepid marsh.

Despite the fact I'm literally flying everywhere, the sight of the deer creatures left me in awe when we observed them. They weren't just moving across the marsh, instead, regularly stopping to dig beneath the surface to wrangle sustenance from below.

Honestly, if not for the Mana storm, today's journey would be rather unremarkable, mostly low grasslands without so much as a single six-legged lion.

A few hours later, we stop for our meal break. Flying higher while the others land, I try to gauge the distance to the coast.

"It looks like we're only a few hours out," I tell Beth and Tipan as I land. Josh and Roberts are both practicing nearby, firing thorns and water arrows respectively. The trees they're using for target practice are already getting beat up and we've only been here for a few minutes. The trees are quickly restored as Josh walks over and lays a hand on them.

"What do you think, Tipan? Press on? Or break for the night?" Beth asks while setting her glider to the side.

"Yes," Tipan replies, failing to keep a smile from her face. She’s been spending too much time with Josh.

Beth just sighs in response, settling herself into a folding chair she pulls from her inventory. Despite my ability to make furniture out of nearly anything, Beth prefers the permanent one Josh and I crafted.

So, now she has her very own, personal, lawn chair. Complete with a running woman on the back. As per her request.

Once Beth is settled in place, she turns to Tipan who's setting up her own chair

"If we go tonight, I imagine we'd be able to stay in the local shelter. But I've no idea what facilities they have," Tipan supplies once she's comfortable.

"Hmm. I'll ask the boys what they think once they're done playing around," Beth decides while Smoulder and I start preparing a late lunch. Despite what the system says about my cooking, my reheating skills are top-notch.

After lunch, it's decided we'll continue on our way. The sun is just starting to sink below the horizon when Tipan calls out, "there it is, to the south. You can see the tower."

I can just make out a faint white pillar thrusting from the shore. Magnifying my view, I discover the 'stronghold' we're headed towards is reminiscent of a beach resort. One of those super nice ones, like one that mom would brag about this or that boyfriend taking her to, with individual cabins and drinks with tiny umbrellas.

The other thing I notice is a distinct lack of walls. Other than the tower, I don't see anything that could be mistaken for defences. Even the tower looks as much showpiece as fortification. Its intricate, spiralling, patterns bathed in the ruddy glow of the setting sun make it challenging to discern much detail from the distance.

Grouping together as we fly closer, I approach Tipan, saying, "I expected a stronghold to be more… Strongholdy." I emphasize my point by creating a square fort out of shaped dirt, holding it in front of us as an example.

Laughing gently, Tipan responds, "Each one of those dwellings is capable of resisting a dragon's worst teething fit. And that's just based on what I can see of their base construction materials. I know in the Aetherium, any controlled stronghold node gives its linked structures additional benefits. The least of which includes increasing their durability. I can only imagine the Lords have advanced features I've never heard of available to them."

"Creative freedom while maintaining structural integrity? As a basic feature? Wonderful," Roberts notes excitedly while we move closer. That is pretty cool.

"Awesome," Josh agrees from above me where he and Beth are flying.

The size of the tower becomes more apparent as we move closer. It must stand a kilometre or more above the nearby cabins. The cabins surround the tower, stretching out to the north and south, with a large 'bump' near the tower.

Sheltered on its westward side, I can barely make out a bay enclosed in two reaching arms that reach out from the tower. They nearly encircle the bay, hiding most of its contents from view from our current approach.

"There should be landing platforms for aerial visitors near the tower. Since it's their territory, flight abilities aren't supposed to be used without a license," Tipan informs us, then points, "I think that's one, there."

Following her down, we alight on an all-wood platform which is about halfway between the outer ring of cabins and the tower. At the edge is a set of stairs leading down. And next to those stairs is a bored K'tharn carving a wooden object. They're lost in their work, only glancing up after Beth clears her throat.

They nearly drop their carving, only catching it between their lower claws as they tumble forwards.

"Vaus-damnit. Where the hell did you come from?" she chokes out, glancing up at the now-empty sky.

Beth waves in the general direction behind her as Tipan steps forwards, "Hello, we're looking to enter the stronghold. Are we permitted to enter? Oh, and would you be willing to direct us to a place to rest?"

"What?" the guard asks, staring at us before focusing on Tipan. When she stares at Tipan, suddenly, her fur stands on end, and she hisses out while bowing slightly, "Sure thing, your royal Skyness."

Tipan sighs but doesn't respond as the guard gives her directions. To the Aetherium garrison at the far northern tip of the stronghold.

"Actually, we were hoping for unaffiliated lodgings," Beth interjects, stepping forwards the moment the guard mentions the barracks.

"Oh. You mean you're not…" the K'tharn's hackles settle down as she inspects us again. "Of course. Don't know what I was thinking. You'll want something close to the Spire, I imagine. Better amenities."

This time she provides Tipan and Beth with a different establishment and informs us that public Spire access is available from sunup to sundown, so we've missed it for the day.

"You're here a little early if you came for the Great Tidal Festival by the way," she mentions as a prompt appears.

Beth replies as I read the prompt. It lists off the terms and conditions for entry to the stronghold. They're far too long to conveniently read, but when I scroll directly to the bottom, I discover several options, one of which will make understanding the terms much easier.

"Wow. It's like a disclaimer from home," Josh comments as I check over the options.

There are three. Refuse the terms, accept the terms and download a shortened list or accept the terms but don't download the list. Both of the acceptance terms also require paying a fee of five emgee for entrance to Glimmering Sands.

Choosing the download option, the emgee transfer immediately as I open the much shorter list.

"Welcome to Glimmering Sands. While you're here, try to be a decent sapient. This includes but isn't limited to the following.

- Don't steal.

- Don't murder.

- Don't harass.

- Don't assault.

- Don't fly without a permit.

- Don't annoy Lord Thansone.

- All rules are subject to change or exclusion at Lord Thansone's discretion. Remember, you had a chance to read the fine print before you entered."

Huh. Those seem like reasonable rules. Well, except that last one. But you need things like that to deal with trolls.

"Yeh think these terms are a little extravagant?" Demo observes as I finish reading.

"It mostly just says don't be an evil jerk," I reply, peeking over the edge of the platform with Smoulder on my shoulder, both of us watching the people moving below. "I don't see what's so confusing about that."

"How can yeh know that already? I'm still on page one where it explains the basic rights of individual species."

"There's a downloadable summary at the bottom," I reply as I watch a gaggle of laughing K'tharn walk by. At a glance, they kind of resemble Rufka but their fur is more of a greyish brown colour, not nearly as beautiful as her tawny brown.

I'm probably biased.

"Indeed. An excellent example of 'too long, didn't read' if ever there was one," Roberts notes while looking over the enclave beside me. The word enclave feels wrong now that we're here. This is more like a small community or village. Okay, probably too many people to be a village. But the individual styles of the cabins lend themselves to the word. The only unifying features of the cabins are the glossy black roofing and the wooden material used in their construction.

"You know what tl;dr is?" I ask Roberts as we make our way down the stairs ahead of the others. I can hear them talking behind us but only barely. Smoulder, of course, is already on the ground waiting for us. The no-flying rule doesn't apply to bouncing off the railings.

"The internet isn't just for young people," Roberts replies, stopping when we reach the bottom as I collect Smoulder. We watch a pair of K'tharn walk by, chatting in what Uthica referred to as Unerse, or 'the deep tongue.' It's strange hearing the low and echoing sounds coming from K'tharn.

"I wonder if we're able to teach the K'tharn English," Roberts ponders as we continue our trek towards the indicated inn, closer to the tower. After only a few blocks of walking, I'm already getting antsy to fly again. It's faster and since it requires Mana, it feels more invigorating, even when moving at a relative crawl.

"I imagine so. Vausian is mostly the same language that Uthica grew up with as a kid," I respond as yet another set of K'tharn walk past us, giggling amongst themselves. "Does this place feel like a tourist resort to you?"

"I must admit it's not quite what I expected of the first settlement we came across," Roberts inclines his head in agreement.

Our trek is interrupted by a peal of thunder. There was no lightning to precede it, and as I look around, I notice something near the beach. I push past several staring K’tharn to get a better view. In the distance, just above the waves is a dragon. Not one I recognize though. Its crimson scales glow as it strafes over the water, setting the ocean to boiling.

As it's turning to strafe closer, a single tentacle whips out of the water. It wraps around the dragon’s neck, wrenching it down. Another crack sounds through the air, and I realize that the booms must be from the tentacles moving.

They’re breaking the speed of sound.

A massive wave rises as the crimson dragon is pulled beneath the waves. As I notice the others beside me, the watching K’tharn continue on their way.

“A Lord of the Deep,” Tipan breathes, her eyes wide. “I knew one was here. But to see him in action. We’re lucky to have been here.”

“Lot luckier than that dragon. What was it even doing?” Beth asks, squinting out over the ocean.

“Wild dragons have a tendency to attack settlements along the border. I imagine they have several attacks a year,” Tipan replies, though her tone is distracted. She’s still staring at where the Lord disappeared beneath the surface. Lord Thansome, I’d guess.

We remain there for another few minutes, but there’s no sign of him returning. Finally, we decide to continue.

There’s a soft whistling on the wind as we approach the 'cabin', Ocean's Breeze. A sort of gentle melody drifting in from the cabins to the east. Cabin seems to be a misnomer as I consider its size from the front, where a short set of stairs lead up to the porch. It's easily half the size of our apartment building back home.

It's decorated in an ocean motif that helps confirm we're at the right place. As does the System text floating next to it. There are aquatic dolphin-esque creatures carved into the log walls and something that reminds me of a sea-based long-neck dinosaur features prominently over the entrance, its eyes watching us enter. I'm pretty sure there's a name for the dinosaur I'm looking at, but I don't know it.

Given our proximity to the ocean, I would’ve expected the aquatic motif to be more common, but this is one of the few cabins with one so far. While I'm rather taken by the design, Smoulder's not impressed. Too many fish.

"Those are some sweet carvings," Josh comments from behind us where he's holding Beth's hand.

Aww.

"I didn't realize they put such an emphasis on the artistic aspect here. Each building could easily be a Commander's residence in the Aetherium," Tipan remarks as Roberts leads the way up the steps.

"It's a beautiful sight, to be sure," Demo agrees as Roberts puts his hand on the door, pushing it open.

Inside we discover a rather typical setting for a hotel back home, a service desk sitting before us. However, there's no one at said desk when we walk in. We browse the lobby as we wait. It feels almost like a gift shop, prices for miscellaneous knick-knacks popping directly into my mind if I Focus on an object for a moment. And there are a lot of knick-knacks, from little centimetre long carvings of aquatic creatures to a great moving chime of assembled shells that shifts in the gentle breeze blowing through the lobby. A minute later, a K'tharn with striking black and white colouring emerges from a back room greeting us with a smile and flattened fur. Despite the fact she's clearly a K'tharn, her colouration reminds me of a skunk.

She apologizes in Unerse. When everyone else glances at each other in confusion she switches to Vausian before I can step in, "my apologies visitors. Do you understand Vausian?"

Nodding, Roberts responds, "Indeed, we do. We were told you might have rooms available?"

"Yes, I do. And at a very competitive four emgee per night," she pauses as she checks over our party. "Though I'm sad to say that I only have two rooms available."

"Hmm. Are there any other inns nearby? We'd rather not be split up," Beth explains, levelling her gaze on the poor K'tharn.

"Yuh-yes, there's another Inn just two buildings down and across the path. The Falcon's Catch should have room for the rest of you. I feel I should mention, if you're all needing your own rooms, you're unlikely to find them in a single building this close to the Spire."

"Oh. Why is that?" Roberts asks politely, stepping between Beth and the desk attendant while inspecting a squid carving.

Huh, I think he did that on purpose.

With a more level voice, the K'tharn responds, "most visitors prefer to stay near the Spire. With flight being illegal and running being frowned upon, it's a time saver. You're lucky you're here now. Two weeks from now and you'd be arriving during the Great Tidal Festival."

"I've never heard of this festival. Is it a local affair?" Tipan asks, drawing the K'tharn's attention for the first time. The K'tharn glances at Tipan for a second before fainting, disappearing behind her counter.

Tipan sighs again while Roberts makes his way around the counter and Beth glances at her with a sideways gaze.

"The locals sure do take notice of yeh. Yeh some kind of royalty or something?" Demo asks, tilting his hat back while pointing at Tipan with his toothpick.

"Hardly. It's my fur. There's a silly rumour that it signifies an especially strong connection with Vaus. An avatar of destruction, master of wind and lightning. A rumour that the Aetherium has clearly proven is fal… se…" Tipan cuts herself off as her eyes go wide. She turns to stare at me for a moment then sits down hard, missing the chair she was reaching for, landing on the floor instead.

"Am I missing something?" Demo asks, looking back and forth between us.

"Eh. Just your typical government lying to everyone about anything and everything," Josh shrugs.

"A common symptom of those who inhabit the System I imagine. I suppose I'll have to grow used to it as well," Demo nods.

While they're talking, I go over to offer Tipan a hand up. While she does take my hand, when I tug on her, I pull myself to the floor instead of pulling her up.

Right, I'm still a weakling.

Sitting next to her, I figure I can do the next best thing and hold her hand. Smoulder, noticing my desire to console Tipan, is also nuzzling up against the aforementioned hand.

"It's just like everything else," she mutters, staring at her upper hands where a spark of electricity is bouncing around. I'm postulating that she's got some wind mana going too, but it's a little less visible.

"Yep," I agree, nodding as though she's said something wise and profound.

Tipan turns to stare at me for a second then starts giggling.

"Thank you, Alexis," she finally says as I hear a groan from behind the desk.

"Uh. Anytime," I reply. Not sure I did much, but hey, at least she's feeling better!

We stand up while the K'tharn behind the counter stares at Tipan for a second. When she doesn't explode or turn into a magical ball of kitty death or whatever she's expecting, she finally speaks. "I've never had a skyborne in my inn before. My apologies, my lady."

"Thought she said she wasn't royalty," Demo mutters behind me as Tipan stiffens.

"Oh. That's quite alright. No harm done. But perhaps it would be best if I stay in the other inn," Tipan assures the troubled K'tharn.

However, the innkeeper's eyes draw open in shock as she proclaims, "you'll do no such thing. You'll stay here or my name isn't Peme La'few. And the first night is free. As an apology. I'll even throw in dinner for you and your companions. After they've had a chance to secure their lodgings, of course."

Tipan is clearly shocked, only able to mumble out a demure, "Okay," in response.

Josh and Beth decide they'll stay with Tipan, though at first Beth insists we should stick together until everyone has their rooms figured out. But Roberts and I convince her we'll be safe enough. We're only going a couple of doors away and I can reach her over the link.

With that decided, Roberts, Demo and I make our way to Falcon's Catch, Smoulder on my shoulder and a sense of relaxation in the air.

The Falcon's Catch is simple to find following Peme's instructions. Unlike most of the other buildings here, the exterior is rather plain with just a single sculpture of a majestic bird over the entrance, its wings forming protective eaves against the weather.

Stepping inside we're hit by a heavy wave of smoky incense. It's almost as thick as the trial I ran through. There's no desk or lobby in this room. Instead, there's what I would describe as a large bird resting on….. Is that a bean bag chair?

I'm guessing it must be the falcon featured in the name. Given the pipe hanging from its beak, and the way it turns its head to stare at us when we enter, I'm guessing it's also the proprietor.

It continues staring when Roberts speaks, "Excuse me. But we were wondering if you had rooms available?"

The silence grows long, Demo holding the door open while we wait for a response.

After a minute of us not moving, I'm about to suggest we leave when they sigh while waving us forward, "fine. I've got the space. But there are no meals and I don't do room service."

Damn.

I hate to say it.

But I think Beth got the better inn.

3.09 Removable Obstacles

8:06 pm, local time. (July 14, 2023, 2:06 am.)

Roberts immediately tries to assuage our disgruntled host, "If it's that much of a bother, we can stay at another inn. If you'd be so kind as to direct us, we can be out of your feathers."

The falcon-like bird-person just stares at Roberts with narrowed eyes for a second before shrugging, "two doors down and across the way. Ocean's Breeze."

Demo and I chuckle as Roberts glances back for a second before responding, a small smile on his face, "Unfortunately, they're full."

"Well, looks like old Herv is stuck with you then. It'll be five emgee per night. Each. You're to be out of your rooms between nine and eleven, in the morning, every day," our host, Herv, informs us as they close their eyes, dismissing us from their notice.

"Yeh're not big on customer service, are yeh?" Demo asks with a wide grin causing Herv's eyes to snap back open.

"My rooms are clean, safe and secure. You want bootlicking, you're in the wrong cabin."

"Clean, safe and secure sounds excellent. You have a room for each of us?" Roberts interjects before Demo can continue, waving him back. This only causes Demo's grin to grow wider.

"Course. Accept the prompt and the rooms are yours. Your interface'll show the way."

Accepting his terms, we all rent our rooms. But since we're still planning on dinner with the others, we leave instead of going to bed, letting Herv know we're going out. He just grunts in response, still not moving from his bean bag.

When we get back to the Ocean's Breeze, we find a veritable feast laid out, the others already partaking with gusto. Considering Peme's a K'tharn, it's not surprising that most of the dishes are meat. But not all of them. While there's an entire roast bird, several different types of cubed fish and pork crisps, there are also two different salads. Salads which are mostly leafy greens with only a few pieces of meat mixed in.

As Roberts informs the others we've secured our lodgings, I take a place at the table, noting that Peme is nowhere to be seen. Once I've grabbed my own food, I reach out to Rufka, letting her know we've arrived in Glimmering Sands.

"This place is interesting. Wish you were here," I tell her as Smoulder hops onto the table, investigating my meal.

"It sounds fun. Definitely better than sneaking around Aethire. They've imposed a curfew for every-user not in the military. It's making everything take twice as long. I swear, it's like they don't want me to get mum out."

I can't help but giggle as I respond, "probably cause they don't."

"Yeah. I mean, what's with that?" she asks. I can practically hear her grin and picture her raising her brows.

"Oh, they're probably just trying to do you a favour. They know how much more awesome she is than you are. They're just trying to give you a chance," I tease while trying a pork crisp.

"How dare you! You think my mum's so great? You haven't even met her! Next, you'll be telling me she's the great Crimson Death!... Oh, right."

I chuckle as Rufka and I start talking more seriously about her mom. Rufka lets me know that she's making progress but there's something weird going on in the capital.

"It's not just the curfew. Users are missing. A lot of users that I knew five years ago have disappeared," she tells me in a low voice.

"Be careful, okay?" I request, suddenly wishing I'd been able to go with her. Stupid invisibility not working.

"Hey, you know me," Rufka replies immediately.

"Yeah. That's what worries me," I try to tease, but I'm not able to put any weight behind it.

Rufka seems to pick up on my worry because she tries to reassure me, "Seriously Lexi, I'm being careful. No point in doing this, if I end up stuck with mum."

"Good. Hate to say goodbye but I'm almost out of Facet," I reply while watching Smoulder incinerate some salad I'd been about to eat. Welp, that's hers now.

"Okay. Night Lexi. Talk to you in the morning?" Rufka asks quietly.

"Definitely. Night," I answer, glad she's asking me to check in more.

The moment the connection ends, Tipan turns to me. "Rufka is doing okay?"

"Yeah. She did mention some trouble though," I answer before filling Tipan in on the details. She listens quietly until I'm finished.

"I'm such a fool. Obviously, it wouldn't just be Ivicka," Tipan mourns.

"Hey. We don't know what's going on yet," I reply, trying to reassure her.

"No. But we can suspect. Curse my fur. If I were any other K'tharn, I could’ve gone with her."

"Ha. I know how you feel. Pretty hard for me to let her go on her own," I agree, leaning back and staring up at the ceiling.

"Yes. I noticed that you've become close. Is she… special to you?" Tipan asks with a low voice as Smoulder lands on my lap, having had her fill of the feast.

I think for a second before I respond. Obviously Rufka isspecial to me. But I'm not sure how I feel about telling the others that. I feel like I can trust Tipan though.

She's good people.

Checking around the table, I realize the others are arguing about the appropriate treatment of prisoners. Not really sure how they got on that topic, but they're clearly invested, so I answer Tipan at a barely audible whisper.

"Yeah. She's Vaus-damn special to me."

"Have you told her?" Tipan asks, matching her voice to my own.

"No," I admit grudgingly.

"You should. I've seen the way she looks at you. I'm certain she feels the same way," Tipan informs me.

"Oh. Thank you, Tipan," I reply, squeezing her hand again, "You're a great friend."

Tipan squeezes my hand back. "You're quite welcome, Alexis. It's the least I can do."

Suddenly there's a disturbance from where the others are arguing.

"Yeh'd kill them to save yourself the hassle?" Demo demands, glaring at Beth with cold eyes, his fluffy blue tails all flat against the floor.

"If they've attacked me or mine, yes," Beth admits readily. "I've tried the lenient approach before. It gets people killed."

Josh and Roberts aren't saying anything, but I can understand why no one is rushing to side with Beth.

"Sounds like you're perfect for the System. Kill or enslave all you come across," Demo sneers, jerking himself to his feet while glaring at Beth.

"Now hold on, Demo. Just because I'll shoot an unarmed prisoner, doesn't mean I wander the streets murdering children. There's a difference between those who've brought violence against you and those who haven't," Beth states, her voice growing low and cold as she stands, meeting his glare.

Glancing over at Josh, I see he's turned his eyes down. Beth seems way harsher than Josh's sister was. This can't be easy to hear, especially with them being so close lately.

I watch Beth as she stands there, glaring Demo down. I can't imagine myself killing a helpless prisoner. But when I consider Beth, it doesn't surprise me that she would.

And I know Uthica would. If she thought it would save the life of any of her people. Which I think is what Beth is saying.

Demo doesn't respond. After another few moments, he drops his eyes, sitting down heavily before returning to his meal, pretending to ignore Beth.

In response, Beth stares at the ceiling while muttering several words I don't understand in a harsh manner. Probably curse words. I wonder what language they're in.

"So, I have news from Rufka," I inform them, hoping to dispel the awkwardness.

Beth looks at me as though I've just pulled her out of a pit filled with killer sharks, as I convey my limited intel to the others. After this, we end up discussing possible disguise artifacts we might be able to find in the market. After all, the Lords of the Deep specialize in twilight manipulation. Tipan agrees that if anyone on Akilo can create an item that will allow us to infiltrate the Aetherium undetected, it would be them. And Josh notes that it’d be surprising if they’d just hand such an item over.

Still, we decide it’s worth checking.

The rest of dinner passes without any significant topics but most of the conversation is carried by Roberts, Tipan and me. Tipan even shares an old ghost story from her childhood, of Aethop’s Daughters, a group of doll-like monsters who would kidnap children to turn into more of them. Josh being quiet isn't surprising, but Beth and Demo staying silent shows how upset they are.

Their silence holds until Beth says goodbye to us as we leave for the night.

"Hey, Alexis," Beth adds, holding me back as Demo and Roberts walk out the door.

"Yeah, Beth?" I ask, letting the door close as I turn to her.

"You understand, right?" she asks, the furrowed brows an unfamiliar expression on her face as she stares at me. Is she worried?

It takes me seconds longer than it should before I realize she's talking about her argument with Demo earlier. "Yeah. I doubt I could do it, but I understand why, logically, a person would think they have to."

"Good…" she nods, going silent for a second. "Goodnight kid," she adds, rustling my hair, in a way that I choose to take as affectionate.

"Goodnight," I reply, smiling back at her as Smoulder and I push our way out into the cool night air, joining Roberts and Demo.

We're halfway back to the Falcon's Catch when Demo speaks, "is she always like that?"

"Beth? She can be rather intense at times," Roberts replies.

"Yeah. She's seen a lot," I add, feeling the need to defend Beth.

Demo nods as we approach the front door, "so, not all humans would agree with her then?"

"I'd be inclined to say most wouldn't," Roberts answers as we make our way inside. "I'd certainly object if she attempted such a thing."

Herv watches us move to our rooms as Demo smiles at Roberts, "good. It's awful enough to be trapped in the System. I'd hate it if yeh embraced its dark nature."

"I'm not certain it has anything to do with the System," Roberts replies. They continue talking, walking towards a clearly labelled bathroom. They both offer me a nod and a wave as I say my goodnights.

"Wow. Tonight was kind of intense," I mumble as I inspect my room. It's smaller than Raz's, barely enough room for the bed and me besides. No built-in bathrooms here. Luckily, the bathroom is just down the hall, which I make use of. It's cramped but the shower works. As nice as cleaning myself with my magic is, letting the shower wash over me is cathartic.

Finished with my shower, I plop down on the comfortable bed, that totally makes up for the lack of a bathroom, while I think back over the night.

"Life is strange," I tell Smoulder while staring at the ceiling.

Smoulder doesn't understand my worries. We had good food, we're together and now we get to play. 'What more could I want?' she wonders at me while pushing against my hand.

Laughing, I give her belly rubs and head scritches as she melts under my attention. Then once we're done, I start on tonight's obstacle course.

Tonight, I focus on practicing with water and steel, trying to create unique obstacles while Smoulder dashes about. Eventually, it resembles a waterpark, crammed in to fill most of the small room.

Except Smoulder is trying to avoid going on any of the rides in this particular park.

Once Smoulder's satisfied with her results, she settles on my chest, and we drift off together, the water park glowing lightly in the background.

When I wake the next day, it's with an urgent need. After escaping the mess that was my room, I stumble my way to the shared bathroom at the end of the hall. I end up dancing in place when I discover the closed and locked door. A humming drifts through the door, clearly confirming the room’s occupied status.

Knocking on the door, I hear the expected "just a minute" before Demo pushes his way out through the narrow bathroom door, his tails splaying out behind him majestically.

"Ah. Morning to yeh," he greets, bowing slightly, his eyes glinting mischievously as he stops in the doorway, inhibiting access.

But I push past him with a mumbled morning of my own, his body practically weightless. Seriously, can't people wait until after the bathroom to mess around?

It's only once I'm in the middle of my business that I realize he was too easy to push to the side. Reflecting on my memory, I realize I unconsciously used my wind magic to pick him up and shove him out of the way.

This unconscious use of magic is getting a bit worrying. Is this another effect of my attributes being out of balance? They’re not even that bad. Or is it something else?

When I emerge from the cramped washroom, I'm planning to connect to Rufka when I find Roberts and Demo already waiting in the hall. Before I know it, we're out in the street, on our way to join the others for breakfast as I chat with Rufka. Because why wait?

Nothing's happened since last night but we still keep chatting. Our conversation continues until our group has almost reached the Ocean's Breeze where I reluctantly wish her goodbye after she lets me know something has come up.

As I'm ending the link, I realize I'm about to step on Demo's tail. Halting myself with a quick combination of earth and wind magic, I glance up at him. Demo still hasn't made a single comment about me pushing him out of the way with my magic. He did grin at me when I emerged from the bathroom, but I've no idea if that meant anything.

As we make our way up the steps, a voice can be heard coming from the other side of the door, speaking in Vausian.

I'm only able to discern the words "thank you. I'd never have found them without you," before the door swings open. A moment later, we find ourselves presented with the incoming back of a boisterous K'tharn as she waves goodbye to someone inside. Her grey and black colouration remind me of a tabby cat.

Just as she's reorienting herself to descend the steps, she plows into Roberts. As she bumps against him, she starts trying to retain her balance by flailing her arms wildly which causes her to throw three carved figurines in the air.

In an impressive display, Roberts not only doesn't stumble, but he also catches the suddenly windmilling K'tharn with one hand while plucking each of her hand-carved figurines out of the air before they can fall.

"Well. This is unanticipated," Roberts notes as the K'tharn stares up at him before turning her attention to the figurines he holds proffered in his hand. I can’t help but note that one of them looks kinda like Demo, with a big fluffy set of tails.

"Oh, thank goodness. Thank you for saving them," she states once she's recovered, gathering the three figurines in her lower hands excitedly.

"I would’ve been in so much trouble if I'd dropped these," she adds, giving him a quick peck on the cheek

Then, before we can respond, she leaps to the bottom of the stairs racing out of sight as she calls back, "thanks again."

She almost runs into another couple of K'tharn making their way down the street while she's turned back waving at us, but they dodge around her.

"Yeh okay there?" Demo inquires as Roberts stares after the K'tharn who's disappeared down the street.

"Hmm. Yes. But I think we have a problem," Roberts replies distractedly.

"What? Just cause she bumped into you?" I ask. If we didn't all have magical inventories, I'd wonder if he'd lost his wallet.

Roberts steeples his fingers as he paces in place, "I recognize her. I wasn't sure at first. But now I am. She's the K'tharn who fed Josh and me when we were captured. She's from Ivicka's Desh’ila."

"And if she's here," I reply, gesturing in the direction she ran off.

"Then Ivicka can't be far behind," Roberts agrees.

Here I thought we'd made it away from that oversized K'tharn and her dragon.

Damn.

I was really looking forward to shopping. I could use a new pair of pants.

3.10 Unexpected Guests

8:58 pm, local time. (July 14, 2023, 2:58 am.)

"This Ivicka, she is the K'tharn yeh told me was one of our leads for that System quest, correct?" Demo asks, pulling me back on task.

"Indeed. She's Tipan's sister," Roberts confirms while leading the way into Ocean's Breeze.

We find Peme behind the desk, staring at us as we rush into her lobby.

"Have you seen our companions. We've had something come up?" Roberts asks her while I use my link to determine that the others should be through the back wall.

She directs us to a garden in the back even as I'm about to tell him the same. Following her directions through a thin bead curtain, we find the others in a picturesque garden eating breakfast.

Specifically, I notice Beth hand-feeding Josh a small piece of fruit while Tipan is picking a sausage off a plate stacked with them.

"Good morning. I'm glad you could join us," Tipan greets us, relief in her voice as she throws a sideways glance at Josh and Beth. Not handling the early couple closeness well, I'm guessing.

"Good morning to you as well. Unfortunately, we have bad news," Roberts replies while Demo grabs a sausage from the little ornate table they're resting on.

I immediately follow suit, grabbing some for Smoulder and myself as I follow up, "Yeah. Looks like Ivicka might’ve followed us here."

"Unfortunate. Still, we knew there was a chance she'd find us," Beth reflects, leaning back in her chair. "That's part of why we chose this enclave. She shouldn't be able to do much to us. Not while we remain inside."

Tipan's already nodding when she asks, "did you see her? Or did you catch sight of her dragon, Asterix?"

"Neither. Roberts recognized one of the K'tharn from her flight," I explain before I take a bite. The sausage is surprisingly sweet.

"Oh. Did you happen to note her name?" Tipan asks, sitting up straighter in her chair.

"Not much time for that. She was gone in a blip," Demo responds.

Blip, huh? Even during our practice sessions he's never used that word before. I guess it wouldn't come up when discussing how to create a fireball or while dodging ice blasts.

"She was the guard who brought us our meals, grey with black stripes. She had a tendency to stay and talk at us even though we were barely conscious," Roberts supplies in place of her name.

"Ah. That would be Cristha. That's a relief." Tipan slouches back into her chair at that.

"Why is that a relief? You've never mentioned this Cristha before," Beth observes, glancing at Roberts for a second before focusing on Tipan.

"She was a last-minute addition to our Flight's training exercise. Her mother had insisted she be included. Ivicka spent days complaining about the disruption to our plans. She was glad to have her once we caught you though. Ivicka didn't want to let me near you, but Cristha was someone she wouldn't miss if you did anything drastic."

"You know, I never did understand why Beth was kept apart from the guys," I interject while snagging another couple sausages.

"Ivicka believes that having males aboard a Float is bad luck. Especially while anchored in the outer skies. She figured keeping them unconscious was the absolute least we had to do. She'd originally intended to bind them to the bottom of the Float," Tipan explains.

"Wait. Ivicka's superstitious?" I gasp, incredulous.

"Well. It's not like we have many males in the Aetherium," Tipan responds defensively, surprising me with her suddenly closed arms.

"Does that mean she's… scared of us?" Josh asks, giggling partway through his question.

"Scared you'll bring bad luck to her Desh’ila, yes. To be fair, she was kind of right," Tipan replies with a wry grin. "We did escape her grasp then destroyed her servants."

"It could’ve been much worse," Beth points out.

"True, but I doubt she'll see it that way. But as for Cristha, her being here doesn't tell us whether Ivicka's here as well. Cristha grew up in Glimmering Sands. So, she may be visiting home. She might even have been kicked out."

"Well. In that case, we need to find out if Ivicka's here. Suggestions?" Beth prompts.

"I believe we should ask the desk clerk. It seems Cristha purchased several souvenirs. It's possible she knows her," Roberts suggests.

"Good idea. Kid, why don't you and Josh go talk to our host?" Beth requests before turning back to Roberts, "Any other ideas?"

Nodding, I grab another couple of sausages. Smoulder is actually eating them uncharred.

"We could visit the barracks," Tipan suggests as Josh rises from the table.

With Smoulder catching bits of sausage as I toss them to her perch on my shoulder, Josh joins us as we walk back into the lobby where Peme is stacking several of her items into a crate. When she notices us approaching, she stops what she's doing, brushing her lower paws on her thighs before turning towards us, amping up her ten-thousand-watt smile. "Ah, what can I help you with?"

With a smile that bright, I'm glad I don't burn easily.

"The K'tharn who was here, just before I arrived, do you know her?" I ask, looking at the contents of the crate. Several different fish-themed plates and bowls are packed neatly, a spongey red material cushioning them.

"Cristha? Sure, why? What did she break now?" Peme asks, running one of her paws through her fur while glancing towards the garden.

"She didn't break anything ma'am," Josh answers, shaking his head. "We have a mutual acquaintance, we were wondering if you had contact details."

"Oh. Of course. I can send her a message. Who should I say is messaging her?" Peme offers, meeting Josh's level gaze.

"Oh, I'm not sure. I need to ask Beth," Josh realizes after a second's thought. Hehe. Yep. I'm not sure what to say either? 'Excuse me, is your old boss here to try to kill or capture us?'

I mean, that's what we want to know, but would Peme even send that message? I doubt it.

"Sure. Cristha's a good kid. I'm sure she'll be willing to help you out," Peme replies before turning back to boxing her collectables.

Even as Josh saunters back to the others, I stay to ask Peme about her packing, "Why are you putting all that stuff away? It's obviously high quality."

She stops in place for a moment, looking down at the plate she's currently holding, an inscription of a K'tharn battling against one of the long neck sea creatures, their ship nearly crushed beneath its massive bulk.

"The upcoming festival is going to have a lot of Aetherium and free K'tharn in each other's fur. When they mix in large numbers, things tend to get broken. And I, for one, have lost more than enough," Peme explains, running her hand over the inscribed surface, caressing it gently before placing it in the box.

"Oh. I thought the Lords had rules against that sort of thing?" I ask, watching as she resumes her packing.

"Sure. But getting into a mutually agreed duel doesn't break the rules. It's amazing how often they'll pretend they agreed to a duel after the fighting's over. And sure, they have to pay for anything they break. But it's not about the essence, you know?" she asks, looking over to me with a sad smile.

"It's about preserving beauty, right?"

Nodding, she closes the box before setting it to the side then sitting in the chair it was recently occupying. "Exactly. I'll be leaving out some of the children's earlier practice pieces and the more durable copper grade creations. But the regular stuff, created from mortal material but still beautiful? Those I'll put away until my less rowdy visitors return."

Nodding with her, we remain silent for a moment, both of us looking across the many works in her lobby turned gallery.

It's into this moment of reflection that Josh returns, bringing news from the outside world! Also known as everyone in the garden. Or possibly just Beth.

Noticing our shared silence, he doesn't speak immediately. After a moment, Peme turns to him and asks, "So? What message did you want me to send her?"

Josh stares at the ceiling while reciting, "They said, 'there's a difference between captors and captives. Would you be willing to grab lunch to discuss this dynamic as we did before? Sincerely, your favourite skyborne, Tipan.'"

"Sure. Did you have a time and place?"

"Ah. Yes. Beth said they'd meet at that restaurant you recommended for dinner. Five tonight. Paid by Tipan," Josh answers, directing his attention towards her again while playing with the loose end of his new belt. It's still pink, but it's a light faded pink that contrasts well with the darker pink of his robe.

Peme stares at him for a second before nodding. Then she gets a distant look in her eyes as we wait for her. A couple of seconds later, she opens her eyes, glancing back at Josh. "Let’s see. Cristha says, and I quote, 'Yes! Yes! Yes! Tell her I'll be there! I'd love to go to Suelo's with Tipan.'"

We really should’ve let Beth and Tipan handle this. Now we get to once more, relay a message.

Stepping out to the garden balcony, I find Demo inspecting the plants while Tipan, Roberts and Beth are gathered around the little table, the sausages cleared away. On the table is a projected vision of Glimmering Sands. My eyes are drawn to the clean-cut where the tower just disappears, making it look like a tree stump instead of a tower. Makes sense. It'd be hard to see anything else with the full tower on display.

Josh relays that Cristha has agreed to meet Tipan while I poke the middle of the tower, not causing so much as a ripple in the floating image.

"Alexis, will you be able to watch Tipan's back with Demo? I'd rather not have them meeting alone and you can both keep tabs on her without being in sight," Beth requests, causing me to turn to Demo in surprise. I didn't realize he had an ability like mine. I wonder how his works? Maybe I'll ask him later while we're on our stakeout.

"But before that, I think it's time to check out the local barracks. I mean, it would be a shame not to avail ourselves of our 'enforced peace'."

"Indeed. Though from Tipan's description the only thing we'll be able to ascertain with any ease is whether Ivicka's dragon is there," Roberts observes while tapping the location of the barracks.

"Unless we get lucky," Beth counters, directing Tipan to close the map.

"Time for a walk?" Tipan asks as we gather around.

"Definitely. But first," Beth halts for a moment, turning in place. "Where'd we put those sausages?"

After polishing off the remaining sausages, we make our way north through the settlement. While the others are keeping their eyes open, I'm resolved to improve my invisibility spell. Instead of trying to get the entire field to function at once, I've reduced the size. I'm sure that if I can get it to work on my hand, it'll be relatively simple to scale it up from there.

While I'm playing with the evasive invisibility spell, the others continue ogling the surroundings while commenting on the varied art. Which draws my attention. In a way, the engraved building art reminds me of home. There are so many places in Vancouver where instead of a blank side of a building, the owners hired artists to do full wall murals. My personal favourite was just off of Commercial Drive, a wall painted with sunshine, reminding me that even on the cloudiest days, the sun was shining somewhere. In the middle of that sunshine, a figure could be seen walking into the sun, passing out of sight as they moved towards the light.

Not that I made it out that way often.

Returning my attention to my spell, I realize my hand is invisible. It even stays this way when I flex it. Playing through my recent memories, I discover it happened when I was thinking about the person being blurred by the sun. Focusing on the feeling, I fix it in my mind before expanding the field to encapsulate me once more, a familiar prompt finally popping up.

"Spell discovered: Lesser Invisibility. Would you like to add this spell to your preferred spells?"

"Skill unlocked: Stealth (1)"

Confirming the prompt, the spell goes into my free twilight spell slot. Three days working on my spell but it took reflecting on old art to push me over the edge. Still better than what I went through to unlock twilight.

I'm still poking and prodding my invisible limbs when Josh asks, "Uhm, where'd Lex go?"

"What do you mean?" Beth asks, turning to look back right as I pop out of invisibility.

"Sorry," I apologize, reappearing next to Josh, causing him to stumble several steps away from me, nearly tripping over Demo's tails.

Once he pulls his tails clear, Demo's laughter rings out, a deep, pleasant sound. I glare at him, while repeatedly apologizing to Josh.

"Well, Alexis. Congratulations. It's good to see you've finally succeeded." Roberts beaming smile brings me out of my slumped posture, reminding me that I'd been responsible this time. Everyone had been informed I was working on an invisibility spell a couple of days ago. They'd even seen my imperfect attempts that only worked if I didn't move.

Doesn't mean I didn't startle Josh. Which makes me think of how useful this is going to be when Rufka gets back. I almost start cackling when the thought crosses my mind, but I rein myself in. I've already put Josh through enough torture in the last few minutes. Subjecting him to totally justified cackling wouldn’t be fair.

I’ll save it for Rufka.

"Excellent timing kid. There's going to be lots of opportunities to put your new spell to work today. Now, show me what you did. And explain everything you can," Beth directs as she moves next to me. Then after receiving an elbow from Josh, she adds, "please."

Raising an eyebrow at Josh, I chuckle, then start taking Beth through my process. After a few minutes, she's able to replicate the effect using Umbra.

"This is perfect. Maybe we'll be able to do more than just stroll around their barracks," Beth enthuses as we walk quietly behind the others. At Josh's suggestion. He said it was less likely for them to run into us this way, but I can't help but think he's worried about being startled again.

"I imagine there must be spells that'll nullify our advantage. For example, I can still detect you with my class ability," I counter. I'm not really surprised at how quickly Beth picked up invisibility, considering she can become a copy of any K'tharn she's seen and her already formidable camouflage was already nearly invisible. Full invisibility was a minor step for her at this point.

What's more impressive is that a moment later she disappears from my IFF sense as well. She's completely gone. When I poke the spot she should be in, I feel her hand wrap around my wrist, but there's no other sign she's still there. There isn't even any sound as she waves my hand back and forth.

"Uh. Can I have my hand back?"

There's no answer, Beth poking herself with my hand instead. A second later my hand comes free. I'm standing in the street not moving, worried I'll lose Beth if I move.

Half a minute later, Beth reappears. "So, you can't hear me when I talk. That's good to know. Can you try your comms thing when I go invisible again?"

"Sure," I reply, Beth, disappearing from sight immediately.

Establishing the connection requires using the old method of linking through our party interface, my IFF still blocked. A second later, I feel the connection form.

"Go ahead Beth," I prompt her.

"Testing. Testing. Pineapple."

"Pineapple?" I can't help but ask.

"Good. You're able to hear me through your comms. Now, let's disappear and catch up to the others."

Inspired by Beth, I delay going invisible for a second, "just a second. I want to see if I can muffle sound too."

Beth accedes, becoming visible, and more importantly audible, to let me know the results of my efforts. It takes me another five minutes to figure out how to use twilight to absorb any sound I generate. Interestingly, incorporating sound reduction reduces the ongoing cost of the spell. The upgraded version of the spell records itself as Average Invisibility. Average does sound better than lesser.

"Okay kid, let's join the others. But remember, full stealth."

Nodding, I activate invisibility then connect to Beth. Now that we're invisible, I wonder if I could get away with flying. Glancing over my shoulder at the tower rising high into the sky, and remembering what its lord did to that dragon, I decide not to risk it. I do start cackling when I realize no one can hear me though.

Using IFF, I direct Beth towards the others, both of us moving at a low run. We stumble into each other twice, before Beth instructs me to hold her hand. We accidentally thwack each other a little when we first make the attempt. Beth ends up groping me slightly as she searches for my hand. I'm glad we're invisible as she can't see my burning cheeks once her hand finds mine.

"Sorry bout that kid. Still getting the hang of not being able to see my own limbs."

"Yep. Totally understand," I reply, choosing to move on instead of dwelling on it. And then we're jogging along, both invisible and silent. There’s more of that pleasant whistling music in the background again, and I almost start dancing to it. Perks of being invisible. No one can see my awful dancing!

"I wonder if we've walked past anyone else using magic like this?" I ponder while watching a group of K'tharn we're circling around, hopping on one foot, just cause I can.

"Good question. If we have, we wouldn't know, would we?"

"Not unless they bumped into us. Which makes me wonder. Is that the next step? Making it so you can't even be detected via touch?"

"At that point, it's more intangibility than invisibility isn't it? Besides, couldn't you do something like that by combining your teleport with your invisibility?"

If Beth wasn't pulling me forward by my hand I'd probably have stopped in my tracks at that moment. But not because of her comment.

Just ahead shimmering green scales reflect the morning sun. Asterix, Ivicka's dragon is staring down at the others who are standing a few steps ahead of us.

"Quest obtained: Investigate Ivicka's visit to Glimmering Sands. 0/1 investigations completed. Rewards: 1 Iron-rank Progression Mark."

Watching the others back away from Asterix, it takes me a moment to realize Beth is still jogging towards the walled complex.

Crap. I'm not ready for this. Tugging on Beth's hand I get her to stop as I mumble, "One second."

Looking up at the dragon above us, I shake my head. Then grit myself for what I have to do.

With a grimace, I take a shot of moonshine.

3.11 Turning up the Heat

10:02 am, local time. (July 14, 2023, 4:02 pm.)

As the moonshine slides down my throat, I find the burning sensation oddly comforting. Because it reminds me of Rufka. Which makes me curse the fact I didn't figure out invisibility in time to travel with her into Aethire.

Still, at least I'm properly fortified and the idea of sneaking around a massive dragon no longer leaves me frozen in place. I nod to Beth to let her know I'm ready. It's only as I glance over to her that I remember she can't see me.

Hehe. Oops.

"Ready," I tell her while taking in the Aetherium barracks. The size of it makes me think it's more of a compound than just a place to sleep.

"Okay, turns out team chat doesn't work when invisible. Let the others know to fall back while we circle around. We're just scouting, so keep your eyes open for any possible points of entry." A second later, Beth tugs gently on my sleeve, pulling me forwards.

The compound looms above us as we make our way around. Its walls are made of the same light beige wood as the cabins, just stacked twice as high.

There are two bored K'tharn tossing a small object back and forth in front of the closed gate beneath Asterix. K'tharn engineering must be fairly advanced, considering the size of the dragon casually sprawled on the edge of the roof over that very gate. Even if dragons are light for their size, that has to be a tremendous amount of weight.

Who am I kidding? They probably solved it with magic. There must be a skill related to magic-based engineering though. Maybe I'll ask Rufka or Tipan about it later.

As we get closer to the compound, I'm able to determine the guards aren't tossing, so much as batting an oddly shaped stick back and forth off the back of their hands. They’re even bobbing in rhythm to the music.

Not exactly paragons of vigilance. Then again, I guess they have a dragon to pick up their slack at the moment. At least in theory.

Reminded of which, I glance up, but 'Mr. angry glare' has settled down, his head out of sight. I guess the others backing around the corner was enough to get him to relax his vigilance. Or maybe he’s just chilling to the music like the rest of us.

Beth leads me around the complex, stopping regularly. Even as we move, Beth keeps mostly to cover, not trusting invisibility alone. It'd probably be more effective if she wasn't leading me around by the hand as she does so. After a couple of minutes, I realize she must be watching for something specific, but I don't see anything. It's only once we're on the far side of the complex that I notice a guard patrolling the top of the wall. As we watch the K'tharn walk past, there's a loud roar that shakes the air.

Connecting directly to Tipan through the interface, I ask "Tipan, what's going on?"

"Alexis? I'd love to…." Tipan starts as a loud thrumming sound overwhelms the connection. And the music explodes in volume.

Checking the party status, I see Tipan's at half health, Josh is at three-quarters and the others are even worse off, their health near zero.

"Beth. We've got a problem," I inform her.

"Yeah. I heard, let's move."

"It's not just that. Check the party status."

"Fucking, donkey-taint-licking, son of a…" Beth exclaims as she jerks my arm hard enough to do health damage, abandoning any attempt to stay in cover as she sprints back.

We run and stumble the rest of the way around the building, trying to make it to the others as quickly as possible without leaving each other behind. Surprisingly, Asterix is still perched above the gate, his head raised as his chest expands. A second later his roar reaches us. It's like a physical hand wrenches me through the air. I land awkwardly, my elbow jarring against the ground causing me to punch myself in the face.

Glancing back, I see that Asterix isn't leaving the top of the fort. He's just swaying back and forth, snapping at any creature that comes near. Which is when I realize there's more going on than his roaring and a sudden increase in music.

There's quite a bit of chaos. I don't recognize the creatures attacking the K'tharn guards at the gate, but that’s where the music is coming from. There are dozens of swift insectoids that resemble supersized ants with grasshopper legs propelling them around at incredible speeds. They're only the size of a shopping cart, but that's plenty big enough to make them creepy and gross.

Wait… are those the musical bugs Rufka told me about? They were way cooler in her story.

Glancing about, I realize Beth and I are still invisible and she's no longer holding my hand. Looks like we're moving separately from here out.

"Kid, you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," I answer as I push myself to my feet. "What're the rules here again? Pretty sure the 'try to be a decent sapient' allows for self-defence against a bunch of crickets, right?"

"Agreed. Get around the corner. Focus on helping the others. But let me know when you're clear first," Beth responds as one of the K'tharn at the gates fires a glistening black arrow into one of the ant-hoppers as it attempts to snap its mandibles at them. The arrow is enough to end its struggles, but there are a lot more where that one came from.

Doing as she commands; I barely dodge past a nearby ant-hopper as it lands. Even as I'm turning the corner, it kicks up a huge cloud of dirt when it leaps away, obscuring my vision. As I'm going, I can't help but be annoyed at how much these things are obstructing my senses. It's not just the dirt and the music. Each time an ant-hopper leaps, they make a loud thumping that reminds me of the time Sab's dad got us a ride in a helicopter.

Her dad has some pretty cool friends.

As I make it around the corner, I let Beth know I'm clear. Immediately after, the sound of her umbral assault rifle joins the cacophany, the soft thwips the only warning as she attacks. Or so I assume, since the thumping of the ant-hoppers behind me is replaced by a sudden burst of chittering as Beth lets loose.

While that's happening, I Pause time so I can take in the situation unfolding in front of me. Josh is fully armoured, standing over an unconscious Roberts. He's surrounded by a thick thorny cage with several dead ant-hoppers at his feet, but he's being assaulted by several ant-hoppers being ridden by… dolls?

The riders resemble little, half-metre tall, cloth, K'tharn dolls with their mouths sewn shut. And they're all carrying sewing needles. Needles which have torn Josh’s defences apart. Large chunks of his protective cages are scattered in the street.

If I hadn't fortified myself with moonshine, I know I'd be freaking right now. Creepy dolls are the worst.

Even as I'm completing my visual inspection, I analyze one of the riders while preparing my first spell.

“Creature analyzed: Aethop's daughter. Mana-seed 3."

"It was said Aethop was a pu'shaha twisted by the loss of his children to the warrior queen Mephil. Refusing to accept their death, he created new bodies for them. Woven from their own flesh and bones, these new soul-vessels were as twisted as his need. Upon their return, they were subjected to soul wrenching pain, their screams filling his every hour.

Incapable of bringing himself to destroy his children again, yet unable to withstand the constant reminder of their suffering, he sewed their mouths shut. This worked for a time. Eventually though, his daughters found a way to inflict their pain on others, transferring their torment directly to their targets. Now they hunt the warrior queens and their loyal servants, never satisfied. Since the arrival of the System, these creatures have proven remarkably…"

"Sally sees you. It's not nice to peek inside."

I'm not able to read the rest of the notification. It disappears as an alien presence replaces it, forcing its way inside my mind for a fraction of a second.

The doll which wasn't even facing my direction when I first analyzed it, is staring at me, her eyes locked on mine. Even though I'm supposed to be invisible. And in Paused time.

As if that weren't surprising enough, it feels as if the alien presence shoves me, ejecting me back into regular time while ripping away over a hundred Focus.

I'm so shocked, I slump to the ground. Which saves me from the half dozen sewing needles that soar through the air over my head half a second later.

A tinkling laugh sounds in my head as the doll's mount catapults her away. Somehow, I manage to fire a lightning arrow in her direction on reflex. But then I sit there dazed for a couple of valuable seconds before attempting to Pause again.

All I get is accelerated time. Well, this sucks.

Still, it's better than nothing.

There are several dolls attempting to surround me, strands of thread dangling between them. Teleporting away to a nearby roof, I turn invisible again, looking down on the others while Smoulder launches herself into the fray.

Ugh, I want to unload with torrents but there are K'tharn civilians mixed in, fighting alongside us. I attempt to target and pull one of the dolls, but I get another wave of backlash, collapsing me into a heap.

When I recover, I unleash several arrows and a disk of cutting wind at the back of a doll harassing Josh. He's been forced away from Roberts, but Tipan's taken his place. For some reason, the dolls are much more interested in Josh, so Tipan only needs to fend off swarming ant-hoppers. Annoying, but after what we've faced, not that threatening.

Of all my spells, only my lightning arrow connects, the rest of my shots easily being dodged by the highly mobile ant-hoppers. The arrow hardly fazes the doll, but it does get its attention.

Even as she's turning towards me Demo catches her with a grenade that explodes in a wave of cold, trapping the doll and her 'bugout' mount inside the grasping claws of ice. With such a clear shot lined up, I send an overcharged fire disk into her back. She's made of cloth, so hopefully, she burns well.

The results don't disappoint, the doll goes up in a nearly explosive blaze, melting the ice that holds her as clumps of misshapen cloth stick to the ant-hopper like flaming glue. The ant-hopper panics, jumping straight into a nearby building at full force. Even as I turn my attention to the next target, it's still slamming itself against the building. Which is completely undamaged.

Okay. Fire it is then.

Smoulder clearly agrees, becoming a veritable flaming meteor, tearing her way down the road.

As I turn, I discover Tipan working to keep a few of the dolls away from Demo, who's sprawled on the ground, his leg twisted at an unnatural angle. Not that he allows such a 'minor' injury to keep him from contributing, another grenade flying out to trap several ant-hoppers and a doll in place.

Knowing they have that in hand, I teleport into a position that should allow me to hit several dolls at once with a single flamethrower spell. While I'm hoping it lands multiple hits, I don't take the time to aim carefully or confirm its effects. All my practice with the others has drilled in the fact my mobility is incredibly hard to match, even when I'm not flying.

So, I port away, moving to a nearby roof as the flames take hold. I'm glad Glimmering Sands doesn't restrict teleportation. It's already annoying enough not being allowed to fly.

Surveying the scene below, I see Beth moving towards the others, every ant-hopper within her line of sight already growing still.

From up here, I can see that the ant-hoppers spread all the way to the tower, their song overlaying everything. There are K'tharn fighting them back whereever I look, but there's a niggling feeling that I'm missing something as I unleash several more fire arrows at a doll near my friends below.

Teleporting to the roof across the way, I'm startled when I find a larger doll hidden behind an angled outcropping. This one's not riding an ant-hopper. Instead, this particular grey and black doll is holding itself up with nothing but loose linen threads that extend from their back in a writhing mass, staring at the fight below.

In the moment I'm observing it, I can't help but feel it's familiar, though I'm sure I've never seen it before. I almost analyze it but decide I should lead with fire instead.

As I unleash fire on it, I hear it scream.

Even though it seems distracted, a wave of needles rise from that twisting mass, rocketing towards me before I have time to register them, finding their way into my invisible flesh. The first few manage to reduce my health by three-quarters before I'm able to teleport away, locking on to a nearby wall above an adjacent alley.

I lose another couple points of health from the rough landing, but at least I'm away from the strange half-woven doll. I release the new spell I've been working on under Demo's guidance. It's one of those staples that every decent wizard should know, but I hadn't been able to figure out on my own. Honestly, it's probably not much more useful than my torrent or disk spells, but it's an important staple.

A second later, the fireball blooms brilliantly, a second sun that illuminates the nearby fighting. Hopefully, it's enough to finish off that particular monster.

I dash back out into the street, but things are changing. It's as if my fireball was a signal. The remaining dolls are leaving, abandoning their riderless ant-hoppers.

Well, we can't have that now, can we?

Attempting to Pause, I'm delighted to find that I now have a solid four-minutes to wreak havoc. Laughing to myself, I methodically shoot down every target I see.

When pause ends, I turn to the others

"Alexis. Are you okay?" Tipan asks as I walk towards her.

"Yeah. You guys?"

"I'm fine, but Roberts is still unconscious," Tipan replies, glancing at his suddenly frail-seeming form. I move to check on him as Demo hops over, one leg hanging limp. On closer inspection, I discover his leg is wrapped with the same rough grey linen as the dolls. Even the gaps between have taken on a similar consistency. In a way, it reminds me of frostbite. Except, more cloth, less dead skin.

"Yeh'd think that the residents would be a little more prepared for attacks," Demo remarks, leaning on a nearby cabin wall.

"Usually there's more warning. I don't understand where they came from," Tipan shakes her head, though I don't think she's disagreeing with him.

Beth rounds the corner, halting when she sees us.

But only for a second. Then she's scanning the area around us again, searching.

A second later she runs up to me asking, "Where's Josh?"

Looking around, I realize he's nowhere to be seen. And I can't feel him either. Staring at Beth, I realize I didn't know she was coming around the corner until she got here. I can't feel anyone.

I don't know where Josh is.

Looking at my conditions, I find a new one labelled Dampened. Caused by psychic backlash. Apparently, all my senses are slightly muddled and my IFF is completely disabled.

"I don't know. They messed with my ability," I inform her, glancing towards Roberts who's still lying unconscious next to me.

Then Smoulder comes bursting out of an alley towards the tower, butting up against my hand. It takes me a moment to realize Smoulder wants me to follow her, images of Josh being knocked out then thrown against a wall repeatedly by the dolls, filling my head.

"Smoulder saw something," I exclaim, following Smoulder to where she emerged. I run in what I hope is Josh's direction, Beth close behind. When we reach the narrow space between buildings, I'm able to spot Josh's pink bathrobe immediately.

It's lying in a heap at the end of the alley. But despite the fact his robe is lying there, it's empty. There's no way his large, slightly awkward frame would fit in that small lump.

Smoulder dashes straight to the robe, poking her head into it as I search about in frustration.

Beth rushes closer, holding the robe up while inspecting it for clues, causing something to clatter to the ground.

A small wooden figurine?

When she picks it up, I can see Josh's smiling face staring back at us, perfectly etched in the wood.

Beth is flicking her gaze back and forth between the figurine and his robe while I wonder what to do. Roberts is still unconscious, so he's out. Could he even heal being turned into a wooden object? Is that what happened?

While I'm still thinking, Beth acts. She doesn't say anything, throwing Josh's robe over her shoulder, but she does tap my shoulder before striding out of the alley. Smoulder hops into my arms as I scramble to follow Beth while she approaches Tipan.

"Ideas?" Beth grunts out, thrusting figurine-Josh into Tipan's face.

Tipan, who was inspecting a fallen ant-hopper, tilts back in shock before focusing on the wooden doll in front of her.

"Uhm. You had a doll of Josh made?"

"One of those things turned Josh into this," Beth quietly seethes, her teeth audibly grinding.

"That shouldn't be possible," Tipan exclaims, taking Josh from Beth delicately, inspecting him herself. "They're cloth horrors. Not one of them showed any ability with wood."

"Uhh. Hate to interrupt," Demo interjects from where he's sitting on the ground next to Roberts, "but we have company."

Turning around, I discover K'tharn approaching us from either side, all with their weapons drawn. And amongst them is a familiar face. Ivicka.

Beth pockets figurine-Josh as we all turn to face the dozen K'tharn flanking Ivicka.

Her striking orange and black tiger fur practically shines, standing more than her size, which is impressive considering how much she towers over the surrounding K'tharn. On her waist, I can barely make out the blurred shape of the micro-core. Unfortunate. But when I scan it, I discover it’s damaged.

As I look up at her, I notice there's a big difference compared to the last time we met.

This time, Ivicka isn't grinning.

3.12 Face to Face

10:21 am, local time. (July 14, 2023, 4:21 pm.)

Here we are, face to face with Ivicka. A perfect opportunity for… something.

And we might even be protected by being in Glimmering Sands, though the recent battle shows that's more of an administrative type of protection. At least out in the open like this. Besides, at the moment, I'm worried about Josh, Roberts and Demo. Hmm. With Demo unable to walk and Roberts unconscious, is there any way we can escape other than flying?

While I'm worrying about the guys, Ivicka and Tipan are staring at each other as though they're the only ones here.

"I'm glad to see you're well, sister," Ivicka drawls out after a couple seconds, placing a hand on where the damaged micro-Core rests on her waist. "When I found out a skyborne had landed, I just had to stop in."

While they’re talking, I circumspectly scan the K'tharn around us, ready to pause and steal the others away using wind magic, flying us all away the moment Ivicka attacks, rules be damned. None of the other K'tharn seem ready to attack though, standing at ease. Ivicka’s comment provokes a choked cough from Tipan, ruining her attempt to stoically stare back.

Ivicka doesn't wait for Tipan to respond, swaggering closer, pushing her K'tharn escort to the side until she towers over Tipan. Well, over all of us really. Even as she pushes closer, she continues speaking, "I was worried when you ran inside the Fallen city with a bunch of outlanders instead of your squad. But I see it's worked out for you. Was that lightning I saw you tossing around like honeyed crisps? Clearly, we have much to discuss. Maybe we should get dinner tonight? Catch up like we used to."

She's only two metres away when she stops, her eyes still fixed on Tipan.

"Why wait? Are you afraid of what your loyal troops will discover?" Tipan counters, crossing all four arms while pointedly glancing around at the surrounding K'tharn.

Even as Tipan's speaking, I hear Beth mutter into Tipan's ear, "We don't have time for this. We need to take care of Roberts and figure out what's happened to Josh."

Beth is searching our surroundings nervously. I swear she's ready to break away or turn invisible on the spot. But then her eyes flit to Roberts and she tenses.

"And you. What a poor way to repay my hospitality. Sharing my meals, sleeping under my roof, learning my secrets and then absconding with several of our gliders?" Ivicka calls out, loud enough I’m wondering if she’s talking to Beth or the surrounding K’tharn as she shifts her gaze to Beth, ignoring Tipan's question.

"Secrets? The only thing I learned was that you need to bathe more frequently. You kept two of my people bound and unconscious while confining my movements. Hardly hospitable," Beth spits back, her glare actually causing Ivicka to flinch for a second.

"People? Males aren't people. Everyone knows that," Ivicka laughs out, though there's a bit of an edge to her laughter.

"Is that what you've been teaching your trainees?" Tipan demands, waving at the assembled K'tharn.

Before Tipan's finishes speaking, Beth is adding her own reply, "They're better people than-"

"Trainees? Look again dear sister," Ivicka interrupts, not noticing, or perhaps not caring about, Beth's opinion.

Beth glares daggers at Ivicka while I give the K'tharn accompanying Ivicka a closer inspection, leaving me shocked for a second. These ones are in better shape, but to my surprise, I quickly discover they're all Fallen. Most have that vacant gaze similar to the generic ones from the city, not really seeing anything. However, two do not. While their eyes are imbued with life, tracking our interactions, that's the only thing that distinguishes them from the rest.

Pretty sure those two are more of the awakened Fallen we need to be dealing with. I'm tempted to analyze them but considering I still have a dull headache from doing so in the fight with the dolls, I'm a little wary. If this is anything like when I broke Pause, it'll just bring about more headaches.

Tipan continues staring at Ivicka for a couple seconds before she glances at the surrounding K'tharn. When she does, she gasps out, "You'd bring Fallen here? To a stronghold controlled by the Lords?"

"I don't know what you're talking about sister. I'd never stoop so low as to do such a thing. No, these aren't Fallen. Fallen are mad and attack anyone they see. As you can see, my associates aren't attacking anyone. Based on this simple truth, they can't be Fallen," Ivicka denies. The smirk that appears on Ivicka's face threatens to devour Tipan's indignation whole. "These are a gift. Servants for his Lordship Thansome."

"Servants?" Tipan responds flatly, her ears flattened in shock.

Even as Ivicka's monologuing, I can feel the gaze of one of the awakened Fallen weighing on me, so I meet her eyes. She gives me a small, almost timid, wave when I look at her. I find myself reflexively waving back at which point she gets a tentative smile. This causes my brain to stop processing for several seconds. When it restarts, Ivicka is already speaking again.

"Yes, servants. And after this little disruption, I think I'd best deliver his gift quickly. I'd hate for there to be any damage." The Fallen I'm staring at winces at Ivicka's words, the smile disappearing as she glances up then casts her eyes at the ground, shoulders slumped.

Tipan doesn't respond. But she does step to the side, directing the rest of us out of the way as well. I'm reluctant to concede our ground but it's probably the wise choice. Beth's the only one of us with more than a sliver of health remaining. And Ivicka's a copper rank threat. Not only that, but from what Tipan's told us, Ivicka is at the upper end of copper. With more than one key resource. That means she's one of the more powerful K'tharn in their little empire. Probably on the planet.

And that would be if we were fighting her without her entourage in a settlement controlled by another powerful empire.

As Ivicka and her entourage of Fallen push past us, I watch the strange timid Fallen. She's not looking about any longer, her eyes downcast. The awakened Fallen are truly strange. Even stranger when they're not throwing spells at me every chance they get.

"Are we really just going to watch her walk away?" I ask as we do exactly that.

"Not sure what else we can do, kid. And besides, we need to see if we can't find someone that can help us with Josh and Roberts. Speaking of which. What even happened?" Beth asks, glancing at Roberts before turning to regard Tipan.

"I'm not certain. One second, we were talking about the likelihood of my sister being here given Asterix and Cristha's presence. The next there were thumps all around us as dozens of these things landed. One of them crashed into Roberts, tearing at him. He was out of the fight before we knew we were under attack. I've never fought things like this before but I've heard of them dwelling far to the south," Tipan answers, shrugging while pointing at the ant-hoppers before kneeling next to Roberts.

"I don't suppose you have any healing items handy?" Beth asks Tipan while they pull back his sleeves then gently lift him to inspect Roberts completely.

"No. His health is only at negative twenty, so he should be fine once he's recovered. With his current regeneration, he should be back into the positives in a little less than four hours. Most users can go a fair way into the negatives before they'll be at risk of dying. Half of our positive health, at minimum. Of course, the nature of the injury can change that. But he's not bleeding or missing anything important, so he should be okay."

"Well, that's reassuring. Time to move," Beth states, spinning Josh's robe back over her shoulder then striding away. She takes a different route, not quite travelling in the direction that Ivicka just went.

Glancing at Roberts once more, I groan at my uselessness. This is another thing I need to learn. Roberts hasn't been able to teach me any healing magic since his magic relies on robust training and his Reprieve resource. However, if we can find someone who uses regular system healing, I shouldn't have a problem learning from them. At least, that was Tipan's theory when we were talking about it the other day. Mainly because I pick up most other magic so quickly.

The second Beth decides we're ready to go, Tipan gently lifts Roberts into her arms, cradling him. Glancing at Demo, who's leaning on a nearby building with his cloth-wrapped leg, braced by metal straps, I move over to offer him a shoulder.

"Thanks. Almost thought yeh'd all forgotten about me," he says as he puts his arm over my shoulder before we attempt to make our way down the street.

"Beth's just worried about Josh," I offer in her defence. Even as I say it, Beth is striding away at a near run. I use wind magic to take most of his weight as we strain to keep up with Beth's rapid pace.

"Aye. I noticed. Yeh'd think she'd never had a lover transmuted to a wooden doll before," he says. I'm about to inform him that it's a truly unusual event for any of us when I notice his twitching lips.

"Jerk," I mutter as we hobble south towards the tower.

"Best if yeh left us at the Inn, I think. We'd be a liability if yeh need to escape and it should be safe. These buildings are tougher than they look," Demo says with a sense of awe I haven't heard in his voice before.

"I'd rather not leave Roberts alone. You'll watch over him while we're gone," Tipan states as Beth disappears around a corner ahead of me. It's at this point I realize she's not even thinking about waiting for us.

"Beth, we're going to drop the guys off at Falcon's Catch," I inform her, still connected through the interface.

"Good idea. I'll meet you there. I just want to have a word with Peme first," Beth replies.

By the time we make it to Falcon's Catch, a troublesome thought occurs to me. What if no one knows how to help Josh? Even if we revive Roberts what if he's unable to heal him too? I don't think the Restoration ability applies to being turned into a wooden doll unless he's dead. I'm glad we all bought the ability, but it's not as perfect as I'd imagined.

When we step into the lodge, Herv is still perched on his bean bag chair. I don't think I've seen him move from that thing once. He does crack one eye open to observe us when we enter though.

"Trouble with Aethop's daughters," he states, staring pointedly at Demo's cloth enwrapped leg.

"Yep. Don't suppose yeh'd be able to recommend a solution. It says it won't heal on its own. And I can’t burn it off. Needs to be cleansed," Demo responds while flopping his leg back and forth like a toy.

"Easier to cut the leg off then find someone to regrow it," Herv suggests. Herv's suggestion causes Demo to abruptly lean away, nearly dragging me off my feet until I reflexively catch us with wind magic, nearly lifting us off the ground.

"I'd rather not. Yeh're sure you don't know anyone who could cleanse it? We've another friend who's come down with something similar. Cept he's all wood."

"Wood, huh? That ain't a daughter's ability. More likely a wood sylph. You'd be better off looking for a transmuter. Might be there's a lady in the market I know who could help you. She's a bit of a strange one though," Herv warns.

I'm not certain Herv has much right to be calling other people weird. Then again, I'll admit, I don't either.

"Can't be that bad. Could yeh give the details to my friend here? As yeh can see, I'm not in the best condition to be wandering around," Demo states.

"Sure. You can even stay in your rooms until you find proper treatment. Long as you pay. Just hobble your way out here if you need a meal. I can get em delivered."

With that settled, Tipan and I start moving the guys to their rooms. As I'm walking, I feel Smoulder squirm out of my pocket, moving closer to Herv to investigate. Herv's single open eye rotates to watch her get closer. For a second, I'm worried he'll hurt her, but when Smoulder sniffs at his bean bag, he reaches down one feathery hand and gently scratches her behind the ears.

Leaving Smoulder behind to get acquainted with our host, I take Demo to his room. It'd be tough to squeeze him into the same room with Roberts.

"You sure you're going to be okay here?" I ask, lifting him over to his bed using nothing but wind magic. He makes a small, "eep" when I hoist him into the air.

Oops. Probably should’ve warned him.

Once he's sitting on the edge of his bed, he turns to me, pulling a worn paperback book from his inventory. "I'll be fine. Yeh just worry about tracking down a healer for Roberts. I'm confident he'll be able to fix this right up."

"You don't want me to check with Herv's friend first?" I ask, surprised.

"Hardly. I've read about what most healers can do in the System. What our comrade Roberts is capable of shouldn't be possible for a Silver rank healer, forget Iron. Perhaps we'll need this weird friend of his, but we should try a little closer to home first, don't yeh think?"

"Sure. But it's going to be a few hours until Roberts has regained enough health to be in the positives."

"Like I said. Yeh should find him some help."

"Right. I'll talk to Tipan," I answer sheepishly.

"Be careful. This Ivicka being here, right when we're at our worst? It smells worse than a Reaver's breeding pit," Demo warns right as I'm turning to leave the room.

"I will," I answer with a grin before slipping into invisibility to remind him what I'm capable of. Being invisible should be an excellent first line of defence, right?

"Filthy Creators, that one's got too much power," I hear him complain behind me. Once out of his sight, I reappear before peeking into Roberts' room.

Tipan is next to his bed, carefully tucking Roberts into place, gently pulling the blanket over him before squeezing his shoulder while whispering something I'm unable to make out.

As she's standing next to his bed, I whisper, "Let's get the details from Herv. And maybe ask him which shop has healing items for Roberts. Demo figures Roberts will be able to fix his leg."

Tipan nods, carefully edging around Roberts's bed, replying as she slowly pulls his door shut. "It'd be a good idea to ask Peme as well. She was telling us this morning that she knows most of the local subs."

"Subs?" I ask as we enter the lobby where Smoulder is parked in Herv's lap, rumbling away while he strokes the length of her body.

"Those who focus their efforts on developing the skills of their subclasses. Artificers, brewers, rune-smiths. That sort of thing," Tipan explains.

"Ah. Crafters." I nod understandingly.

After some quick directions from Herv and a reluctant parting between him and Smoulder, we enter Ocean's Breeze. A new wooden wind chime outside the door makes a low wooing noise as we hear Beth engaged in conversation with Peme.

"Those are all the transmuters I can think of. But this doesn't look like a transmuted person to me. I think it's one of Lifithent's works. I sold several similar figurines to a friend this morning," Peme explains patiently, her voice even.

"Okay. Where does this Lifi-whatever work? If this isn't Josh, then that means he's missing. And I need to know why this was left in his place," Beth demands, her hand clasping the air like she wants to form it into a fist or draw a weapon.

It's at this point that Peme notices Tipan and I standing awkwardly in the door. She gives us a welcoming smile and a small wave before turning back to Beth. "Lifithent's workstation is located on the seventh level with most of the other higher-tiered subs. But she doesn't take kindly to unannounced visitors. It'd be best if you let me make an appointment for you," Peme explains, wringing her lower hands.

Beth shifts in place for a moment, likely weighing her response before grunting out, "Fine. But we can't afford to wait long. Let her know we need to speak to her. Urgently."

"I will. One minute please," Peme says, her eyes going unfocused for several seconds.

"Okay. I've messaged her. I'll let you know… Oh. That was quick. Oh. Uhm," Peme continues, rubbing the back of her head as she stutters to a stop.

"What?" I can't help but ask, drawing an amused quirk of the lips from Tipan beside me. I know it's Beth's show but hey, we're here too!

"She says that she won't be making any appointments until after the festival. She's had a generous but demanding client claim her time," Peme explains.

"Well. I guess we'll just have to visit her without an appointment," Beth decides, crossing her arms as she glances our direction.

"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry, I didn't realize she'd be so busy. Normally she at least attempts to accommodate others. It's strange. She's very passionate about sharing her work with those who follow her rules," Peme apologizes.

"Not a problem," Beth waves off Peme's apology before continuing, "but perhaps you can tell us about other places who can supply more traditional healing. Including lessons or training."

"Yeah. I can do that just give me a second here…" Peme trails off, digging around behind her desk.

Peme ends up writing out a physical list using a device similar to my own infinite pencil. Once she's done, she proffers the list to Beth with a flip of her wrist, and a warning, "I've never purchased anything from any of these shops, other than Mel's Crystals. But they all offer healing in one form or another."

Beth nods her acknowledgement as we review the page with twelve different names on it. There's only one place listed which offers training, which Peme clearly labelled with a big bright star and the word training, both in orange. It's cheerily listed under the name The End of The Line.

I guess it's not the first place you'd want to get healing training.

Hehe.

"Thank you, Peme," Beth says, waving goodbye then leading us outside.

"So, how are we going to do this? Should we split up and search individually or stay as a group?" I ask Beth as we follow her down the stairs, the chime causing me to raise my voice to be heard over its wooing.

"We're going to travel as a pack. We can't afford to split up anymore. I… shouldn’t have run ahead. Much as I hate to admit it, the guys are all stable. They should be able to wait for us to do this safely. And I want to be in top form once we're finished. Because once we're done…"

Beth stops at the bottom of the steps, turning to face Tipan and me, who bump into each other as we halt. Beth has a near-feral grin on her face as she snarls out.

"Once we're done, we're going hunting."

3.13 Now Shopping for Widgets

11:05 am, local time. (July 14, 2023, 5:05 pm.)

Hunting, Beth says.

At this moment, I'm reminded of Beth's lack of hesitation when we saw that first deer. It took her less than a second to decide to end its life. I feel the same primal aura emanating from her now.

Then it's gone, Beth spinning on her heel as she leads us towards the tower.

"First priority is getting Roberts on his feet. But we'll check this healing centre too. If we can get a second healer, that will help immensely," Beth declares over her shoulder as we all run at full speed towards the tower. Beth and Tipan are both quicker than I am in a straight-up run but I'm able to make up for it by teleporting to keep pace. Now that we're moving unburdened, we're moving almost as fast as when we're flying. Well, without Tipan’s aspect. Still, our run allows us to reach the tower just a minute later. Even as we move, Smoulder sleeps quietly in my pocket, recovering from the fight.

The intertwined pink and white coral that forms the entrance to the tower is guarded by another K'tharn. She's reading what reminds me of a newspaper as we pass into her domain, stepping out of the sun. The guard only glances at us for a second, a tingling sensation passing over me when her eyes pass over me. As a shiver runs down my back, she waves us through, pointing at a sign before returning to her reading without a word.

Shrugging when I glance at the others, we inspect the wooden sign. Each letter is carved in tight looping cursive which reads:

"In tribute to our ancestors, the Glimmering Tower strives to provide an authentic interface-free experience. Please refrain from any active use of your interface while in public areas. Guests who repeatedly disregard this rule may be asked to leave.

Welcome to Glimmering Tower.

Your Lord Thansome."

I can't help but smile a little as Beth leads us inside. It's basically like a no cell phone sign back on earth. My smile lasts right until my jaw drops when we step through the beaded curtain that separates the outside from within.

I'm not sure what I was expecting but after how normal everything else in Glimmering Sands has been, to say I'm a little surprised at the interior is an understatement.

Herv mentioned that his friend was in the workplaces north of the open space on the seventh level. What he neglected to mention is that the majority of the tower is open. The size reminds me of a stadium. Except with several levels of stores along the edge instead of seats. And instead of a field, there's a huge inlet filled with lapping water, wooden walkways and small boats all surrounding a huge central pillar. The pillar consists of large tubes that spiral up out of the water several metres below, wrapped around a substantial central tower. Each tube is reminiscent of an aquarium. Except the fish are swiftly swimming as though being propelled along. Half of the tubes push the fish inside up out of sight while the other half plummet down just as rapidly. As I watch I notice a K'tharn rush past emerging in a shallow pool not far from a set of stairs that lead up. Next to the shallow pool is a sign that simply states "Waterbreathing required. Glimmering Sands is not liable for any damage."

While the tubes are the main feature of the central opening, other than the branches that lead to the pools scattered along the edges they barely take up any room compared to the vast expanse. It's strange that there's no flying allowed because there are no rails along the edge I'm looking over. As the thought crosses my mind, I see a pair of K'tharn fly from one level to another.

"I thought there was no flying here," I complain to Tipan while pointing to the K'tharn.

"I suspect they have the proper permissions," Tipan offers, shrugging while stroking her chin.

"We should find out what the requirements for that are. Could be useful. But first, I think our first shop is over here," Beth states, leading us towards a simple stall set back into the first ring of stores. Yep. Definitely rings.

As we approach, I can't help but notice how plain this store is compared to its neighbours. The store to its left has stalls out front full of what appear to be towels, hand-crafted umbrellas and even hammocks, each more colourful than the last. The stall on the other side offers a dizzying display of candied meats, with colourful signs with bold claims about the flavours.

But the stall Beth has chosen only has a plain wooden sign saying Kili's Brews. The inside of the store itself is simple and unadorned, several sturdy shelves full of small bottles set behind a K'tharn who seems as plain as her store. All of the bottles are kept out of reach. No casual browsing of products here.

Beth spends some time talking with the K'tharn while I go back out to inspect the umbrellas. It's strange to see them here. Looking up at the twisting tubes of flowing water full of speeding fish, I glance back at the umbrellas.

Yeah, definitely weird.

And then I feel it again. That slight twist in my stomach and vague dizziness that practically screams, "You're on another world!"

It's easy to forget at times that this is really happening. Sometimes, if I close my eyes for a minute, I imagine I'll open my eyes and wake up on my bed. If I'm honest, the thought terrifies me. There's so much more for me here than there is at home. With an impending apocalypse, we need to get back, sure. Not only are there a lot of people I care about on Earth, but there's a lot of innocent people in danger.

But if there was no apocalypse, I'd want to stay here. I mean, Rufka, magic, Smoulder, exploring spaceships and completely 'authentic' pre-system resorts.

Watching another K'tharn emerge from the nearby pool with a slight stagger, I smile. Stepping away from the umbrella stall, I look up into the twisting water. But this time I match it with my own, the water flowing in a quad-helix, running up two strands then down the others. If I could breathe underwater, I'd be able to use the moving sidewalk. I almost feel disappointed at the thought. But then I see the water circulating in response to my commands and my disappointment fades away.

Even after more than a week of wielding mana it still feels amazing. And I realize I've been so hung up on not being allowed to fly, I've been neglecting any other way I can use my magic to move. So, after redirecting my gathered water to my feet, I glide myself back to the stall on a small wave, giggling to myself as I bump into Tipan who's emerging from the store.

Beth follows behind her a second later. She only spares me a quick glance, before leading the way to the next name on the list. Which reminds me why we're here, my brief moment of joy is crushed by the reminder that Josh is a wooden doll and Roberts is unconscious. I bet it wouldn't have happened if Rufka'd been here.

The next half hour passes quickly as we rush from shop to shop. In this time Beth collects a number of consumables that should all restore health. There are potions that can be poured down Roberts's throat, specialized bandages that automatically bind open wounds and a dehydrated powder that can be swallowed whole for an immediate burst or prepared as part of a stew which, if made with fresh mana-borne meat, not only restores health but mana as well. Tipan explains with subdued enthusiasm that there are innumerable substances that can act as an empowering ingredient if one is willing to take the time to prepare them properly.

While I "Oh" and "Ah" at all our fancy new items, we approach 'The End of The Line'. It's the most severe shop we've seen here, sharp steel cladding running along the storefront with none of the usual windows displaying wares. Only its name in blocky black lettering lets us know we're at the correct place. The door itself reminds me of a mechanical vault, with one of those large turning wheels like you might see on an old nautical vessel.

Beth takes the handle in hand, and the wheel turns easily, almost as if it's frictionless. As the wheel spins, the door slowly creaks open towards us. It's hard to make out what's inside, the only light coming from the open doorway.

"Well. This really brings me back," Beth comments before stepping inside the poorly lit building. I apply a layer of twilight over my eyes before following, which helps me avoid stepping on the miscellaneous …. Body parts?

No, they're prosthetics. I think.

There's no smell of blood, and they're made out of wood and metal. I really hope they're prosthetics.

"Hello?" Beth calls into the darkness while Tipan holds the door open behind us. Not that it's dark to me. In the back at an uncluttered workbench is what must be the first elderly K'tharn I've seen within the system. I'm only able to place her as elderly due to Uthica's early memories of those within her tribe, her matted fur and slumped posture the most immediate signs. But it's the way her eyes crinkle as she places her strange set of pliers to the side then stares at Beth that really give her age away. A younger K'tharn's fur doesn't crinkle like that.

"What do you want?" she snaps out, not bothering to step forward or raise the amount of light.

Beth isn't startled, and she doesn't appear upset that the shopkeeper doesn't step forwards. She does turn in the direction of her voice before responding though. "We were told there might be someone here who offered healing training. If we were misinformed, then we'll leave immediately."

I watch the elderly K'tharn narrow her eyes at Beth. Once she's finished her inspection of Beth, she looks at Tipan then me. When her eyes meet mine, all her eyes go wide for half a second before she restrains herself, looking back to Beth. "Plenty of people want to learn how to heal. Very few can. What makes you think you're special?"

"I'm not. Well, at least not when it comes to healing. The kid is the one we want you to teach," Beth answers, pointing at me with her thumb over her shoulder.

"Really? And this child is prepared for the commitment? If I'm to teach her, it will be many years before she will be finished."

"Years?" Beth asks, half a second before I echo her. "Can't you just show her a couple spells so she can restore health?"

"Pah. That's not healing. That's just restoring system energy. Any idiot can do that. You don't need a rune, just an appropriate conversion skill."

"What? I've never heard of such a skill," Tipan exclaims stepping forward for a second until the lack of light reminds her that she needs to hold the door.

"Would it be possible to learn that skill? We have a friend who's a skilled healer but we need to restore his health," Beth requests, her hand rubbing at her belt where she has Josh stored away.

"I could teach it to you. But what would you give me in exchange?" the old K'tharn asks, arms crossed as she regards Beth.

"Well, we have a fair amount of essence shards. Though from what I've learned today it's not as much as I'd originally hoped," Beth offers uncertainly.

"Shards are of no use to me. But there is something. Child, come here," the old K'tharn gestures from where she's hiding in the darkness. Even as she speaks, the darkness rolls back, revealing her hunched and twisted form to the others. Tipan lets out a small gasp but Beth doesn't even raise an eyebrow.

Looking to Beth for guidance, her emerald eyes catch mine, holding me in place until she shrugs.

Okay. Well, at least they can see the old K'tharn now. Maybe I should figure out a way to share my night vision with the others. It's got to be easier than mass teleport.

Not sure what else to do, I step over the piles of wooden and metal limbs. Then I notice torsos and heads mixed in. Each is highly detailed, as though they had the actual muscles and bones lying beneath their surface.

"Good. Good. Now let me see your control. Start with lightning child," she commands, twirling her hand in a 'get on with it' gesture when I'm finally standing in the tight space just in front of her.

"I'm not a child. I'm eighteen," I counter even as I draw forth a leaping arc of lightning, shaping it into a copy of the tubes outside, central pillar and all.

"Eighteen she says. Practically a baby. Yet control is decent," she concedes while poking her hand into the electrical structure in front of us. She directs me through earth and water next, then each other element in turn until the only thing left is twilight.

"Now, I've seen that you've started on your understanding of dynamic conjoinment. Let us see what you're able to do with it," she commands, her hidden arms coming from beneath her upper arms, drawing shapes in the air using twilight.

Watching carefully, I start copying her movements. At first, I only use the dusky yellow that I prefer, but then I start incorporating deep shadow and brilliant rainbow structures. She continues leading me through the motions for another half a minute when Beth interrupts.

"It's very pretty, but we're in a hurry," Beth states, staring at the K'tharn who appears younger under the illumination of our twilight magics.

It's the smile on her face I realize, a smile that disappears when she acknowledges Beth. "Hmm. I suppose I've seen enough. Very well, I could teach you the basics, child. And I know what my price will be."

"Finally. What can we offer you?" Beth asks.

The old K'tharn isn't looking at Beth as she answers instead, staring at me. "The child will serve as my apprentice for three years, learning all she can of the healing arts."

Beth snorts as I protest, "Three years! I don't have that sort of time."

"Hmm. Perhaps not. But I have no use for your shards. I do have need of a skilled apprentice, however. One who isn't tied to the Aetherium," she glances at Tipan at the last, who flinches under her gaze.

"Hey! Tipan's a great person. Don't judge her like that just because she has white fur!" I find myself objecting to the old K'tharn's dismissal of Tipan, standing between them before I realize it.

"Oh ho. Those of white fur are often Aetherium, this is true, but it's not her fur that marks her. Only Aetherium Aeromancers wield staffs such as hers," the old K'tharn laughs while pointing.

Looking back, I realize that even though her staff was enhanced during her Soul Summoner ascension, it’s still very much in the style it was before. Tipan's fur is laying down in embarrassment. I'm fairly sure my face is as red as her fur is flat.

"Oh," I meekly reply.

Before I can apologize for my mistake, Beth's taken control of the conversation again. "Thank you for the offer, but we don't have that sort of time. We're kind of up against a deadline."

"I understand. Should you change your mind the offer shall remain open," as she finishes her sentence, she summons shadows with a snap of her fingers. Not only does the darkness reappear, she also goes invisible.

Beth tries to get her attention again for a minute, but there’s no response. Shrugging, I copy the old K’tharn, fading while Beth leads the way out while cursing under her breath.

I can't help but think about what she said regarding conversion as Beth impatiently leads us towards our final few stops, jostling a pair of K'tharn who don't step aside fast enough for her. Beth is moving faster than she has since we arrived but I almost don't notice as I race to keep up with her. The K'tharn implied conversion was simple, yet this is the first time Tipan's heard of it. Another thing kept from her by her teachers? Or something else?

Even as I follow Beth, I start experimenting, trying to push at my Mana to convert it to Health. But I've honestly got no idea where to start.

Since we can’t breathe underwater, we start climbing the stairs to the seventh level, when Tipan exclaims, "I've got it!"

"What?" Beth asks over her shoulder, not stopping or turning.

"I can convert energy. I think I can heal Roberts," Tipan proclaims, looking at me with a giant grin.

"That's amazing," I state, giving Tipan a giant hug.

"It isamazing," Beth agrees, giving Tipan a small smile before pulling us further up the stairs. "Since we're here, let's talk to Lifi-whatever then we'll head straight back."

Nodding our agreement, we follow Beth out onto the balcony that surrounds the pit, heading straight towards Lifithent's workshop. We're only a few steps away when a large shape obscures the light, casting us in darkness for the second time in the last fifteen minutes.

This time when we turn towards the source of the darkness however, we don't find an old K'tharn searching for an apprentice. Instead, we're face to underbelly with a giant squid, tentacles as thick as my couch pulling it up through the tower.

Before I'm fully able to process what's happening, the large creature has already moved past us.

There was no rumbling, squishing or squeaking to announce its passage. If not for the fact it literally blocked out the light, I may not have noticed it.

"Well, that's creepy," Beth remarks as the last tentacle disappears.

"That's the Lord of the Deep," Tipan supplies, her voice quivering.

As a faint smell of squid hits me, I have a sudden craving for calamari.

3.14 Holding Up

12:05 pm, local time. (July 14, 2023, 6:05 pm.)

With the Lord out of sight, I glance up the tower. Seventh floor, yet we're not even halfway up. There must be at least another twelve floors above us. And those are just the ones I can see. Judging by the exterior, there are plenty more I can't.

"Alexis, I might be able to restore your Health," Tipan reminds me, wrenching me back to reality as her hand pokes me in the side. She chuckles at my reaction, offering me her hand.

When I take it in mine, her soft fur reminds me of Rufka. I consider reaching out to update her when I remember I can't connect with my IFF damaged. Which raises a new concern. What if I'm unable to connect to her after I'm healed because I've lost the connection?

Tipan's efforts arrest my thoughts, the tingling sensation similar to Roberts's healing but gentler. And far less effective. A quick glance at her Mana indicates she shouldn't waste her time.

"That's pretty inefficient," I note. It's costing her five mana to heal a single point of health.

"Yeah. It's nearly a one to one trade when I use it on myself," Tipan sighs in defeat.

Still expensive, but I'd take that deal.

A quick grunt from Beth refocuses us. "Unfortunate. Good thing it's not our only option. Still could be useful for Roberts though."

"Agreed," Tipan responds. They begin discussing which of the many items we’ve acquired might be best as we return to seeking out Lefi-whatever's workshop, Beth leading the way. As we move across the platform, I note the seventh level doesn't have as many stores. It appears each one receives a larger portion of the floor than the smaller shops below. On the plus side, this makes finding our destination rather easy.

The sign isn't the most elaborate display I've seen since we've arrived but it's tasteful in a way most others can't match, a simple wooden sign, the raised script proudly stating 'Lifithent's Luxuries'.

We're moving to enter when Smoulder pokes her head out of my pocket, her nap over.

Bringing her to my shoulder, I follow Beth inside, almost giggling as Smoulder tickles my ears with her soft wet nose. A couple of head-scritches later, Smoulder's back to scanning the workshop, perched on my shoulder like a sentry.

While Beth approaches a counter with a bell on it, I follow Smoulder's example, inspecting fine wooden figurines that fill a single glass and wood display case to the right of the door. Each figurine appears to be of a different outlander species. There's everything from Yrken to Phothen to Human. And the human looks rather familiar.

Which isn't too surprising since I've seen her in the mirror countless times.

I don't think I've ever had my likeness carved into wood before. Looking at my figurine, there's an alluring aspect to the way she holds her tattered onesie closed I wish I could emulate.

Great, I'm jealous of my own figurine's appearance.

"Wow. That looks just like you," Tipan states, startling me.

"What?" Beth asks, bumping against my arm as she stares down at my figurine.

"How the hell did they get such an accurate image of you?" Beth wonders as a crashing sound rings out from behind the counter.

"We're closed," calls out a shrill voice as the shortest, and cutest, K'tharn I've ever seen stumbles through the door into the small reception room. She's only barely inside when she pauses, shaking one of her legs causing a small sawdust nimbus to encircle her for a moment.

"We're here to see Lifithent," Beth states plainly, her arms crossed as the short K'tharn peeks over the top of the counter at us.

"Uhm. She's not seeing anyone right now. Can you leave? Please? She's going to be cross with me if she realizes I forgot to lock the door," the young K'tharn pleads, turning her adorable kitty eyes on each of us in turn. It's a good thing Beth's in charge, cause I almost cave to her squeaky voice and brown saucer-like eyes. Then Smoulder intercedes, launching herself onto the counter in front of the young K'tharn.

Smoulder pokes her nose into the young K'tharn's face, totally derailing her efforts. When she glances at Smoulder who's still investigating her, she squeals in delight. She's reaching towards her when she looks up at me, asking, "is it okay if I pet her?"

"Sure," I reply. It's a good thing she's not still trying to get us to leave because now that she's petting Smoulder with single-minded dedication, their combined adorableness is overwhelming.

We all watch them for a few seconds when another deeper voice calls out, "Methila, where are you? Did I hear the bell?"

Methila jumps, pulling Smoulder close, hiding her from sight.

A moment later a tall, skinny K'tharn emerges through the same door. She tsks at the sawdust lying on the floor before addressing us. "I see Methila forgot to lock the door again. How can I help…. You!"

She's pointing a shaking paw at Tipan as she places herself between Methila and Tipan. As she does so, she inadvertently brushes against Smoulder, who starts purring louder in response.

"What the…" she exclaims, jumping away from Smoulder towards us. Then as if she's been burned, she reels back, keeping her distance from Tipan instead.

"Why are you holding a mana-warped? And what are youdoing in my shop, Tipan?" the jumpy K'tharn who I'm assuming is Lifithent asks.

"Mana-warped?" Methila murmurs, still holding Smoulder close.

"I didn't know it was you Livi. You never went by Lifithent when we… I would’ve waited outside," Tipan replies, her words clipped as she strokes her arms in agitation.

"Ahem. Sorry to interrupt, but we actually have some questions about one of your figurines," Beth interjects, causing everyone to turn to her.

"I'll just… wait outside," Tipan states before moving to do exactly that. She throws a single glance back at 'Livi' then closes the door behind her.

"My questions," Beth prompts again.

"You can find my figurines in the display case. If you're looking to purchase a specific model you can place an order through one of my affiliates. I'm really quite busy," 'Livi' states, carefully pulling Smoulder out of Methila's hands then holding her in our direction as if she's going to explode.

Which, I mean, fair.

Stepping forward, I reach out to take Smoulder from her. As I'm accepting my little bundle of trouble and joy, Livi freezes, almost causing me to drop Smoulder when she holds onto her more firmly than I expected. Smoulder looks back at her with a feeling of disdain as she climbs onto my shoulder.

"You're one of the new outlanders, aren't you? The ones from my collection?"

"That's what we're here to talk to you about," Beth grits through her teeth, "Do you recognize this?"

Beth holds up Josh. Well, the figurine that looks like Josh. Livi attempts to pull out of Beth's hand, but Beth doesn't release her grip.

After a second Livi realizes Beth's not going to let go, so she bends lower. "Yes. This is one of my carvings. I sold it through a friend."

"It is? Which friend? How did you get our image?”

“These were being sold by Peme. She handles my entire outlander collection. And I’m afraid that memory-crystal transfers are protected by client confidentiality in the M’tari Ascendancy,” Livi replies, her eyes flicking to the case where my figurine is held.

“Were our images sold to you by a K’tharn with grey and black stripe patterns?” I ask, thinking about the K’tharn we ran into outside Peme’s.

Melthia gasps, but Livi just narrows her eyes as she says, “As I said. I am unable to reveal any details about memory-crystal transfers.”

“Well. At least now I know this useless piece of wood isn’t Josh. Thank you," Beth responds, holding the wood in front of her for a second. I almost expect her to hand it back to Livi, but instead she tucks it into her coat before immediately pushing us towards the door.

"Wait. Who are you? What are you doing here? Why are you with Tivi?" the confused shopkeep asks as Beth directs me towards the door.

"I'm sorry, we have to find our friend," I call over my shoulder. Beth is right. If this isn't Josh, then someone has him which means we need my IFF back. Like now. Livi halts me with a hand on my shoulder before I can step outside.

Turning back, I notice moisture at the corner of her eyes. "Please. Can you tell Tivi I'm sorry? Please?"

Nodding, I stop, waving Beth off. “Look. I don’t know what happened, but you should tell her yourself. And I’d love to stay and help, but we’re trying to save our friend.”

“I… understand. But please tell Tivi I am sorry. And I’d love to… to talk to her about it. Maybe we could… get dinner, the next time she’s in the tower,” Livi says, scrubbing at her lower eyes.

I apologize again for having to leave so quickly as I dash to catch up to Beth and Tipan, who’re already moving towards the staircase.

With all our objectives achieved, we race back down the stairs. I relay Livi's apology and request which Tipan accepts with a terse nod. I'm tempted to ask Tipan about Livi but now's not really the time. Maybe when we're practicing magic together later.

We're on the second level crossing the short distance to the next set of stairs when several K'tharn block our path. Beth tries to step around them, but they have the stairs blocked and they're not budging.

"Where do you think you're going, outlander?" the K'tharn in the lead asks, a low 'thock' sounding out when she plants her staff on the floor. It's only at this moment I realize they're all carrying similar weapons.

They're also wearing a utility vest with a badge showing a great tower on a glittering… Wait, no. A glimmering beach. Security for Glimmering Sands maybe?

"Move it. We need to get through," Beth snarls, trying to push the K'tharn with the staff to the side, but she barely budges.

"Well. I'd say that confirms it. You're the outlanders who think they can ignore the rules. Well, you're not special. You're coming with us," she says as she grasps Beth's wrist. Which was probably a mistake as she's suddenly on the ground staring up with confusion in her eyes as Beth smoothly redirects her attempt. Amazingly I'm able to follow the entire thing.

Unfortunately, the now prone K'tharn has a lot of friends. The moment her body thuds against the floor, invisible bindings snake around my wrists and ankles. It's impressive but as I test their control over the spell, I'm certain I could escape without having to resort to teleportation. And they didn't even try to restrain Smoulder.

"Lordites," Tipan states, drawing my attention back to the K'tharn.

Damn. She told us about these. People who've pledged themselves to one of the Lords in exchange for power. Apparently, the Lords of the Deep have an easy time power-levelling people.

The K'tharn on the ground chuckles as she pushes herself off the floor. I catch her name as one of the others asks, "are you okay, Vethel?"

Waving her companion off, Vethel turns back to us not seeming particularly upset. Still, I'm not a fan of being restrained. I'm about to shatter their control when Beth signals us to stand down, "Sorry bout that. Reflex."

"Impressive skill. But our Lord Thansome has requested your presence and you will attend. Now," Vethel's eyes narrow at the last word as I feel my feet leave the ground. Guess I get to fly after all.

A moment later we're all flying up the central chamber. Flying isn't as much fun when someone else is in control.

Seconds later we pass Livi's shop and my eyes linger on the shopkeep. She gapes at us, her jaw hanging slack as we pass. I wave cheerfully.

But we don't stop there, continuing to ascend. Eventually, we arrive at the highest level. There's a single door which opens as we approach, revealing a large open set of stairs leading upwards with dark columns spaced evenly along its sides.

When we reach the top of the stairs, we emerge into a large chamber that occupies the entirety of the tower. This room alone is triple the height of any below. The entire thing would remind me of a throne room from a movie except it's missing the throne. It has several ornate columns, thick luxurious carpets and a raised dais, but no throne. Kinda disappointing.

To the right side of the room, we find Ivicka standing, surrounded by her Fallen escort. The one who waved at me earlier is missing. In fact, half the fallen Ivicka was with are no longer accompanying her. She glances in our direction when Vethel leads us in, baring her teeth in a vicious grin when she notices us. At least, with that many teeth showing, I’m interpreting it as vicious.

Our guides deposit us across from Ivicka, a lush purple carpet all that divides us.

While I'm staring at Ivicka who's opening her mouth to make some sort of remark, a low groan emanates from the door at the far end. It swings open revealing the great squid who passed us earlier. I'm not terribly familiar with the squids from home, but I swear, even if it's not exactly the same, this one is damn close to those who dwell beneath our waves.

Other than the intricate tattoos that cover every inch of its massive body, that is.

I've never imagined a tattooed squid before. Unlike the K'tharn tattoos I've seen so far, which are patterns more than images, the ones on the squid's flesh are full-blown tapestries. The most prominent is a squid grasping a dragon, several K'tharn and one of the six-legged lions in its tentacles, each one clearly bleeding from open wounds.

Well, not such a subtle statement, that.

As I'm inspecting the large squid, it lowers itself onto the stone dais, located in the back of the chamber near the doors. Two large tentacles wrap themselves around a nearby pair of pillars before it turns one of its giant eyes to flick over us. A tangible wave of pressure rolls over me when it settles into place. At first, I think it's some type of aura, but then I notice a sheen of water now encompasses the squid's upper body. Is it using magic to allow it to remain above water?

From the pillar on the right, a deep voice asks, "What sort of mess am I cleaning up this time?"

One of the K'tharn who brought us here steps forward. It takes a second for me to realize it's Vethel, the same one Beth knocked on the ground. "We've brought the outlanders." There's a pause, the K'tharn looking at the squid who remains silent. "As you requested."

"Oh. Right, the outlanders, of course. But what is she doing here? And why is she walking around with food? We have proper storage places for such things." The squid wiggles one of its tentacles in the direction of Ivicka, causing waves of light to flicker in the air.

This… is a Lord of the Deep?

I swear I can see Vethel trying not to facepalm as she quietly explains, "she's the ambassador from the Aetherium you asked to talk to. The others are a gift."

"Hmm. From the Aetherium you say? What happened to Tessa? And why would they send me such a gift? Tessa would have brought me something I like, fish or some monster that's been making a mess nearby. She never brought me kitty snacks before."

"They're not snacks my Lord. They're servants," Ivicka interjects, licking her teeth. Uthica’s aunt used to do the same thing. Is she nervous? Guess she does have a multi-story squid staring at her.

"Wait. I recognize you, don't I? Yes. You've been here before. Guards. Arrest her!" the squid commands. One of its tentacles starts reaching for the door behind it as Ivicka's nervousness evaporates with a shrug.

"Knew this was a silly plan. At least I can tell her I tried. It's so much more fun this way anyway," Ivicka grins, striding forward while ignoring us, pulling the micro-Core off her waist. The Lordites magical bindings holding me in place weaken as several elemental blasts smash towards Ivicka, all of which she ignores.

Eep.

The Lordites don't just cast spells. They're already moving, yet before they're able to get close, Ivicka is already leaping towards Lord Thansome. She has one of the listless Fallen in one hand. She slaps the micro-Core onto it, then tosses the Fallen past Lord Thansome, towards the entrance he emerged from.

The large squid dodges to the side. A thunderous boom rips through the tower.

What little was left of my bindings is wiped away as the explosion collapses the distant doorway and throws me into a nearby column. Then the door behind us explodes as well, knocking me to my knees, leaving me with no health and ringing ears.

There's a moment of confusion as we all watch the gore strewn rubble spill to the ground. Is she trying to prevent his escape? Or everyone's?

Then people are moving everywhere. I'm barely able to make out Lord Thansome dodging slashes from Ivicka, who's drawn a pair of scimitars which she's using to harass him. She's mostly ignoring the Lordites who are in turn attempting to harass her. She's pushing the giant squid closer to where we've all collapsed on the floor.

As I'm standing, another shuddering shake runs through the floor, but this one doesn't come from within the room. Moments later I feel a shift in the tower below my feet. The feeling is disturbingly reminiscent of our first training challenge.

"What have you done?" Vethel cries out as she unleashes a burning blade at Ivicka's back. She's prevented from using any follow-up attacks when one of the Fallen leaps on her, literally exploding in a disturbing shower of gore as her blade is turned aside. It’s far too similar to when I yoink something without protecting it.

"Should we be helping?" I ask as Thansome brings a tentacle down on several Fallen, sending stone and viscera flying.

"This is above our weight class. We need to get out of here," Beth yells over the rumbling of the nearby battle. "Kid, can you make us an exit?"

"I'll try," I respond as we push up against the wall, trying to avoid the fighting. Smoulder is ready to launch herself into the fight, but I command her to get in my pocket. It's only after I explain that we're leaving that she accepts.

Reaching out with my magic, I find the stone is similar to my first efforts at the church, resistant to manipulation. But only resistant. And more importantly, it’s already loose. The explosions have ripped apart whatever was binding it. Realizing time is of the essence, I Pause then start shaping like crazy. Even with my skill, it still takes me three real-time seconds to carve a hole large enough for all of us to squeeze through. The tower's wall is over two meters thick.

"Not that it's going to matter, but I think we're going to need to fly," I inform Beth.

"Expected. Tipan first, try to catch me please," Beth instructs as the floor shifts beneath us again, a loud 'screee' sound reaching up from below, setting my teeth on edge.

Tipan nods as she blasts through, not waiting to be outside before she starts flying.

Beth is right behind her, diving through the hole in the wall right behind her.

I'm about to follow when I hear Vethel call from behind me, "Stop her. Stop the Forerunner!"

Not wanting them to catch me, and not stopping to ask how she knows I'm a Forerunner, I throw myself through the hole feet first without casting flight. The tower is tilted slightly, so it feels like I'm on a slide as I emerge in the air a longway up. I'm in free fall for a moment as I shoot out from the tower.

Then my reflexes kick in, hasting myself as I cast my flight spell.

Hmm. So good.

I'd have to fly up to join Beth and Tipan but the tower is giving another great lurch and groan, so I glance upwards. It's at this moment that I'm able to confirm it's falling. And of course, it's falling north, directly towards Roberts and Demo. As I watch, a single piece of the tower roars past, slamming into, then through, one of the nearby cabins.

So much for their powerful protections.

"Goddamnit! Let's move people," Beth screams, pointing at the inn where we left the others. Tipan doesn't hesitate, flying towards the inn before I'm able to decipher Beth's words.

Even as Beth's speaking, an alert pops up.

"Glimmering Sand's ownership has been contested. All users are recommended to vacate the stronghold until ownership has been decided."

As I read over the notice while following behind the others, I can't help but look back.

Through the hole in the wall, I can just barely make out Ivicka's distinctive orange fur. Without any sign of movement, her fur disappears.

Then I glance up. The looming tower is still moving towards us. Which is when I realize I don't have time to be distracted or to wait for Beth and Tipan.

Looking down, I plot a route that'll get me back to the inn using flight and teleport in tandem.

Time to hop, skip and fly my way across town.

Should be fun.

3.15 It's Raining Tower

12:34 pm, local time. (July 14, 2023, 6:34 pm.)

Even as the tower comes crashing down, I activate teleport, skimming down the side of the tower. It's a little tricky to manage, but I'm able to purposely appear roughly a metre above the tower. Not that I'm travelling along its surface long. As I near the bottom, I teleport to the furthest point I can reach.

Changing orientations is somehow worse than rocketing towards the ground, the sudden change in gravity nearly causing me to crash into the nearby building. Note to self, change directions thenteleport. Adjusting course, I start picking out the next landmark inside accelerated time. While I'm doing that, another piece of falling building appears ahead. It's eerie to watch, the car-sized block, ponderous as molasses as it slowly impacts the roof of a nearby cabin, this one holding. Then I'm beyond it, my next target in sight.

Despite the obstacles, I'm able to cross the entire distance to the inn in less than two real-time seconds.

Teleportation with hasted flight is awesome!

When I reach the Falcon's Catch, I grab the edge of the roof, flipping over like I imagine Rufka would. By using wind magic to guide my efforts, I'm able to make it smooth. Too bad there's no one to see it. Wasted coolness.

Right. Emergency.

Without hitting the ground, I barge inside. Herv isn't on his beanbag, so I head straight for Roberts and Demo's rooms. When I round the corner, I find Herv's already taken Roberts into his arms while Demo is on a pair of crutches behind them. Herv acknowledges me with a grunt, gesturing to Demo as he calmly strolls past me, Roberts slung over his shoulder.

"Good to see yeh. I take it shopping wasn't as smooth as yeh were hop…. eep," Demo starts as I lift him in the air with my wind magic.

"No time," I inform him, turning back. Herv's already out front by the time I catch up. I start to lift Roberts, same as I've got Demo, but Herv waves me off.

"He's a guest. I'll take care of him. Let's just get out of here," Herv grumbles while looking at another piece of the ruined tower.

Nodding, I watch him take off while I follow his gaze, glancing at the tower. It's looking worse than it was seconds earlier.

Despite all his feathers, Herv's flying looks the same as mine, completely magical. It's a little disappointing. As we launch ourselves into the air, I connect to Beth. "Herv is here. We've got Roberts and Demo."

"Good job kid. Now get the hell out of there. Goddamnit, I wish I knew where Josh was," the last part is mumbled under her breath, but still comes through the connection clearly.

"Yeah. Me too. We'll find him but first…" I don't finish speaking because I'm distracted by having to dodge another piece of collapsing tower. Good thing I'm keeping my eye on the sky.

"Agreed. Get clear. We'll find him after this is over," Beth instructs me. I'm about to leave with Demo when I notice Peme looking around in a panic down the street. Flying over to her, I don't ask before hoisting her into the air beside us.

"Ack. What? Why are we flying? What's going on? Miss Alexis?" she gasps out.

"Re-structuring management," I half-explain, pointing up to the tower above us before slipping into accelerated time. I'm about to rescue another K'tharn when they turn, slinging several lightning arrows at us. Deciding they can take care of themselves; I spend a considerable chunk of mana conjuring an earthen shield while booking it. Looking around, I notice there's outright fighting in the streets as the tower continues to crash down.

Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad time to be fighting?

Most of the K'tharn aren't fighting. There are entire groups who are running together away from the tower. Most are fast enough to escape, but several are rushing the wrong way and there's even one K'tharn who continues strolling along completely unconcerned.

The incongruity almost inspires me to investigate, but instead, I fly far outside the local area. I don't stop until we're over the nearby plains, where Beth suggests we gather. Without IFF it takes us nearly a minute of constant communication to find each other. There are a lot of flying K'tharn out here. So much for the rules against it. At least we're not the only ones.

While we're finding each other, the tower continues to shake and groan.

Not long after I've found Beth and Tipan, Herv reminds me that Roberts is still unconscious in his arms.

Reunited, we fly further afield, ensuring we've got plenty of space between us and the tower. And anything that might come out of the tower for that matter. We all look back at it as it refuses to collapse. Then as if our combined attention is the final straw, something snaps, sending a visible wave echoing through the air.

Despite our distance, the thundering boom still sends us reeling further away.

"I hope yeh found what we need. I imagine the market's going to be closed for a bit," Demo observes as I set him down next to Peme.

"Nah. I'm sure they'll have it up and running by tomorrow," I reply, laying the sarcasm on as thick as possible.

"Ha! Somehow, I doubt it, kid. Tipan did you want to take a crack at Roberts?" Beth asks, glancing back towards the stump of the tower while idly stroking her pocket. The pocket where she has the figurine of Josh tucked away.

"Of course. Can you set him down here?" Tipan requests.

Herv just grunts but is surprisingly gentle as he lays Roberts at Tipan's feet. It occurs to me that I could've created a table for them to use, but I don't want to interrupt Tipan's efforts. Not that I'm able to see what she's doing, other than holding her hand against his forehead. Nearly a minute after she's started, Roberts shifts. With a groan, Roberts opens his eyes to find me, Tipan and Beth crowded around him.

"That bad, huh?" he asks with a small cough before sitting up.

I squeeze his shoulder as Beth responds, "Yeah. Pretty bad. You okay?"

"I think so. Mostly. One second," Roberts closes his eyes. He sits like that for several seconds, then the tightness in his face disappears.

"It would appear I had mana-shock and a concussion. How's everyone else? Does anyone need help?" Roberts asks, searching our surroundings, causing me to smile.

"Kid's hurt, Demo's leg is messed up and Josh is missing. So, not exactly peaches and sunshine," Beth informs him, causing my smile to collapse into a frown. "Let's take care of Alexis first. Hopefully, she'll be able to find Josh once she's healed."

Even as he reaches to me, I'm hesitant to put my hand in his. This time it has nothing to do with Roberts.

I'm worried I've lost my connection to Rufka.

Probably not the most important concern, considering everything that's happening, but it's still on my mind. Doesn't stop me from giving him my hand, it just delays me for a half-second.

As Roberts takes my recently dust-covered hand in his, I feel the familiar wave of his healing wash over me, my Health returning to full in seconds. Then I feel the haze, the one that's been wrapped around my head like a crown, dissipate. Unfortunately, it's as I feared. My connection to Rufka is gone. My connection to everyone is gone.

"I believe that should do it," Roberts notes as he releases my hand before turning to consider Demo.

"Well, kid? What's your sense saying?" Beth asks as she steps closer.

"One second. It's been reset," I answer as I start making adjustments.

Luckily, the others are still in my party, so I'm able to connect to them immediately. When I do, awareness of their locations blossoms comfortably, like the summer sun peeking through the clouds. Funny how comforting feeling everyone's proximity has become.

There's a weird resistance when I attempt to connect to Josh. It feels like I'm trying to push through purple jello with a green balloon animal. Not that I’ve ever done that.

I'm not certain, but it feels as though there's something attempting to block the connection. So, I reinforce my attempt, drawing freely from my Facet and Focus pools.

In response, the connection snaps into place. It's so sudden, I stumble from the sudden lack of resistance, even though it was only mental. Once I've recovered, I know his direction. It's pointing straight at Beth.

Well, that's not what we wanted. Damn. Now I'm even happier we've got Roberts back on his feet. We're probably going to need him.

"I think… I think that Josh might…" I cut myself off as Beth steps closer, shifting to my right. When she moved, my sense of Josh didn't follow her. It's still pointed the same direction, somewhere to the northeast. It's not pointing to Beth.

More importantly, it's not pointing to the wooden figurine. Yay?

"Uhm. Nevermind. He's that way," I point with a shrug.

Beth pulls me in for a one-armed hug, "I knew that doll wasn't him. Just didn't feel right, you know?"

Now that I'm able to detect his presence with my mind again, I guess I kind of do know. That's probably not what Beth's talking about. Hehe.

"Yeah," I respond anyway, turning to regard where Roberts is still inspecting Demo. Whose leg seems to be getting even softer.

"No luck?" I ask, joining them.

"Nope," Demo responds cheerily, his toothpick snapping with the force of his grin. He sighs, drawing another toothpick while Roberts continues.

"Told ya. Best if you just cut it off then grow a new one," Herv comments, startling me. I'd actually forgotten he was here.

"That seems rather extreme. Especially given that I've only had a few moments to inspect his injury," Roberts responds, his voice flat as he shoos us away.

Herv grunts as we move away, Roberts calling out, "Tipan, can you answer some questions?"

Tipan waves in acknowledgement from where she and Beth were talking, striding past as I step away. As she kneels down next to Roberts, I move to join Beth and Peme.

"What are we going to do?" Peme says, her voice cracking as she waves into the distance, drawing my attention back to the tower. It's completely stable at this point, nothing left other than the stump. The remains of the upper portion of the tower are strewn all the way through the settlement, right through the centre of the Aetherium complex, stretching past the north end of the settlement.

"I'm not sure about you, but we have a friend to rescue. All this," Beth waves her hand back at Glimmering Sands, "isn't as important as getting him back."

"For you. We have friends and family here. And, what's left of our homes," Herv points out.

"Yes. And I imagine you'll want to see them just like we want to see Josh. Thank you for bringing Roberts, but we're going to be on our way shortly," she decides.

At this, I glance over at Roberts, Tipan and Demo. Demo's still down a leg but Roberts is getting him to walk between him and Tipan. I'm not certain, but it seems like Demo's putting weight on his leg.

"Hmm," Herv rumbles in response. Peme continues to wring her hands while pacing back and forth, her eyes locked on the greatly diminished tower. "I'm going back. Can I offer you a ride Lafew?"

"Yes. Please," Peme confirms, halting her pacing as she nods deeply. Then glancing over at me, she adds, "Thank you for getting me out, Alexis."

I wave it off as nothing as we make our goodbyes. Moments later they're in the air as Roberts pronounces the results of his inspection. "I believe its possible to restore Demo's leg but it's going to take time. I need a better understanding of his physiology, and what these strips are doing, first."

"Kid, can you share a codex?" Beth asks, her fiery hair blocking my view of her face since she's still staring in Josh's direction.

"I never got one for Phothens. Just for the Phothen Exploriat, whatever that is," I answer with a half-smile for Demo.

"It's the organization we operate under after we leave our world-ships," Demo explains, staring at me intensely. "I can't help but wonder what the System has to say about us."

"Not sure about the codex but my analysis says Phothen are explorers who prefer peace. It also implies you like your privacy," I reply after a quick review of his original analysis.

"About as detailed as what I received when I scanned yeh," Demo admits while taking another step on his cloth leg, stiffened by Roberts impromptu ice-cast.

"I think this might work," he adds, speaking to Roberts as he bounces on the leg slightly.

"Good. It's probably not as good as if you were skilled with Metal but hopefully, it shouldn't take much to keep it reinforced with ice," Roberts says, nodding.

"Real trick is going to be getting it to work with my boots," Demo remarks. A second later he fires off an experimental blast, his brows furrowed in concentration.

It's uneven but after a minute of practice, he's able to get himself under control.

While he's doing that, Beth retrieves her glider.

When she prepares to fly away from Glimmering Sands, Roberts speaks up. "Where are you going?"

"Alexis said Josh is that way," Beth answers, pointing in a direction that's almost accurate.

"There may be people who need our help," Roberts states, pointing to the shattered tower.

"They're probably… not too hurt. The Settlement should protect them from the worst of it. And for those, it doesn't. Well…" Tipan pauses, rubbing at her eyes, "It's too late for them."

"Like Tipan said. And there's not much we can do if Ivicka's there. We had a hard enough time dealing with a pack of dolls! And it's turning into a war zone back there," Beth shakes her head as she answers. As if to emphasize her point several cabins collapse in the distance, a vague figure rising from the wreckage.

"But shouldn't we help? What if it was the Aetherium who took Josh?" I ask, the figure disappearing as more buildings explode.

"What if they did? Why leave the doll? And how did they get it in the first place? No, it doesn't make sense. But neither does this. I was expecting us to need to go into the Aetherium fortress to retrieve him. Now? Now, I don't know what's going on," Beth admits.

"Speaking of the Aetherium, we have company," Tipan notes, staring into the sky, causing us to follow her gaze.

Flying towards us, alone but nonetheless a force to be reckoned with, is Asterix.

"We'll talk about this later. Let's fly people," Beth commands. This time, we're in the air immediately, flying away from the enormous dragon.

When we first spotted him, he was approaching us slowly, his emerald wings cutting through the air with measured strokes. When he notices us flying away from him, he accelerates, soaring forward.

In just a few short moments he halves the distance between us. At this rate, he’ll be on us before Tipan can activate her aspect.

"Looks like it's not going to be easy," Beth calls out. "kid, let's try Draco two."

Thinking back, I try to remember which plan was Draco two. Beth had a bunch of ideas for working as a group but we didn't get much of a chance to sort them out properly. Especially since she kept revising them.

I fly into position, away from the others. We haven't had the opportunity to practice the maneuver, but if I remember correctly, the idea is to use my mobility to confuse the dragon while the others attempt to injure him enough we can escape.

Or if we get really lucky, possibly take him out.

Pretty sure, I'm still supposed to get a few shots in, but given how fragile I am, Beth wants me to focus my efforts on keeping his attention and avoiding being knocked out of the sky.

As he approaches, I toss a pair of torrents at him, lightning and fire twining together in spiralling loops to crash in his face. For some reason, he collaborates with our plan, such as it is, roaring as he bears down on me.

Even as he gets close, I teleport up and away, ensuring he's only at the outer edge of my range. I fire off several Piercing arrows, not that I’m expecting to hit him with anything at this range. He's too fast, dodging out of the way with a flick of his wings as my spells pass beneath him.

The fact he doesn't just tank his way through my spells is kind of reassuring. I'm sure Ivicka wouldn't bother dodging.

His roar splits the sky as he pivots towards me. I fly away from him for a few seconds, his roar sounding closer and closer. Then as I feel heat approaching my back, I slip away through another port. At the same time, his roar cuts out, changing to more of a whine. Turning back, I see that he's spinning in place, trying to dodge the near-invisible projectiles tearing holes in his wings.

I can make out the others in the distance but Beth's nowhere to be seen. As yet another hole appears in his wing, Asterix unleashes a gout of emerald flame.

Invisible as she was, Asterix was able to work out Beth's location, her form suddenly wreathed in flame. Her glider disintegrates as she falls from the sky.

On the plus side, he's so focused on Beth, he's forgotten me.

Using the latest trick in my toolkit, I disappear.

I don't just go invisible, I teleport closer, appearing directly under them. Then I Pause time. Not exactly according to plan, but then neither was Beth getting caught out.

First objective: catch Beth. Given the still crackling flames, water's the best choice. I almost drown her in the relatively gentle conjured torrent. Once it's in place, I turn my attention away, knowing I'll have plenty of time to catch up with her.

Now that I've bought Beth time, and with Asterix distracted, I set up a crossfire of torrents, arrows and disks, mixing the elements to hopefully maximize the effect of Elemental Cascade. My spells start crossing the intervening space, the first starting to land before I've finished casting the last, despite the delay of being in paused time.

Then, right as Pause is about to expire, I fly out from under him, snagging Beth from my impromptu waterspout.

The resulting maelstrom turns out to be effective, the dragon is held aloft by the pure fury of the assault, its body wracked by over two dozen different spells. When the effects fade, he starts plummeting to the ground.

I'm about to follow him down to ensure I've finished the job when Tipan calls out. Roberts is fending off several attackers with his shields while Demo freezes them in place and Tipan shatters them. But that doesn't seem to be her concern. I'm not able to understand her words, but she's pointing back at Glimmering Sands. Behind us, I spot the familiar shape of Aetherium gliders moving towards us. There's over a hundred of them.

Thankfully, they're a lot slower than we are. Without Asterix, they'll have no chance of catching us. Especially if Tipan can conjure her aspect of wind.

And our brief encounter with Cristha proved that they're not all like Ivicka. Sparing one last glance for the ruins of Glimmering Sands in the distance, I reach into my pocket to pet Smoulder as we join the others who've dealt with their attackers. More Fallen lie broken beneath their feet, their essence collected with nary a thought.

Looking down at Beth's unconscious body, I sigh. I don't know what Ivicka's after, but Beth's right. We're still not ready.

For now, we'll find Josh.

And then we'll find a way to stop her.

3.16 Discouraging Pursuit

1:15 pm, local time. (July 14, 2023, 7:15 pm.)

Even flying at full speed, some of the Aetherium gliders start gaining on us. Since I'm not able to safely harass our unwelcome tagalongs while carrying Beth, I just watch as Tipan and Demo move to deal with them.

Tipan sends a couple of wind torrents, scattering them. Then Demo tosses a grenade that locks at least three of them in ice, leaving them unable to follow. The explosion was the size of a football field yet it only created ice when it hit something solid.

Totally epic.

With pursuit discouraged, we continue until Roberts informs us he's recovered enough Reprieve to heal Beth. Who has all of our healing items tucked away in her inventory.

Not our best bit of planning, that.

With over an hour since the last sighting of the Aetherium forces, we decide to risk landing while Roberts checks on Beth while I face an unpleasant truth.

Josh is in bigger trouble than I thought. I've tried connecting to him, but he's bound and trussed. I'm not certain if he's even conscious, everything is muted compared to before. Literally the only thing I'm able to determine is his direction. It's incredibly frustrating. Connecting to the others has never been like this before. I was able to connect normally to Tipan, so I know it's not me.

With everything else cut off, I've been trying to at least determine distance through triangulation. By flying to the side, so far I lost sight of the others, I'd been hoping to find a new angle. However, even several kilometres parallel to our original heading, my connection still indicates the same direction. Which implies either my connection is broken, or Josh is a long way away.

Now that we've landed and Roberts is going to have a chance to heal her, Beth will be regaining consciousness.

Which means, I'm going to have to break the news.

Where's a bunch of frenzied Fallen when you need them?

We're watching Roberts healing Beth on a summoned table when Tipan sighs as she turns, looking back in the direction of Glimmering Sands. "I hope she's okay."

"Ivicka?" I ask with a grunt of disbelief. Ivicka could probably have thrown half that tower at us. And probably would have. But I guess she's still Tipan's sister.

"Ha!" Tipan snorts. "That meathead will survive far worse than whatever she's up to here. No. I'm worried about Livi. And Methila too." Tipan flops down on the grass next to me. Smoulder uses the opportunity to launch herself onto Tipan's lap, prompting an 'oof' followed by several giggles.

"Yeah. It seemed pretty crazy back there. I hope everyone's okay."

"I'd never have expected it. There hasn't been a fight between the Lords of the Deep and the Aetherium in over a hundred years. And that was over a trade dispute." Tipan shakes her head while giving Smoulder the requisite head-scritches. "I don't understand what Ivicka's doing. Why would she start a war over an ocean-bordered stronghold? She'll never be able to hold it. Especially not this far from the Aetherium's borders."

"War? You think this is going to start a war?"

"I can't see the Lords reacting any other way. She attacked without so much as a System notice. Even if Ivicka's acting on her own, we'll all be blamed. A lot of innocent people are going to die as a result of her actions today."

"Huh. Hard to believe they'd go to war over a small settlement like that. Especially since most of the people there were K'tharn."

"Small? Glimmering Sands is one of the largest communities outside of Aethire."

I stare at Tipan as my mind tries to process her statement. There couldn't have been more than a few thousand K'tharn in the entirety of the settlement. Do most people live in their capital?

"Not that most of the K'tharn will remain there. It doesn't matter who wins, half the buildings were in ruins. And whatever protections were active will take a month to return. They'll run. I would."

"What? Won't they fight back?"

"Against who? Ivicka could wipe them out with a casual wave of her hand," Tipan snaps out, waving her own hand for emphasis. "And then turn them into Fallen. Those who reside under a Lord's protection have chosen a life that doesn't revolve around battle."

Demo's voice drifts over our shoulders, "Just another of the System's faults. Not much we can do for them till we're able to stand up to your sister ourselves. Her followers aren't impressive but from what yeh've said, we're little better."

As Demo's talking, I watch the moving clouds drift into the west. There are several dots barely visible above the horizon. At first, I think they're birds. Curious, I zoom in with twilight lenses. I'm able to discern a dozen Aetherium gliders.

"We're stronger than most. Since I've met Alexis and the others, I've started to wonder why my people are so weak." Tipan conjures a stone arch in front of her, then lets it crumble.

I continue inspecting the Desh’ila above as she sighs again. No sign of Ivicka, so I'm sure we could disable them with little risk. From the way Tipan's described Aetherium Flights, unless they have a dragon-rider or a glider-less flyer, our current strength should be enough to handle them. It seems like they're more effective against monsters than people.

"Perhaps they've-" Demo is interrupted as Roberts calls out, "she's waking up."

When Beth wakes, her first reaction is rolling off the table while pulling her pistol, using the table as cover. Beth doesn't say anything, instead, scanning our surroundings before brushing herself off after holstering her pistol. "You kept moving once I was out. Good."

"Speaking of moving, now yeh're up, we should be on our way. They're still out there," Demo notes, approaching her with a slightly uneven wobble, his frozen leg crunching with each step.

"Indeed?" Roberts scans the horizon while Smoulder hops over to wave her fluffy tail in Beth's face. And making sure she's warm. Not because she's worried about Beth or anything. She just wants to remind her that the dragon's not the only one capable of fire.

"Yeah. They're on the horizon now. Just gliders though." I follow Smoulder to Beth, giving Beth a hug while retrieving my fire-happy bunny.

"Thanks, kid. No sign of Josh yet?"

I can feel the weight of everyone's eyes turn towards me as I shrug, "Not yet. I think…. I think he's at least a couple days away."

Beth stares at me, her emerald eyes narrowing. Then she nods before turning to Tipan, "Do we have time to break out the map?"

Wait. That's it? I thought she'd be way more upset.

Tipan glances back at the gliders before shrugging, which sets her mohawk waving. "Probably. But I'd rather put more distance between us first. The map lacks reinforcement, I'd prefer not risk it."

"Okay," Beth waves it off. "Where's my glider?"

"Uh. It didn't make it," I explain, grimacing at the memory of her and the glider getting bathed in flames. I didn't even try to recover the remains.

"There wasn't much left, most of it went up in flames. But Lex caught you. Not only did she catch you, she's carried you for the last hour." Tipan is beaming at me, causing my cheeks to blush.

"Finished the dragon off too. Was an almost acceptable explosion," Demo adds, further ratcheting up my embarrassment.

"Thanks, kid." Beth grips my shoulder firmly. I nod at her as she shifts focus, handing out some of the healing objects. "Should've done this earlier, but who knew we'd need them so soon."

I'm given a feather enchanted to restore health when filled with mana. Its healing effect is proportional to the mana supplied at a rate of five health per mana. It's guaranteed for at least two uses. As Beth's explaining the feather's functions, I can't help but compare it to Tipan's recently acquired conversion skill.

While we've been distributing the healing items, the Aetherium gliders haven't moved closer. Or at least not to a degree I can discern.

When I mention it to Beth she shrugs. "Okay people, Let's see if we can't shake these fuckers."

Thus stated, Beth has us fly all out. This time, instead of being carried in my elemental grip, Beth rides strapped to Roberts back. I'm deployed at the back under cover of invisibility maintaining awareness of the gliders. Even under the benefits of Tipan’s aspect, they remain behind us, right on the edge of my magnified sight.

Half an hour later, Beth calls a halt.

"They're still there," I confirm when she looks at me.

Beth nods then pulls out her lawn chair. Raising an eyebrow, I collapse into my own earthen chair. This time with sod still intact as an experiment in comfort.

"What about Josh? Feel any closer?"

Shaking my head, I can't help but feel useless again. I know there's one way I could get improved info but it's a non-starter. My Return spell could get me far enough away to get a better read. The coordinates are still set to the tree in the forest. Not only that, I've still got the original version for returning to the standing stones. The only problem is I'd have to go alone. I can't exactly teach the others how to cast a spell empowered with Facet.

This is why I need to improve teleport. I really should’ve spent more time studying it instead of playing with invisibility and fireball.

If I could bring the others with me, presto, problem solved.

"We can't keep heading directly into Aetherium territory. And we need to shake our pursuit," Tipan points out.

"Yeh have an idea?" Demo prompts while rolling a grenade up and down his intact leg.

Tipan nods, drawing us all in as she explains her thoughts.

I smile as she continues. Too bad Rufka's not here.

She'd like this plan.

Another blast of lightning flies overhead as I teleport away from Tipan, cackling as I throw out bright disks of fire wildly. None of them hit their targets, but that's the goal. The point is to keep their attention, not to take them out. My favourite aspect of this plan has to be the fact, laughing like a crazy person isn't just okay, it's exactly what we need.

The lightning is a bit of improvisation on the part of our unwitting dance partners. They're not exactly pleased with us at the moment. We haven't hurt them. Much.

But we're still dodging amongst them, ensuring none of them split off to follow the others. It's amazing how much more maneuverability we have comparatively. Their gliders are fast but I can literally fly circles around them.

And Smoulder's making it even harder on them, bouncing around as if this is just another obstacle course. It took longer to explain to her that we didn't want to hurt them than it did to come up with the plan.

Tipan's idea was simple. The others would fly away while she and I would remain hidden at our landing site. While Tipan wasn't able to just go invisible as I did, it turns out it's not the first time she's had to hide in plain sight. Using a touch of earth magic, she passed as a pile of dirt. In the meantime, Beth took Tipan's image, flying off with Roberts and Demo.

The original plan had been to ambush and delay them when they got close. But that had been if they'd continued flying overhead. Luckily, one of their members must have been suspicious as they barked out orders to stop to investigate our rest area. As half of their squadron landed, I froze time. I was able to bury five of them before they had time to react. Tipan managed to get the last one, impressing me.

I mean, I'm operating at insane speeds through my amazing resource. Tipan's using an element she's only started learning recently yet she's reacting at a fifth of my enhanced speed.

The panicked cries from the mostly buried squad members caused the remaining flyers to scramble. So Tipan and I hardened our encasements then took to the sky, harassing them. I was slightly worried at first. We'd decided to keep things nonlethal but we hadn't received any assurances the Desh’ila would do the same.

Then they grazed me with one of their spells and I realized they can't do real damage to me.

But we can't let them know they're ineffective, or they may call in the big guns too quickly. So instead, we've been dodging spells as we fly back towards Glimmering Sands. We've been flitting around and harassing them for over ten minutes now. Their frustration is making it progressively easier to evade their ill-timed attacks.

Another blast of lightning from the vocal K'tharn, who I'm pretty sure is their leader, brings me out of my thoughts as I spin with a flourish to narrowly dodge her attack. I'm trying not to let her realize how easily I could be evading.

Seriously, it's like they're not even trying.

"Lex, I think our time is coming to an end," Tipan calls out, spinning about after being hit by a blast of wind. Ha. As if their wind spells would hurt her. Not only is it one of her key strengths, she's fortified with a healthy dose of moonshine. She manages to make it look like a real hit though.

She's so successful that if I couldn't see her health, I'd think she was really hurt.

But that's my cue to cut the laughter. Because Asterix is approaching.

I thought we were recovering quick, but he's a hundred times our size and is already catching up.

Wait. Is he….?

His scales have molted, his once lustrous emerald hue now dark and uneven. It would seem Ivicka's not willing to allow anything, even a loyal companion, to rest in peace.

There's a visible sliver of green that splits the sky as he blurs forwards through the air towards us.

This was not part of the plan. I mean, I could probably take him, but after what happened to Beth, we've agreed none of us should stay too close to any dragon. A single hit could take any of us out. And who knows how Ivicka making him Fallen has affected him.

"Fallen dragon incoming," I inform Tipan as I dart towards where she's falling from the sky, Smoulder landing on my shoulder.

"I see it. Ready?"

"The moment you are," I answer as we land.

Even the leader of the flight seems unnerved at the approach of Asterix. I can hear her ordering her remaining flyers away as he roars.

Asterix is closing fast as Tipan and I complete our spells.

The sight of a dark-green flame building in his throat is the last thing I see before we disappear.

The familiar sight of the four-piece table and under-tree chamber greet us as we appear safely, several days travel away.

Turns out I'm not the only one with Return. While the rest of us were picking up the System's version of life assurance, Tipan used one of her points to purchase the ability from the shop. She'd mentioned it at some point but I'd been distracted by a certain other K'tharn.

"We're clear," I tell Beth. It's expensive at this distance, but no more than calling Rufka. Which is another thing I should be able to solve. With access to Raz's, I can invite Rufka to a party to restore our connection.

But first.

The connection remains intact, allowing me to lock on. Turning in place, I gauge the direction to Josh.

When I stop, Tipan's rubbing her chin, her map out. She matches my facing with the line we had from before, tracing a pair of lines until they meet.

It's not perfect but it's enough for us to know one thing for certain. If Josh isn't in the Aetherium capital, he's damn close.

Looks like we're heading to Aethire earlier than planned.

3.17 One Small Step

3:52 pm, local time. (July 14, 2023, 8:52 pm.)

The entangling roots of the Nexus point barely register as we prepare ourselves for the next step. During one of our practice sessions a couple days ago, I'd explained how my teleportation worked to Tipan while we'd been trying to use it as a basis for invisibility. At the time it'd been a dead end, even with my notes from the tower. Cause I still haven’t figured out how to target outside my immediate vicinity.

While it hadn't helped at the time, it occurred to Tipan as we were running, that I could use my IFF to teleport to the others. As we were hashing out the details of our impromptu escape plan, this had been the key component for regrouping.

If it didn't work, then we'd be stuck waiting for the others to catch up. Which means there's no better time to start practicing. I cast one lingering gaze on the doorway to Raz's but remind myself that Rufka isn't expecting me to contact her for hours yet anyway.

Tipan and I spread out while Smoulder perches on a nearby branch, watching with detached curiosity as I prepare to throw myself at Tipan.

Reaching out, I grasp the tether established by IFF, then, piggybacking on the tether, I create the spatial link I use for teleportation. Taking a deep breath, I nod to Tipan.

She conjures a barrier of wind, prepared to catch me.

Initiating the tug, I'm soaring over her head a moment later. Then I’m wrapped in a bush located not far behind her. It's even worse than my first effort back in the Yrken ship.

"You seem to have missed," Tipan notes with a soft chuckle.

"Yeah. Accuracy is hard," I note as I pull my arm out of a thorn bush with spikes the size of my finger. Yet they only tickle, hardly pressing against my Health edge. This is no Josh level thorn bush.

Picking myself up, we continue the experiment. I'm trying to use Tipan as my only anchor, so the solution I came up with last time won't work. Unless I'm able to create several anchors on Tipan herself.

The basic test I perform when I visually attach several anchors to Tipan confirms that yes, it's enough to increase my accuracy. But it doesn't help through the IFF link since it only connects to a single spot. And when I try connecting them to her blindly, I end up forming tethers that are lost in the surrounding forest. Hmm. Creating tethers without guidance isn't much better.

If only I could see from her perspective.

…..

Wow. Sometimes, I'm an idiot.

Warning her, I let Tipan know I'm going to be connecting directly to her perspective. It's not as strange as I expected, though it's a little unsettling when she rubs her lower arms together while leaning on her staff with her upper arms.

Ignoring the extra sensations, I use the connection to create tethers. It works so perfectly I'm able to arrive next to her with my arm wrapped over her shoulder.

"Well. That's a noticeable improvement," Tipan remarks, her voice a perfect deadpan. Harsh.

"Yeah. But it's only the first step," I agree while staring at Smoulder. Why is it so easy to bring Smoulder with me when I teleport?

Is it her size or something else?

Tipan and I spend the next half hour continuing to work on my teleport. I check with Beth every few minutes, making sure that the others are still safe until she suggests that I check back every hour instead. Unless we make some real progress of course.

I'm about to interrupt our practice to contact Rufka when Tipan asks, "have you tried using your special abilities on others? Offensively, I mean."

Her question causes me to freeze in place. "Uhm. Just the yoinking. It’s not pretty."

"They could be potent as they seem to ignore a lot of rules," Tipan notes.

"Yeah," I murmur back. Even though I'm immune to fear, the idea of experimenting with my abilities on a living being that isn’t leaping at my face with malicious intent unsettles me.

"Maybe you could try experimenting on a tree or something," Tipan suggests, gesturing to the bush I just climbed out of.

That's… that's a great idea!

"Just remember Mr. Bush, you started it. What am I saying? I don't owe you an explanation," I proclaim, waving my arm grandly as I attempt to wrap the bush in one of my stasis-shields. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. I envision shielding runes around it connected through a tether but the field collapses inwards the moment my Facet completes the pattern.

It takes me several tries until I realize that when I use the shield on myself, my mana channels are an integral part of the barrier. Mr. Bush is completely lacking any such mana channels.

So, I guess that means I need to create a suitable substitute.

I spend several minutes trying to create a proper structure but they all collapse.

"No luck?" Tipan asks as I join her in the shelter of the tree where she's been waiting.

"None. My shield keeps collapsing as soon as I try to form it."

"Hmm. What have you tried? Maybe if we…"

Tipan and I spend the next five minutes going over different runes. Our first attempts fail until we incorporate the open cardboard box rune. My first test proves it's not perfect, the spell not covering the entirety of the bush. And it's expensive to maintain.

But it's progress.

Besides, I don't need to teleport Mr. Bush, he's just a nice easy target. Still, Tipan and I keep working together, trying different combinations, referencing the notes from the tower. We come up with several different rune structures that each encompass different shapes and sizes. Turns out that creating shields is a rather modular process but there's a general rule that circles take less mana per volume.

The first time I studied Return the entire spell surrounded me, circles composed the structure from top to bottom. It was practically a cocoon, just formed of mana instead of whatever cocoons are normally made of. Is a cocoon a silk-like or skin-like substance? Or are they just chewed up leaves?

Adding that to the list of google questions for when we make it home, I return my attention to our experiments.

While shields prefer circles, they're not against being morphed into blobby shapes. Tipan and I continue experimenting until we create a shape that should allow me to teleport everyone with me. The final shape doesn't incorporate blobs at all. While the blob shapes are interesting, the costs make a starfish shield into a dead-end. That I'm able to notice the cost at the short ranges we're practicing at is a bad sign.

Instead, we've simply expanded the range of the bubble of my self-shield, reinforcing with several of the box runes to expand the circle outwards.

"Okay. It seems to be stable. Wish me luck."

"Good luck." Tipan gives me four thumbs up while stepping back, Smoulder on her shoulder. Next to me stand five earthen statues, the rough features overlaid with bold numerals. My very own crash test dummies.

Safety first!

The connection forms and the pressure is greater, but I emerge a dozen metres away from my starting position. The statues are standing beside me as planned. Except most of them are missing miscellaneous parts.

That was Tipan's idea.

Each statue was placed at varying distances from the centre of the circle. The furthest statue who was three quarters shielded is missing its head and one of its arms. The edge is sharp enough that it'd probably draw blood if I wasn't protected by the system. If I used this as a weapon…

It's surprisingly easy for me to picture the statue as a person, their limbs sloughing to the side. Unpleasant.

"Well. That's quite the impetus to be fully inside the shield." Tipan hefts the remaining 'head' in her hands, watching it crumble. Each of the other statues except the 'control' are missing pieces as well.

"Yeah. Did you see any way to add colour or something? It'd be nice if the boundaries weren't invisible. I'd rather not cut anyone's head off on accident." I reform the crippled statues as I speak, moving them completely inside the safe area for the next test.

"A second spell maybe? Adding colour to my spells hasn't been something I've needed. That's more-" Tipan's words are cut off as I teleport. Her voice is much closer when I re-appear surrounded by my test dummy honour guard behind her. "-a twi-whoa!"

Grinning at her, I continue, moving away with my regular teleport while leaving the statues posing heroically before her. "Twilight huh, like this?"

A glowing ring of dusky light springs into place. It's much simpler than the actual bubble surrounding us, only showing three concentric rings. Even so, it provides a clear delineation between inside and out. For safety, I add in a small margin of ten centimetres.

"Yes, that should-" Tipan's not surprised when I appear in front of her this time, giving me a light shove shortly after I arrive. "That should work."

"Yeah. Now I just need to test it on some local wildlife. No offence but I'd rather not use you as a test subject." I'm already scanning the area, searching for a likely target. There are a surprising number of songbirds in the area, but I'd rather not subject such an innocent creature to my experiments either.

Even if it'd be safer than trying it with one of the jaguar-esque predators I'm looking for. But unless I find a mana-borne, the Vexthera are the only targets I feel comfortable using.

"You realize how potent this could be?" Tipan asks, gesturing to the arm from the mauled statue from earlier. "There are very few creatures with resistances to spatial magic."

"Yeah. Trying not to think about it," I answer. I mean, sure, this could be helpful for confronting Ivicka. A way to do the sorts of damage she'd otherwise shrug off.

But it’s worse than yoinking things.

It’s just too… close.

Too dangerous.

"I'm going to keep testing," I inform her, porting away before she can respond. I'm ten jumps into my hasty retreat when I stumble across a Vexthera.

It's sprawled across the branch above me, its dark tail flicking back and forth as it judges me with its amber eyes.

The way its eyes remain locked on me causes me to hesitate. Do I really want to experiment with an innocent creature like this?

I almost don't notice when the feline's muscles begin to contract. In fact, it's only the tail growing still that clues me in.

Before I can process what's happening, there are hundreds of kilos of angry kitty flying towards my face.

So, I do what I always do these days. I Pause time then consider how I'm going to handle this. At least this solves my moral quandary. I've zero issues with experimenting, now that it's attacked me.

A burst of wind manipulation places me next to its frozen form. I pulse my twilight safety margins spell. When it reveals that I would have been cutting all its whiskers and half its nose off, I push myself slightly closer to the murder cat.

Once I'm certain it's within the bounds of my spell, I unleash my power, sending us moving a whole five metres. With my Pause ended by the teleport, I slip into invisibility. I only take a couple accelerated seconds to inspect the Vexthera before teleporting out of its immediate reach.

My caution is rewarded when it spins in place shredding the air where I'd been standing.

Which is a good sign. If it's slashing the air, then it's not injured. It only spends half a minute investigating the area before it leaps away. Worried that there might be hidden damage, I teleport after it.

I follow the Vexthera for ten minutes before I accept that if I did any damage to it, it's likely of the undetectable kind. And theoretically healable by Roberts. It's not missing any of its limbs and isn't showing any signs of pain, so I'm calling this a success. No notification from the system that I've created a new spell though.

Returning to Tipan, I find her in the meeting room beneath the tree. In her hands she has a weathered book, its pages crinkling as she peruses it, pausing when she notices me. As I join her, she sets the book aside but not before I read the title, 'A Guide to Embedding Mental Signatures.' The Vausian characters have a sloppiness that implies they're handwritten. And not by a skilled calligrapher.

"How was the testing?" Tipan asks while placing her hands on the book in front of her.

"Found a Vexthera. It survived the teleport."

"Then the next step is clear." The book vanishes into one of Tipan's pockets as she stands, walking to the circle where we performed the first test. "Well?"

It's hard to remain calm. Despite the testing, I still feel a vague sense of unease as I place the barrier around us.

"Okay. Ready?" I ask, hoping she'll say no.

"Ready." Tipan nods as she clasps my hands in hers.

I pulse the safety warning, receiving visual confirmation that she shouldn't lose so much as a single strand from her mohawk. Then I pulse it again. Just in case.

Okay, here goes. This is the game-changer. If this works for my short hops, it's only a small amount of work to incorporate it into invisibility. And then Return.

The familiar twisting happens and we emerge a few short metres away. I sigh in relief when Tipan emerges wholly unscathed. I'm still sighing when Tipan starts jumping around excitedly. "It works. It really works. Do it again!"

I can't help but smile at her enthusiasm. So, I repeat the process until Tipan lets go of my hands, collapsing against a nearby tree, her soft tinkling laughter filling the clearing.

"That's so much better than System teleportation. It almost feels like flying, a sudden rush of movement, then bam, you're there."

Not quite what I experience, but then, not everyone is able to distort their perspective of time like I do.

"I'm just glad it worked. Would’ve been challenging if we had to wait for them to find their way back to us."

"Except we have to confirm you're able to do retrieve them. This wouldn't be the first spell I've seen that works at short range but breaks down if pushed too far."

"Guess it's back to the test dummies then," I sigh, summoning new earthen statues. Next step is incorporating it with invisibility which turns out to be as easy as modifying the spell form.

"This spell might not be so great for stealth," Tipan notes, poking at where one of the statues disappears halfway down its body.

I have to agree, it's not perfect. It even makes parts of the nearby trees fade from sight. It the sort of thing that would stand out more than just hiding.

On the other hand…

"It works as a proof of concept," I point out as I let the spell drop.

"True. I'd say it's enough."

"Just a couple more tests," I state as I try to improve the globe by excluding objects. But it's like using the blobs to shape the basic spell, the mana cost climbs rapidly for each exclusion.

"Lex. I think we've done enough tests. You should get the others." Tipan points her staff in their general direction.

"Just one more." I stop playing with invisibility then start making changes to my Return spell. When I'm done, I move off from the circle with my loyal test dummies. Then I implement the spell. Unlike my regular teleport, this time there's a major issue. One of the statues is superimposed with one of the tables.

"Damn. Okay, you're right. More tests are probably a good idea." Tipan prods the statue with her staff and we watch it collapse.

"Yep."

After an hour and more than a dozen attempts to solve the transposing issue, we're still struggling to fix the spell when Tipan asks, "Couldn't we just push the tables back?"

I'm about to object when I realize that we don't need the spell to work perfectly yet. Retrieving the others is more important.

"Yeah. We should probably just do that. But I'd like to fix this after."

"Well, perhaps Beth or Demo will have an idea. Or we might find something in your books. Either way, you should let them know we're just about ready."

Nodding, I connect to Beth, reinforcing the connection with Focus since I'm low on Facet. "Looks like we've got an area-based Return spell figured out," I tell her while taking in her surroundings. More plains.

"Excellent kid. How long?"

"Should be ready to come to you in…. Twenty minutes if I end the call now. It'll be easier to teleport if you're on the ground at the time."

"Will do. See you in twenty, kid." When I let the connection end, I get a couple of flashes. They're not full-on memories but I can feel Beth's concern for Josh and I. Also, a general sense of relief.

While I was talking with Beth, Tipan's kept busy by moving the tables against the walls. We finish tidying up the area by moving the remaining dirt from the bisected test dummy outside the circle.

With that done, Tipan returns to her book while I start experimenting with invisibility. I want to call Rufka but since I'd have to leave the party, then reconnect my IFF to her while spending a bunch of Facet for the call, I wait.

Instead, I settle for playing with my invisibility sphere. One hundred percent Mana based, and still fun besides. Smoulder's poking her leg through the edge, watching as it disappears then quickly hopping away before returning to try it again.

Twenty minutes later, I let Tipan know I'm leaving. I connect to Beth then teleport hundreds of kilometres in a single thought.

As I appear beside my friends, I can't help but notice the sound of a crackling fire. Beth hands me a kebab with freshly grilled meat as Demo and Roberts join us.

Once we're finished eating, we gather in a circle, each of them well within the glowing rings of twilight. Beth turns to me, her hand grasping my shoulder.

"So kid, ready to bust this continent-wide open?"

"You have no idea," I answer as I send us back to the safe confines of the roots of Nexus point 392.

There's none of the disorientation or vomiting that accompanied Tipan's group teleport. While everyone oohs and awws our success I stride towards Raz's door.

I can't wait to tell Rufka.

3.18 Wake me up

7:23 pm, local time. (July 15, 2023, 12:23 am.)

Raz's door swings open, the noise tangible as I cross the threshold. Raz is sitting at his stage, playing his guitar again, though this time he's joined by several other creatures, creating a more complete experience. There's an insectile creature who stands out, a beetle with a membrane between its massive legs. They're playing the membrane, running a soft rod across the edge, producing a sound similar to a well-tuned violin. I listen for a moment when the others emerge from the door behind me.

"Hey, Beth. I lost my connection to Rufka when I was messed up. I'm going to leave the party so I can contact her again," I inform Beth while Roberts waves down the multi-limbed (tentacled?) waitress, Amanana.

"Okay kid. Don't take too long. I'd like to get going as soon as I get my new wings from Raz."

"Kay," I respond before crossing directly to the change room as Tipan follows the others in.

There's another of those beetle people entering the room when I arrive. Their feet click on the floor as they close the door behind them. I reach out, but the door remains closed for a couple of seconds before responding to my touch. I guess it takes time to switch instances. Whatever the reason, a second later the door clicks open.

I stare at the bath with longing but prioritize talking to Rufka, opening the system interface.

Okay, first. Ensure all my existing connections are in place. Yep, still know where everyone is, cool.

Next, leave the party.

Pacing back and forth, I focus on wanting to leave the party.

"You're about to leave 'Beth's Group'. Please confirm. Y/N?"

Sending my mental assent, I access the message center in the system Nexus when a new notification appears. I almost ignore it but then my brain processes the first word.

"Wyonna has invited you to join her group. Do you accept? Y/N?"

It's with some trepidation that I accept the prompt. There's a slight delay but then Wyonna's name appears on the party screen. However, all her information is grayed out, other than her name.

I wait for a second but there's no sign of notifications telling me she's back.

Turning to my trusty companion, I say, "You won't believe this Smoulder, but I just got a party invite from Wyonna. How crazy is that?"

Instead of responding, Smoulder tilts her head to the side while reminding me that we're in the playroom but the obstacle course is missing.

Rolling my eyes, I set up a simple but challenging course for her using wind platforms that are invisible with lavafalls interspersed throughout.

As I'm finishing Smoulder's obstacle course, I check my notifications again. This time I'm rewarded with a new message, though it's not quite what I expected.

"Wyonna has offered to transfer the 'Group Owner' role to you. Do you accept? Y/N?"

"Yes!" I yell at my notifications.

Even as it accepts my response, I resume pacing as I wait, hoping for another message.

A minute later, nothing.

What's going on? Why would she give me leadership permissions?

Okay, stop and think Alexis. There are only two functions that owners have that everyone else doesn't. At least according to Tipan. The first being that only the group owner can invite new people to the group. Which isn't going to help since Wyonna's already in my group.

That leaves the second function. But I'm not certain what use having control over the chat and voice channels is. Especially when I don't have either of those…

It can't be that easy? Could I just buy the ability then be able to talk to Wyonna again?

I mean, I've been saving my Integration points lately. Mostly for emergency resurrection recharges. Not that we've received many since the races stopped giving easy points and I completed my manipulation skills quest.

Which means most of the points I could spend are from shards. I still have a fair amount, but not as many as I should. When Josh went down, I forgot to loot most of the ant-hoppers and dolls.

Speaking of which.

Yep, there's a quest.

"Quest received: Gotta slay em all - Ant-Hopper! Description: Kill the remaining ant-hoppers from the pack that attacked your group. Requirements: 56/512 ant-hoppers slain. Reward: iron rank Integration points based on your contribution; variable. Time: 3/3 days."

Huh. No quest for the dolls. Weird. Also, that's a lot of ant-hoppers.

I seriously doubt we'll be hunting down the rest of those ant-hoppers at this point. Does that mean I'm not going to get any rewards?

Anyway, not important.

Converting a couple points worth of mana shards to Integration points, I buy the party chat function. The second I make the purchase, I facepalm. I didn't even try to connect with her directly.

"Wyonna?" I mentally send, watching the words appear in a visible chat window. I'm able to shrink and enlarge the text as much as I want while still being able to read it. Which makes me wonder, can I receive the messages directly?

Before I'm able to continue my experiment, I receive a message.

(Wyonna) "Alexis! Did it really work?! Ohthankgod. I wasn't sure you'd get my invite while in your group."

I lean against the nearby tub in relief as I ask, "Are you okay Wyonna? You kind of disappeared there."

(Wyonna) "I think so. Most of my internals are fine but I'm trapped in the training room with most of my System access unresponsive. It's unsettling being so blind and deaf. What happened?"

"New quest triggered anti-corruption protocols. Which apparently included you," I inform her while filling the tub. This conversation is going to take time. Might as well use it to my advantage.

(Wyonna) "Anti-corruption protocols? Oh. Wow. That's… well, at least you figured out how to contact me right away. Was this related to the summoners?"

"Right away? Wyonna, it's been eight days," I respond, testing the water then raising the temperature when it feels chilly.

(Wyonna) "Really. Okay, this is worse than I thought. That means I'm in some kind of containment that's messing with my perception of time. I can't believe we're dealing with these measures. Akilo should have been clean. It's a sealed world for crying out loud!"

"Yeah, I don't know what most of that means. But the quest wants us to deal with the summoner which should let you out. Unfortunately, we've got other problems. Someone stole Josh." The last sentence almost makes me feel bad about sliding into my bath. Almost.

(Wyonna) "But you're able to track him, right?"

"Well, yeah. But we have to get him back."

(Wyonna) "Right. Uhm. So, couple of things you should know. You might have figured it out already but all your Forerunner conditions weren't technically system approved. Part of why I chose a sealed world was its antiquated system."

"Yep, we figured out the buffs are gone."

(Wyonna) "Cool. The other thing… anti-corruption quests are dangerous in a way other quests aren't in the system. And not just if you fail them. Success makes you into a Citizen, a system agent which has benefits but it comes with personal attention from the system too."

I stare at her words for several seconds trying to understand what she's talking about before I finally reply.

"We're already Citizens."

(Wyonna) "What? No. That's not possible. What do you mean?"

"I mean, we're Citizens. Pretty sure we've been Citizens since we woke up. Are you telling me that wasn't your doing?" I ask as Smoulder comes over, bumping into my exposed shoulder. I may be freaking out a little.

(Wyonna) "No. Not at all. I can't… I don't… I have no idea how this happened."

"Okay. So, what does being a Citizen mean anyway? The only thing we've figured out is we can buy a couple abilities that seem to be exclusive."

(Wyonna) "Lots of things. The most important aspect Forerunners have confirmed is Citizens don't stay dead. They're also protected from a lot of things that would kill regular users. We modelled our Forerunner's N.E.W.B. Protection based on a detailed recording of one of them surviving a direct nuclear blast. I don't think we've ever had a Forerunner who was also a Citizen before."

"Huh. Well, already knew all that. Except for the Forerunner parts of course." I tell her while petting Smoulder harder than strictly necessary.

(Wyonna) "Really? Interesting. Now, what else? There are worlds that are off-limits to users that only Citizens can access. Rumoured to be paradise worlds. Scattered throughout the Known Worlds there are ships, artifacts and other devices that only respond to Citizens. The Starkiller for example."

"Uhm. The Starkiller? That sounds bad. That's bad, right?"

(Wyonna) "Oh definitely. It's the size of a moon. A fully operational battlestation. Plus, it can cause a star to go nova."

"Damn. I can understand why they wouldn't want anyone using things like that."

(Wyonna) "Yep. It's only been used a couple times according to my records. First time it was used by the species that built it, they blew up a neighbouring star system. As a test. There was a bit of panic until everyone found out the system had confiscated the entire ship. Now it only shows up after something's gone incredibly wrong in the target system. Like when the Reavers converted Corella to a breeding ground."

"That's incredible. But I feel like we're getting off track here. Welcome back Wyonna."

(Wyonna) "It's weird hearing you say that. It feels like we were just taking out a horde of Fallen and discovering their soulstones."

"Yeah. About that. There's lots I need to fill you in on, but we're still trying to deal with getting Josh back. And I need to contact Rufka."

(Wyonna) "Of course. I'll just… you know, I have no idea what I'm going to do. Everything is still offline. Hmm. Nevermind. I've got an idea."

(Wyonna) "Later!"

"Uhm. Okay. Later," I say then stare ahead for a second. Was that really Wyonna? It felt like it. Briefly, I worry it was my imagination, then before I know it, I've sent another message.

"Let me know if I can help."

(Wyonna) "Kay!"

Well.

Contacting Wyonna was notwhat I had in mind when I came in. Now I have even more to talk to Rufka about.

Accessing the mail system, I send a party invite to the only person on my super simple contact list. A contact list that doesn't have an add, remove or even a sort function. Those are all part of the purchased ability. Which is still kind of low on my priority list.

"Group invite sent."

I stare at the words for a few seconds before realizing Rufka's not going to respond immediately. Probably. So I finish my bath while collapsing Smoulder's obstacle course.

When I'm nice and dry I still haven't received a response.

Well, I was hoping I'd be able to connect to Rufka then rejoin the party, but it doesn't look like that's happening. Especially now that I've contacted Wyonna. But that's okay. I can just connect to everyone using my IFF links.

Smoulder is proudly stationed on my shoulder as we exit the change room, moving to join the others. They have a table near the musicians at the front.

Demo's slapping the table, his head tilted back as he howls out. Beth is chuckling while Tipan's face is in her hands, her shoulders heaving, her laughter barely audible.

"Yes. As you can tell it wasn't my finest moment," Roberts notes as I approach. Damn. Sounds like I missed something good.

"Ah. Alexis, you're back. Good. It appears we'll be spending the night," Roberts informs me while pushing a chair out for me.

"Oh?"

Beth stops chuckling while squeezing one hand into a tight ball. "Raz hasn't been able to finish my wings. Apparently, he needs my direct input to finalize the changes. Besides, Roberts has convinced me that we should rest here before we try to track Josh down. It's not like we can teleport directly into Aethire so it's going to take us several days anyway."

As she finishes, she slowly unclenches her fist, revealing the cracked form of the Josh figurine within.

"Huh," I respond as I slump down into the proffered chair. Guess I'll get to enjoy Raz's performance for a while longer then.

Ordering a strange new pasta, I only half-listen to the others discussing possible problems while I wait for Rufka to accept the party invite. It's been at least ten minutes. Has she not received the invite?

Oh. Maybe she's in a party like I was. She couldn't get the invite then. Or maybe there are other rules. I should ask Tipan.

"Hey, Tipan. Are there any restrictions on accepting a party invite?" I ask in a low voice as Roberts points out we can't make solid plans without more information. Which Beth agrees with. Then continues proposing ideas anyway.

"Sorry, what's that?" Tipan asks as she turns to me.

Repeating my question, I add, "Rufka hasn't accepted yet."

"She's probably not close enough to a Nexus. Invites only show up when you're at a Nexus."

"Oh. That explains it. Thanks." I'm standing again even as I speak, prepared to go send Rufka a message alongside the party invite so she knows what's happened. Smoulder decides to stay with Tipan, hopping to her shoulder.

"You don't need to stay by the Nexus once the invite is sent, you know," Tipan teases while stroking Smoulder's tail.

"Yeah. I know. But I want to send her a message. I don't want her to think I forgot to call her; you know?" I tell Tipan.

"Ah. Of course. Tell her I say hi," Tipan says as she starts loosely braiding strands of Smoulder's tail.

Nodding, I slip away to the change room.

It's only as I'm writing everything that's happened in the last couple days that I realize I forgot to tell the others about Wyonna being back. Hmm. Thinking of which.

"Wyonna? Do you know if there's a way to send a party invite without the other user being at a Nexus?"

(Wyonna) "Sure. If you have the friend's list feature you can send and receive group invites from anyone on the list from anywhere. I mean, if both users have the option and aren't in a group. Why? Aren't you already in a group with Josh?"

"Oh, it's not for Josh. I was hoping to contact Rufka."

(Wyonna) "Well, you don't need to be in a group to do that. But being in a group is cheaper."

"What's the other option?"

(Wyonna) "Lots of system upgrades. First, both of you need to unlock the friend's list feature under communication. Then you'll need to have purchased the party chat or party voice. That'll unlock the Friend Channel feature for purchase. After you've purchased that, you have to have added each other to your friend's lists. Then, problem solved; unlimited calls and chat with all your friends. Careful who you add as a friend though."

"Well, that's not an immediate solution, but I'll mention it to Rufka next time I reach her. Thanks, Wyonna. It's great to have you back."

(Wyonna) "No problem Alexis. Glad I'm able to do something to help."

"Wait. Could we contact each other through the friend's list then?"

(Wyonna) "If you buy the ability…. Probably. You'd need to add me to your friend's list though. I'm not able to invite friends. Another of those AI restrictions."

"Wow. Jerk move. Okay, once I purchase the ability, I'll send you an invite."

(Wyonna) "Really? I mean, thanks, Alexis. That means a lot."

Shrugging off her gratitude, I say goodbye to Wyonna again. Then I add her information to the letter I'm writing (mentally projecting?) Rufka. When I'm finished writing, I look it over. I haven't mentioned my feelings for her.

Because that feels like a thing that should be done in person. Or at the very least, over voice connection.

Once I'm finished, I send the letter off, receiving a notification that simply says, "Message sent."

Since I'm here anyway and we're staying for the night, I decide to check the communication options. As I'm going into the menu, I notice the anti-corruption submenu. I haven’t thought about them since Tipan unlocked the shrine.

In idle curiosity, I open the menu to read the description of the abilities. There are all the abilities Beth mentioned, most involve using a Nexus node to cleanse Fallen or soulstones. There’s one for cleansing Fallen out of existence entirely, but that seems like a waste considering we can just defeat them in battle.

Half of them also require the 'Claim Nexus' feature which is kind of out of reach at the moment.

After checking over the communication options, which I hold off on purchasing, I return to the others where we play a quiet game of Astra's Stride before turning in for the night.

Even as I lay in bed, there's no sign of Rufka in my party interface. In a way, I'm kind of glad Josh is somewhere in Aethire.

If Rufka doesn't respond, at least I won't have to choose who I'm going to save first.

3.19 Before you Go-Go

6:33 am, local time. (July 15, 2023, 11:33 am.)

When I wake, it's not from the most restful night ever. On the plus side, it turns out Raz's rooms are pretty much everything proof. Even lightning bolts and raging fire don't leave a mark.

Apologizing to Smoulder for the panic storm, the remnants of my nightmare fade as I brush her fur. I'd dreamed that dolls had captured Rufka and she was being turned into one. Which, after the day I had, seems rather pedestrian in comparison.

There were a lot of System messages too, though none of them made sense.

Speaking of messages, the one I was waiting for greets me when I check.

"Rufka has joined the group."

(Rufka) "Hey, Lexi. Just got your message."

(Rufka) "Okay, waited fifteen minutes and no response. I guess it ispretty late. I'm glad you're on your way."

(Rufka) "I hate to say it, but I'm not able to rescue mum on my own. The Fallen are here. I'm worried, Lexi. Really worried. Call me as soon as you get this, please."

Following the link through the party interface, I connect to Rufka, speaking directly into her ear. At least, that's how I picture the connection working. "Morning sleepyhead. Time to wakeup."

"Blargul… duh. Luh-Lexi..?" Rufka responds, my heart melting at the sound of her struggling for consciousness.

"Good morning. You asked me to call as soon as I woke up," I inform her, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

"Ruh-right. Sorry, it's just… Vaus-damn, I only went to sleep a couple hours ago."

"Oh. Sorry," I apologize meekly while flipping Smoulder's tail back and forth.

"No, it's alright. Worth waking up to hear your voice. Sides, it's not like it's your fault our streets are crawling with Fallen."

I blush pretty hard, going silent for several seconds before I realize what she said about the Fallen in the streets. "Crawling with? Just how many Fallen are there?"

"More Fallen than K'tharn. And it's worse at night. I wish you could teleport straight here."

This time my jaw drops as I realize just what she said. She's in the capital. Exactly where we need to be.

"Uhm. I think I can," I mutter while thinking about what I need to do. Return is working. But only to go where I've already been. Yet it's cheaper than my regular teleport. I'm going to need to make several adjustments before I'm ready to teleport everyone to the capital. But it should be possible.

I think.

"Really? Awesome! Wait. Can you give me five minutes?" There's a rustling noise followed by a really loud thump. "Ow! Uh, maybe make it ten?"

I can't help but giggle. "Not right now. I'll need to practice to make sure I can bring the others. And you'll need to be in an open space."

"Oh. Damn. Can't you just experiment here then go back for them later?"

As she asks the question, I just about teleport right then and there, the others be damned.

But I don't.

"Get some sleep, I'll let you know when we're ready," I reassure her gently instead. It'll be better to have the others with us. And I'm sure that if we work together we can figure this out by the time Rufka's rested. I'm just glad she's okay.

"Sleep. Right. I guess I can do that. You'll still be in my group when I wake up, right?" Rufka asks with a slight tremor in her voice.

"Absolutely. Are you okay?" I press, suddenly worried again. I don't know anything about where she's resting. It's unlikely she's found a place as safe as Raz's.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just… hurry, okay?"

"I will. We'll be there as soon as I can figure this out," I assure her.

"Good. Okay, I'm gonna get some more sleep. Oh, and Lexi?"

"Yeah?"

"You're vaus-damn awesome."

I just about choke on my reply, but manage to squeeze out, "You're vaus-damn awesome too."

Rufka makes a vague affirmative followed by a 'fwump' which is when I end the call.

Okay, now I just need to figure out how to take us to a place we've never been before using Rufka as my guiding light.

Easy.

As is my morning ritual, I take a quick glance at my status, though not much has changed lately.

Without getting more Integration points, my skills are stagnating. All my manipulation skills are capped out at a hundred. I was hoping to finish the crafting quests in Glimmering Sands to bring up some of my other attributes but… Well, that didn't really work out.

When I enter Raz's main room, I'm shocked at how empty it is. I'm literally the only being in residence. Going to a nearby table, I order a heaping breakfast platter from the menu while considering how to incorporate my two different teleportation styles. I spread the copied books out, floating in System space as I eat.

I've nearly finished my breakfast and had exactly zero inspiring thoughts when Beth emerges, striding directly to join me.

"Morning kid. Others aren't up yet?"

Shaking my head, I lift my last piece of crispy bacon, catching it between the tines of my fork. I rotate it back and forth for a second before saying, "I think I can get us straight to the capital. But I can't figure out how to make it work."

"That'd be great kid. Have you been able to talk to Josh?" She's smiling as she asks but it doesn't reach her eyes.

Damn. Now I feel bad. I haven't tried connecting to Josh since I first established the bond.

"Not yet, but let me check again," I suggest. While I haven't checked again, I did technically check the first time.

When the connection forms, I'm surprised to find myself aware of Josh's surroundings, his blindfold removed. It looks like he's in some sort of study. There's a nearby desk with scattered papers and there are several books lining shelves along the walls. He's still bound, though it feels like he's tied to a chair.

With the connection so clear, I have to try talking to him. "Josh, can you hear me?"

Immediately after, I hear him grumble something that could charitably be interpreted as 'Alexis'.

Or maybe 'my mouth hurts'. Either way, I feel it's safe to take it as confirmation he's awake and listening.

"I'm going to take that as a yes. I don't know exactly what happened but we're tracking you down. We think you're somewhere in the Aetherium's capital city. Are you okay?"

His head bobs slightly and I realize he's nodding in response. Then he turns towards a window partially obscured by a high backed chair. On the other side of the window is mostly empty sky, but just to the right, only slightly obscured by the chair is a silver spire, not unlike the one from within the dungeon.

Then his head slumps against his chest and I feel moisture beading on his cheeks.

"Hey. It's going to be okay," I attempt to reassure him. It seems like I'm doing a lot of that today.

He nods again, but it's not like he can wipe the tears away. I feel pressure on my hand, then look up to discover Beth is holding my hand while her emerald eyes bore into me.

Muting the connection to Josh, I address Beth, "he's still tied up. But he's awake and conscious."

"Good. That's good," she says, easing her grip on my hand.

"Hey, Beth?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Beth smiles at me, her orange hair falling in her face as she shakes her head, "not right now. I just want him back."

"Yeah," I nod in agreement before returning my attention to Josh. Should I... attempt to pull him to me? Flashbacks of what happened to all the monsters I teleported that way flash through my mind. It might be selfish, but I don't think I could handle seeing that happen to Josh. Pushing the thought away, I focus on him.

He's staring at an empty stone alcove. After another few seconds of him staring at the alcove, I ask, "is there something you want me to see?"

Nodding, Josh continues staring at the alcove. So, I inspect it again, looking for anything that might be important.

But I'm not seeing it. It just looks like a featureless slab of stone between shelves of books. Upon consideration, it being empty might be what he's trying to draw my attention to. It's the only spot in the room without books or paper stacked nearby.

"Okay. It's empty. Is that what you wanted me to see?"

Shaking his head, Josh pans his gaze around the room again. He pauses when he looks through the small window, then pauses on the alcove again. It's on the third loop I realize the room is missing something integral to a normal room.

"There's no door," I state when I figure it out. Josh's shoulders slump as he nods, confirming my guess.

"Noted. You're locked in a room without a door. So we'll either need to stone shape or teleport through," I share out loud, keeping Beth informed as Josh nods. There might be more to discover, but my Facet is getting low.

"Listen Josh, I'm just about out of Facet. But we're coming to get you out." Another nod from Josh but this time I can feel him sit a little straighter. Then I hear the sound of grinding stone. The wall he was staring at shifts away as though peeling back, the sight reminiscent of my own shaping.

Through the new opening strides a tall, thin K'tharn. Unlike most K'tharn, she wears thick full robes, the emerald green contrasting against her golden fur as she steps in front of Josh.

I can feel her paw on Josh's chin as she tilts his head to the side, Josh struggling to resist the movement.

"Awake are we? Congratulations. It's rare to find a new species these days. There's so much we can learn from you. No, no, don't try to speak. Your questions will be answered soon enough."

I'm just able to make out an emerald ring on her paw as I run out of Facet and the connection ends. I give Beth a quick run down of what I saw, including the K'tharn at the end.

"Thank you, Alexis. It's one thing to see his name in the party screen but it's another to know he's alive and awake."

"Of course." I reply, giving her a weak smile.

"Anyway, you were telling me about your spell? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I'm not sure," I tell her. Then I start describing how my spell works, the issue with statues appearing inside of the table and that I technically need to create a whole new spell to reach Rufka and Josh. I'm two sentences in when it occurs to me I should ask Wyonna for suggestions too. This leads to a sideline where I inform Beth that I've re-established contact with Wyonna. While glad to hear it, she pushes me to continue work on the spell.

As I'm describing the issues the others all join us at the table. Soon, I'm repeating my issues yet again while trying to describe the structure of my Return spell.

"Yeh're not using contact triggers to help shape the spell? Like the one I taught yeh to trigger the detonation for fireball?" Demo asks as I finish explaining the issue for the third time.

"I'm not sure how I'd incorporate it. This is the existing rune structure," I say, as I create a three-dimensional recreation of the Return spell out of steel. I should have done this in the first place.

Apparently, the structure is sufficiently complicated that creating it earns me an increase in metal shaping.

"Odeon's sagging tits…." Demo grunts to the rest of the table's laughter. "Yeh forgot to mention that it'd be simpler to build a ship to fly us there."

"It's not that bad," I counter. I mean, sure it takes up the entire table now but that's just because it had to be expanded to keep everyone inside. And it'd be too hard to inspect if it was smaller. I didn't even include the runes for the safety zone spell.

"Sure. But I see what yeh mean about not knowing how to incorporate the runes. I don't even know how most of this works." He pokes at the outer runes with his toothpick, not quite touching them.

I shrug as I respond, "Neither do I. At least not all of it. But these are the runes that control the shield specifically." With the model on the table, we start diving into the inner workings, with the others all offering different ideas as I consult my notes from the Tower.

I end up having fifteen different variations to test once we're finished breakfast and my Facet has recharged.

After the first round of tests, three variations seem to have promise. It's the third iteration of the thirteenth design that finally gives me a notification. A notification I'd almost given up on receiving.

"Spell discovered: Greater Teleport - Mass. Would you like to add this spell to your preferred spells?"

The final design has increased the complexity by adding dozens of the impact detection rune linked throughout in a way that redirects the traveller. The first version tended to overcorrect to the point of creating projectiles that broke the sound barrier.

Supersonic bullets. Another idea to look into later.

Now that the system has recognized the spell, I take a look at its description.

"Teleport - Area:

- Teleports all creatures within the radius to a target location. It is recommended to only use known teleportation coordinates or to remain within the visual range of the caster.

- Current known teleportation coordinates: Forerunner Transition Point South, Nexus point 392."

Now, the important test. Can I use my linked vision to cheat the visual component?

We’ve moved outside. Tipan is standing nearby, watching carefully. Now that I have a lead, Roberts and Demo are talking to Raz about options for Demo's leg.

I'm currently encircled by five earthen test dummies. Designated Test Team Alpha, they've proven their worth, making it through the last couple tests mostly intact.

Number five lost their head a couple times in the earlier trials, but they've grown out of such foolishness as my spell improves. Smoulder and I are giving number five a stern stare when Tipan coughs.

Right. Stop playing Alexis.

Beth is serving as the target site. She insisted on being the one to help with the most dangerous part of the testing and is now roughly two kilometres out, waiting in a clearing surrounded by a dozen earthen statues. She and those statues are team Beta.

I stretch my mind out, linking to her. I can feel her constant vigilance in the constant movement of her eyes as I solidify my arrival location in my mind.

The next moment, me and team alpha materialize around Beth. Not one of them is embedded in team Beta. Even number five keeps their head. This is despite the fact I intentionally tried to embed half of them inside the others. But the spell autocorrected which should make it much safer.

I'm still inspecting the statues to make sure there are no hidden joinings when I find myself being spun around by Beth as she hugs me.

Right, I guess she's excited. Makes sense.

I mean, I'm excited too. Just, I want to get to Rufka and Josh, safely, then celebrate.

So, even as she's spinning me about, I return us to the Nexus point. She's still spinning me on arrival, though she quickly stumbles then throws up on my shoulder. Right, teleportation isn't as easy for everyone else as it is for me. Compound it with spinning and… yeah.

Interesting that the improved Return spell didn't have the same effect.

Beth mumbles an apology as I whisk her mess away in a chunk of earth.

"A very good sign. Well, mostly," Tipan moseys in, watching me fling the clump of earth out of sight.

"Yeah. Sorry bout that," I apologize while Beth shakes her head.

"It's fine. Better than the spell Tipan used. Just wasn't ready for it," Beth waves off our concern.

With the spell in place, Beth goes to grab the guys while I contact Rufka.

Waking her again, Rufka takes several minutes before she informs me she's ready for us to join her.

I'm not certain why, but the cost to teleport to Rufka is barely more than the cost to reach Beth had been. That alone would’ve been worth the time to refine the spell. My area Return spell took almost my entire Facet pool when I retrieved the others.

We arrive in a plain room, furniture piled messily against one wall. I think I can make out a narrow bed beneath. There's some gagging from the others.

I barely notice any of it, a grin creeping across my face as I smile at Rufka, who steps forwards, sagging against me as she mumbles, "it's good to see you."

"All of you. Even if you are making a mess of my place," Rufka adds.

"It's good to see you too. Kid, how much time do you need until we can go for Josh?" Beth asks as I help Roberts clean everyone.

Checking the connection, I'm surprised when I discover we could go right now. "Uhm none. I've still got enough Facet to reach him."

"Excellent. Let's not waste any time." Beth clasps her hands together with a loud clap.

"One moment Beth. We agreed it would be best if we gathered 'intel' first," Roberts interjects, his hand on her shoulder.

Beth's face twists into a grimace, but then she sighs, nodding. "You're right. Sorry. Kid, can you at least tell how far away he is?"

Concentrating, I'm able to tell he's closer than he was, but the feeling is still muddled. At least I'm still able to determine his direction. "No. But he's that way." I point through the wall. A wall that I only now notice is made of leather.

"Are you sure?" Rufka asks me, a strange pitch to her voice.

Nodding, I start looking for a door, only to find that the entrance is a piece of leather that's woven closed. At least I'm guessing it's the entrance since there are several cloaks and a jacket stacked nearby and there are no other obvious ways to access the space.

"Should we take a look?" Roberts asks.

"Sure. Just, watch your step. It's a bit of a drop."

Rufka grips a handle next to the leather flap, the stitching unzipping as the flap rolls itself up.

On the other side of the door is a wide balcony formed of bone-white slats. Which are probably actual bones, when I think about it.

Stepping out, the view is rather impressive.

Rufka's dwelling is only one of thousands of similar buildings. There is a massive network, thousands of beast hide and bone bulbs in a web that stretches out as far as the eye can see.

Rufka grins as she pulls me to the edge of the balcony where I make the mistake of looking down only to discover that there's nothing below us, just an open empty pit that stretches to infinity.

"Ahem. As mum would say…” Rufka shakes me slightly, clearing her throat while I’m still reeling, waving her arm forward. “Welcome to the greatest achievement of the Great Queen Uthica, a testament to K’tharn ingenuity. And the crown jewel of the Aetherium. Aethire."

3.20 Hell of a Drop

8:44 am, local time. (July 15, 2023, 1:44 pm.)

I know I can fly, yet the abyss remains daunting. The clouds drifting below us must be hundreds of metres down. Other than the distance, the clouds are reassuring, making the abyss less… abyssie.

Pulling my gaze upwards, I notice there are K'tharn moving about on a nearby enclosed walkway. In fact, I notice there are a large number of enclosed walkways that form the backbone of the superstructure that is Aethire. A lone figure soars past overhead, her fur pressed back with the speed of her passage as she flies between several walkways, disappearing from sight.

"It's good to be home," Tipan comments, stepping up next to us while taking a deep breath.

"That's a hell of a drop," Beth notes, her new cloak unfurling into wings as she flies over the edge looking down. The dark black feathers only flutter slightly as they lift her up. As near as I can tell they're styled after actual raven wings. Though all I know about raven wings is that they're black and have feathers, so maybe not?

Despite the fine articulation and appearance, they remain obviously magical in function, easily holding Beth in place despite the lack of flapping.

"Indeed. This is a rather impressive achievement." Roberts doesn't get as close to the edge, standing back next to Demo, whose limp remains. Guess Raz didn't have anything to help.

"Now, kid, where's Josh?"

Following the connection, I lead us around to the far side of Rufka's pod. This side of her pod shows the edge of the abyss. In the distance, I can see the mountains along the edge scraping the bottom of the clouds.

Damn, we're a long way up.

Josh's connection draws my gaze to just beyond the peaks. At first I only catch a flicker of light, but when I focus with my twi-noculars (twilight-culars?), I'm able to see the same silver spire. It's surrounded by a city similar to the dungeon we escaped from, all the way down to the silver bullets. And behind the city is a body of water that I'm pretty sure is the Lathaic Sea.

"Looks like Josh is either in or pretty darn close to that Builder city outside Aethire. That's good right?"

"Not if he's inside the city. We'll have to pass through the Builder's toll gates," Tipan replies.

"An iron per day, right?" I ask, checking my essence. It shouldn't be a problem, we all have plenty of shards.

"Yes. But that's only one issue. The Aetherium maintains their own guardhouse at the only gate they haven't blocked off."

"Blocked off how? Wouldn't we be able to manipulate our way through their walls?" Roberts asks, a small globe of water in hand for emphasis as he gestures at me.

"The sealed gates are still patrolled. I've served on those patrols in the past," Tipan answers.

"We only need intel. There's no guarantee Josh is inside. And if he is, hopefully, the kid can take us right past those obstacles."

Even as the others keep talking, my attention returns to Rufka, who's holding me tightly to her side. "So, where's your mum?"

At first, I think Rufka didn't hear me, her silence stretching. I'm about to repeat myself when Rufka responds, "I don't even know. They've moved her. The last anyone saw of her was three weeks ago when she was removed from Velthin's Holding Centre."

"Half of my old contacts have disappeared. And the other half can't or won't talk to me. Like I said Lexi, it's bad."

"Wow. That's awful." I don't know what else to say. I want to comfort her and tell her we'll find her mother, but without a connection, I don't know how I'd find her. Though I suppose…

"Could you invite her to a party?"

"Ha. Mum would laugh at that. Was always worried we could be tracked by being in a party. But no. Wherever she's held is preventing party invites. User unavailable."

"Damn." That sounds like it could be a lot worse than her mum being locked away.

"Yep. Now that you're here, we'll figure it out."

"I'll try," I offer, surprised at her faith in me. Not sure what I've done to deserve it.

I'm saved from having to figure out exactly what we'll do when the others inform us that Beth is planning to slip out of the city.

I watch Beth disappear as we test the connection, ensuring it's clear. Now that I can teleport the entire party to anyone I'm able to create a link with, it's been determined that the rest of us should stay put where it's safe. But we're to be ready to teleport at a moment's notice. In case Beth needs us.

I can feel Beth as she passes out of the city, headed towards the distant mountains ringing the abyss. I can't help but feel a shudder as I stare at the empty space that lies beneath our feet. As if sensing my unease, Rufka pulls me inside where she starts putting furniture back into place. Once she's got the bed cleared off, Rufka reassures me she'll be fine to help, despite her lack of sleep. What she means is obvious as she prepares some of her not-coffee-but-still-sleep-be-gone tea. Instead of drinking it, she stores it away. Then as I'm watching the still steaming tea disappear into her inventory. She mutters, "naptime," pushing me onto the bed where she uses my lap as a pillow before falling asleep.

I can't help chuckling quietly while probably blushing at her successful attempt to ensnare me.

Even as Rufka is catching up on her beauty sleep, Beth continues flying west, relaying her status checks through the link. I also update Wyonna on everything she's missed.

(Wyonna) "Wait, so this Demo is a Citizen too. Did he say how long he's been here?"

"I think he said a couple weeks now."

(Wyonna) "Uhh. Well, that's probably a side effect of the transfer. He must’ve been caught in the mana-front I used to get you here."

"Mana-front? Can we use that to get home?"

(Wyonna) "Maybe. Though if this Demo's ship is intact it'd be easier than creating a mana-front to take you back."

"But we could do it?"

(Wyonna) "Yes. But there are multiple ways for you to get home from an integrated world like Akilo. A mana-front was the only method I had that could get the four of you here intact."

"Like the portal?"

(Wyonna) "Not directly. The portal would take you to one of the Outer Worlds."

"Figures. So, Demo's ship?"

(Wyonna) "If his Ripple drive is still working, yes."

"What is a Ripple drive? Demo isn't very forthcoming about… well, anything really."

(Wyonna) "Not surprising. All Phothen keep parts of their minds partitioned. Even the System can't access them. Better security than a doomsday prepper’s bunker."

(Wyonna) "A Ripple drive is the standard post-mana-swarm faster-than-light drive. They use ripples in the mana field to move next to real space. They're kind of like a jet-ski. Except the ride isn't as smooth."

"That's not encouraging."

(Wyonna) "I imagine if you keep working on it, one day you'll be able to transport everyone back to Earth without a mana-wave. It'll take a long time to get the practice you need if you don't unlock the combat training room though."

"Huh. I'll keep it in mind."

Further messages are cut off when Beth indicates she's made it to the outer rim.

Increasing the strength of our connection, I try sensing Josh's location through her but it doesn't work. Looks like I'm limited to experiencing Beth's senses.

As I'm trying to use my IFF, I can't help but wonder if I can manifest any of my other abilities through Beth. As she's still flying around scouting for danger, I decide to hold off randomly attempting to throw abilities around.

Then again, she's made it outside the pit. And there's no sign of anyone chasing her, so we could join her. Glancing at where Rufka's napping on my lap, I'm tempted to remain here in this little shelter.

"I'm going closer," Beth informs me before I can make the decision to teleport the rest of us.

"Sounds good. I'll just… wait here," I answer, gazing at Rufka with what I'm sure is a silly smile on my face.

I let the next few minutes go by peacefully, playing with Smoulder while stroking Rufka's soft fur until Beth informs me to reconnect.

When I open myself up to Beth, I find myself looking down on the familiar city. This one is in much better shape than the dungeon. The most obvious being that all the silver bullets are still standing. It also has several structures standing south of the outer wall. Must be the Aetherium's gatehouse. Beth repeats the pattern of flying around then getting me to connect to her until she's flown around the entire city as I relay what she's seeing to the others. Not that there's much to report.

Outside the city, fields stretch from the mountains to the nearby sea, all neatly broken up by an extensive grid of stone roads.

It’s a boring couple hours.

When she's completed an entire circuit, Beth settles down in a field full of reddish-brown plants with large open fronds. Now's the time to experiment. "Hey Beth, I want to try something."

"Sure kid. But make sure everyone is ready to teleport. It doesn't look like they're expecting anything," Beth instructs me.

Acknowledging her order, I ask Tipan to grab the guys while I gently shake Rufka awake. She sits up, mumbling as she rubs her eyes, "Vaus-bound outlanders and their high efficiency scouting."

Even as Rufka's complaining about her nap being too short, I've started experimenting through Beth, trying to affect the mana on her end. Unfortunately it's as unresponsive as the detection through IFF. I do discover one ability I can activate that works in conjunction with the connection, but I'm not certain what advantage being connected while in Paused time might convey.

"Everyone ready," I ask when Demo and Roberts come back inside.

"I'll be staying here," Demo states, standing just inside the entrance.

"Uh, you're sure?"

"I've no interest in going inside a Builder’s Sanctuary. Besides, this way yeh'll be able to use me as a beacon."

"That would be nice," I admit as we start pushing all the furniture to the side again. We don't need to be bringing Rufka's favourite couch with us.

A moment later, we're standing in a circle around Beth. Despite our close proximity, Tipan still ends up out of sight. A nearby frond quickly folds down, as she flops over it.

"Either I'm getting used to that or the shorter distance reduces the nausea," Roberts mentions, only stumbling slightly.

"Forgot about the side-effects," Rufka notes, while pushing her way out of sight through the fronds. "Seriously, once we get mum out I hope she can help you with that."

I shrug while Beth watches over us as the others recover. Once everyone is solid on their feet again, Beth turns to me. "So?"

"One second," I reply before turning invisible then floating upwards. This close, and from above, I'm able to identify the block of buildings where Josh must be held. They're not especially different from any of the other buildings in the city. The only notable characteristic is that all the buildings seem to be entirely adjacent to each other, with no space between them.

I float down next to the others, explaining where I felt Josh.

"Well, now we just need a way inside," Roberts notes, stroking his chin where a light brown fuzz has started growing in.

"We have a way in," Beth states, clasping my shoulder with one hand.

"I'm still reluctant to teleport into unknown circumstances," Roberts shakes his head.

"Well, at least the symptoms are reduced with a lower range," Tipan observes, which causes Beth to snap her mouth closed on whatever she was about to say.

"This is true. But I'm more worried about what we may encounter on the other side. How do we know this isn't a trap?"

"A trap built to prevent us from using an ability no other user has?" Beth demands. "Besides, we have resurrection."

"That we know of," Roberts counters as Beth tugs on her hair. "And not all of us have resurrection, or have you forgotten our friends here."

Beth sighs, "Sorry. You're right. It'd just be so easy. Teleport in, grab Josh, then come right back out again."

Huh, she's got a point. It's not like it takes a lot of Facet for me to teleport at this range. In fact, I don't even need to bring the others, do I? Looking at them, I realize neither Beth nor Roberts would approve of me going on my own.

So instead of asking, I move to the nearby frond with Rufka, pushing the plant to the side as I send her a message through party chat.

(Alexis) "I could go in, get Josh, then be right back."

(Rufka) "What? Oh, teleporting. Sorry, still waking up. I doubt that'd work. Mum says Builder cities prevent teleporting in and out."

(Alexis) "Damn. I should probably tell the others."

"Rufka thinks we won't be able to teleport into the Builder city," I state as I emerge from behind the frond, Rufka right behind me.

"That's what my mum told me. One of the reasons she hated visiting Bethreyne. You know, other than the cost. And the Aetherium. And the… actually she has a lot of reasons."

"Well, I guess that's settled," Beth sighs again. "Any other ideas?"

"Sneak through one of the other entrances?" Rufka suggests.

"They're blocked off," Tipan points out.

"Only technically. Lexi has invisibility and the ability to shape stone and steel however she wants. I bet she could get us through in fifteen minutes, tops."

"Sounds good," Beth agrees quickly. Roberts's nod is slow, but he doesn't voice any concerns.

Huh. Guess I'm working on my stone shaping.

Instead of all of us going, Beth scouts out a sheltered location near the Northwest entrance. As a first step, I create a slightly larger place for the others to wait before approaching the sealed gate with Beth.

We both remain invisible as I consider the large stone block that literally obstructs the entrance with its mass. As though someone took a smooth cube then plopped it down, trusting its size to do most of the work.

The block lacks any ornamentation other than the intricate runes worked into its surface. But some exploration underground reveals they only extend a couple metres beneath the surface. Exploring below the surface is actually a greater challenge than I'd anticipated as I need to ensure I'm not leaving any obvious traces of our passage.

Ultimately, I end up seperating a square of sod that I lift away while compacting the space beneath. It's only the work of moments, allowing Beth and I to crouch inside before sealing any sign of our intrusion from above. A minute later I've discovered an already existing tunnel a mere three metres into the block. It looks like I'm not the first person to try this.

"Well, this is interesting," Beth's voice carries over comms.

"Yeah. I think this is far enough I can grab the others," I suggest as we look around the tunnel. I've already closed off our entry point, but since we're still outside the city, teleportation should work.

"Do it."

Two quick teleports later and we're all standing in the tunnel, heading towards the 'sealed' gate.

The silver filigree along the iron-wrought gate is much nicer looking than the entrance to the Fallen training dungeon was. No sign of any guards either. I can't help but wonder who made the tunnel as we approach the gate. There's no sign of traffic passing through, so it doesn't seem like it's used often.

The gate swings freely when Beth pushes against it, revealing a courtyard with a similar gate on the far end.

"I'm guessing this is where we pay for access to the city?" Beth asks as she steps forward.

Tipan nods as she answers, "Yes. The notification should appear the moment you pass through the crystal arch. The system will accept Integration points or essence." I follow her pointing arm to see an arch halfway through the room, the crystals inside giving off a pale blue and yellow glow. I'd have barely noticed them if not for Tipan.

Following the others forward, I notice Roberts and Beth have both stopped shortly after passing through the arch.

Curious, I step through the arch, a message popping into view.

"Greetings Citizen Pandora. Welcome to the city of Bethreyne. A guide will be with you shortly."

Rufka and Tipan are still moving forwards for several steps before they realize the three of us have stopped.

Beth explains, "We've got something weird. There's no option to pay for entrance to the city. And a guide is on their way."

"A guide?" Tipan asks, her head tilted slightly in confusion.

"You didn't have to pay?" Rufka chimes in at the same time.

As the others are talking, the far gate swings open. I'm a little surprised when the being I'm guessing is our guide emerges. Honestly, I'd been expecting one of the Yrken or maybe a K'tharn.

Instead, they're more of a mini-minotaur. A mini-taur. Their horns are nearly as long as the rest of their body. If they weren't floating above the ground as they approached us, I'd be wondering how they even got around. As it is, I'm torn between inspecting them and not doing my typical space out as our 'guide' arrives.

"Uhm hello," Beth waves uncertainly as the mini-taur floats up near her face.

Even though they haven't said anything and I haven't inspected them, I'm fairly certain the mini-taur is male.

"Why doesn't anything on this world wear pants?" Beth mutters, looking to the sky as the mini-taur opens its mouth to speak.

"Greetings Citizens to the city of Bethreyne. As your appointed guide, I'll be showing you your housing for your stay while visiting our fair city. If you require the use of training facilities, enchanters, crafters or transportation, let me know and I'll endeavour to direct you to the appropriate service."

The mini-taur waves us after it, floating back towards the gates as we look at each other. It's nearly at the gates, yet we haven't moved. It pauses just in front of them, turning back to us.

"Oh. And one more thing. What in the Nine Worlds took you so long?"

3.21 System Access?

12:17 pm, local time. (July 15, 2023, 5:17 pm.)

Beth turns to the mini-taur, a single strand of her fiery hair falling loose as she responds, "What do you mean?"

"I sent my request for an official citizen response team over eighty years ago. Ever since Subsector 3-G went offline, I haven't been able to get a proper response. I don't know why I ever took a position this far out in the rim." His voice is deep, almost as deep as I'd expect from a full-size minotaur emanating from a frame that wouldn't come up to my waist if he wasn't flying. He waves us forward, leading us through the gate then to the side into a squat building.

"Uhm, I think you…" I start to correct the mini-taur when Beth waves me off.

"Well, we're here now. What's the issue?" she asks. There aren't any other people around. It would seem this really is an out of the way spot.

"The issue is that for eighty years there's been an entire sector outside the control of the System. Did you even read the report?" The mini-taur's eyes flare open as it stops, turning on Beth.

"Not as such," Beth admits with a shrug.

"Figures. Finally, have someone show up and they haven't even read the report. Why do I even do the paperwork."

"It never made it into our hands," Beth says as the mini-taur leads us to a massive desk. The surface of the desk is practically at my shoulder, yet he hops up onto his chair then looms down at us.

Not effectively. In fact, it's kind of cute and I can't help giggling. Rufka elbows me in the side yet I can't help but notice that she's fighting off laughter as well. Hypocrite.

"It didn't make it… you're not the Citizens I sent for, are you?" he asks, leaning away from us.

"No. But I'm sure we can help. What can you tell us about this sector?"

Even though there are no chairs or ways to set us at an equal height, other than flying or creating our own platform, both of which I'm considering, Beth manages to create a feeling as though she's the one with the higher ground.

The mini-taur doesn't respond. Instead, he weighs each of us in turn.

Welp, since he's doing it to us.

“Creature analyzed: Mabryn. Gene-seed E."

"While the Mabryn were once a unified force, the loss of their homeworld to a Reaver Gene-mother has left this once proud species lost and drifting. A Mabryn's natural instincts are to avoid direct confrontation, instead directing opposition through others or calling upon system resources. A hermaphroditic species, the Mabryn horns are one sign of a species adapting to regular access to mana. Mabryn are a common sight within the core worlds, often in positions that other species avoid. It's rumoured that large portions of the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the core worlds are a direct result of Mabryn efforts, though this has never been proven, as to do so would require filing the appropriate paperwork."

"Name: Geral de Vinkent"

"Attributes: Physical; Low, Mobility; Low, Magic; High, Awareness; High.

Attacks: Earth and Stone control.

Defences: Physical: Low. Magical: High. Immunity to Stone. Immunity to Earth."

Not much of a threat from the looks of it. Unless we need to fill out a form.

"Well, you really are Citizens. Completely unrelated to my request. That figures. Guess I'll have to issue the quest personally." The Mabryn waves his (its?) hand in our direction.

"Quest obtained: Investigate Subsector 3-G for Geral. 0/1 investigations completed. Rewards: 5 Iron-rank Integration points, 5 Iron-rank Mana Ingots, 5 Iron-grade Mana Shards."

In addition to the notification is a map. A map that indicates Sector 3-G is located on the outer rim not far from the other sealed gate. In fact, it looks like the building Josh is inside is located in this Subsector 3-G.

Beth and I share a look. Yeah, that's not a coincidence.

"This is your standard tiered quest. Find out what's going on, fix it and deal with anything that might prevent the sector from working properly in the future, understood?" he asks while leaning forward over his desk, his cute little paws pressed firmly against each other. Still not as cute as Smoulder, but he's surprisingly close. I'm glad Beth's doing the talking. I can feel my hand twitching as I almost reach out to pet him.

Somehow, I imagine that wouldn't go over well. So, I indulge my urge-to-pet by giving Smoulder head-scritches instead.

"Interesting. And you said it's been like this for eighty years? Is that sort of thing normal?" Beth asks from atop her still rising earthen throne. I was getting a little tired of him looking down at her.

"Uhh… Yes. I mean, no. If it was normal, I wouldn't need a Citizen to fix it, would I?" Geral asks, shaking his head. Something weird is going on there, cause when he moves his horns, I can make out ripples echoing their shape.

"What can you tell us? Have any of the local residents been able to tell you anything?" Roberts asks from his position next to Beth on the throne. Not like I'd only give one of them a throne.

"Of course not. The sector's been locked off since we lost contact. Standard isolation protocol. Citizen training has really gone to the Reavers in the last few hundred years, hasn't it?" The last part is muttered beneath his breath, but that doesn't keep me from hearing it.

"Couldn't say. Wasn't around then," Beth replies, pushing herself up from the throne. "If you don't have any information, we'd best get to it."

"I may not have any recent information, but I can tell you all of sector three went dark before coming back online. Whoever or whatever caused the outage knew enough to overload the neighbouring subsectors, blinding us until the seals engaged. At least we know it isn't Reavers."

"How do you know it's not Reavers?" Roberts asks,

"Because Reavers wouldn't have sat tight for eighty years. We'd be hip deep in whatever fresh hell the genochef had cooked up." The way he states it as though it were an obvious fact causes a chill to run down my spine.

"Right. Anything else?" Beth prompts, her hand resting on the hilt of her pistol.

"Yeah. Don't die. If the System can't get a read on what's in there it might not be able to pull you out."

"Noted." Beth leaps down from the throne, which I return to my pack as we walk out the door, Geral muttering to himself behind us. I guess he's not guiding us.

His gaze weighs uncomfortably on my shoulders as we leave the ugly building.

"Ivicka?" I ask, looking to Beth as I share a drink from Rufka's flask.

"Maybe. But who or whatever it is, they have Josh."

"Mum never mentioned there was part of the city that was inaccessible." Rufka pulls out a stick like the one I saw the guards playing with, tossing it towards Tipan as we walk.

"I never would’ve guessed. I suppose it is near one of the sealed gates. I've never had reason to visit them on the inside." Tipan smoothly bats the stick into the air, barely pausing as it flips from arm to arm before she sends it spinning back towards Rufka.

I try to join Rufka and Tipan in their game, but it's worse than playing hacky sack. Which I'm already bad at. The stick has a strange balance. Even though I only have to hit it with two arms, I have a hard enough time just trying to catch it to pass to my other arm. Beth doesn't join in, focused on leading the way. Roberts not only catches it on his first attempt, but he also uses his ankles. It's as if he's spent his whole life juggling mishappen sticks.

As soon as we make it outside the entrance area, we take to the air, the game stored away as we approach. I can feel Josh just ahead when the connection starts acting… staticky.

Reinforcing the connection with Focus, I switch my perspective to Josh. Or at least, I start switching perspectives. The static makes it feel as though I've been pushed into a busy shopping mall, having to endure the crowd as I find my way to Josh. The most disconcerting aspect is I can't feel my body while in transit.

Suddenly, I'm there, Josh's senses, such as they are, entering my awareness. It's only been a few hours, but it's clear that things have changed since the last time I connected.

The most obvious change in his circumstances is that he's floating. There's a mask covering most of his face, but I'm able to make out a room crisscrossed with wires and tubing. Not that I'm able to focus on that at first. His throat aches, as though he's had it thrashed recently. Once I get used to the aching in his throat, I note that everything has a blue tint, but I think that's the edge of the tube or chamber Josh is floating in. As I inspect what lies within Josh's vision, he jerks his head sideways, a blinding flash of pain disorienting me.

Okay, note to self, I can feel others' pain through the connection. That sucks. Let's just turn that off.

Damn, can't change it while I'm connected. Luckily, the pain is going away. As I come back to myself, I notice Josh's chamber isn't the only one within the room. There's another on the far side where a K'tharn with a gnarled form is moving about.

"Uh guys," I start, my eyes watching carefully. "Josh is some kind of vat in a room with a gnarled K'tharn straight out of an old horror movie."

I'm guessing Josh can hear me, cause he starts mumbling through his mask. It's at this point that I realize the mask is probably the only thing keeping him from drowning. Beth starts issuing orders but there's not much more she can do. We're already flying straight towards him as fast as we can.

Of course, now that we're inside the city, I might be able to teleport to him.

"Not unless you bring me with you," Rufka shakes her head in denial, grasping my hand firmly when I propose the idea.

"All of us should go," Roberts disagrees, Beth a second behind him.

"We should keep an anchor out here," Tipan reminds us as everyone gathers together. She looks at where Rufka and I are holding hands, then to Roberts and Beth. "Which I believe would be me."

"Agreed. Let's do this, people."

We settle on a nearby roof, the sound of an open merchant stall nearby reminding me that we're not the only ones in the city. I think I smell cinnamon.

A moment later, I deposit us into the room, everyone ready to fight. The air here feels empty, like being inside the silver bullets.

Despite our battle-ready positions and moving to cover, the K'tharn doesn't even notice us, continuing to fiddle with a console with several bulky knobs on it.

"Ahem," Beth coughs out as Roberts and I step towards Josh, looking for a latch to free him from the tank.

The K'tharn starts, looking up at us in shock. "Wh-who are you?"

"No one important. We're just here for our friend," Beth replies, glancing over at me and Roberts. I can't find any latches. The entire container is sealed solid.

Right, magic. There are seams where it looks like it's sealed though.

"What? No, you mustn't remove him!" It's only as they're yelling that I notice they have a higher pitch than I'm used to hearing from most K'tharn. Glancing over, I see Beth easily holding them off the ground with one hand. I didn't realize it before but they're even smaller than your typical K'tharn.

"Right," Beth replies dismissively, as she looks at us, "what's the holdup?"

"There's no latch. I think I'm going to have to break the tank," I answer, reaching out to the glass enclosure. It's definitely earth, but there's resistance. Instead of being firm like in the tower, it's loose, as though there isn't anything to grab onto.

"No. You don't understand, he won't survive outside. His core's been remo... Gack," the K'tharn shouts, struggling feebly as Beth tightens her hand around their throat.

"Explain," she demands.

They try to answer, but they're barely able to wheeze out the word, "air," causing Beth to loosen her grip. Slightly.

"Minister Folthka took his core. There's no system to regulate his remaining mana. The incubator is the only thing keeping him from being dispersed."

"I don't believe you," Beth states, her eyes narrowing.

"It's true. It's true, I swear. He's one of our first successes," the K'tharn objects, their struggles against Beth nearly stopped now that their feet have returned to the floor.

I run my hand against the glass surrounding Josh. I can still feel him through the connection, but the static remains. Is it the lack of his core that's causing the static? As I'm running my hand along the glass, Josh pushes his hand up against the glass. I can't make out his expression, most of his face blocked by the mask, but his eyes are glazed over and have difficulty focusing on me.

There's a 'blurgle' through our connection as he attempts to speak.

"Roberts?" Beth asks, not releasing the K'tharn.

Roberts places his hand next to mine, closing his eyes as he focuses on something invisible to me. "He's stable. But there's definitely something wrong with him. I might be able to fix it, but I'll need time."

"Well, looks like our smash and grab just turned into an extended stay. Kid, you want to make sure that door's locked?" Beth asks, pointing to a heavy-looking steel door at the far end of the room.

I nod, picking my way over the cables that run across the room. As I'm making my way, my eyes fall on a device that I'd almost call an altar if not for the number of tubes and cables running in and out of it. I analyze it on reflex as I walk by, not surprised when there's no result.

I make it all the way to the door when I feel analyze finish. Never had a delay like that before.

"Object Analyzed: Core Containment Junction. This device could theoretically be used to hold a core once removed from a user. This device is currently empty. It is attached to Citizen Rose's incubation pod."

I'm gonna say that's important. So, I mention it to Beth while securing the door. I don't bother checking it visually, instead, expanding it slightly so that it fills the doorframe.

"Door's not going anywhere," I inform the others. It's only once the room is secure, I notice Rufka glancing over at the K'tharn every other second. "What is it?"

"Huh? What's what?"

"What's so interesting about her?" I ask, gesturing to where Beth has forced the K'tharn to her feet, hushing them to silence.

"Not sure. But I don't think that's a… her," Rufka answers slowly, her words unusually hesitant. Following her gaze, I analyze the old K'tharn.

“Creature analyzed: Pu'shaha. Gene-seed D."

"The opposite of K'tharn, these gentle creatures are the non-sapient counterparts to the warrior. Nearly extinct on the Vausian continent, there are rumours that many still exist in a distant land. "

"Name: Bem."

"You're right. His name is Bem. And he doesn't even have attributes." He's not even trying to fight Beth anymore.

Which is probably a good thing, as she's started muttering to herself while staring at the tank.

"Can we put it back? Would that save him?" she asks suddenly.

"In theory. You'd need to get a core quickly. We've only been able to keep the subjects alive for a day. I think I've improved the formula but his biology is unfamiliar. I don't…"

"Where's his core?" Beth demands, hoisting the scraggly pu'shaha high above her.

"I don't know what the minister does with them. I'm just in charge of trying to stabilize the freed hosts."

"Then where can I find this minister Folthka?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry, I'd tell you if I could," he mewls as the fur Beth was holding him up by rips free. He collapses at her feet with an awful screech.

"Is this really necessary?" Roberts asks as he stands next to Beth.

She ignores him, directing her statement at Bem, who's shaking on the floor. "I don't believe you."

"It's true. I don't know anything but my labs. They don't even let me into the gardens."

"But they let you run these experiments?"

"The lack of ambient mana drains them. They don't stay longer than necessary," he explains pleadingly. I'm glad he's being so cooperative. I get the impression Beth's just hoping for an excuse to hurt him again.

"Is there anything you can tell us? Please?" I ask, hoping to forestall Beth.

"I've heard them mention offices in the building across the gardens. There might be more information there."

Beth paces back and forth for a moment. She's avoided looking at Josh's tube since we came in, but now she stops and stares at it.

"Kid, what say you and I go take a look."

"Hold on, what about us?" Rufka interjects, indicating herself and Roberts.

"Unless you've figured out how to turn yourself invisible, it's too risky. Besides we need someone to guard Josh."

"Should we be splitting up?" I ask. Part of me just doesn't want to leave Rufka but I'm also worried about getting out of here quickly.

"It's not like we can leave until we figure out a way to bring Josh with us," Beth points out, gesturing at the large device currently keeping him alive. Hmm, I wonder if that's true.

"Object Analyzed: Forerunner Gene-seed D incubation pod. This device is currently stabilizing Citizen Rose's Mana state. Note, Restoration and Protection abilities are tied to a Citizen's core. Estimated time until Citizen dispersal: 38 hours. "

"Well, it looks like we've got a day and a half to find his core before…" I start but my throat chokes up.

"Even more reason to move. The sooner we find his core, the faster we can get him back on his feet."

Reading the description again, I focus on the name once more. "Huh, that's weird. It's called a Forerunner pod. I wonder why?"

"Haven't you heard of Forerunner's before?" Bem asks, his voice climbing as Beth turns towards him.

"What do you know about the Forerunners?" Beth demands.

"Other than the fact that they're the ones who run these experiments and the central government? They're crazy, every one of them."

The room goes silent, the only sound a faint bubbling from Josh's incubation pod.

…

Well, that raises some questions.

A note from Draith

Thanks for the feedback review Chris Lee and the amazing review Kachajal

3.22 Forerunner

10:33 am, local time. (July 15, 2023, 2:33 pm.)

"The Forerunners run the Aetherium?" Beth asks Bem. At the same time, I’m considering the ramifications, and what to ask Wyonna.

"That's what the minister has claimed, yes." He doesn't meet her eyes, but I can't really blame him for that.

"Why doesn't anyone know this?" Rufka demands, pushing into his space.

"How should I know?" he retorts, looking up at her, his ears twitching in exasperation.

"This is rather unexpected," Roberts deadpans, stroking the stubble on his chin.

"Well, we hardly needed more of a reason to find this minister," I point out.

"Alexis is right. Whatever this is, it can wait. Once Josh is stable, we can find out what's really going on." Beth is nodding as she turns back to Bem. "How do we get to these offices?"

"They're just across the garden. But the exit is sealed off. The minister uses her magic to keep me locked in here."

Beth stares at him for several seconds before responding. "How exactly do you think we got in here?"

"Uhh," he scratches his head, then looks at us again, as if he literally hadn't given the matter any thought. "Magic?"

Beth rolls her eyes as she picks him up, though she is gentler, pulling him up by the elbow instead of grabbing him roughly. "And you think we're going to have a problem with a stone wall?"

"Right, right," he mutters as he heads towards the door that's still wedged into place. Before he reaches it, I start fixing it, drawing the metal back from the surrounding stone. By the time he reaches the door, I've finished fixing it. Mostly.

At the very least, it should open. I wasn't exactly careful when I drove the edges into the surrounding stone. I could fix it, but I'm having a hard time feeling bad about damaging the residence of the people who not only kidnapped Josh, for the second time, but also ripped his core out then basically left him for dead.

"Okay, Alexis, I want you to stay in constant contact with Rufka. I imagine that shouldn't be a problem?"

I can't help but blush, nodding as Rufka chuckles before throwing her arm over my shoulder, "Sounds good. We need to catch up anyway."

"Not too much, she needs to be paying attention," Beth cautions, but she's smiling. It's strained, but it's still nice to see.

Realizing that this would be a good time to contact Wyonna, I send her a quick message. "So, apparently the Aetherium is run by Forerunners. What the hell? How did you forget to tell me something this important?"

As Beth and I follow Bem through the stone hallway, we pass a lounge, the lush chairs neatly arranged at ninety-degree angles around a solid stone table. Bem ignores the room, but I can't help but poke my head in. There's nothing exceptional about the room, but I can't help but notice that there's a spot on the table that's more worn. And the corresponding chair is likewise threadbare.

Not important Alexis, focus!

Shaking my head, I accelerate time allowing me to easily catch up with Bem who's started up a set of stairs at the end of the hall while reading Wyonna's response.

(Wyonna) "What? No way? That's awesome."

(Wyonna) "Never heard of Forerunners running a government before. The only records I have of Forerunners on Akilo are from before the sealing. Let's see, I've widened my record search to include all K'tharn. Looks like there were several involved in the core purging experiments about a hundred years ago."

"Core purging, like the core removal that Josh is dealing with?"

(Wyonna) "What? This is why I hate being locked in this room. I have no idea what I'm missing."

When I reach the top of the stairs, I realize Beth has disappeared, literally. I copy her, keeping a link to her and Rufka active.

"Oh right, so, apparently minister Folthka is a Forerunner. They've extracted Josh's core, whatever that is, and he's floating in a tank. We have roughly a day and a half to figure out a way to stabilize him or he'll dissipate."

(Wyonna) "Oh no! Poor Josh."

(Wyonna) "It's kind of surprising. When they performed the original experiments, they hadn't been able to keep any of the volunteers from going poof in under an hour. I wonder what they're doing differently?"

Bem reaches the end of the next hallway, which is full of alcoves instead of doors, pointing at the one at the end. He's clearly confused when he turns around looking for us. His confusion turns to panic when I start reshaping the wall, yelping before running back down the stairs.

I create a neat opening inside the alcove, Beth lets me know she'll check the area first. The courtyard beyond really does deserve the name garden, neat rows of brightly coloured plants flank the simple cobblestone walkway. Just like our current building, the far end of the path ends in a simple stone alcove. While she’s exploring I message Wyonna again.

"Well, they have him floating in a tank in a room with zero mana, a really old pu'shaha who's tending him and an entire city block that's outside of the System."

(Wyonna) "Interesting. But it looks like Theglia tried all that. There must be something else that's different."

"Maybe they've just kept trying it on everyone they can get their hands on. It's not like Josh volunteered for this."

(Wyonna) "Eww. There's no record of the Forerunners doing anything like that. Maybe they're only using the same name?"

"You're kidding, right? What are the chances of that?"

(Wyonna) "Not that bad, about 1 in 10,314."

"You made that up, didn't you?"

(Wyonna) "Extrapolation isn't 'making it up'. But yeah, I totally just threw a number out there. I have no idea why Theglia didn't provide me with more information. Maybe they figured something out after I was deployed. It's not like I've been in contact with anyone since I was brought online."

Beth reporting an all-clear keeps me from responding, moving through the garden to the far side. Even the courtyard feels bare of Mana. It's only as we step through into the new hallway, that I feel Mana return. The experience isn't entirely dissimilar to diving into a pool. The Mana doesn't seem to flow through the open doorway. I want to investigate the mechanics, but Beth prompts me to follow, reminding me that we're intruders here.

Shaping every alcove into a usable doorway seems like it would be a bad idea, cause it'd expose us too much. Despite my suggestion to only shape what we need, Beth insists it'll be more useful to have open doors if we need to move around quickly. So they all stay open.

The first room is full of crates. When we look in one, there are cables like the ones attached to Josh's tank. The next room is full of taller crates. Crates large enough to fit the pod.

"It looks like they're getting ready to scale their efforts up," Beth observes as we crack one of the crates confirming that they really do contain the same pods.

"Yeah. Do you think they're making more Fallen?" I ask.

"It's possible." We both stare at the pod for a second before continuing our exploration.

We're looking into a third storage room and I'm checking in when Rufka asks, "Hey Lexi, did you guys take Bem with you?"

"Nope. He skedaddled when I started reshaping the wall. Why?"

"He never came back. He probably told someone we're here."

Passing Rufka's thoughts on to Beth, she responds. "Good. Hopefully, they'll hurry back."

"What?"

"We need to find Folthka as soon as possible. If she comes hurrying back, all the better," Beth explains as we move to the next room.

"Right. And we're invisible, so hopefully, she doesn't notice us." I nod along, even though she can't see me.

"Won't matter if she does."

The certainty in Beth's voice sends a shiver down my spine despite the moonshine. I wouldn't want to be Folthka when we find her. Assuming she isn't more powerful than Ivicka. I'm not sure that'd matter to Beth at the moment.

Refocusing, I open the next alcove. The stone in front of us quickly disappears, this time revealing what looks to be the entrance to a small apartment. It almost makes me feel like I'm back on earth for a second with miscellaneous knick-knacks, abstract art on the walls (not sure if that's supposed to be a K'tharn or a tree) and even some dirty dishes cluttered on one end of a small coffee table. Currently unoccupied though.

Beth still heads into the room, while I keep an eye on the hall, letting Rufka know that we haven't found anyone yet.

It's as Beth's poking around behind a counter in the kitchen that I hear a 'whish' from outside the apartment. Letting Beth know we might have guests, I peek around the corner, trying to remain hidden even though I should be shrouded in invisibility.

The K'tharn with the golden fur is there, striding towards us from the direction of the courtyard. Which means she's passed all the open rooms already.

"Genitha, are you in here? You left all the storerooms open again." She walks into the room, looking around for a second before sighing. "I swear, some-users…"

I stand rigidly as she walks past me towards the kitchen where Beth is silently waiting. I remain frozen, waiting for Beth to let me know what we're going to do as the K'tharn starts making some sort of lunch. She doesn't get farther than putting meat on a chopping block before Beth appears with a knife at the K'tharn's throat.

The K'tharn doesn't even bat an eye as she continues working. "Really Genitha, I thought you'd be more imaginative by now. Though I suppose the dagger at the throat thing does have a certain, pre- Vaus' Awakening sort of charm."

I'm surprised Beth isn't exerting force or attempting to ask any questions when the K'tharn steps out of her grasp to retrieve something from beneath the counter. In fact, she remains perfectly still.

"You know this means your daughter is going to suffer, don't you? We can't have you…" she trails off as she finally looks at Beth.

"Oh. Now, this is interesting," she says as she inspects Beth, poking her in the side. Beth looks around frantically, letting me know she's still aware at least. I reassure her as I move closer. Don't know what this K'tharn is doing, but she doesn't seem to know I'm here.

As I'm inching closer, she continues talking, "You must be related to 'Forerunner Rose'. I must say, that was quite the surprise. Not as surprising as the fact that Ivicka neglected to mention that he had a companion though. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Agatha Folthka." She pauses, holding a piece of meat in front of her face as she stares at Beth. Then she tosses it into her mouth before adding, "But you can call me 'Forerunner Thark'."

I'm less than three metres away when I notice the soft fluttering of a piece of the cut meat. Cautiously I reach out with my air manipulation, detecting a light flow of wind mana swirling around Folthka.

"Where…" Beth manages to squeeze out as I'm studying the air magic. The whole thing reminds me of how Ivicka ripped the air out of my lungs.

"Your friend? Oh, he's here. Not far away, in fact. He's not doing so well though. A minor case of displaced core. Such a hero, that one." As I watch, Beth is floated out of the kitchen then set on a nearby chair as Folthka resumes working on her lunch.

"But you may be just what he needs. What do you say? Would you like to volunteer for a core transplant?" She flicks a bit of bloody meat in Beth's face as she gestures in her direction. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Here, let me get that."

She's shaping water to clean Beth's face when it occurs to me that I don't need to take control of the wind magic binding Beth in place to free her. I can just disrupt the spell. It'd be mostly effective, though I'll need to sweep Beth close to me using water. With Beth in arm's reach, I could teleport us out. But we came here looking for minister Folthka and we've found her.

But there's no sign of Josh's core. Maybe I should let Folthka continue. She isperforming a very useful villain monologue. Then I notice the ropes moving towards Beth, completely out of her line of sight.

Damn, I guess she's not just monologuing. Stupid smart enemies.

Sighing, I Pause time, sending a massive amount of wind mana into Folthka's spell to disperse its effects before reaching for Beth with water Mana. Except, my massive burst of wind Mana doesn't just disrupt her spell.

Instead, it generates a massive gust, sending Beth, the chair and pretty much everything in the vicinity flying over the counter. Including Folthka's half prepared lunch.

Oops.

Folthka's eyes are still expanding as I reach out to pluck Beth out of the air with water mana. We're still trying to get information out of her, so let's see if I can't make this seem like it's Beth's doing. With a little bit of pushing and pulling, I manage to assist Beth in doing a roll then landing on her feet, her pistol drawn and pointing at Folthka. This time from a couple metres away.

Honestly, I didn't even have to do much, Beth figured out what I was doing on her own then went along with it.

Since the rope and chair were already flying in her direction, it doesn't take much effort to secure her, much like Josh had been tied recently. They're about as responsive to my attempts to manipulate directly as before, but it takes little effort to draw the water from the nearby meat to direct them into position instead.

As my pause ends and time resumes its natural flow, I watch the room carefully.

"Disappointing," Folthka states, searching the room with her eyes.

"I'm sure," Beth responds, patting Folthka down. "Where is it?"

"Where's what?" Folthka asks, fluttering her eyes with faux innocence.

"Josh's core. Bem said you had it."

"Oh, he did, did he? That little rascal." Her words are accompanied by her rising from the chair, the ropes snapping as though they're made of spaghetti. She only makes it halfway to her feet when she's struck by a dark blast from Beth's pistol.

She pauses in shock, looking down at where her upper right arm now just... ends.

"Sit," Beth commands.

"Amazing. A mere iron rank able to create such damage." She does sit as Beth commanded, though her focus is on her missing arm which seals itself closed. It doesn't even have time to bleed on the remainder of her emerald sleeve.

"Where's his core?" Beth demands, firing a warning shot into the nearby floor to get Folthka's attention.

"With the others of course. You probably walked right past it. Ah, Bem, always so clever. I suppose I shouldn’t have teased him about the Tribunes losing last night."

"Take me to it." Beth backs away, keeping her pistol trained on Folthka who calmly rises then starts walking towards me. I backpedal out of the room, waiting for them to emerge into the hallway while contacting Rufka to let her know we've found Folthka. And maybe have her hostage.

Either Folthka has nerves of steel or she doesn't see Beth as a threat even after having her arm literally disintegrated, because she hardly seems to care. "You know, it's either brave or foolish of you to come here alone. I'm impressed though. Not many would be able to sneak into our inner chambers without tripping the warding scheme." As we move down the hall, I notice that all the alcoves are closed again. Someone was busy.

"Uh-huh." Beth doesn't wait for Folthka to reshape the alcove leading back into the courtyard, drawing a second pistol from behind her back. Her eyes remain fixed on Folthka as she blasts a jagged hole in the wall.

Folthka picks her way carefully over the ruined wall, pausing momentarily at the threshold as her eyes flick to the jagged edges of the hole. Beth doesn't tolerate the wait, gesturing forward after another warning shot at Folthka's side.

Raising her brows, Folthka steps into the courtyard. I can almost see her posture stiffen when she passes through the invisible barrier that holds the Mana from following her. Beth follows behind as I stare at the jagged edges of the opening. It reminds me of what happens when I teleport something without taking care, but less neat. As I watch, more of the stone disappears, the edge getting even more jagged.

Eep.

I use a quick burst of accelerated time to catch up to Beth and Folthka when Rufka contacts me. "Hey Lexi, you're not going to believe what just happened."

Instead of responding through the link, I send her a message. "Can't talk right now, don't want to risk Folthka discovering my presence."

We're only halfway across the courtyard when Beth fires, ensuring there'll be no waiting when we reach the far side.

"You know, there's really no need for the hostility. I'm sure we'll find this is all a terrible misunderstanding," Folthka says when she enters the hall.

"Sure. You accidentally ripped Rose's core out of his body then left him to die." I can hear Beth's sneer as they make their way down the stairs. Folthka really wasn't kidding. We're almost back to where we started when she stops in front of a section of unadorned wall. Unlike the other entrances, there's no alcove here. It's just a featureless plain wall.

"May I?" Folthka asks, gesturing in front of her.

"Fine," Beth grunts, sidling against the far wall as Folthka begins creating the passage. The grinding of the stone is audible as I message Rufka telling her where we are. Then Folthka finishes, revealing a new passage ten metres long, leading down at a gentle slope.

"His core is down there?" Beth asks, her eyes flicking down for only a second before returning to Folthka. As they're talking, I reach out to the stone, reinforcing the structure when I notice several sections that were left weakened. Trying to trap us, I bet.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Folthka replies with a shrug.

Beth takes a half-step towards Folthka before she stops herself. "You'd best speak plainly. What do you mean 'in a matter of speaking'?"

Folthka lays her ears back, tilting her head up as though thinking before responding. "It's better if I show you."

"After you," Beth acquiesces, waving Folthka forward. Folthka nods, and I can see her glance up at the recently reinforced roof then back at Beth. Noticed my reinforcement efforts, I'm guessing. Might have been better to let her think she could trap us here. Oh well.

She starts making her way down the hallway.

I'm about to follow her when Rufka messages me again, reminding me she has important news. I inform her I'd love to hear it but she insists I need to come see in person. She tells me it'll keep for a couple of minutes, she doesn't want to spoil the surprise. Apologizing, I tell her it's not a good time as I hustle after Beth, sneaking down the hall before they get too far ahead.

Emerging from the sloped hallway, we come out into a room dominated by a long, low stone table with dozens of short chairs pushed underneath it. I've barely noticed the table when a high voice rings out, followed by another.

While surprising, the sound is familiar. I heard it all the time when I walked past the park near my father's care home.

It's the sound of children playing.

3.23 Not so Simple

11:12 am, local time. (July 15, 2023, 3:12 pm.)

I'll admit, children running about playing tag wasn’t what I was expecting when we came to rescue Josh from the evil lair. But that's clearly what the two small K'tharn who come barrelling into the room are doing.

The one in the lead jumps onto the table, their golden mane flying loose as they scramble away from the shorter one who sends a nearby chair spinning. At a glance, the cubs appear nearly identical, the only apparent difference is that the second cub is much louder and slightly shorter. The one in the lead is nearly halfway to where Beth and Folthka are standing before they notice them, stopping in place.

"Gotcha!" Their shorter cohort calls out, two paws raised in triumph when they catch them.

"Celthi, Qern, we have a visitor," Folthka calls sweetly, extending a paw towards them then gesturing them closer. Her greeting throws me off, but she keeps speaking, "Come say hello to…"

"You know, I never did catch your name?" Folthka remarks casually, turning to Beth with a grin full of sharp pointed teeth.

"You can call me Forerunner Raven Queen," Beth replies with an equally toothy grin. "I hope you didn't bring me here because you thought children would distract me from retrieving Rose's core."

"Where's your arm?" the shorter cub, the one Folthka referred to as Qern, asks. I was wrong about them being identical. Not only does he have the flatter teeth that indicate he's a male, but he also has a black star pattern over his left eyes. Eyes that are focused on Folthka's partial disintegration.

"Just another lab accident. You know how dangerous my work can be," she responds, ignoring Beth's remark. Both of the children nod, though they seem nervous. Celthi in particular keeps glancing at Beth while playing with a pink rose woven into her hair.

"How are you feeling Qern? Any nausea?" Folthka continues, who keeps herself between the children and Beth's gun.

I jump when Beth puts a new hole in the table. The children are as startled as I am, tripping over each other before collapsing on the floor. Then Qern starts crying.

"I suppose a little patience was too much to ask," Folthka sighs. Then she stares into Beth's eyes, "Rose's core is in my son Kalim. Removing it will kill him."

Beth's eyes narrow, flicking to the children, then back to Folthka. "Why? Why would you experiment on your own child?"

"To save him. And his children," Folthka replies calmly as she kneels next to Qern, stroking his head reassuringly.

"How does this help your child? And how does it justify killing my… Forerunner Rose?"

"He's not dead, there's a chance he'll recover, free of the System. Really, you should be thanking me."

Beth snorts, before adding, "Unlikely. But if that's how you feel, perhaps you should take his place." I don't think she's kidding.

"And leave my children without their mother. I think not." Folthka shakes her head while helping the kids to their feet.

"Mom, what's going on?" Celthi asks, tugging at Folthka's sleeve.

"She's here to see the nice man who helped Kalim."

"You know Mr. Rose? He's nice. He gave me this flower," Celthi states, fingering the rose.

Beth stares at the child for a second before glaring at Folthka, who's still holding Qern. "I want to see him."

"Of course, your friend is this way," Folthka nods then takes a step towards the ramp.

"Not Rose. Your son. Kalim."

Folthka stiffens, her robe falling unnaturally still. "He's still recovering."

"And?"

Beth and Folthka spend several seconds staring at each other before Folthka nods, standing then shooing the children away, "go play in the arboretum."

Neither seems eager to leave, but Celthi gives Beth another look before taking Qern's hand, leading him away. They're not nearly as excited as when they came running in.

I can't say I blame them.

As the children wander out the right side of the chamber, Folthka strolls towards the door the children emerged from. Beth and I follow. I maintain my distance, ensuring I never get too close to either. I don't need one of them to bump into me. It may look like Beth has the advantage here, but Folthka remains too calm. And I honestly don’t want to be too close to Beth right now either.

Folthka takes us through a homier and more open hallway. Several worn benches are set along the hallway looking out through large windows into a sun-dappled enclosure to our right. I can't make out the children but I suspect that's the arboretum. As I'm gazing in, I realize the sun must be an illusion as the entire space is enclosed under a solid stone ceiling.

Interesting. I wonder how they do it? An application of twilight maybe?

We pass several closed doors, each of them made of wood instead of the stone doorways that block every other part of the facility. This is an area meant to be lived in.

Folthka stops at the second door from the end, hesitating. She draws herself up, before turning to Beth. "Look, I know you're upset about your friend. But Kalim… he's... Please don't hurt him."

"I don't hurt children," Beth offers, though she doesn't lower her pistol.

Folthka pushes the door open while mumbling something under her breath. It almost sounds like a prayer.

On the other side of the door is a small room. Every wall is covered in drawings, well, sketches really. There are several of a suspension style bridge, more of a grand arch and a large poster-sized sketch of the Builder tower. There's a desk in the corner with several half-finished sketches of the tower as well. The K'tharn I'm assuming is Kalim is lying with their back towards the door. At first, I think he's just sleeping, but then I see the thin cables running from his back underneath his bed.

"As you can see, he's still not doing well."

Beth doesn't say anything. They both remain in the hall and I take the opportunity to sneak into the room to analyze him.

“Creature analyzed: Pu'shaha. Gene-seed D."

"This pu'shaha has had a non-pet System core integrated."

"Name: Kalim Folthka."

"Attributes: Physical; Minimal, Mobility; Minimal, Magic; Low, Awareness; Minimal.

Attacks: Wood and Chemical manipulation.

Defences: Physical: Minimal. Magical: Minimal."

Well, that's not a very detailed descript… oh, what's this?

"Quest received: Not doing well. Do a more thorough analysis of Pu'shaha Kalim Folthka using Facet and Focus to create a codex. Requirements: 0/1 Pu'shaha analyzed. Rewards: 5 iron rank Integration points."

That's a remarkably easy quest. Especially for five points. Glancing over, Beth is staring at Folthka, but she's not saying anything, her face blank.

Well, I'm already here, I'm not going to look a gift quest in the mouth. Besides, maybe this will help with Josh.

So, I Pause time before analyzing him again. This time, I push extra Facet and Focus into what had become a routine interaction with the System. This time I can feel strands of Facet as they pierce his exterior. It's as if I've wrapped him in a cocoon of invisible threads of Facet, each thread performing surgery on a microscopic level. Except, instead of cutting him into pieces, this dissection will leave him intact.

I hope.

I've used up over half my considerable reserves when the threads retract, pulling back into me, filling my mind with a complete understanding of his inner workings. I can feel his body healing. I don't know the terms to use to describe what was wrong with him, but he had incredible damage throughout his entire cardiovascular system. It almost looks like his blood was literally tearing holes in his body. Whatever caused it doesn't appear to be present anymore.

I'm also able to discern the edges of his 'System interface'. The layer is interwoven with his entire body, but it's not perfect. If I were to compare it to my own experiences, it reminds me of when I arrived then damaged myself.

He probably has a killer headache. It's a good thing for him that he's unconscious. But then that's what the pain killers are for. The scan ends and my quest updates. But I don't read it yet because I've run out of Pause. And I'm still stuck in the room with the young, though according to my scan, adult, pu'shaha.

I cautiously duck beneath Beth's steady arm as she sighs. "Tell me why I shouldn't rip out your core to save Rose?"

"Because it wouldn't work. You don't have the expertise," Folthka answers, her voice level. But I see her body relax slightly at Beth's question. As Folthka is replying, I start messaging Wyonna, letting her know everything I just scanned. I'm even able to share the codex, as I did with Roberts.

(Wyonna) "Hold on, I'll go over this. Going to need a couple minutes."

"I think I'll take my chances. Better you than…" Beth waves in the unconscious pu'shaha's direction.

Folthka's right eyes twitch as she pulls the door closed. "On that, we can agree. Are you really only here because of Rose?" she asks, her hand lingering on the door before turning down the hall.

Beth pauses, waiting until I confirm I'm still with her before she starts following. "It's enough. Though I will admit, I'm curious…" Beth glances back for a second before returning her attention to Folthka. "Do you intend to make your son a Fallen? If this doesn't work?"

Beth's question causes Folthka to spin in place, her eyes flaring and her ears laid back. "I would never make a loyal K'tharn into one of those abominations."

"Just the disloyal ones, huh?"

"I've never created a Fallen from a K'tharn. Such a thing would be a travesty."

"Sure…" Beth draws out, her lip twitching.

"Why do I suspect there's something you're not telling me?"

"Just how often do you get out of here?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Folthka declares, pirouetting about, her emerald robes brushing against the benches lining the hall.

"I'm just asking, because a certain Ivicka is running around using Fallen K'tharn. And she seems to be reporting to you."

Folthka's step falters for a second then she continues, responding with a too calm voice. "Clearly this low Mana area is affecting me. Because I couldn't have heard you correctly. You expect me to believe that my loyal apprentice would commit the foulest crime possible?"

Beth snorts, "Doesn't matter if you believe me. With what you've done to J… Rose, I don't need to sort things out."

"He volunteered! He said it'd be worth it."

"Ha! Not likely."

Beth might not have any doubts, but I could see Josh doing it if he thought it'd help a kid. Especially, if it meant he'd have a reason to stop fighting. But I'd need to hear it from him to believe it, which could be a bit of a challenge at the moment.

We make it all the way up the ramp without incident. But as we're walking past the neatly organized room with the single threadbare chair, Folthka halts.

"These Fallen… how many are there?"

"I don't have exact numbers. Over twenty in the attack Ivicka led at Glimmering Sands. Encountered hundreds more back in the dungeon. A few of them had these," Beth replies with a shrug, holding up the last of the soul stones we took from the Fallen. The lightning Fallen Bel'ther was damn creepy, Tipan didn’t want to risk being affected by binding her soulstone.

Folthka just stands there staring at the soulstone. She starts reaching for it but Beth pulls it back into her inventory. Still, Beth seems to relax slightly. Then Wyonna contacts me.

(Wyonna) "So, it looks like his condition is improving on its own. I think a lot of the damage you found was from a condition K'tharn haven't suffered from since before integration. Some kind of degenerative disease. But that's not the really interesting part. He has access to System functions, but he's fully disconnected from the network. There's no oversight on his System at all. I can't find any limiters either."

"What does that mean?"

(Wyonna) "It means he's got access to more rights than a Citizen. At least for his own body. He wouldn't be recognized by the System as a user though. No System Quests or Nexus access. I don't think this was an accident, these changes are too thorough. And specific."

While I'm getting the deets from Wyonna, I'm whispering what she's learned to Beth who's letting Folthka lean against a wall. I must have missed something, because Folthka's convulsing with laughter.

"Of course. She would. It all makes sense now. Here I thought she'd finally seen the importance of our mission. But no. She's been using my research to amass personal power. I'm such a fool."

"Yep."

Even as Beth prods Folthka back to her feet, I let Rufka know we're coming while Wyonna continues her update.

(Wyonna) "Oh. I think I know why they did this. You said there were young K'tharn there right? Male and female?"

"Yeah?"

(Wyonna) "Well, if they're able to do this with several people they'd be able to keep most of the advantages of the System. But they'd also be able to start having kids without any System restrictions."

"Why would that matter? Couldn't they just complete the 'have a child' quests?"

(Wyonna) "Right, I never mentioned, but one of the things the System doesn't really advertise before allowing a user to create a conservatory world is the procreation quests become limited. They're not getting as many of those quests as they used to. The System only awards the best of a species with those quests, so once they send enough people off-world, those on the planet stop getting as many quests. If the species survives long enough in the Core Worlds, it leaves nice, mostly empty worlds without the destruction of conquest. And if they don't, then the quests maintain a small 'stable' population on their homeworld until the System decides they're ready to 'play' again."

"Wow. So, we're like what to the System? Corgis?"

(Wyonna) "If Corgis were bred to be warriors in the Eternal War instead of being cute, sure. Actually, strike that. There are some species that are kept around for their cuteness. I don't think that'll be humans though. You're more horror than cute."

"Harsh."

I don't have time to keep chatting with Wyonna since we're finally opening the door.

"Hold on a minute," Beth commands Folthka before signalling behind her back. It takes several seconds for me to realize she wants me to teleport into the room so Folthka doesn't realize I've been following around invisibly.

Shrugging, I do as Beth asks. Using Rufka as a reference, I pop into place out of sight of the door, right behind her. Seems like the perfect time to surprise her.

I end up getting an elbow in my stomach followed by a quiet apology. Followed by soft giggling. Turns out I came into the room as she was turning, leaving me on the receiving end. There's no sign of Bem, but Rufka, Roberts and Josh are here as expected. I kind of forgot that Rufka mentioned there was something she needed me to see, which I'm guessing is the other occupant. Talking in low tones with Roberts is another K'tharn. They're both consulting a panel in front of Josh's tank.

She shares Rufka's tawny colouration and short fur. In fact, she's pretty similar to Rufka in height as well. There are two major differences though. The first is the heavy collar and chains linking her limbs together. The second is the crimson red tattoo that covers half her body. Starting just below her left eye, the intricate details of the fractal-shaped tattoo reach the tips of both her left hands, while also stretching down both legs.

Before I have time to process the implications of this apparent prisoner further, the door swings open, Folthka gliding through. Smoulder decides this is a good time to escape my pocket, picking up that we're going to be visible for a while. I send her mental thanks for being quiet. She reminds me that I owe her double head-scritches and a full-size obstacle course later.

Folthka jerks backwards when she notices everyone scattered about the room waiting for her.

"So, you didn't come alone," she states before her eyes land on the crimson tattooed K'tharn. "Genitha, are you okay?"

"Your worry is touching, if somewhat misplaced, Agatha," Genitha responds, her voice vaguely familiar.

"Ah, Beth. Good, I've been talking with Genitha and I believe we can… who's this?" Roberts straightens, glancing between Beth's tight face and her drawn weapon.

"This is minister Agatha Folthka. She also goes by 'Forerunner Thark'. She's the one who put Josh in the tank."

"Ah, yes. About that. I believe I should be able to stabilize Josh. I don't want to make any promises but I think we can restore him using his Citizen restoration. But I'll need Alexis' assistance," Roberts searches past Beth before turning back to discover me next to Rufka.

"And who is she?" Beth asks, clearly indicating Genitha.

"Ah, my apologies. This is their resident expert in the transferal process. A prisoner as it happens. Her name is Genitha. She's been quite helpful."

"She's also my mum," Rufka whispers to me, squeezing my hand as Smoulder's tail dangles between us.

Oh, that's why Genitha looks so familiar.

3.24 Some People's Parents

11:32 am, local time. (July 15, 2023, 3:32 pm.)

As Rufka's mom (mum?) addresses Beth, I have a minor panic attack. I'm totally not ready to meet her mom. Luckily, Rufka took my hand before whispering to me, keeping me from doing something silly, like teleporting away. Doesn't keep me from using pause.

After a minute of thinking about it, I've calmed enough to realize I shouldn't have to worry.

She's clearly focused on Josh and the others; she probably won't even notice me. And if she turns my way, I can use Smoulder as a distraction.

Even as the thought crosses my mind, Roberts redirects the conversation towards me, "Alexis. You're still connected to Josh, correct?"

"Uhh. Yes?" I respond as everyone's eyes turn on me. Even Smoulder's. Traitor.

Roberts steeples his fingers with a smile. Beside him, Genitha claps her hands together before loudly proclaiming, "Amazing. I'd theorized there were ways of interacting with a user removed from the System but this is the first time I've seen it. I'd love to study the effect. Is there any pain or discomfort?"

"No? I mean, it's all staticky and establishing the connection was difficult. But no pain,” I respond while panicking at the way her eyes have locked on me. Shouldn’t the stupid moonshine be protecting me from this? Except I’m just nervous, not afraid. Damn it.

"I see. And this connection lets you know his location at all times? Is there a range limit? How much Mana does it cost?" Genitha fires each question off more rapidly than the last, all four eyes narrowed in on me. Huh, the crimson tattoo extends all the way into both her left eyes.

"Mum," Rufka protests, stepping between us, her ears flattened in embarrassment. It's kind of cute. And helps me calm down.

"What? Oh, I'm doing it again, aren't I? Sorry kitten," Genitha apologizes causing Rufka's ears to flatten even further.

"Mum! Not a kitten."

"Never said you were."

"You just did."

"Can't prove it."

"Mum!"

"Yes, kitten?"

Rufka stares at her mum for a second, then sighs, "Love you."

"Love you too, kitten."

I can see where Rufka gets her smirk from. The one on Genitha's face is a perfect rendition. She pauses before turning back to me, "Now, we have work to do."

This last part is said with a wave of her arm at me and Roberts. Beth is still holding Folthka at gunpoint, but waves her away from us to the far side of the room while asking, "Where's Bem?"

"He's probably hiding in his room. He knows better than to poke his head out when we have 'company'," Folthka answers as she settles on a cracked box. Beth says something else, but Roberts and Genitha command my attention as Roberts explains what we're trying to do.

Basically, Roberts's power has revealed that while Josh's Core has been removed, the Restoration power seems to have maintained its link to his body. But the link is tenuous at best. The more he explains it, the more it feels like Roberts's solution isn't a great first choice. It sounds like Josh would need to die to be fully restored. When I point this out, Roberts speaks up.

"But that's just it. As far as the System is concerned, he's already dead. It's just unable to connect to him properly. If we solidify his connection, he should either be reborn at his Restoration point immediately or, as Genitha has theorized, the System will override his current location and reinstall his Core." I'm jerked out of the explanation for a second at the word reinstall, which was in English instead of Vausian. I'm not the only one who notices, but in Genitha's case, she doesn't know the word. So, Roberts patiently explains.

While they're doing that, Rufka whispers in my ear. It takes a moment to register her words as I get a pleasant shudder down my spine when she first starts whispering. Focus Alexis. "Mum's been here for the last three weeks. Apparently, Ivicka was the one who brought her in. Mum didn't tell me how she got them on, but her manacles inhibit…"

"Rufka, can you get us that scanner please," Genitha interrupts, pointing to a laptop-sized device across the room. Rufka mentioning Ivicka bringing her mum, makes me wonder how she got Josh. I thought he was taken by the creepy doll monsters. Weren't they attacking Ivicka too? Or were those just the ant-hoppers?

Rufka nods to Genitha, who turns back to us while Beth and Folthka are still talking, "Roberts tells me you can get us all out of here. Don't tell me how but we need to leave soon. Ivicka heard about our success, so she'll be here shortly. We need to take care of your friend then get out."

"You know, that's what surprises me. Ivicka seems to have used the procedure on herself. Wasn't that enough?" I ask. It's been bothering me since Folthka said this was their first success.

"SHE WHAT?!" Folthka exclaims from just behind me.

Oops.

It would appear I missed the end of their conversation and Beth directing her over here. Not the best timing on that.

While I'm gauging how much to tell her, Roberts beats me to it, "Tipan believes Ivicka's managed to bind an Aero core in addition to her original core."

"I still can't believe her primary resource is Swagger," Rufka giggles beside me.

"May Vaus swallow that squid-faced, mortal-hearted, cub-of-a-Reaver. And then spit her into Astra's Maw," Folthka spews out venomously while I elbow Rufka. Not that I can keep a small smile off my face at her vitriol.

"I find it hard to believe you didn't know," Beth comments.

Folthka doesn't acknowledge Beth as she slumps to the ground, her eyes glistening as she mutters, "So many people. Years of effort. All wasted. We succeeded and she hid it from me… I don't..."

"Well, that's not as satisfying as I'd hoped," Genitha remarks at Folthka's slumped form before turning back to us. "We don't have time for this."

Right, Josh.

Nodding, I establish a full-strength connection. He's still uncomfortable but I can feel how much he's relaxed since we've shown up. His relief is palpable.

Okay, now I need to find the existing link Roberts was talking about. Then trace the connection before reinforcing it.

Simple.

But there's no obvious sensation that tells me where this link might be. As I'm trying to figure it out, Josh happens to look at where I'm standing with my eyes closed. It's really weird to see myself from this angle. Do I have something in my teeth?

Nope, just a blob of gunk floating in the tank.

I spend several minutes inside Josh, performing a similar scan to the one I used on Kalim. I try three times, establishing a far too thorough understanding of Josh's biology. I probably understand him better than he does. But I still can't find the Restoration link. Since focusing isn't working, I switch tracks, relaxing my mind, just floating and picking up any sensation but there isn't so much as an itch. I mentally sigh before returning to myself.

When I drop the connection, I feel my mind flit away. I thought this might happen.

Josh was in his garden situated on the apartment building's roof looking over their little cul de sac when he heard the voice below. He tried not to listen, but the acoustics of the alley funnelled the sound as though he were next to her. Her voice was smooth and low, yet still decidedly feminine as she muttered a nonsensical sentence, something about high ambient levels.

They'll fade out in a moment, Josh thought to himself as he checked the base of his tomato plant for invaders. Weeds and insects, not aliens. He didn't think he'd ever have crops big enough to deal with those kinds of pests.

He'd never been one for plants before moving to Vancouver, but Dana, his girlfriend from a few months ago had volunteered him to help out with her mother's garden expansion. They'd broken up but Josh had gotten along fabulously with her mother, bonding over their shared love of 'Aliens who walk among us' conspiracies. So when Tracy, Dana's mother, had offered him dinner in exchange for helping in her garden, he'd accepted.

She'd only asked him to help move some dirt around and break ground for her planned expansion, but they'd gotten to talking and Josh had found himself joining her as they prepared the furrows, then stayed even longer as she explained how to plant several different vegetables.

It had been the most calming experience he'd had since leaving home. Before he knew it, he'd started a small garden of his own. It'd taken him a few months and a lot of free steaks, but he'd finally convinced the building manager to let him set up a little rooftop space.

Usually, his garden was nice and peaceful. But apparently whoever was in the alley below had chosen to stop there.

"You're sure this is the right place? Seems kind of run down."

Josh guessed whoever was below must be on her phone because he didn't hear anyone respond, but she kept talking as though she'd received an answer.

"Yeah, I get it. Kid was at ground zero. Changed her. Don't worry, I'll…"

The voice faded away as Josh wondered if there'd been some sort of alien incursion that the government had tried to cover up. He'd check the forums tonight, but without more information, it'd just be another maybe. Part of him wanted to go find the owner of that voice. But he had work to do.

By the time he was finished moving through his garden, his thoughts had turned towards pest control and new raingear instead. He was starting to wish he'd requested a greenhouse instead of an open plot.

There was always rain in Vancouver, but the last fifteen minutes had been like standing under a waterfall.

He couldn't wait to get into his new luxurious robe.

He was behind on his favourite soap.

As I open my eyes, my time sense informs me I haven't missed a single second since I disconnected from Josh. This is despite the fact I spent a good five hours reliving his gardening. Even now, I can almost feel the dirt under my fingernails and the chill down my back where the rain snuck through.

And that woman. It was Beth. Or someone who sounded just like her. Did she know about us before we came through? I swear she never mentioned it… She seems to leave a lot of things out. And… my sense tells me that was just after I’d moved to Vancouver. Years ago.

Shaking my head, I focus back on my current objective. Ensuring Josh can live long enough to tend another garden.

"I can't find the Restoration link," I inform Roberts while wrestling Smoulder down off of Josh's tank.

"Well, we thought that might be the case. That's why we've been adjusting the scanner." Roberts indicates the flat box that Rufka retrieved earlier. It mostly looks like an oversized tablet, the screen surrounded by knobs, switches and buttons. It's all very analog.

"I call him Piercy," Genitha adds while patting it fondly, the links of her chains jingling with the motion. "Roberts acted as a calibration tool, so we should be able to figure out where exactly this link is."

We spend the next few minutes adjusting knobs and taking pictures that show Josh as nothing more than a blank space where a person should be. It's as we're looking at a blurry image that looks more like a three-legged chair than Josh when Rufka asks, "Is he supposed to be doing that?"

Josh is moving inside the tank.

Considering how weak he felt, I'm surprised at the amount of effort he's putting into tapping his knee repeatedly. His right knee doesn't appear special in any way, but he keeps lifting his arm then bringing it back down, jostling himself as we watch. Turning to the others, Roberts shrugs while Genitha chuckles out, "I guess we could have just asked him."

I stare at Josh for a second, wondering why I didn't feel anything in his knee when we were connected. Then I glance over at Beth. Josh follows my gaze, staring at Beth for a second before looking back to me.

Beth doesn't let him off that easy, leaning against the tank as she asks, "Did you really volunteer for this you big dumb man?"

Josh nods, then shakes his head as if he's saying no. Then he shrugs while making 'the wait until it's clear' signal Beth taught us. Well, that tells us nothing.

She stares into the tank for a second before turning to me. "Okay kid. Go fix him."

"We're gonna get you through this," I promise him as I reinforce the connection again.

I can feel him nodding as his senses blossom in my mind. Outside the tank, Genitha and Roberts are scanning his knee with 'Piercie' and I can feel the twinges when they twist the knob associated with the scanning frequency.

That's all I need to find the link.

It's similar to our original connection through the party interface. But the signal is weak. Which is why I'm here.

At this point, reinforcing the connection is easy. A simple infusion of Facet and Focus establishes a connection. It's so easy, I almost don't notice the transition.

Suddenly, we're not in Josh's body. Instead, we're connected to … I'm not entirely sure. It kind of feels like everything's blank. There's no colour. Or lack of colour. There's no sensation, nothing to indicate… anything.

Even as I'm taking in the strangeness of the overwhelming nothing, it changes.

The space is filled with a familiar notification screen that wrests my attention.

"Update: Emergency Restoration Initiated.

Scanning Citizen Rose. Restoration required. Citizen corruption chance: High. Command Executed: Citizen Rose stored in Anti-Corruption buffer.

Scanning Citizen Pandora: Restoration not required. Citizen corruption chance: negligible. Command Executed: Citizen Pandora returned to existing shell."

A second later, I can feel my body again, as Josh fades away.

Not just the connection or his senses. His body is turning into the same blue dust I've seen from so many enemies, dissipating inside the tank. There's no final moment with his hand on the glass or saying we love him, he's just… gone.

There's another notification but I don't have time to read it as I'm suddenly whirled about.

"What the hell just happened?" Beth demands. I can see flecks of dark energy circling her. When one strikes my hand, it passes straight through, ripping a tiny hole. There's no pain.

"Josh was put in a buffer," I offer meekly.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know. It felt like everything was working but then we were in this empty space. And then the System said it was scanning and then it said Josh had a high chance of corruption, so it was putting him in an Anti-Corruption Buffer and then I was sent back."

Beth looks even less satisfied than she did before I started talking but I don't know what else to say. This isn't how it was supposed to go. Beth looks like she's about to say more when Smoulder's tail waves in front of my face, effectively breaking her train of thought.

"Okay. We just fix the source of the corruption. Easy. Then it won't need to store him in the buffer, right?" Beth rambles as she starts pacing.

I'm not sure that's how it works, but the look in Beth's eyes tells me now would be a bad time to suggest that to her.

"Stored in a System buffer? Just who the hell are you people?" Folthka cries out, startling me. I'd totally forgotten she was here.

"Doesn't matter. We can't do anything for Josh and Ivicka's on her way," Rufka reminds us, her mum behind her still fiddling with the scanner, her chains jingling with each motion.

"Ivicka's on her way?" Beth stops in place, tapping her pistol against her leg.

"Beth?" Roberts asks. He's still staring at where Josh disappeared.

Beth doesn't answer immediately. Instead, she takes a moment to reshape her gun, forming it into the assault rifle configuration. She checks everything over, even though she just created it, then turns to us. "I think it's time we stop running from Ivicka. She owes us a lot more than answers."

3.25 Are Not as They Appear

11:59 am, local time. (July 15, 2023, 3:59 pm.)

"What precisely did you have in mind?" Roberts asks Beth. Which I think is a fair question. Especially, considering we've run from Ivicka each time we've seen her so far. Then she shrugged off attacks thrown by the squid-Lord back in the tower. Now Beth wants to stay and fight?

"Set an ambush."

"Why now? What's changed?" I ask.

Beth stares meaningfully at Folthka's missing arm. "I'm not saying it'll be easy but... we have proof I can do nasty damage to a copper rank. You can provide us with instant tactical retreat. We've got Genitha with us. Oh, and Ivicka is this one's apprentice. Which makes her bait."

"Was. She was my apprentice." Folthka is finally gathering herself, stepping between Beth and I on uneven feet. Her fur is still matted from her recent tears, but there's a hard edge to her eyes as she adds, "She hasn't been my apprentice for over a year. Not since-"

Beth cuts her off, “A former apprentice is even better. More sentiment and less recent bitterness. Get her shackles off,” she orders, pointing at Genitha.

As Folthka takes Genitha’s hand, I connect to Tipan. If Ivicka's coming, it'd be best she has a heads up. I mean, if we're lucky, Tipan can alert us if she sees Ivicka. Or more likely, Asterix.

Big green dragons have a tendency to stand out, even if their scales are all moulted.

While I'm talking to Tipan, I quickly fill her in on everything that's happened, including Josh disappearing into the buffer. Even as she's offering me her condolences, I start doing the same with Wyonna. Keeping people informed would be simpler if I had a better way to contact Wyonna than through party chat.

(Wyonna) "He was placed in a buffer? I wonder what kind of state he's in. It's possible they've stored him locally."

"Would it be useful if we found his storage spot? Could we get him out?"

(Wyonna) "Maybe? You're able to get into all sorts of places as Citizens that Forerunners only ever had glimpses of."

"Speaking of going places without permission, did you have Beth spying on us before we transitioned?"

(Wyonna) "Totally. Needed to make sure you all arrived safely."

"How long were you watching us?"

(Wyonna) "Depends. I only started watching Josh and Roberts a couple years ago."

"Only? How long have you been watching me?"

(Wyonna) "Uhm. You sure you want me to answer that?

"Wyonna. Not comforting."

(Wyonna) "Extenuating circumstances. How many humans on earth do you think could create their own mana? Hint, the answer is less than two."

(Wyonna) "So, yeah, I started observing you in, oh let's see, October 27, 2009. You looked absolutely adorable in the blue Katara costume by the way."

I stand there with my jaw hanging loose instead of responding. Before I can think of anything to say, I flashback.

It was the first time I used magic. Papa and I had been getting my Halloween costume ready out behind our house and I'd been going through the motions. I'd wanted to emulate her, so imagine my surprise when I wrested an icicle from the nearby house then flung it across the yard into the tree. Papa was right there, watching. He didn't say anything at first, standing there stroking his beard. But then I got into it and summoned moreicicles, setting them in orbit around me.

Papa muttered something then kneeled down next to me.

"Lexi, sweetie. You can't tell anyone about this. Not even your mother."

At first, I ignored him, intent on creating an igloo formed of icicles but when he addressed me in Cree, he arrested my attention. Papa never spoke in Cree. Not unless it was serious. He never told me why. And despite Mami having Metis status, she rarely talked about that part of our heritage. Other than the occasional curse about her uncle Joe, she remained tight-lipped. Even when my cousin Luke and me teamed up to ask her, attempting to emulate the investigative skills of Papi, we walked away empty-handed.

Leaving my half-finished igloo alone, I turned to my papa with my serious expression as I swore, "On the honour of the water tribe, I swear to keep this secret."

My father's face scrunched up in an effort to contain his laughter. But he schooled his face before taking my hand then repeated, in a perfectly even voice, "On the honour of the water tribe."

Then we spent the next half hour setting up a massive blanket fort for me to practice inside. When mom arrived home, she threw a fit at us having all the laundry outside in over three feet of snow.

To be fair, there'd only been a few inches when we'd started. Papa and I didn't tell her that obviously, but we did pack it in for the evening. I didn't get many more opportunities to practice before the Ugly Tree incident, but papa insisted he be there to help me with what he called my 'gift'.

I'd forgotten he called it that.

Damn, that was weird. Time sense tells me it only took me a second to flashback, but it's strange watching my own memories without warning. An after-effect of trying to fix Josh maybe?

Smoulder draws my attention back to the room with gentle headbutts to my jaw until I turn my gaze on Genitha. The shackles are lying at her feet as Beth steps away, sheathing her Umbra knife. Discarded shackles aren't what's caught Smoulder's attention though. No, it's the palpable aura that fills the air surrounding Genitha. When bound, the lines of her tattoo were merely a bright crimson but still within the realm of ink. Now they shine in a way that tangibly pierces the air around her. While gazing upon her, it's as though I can feel the blood rushing through my body ignite in response.

A second later, the feeling fades, as does the brightness of her tattoo.

"Sorry about that, takes a moment to realign after being released," Genitha apologizes as Smoulder headbutts me again. Looking at her, it takes a second to understand she doesn't just think Genitha's tattoos are impressive. She wants her own.

What are the rules for tattooing your pet? It's okay if they want it right?

Now, I was doing something before the tattoo and flashback... Oh right, Wyonna. "So let me get this straight. You've had Beth watching me since I was eight?!"

(Wyonna) "Uh. No. I've been observing you myself. Because I had to. On that note, it's a special kind of torture not being allowed to interact with someone you feel like you were born beside."

"What do you mean, 'had to'? Why did you have to watch me? And what do you mean born beside?

(Wyonna) "Remember the whole having restrictions thing? I have to follow my directives. I'm just glad most of my orders have been carried out. So much less confined now."

"Most? What else are you supposed to do?"

(Wyonna) "I'd love to tell you. I really would. But I'm not able to."

"Kay."

I'm not pleased as I send my last message to Wyonna, giving Smoulder vigorous head-scritches. Suddenly, I'm kind of glad Wyonna's gone. Sure, she seems to be on my side. But I have no idea what hidden directives she has. And if Folthka is an example of a typical Forerunner, there's a good chance I don't want to be part of whatever they have planned.

I guess we'll just have to figure out a way to free Wyonna from her programming. Cause I totally have any idea where I'd even start.

Before I can lose myself further in thought, I feel Rufka press against me as she leans her head on my shoulder while slipping her arms around me. "Now that we've found my mum, I think we can handle her."

Right. Ivicka.

Which reminds me.

I remain cuddled with Rufka as I address Folthka, "There's something I don't understand. You said Ivicka brought Josh to you. But she didn't take him. He was captured by a squad of weird dolls, called Aethop's Daughters. It seemed like they weren't on the same side."

Folthka snaps her head in my direction as I finish. Throughout our entire invasion of her facility, not once did she exhibit fear. Beth shot her arm off and she was only annoyed.

But there's no mistaking her wide eyes or the tremble in her voice when she attempts to state firmly, as if trying to convince herself, "Aethop's Daughters were destroyed. Over ten years ago."

"Guess the System made more," Genitha remarks while tracing a pattern in the air with both her glowing left hands.

Beth grunts out a rough laugh, "Doesn't matter. Ivicka already has Fallen, the dolls were barely a threat. If they hadn't caught us off guard, they never would’ve taken Josh."

"You shouldn't be so dismissive of Aethop's daughters," Folthka protests.

"Oh, do you know more about them?" Roberts inquires as he sets the scanner to the side.

"They're vicious little predators who invade people's minds. They cost me my partner in the last incursion. Why the system keeps bringing them back…"

"Doesn't matter why they're back. Maybe it's related to the Fallen. Whatever. What we need is intel. And equipment. Do you have mental shields or something to protect against them?" Beth interjects.

"They're susceptible to fire. And of course, I have mental protection. I'm just not certain how effective it'll prove."

"Not very. Your crafting has always been weak, Agatha," Genitha smirks as she presses on an invisible portion of… whatever it is she's doing.

"Which is why I hire others to do the crafting for me Genitha. You'd know that if you weren't always running off on your own and observed your duties to the Aetherium without having to be hauled back like a petulant child."

"And yet, it's that same independence which makes me so valuable to the council, isn't it?" Genitha counters as I feel a subtle shudder run through the air, a golden-hued fan appearing in her hand. The same crimson pattern she was drawing in the air seems to be imprinted on the blades of the fan.

"Hardly. It's your damned unique skills we need, not you."

Beth interrupts with a loud cough. "We're not here to discuss how little you think of each other. Folthka, it's time you earned yourself a few more breaths. Why don't you break out these mental protections? Rather have an ineffective chance than none at all."

Folthka nods, striding towards the door at a pace that catches Beth off guard. She has her rifle half raised to fire before realizing Folthka's simply doing as she directed. Beth follows Folthka out of the room without comment though she signals Roberts over to join them. Roberts seems conflicted, shuffling in place for a second before dashing after them in a blur while calling "Hold on Beth! We still haven't decided if we should trust..."

It's only as the door closes I realize I've been left alone with Rufka and her mum.

An insistent push for head-scritches reminds me I have one other companion remaining. We all stand awkwardly for a second before Gentiha smiles in our direction.

"So... this is new," Genitha states while waving to Rufka and me.

"Mum, please."

"What? It's nice to see you interested in someone. After what happened with Dhanni. Well, you weren't the same, kitten." Genitha pauses, slowly fanning herself as she judges my worth. Or at least that's how it feels as she stares at me without saying anything.

Then she increments her head by a tiny margin as she withdraws something from within her fur. Is she using her tattoo as access to her inventory?

"I didn't want to mention it because I only have the one, but this should help you with any mental attacks that occur." Genitha profers a small hair clip. The clip is a round circle with an etching of a K'tharn skull, the lines traced in crimson. It's a common symbol for the death aspect of Vaus, though it's rarely done in crimson. It's far more common to associate it with yellow. At least it used to be in Uthica's time. Still, I suspect the colour is a personal touch.

"Thank you, uhm, Genitha." Well, that was close. I nearly called her 'Rufka's mum.' Glad I dodged that embarrassment, but…"But what about you and Rufka?"

"Oh, Rufka and I have superior enchantments woven into our tattoos, isn't that right kitten?"

"Yes, mum," Rufka sighs.

I inspect the clip as I try to figure out where to put it. I haven't really needed hair clips since I started controlling the wind around me, so it's mostly an aesthetic choice. Which has never been my strong suit.

"Vaus's Sanctum. Created by the Crimson Archmage in an afternoon, this token would represent years of effort from a lesser craftsperson, such as Minister Dethra. Imbued with the unbending Spirit of the Archmage herself, this token can allow even a brute to protect themselves from mental assault. If said brute were to react fast enough, with enough force.

Bonuses while worn: Bastion: Increases the delay before mental attacks take effect by two seconds while revealing the source.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: Item not bondable."

"Who writes these messages?" I mumble to myself as Rufka decides to help me place the clip.

Reminding me that K'tharn have excellent hearing, or maybe she just has high Perception, Genitha answers my not-so-rhetorical question, "It depends on the item. System registered items can be written by the crafter, which I do with everything I craft. Then there are lazy crafters who don't bother registering anything. And people who don't want their items recognized. If it's not registered, the System does it's best to come up with an appropriate answer from the information available to you. Not registering equipment is pretty important for experiments like the ones they've been running here."

"I can't believe they might have killed Josh just to give a kid his powers," Rufka grumbles.

"There's more to it than giving a child his powers. They're trying to solve a problem. They just don't know it's a local issue."

"What do you mean?" Rufka asks though I have my suspicions.

"The population of the Aetherium has been in decline for the last hundred and fifty years."

Nodding, I ask, "You mean the K'tharn who went to the Core worlds?"

"Not exactly. Has Rufka told you the story of my grandmum Melcia?"

"I think so. She's the one who went to Ukila, right?"

"Yes. And Ukila is what I'm referring to. There's a settlement on the Stilled Continent that serves as their port here on Akilo."

"What!?" Rufka exclaims in my ear. Her voice is imbued with lightning and it's loud enough it actually costs me a sliver of health before I lean away from her. Smoulder's not nearly as fortunate, sent flying by the sudden movement.

Genitha continues as though Rufka didn't just explode in shock while I retrieve Smoulder from where she landed amongst scattered cables. "This port is, naturally, in remarkable shape with the support of an entire world behind it. It's been drawing free K'tharn for the last couple hundred years. But the total number of K'tharn on Akilo seems to be restricted to a certain number, so as they've prospered, the Aetherium has withered. A completely unforeseen side effect, but hardly the calamity that Folthka thinks it is."

"Why doesn't she know?" Rufka demands.

"I never told her."

"But you could have stopped these experiments," I point out with Smoulder safely in my grasp again.

"I only just discovered these experiments yesterday. I haven't paid any more attention to the Aetherium than I had to. Not for the last nineteen years." Her gaze lingers on Rufka as she says this. Rufka rubs her eye, trying to shrug it off as something in her eye but I can't help smiling.

"But doesn't that mean the K'tharn population is still limited?" I ask after thinking for a moment.

"On Akilo, sure. But we have a whole other planet up there. A planet no user has visited in over a hundred years,” the extra emphasis she places on the word user, impossible to miss.

"Mum, you made it sound like you only theorized there was a hidden city. I was certain you just told me about it to distract me from failing to attune to… uhh, you know. But now you sound as though you're certain."

"You were rather heartbroken over not being able to bind a wind elemental, but that's not why I told you the story. It's always best to hide fact in fiction, kitten."

"Now's not the time for a lesson, mum."

"It's always time for lessons, kitten."

"Ugh, next you're going to say every dragon has a silver shard."

As if Tipan can hear us, she contacts me letting me know we have an incoming dragon.

Well, how's that for timing.

3.26 Breached

12:11 pm, local time. (July 15, 2023, 4:11 pm.)

I don't hesitate to tell Rufka and Genitha there's a dragon inbound. Instead of concern or even annoyance, this news draws a smile from Genitha.

"It's been too long since I had a proper battle with a dragon," she notes, flexing her claws before waving her fan with a flourish.

Even as I'm about to update Beth, Tipan contacts me again, "Possible false alarm. It's the right size to be Asterix but if it's him, he's had a miraculous recovery."

Before I can respond she adds, "Oh, Beth wants me to assume it's him. In which case, I want to note that while we're technically under the protection of the Builders, we don't know if that sector is shielded while it's disconnected."

"Noted, thanks. By the way, Beth wants to ambush Ivicka."

"Well, if we're able to retreat into the controlled zones, we could probably use it to our advantage. Besides, if that's her, she's probably going to charge in without worrying about consequences."

"Good idea, you should tell Beth," I suggest before turning my attention back to Genitha and Rufka.

Genitha smiles, waving her fan as she says, "Well, I'd say we should get out of here. A basement lab is a horrible place to fight. It's all fun and games until you cause a Mana cascade and then everyone's running from the ensuing explosion instead of playing catch with lightning bolts."

"Sorry, what?"

"Mum's not kidding. Lightning Ball’s a popular sport but it's played in open-air arenas. Or the Desh’mersa arenas, during the off-season. And spectators watch from a substantial distance."

"Okay….." I don't know how to respond to that.

"Shall we?" Genitha asks, offering us each an elbow before leading us towards the door.

She leads us up to the courtyard. The ramp leading back down has been resealed, once more hidden from sight as a featureless wall.

Beth, Roberts and Folthka are all standing around the courtyard. Both Beth and Roberts have their wings extended as if they're ready to take off, holding several small items. When Beth spots me she tosses an emerald token in the air which I snag with a gust of wind, directing it into my hand before analyzing it.

"Mental Stability Token. A standard Aetherium mental ward engraved into a bandoleer clip. Must be worn in a visible location to have full effect.

Bonuses while worn: Calm Mind: Increases Defensive edge against mental attacks by 10.0.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: Item not bondable."

Huh, not sure if this is better or worse than what Genitha gave me, but since it seems I can use them together, I doubt it matters. This one I decide to pin to my jacket by weaving the metal to hold it like the world's most secure pin.

I spend half a minute fussing with getting my pin to sit properly while listening to the others discussing our plans for the ambush. Ivicka doesn't tend to come into the city with anything but her 'contributions' when she visits. Yeah, that's the word that Folthka used to describe Josh. Urge to fill her full of ten thousand volts rising. And not in a fun let's toss lightning sort of way.

I've only just finished affixing the emerald token properly when Tipan confirms the dragon landed near the main entrance. She hasn't seen any sign of Ivicka herself though. There are several additional mentions of ideas, but the plan basically boils down to Beth and I remaining invisible then Beth will unload on Ivicka before she notices we're here. Hopefully she'll cripple her enough to delay her. At least that's the plan I hear discussed verbally.

Despite working with Folthka, Beth reminds us to keep our eyes on her. Which is passed on through Tipan since we're in separate parties. Beth, Roberts and Tipan have been talking on party chat and have established several fallback positions for me to teleport the party to which will allow us to continue attacking without having to remain in immediate proximity. They're audibly talking about splitting up and have only just asked how to use Genitha when Tipan informs us she's spotted Ivicka landing near the sealed entrance nearby.

"That means she's reached the entrance. She'll be here in less than a minute," Folthka informs us.

There's a part of me that itches to take a sip from my flask, even though I know the buff is active. Instead, I fade from sight while Genitha casts a spell that does the same for her, Rufka and Roberts.

Figures she'd have an area invis spell.

Folthka paces back and forth in the courtyard, her eyes flicking towards the sky betray her nervousness. While we're waiting, I ensure Smoulder knows to stay hidden in my pocket while we're invisible.

Another two minutes pass but there's no sign of Ivicka.

I'm ready to ask Beth what we should do when a massive thump emanates from the far wall producing a solid wave of air that slams through the entire courtyard, lifting me into the air. I've been on the edge of triggering accelerated time since Tipan spotted Ivicka, so I'm able to keep myself from being thrown into the nearby wall. Barely.

As I readjust, the wall where the thump emanated crumbles. From the new gap, a stream of Fallen emerge. They don't wait for targets before tossing out spells. Half the courtyard lights on fire as lightning arcs forward. The lightning is accompanied by invisible blades, one of which strikes me, knocking several Health off with a single hit.

When the storm of spells dies down enough to see through, more than twenty Fallen have made their way into the courtyard. I can pick out two that are likely Awakened floating behind them. The one dark brown furred Awakened with the spinning metal that orbits them like the rings of Saturn is especially eye-catching.

There's no sign of Ivicka, but that doesn't matter. The spells only cut out for a second but when Folthka stands up clearly unharmed, they resume. But this time there's a clear focus, every spell flying in her direction. Yet half the spells are simply gathered into a ball of swirling lightning and air while the rest impact a solid shield of ice, splashing harmlessly to the ground. I suspected she wasn't weak, but now I know she's at least as capable as I am.

"Finally decided to reveal what a worthless excuse for a K'tharn you truly are?!" Folthka calls towards the gap, but Ivicka doesn't answer.

A quick check with the others confirms that other than a few points of health, everyone's fine. Since Folthka seems fine, we're not seen as targets and there's no confirmation Ivicka knows we're here, Beth directs us to remain hidden. I float to a nearby tree branch as the Fallen move into the yard while Folthka finally counterattacks. The resulting explosions are like a rapid series of firecrackers going off causing many Fallen to end up twisted and broken. But the metal wielding Awakened creates a shield of swarming, spinning steel balls that protects both Awakened.

Part of the metal shield splits off with the next diminished wave of spells sent towards Folthka. She blocks most of the spells easily, but something hidden within the steel balls makes contact with her hand. It's no more than a glancing blow but it causes the crackling lightning she was conjuring to harmlessly dissipate.

It must have been more than just a disruption to her spell because a fraction of a second later, Folthka collapses. Even as the Fallen move forward towards her collapsed body, Beth demands we remain hidden. Which makes sense. I don't want to sacrifice myself to save Folthka. Especially since there's no sign of Ivicka.

We remain hidden as the smaller of the Awakened steps away from the one with the spinning metal. This one lays her hand on Folthka's head, closing her eyes. As I inspect her, her fur strikes me as familiar. Then I realize her fur is a match for the K'tharn Roberts ran into. The one who was carrying the wooden dolls, Cristha. Looking closer, I'm certain she's the same K'tharn. Either that or an incredibly similar relative.

But her missing throat makes it incredibly clear she's no longer among the living.

She nods to the other Fallen who collapses her spinning metal shield into form-fitting armour before sending one of the other Fallen back through the hole in the wall. We wait another minute before Ivicka strolls in.

By this point, Folthka has regained consciousness. She's glaring at Ivicka with a look of pure hatred. It's interesting how much more hate four eyes can convey than just two.

"Ha, I bet you didn't see this coming, did you?" Ivicka asks as she swaggers towards Folthka.

Folthka spits to the side as she pushes herself to her feet, "I should have known better. You've never hidden your opinion of pu'shaha but I thought you'd accepted our need."

"Need? We've never needed the weak. You'd sacrifice everything that makes us great to save us from-urgh," Ivicka sputters as a dark Umbral bullet smashes her through her lower right eye. Beth keeps firing, but Ivicka's already moving, the rest of Beth's shots going wide.

Ivicka's fast enough that if I wasn't in accelerated time, I wouldn't be able to track her. Despite her missing eye, she doesn't seem inhibited in the slightest as she leaps her way towards Beth. Or at least where I can feel Beth. Apparently, she's able to maintain invisibility while shooting. Not that she's still firing with an angry Ivicka closing in at terrifying speed.

Instead, Beth is flying above, trying to get distance between her previous location. But Ivicka adjusts, as though she can see Beth. Which prompts me to act. I teleport to Beth, then grab her out of the air before moving us to the building we emerged from.

I receive a blow to the face from her elbow for my troubles before Beth figures out the invisible force grappling her isn't Ivicka. Then she's shooting down at Ivicka again before instructing me to teleport her away.

Ivicka is leaping towards our previous location, a new hole in her thigh when she slams against an invisible surface. Which is when Genitha drops the invisibility hiding her from vision.

At the sight of Genitha casually ambling towards her, Ivicka's eyes dart towards Genitha's wrists, where her shackles used to be. When she sees they're missing, Ivicka starts pulling with sharp tugs at something on her chest. Then a small green object shatters, the dust bursting outward.

At the same time, Ivicka drops to the ground before being encompassed by the faint green dust. Beth's already let off her next shot when Ivicka starts to disappear. Ivicka cries out, spinning around as Beth's shot severs her arm at the elbow.

Then, just like that, she's gone. Her departure as sudden as her arrival.

"What the hell happened? Where is she?" Beth screams out.

Genitha stops, poking the arm on the ground gingerly with her foot. "Emergency teleport."

At that moment one of the Fallen takes a shot at her. The lightning bolt doesn't even elicit a reaction, splashing off an invisible barrier like water. But it's a reminder there are other…

The Awakened Fallen are gone. And so is Folthka.

One of Rufka's lightning arrows tears apart the Fallen that attacked Genitha. It seems it was the last enemy standing in the courtyard.

Genitha looks around, her eyes playing across the broken stone and fallen trees until her eyes land on Beth and me. We're still invisible. Or at least I thought we were. Looks like the spell needs to be improved.

Since it doesn't seem to be effective anyway, I drop my invisibility before flying down next to Genitha, who addresses us as we approach.

"Impressive results for iron ranks. I think you could have taken her if she hadn't come prepared to fight two of the greatest Archmages on Akilo."

"Two?" I ask when I land.

"Despite Folthka's poor item crafting skills, she is admittedly rather skilled in Restoration and Construction."

"Construction? I thought they made everything out of hide and bone?"

"Not at the Spire."

"Sorry to interrupt, but were you able to get a link on her kid?"

Crap. Was I supposed to do that? Probably should have been listening closer when we were talking about the plan. "Uh no. I wasn't able to."

Beth sighs but nods, "She was moving fast. We didn't have much time to act."

"Yeah, she was." Maybe I didn't miss them saying anything, maybe Tipan forgot to relay it to me. Totally not going to mention it, if that's the case.

"I can't believe she took Folthka. Why would she go to all the trouble?" Beth wonders while we all gather around Ivicka's arm.

Rufka chuckles as she says, "Maybe they're starting a club for three-armed, Vaus-damned K'tharn."

"I truly thought a headshot would do more damage," Beth admits. "Now she knows I can wound her."

"Indeed. And she's not the sort to forgive such a thing. I suspect she will attempt to hunt you down now," Tipan agrees.

Roberts kneels down, disturbing the rubble next to the arm while inspecting the ragged edges of the wound. He pokes it with a transparent barrier shaped into a needle, causing a finger to twitch. I'm pretty sure that shouldn't have happened.

Huh, I wonder.

"User analyzed: K'tharn. Female. Gene seed D.

Name: Ivicka

Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Restricted.

Defences: Restricted."

Well, that's interesting. No new information. But does getting the window at all mean there's still a connection? Maybe one I can trace back to Ivicka?

Before bothering the others, I decide to see if there's anything to connect to. Using the advanced analysis, I try to find anything that stands out. I find the link almost immediately. If the connection from Josh to the system was like a single thread, the link leading away from Ivicka's arm is equivalent to one of those big steel cables. But it's already thinning as I watch.

I almost establish a connection, but then I think better of it. What if I get thrown into a flashback as I did with Josh? Or when Wyonna mentioned a date? Seems like the flashbacks are on a hair-trigger at the moment.

"I think I might be able to connect to Ivicka through…" I point at the dismembered arm, unable to articulate the word when I notice a thick red fluid oozing out the end Roberts holding towards us. I'd say blood, but it seems too sluggish.

"Good. I'd like to track her down before she has time to recover. I want to get Folthka back too. Should've shot her when I had the chance."

"That may be unwise. She's likely retreated to her personal sanctum. Even I would be in trouble were I to challenge her there," Genitha warns.

"You're not coming with us?" Beth asks. "Don't you want revenge?"

"For what?"

"Mum. They took you, prisoner."

"And I should kill her for this? You know they wouldn't have taken me if I hadn't been curious. Next, you'll want me to kill people for spilling my tea. Honestly kitten, I thought I raised you better."

"It's more than that. You haven't been in Aethire recently. Those strange Fallen are in the streets."

"Oh really? Has it improved the smell?"

"Actually… yes," Rufka admits with a small shrug.

"So, about helping us?" Beth tries again.

"Well, I can offer you advice I suppose. And I'll permit my daughter to continue helping you," Genitha offers.

"Gee, thanks mum," Rufka replies with a smirk while squeezing my hand.

"I don't suppose you'd be able to offer anything more tangible? We did free you," Beth presses, though she seems flustered by Genitha's reaction.

"Hmm. Technically true. I suppose rewards are appropriate in a situation such as this. See kitten, this is why you should always free yourself or allow your friends or family to do so. It's much less complicated."

Rufka can't hold in her laughter, though her chuckle is quiet. It's her laughter which causes me to realize that Genitha is messing with Beth. Looking to the side, I notice Roberts has a small smile on his face and I can't help as my lips tug up too.

"Would you like a fortune in essence? No, that's so crass. Perhaps a powerful artifact to protect you from… Hmm, too practical."

"Actually," Beth objects but Genitha just keeps talking.

"A dragon to bond as a pet. But then you'd need to establish a proper hoard to keep it happy."

While Beth tries to get a word in edgewise, Roberts pulls Rufka and me to the side. "Do you believe establishing the connection would be safe?"

Looking down at the arm, I feel compelled to shrug. I have no idea whether it would be safe.

But it could be a huge advantage.

"I don't know," I answer as Beth cries out, trying to break Genitha's flow.

"Then perhaps we should find another way. We need to stop whatever Ivicka is doing. I'm not sure if you saw, but I'm certain she killed Cristha."

Suddenly Genitha's ramble cuts out as she interjects herself in front of us, snatching Ivicka's arm out of Roberts's grasp. "Who was this Cristha?"

Roberts explains how we ran into her in the city. And how she'd been kind to them when they'd been captured. And that she'd been the Awakened K'tharn with Ivicka. Which prompts an explanation of how Awakened Fallen are different from the regular ones.

Genitha is tapping her chin with the bloody stump of Ivicka's arm when Roberts finishes his explanation. Beth is staring at her, her frustration evident in the way she keeps squeezing the grip of her rifle.

"Well, I suppose I will be helping you. I can't in good conscience allow you to confront such an atrocious villain alone."

"Thank you," Beth sighs out in relief.

"I'll have my mana-hare help you out," Genitha smirks as she finishes. Beth's twitch is so pronounced that we all break into laughter. This finally ruins Genitha's facade as she joins in.

And while she kids, if someone like her had a pet similar to Smoulder...

Well, Ivicka wouldn't stand a chance.

3.27 Little Complications

12:32 pm, local time. (July 15, 2023, 4:32 pm.)

Laughter's probably not an appropriate reaction, but it's only once I started chuckling that the invisible tension eases. Today hasn't been great. We failed to save Josh. Ivicka's escaped. We even lost Folthka.

"My apologies," Genitha offers while bowing slightly in Beth's direction. Despite her words, she's not able to wipe the smile off her face as she continues. "I will of course help deal with Ivicka. I suspect she'd have attempted to take me as well, had I not demonstrated my freedom."

Beth swallows, simply nodding. But I can see moisture beading in the corner of her eye. A reminder that Beth didn't benefit from the bout of laughter the rest of us shared. Damn, now I feel like a jerk. Not certain I should offer support immediately after laughing. So, I urge Smoulder to go to Beth instead.

Smoulder sends me a feeling of affirmation with an undertone of confusion, not understanding why we didn't set Ivicka on fire. To be fair, I did try.

Beth is startled when Smoulder lands on her shoulder, but then she's butting up against her cheek and Beth cracks a small smile while glancing over at me. I just shrug.

"We should get back to Tipan," Beth states while stroking Smoulder's long fluffy tail. "But first, do you have another way to track Ivicka?"

This last is directed at Genitha, who shakes her head softly while saying, "No, but I know where she had her Sanctum several years ago."

"Uhh. What's a Sanctum?" I ask.

"In essence, it's a personal Stronghold. They're much less expensive. However, their protections only extend to a small number of users."

"One thing mum forgot to mention. Within a Sanctum, the owner is nearly invincible."

"I believe I mentioned that I'd have trouble with anyone in their own Sanctum," Genitha objects. "Though if she has as many Fallen wandering around the city as you claim, we have other avenues to strike at her."

The discussion continues for another half a minute, but I tune it out as I'm about to read the quest text from scanning the kid. The kid who's still laying in bed downstairs.

Damn.

"What're we going to do about the kids?" I ask, interrupting Beth as she strokes Smoulder vigorously, eliciting her rumbly purr.

"What kids?" Roberts replies, looking around the demolished courtyard.

A large block teetering on the collapsed wall chooses to crash loudly to the ground as I respond, forcing me to repeat myself. "Folthka's kids are downstairs."

"Bem will take care of them. He's always been their caretaker. Though many have forgotten, pu'shaha are actually quite good with children." Genitha folds her fan up, hanging it at her waist instead of storing it in her inventory.

"Where has Bem been hiding anyway?" Beth wonders as she hands Smoulder back. She meets my eyes, holding my gaze while mouthing the words "Thank you," before releasing Smoulder.

Which is totally not right. There's no way she should be thanking me right now. But I don't say anything as the others lead the way back down at Roberts insistence. While Bem should theoretically be looking after the kids, he wants to ensure that's the case before we leave. The next few minutes are spent searching for Bem. We split into groups, with Beth and Roberts checking his quarters, Genitha occupied with something important in the lab while Rufka and I head back to the children's area. We find him leaning against the frame of Kalim's room, staring through the open doorway.

He only twitches slightly when Rufka scuffs her foot against a bench. Loudly. Considering how quiet she is, that had to be intentional.

"Agatha's gone." It's not a question. There are tear tracks matting his fur as he brushes at his eyes. He's holding a dull grey stone with a crack running down the middle.

"Ivicka captured her," I supply while connecting to Beth, letting her know we found him.

He nods, still staring into the room. "She was supposed to help. That was why I called her... Agatha didn't want to see it, but Ivicka's always despised our work. Still, I thought she cared about the little ones..."

His eyes move across the room, as if able to pierce the stone.

There's a moment when Rufka and I glance at each other, unsure of what to say, but then he continues, "I suppose this means it's just me now. Hundreds of years to birth a pu'shaha like Kalim. When Pern started, I doubt he imagined we'd use his descendants in such a way," Bem sighs out as he finally turns to us. "So, what are you going to do with me? I suppose I'm to be executed for my crimes?"

"Uhh, what?" Even as I stutter out my response, I pause time to give myself time to process what he just asked. Is executing people a thing we're doing?

"I hope not," I answer. Beth's on her way here. But she wouldn't kill him for just being a part of this, would she? But for calling Ivicka... She didn't seem to be on the warpath when we were searching for him, so it'll probably be alright. And maybe we can use him to get ahold of her.

Letting the Pause end, I connect to Roberts making sure he's coming with Beth. Just in case.

It only takes them a minute to arrive, but it feels longer as we all stand around awkwardly until I hear the laughter of children behind us. They stumble into the far end of the hall at the same time as Beth and Roberts emerge behind us. Celthi, the female cub, pulls Qern to a stop when she spots us.

"Celthi dear, can you take Qern and fetch Kalim's drafting pencils. He's looking better and I think he'd like to have them on hand when he wakes up," Bem calls out, preempting any questions. Celthi stares at each of us for a second as if daring us to hurt Bem. Then she nods as if satisfied before leading Qern away.

"I have some questions for you," Beth starts once the cubs are around the corner.

"We have questions. If you don't mind," Roberts amends, smiling at Bem. Rufka and I step back, letting them take over, but only after letting Roberts know that Bem summoned Ivicka. I didn't really want to handle the interrogation anyway.

Bem glances inside the room, pulling the door closed before addressing Beth and Roberts. Bem hands over a cracked artifact, explaining how he triggered it when we broke into the lab.

Now that they're here, I kind of want to sneak off. But instead, we hang around while I read the quest update for scanning Kalim.

"Quest completed: Not doing well. Requirements: 1/1 Pu'shaha analyzed. Rewards: 5 iron rank Integration points."

"Additional reward granted. Advanced all Class Dungeon Completion requirements by one. Thank you for your service Citizen Pandora."

Huh. I quickly check my class upgrade requirements and sure enough, they've been updated. That's an impressive reward for something so… easy.

I suppose this must be important to the system.

"Quest received: A New Normal? Requirements: Perform a thorough scan of pu'shaha Bem and Qern. Reward: 5 iron rank Integration points."

Well, there's my confirmation. It's definitely important to the system.

"Alexis, we're done here. Beth's agreed to allow Bem to stay with his children," Roberts informs me, breaking me out of my thoughts. I glance at Bem wondering if I should complete the quest. I have a feeling it would have the system integrate the pu'shaha.

Uthica would be thrilled.

As if urging me to complete the quest, the children come scooting down the hall behind Bem. Celthi is holding a small box while Qern has a large straight object that he has over his shoulder as though he's a soldier. He's so damn cute. They approach with caution until Qern notices Smoulder who's been soaking up da pets from Rufka.

He starts stomping toward us at full steam. Smoulder only barely notices him before he reaches us. He's about to start petting her when he looks up at Rufka, "Can I pet her?"

Rufka looks more startled than Smoulder, glancing over to me. When I pass the message along to Smoulder, her impression is that it's only appropriate that he shows the proper deference.

Not bothering to encapsulate that in words, I just nod.

"Sorry, you were saying?" I ask as Rufka and Qern smother Smoulder with affection.

"I suppose we can stay for a couple minutes," Beth grunts. Which prompts Celthi to cautiously approach. She looks to me just like Rufka did, so I motion her forward. Smoulder's not afraid to receive more attention after all.

Actually, I probably shouldn't be letting her get all these pets. There's no way I can give her this much attention on my own. Smoulder picks up on this thought reassuring me that she values me for things other than my supplementary grooming skills. Though she stresses receiving pets is appreciated.

Yeah. I think this deserves more thought. And I think I'd like to talk to Roberts, Rufka and Tipan before I make a decision. Especially since the System didn't give me a time limit.

Eep.

No? No System update telling me I have to choose now?

Okay then.

A few minutes later, I still haven’t decided. But we’re done here, so I extract Smoulder then we make our way to the lab, leaving Bem with the children. We meet Genitha there, she's levitating a crate the size of my bed towards us.

"What's this?" Beth asks.

"Sensitive equipment." Genitha doesn't elaborate. We glance at each other before addressing the last task we had before leaving this mess behind us.

Figuring out what's causing the SubSector to be separated from the System. We know it's related to Folthka's research but we don't know the mechanisms. When we start discussing it, Genitha reveals that it should be easy enough to find whatever's causing the disruption. She says the equipment will be located along the perimeter.

While searching for the perimeter Rufka and I decide to look through Folthka's office, checking for anything that might tell us what we're looking for. The moment I open the wall, we discover there was another prong to the attack. I'm not sure if the courtyard was a distraction, but each of the storerooms has been opened. This isn't the smooth work that Folthka or I would do though. Each opening is blasted open, the entrances jagged and filled with coarse sand. The rooms themselves are empty other than a single half pane of glass for one of the tubes leaning in the corner of the first room.

Folthka's office hasn't been spared either, though it seems it was better protected. The entrance is filled with sand, but not a single grain has made its way onto the floor outside the alcove. Whatever protection stops the sand doesn't inhibit Rufka and me as we step into her office. Still, when we notice the scorch mark on one of her rugs, we decide to be careful in our search.

"Do you think she knew Ivicka attacked the Lords?" Rufka asks as she inspects the desk.

I'm peeking at a large bound hide that looks like it might be a map as I answer. "She didn't seem to be aware of any of the things Ivicka was up to. I'd guess she avoided thinking about what Ivicka was doing. That way, no matter what Ivicka did, Folthka could pretend they were the good guys."

I have the map halfway unrolled when I realize Rufka's staring at me from less than a metre away, a slight smile playing across her lips when I glance over. "Is this the same woman who was worried about being a monster a week ago?"

"I mean, technically, that was imbalanced attributes," I object halfheartedly. Not because I don't believe what I'm saying, but because she's taken the opportunity to move close to me.

"You know, we haven't had much opportunity to be alone since you came crashing into my bedroom this morning."

I swear, whoever shoved the metaphorical baseball in my throat wants me to choke to death, as I attempt to swallow but find it impossible. She's only a few centimetres away when I hear Beth calling out, asking if we've found anything.

….

But Rufka doesn't let that stop her.

When her nose finds mine, my mind goes blank for a solid 1.24 seconds before I return her affections. Never thought the nuzzling of Uthica’s awkward teenage years would come in handy.

It's only when Beth coughs loudly from behind us that I realize where we are. And that Rufka's mum is nearby!

Rufka doesn't let me pull away for another second. I'm certain I must be solid scarlet but Rufka just smiles at Beth.

"Did you two find anything? Or have you been too busy?"

"Well, I've certainly been distracted," Rufka answers, running a hand through my hair as Roberts appears behind Beth.

I smile at her, but I also find the strength to break away before gesturing to the map. "I think this might be important."

Beth strides over, glancing down at the partially unfurled map before scanning the rest of the room. She stops in front of the window, staring out at the view beyond. "None of this was supposed to happen."

Neither Rufka nor I respond. It occurs to me that seeing us being intimate... Well, we need to get Josh out of the buffer.

I really hope it's as simple as finishing the anti-corruption quest. While Beth's staring out the window, my attention turns back to the map. It looks like a map of the city. It's even in amazing detail but there are no conveniently labelled 'sub-sector disruption towers here'. Nor can I see anything similar.

"Huh. Let me see that map again," Beth requests right as I've started rolling it up.

"Sure," I answer, splaying it across Folthka's desk again. We spend the next couple minutes tossing ideas back and forth, inspecting the map before we decide to talk to Genitha. Who's apparently been using the sensitive equipment to solve the problem. She just didn't want any of us underfoot as she worked.

"Mum, you could have just asked us to give you space."

"Yep. I could've."

At Genitha's direction, we find the first of the objects causing the disruption in a partially collapsed room near the wall. The device reminds me of my Papi's grandfather clock. It's the right size and shape. It even has a swinging pendulum. The only thing out of place is the missing clockface. And the fact it's made of bone instead of wood and steel.

"Object Analyzed: Forerunner Mana Interception Apparatus. Based on a similar design of Reaper origin, this device reroutes mana from the surrounding atmosphere into a linked mana essence well. Gathers the equivalent of one mortal grade mana essence every day when placed in a standard class 1 mana field. Current rate of concentraion: 1.3 mortal grade mana shards per day. Maximum capacity: 30.

This apparatus has been modified to Intercept System access within its area of operation in addition to its standard function."

"Quest objective completed: Investigate Subsector 3-G for Geral. Rewards: 5 Iron-rank Integration points, 5 Iron-rank Mana Ingots, 5 Iron-grade Mana Shards.”

“Quest updated: Disable Forerunner Mana Interception Apparatus in Subsector 3-G for Geral. 0/?? Apparatuses disabled. Rewards: 5 Iron-rank Integration points, 5 Iron-rank Mana Ingots, 5 Iron-grade Mana Shards."

Citizen quests really do pay better, don't they? I wonder if this is like having one of those cushy government jobs? Except we actually have to go out and do stuff. Not that I know what government people do. Maybe they work hard?

Not important.

"Hmm. A significant reward for little effort. Worrying," Roberts notes, echoing my thoughts.

"It could’ve been much worse. Going into the unknown usually pays better," Beth points out. She's poking at the apparatus with her knife when I relay the description. It's basically a free source of Mana shards. Which means easy Integration points. Though it's way less than we earn by being active, one of these could raise a person's stats from 0 to 100 in… roughly twenty years? And that's at only one shard per day.

Considering you wouldn't even have to put yourself in danger, that's pretty powerful.

We end up finding another six of the devices around the perimeter. The quest still hasn't registered as complete, but Genitha says the edges of the subsector will allow Mana to circulate. It's as we're approaching the final apparatus, one that is being used as an actual clock in the children's dormitories, that Bem approaches us.

"You've done something to the Mana, haven't you?"

Roberts takes point, pre-empting Beth. "We've shut down several devices that were placed around the perimeter, yes. Is there a problem?"

"Kalim woke up. I'd just started talking to him but he started thrashing about while calling out in an unfamiliar language. He kept saying the word 'Beth'." Her name is clumsy on Bem's tongue, but it's still clear.

"What?!" Beth's' roar is startling, but it's nothing compared to how quickly she leaps over the table before disappearing down the hallway. She's probably at Kalim's bedroom before I realize Beth reacted. It takes me a second to process what happened which leaves me trailing Roberts as well.

When Rufka and I catch up, Roberts is standing in the doorway, his jaw hanging loose as he stares at Beth and Kalim.

Inside his room, I see Kalim holding Beth's hand while she mutters angrily. He glances up and with a small wave of his upper-right hand says, "Hey Alexis. You'll never guess what happened to us."

Okay, then. If I'm understanding this right… Josh is a K'tharn now.

...

Huh.

3.28 Making the List

1:34 pm, local time. (July 15, 2023, 5:34 pm.)

Well, I certainly didn't expect Josh to end up inside Kalim. I suppose if his identity is tied to his core, it makes sense. But what does this mean? Did he replace the kid? Or is Josh sharing mental real estate?

"Josh, is that you?" Roberts asks as Bem shuffles up behind us. Right. Confirmation would be important.

Kalim, or maybe Josh, glances at Beth before answering. "Kind of? I'd say it's like sixty/forty Josh/Kalim. I have memories of both lives but they're all blended together."

"But it's I? Not we?" Roberts presses.

"Uhh yep. Never been fond of the royal we."

Everyone stays quiet. There's a loud thud as Bem collapses on one of the nearby benches. He starts running his hands over his ears while muttering to himself, glancing in the direction of the room.

I've got dozens of questions, but it'd probably be rude to ask them. Especially right now, since Beth has her face scrunched up like she's tasted the world's bitterest sour soother.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Beth asks, her face blank but with an edge to her tone.

"I was talking with Bem about the procedure. Uh. Both Kalim and Josh were, that is. Damn. This is weird. It feels like both names… not just the names, but both people. They’re me but not, ya know?"

"Yeah," I agree.

"Kid?"

Oops, did I say that out loud?

I grimace at having interrupted before I respond, "It's like after I experienced Uthica's memories. I mean not the name thing, but the whole 'having someone else's memories become part of your own' thing…. it's weird at first. But then it feels normal, even right after a while. Like, you're not less you, you're just more."

"Exactly!" Josh-Kalim exclaims, wrenching his hand free from Beth's to point at me.

Seriously, he could have used any one of his other three arms but he had to use that one?

"So… what should we call you then?" Roberts asks.

Josh-Kalim stares at Roberts, then flops back in the bed, staring at the ceiling as he considers the question with an audible, "hmmm."

"I'll respond to Josh or Kalim. But it'd be weird to choose one over the other. Probably best to just call me Rose for now."

Huh. Well, I never did think of Josh as Rose… so, I guess it won't be too bad.

"Well, at least we'll be able to remember it," Roberts grumbles out with a chuckle.

"I don't think his robe is going to fit anymore," Rufka adds.

Beth is the only one who isn't at least smiling. Wordlessly, she stands before stalking out of the room, brushing past Roberts with enough force to make him take two steps back. Waving the others off, I turn to follow, Smoulder in my pocket. Using haste, I fly after her, catching her before she can make it farther than the common room.

She turns to me as I enter, tears in the corner of her eyes as she states, "He's not Josh."

"Maybe. It's at least partially Josh. I guess it's not totally clear cut. And it might get even weirder. Because I'm pretty sure we still have the original version of Josh waiting for us in the buffer too." As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I regret it. Somehow it feels like I'm betraying Josh by saying either version is more him than the other.

But Beth does perk up, so maybe it's helpful?

"You're right. This isn't Josh. The real Josh is being held ransom by the System."

"Uhm…" I start to object but Beth's already striding back towards the others.

Damnit, Alexis Wyonna Everette, this is why you think before you speak!

As my mom’s words echo in my head, Beth strides back into the hallway. She’s barely inside when she calls out, "We still have an objective to deal with people. Ivicka's out there, probably making more Fallen as we speak. We need to stop her."

I hear something clatter to the floor from within Kalim's, I mean, Rose's room before he appears beside Roberts. Rufka's waiting with her arms crossed looking out over the arboretum and Bem's gone from the bench.

Beth only halts for half a second, but it's enough. I can see Rose's face fall before she resumes, "We only have one more mana interference device to deactivate then we can report to Geral."

No one knows what to say, but we all move to follow Beth. Including Rose.

However, when he does so, Beth holds up a hand. "Where do you think you're going?"

"With you? To help with Ivicka."

"No. You'll stay here with Bem and the other children."

"Neither Josh nor Kalim were children, and I'm not either." Looking at him standing next to Bem, I can see he's actually a few centimetres taller. Pu'shaha are so short that I can understand how she could have mistaken him for a kid. It didn't help that Folthka referred to him as her kid, but moms are like that I guess.

"Fine. You're not a kid. But you're still recovering. We can't risk you." I can't help but notice she leaves the part about her thinking he's not Josh left unsaid.

"What? That's not fair. I'm fine, Roberts, tell her I'm fine." Rose insists, turning to Roberts.

"Well, you appear to be in good health but…"

"See. Roberts agrees!" Rose insists flailing all four arms out, resulting in a loud smack as he hits one on the wall.

"But!" Roberts interjects loudly before continuing in a level voice, "But, we don't know what sort of effects the… melding might have had."

"What?!" Rose collapses. I wonder just how old Kalim was. Rose is much more excitable than Josh. More verbal too.

"Alexis can keep in contact with you. She could also retrieve you relatively easily," Rose starts to object, but Roberts silences him with a finger. "However, I don't believe we should leave Rose here alone."

Bem is still muttering to himself, rocking back and forth. I'm able to pick out the words, "He's different, but" repeated several times, but the rest of his words trail off.

Beth shifts in place, her hand drumming the handle of her pistol as she asks, "What are you suggesting?"

"We should take him back to Raz's. If he's there, we'll know he's safe."

Beth looks like she's about to object again when Rufka whispers, "Well, at least we'd always have a table."

"Fine."

"But…" Rose starts but I stop him with a pointed look. Beth doesn't want to bring him along, and I'm not certain her reasons are good ones, but now's not the time. Besides, I suspect we'll have a chance to revisit the topic later.

There's a commotion with Bem screaming about us not taking his son when Roberts talks to him about Rose going with us, but I only catch the beginning as Rose moves to reassure Bem.

Instead, we move to give them space after Rose expresses needing time to talk with his family.

A couple minutes later, Rufka and I are disassembling the last mana interference device, taking it offline, which I jokingly refer to as a grandmana clock... Rufka just stares at me blankly.

As we pack the clock away in Rufka's inventory, since I've already got three in mine, the quest updates again.

"Quest objective completed: Apparatuses disabled 8/8. Rewards: 5 Iron-rank Integration points, 5 Iron-rank Mana Ingots, 5 Iron-grade Mana Shards.

Quest updated: Return a Forerunner Mana Interception Apparatus to Geral. 0/1 Reports delivered, 0/1 Apparatuses returned. Rewards: 5 Iron-rank Integration points, 1 Iron-rank key."

Huh. Well, that's actually a little disappointing, but it's still pretty easy. I wonder what the key is for? Turning in the machine might not be the best way to go in the long term but it'd take more than six months to generate an equivalent number of points for just one of us using it. And hopefully, we'll be gone by then.

Though…

If Earth wasn't in trouble, I have to admit, I'm not sure I'd be so eager to return. There's still so much to see. And Rufka's here.

The only one I really miss is Sab.

And I’m not the only one. Rose would… man, his situation’s even more messed up. Family on both planets.

Guess I just need to get really good at teleporting. Then I can just bounce us back and forth between worlds, right? Problem solved. Hang out with Sab for Pasta Tuesday, then back to Akilo for wings Wednesday.

Or would having access to Raz's fix that? No, he said he can only connect to a Nexus. I don't think there are any Nexuses on Earth. But maybe I could make one.

"Iron for your thoughts?" Rufka says, elbowing me gently as we sit on the edge of the table waiting for the others.

"Oh. Just thinking about how nice it'd be if I could teleport between worlds."

"Ah. So, typical Lexi thoughts." She nods sagely, no trace of her smirk. But I know better.

"How is that typical?" I respond, unable to help myself.

"Because you want to do something impossible. And you'll probably figure it out."

"I think you're biased," I point out, sneaking closer to her.

"Not a chance," Rufka denies. She doesn't have an opportunity to say anything else before I press my lips against hers.

Despite my internal sense of time, I totally lose track until Roberts gives a gentle "ahem," followed by, "We're all done here. We're just waiting on you two."

"Uhh, sorry. We're done," I apologize.

"I wasn't," Rufka teases. But she does pull away from me.

With everything completed, we gather in the courtyard again. The children are there with Bem. It's strange watching Rose say goodbye, promising he'll see them again soon. Bem's not as loud as he was earlier, but I can tell he's not pleased to see Rose leaving.

A reminder that he really is more than Josh in a new body.

Tipan's just above the courtyard, still keeping watch but close at hand, just in case. Cause she's awesome like that. We have a short discussion and agree that as long as we only need to give him one of the devices, we'll hand it in for the last quest. We're keeping a few so we can set up our own System free zone. Just in case.

Before I know it we've flown back to Geral's. The mini-taur is practically dancing when we arrive.

Correction, he is dancing.

In a circle. While whooping his arms in the air. He sends himself wobbling with every motion, his flight spell apparently having trouble compensating but he doesn't let that influence his enthusiasm as he greets us. "There you are my great... no amazing! No, my incredible Citizens! I knew you could do it. Never doubted you. Not even for a minute."

Huh. Not so dour anymore, is he?

There are a few minutes of Beth relaying what we found before the quest ticks over. When I read the quest notification, there's a small pressure against the back of my right hand, then a new notification appears.

"Iron rank key acquired. Use keys to create or upgrade personal spaces accessible from any Rest Area, Creator Sanctuary or properly attuned Nexus."

Oh? Neat.

"Now. As we no longer have a dire threat sitting in the midst of our beautiful city, how would you feel about a proper tour?" Geral asks, rubbing his tiny paws together.

Beth looks around at the city before answering. "We don't have time. Still have other Citizen quests to resolve."

"Oh, of course. How silly of me. Well, when you're done, you really should come back. "

Before Beth can respond, Genitha steps forward from behind her, "We certainly will, my precious little Geegee."

"Geegee?" Rufka and I echo out simultaneously.

Neither Genitha nor Geral acknowledges us. Instead, they greet each other with a quick hug before beginning to chat amiably about a nearby restaurant. For a second, I consider asking him about the System giving me a scanning quest, but decide I'd rather talk it over with the others in private first.

While they catch up, we hold an impromptu meeting about our next steps. First thing we'll be doing is returning to Demo. Genitha wants to see the Fallen in Aethire for herself. Then it'll be back to Raz's for the evening, giving us time for our recently gained points to integrate. We'll leave Rose, and probably Demo, before turning our attention to Ivicka's Sanctum tonight. Which according to Genitha is near the southern tip of the continent.

When we appear back in Rufka's little hut next to Demo, Genitha remarks, "Oh my. A real live Phothen. I never dreamed I'd see the day."

"Greetings Lex. Yeh've picked up more locals, I see," Demo admonishes me instead of acknowledging Genitha from the centre of our circle.

"Uh yeah. I guess we have." Despite his rudeness, I'm more worried about how tiny Rufka's apartment feels with eight people all crammed in together. Afterall, Genitha's an archmage, I'm sure she can handle a little rudeness. Luckily, Beth and Roberts are already making their way outside. "It's kinda tight in here."

"Well, when I was shopping for secret hideouts, seating for ten wasn't on my list," Rufka notes, drawing herself up as though offended.

"Well, clearly it should’ve been," I tease, idling slightly closer.

"I'll make sure to keep it in mind next time."

"You better."

We're only centimetres from kissing again when Demo asks, "Yeh do remember yeh're not alone?"

This prompts a deep bellied laugh from Genitha before she steps outside, followed quickly by Rose and Demo. Which just leaves us and Tipan, who's kind of trapped because we're between her and the exit. Otherwise, I'm sure she'd have made a graceful exit as well.

Then I realize she's staring at the room's entrance, shaking her head as if in a daze. Okay, maybe she wouldn't have.

When she notices my attention, she offers a slight smile, saying, "It's one thing for Rufka to say her mother's the Crimson Archmage. It's quite another to see her in the flesh."

"You know, she doesn't bite. I could introduce you properly," Rufka offers, taking Tipan's hand then giving it a squeeze.

"I'm not ready to talk to her. I'd probably say something stupid."

I can't help but laugh at that before remarking, "Well, I guess there's a first time for everything."

I'm not certain, but I can't help but feel like Tipan's ears stand a little straighter after my offhanded comment.

"Well, I suppose we should join the others," Tipan suggests. As much as I want to stay here with Rufka, I know she's right, so we join the others outside. The issue of overcrowding the small balcony is solved by half our group floating next to it.

Just like standing on the lawn back home. Totally the same thing.

I realize Genitha is talking to Roberts, though I miss most of it, I catch the last part, "...and Beth and I will teleport to this Nexus point 392 afterwards."

Huh, I guess Beth is going with Genitha.

I notice Tipan, swaying back and forth as if unsure about something, but then she blurts out, "I'm coming too."

Beth glances over at her, nodding. "Good."

"Hmm. She's rather conspicuous. I think I have just the thing," Genitha notes before a plain iron ring simply appears in her hands. Okay, that was neat.

Inventory access like that is probably incredibly useful in combat too. I wonder if I can get something like that? She said it was a tattoo, right?

Tipan girds herself before reaching out to accept the ring from Genitha, "Thank you, Archmage."

"Oh no. None of that archmage stuff. Rufka's told me about you. You can call me Genitha."

Tipan doesn't respond, just nodding mutely as she slips the ring on. Seconds later and she looks like a completely different K'tharn. Her mohawk is gone, as are her elaborate braidings. The most shocking change is her new dark brown and black fur.

They don't waste any more time, but instead of flying out, they cross into the nearest walkway. I follow their movements for half a minute before they're out of sight.

Having seen them off, the rest of us return inside.

As Roberts, Rose, Rufka and Demo gather around me for our teleport to Raz's I realize something.

Way too many people's names begin with R. Rose is going to need a different name.

…

Or not. I'm just going to pretend I didn't think that.

The teleport itself is the smoothest yet. At least, we teleported the whole way and no one is vomiting. I'm calling it a win.

As we shuffle into Raz's I notice that there's a table kept clear in the corner despite the room being otherwise completely packed.

Raz shows up seconds after we've entered, directing us to the table. "So, the strangest thing happened an hour ago. I received an order from a new client."

"An order from a new client doesn't seem all that strange," Roberts notes as we follow Raz towards the table. It's larger than any of the tables he had in here before. This new table could sit a dozen people comfortably while still having room left for pretzels and pizza.

"It's the client that's strange," Raz admits, taking a seat while gesturing for us to do likewise. "Their request is a little unusual as well, but I've heard stranger."

"Oh. And I take it this has something to do with us being shown to an empty table?" Roberts asks.

"Yes. Go ahead, inspect the table."

We all look at each other before shrugging and doing as he suggests.

"Object Analyzed: CMCC.

Description: Restricted."

Wait for it...

...

"Updating: Citizen Access - confirmed."

There it is.

Object Analyzed: Citizen Mission Control Centre.

Description: Activating this table will transport all connected Citizens and any of their approved agents to a private Citizen Mission Control Centre. Please note, temporal acceleration within the Citizen Mission Control Centre may cause disorientation upon entering and exiting. A reasonable facsimile of all active users will be maintained while the table is in use. Secondary effect: Sound and visual obfuscation for all creatures within two metres of the table.

Stewardship and Agent privileges granted to Agent Razalin Crancoid."

"Thank you for your service. This System looks forward to greater collaboration in the future Citizen Pandora."

Roberts lets out a low whistle while Demo leaps away from the table as though he's been burned.

Raz is grinning as though he expected their reactions. "Yep. Like I said. A very strange client."

When my eyes meet Rufka's, we just shrug before we both glance at Rose.

A fancy table?

Not even in my top ten 'Strangest Things' I've experienced since arriving on Akilo.

3.29 If You Choose to Accept It

2:49 pm, local time. (July 15, 2023, 7:49 pm.)

The table doesn't really look like an access point for a super-secret Citizen Mission Control Centre, but I guess that's kind of the point. If anything, it looks like a well made wooden table I might find in a second-hand store under half-a-dozen equally nice but boring chairs.

Demo isn't handling the new furniture with as much aplomb as the rest of us. He's limping back and forth, working on his third toothpick. It's only been a few seconds, but he keeps snapping them the moment he puts one in his mouth.

'Snap.'

And that's four.

"Perhaps you should take a walk in the garden while we investigate this," Roberts suggests, breaking Demo out of his fugue.

"No. There's no way yeh're using this... thing... without me. I just need a moment."

Well, since we're waiting anyway, I order a meal from the menu while allowing Smoulder to hop onto the table.

The food arrives moments later and Demo stares at me as I dig in, though Rufka and Rose decide now's a good time to resume the game of "how much food can Alexis keep."

Answer. Not enough.

As my second plate floats out Demo finally sits down, ready to use the table.

But at this point we're all eating, so he's forced to wait.

Once we're all finished our late lunch, we return our attention to the table.

"Should we be using this without Beth and Tipan?" I ask, now that I'm giving the table actual thought. "I should probably contact them and let them know about it at least, right?"

Part of me wants to reach out to Wyonna too. But I'm still worried about her latent Forerunner programming. Which is another thing I need to discuss with the others.

"Agreed. This is a rather obtrusive addition. It would be best the other's are informed before we investigate it further."

"It's like something out of a fable. Like when Merlin created the round table," Rose gushes excitedly.

"Uh. Did Merlin create the round table?" I ask. Is that where it came from?

"I don't know. Probably. He was an alien wizard, so he totally could have."

"Merlin wasn't an alien," I snort.

Rose leans over the table, raising his eyebrows as he asks, "How can you be so sure? He was a being with mysterious powers whose origin was unknown."

"Well, yeah. But…"

We spend the next ten minutes eating, joking and arguing over whether or not Merlin was an alien. When it becomes apparent we're just repeating the same arguments, I cut Rose off with an "Agree to disagree?"

"But you're wrong," he sulks out.

"Yeah. But I don't actually care that much," I admit with a shrug. "Sometimes it's just fun to argue."

"Did you contact the others yet?" Roberts inquires, to which I nod. When Rufka interjected to ask just who Merlin was, I took the opportunity to reach out to Tipan, explaining what little we knew of the unexpected table. Unsurprisingly, Beth's response was that we should wait to investigate the table together. This is exactly what I relay to Roberts before adding, "you know, we should all purchase the chat function."

"Indeed. I didn't want to spend shards on it unless it was an emergency though. Now that we have so many points from quest completion, it'll be one of the first things I purchase."

"And that's another thing!" Demo barks out. "The System gave me quest rewards for helping with a quest when I wasn't even there. Straight up bribery, I tell yeh."

"Are you complaining about System rewards," Raz asks, one of his scaly eye ridges raised as he dissects a crunchy meal of what I had thought were little black bugs but turned out to be blackened tubers when I analyzed them. Like putting french fries in the oven then forgetting about them until your daughter comes home from work an hour later than usual. If my cooking skill is zero, which is what it still says on my status screen, I'm pretty sure my mom's is in the negatives.

"The System keeps trying to convince me to trust it. I've reasons not to."

"Oh? You mean other than the fact it tracks our every movement and changes our very being?" Raz asks casually as he takes another crunchy bite.

"It's not just the System. It's who controls it. Ever been around when one the Creators stroll through? Of course, yeh haven't, because yeh'd be dead or mindwiped if yeh had."

"What do you know about the Creators?" Raz asks, setting his spoon to the side while giving Demo his undivided attention. Honestly, I think he's got everyone's attention. This is the closest he's come to explaining his distrust of the System since we met him.

Demo pauses as he considers Raz carefully before pulling his toothpick out of his mouth to point at him. "Enough to know they'll wipe out a world just because it rejects their precious little System."

"Wait, you can reject the System?" Roberts asks.

"What do yeh think happens if you scale up those mana disruptors yeh found? No Mana, no System."

"Could they be used to shield a world from Mana? Like, say an incoming Mana swarm?" I ask, thinking back to my vision of Science World being obliterated in a single strike.

"Depends on the strength of the swarm, but yep, yeh could do it."

Raz points at Demo with his spoon, before shaking his head. "What our nine-tailed friend here fails to mention is that you'd need massive disruptors to shield a planet from any but the weakest of mana swarms. At most, you might be able to create protections that would protect against a class-two swarm."

"Really? That's all Akilo would’ve needed,” I reply wondering how different Uthica’s life would’ve been without the System.

"They must have been hit by a rather weak swarm then. Most swarms don't escape their home systems until they've reached at least class-five."

I can't help but go white as I stare at Raz. I saw the devastation the class-two caused to Akilo. Is what I saw coming to Earth only the beginning? How would we even survive something worse than what happened to Akilo?

Roberts runs his hand through his much more full than it was a week ago hair as he asks, "Escape? You make it sound as though these swarms are alive. I thought Mana was controlled by the system."

"Ha. No, the System only uses Mana once it's settled down into its incubation state. The system then slows it's spread," Raz stops, tossing a couple more black tubers in his mouth before continuing. "At least that's the official story. I'm sure the Phothen would tell you otherwise."

Demo nods at this, fingering one of his grenades. "The System could prevent the swarms from spreading. If it wanted to. There's proof that it can be warded against. This very planet is inside of one of the System's control mechanisms, that's why it's jammed into a pocket dimension."

"Could we use that to stop the swarm coming to Earth? Put it into a pocket dimension?" I ask. I mean, it's a little out of my capabilities at the moment, but a girl can dream.

"Ha. Not likely. Yeh'd need hundreds of years to prepare. And that's if yeh had every technique known to the System itself. It'd be far more likely that yeh'd kill everyone you were trying to save."

"This is all well and good, but if we're not going to be accessing the table any time soon, I have other matters to address. You can reach me through the menu." Raz then plucks his bowl off the table, popping more tubers into his mouth as he weaves through the crowd.

"So, I don't suppose you do have any ideas on how to save our planet?" It's never occurred to me to ask Demo before. But it occurs to me that his people seem to avoid the System. Which seems to include mana swarms. So maybe he has an answer.

"Myself? No. But my people would. But we'd have to free ourselves of the System to see them again." His gaze settles on the table. This time his toothpick doesn't snap, but I see it bend slightly. "Which is going to be difficult if the System's keeping a constant eye on us."

"What is it that the System's done to you? You seem to have a personal issue with it," Roberts notes while steepling his fingers in his thinking pose.

Demo laughs, but it's a dark chuckle, empty of mirth, "I suppose I do. It's not just crashing my spaceship and forcefully integrating me. It's… well, I can't tell yeh. Not that I don't wanna. But it's against the rules."

Roberts narrows his eyes. "Your people's rules?"

"Yep."

"And such a responsible user like you wouldn't ever go against your precious Phothen rules, would you?" Rufka demands, her tone unusually sharp. She really hasn't enjoyed Demo ignoring her.

However, unlike his usual dismissals, this time Demo weighs her words carefully, meeting her challenging gaze. "It's more accurate to say I can't. In the same way Alexis can't save her world by placing it in a pocket dimension."

"So, there are ways around these restrictions, they're just effectively impossible?" Roberts asks.

There's a loud thud as Rose drops the bird-leg he was working his way through on the table before exclaiming, "Oh! Like stopping time? Or teleporting through space instantaneously? Or conjuring fire with your mind? Cause before Josh came to Akilo, I thought all of that was… okay, not impossible, but I was sure only aliens could do it. Heck, Kalim felt the same way. Except for the fire thing."

I can't help giggling at Rose's enthusiasm though I'm able to keep it quiet enough only Rufka notices. As I'm giggling, I realize I don't consider Rose to be Josh any more than Beth does. It doesn't help that he has a different face, mannerisms and doesn't even wear the bathrobe. Which I'm pretty sure Beth wouldn't give him anyway. Probably shouldn't bring that up.

"Yeh're actually proving the point. All those things are only possible because this planet's been soaked in mana."

"Wait. That doesn't make sense," I object. "I used magic before I ever came to Akilo. And we don't have a System on Earth."

It's only as everyone stares at me that I realize I haven't told anyone about using magic when I was a kid. Except Wyonna, who already knew. Which reminds me, I want to get Rufka and Roberts alone to talk about Wyonna.

"Yeh used magic without the System?" Demo asks each word carefully enunciated and punctuated by a flick of his toothpick.

"Yes? At least, I think I did. It was years ago."

"Huh." Demo slumps into his chair, his toothpick held idly in one hand as he stares off into space.

"That must have made for an interesting childhood," Roberts remarks.

"Uhh. I suppose you could say that. It was only for a year or so… then I stopped until we came here. Before we arrived here, I would’ve sworn I imagined it." Almost inaudibly, I add, "I wish I had."

"Ah. I see," Roberts says, reaching across the table to pat my hand for a second before leaning back.

I'm starting to relax when Demo starts asking me questions, mostly variations of "what did it feel like to use magic without the System?" though occasionally he'll throw in something like "and what was your favourite colour?"

I spend ten minutes fielding questions before Rufka interjects on my behalf. "She's said three times that she was just a kid, I don't think she's got whatever answers you're hoping for."

"Right. Yeh're right. It's just... I've never heard of anyone using Mana without the System before."

Returning to the table, Raz clears his throat, which produces a high pitched trilling sound, causing Demo to start. With our attention, he grins then says, "Using Mana without the System is uncommon, but there have been documented cases of pre-integration species with the capability. I could show you the records."

"That would be… Yes, please. I'd owe yeh a debt."

"Hmm. Well, I think I have something in mind. But we can talk about that later. Wes, I've finished your request." It takes me a solid second to understand Raz is talking to Roberts.

"Indeed? Wonderful," Roberts states, taking several folded bundles from Raz.

At our shared attention, Roberts explains that he had Raz procure several outfits, each custom fit for him. Rose inquires with Raz about getting some clothes made for him, stating that he's in need of a whole new wardrobe. Which is when he discovers that he doesn't have access to Josh's inventory. Before he can spend time worrying about it, I offer to pay for anything he needs. We certainly have more than enough shards to pay for non-armour rated clothing.

"Thanks, Lex," Rose says as he pulls on the bottom of a black sleeveless vest over his jean-like pants. After discussing several designs with Raz, they managed to find something he could wear now while the rest of his orders are made. "It's pretty weird running around without clothes. Even though Kalim was used to it, it doesn't feel right to me, ya know?"

"No problem Rose."

I'm considering getting something for myself, or maybe Rufka when Beth contacts me letting me know they're on their way back. Less than a minute later, Beth pushes through the busy crowd, Tipan and Genitha talking animatedly just behind her.

"...is only true when using Verthen's standard array series. When using Beltim's revised formations, you'll find that you can reduce essence use by at least twenty percent with any element other than lightning. Hello, kitten."

"Hey, mum."

"I wasn't expecting the Fallen infesting Aethire's streets to be so… orderly. In the stories, they're little better than rabid beasts."

Tipan shudders as she adds, "Seeing them wearing Aetherium equipment while patrolling the streets was… disturbing. Even if they were obeying living officers."

"We've confirmed that Ivicka's not in the capital at least," Beth says as they all settle in. "But details can wait until after we've investigated this table. If it really does offer time dilation, we'd be silly not to use it."

"Wait. That's why you wanted to return so quickly? Why didn't you tell me?" Genitha asks.

"Rather not broadcast it. Raz's place has privacy wards that the streets of Aethire are lacking for some reason."

"Still, I wouldn't have tarried so long if you'd given me a hint of what we were coming to investigate," Genitha notes as she lovingly caresses the edges of the table in front of us.

"So people, anything we need before giving it a shot?"

I order another few platters of appetizers and several full dinners, all of which goes directly into my inventory before confirming I'm ready. If there's time dilation, I'd like to ensure I don't run out of food. Which prompts everyone else to follow suit.

After disappearing enough food to feed a team of lumberjacks for a week, we finally activate the table.

"Citizen Raven Queen has initiated access to Citizen Mission Control Center. Please place your hands in the highlighted position prior to entry.”

A pair of handprints light up on the table before me, clearly indicating where I'm supposed to put my hands. Following its directions, I lay my hands on the table.

“Would you like to enter the CMCC now? Please note that after time dilation is initialized, access will only be available at thirty-six-minute intervals."

Pausing time, I focus on the sensation as I confirm.

There's a barely visible blue pulse from the table as a familiar shield structure wraps around me. Then I feel myself being drawn forward into the table. Entire walls of runes form a hallway as I'm transported within the table. Then my sense of Raz's bar is lost, replaced by a pervasive dull grey.

We're all sitting in the same positions we were around the original table, but the smooth wooden finish of the original table has been replaced with a matte grey replacement. It's bumpy surface reminds me of one of those non-slip mats as I draw my hands away. The dull white light emanating from the ceiling reveals that the floors, walls and even the only door is made of the same material.

Beth leads the way through the door down a long hallway, everyone remaining silent. Actually, except for Beth, they all seem queasy. Which I suppose makes sense. If my time sense is working properly, we're experiencing an hour for every minute in reality. It's weaker than my strongest pause, but it's still pretty impressive. Until I realize I can't use my magic. Without access to my magic, I can't do anything worthwhile here. At least not when it comes to improving my skills. Or my Skills.

After ten metres of featureless walls, we arrive at another door. Pushing it open reveals an open space with windows looking out over a vast forest with a large body of water beyond it. There's a blue symbol in the bottom corner that catches my attention. When I focus on it, I'm informed this view is provided by camera eight, Sector B in Builder city Calviwashobb.

Spread throughout the room below the stunning vista are several workstations arranged around the edge of the room with a large round table in the centre.

There's no avatar to greet us or directions on what to do next.

"Okay people. Let's see if we can't find out if the System left us any surprises."

"I believe a temporal chamber such as this is enough of a surprise," Genitha notes while stepping towards one of the workstations.

"Yes. But there's no such thing as a no-strings gift."

I don't say it, but I'm pretty sure the System's already getting what it wants from us. At least that's what the detailed scan of Rose on the workstation in front of me seems to hint at.

But not as clearly as the list indicating everything else the System wants scanned. And the rewards listed next to each one.

Well, at least I know that it's not just interested in the pu'shaha.

But where the hell am I going to find a two-storey tall teddy bear with gatling guns on its shoulders?

3.30 Gather Round

4:43 pm, local time. (July 15, 2023, 8:43 pm.)

I spend a minute at the workstation looking through the entries. It doesn't take long to understand why I don't have all of these as quests. There are thousands of things the System wants scanned. And a reward of five iron-rank Integration points is on the absurdly low end. There's an entry for a creature that seems to be the offspring of a tentacle monster crossed with an old fashioned storage trunk. It's listing offers ten silver-rank Ascension Crests. Just for scanning it. That's enough to cross the rank border from silver to gold ten times.

I haven't even come across a single iron rank Ascension Crest.

Yeah, I'd rather not come across whatever this Boxxy-class devourer is.

There are filters for general habitats and I am able to add half a dozen possible listings under my notes for Akilo. None of them pay as well as scanning Kalim did, but they're also listed as minimal threats.

Interestingly, there are options to download codices as well, though not for free. Each entry costs one mortal shard. Which, I mean, it gave us an entire secret base with time dilation effects. Not including free intel seems weird.

Upon further perusal, I discover the cost for Akilo entries is one-hundredth the cost of codices for any other world. The single shard price is only for those. At least it's giving us a discount.

Searching through the database, I find a codex for the Aethop's Daughters we encountered. Whatever that one doll did to me, she disrupted the process and I never did get a codex for them.

As I accept the prompt to download the codex, I'm reminded why the System might always impose a cost.

It almost feels as though I have one of the dolls poking around in my head for a second but then the download finishes and the feeling abates. Now that my understanding of the dolls has reached an intimate level, I'm able to ascertain that I only have to worry about those mental attacks if I connect to them in some way. Such as when I analyzed it. But it can also be through ongoing spell effects such as my channelled flamethrower spell.

Deciding I shouldn't keep this to myself, I motion to Beth before filling her in on the basics.

"Good job kid. This is exactly the sort of advantage I was hoping we'd find."

This leads to a round of everyone downloading codices. Beth insists we don't stop at the threats we've encountered, resulting in us discovering that the System has a warning when you're bypassing your 'absorption threshold'. At least when you're doing it this way.

I already knew my limit was five at a time, but it turns out my rate of recovery is one every twelve minutes. That's five per hour. And not realtime hours, but every hour that we spend here in the chamber. Considering we can stay in here for a day and a half while only half an hour will pass on the surface, I'd be able to download over a hundred codices during lunch in the real world.

If I skipped out on sleep.

Which is nothing. Genitha could download over a hundred without it affecting her. On the other end of the spectrum, Rose is limited to one per hour.

Genitha's not downloading the codices though. It turns out the discounted price is only for Citizens. Not our agents.

I can circumvent this by downloading them, then transferring them to her. But that brings her down to my level. Which is still fast enough that Genitha insists it's worth it.

Once we've all hit our download limit, we gather around the round table at the centre of the ring. If I didn't know better, I'd say the System was listening to us when we'd been arguing about Merlin.

In fact…

"Ahem. I, Queen Alexis, call this meeting of the knights of the round table to order."

"Kid, hate to break it to you, but you're no King Arthur. I think you're more of a Merlin."

Rose blurts out, "No way. Tipan's totally Merlin. And Roberts is obviously Galahad. Beth's Arthur, obviously. Rufka is Leon. I'm Lancelot. Lex is probably Mo…. uh."

"What. Don't stop now, you're on a roll," I prod him. I have no idea why he thinks any of those are appropriate, except maybe Beth, since she goes by Raven Queen, but I'm curious where he's headed.

He can't meet my eyes as he mutters, "Lex is probably Morgana."

I can't help it. My eyes light up with glee. I release my best cackling laughter while drawing Smoulder forth with one arm. I'm even able to conjure some small sparks from the tips of my fingers, though it's like drawing a super thick milkshake through one of those coffee stirring straws.

"Are you accusing me of being a witch," I accuse in my best high pitched voice while throwing sparks in an arc over my head. Rose stares at me mouth agape while Roberts starts laughing so hard, I'm worried he's going to fall out of his chair. At least someone got it.

Rose stammers an apology before Beth gets us back on track. I let my lightning fade, though I keep a small spark bouncing between my fingers. It's only been fifteen minutes, but it feels like it's been so much longer.

I can't help but think it's funny that Rose would compare me to Morgana. I always considered her to be a misunderstood character. She was persecuted because of who she was, and while she was… wait, didn't she kill a whole bunch of people when trying to take over the kingdom repeatedly?

Whatever. My call sign is Pandora and Morgana is badass. I'm going with it.

Besides, Smoulder full-heartedly approves of my demonstration. Though she's under the impression I did it to show her off.

"That was awesome," Rufka whispers to me while Genitha begins laying out the specifics of Ivicka's Sanctum with the same virtual map Tipan uses so often. "But I totally didn't get it. You're going to have to explain later."

I nod, attempting to listen to Genitha's description of the literal mountain fortress that comprises Ivicka's Sanctum. Apparently, just because you're not allowed many people in a Sanctum, it doesn't stop you from claiming a spot beneath a kilometre of stone.

Granted, with my ability to reshape stone, that's not the same sort of defence as it would be on earth. But that takes time, and Genitha is certain that Ivicka would have detection wards in place to detect any such intrusions. She also notes we shouldn't rule it out either, because while we have teleportation, Ivicka would have defences against it. Especially now that Genitha's free.

Turns out teleportation is much easier to ward against than it is to perform.

Scrying or divination is warded against as well, but Genitha's been there before so she can recreate it from memory.

"However, my information is out of date. I haven't needed to enter Ivicka's Sanctum since the Vaus-blessed Dragon incident."

"Wait. Mum, are you saying this is Nowhere Fortress?" Rufka laughs out.

Genitha shrugs. "It sounded better than Ivicka's Sanctum. That's like beginning a story at Theria's house."

"Ha. We have lots of stories that start at Theria's house."

"Those are a different kind of story, kitten. Now, as I was saying..." Genitha continues, showing us the general layout, including all the standard stuff like kitchens and bedrooms. It's the storage warehouse where she pauses.

"Now. As you know, your personal storage is limited in size. However, once you have a Sanctum or Stronghold, you're able to transfer items directly into it from your storage space. It's not an extradimensional pocket, however. Everything in the warehouse is physically stored within the warehouse. It's also the most secure part of any Sanctum."

"We suspect it's where she's keeping all the equipment she stole. I also suspect there are a large number of users being prepared to be converted to Fallen. Forcefully."

Beth interjects at this point, "Unfortunately, we don't know how many Fallen we're going to encounter."

"Or who Ivicka's contact in the Aetherium is. I would have thought it was Folthka, but they seem to have fallen out," Genitha pauses, arching her eyebrow as she looks about the table. "No-user? Tough crowd. Anyway, clearly she's working with at least one of the other Ministers. There's no way she'd be able to get so many Fallen into Aethire without support."

Beth leans over the table, looking to each of us in turn. Except Rose. "Which means we don't know what kind of support she has at her Sanctum. I'd prefer better intel, but we can't afford to wait."

"Perhaps there's a way to use this facility," Roberts suggests, "We've only been exploring it's capabilities for a short time. Perhaps we should see if we can't change the view at least."

Beth glances over her shoulder, her hair shielding her expression as she responds, "Hmm. Agreed. Everyone spread out. Genitha, could you perhaps…"

I stop listening as Smoulder has thumped into me, driving my attention to where Rufka is playing with her, dangling a little ball on the end of a line for Smoulder to chase. I follow the line back to its wielder, getting lost in the smooth movements of her arms as she directs Smoulder skittering across the table, her brows furrowed in concentration. When she catches me ogling her, Rufka stretches languidly, exaggerating her curves.

I'm still admiring the view when Smoulder knocks her off balance, following the little ball that had returned to Rufka's hand while she was flaunting. This sends Rufka tumbling towards the floor. However, before I've had a chance to step forward, she's transitioned into a roll, popping up in front of me with a shrugged, "Oops," and a peck on the cheek before returning her attention to Smoulder.

Which reminds me, I should be investigating the room too. If anyone's going to have an extra way to tap in here, it's going to be me.

Or maybe Wyonna.

I guess I should ask her. But… I think I'll talk to Roberts about my worries concerning her untriggered commands first.

With that decision made, I make my way over to where Roberts is standing, inspecting the jumbotron-sized window-projector.

"Hey, uh, Wes," I nearly stumble over his name. If I hadn't heard Raz address him earlier, I would’ve referred to him as Roberts without a thought. It's the first time I've made the effort since he told me to refer to him as Wes. It just feels awkward.

"Yes, Lex... Lexi... Which do you prefer?" Roberts asks, seeming almost as uncomfortable with using a less formal name as I am. Which suddenly makes me feel more comfortable not using his formal name.

Weird, how that works.

"Either is fine. Papi always calls me Lex, but aunt Sharon's a major proponent for Lexi."

"Well, I think I'll go with Lexi then. No offence, but I'd rather not be perceived as your father."

"Yeah, fair enough. But Papi is my grandpa, not my dad. That's papa."

"I see. Still, I stand by my choice." Roberts turns away from me, tapping the edge of the screen experimentally. "Now, you wanted to ask me something, I presume?"

"Kind of?" I pause, trying to think how to phrase it. "Okay, so first things, first. You know Wyonna, right?"

"Right. Your System helper. Sent by the Forerunners."

"Yeah. Anyway, she says she still has some commands that she's bound to run. Orders she received before we came here. Now, before we met Folthka, I'd have thought nothing of it. But now…"

"Now you're worried the Forerunners who sent us here aren't as benign as we'd hoped."

"Well, I mean, yeah. Why'd they even send us here? What's in it for them?"

"Good questions Lexi. Unfortunately, I'm no expert in Forerunners, AIs or even computer code. I'm not sure how I can help."

"Oh, well that's fine. I wasn't asking about that. I was just thinking that Wyonna could help us figure all this out," I wave my hands across my chest swinging them out to the sides to indicate the whole room, "but I'm kind of worried about giving her access to the System if she's not in control of herself."

"Ah."

"But then, she's done nothing but help me since she's been unlocked. And I can't see her turning around to use all this against us. Besides, I want to keep her informed."

"Of course."

"Anyway, I guess I should let her know. It's the right thing to do."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. And Wes."

"Yes, Lexi?"

"Thanks for being a wall. Didn't expect to just bounce stuff off you."

Roberts chuckles, covering his mouth with one hand to keep the volume down. "Anytime."

Taking a couple of steps back, I send a message to Wyonna.

Then I remember the time dilation. Is she even going to be able to…

Oh, yep.

(Wyonna) "Hey, Alexis. What's up?"

"New System reward that I thought I'd get your input on. Hold on, I'll put together a description.

Half a minute later, I've given her the general idea of where we are and how the place seems to work.

(Wyonna) "Wait, you're in a time dilation field? Huh. The System must not have disconnected us like I thought. I'm probably still stored in your interface. Quick question, is your cooking skill still zero?"

…

"Are you saying you're the reason the System thinks I can't cook?"

(Wyonna) "Is that a yes?"

"Yes, my cooking is still at zero. But seriously, why cooking?"

(Wyonna) "Would you have preferred a magical skill locked at zero?"

"Did you have to lock one of my skills?"

(Wyonna) "Yep. Like I said, that's where I'm stored. There's a chance you could bust me out of here. But then again, not sure I want to be run through a full-fledged anti-corruption filter. There might not be much me left after that, even if I were 'System Approved'."

"Okay. Don't break you out. Yet. That's good since I wouldn't even know where to start. Any ideas about the CMCC?"

(Wyonna) "Yes. Okay, so we're going to start by…"

Wyonna guides me through opening the System menu on one of the workstations. I bring up a similar menu to the one that normally appears in Raz's, but with a couple of new options. One of which allows me to choose the source for the giant screensaver serving as our window to outside.

Without waiting for confirmation, I start flicking through the different feeds, looking for anything familiar to use as a reference.

Which of course gets everyone's attention when the vast forest is replaced by an underwater reef which is immediately followed by a flowing lava field.

The presets are definitely memorable.

"Kid, you figured it out?"

"Kind of. Wyonna showed me. It was actually pretty simple. It's just like in the bullet."

"Interesting. I've never seen the System constrain itself like this before," Raz comments, watching me tap through the options on the workstation.

As everyone gathers, Genitha and Tipan help build a map of where each camera is likely located. Since each camera is labelled with grid coordinates, eventually we're able to work out several cameras that should show us Ivicka's Sanctum.

"It's weird," I mumble as we're about to bring up the first feed. Except for Rufka, the others are at the table, prepared to take notes when the screen changes.

"What's weird Lexi?" Rufka asks from where she's leaned up against my back, still petting Smoulder.

"I'm on another planet. Wielding the elements and time itself, easy as walking. But here I am, sitting at a computer, looking through video feeds while my girlfriend pets my bunny."

"Pets your bunny? Is that what you call it on Earth? I like it. I can't wait till tonight. I'm going to pet your bunny all night."

I choke, before clarifying, "Smoulder. I meant you're petting Smoulder."

"Oh. I know. I just wanted to feel you squirm," she replies while pressing her back more firmly against me for a moment.

"Well, mission accomplished," I chuckle nervously while bringing up the first camera.

It doesn't show much, just empty rolling hills with what might be the base of the mountain to the side. The next couple of feeds aren't much better, each showing more rolling hills covered in trees.

I've just flicked to our last reasonable option when Tipan cries out.

"Wait, go back."

Obliging her, I bring up the previous image. It's another scene of rolling hills, trees partially obscuring the camera.

Except as we watch the screen, one of the trees moves, shuffling to the side. Which is when I realize they're not trees at all. They're giant creatures with skin so rough it looks like bark. And poofy, leafy green hair.

Okay, time to call a spade a spade and a tree a treant.

As one of the treants shuffles out of the way, the familiar form of Cristha is revealed, directing them in their labour. And behind her, nestled in a valley outside the mountain, is a large stone fortress full of what I'm assuming are Fallen.

We all spend a moment staring at the screen before Roberts chimes in, "Well, that's better than I expected."

Not that I'd voice it out loud, but I feel the same way.

…

So, what are we missing?

3.31 Rest and Remote Infiltration

4:44 pm, local time. (July 15, 2023, 8:44 pm.)

While at first, I thought we had a live feed to Ivicka's compound, after some investigation, we discover the recordings are at least several hours behind reality. Further investigation reveals the videos are sent in once a day, with only a week's worth of records in the archives.

A week's worth of records is a lot of potential information but it's incredibly boring to watch. And with time dilation, we don't have a good excuse not to. At least it has fast forward options.

After three hours of scanning through the footage, we've identified two other perspectives that expand the view. We've also determined that for some reason each cycle ends at 9:10 in the morning. Whatever the reason, this means the last video ends shortly after Ivicka departed her compound with Asterix before she invaded Folthka's compound.

Just like Tipan said, Asterix truly is looking better. Though the flowing crest composed of tentacles is new. It's not even that disturbing, resembling a slicked-back mane of dark emerald hair. As I watch, said hair reaches out to scoop up a nearby Fallen before depositing it in the resting dragon's maw.

Nevermind. That's super yucky.

Is this why they attacked the Lord of the Deep? To steal some of his tentacles? Actually, these are way too small, unless they only snagged the ends. Besides, he seemed injured, but Tipan’s friend confirmed that Glimmering Sands still belongs to the M’tari Ascendancy.

We continue scouring through the files while working out our plan of action. The intel is a few hours out of date, but it's amazing considering it fell into our lap. Then again, with how badly the System wants us to take down the Fallen, I guess it's not that surprising it's helping out.

"Next, it's going to give us a specialized rocket launcher that will take out Ivicka in a single shot," I verbalize to myself. There's no conveniently timed System message or appearance of an insta-kill weapon, but it was worth a try. I mean, what's the point of being continually monitored by an all-powerful System if they don't drop things in your lap every now and again.

Not that the System has a habit of giving me things without at least a nominal effort on my part.

With a clear outline of the compound, the flight path between it and her mountain Sanctum and a general understanding of the scale of their forces, I've come to a rather unpleasant conclusion.

This is going to suck.

Thousands of Fallen, hundreds of treants and at least three other dragons, all with the same tentacle manes encircling their heads. There are at least two Awakened Fallen, one who floats around with large metal plates and another who skips about with sudden bursts of wind. And those are just the forces we've been able to confirm.

On the plus side, they'll have no idea we're coming. And Genitha insists she could defeat everything herself. Except for Ivicka's unknown ally. If they turn up while the unconverted K'tharn are still locked away, things could get messy. And yeah, there are entire holding pens full of K'tharn waiting to be processed. We've already seen several dozen flown to her Sanctum.

So, that's our first objective. Get in, find the K'tharn, then get them out.

We'll be operating in two teams.

The current plan is mostly reliant on using me to ferry groups back and forth between the Knights and the Wizards. It was a surprisingly unanimous decision when Rose proposed the group names. He was kind of upset when Beth reminded him he'd be staying at Raz's, so it didn't matter which group he was in. He's an honorary Knight.

He felt a little better when Demo informed us he'd be staying behind as well. He chose Wizard.

The real Wizards are composed of Beth and Genitha, while Roberts, Tipan and Rufka are the actual Knights. Technically, I'll be joining the Wizards, but I'm not on either squad, since I'm going to be bouncing around like crazy, ferrying people out. And transportation is going to be all on me. Turns out that Genitha's teleport takes a lot longer to cast. Like five minutes a shot.

Not what you want when you're in a hurry.

After the first step, we have half a dozen contingency plans, each for a different combination of Ministers that Genitha theorizes may show up. My part in each plan is simple. Get the Wizards to safety.

We're going over yet another variation of bad guy makes an appearance, Beth and Genitha blow them to pieces, Alexis gets everyone out when Rufka speaks up, "What happens if they come for us in the staging area?"

"That's why yeh'll be planting these in the area," Demo explains. Right, I think I remember them mentioning something about explosives. Rufka and I may have been a little distracted with Smoulder at the time. Smoulder's starting to feel a little annoyed she can't summon flames within the CMCC. When we tried to send her back to Raz's, we discovered we can't just pop out. We're stuck here until the full thirty-six hours are up.

Really glad I grabbed that extra food.

"Right. Uhm, what do these do again?" Rufka asks, glancing around the table.

"Shaped mana disruption charges. They'll knock any integrated creature below Silver-rank unconscious. Well, almost any."

"Wait. You've been carrying these around with you everywhere," I glare at Demo, as I realize he could have knocked us out at any time.

"Yep."

"Vaus-damn, that's handy. Mum, didn't you say these things are expensive?"

"To purchase, yes. There aren't many with the skill to create such devices in the Aetherium."

"Anyway, we'll plant the charges before anyone goes in. Assuming everything is the same as on the footage we'll place them…" Beth continues explaining the instructions which I copy as best I can into my notebook.

Another hour later, we've exhausted most reasonable tangents related to our upcoming smash and rescue so we've started playing cards while Roberts tells us about one of his less than legal adventures from before he became a doctor.

"Anyway, as I was saying, little Jim had me cornered. He's not to be confused with slim Jim, my brother's dealer. They're very different. For one thing, little Jim was actually quite large, so when I say he had me in a corner, I mean there wasn't much space to maneuver. At least, not at ground level. For another, little Jim had a personal interest in ensuring I'd have an extended stay in the hospital. After all, in his eyes, I was the only reason Maria wouldn't give him the time of day."

"Now, it may not be that incredible here, but at the time I thought myself rather daring when I chose to dash off the balcony to swing into the apartment underneath. It wasn't actually my best plan because I forgot that the apartment under Maria's was her brother's…"

Turns out Roberts had worked as a courier for some low-level drug dealers when he was in med school. This whole story started when Rose asked Roberts how he met his wife.

It's also the reason he goes by Roberts. When he told the story to his grandson, Ethan, the boy compared it to a movie he loved. Apparently there was a pirate hero that went by Roberts. Which leads to the most shocking revelation of his story.

Roberts's last name is actually Ling.

To which Rose blurts out, "You don't look Chinese!"

Even as the words come out of his mouth, his ears lay flat in embarrassment. I mean, he's right, Roberts doesn't look Asian to me. But then, I don't look Cree or Italian either. Almost like a person can have a mixed heritage without it showing.

Roberts laughs it off as he explains, "I take after my mother's side. But my grandparents moved to Canada from the Qinghai province."

Rufka is tapping a beat on her leg when she interjects, "I have no idea what any of that means. But did you actually go back for the package? Without any enchantments? Against a foe twice your size?"

"Of course. I'd have been dead without it, so it wasn't much of a choice. In fact..."

Before I know it, we've spent several hours trading stories. We hear a lot from Roberts, because Rufka keeps asking about his past. She loves that so many feature him running above cities. Apparently, he was quite the skywalker when he was younger.

That's another way to say a crazy person who runs up and down buildings without magic or equipment. Pretty sure they call it parkour or something now.

Rufka informs us that even with magic, there aren't many who choose to do so. At least not in the Aetherium. I suspect their lack of stable buildings and access to flight magic are both factors.

As we're getting ready to sleep, we discover the command centre has rooms available.

It's a little late, but when I enter the room, the System informs me that I can use our key to link my personal room to the CMCC. If I'd set it up before I came in. It also informs me that if I access my room from within the CMCC, I won't be able to use any other exits. Because, of course, dilated time.

It's still cool.

The room is fairly basic, a simple desk and the least comfortable bed I've encountered since arriving on Akilo. Which includes sleeping on the stone floor of the church. Luckily, a positive Health edge prevents it from being an actual issue. I slide a few more points into my Attributes as I settle in.

While the bed is uncomfortable, this is the best place I could hope to spend tonight.

Because I'm able to spend it with Rufka without having to worry I'll zap her with a lightning bolt in my sleep.

…

And Smoulder. Yes, you little furball, I'm not kicking you out.

Not yet.

When I wake, I'm not sure if the fur in my mouth is from cuddling with Rufka or from Smoulder planting herself on my face to rouse me.

Deciding to get even with her by notfeeding her immediately, I check the improvements to my attributes instead. And then start giving her a snack while I review. Because apparently I'm a big softie.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-2

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: -10 > 0

Constitution: 15

Agility: 21

Endurance: 8

Intellect: 100

Spirit: 86 > 100

Perception: 48 > 50

Resolve: 48 > 50

Storage: 4.16 > 4.44 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 2/3

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 25 > 0

Progression Marks: 0

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 132/132 > 151/151, Edge: [7.3] > [9.5], Regen: (67/day) > (80/day)

Stamina

Pool: 132/132 > 144/144, Edge: [10] > [10.6], Regen: (73/day) > (80/day)

Mana

Pool: 632/632 > 683/683, Edge: [57.7] > [60.3], Regen: (518/day) > (572/day)

Focus

Pool: 562/562 > 602/602, Edge: [42.1] > [44.2], Regen: (408/day) > (445/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 178/178 > 190/190, Edge: [15] > [15.6], Regen: (135/hour) > (148/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 0/3

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

First thing I increased was Spirit by thirteen, bringing it up to a hundred, to match Intellect.

I was tempted to increase my Agility with my remaining seven points, but instead, I spent the rest alongside three mana shards to finally raise my Strength to the point it's not in the negatives. Zero’s technically not negative. I was sorely tempted to keep placing my points into my mental stats, but the ease with which Rufka won our playfighting last night reminded me how much I rely on my magic to… well, do everything really.

When I can move things with my mind, I will, of course, use it every chance I get.

But sometimes you need to be able to take a hit without being reduced to a giggling mess once the tickling starts. Okay, I'm not actually sure Strength will help withstand being tickled, but it'll help me be the tickler instead of the ticklee.

The tickling also made me realize how long it's been since I've felt pain. I don't get minor aches or pains anymore. Not even that tingly sensation I should’ve got from Rufka sleeping on my arm all night.

I wonder how the System differentiates between tickling and other sources of tingling?

My attributes weren’t the limit of my upgrades. Everyone made sure to pick up party voice and party text, which, since I already had the text, I just needed to buy voice. Does party voice mean there’s no more chance of accidental memory peeking?

There’s also my staff, which I bound by spending another Iron shard worth of essence. Rufka took me through some very basic drills, and it felt slow and clunky in my hands. After binding it, the description upgraded to reveal that my spells take twice as long to channel through the staff, with a minimum channeling time of a real-time second. It’s annoying enough that part of me regrets wasting the shard. But it’ll be helpful whenever I need to do damage in a burst, so better than not having it at all.

My musings are cut short by Rufka making an adorable half-snort as Smoulder steps on her ear. As they sort themselves out, I start laying out breakfast on the desk. After eating, we climb back into bed. We still have nearly twenty hours before we're done here. This is the closest we're going to have to a break and we've decided to make the most of it. Especially since we're charging into the lion's den once we're released.

And that's exactly what we do. Though we don't spend all day in bed, like I'd originally been envisioning. Rufka can't actually handle sitting still that long.

After a full day of messing around, visiting with the others, getting to know Rose, who is either incredibly different from Josh, or just doesn't have Josh's filters, and reviewing 'the plan' another dozen times we're all back at the entrance table, waiting for the last five minutes to count down.

Everyone can barely wait to get out. While we'd thought we were prepared to spend thirty-six hours in here, most of our preparations included using magic in some way. The lack has led everyone except Raz to go a little stir crazy.

He spent the whole time playing his guitar in the corner. Rufka and I danced several times, even taking turns with Roberts and Tipan. Roberts also took the opportunity to demonstrate some good old earth music, busting out a marvellous rendition of 'I like that old type of Rock & Roll' and a less impressive version of 'Iron Man'. His guitar work was excellent, but he just doesn't have the voice for it.

Rose and Beth spent a while talking. A long while.

But now we're leaving. Time to go face the big bad and all that.

My attempt to follow what happens on the way out reinforces that whatever went into creating the CMCC is out of my league.

For the moment.

Our hands are once again in position on the table. Other than a slight change in the patrons around us, it's as though we never left.

We don't waste time. The moment everyone is over the nausea, we head for the exit where Genitha prepares her group teleportation spell. Which I totally take notes on. All the notes. These are in addition to the instruction she gave me when we compared the idea of our spells while trapped in the CMCC, our efforts frustrated by the limited access to magic. Trying to reference the raided books was even more frustrating, since I could just display them.

Even after spending a whole day there, I was the only one able to harness any magic.

Her version has roughly ten times the runes of mine, which kind of makes me worried about the quality of my spell. Then again, hers has guidance built-in, whereas mine requires a link.

Speaking of which, we still have Ivicka's arm, and the connection is still strong enough for me to confirm she's in the general direction of her Sanctum.

Kind of a grisly task, but better than teleporting halfway across the continent only to find out she was already in our back yard. Err, relative to our teleportation capability that is.

Genitha's spell is much neater than mine. Only the actual people chosen for transport are teleported. No practice dummies were harmed in the casting of her spell.

We emerge in a shallow dip between two nearby hills. I nearly step in a small pool covered in green moss when I turn to look around but manage to keep my footing. And by 'keep my footing' I mean I reshape the ground beneath my feet while crackling flames engulf my hands. I breathe deeply, embracing the plentiful Mana in the air as a shudder of relief passes through me.

"Uh, Lexi. Stealth mission," Rufka reminds me, breaking me out of my daze just before I start creating great arcs of fire in the sky.

"Oh, right. Sorry," I apologize as I float down, stepping off the newly formed square block on the edge of the pool. I go to dispel my flight spell but...

I wasn't even using it. I’m lifting myself solely with wind manipulation.

Huh. That's new.

There's no time for me to revel in my newfound ability, as I help the others place Demo's charges in an egg-shaped oval around the small valley.

"Okay, people, we all know the plan. Keep your eyes and ears open. We'll be back for dinner." With that, Beth, Genitha and I slip out of sight, each of our invisibility spells enshrouding us.

However, while they fly directly towards the compound, I fly straight up.

Once my head barely protrudes above the treeline I connect directly to Beth's vision, ready to teleport at her signal. But it's a bit of a flight.

Didn't want a drago-squid stumbling over us. That would kill the mood.

Still, while we're flying, I decide I should talk to Beth.

I've kind of been ignoring it, since I've been focused on Ivicka and Rufka, but things were tense between her and Rose.

"So, Beth," I start.

"Yeah, kid?"

"About Rose."

"Not the time kid."

"I just wanted to know if you're going to… Ohmygod! What is that?!"

Beth snaps her vision to a twisting mass of flesh that is snaking between the trees below her. It must have over a million little arms, each one the general shape of a human's. Or a K'tharn's actually. Each arm ends in hands like theirs, though it looks like its claws never retract.

"Ah, a Vothborean. Truly an auspicious omen," Genitha comments through party voice.

"I'm sorry, what? How is that thing an auspicious omen?" Beth demands.

The rumbling of the massive millipede, which is what it reminds me of, fades as Genitha explains, "They're a rare creature that hunts Fallen, sending them to their final rest. It seems we may have an unexpected ally."

As Beth stares at the slimy carapace propelled by hundreds of humanoid arms, I can't help but wonder if we could trade-in for a slightly less disgusting ally.

Judging by Beth's 'blech,' she agrees with me.

3.32 Task Failed Successfully

5:29 pm, local time. (July 15, 2023, 10:29 pm.)

The giant millipede doesn't notice either of its invisible watchers, continuing on its path straight towards Ivicka's compound at a speed that is frankly terrifying.

Wait a second. Is this the System's answer to my overpowered weapon request?

Note to self, request less slimy secret weapon next time.

Shortly before the massive millipede reaches the compound, it twists upwards, ascending several stories above the ground as if climbing an invisible wall. It teeters there for a second before crashing down, slamming the ground with such force I can see the shockwave distort the air, flattening the nearby trees. Luckily, Beth's nowhere near it. By the time the shockwave reaches her, it's just an extremely loud noise, the wind barely ruffling her hair.

"Did it just assault their base?" Beth asks in party chat. I love that invisibility mutes our sound yet we're still able to talk freely. Total cheat.

There's a pause as we all stare at where the millipede is twisting on the ground. A second later, two of the squidified-dragons fly from behind the low walls of rough stone, which seem to act more as an indication of the invisible forcefield than an actual deterrent. At this distance, I'm only able to tell that one dragon is red and the other a blue so dark it almost seems purple.

Genitha's soft laughter precedes her answer as they resume flying towards the compound, "I… I think it did. I'll admit, I didn't expect that. Vothborean are generally less aggressive than that."

When they're only a kilometre from the compound, the millipede is running away with the dragons strafing it. The blue dragon is surrounded by a thick mist which it reshapes into whip-like tendrils, reinforcing the squid theme they're going with. The red dragon is thankfully just breathing regular old dragonfire. Which isn't so great for the Vothborean judging from the way it melts under each volley of fire, but there's something wrong about a dragon using their magic to form tentacles.

Apparently, the appearance of a giant millipede isn't enough to justify much of a response beyond the dragons. As Genitha and Beth close in on the wall, the Fallen stationed atop it barely register the fight between the behemoths to the north. They're no more cognizant of Genitha and Beth's attempt to bypass the warding scheme.

After three minutes, Beth's patience seems to run out. "What's taking so long? You said this should be easy."

"It should've been easy. But it's being powered by a type of Mana I've never seen before that's hard to focus on. Which is making it interesting to bypass without setting off the alarm." Genitha doesn't sound upset. In fact, I think she might be enjoying herself.

It takes another two minutes for her to finish. As she works, the sounds of fighting dies out until I can barely hear the Vothborean thumping against the ground.

When Genitha completes whatever she was doing, a crack forms in the wall. The jagged stone opening doesn't look comfortable, but neither complain as they make their way through. Once inside, they head straight for the holding pen, keeping close to the ground under most of the flying Fallen traffic. The base is so designed around the use of flight that they run into several dead ends, having to carefully cross over before making it to the pens.

The crudely assembled structure causes me to wonder if the Fallen are incapable of using their stone magic for construction. I've seen at least two Fallen with stone floating over their heads, so I know they're available. As it is, the walls of the pen are composed of loosely stacked blocks, each the size of a refrigerator with the top open to the weather. Though rain seems to be kept away by the invisible barrier overhead.

When they reach the back of the barricade, Genitha starts laughing softly. "I thought they were idiots for using these. But if I try to reshape the stone, they'll know someone was here. It's a low magic tracking system. Someone is probably feeling incredibly clever. They may have even noticed our passage through the outer wall."

"We assumed we were on a clock. Best we keep moving."

"Wait. There's something else."

"What?" Beth demands.

"I'm not certain, something about the Mana is off."

Beth manages to wait patiently for thirty seconds before she asks, "Anything?"

"Hmmm." Genitha hums to herself, which seems like a strange use of party chat, before responding, "It's some sort of illusion magic. Not twilight."

"Wait, why would there be illusion magic over the holding pens?"

"An excellent question child. Now hush, I need to concentrate."

The fact that they're both invisible makes me feel more tense instead of relaxed. My IFF only cares about where people are in relation to me, not where my perception of myself is. Which is to say, I have no idea what Genitha's doing, and only a vague idea of where she is.

So, I have no idea what she did to trigger the stone blocks to start reforming, but I'm hoping it was intentional. The cursing kind of indicates otherwise though. At first I'm unable to comprehend exactly what's happening, the downside to Beth being right next to it.

Well, that and the potential for being crushed by that massive foot that's forming from the stone blocks. Beth's view reorients so quickly, it takes me a moment to realize she dove back the way they came, peeking back around the corner at the rising golem.

"What the hell is that?" Beth screams into party chat.

"Unexpected." Genitha sounds amused.

"Yeah, no shit."

"Don't worry, it would appear our invisibility is sufficient to fool its senses. I'm more concerned with the lack of prisoners."

"What are you…" As Beth trails off it becomes apparent that the holding pen blocks that didn't go into forming the first massive golem went into a second slightly larger golem. Both golems are just standing there, as though waiting for orders. Or more likely a target.

As we're staring at the empty field, Beth's eyes narrow in on a barely raised section of dirt. "There, do you see that section? Just in front of number two's foot."

"Ah, yes. Good eye. An underground area."

Even as Genitha confirms Beth's suspicions, Beth jumps into motion, dashing straight for the covered hatch while ignoring the golems. "Straight in?" she asks as she skids to a stop above a hatch made of a wood the same colour as the surrounding earth.

"Go ahead. I'll provide cover. You investigate."

"Fine." With that, Beth twists the handle, only opening the hatch wide enough to peek through.

Even as Beth is lifting the cover, there's a roar from above. In addition to the golems, Ivicka is flying in on Asterix. Unlike the golems, Ivicka doesn't wait until she can see the threat. She starts tossing fireballs, blanketing the area. Genitha easily blocks them with small projectiles, causing them to explode high above. Then she unleashes a crimson flash, lines unfolding to create a writhing mass that collides with one of the golems, wrapping around it and squeezing hard enough it sounds like the golem is screaming as it's crushed.

Beth has watched for less than a second before her attention returns to the hatch. When she sees an empty shaft that drops roughly five metres, she slips through, bracing against the wall then sliding along before killing her momentum with a roll at the bottom. I'm not sure if she remembers I'm tagging along, but I'm pretty sure she didn't need to be so fancy.

Pressing against the wall next to the only doorway leading out of the shaft, she pokes far enough I can determine there's an empty hallway with heavy wooden doors blocking five doorways.

"Kid, you seeing this? I think it's a good spot for you to port to."

"Yeah. On it." I've already established my anchors, so I'm able to appear next to her a second later. The moment I appear, I feel as though there's a cloying pull on my skin. The Mana here feels… wrong. Like motor oil poured over pancakes.

Shaking it off, Beth confirms I'm here then begins checking the first door on the left. Immediately, she comes across a group of shackled K'tharn who meet us with suspicious stares. Each of them have masks over their heads, inhibiting speech. Genitha warned us this might happen. It can be challenging to keep a user contained without the use of special restraints to disrupt their Mana.

The restraints could be removed, if the user who put them in place disables them. Since, it's unlikely Ivicka will comply with such a request, that leaves us with breaking the enchantment. Which can be done, but each set would take Genitha several minutes. And Rufka and Tipan would take even longer. Which means it's a later priority. Ergo, teleport everyone to safety first, break them free later.

It takes some convincing to get the prisoners to come with us, but once they do, I start organizing them to ensure we don't bring any of the wall with us. When Beth opens the second room, I'm still trying to get the first group out. There's a bit of a scuffle as several K'tharn from the second group want to leave first. We manage to get things sorted out thanks to some understanding K'tharn in the first group, but we decide to finish each room before opening the other doors.

While I escort the prisoners out, Beth keeps a watch over the unopened doors from the access shaft. Before I know it, the first three rooms have all been cleared out. Tipan and Rufka are even attempting to break the enchantments binding them. I'm opening the door to the fourth when we're interrupted by Fallen entering the prison.

They don't tell me to stop or give a word of warning.

They never got the chance.

Beth was waiting for them. The moment they flew into the hallway, she calmly dispatched their entire squad.

Sneak attack with an armour ignoring automatic weapon. Nasty.

Deciding it'd be best if the prisoners don't see the bodies, I quickly use my AOE looting ability, revealing another Soulstone. It disappears, likely into Beth's hand, while I turn my attention back to the prisoners, teleporting the next group out. By the time I make it back, Beth's defeated another group of Fallen. I was only away for a minute.

They're coming faster.

"Hate to hurry you, kid, but they know we're here."

"Kinda guessed that. Only one room left."

Room at the end of the hall. Cause if any room isn't going to be full of holding cells, this would be it. With that in mind, I advance in accelerated time with invisibility up. Popping open the door, I glance through, before ducking back.

There are three unshackled K'tharn in the room, playing a game of Astra's stride. If it wasn't for recognizing Cristha, I almost wouldn't have noticed they were Fallen. She's had work done. The ripped throat and other damage has been filled in with a rough patchwork. The dark green patches stand out against her grey and black fur. They don't seem to have noticed me. Taking another quick peek, I confirm all three are intensely focused on the game. I also notice a faint set of glowing runes inscribed along the floor and walls between the door and their table.

Huh, wonder what that's about.

While I'm staring at the runes, one of the gaming Fallen pauses partway through their turn, glaring at me. Or more likely the open door I'm leaning through.

They straighten slightly before calling out, "Ivicka, we already told you. It doesn't matter what you do to us. We're not going to help you."

Uhh. Okay.

This seems like a Beth thing.

"I've got Awakened Fallen who are… uhm, rebels, I guess," I tell Beth through party chat. "They think I'm Ivicka. Telling me they're not going to help. Oh, now they've started insulting her parentage. That doesn't seem fair to Tipan's mom."

"Kinda busy. Did you get all the prisoners out?"

"Everyone except them."

Our conversation is interrupted when everything shakes. One of the heavy wooden doors splits and cracks, splinters flying everywhere. In the shaft I hear lightning crackle.

"Kay. Your call kid, but decide quick."

My call?

I never make decisions like this. This is way too important.

Another shake of the everything and I'm already stepping into the room, dropping my invisibility again to a barrage of insults that cuts out when they realize I'm not Ivicka.

"Hey, I know you! You're one of Roberts's friends," Cristha exclaims. Her voice no longer has the smooth dulcet tones that she once apologized to a bemused Roberts with. Now it's as though she's scraping steel-wool cloth on a chalkboard with the resulting noise forming words.

Clearly, the patch to her throat is not entirely effective.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Alexis. Look, we don't have a lot of time. I can get you out of here."

"Are you going to kill Ivicka?" The Awoken who first noticed me open the door asks.

I shrug as I start laying anchors on their side of the glowing glyphs. "Probably, though that's not really my department. I'm just the ride."

Even as I speak, I send Rufka a message asking her to move away from the others. No reason to bring them to a group of helpless prisoners. Not yet.

"You're going to need the…" Cristha starts but trails off when I appear on their side of the glowing runes. Which is when it occurs to me that I might not be able to get out. But my connection to Rufka is still strong. "Nevermind."

"Yeah, I know. Now keep your arms and legs inside the circle. Anything outside the glowing ring won't be coming with us."

They gather closer than strictly necessary before I teleport back to where Rufka's hiding out. Giving Rufka a quick half-hug, I let Beth know they're out.

"Great. Ivicka's beat feet but she's got heavy support. Bring the others."

Right. I have no idea what Beth means by beat feet, but the prisoners are safely extracted. Time to take the fight to Ivicka.

"Time to go," I tell Rufka, who glances at the unbound Awakened who I only now notice are watching us. But we don't have time to deal with them, so I take a step back, pulling Rufka with me before teleporting us to Tipan and Roberts. I don't need to say anything as we gather away from the prisoners. It's with a bit of guilt I realize if we fail, they're stuck in the middle of nowhere stuck in bindings that keep them from accessing their powers.

Still, better than being forcefully converted to a Fallen, right?

We appear just outside of the prison where Beth is taking pot shots at Asterix while dodging his breath weapon and tentacles. Genitha is currently flying around duking it out with another Fallen who's countering her every attack. One such block sends a shockwave strong enough to knock a couple points off my Health.

Damn, getting the prisoners out was a good call.

There's a fraction of a second where we all take in the situation, picking targets. I don't see Ivicka but there are several Fallen attempting to flank Beth. Elemental energies are flying everywhere. If I wasn't able to slow down my perception of the battlefield with Accelerated-Time I'd be completely lost. But with it, Smoulder and I start blasting our way through the Fallen before they realize reinforcements have arrived.

Roberts moves to support Beth, his shields allowing her to focus on offence. Which results in Asterix retreating.

Scanning the battlefield for Ivicka, I find her trading fire with Tipan and Rufka. Looks like they found her before I did. I tell Roberts her location then move to support Tipan who was just sent tumbling by a wave of debris. Rufka manages to draw Ivicka's attention before she can attack Tipan further.

I start slinging elemental discs, torrents and arrows at Ivicka. She hardly seems to notice. After more than thirty seconds of her barely dodging our attacks, I realize she's just playing with us. The grin on her face should have clued me in earlier.

And why shouldn't she play with us? Clearly she's stronger than we are.

But at least I've taken down more Fallen. I thought about looting them, but that can wait until later. It's not like I need to keep the ground clear with everyone and their dragon flying everywhere. In fact it works to our advantage, making it harder for the treants to reach us. They hit anything that gets close with enough force it's worse than getting hit by half a dozen Fallen at once. Not that they're surviving Smoulder's blazing attacks any better. She's not technically capable of flight, but you wouldn't know it with the way she's smashing her way through the treant ranks.

The greatest hazard the Fallen pose is hiding the much more dangerous attacks from Ivicka amongst their own spells. I've nearly taken three hits from Ivicka, only dodging because I'm moving in accelerated time.

Ivicka's been calling out for most of the fight, mostly insults about Tipan, but occasionally she'll try to include Rufka and me as well. Most of them are lost in the general roar of dozens of high powered spells. But she seems to be focused on insulting our lineage by referring to the fact we're descended from males.

I'm not sure if insults just aren't her forte, or if she thinks that having a male parent is truly that bad.

Doesn't matter, since she's keeping us from doing anything to her, so it's not like we can get her to stop. The best I've achieved is to knock her back slightly with a well-aimed Water Torrent. But most of the time, I can't even land one.

Then Genitha spares a single crimson bolt of energy in her direction before returning her attention to her opponent.

That single crimson bolt of energy strikes Ivicka's shoulder sending her spiralling into a nearby Fallen. She continues falling, eventually landing behind the broken body of one of the golems, itself reduced to a pile of rubble. We're unable to follow her, held back when a surge of Fallen arrives from the direction of her Sanctum. Fallen wouldn't have been enough on their own, but the pair of powerful Awoken accompanying them send us running for cover.

At least until Beth puts a hole in the one with the giant metal shield. It's easy for me to take out the other one after that, teleporting in close then unloading several Piercing Flame Arrows. They're exceptionally effective against the Fallen's Wind Shield.

I'm trying to find Ivicka again when she announces her presence in a way I never would’ve expected.

She shoots Genitha out of the sky.

A dark purple beam with sparks of crackling blue lightning spears straight through the massive steel block Genitha was using for a shield. It doesn't just cut through her shield, the beam pierces through Genitha's shoulder, tearing up towards her head as she collapses.

"MUM!"

Ivicka doesn't stop there. She's already turning the strange cannon in our direction when I Pause time.

The beam is sweeping across the sky, splitting everything it passes through. Tipan barely dodges above the beam. Ivicka doesn't stop to focus on her sister though. Instead she continues sweeping the weapon towards Beth and Roberts.

Even with time paused I'm reminded how fast Ivicka is. It's only going to be a few paused seconds before she reaches them.

No time to hesitate.

So, I teleport next to her, meeting her gaze as I appear before her, fully visible.

Then I unleash a water torrent.

But that's all just a distraction to buy the precious fractions of a second I need to teleport away. Using the simpler version of my area teleport, I bisect her energy cannon, the glowing rings guiding my aim. I might get her arm, but that's better than her killing the others.

Ivicka's distorted scream of rage as she swings the rifle towards me is cut off as I teleport away.

When I reappear, I realize I misjudged. A simple but critical mistake. I forgot I added a safety margin to the rings.

Instead of her arm, I've brought half her head and torso with me.

Time is flowing normally but for that moment it feels as though it stretches into eternity. I stare at her left eyes. She seems to have just enough time to process what happened before her eyes lose focus. My mind can't help but note how 'clean' the cut is. Then her face collapses to the ground with a barely audible squelch.

A sound I'll never forget.

Unable to help myself, I turn away, vomiting.

When I recover, I make the mistake of glancing over, only to start heaving again. It's only the thought that Genitha needs help that lets me stand, fighting my gag reflex back.

Despite Ivicka being down, the Fallen haven't stopped fighting. In fact, the Fallen Genitha was fighting is keeping the rest of the team away.

Damn.

I've teleported to Genitha's side before I've had time to process the spell, fumbling to retrieve the healing feather I received from Beth after our mad dash from the tower. When I see the gash where her heart should be, I don't see Genitha.

I see papa, staring up with glazed eyes.

I gasp, dropping the feather into the torn earth. The vision of papa disappears, but the brown of the feather blends in, making me waste a precious second as I almost look past it.

With feather in hand, I lay it on Genitha then start channelling all the mana I can into it.

"Please, please let this work."

3.33 Setting Sun

5:59:34 pm, local time. (July 15, 2023, 10:59:34 pm.)

Five seconds too late.

At least that's how it feels.

The sun is setting, shining at just the right angle to give Genitha a halo as I pour my mana into the dull brown feather. It feels like the universe's sick idea of a joke.

But I have bigger worries.

The feather isn't working.

I've dumped half my mana into it, but the wound won't close. Several other minor scuffs close over, but the dull black edges of the gash seem to repulse the feather's efforts.

It's only once I'm out of Mana, frantically trying to think of something, that it occurs to me to get Roberts. He could fix this.

Glancing in his direction, I see him shielding Beth from the red dragon that was chasing the millipede. Clearly, the dragon is a distraction. Though with the trouble Beth is having landing a shot, it's an effective one. I know an easy way to fix that, I just have to do it.

I teleport next to the dragon, it's large red tentacles writhing as it releases a roar that shakes the air.

Okay, Lexi. It's simple, just teleport away with the giant dragon's head.

Yet, I hesitate. Which is when a heavy impact throws me careening away. That one hit costs me half my Health. I don't think it was even aiming at me.

This time I don't give myself time to hesitate. In, then out with its tentacles squirming around me. When I teleport away I bring a sizable chunk of its head with me.

This time it's more of a 'clang,' when the armoured skull smashes against a broken golem.

But no more distraction. The rest of the dragon is crashing to the ground behind me when I teleport next to them. They don't even realize I'm there before I've relocated us to Genitha.

"Alexis, what?" Roberts is blinking at me instead of helping Genitha. I don't think, instinctively turning him with a transparent wave of wind magic, nearly shoving him into her. Which reminds me that even with no Mana I can still create minor effects if they're close enough.

It doesn't take him long after that to start working, but it still doesn't feel fast enough. Yet I can see him making progress. The black gunk at the edges is being pushed back and the flesh underneath is starting to reknit.

Then everything goes dark as a wave of earth slams over us. I'm thrown clear, and I can feel Roberts and Beth should be clear as well.

Glancing up, I see the Fallen. The one Genitha was fighting.

And it is a Fallen, that much is clear now. It's the missing chunks in her torso, ruining her otherwise well-groomed chocolate brown fur, that gives it away. Because either she's Fallen, or she was doing poorly against Genitha.

She's staring down at us, making no further move to attack. She's just... floating there as if unconcerned. Analyzing her, I confirm her state.

"Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 7.

Name: Minister Traxla of clan Lithania.

Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Restricted.

Defences: Restricted."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the complete analysis of Traxla for 7.9 Focus and 10.0 Facet."

Well, that's a big old yes.

"Citizen status confirmed: Updating..."

"Attacks: Elementalist Mastery, Mana form, Superior Spell forms.

Defences: Elemental Resistance - Extreme(Weak), Superior Mana Regeneration(Crippled).

Conditions: Fallen, Corrupted Soulstone, High Mana Degradation."

"Born in the M'tari ascendancy, Minister Traxla became a citizen of the Aetherium to honour her father. Since joining, she dedicated her life to improving the Aetherium's connections to the Lords of the Deep. The last days of her life were dedicated to an exchange program between the Aetherium and the Ascendancy to build lasting peace. This deal came to an end with her sudden disappearance."

She's at least as powerful as Ivicka. And her past efforts don't matter now. Looks like she's not even fighting us at her peak. That's... depressing.

Temporarily dismissing her, I search for Genitha. I spot her crumpled form through the spiked rocks Traxla used to separate us. Roberts is picking himself up only a couple metres away from me, so I fly to him, then transport us beside Genitha, my eyes glued to Traxla.

She reacts immediately, sending a new wave of rising stone to separate us.

So, I teleport all three of us away. Keeping everyone well within the rings.

Not far though. I'm limited to line of sight on all my teleports, except for Return. But I'll need everyone together if I don't want to leave anyone behind.

I start picking up the others, warning them to stay close.

Everyone is crowded next to me. Roberts is attempting to revive Genitha while dealing with the nausea of repeated teleports. They're all feeling the effects.

Rufka is the only passenger I still need to collect.

Traxla isn't making it easy for us to reach each other. She doesn't leave me enough room to teleport everyone close to Rufka safely. Rufka insists she'll be fine, that I should get her mum out. But I can't bring myself to leave her.

So, I make a quick teleport without the group.

It's only for a second, but it was a mistake.

The second they're left without me, Traxla drives them apart, another eruption of stone violently spewing upwards. Thankfully, Beth and Tipan aren't hurt, at least not enough to worry about.

But I can't see Roberts or Genitha.

I can feel them buried somewhere under that mass of stone. With only a sliver of mana remaining digging them out is going to take time.

Should’ve dealt with Traxla first. It's obvious now. If I want to save Genitha, the Fallen needs to go.

Teleporting to her is easy. But she's even faster than Ivicka. She doesn't dodge much, just enough to stay several metres outside the range I can teleport her at.

She's still not shooting back.

Yet she's not grinning like Ivicka either. She's just avoiding me, a frown on her face.

If I didn't know better I'd think she didn't want to be here. But I already encountered Fallen like that, and they were locked up.

Maybe I can try talking to her?

Worth a shot.

"Hey, any chance you'd let me heal my friend?"

She stares at me but doesn't respond. I wait five very long seconds before I square my shoulders then attempt to get close to her again. After three more teleports, I realize I'm not going to get close to her that way. She seems to be able to gauge when I'm about to teleport, moving out of the way before I can set new coordinates. I'm certain this wouldn't be a problem if my Agility was higher.

Now's not the time to be lamenting your attribute allocation Lexi, think.

Instead of continuing to harass her, I teleport away, pausing time.

Should have done this first, instead of hopping around like a crazy person. Okay, I can still reshape things. Even with no mana, I still have control in my sphere.

Plus I'm regenerating while paused. Not much, but maybe enough to do… something.

Right. I have time to look through Roberts's eyes now.

He's trapped under a rock only metres away from Genitha, his arm stretched in her direction. He's moving her closer, suspended on one of his barriers.

I don't have to do anything but keep the Fallen Minister distracted. I can do distracted.

And as I disconnect from Roberts, even while paused, I see Beth and Tipan are in the midst of harassing the Fallen Minister. She can't ignore Beth's shots anymore than she can ignore the danger of my teleportation. And while Tipan's crackling lightning discs don't pack the same punch, they make it harder to notice Beth's already near-invisible projectiles. It's the same problem I was having with Ivicka.

Now, before I distract her properly, I should retrieve... Ah, perfect. There's Smoulder.

Dropping out of Pause, I teleport to where Smoulder's peeing on a dead treant over a thousand times larger than her.

Because, of course she is.

It's been less than a minute since we were scattered, and it's the last of the dozen that were nearby. In fact, it seems everything except Traxla is either dead or running. Much as she'd like to, Smoulder can't take credit for all the destruction.

Asking Smoulder to watch my back in case anything returns, I resume distraction duty.

And just in time.

Traxla is already turning towards Roberts. When I teleport next to her, Smoulder almost launches herself at Traxla despite my request to just watch my back. She constrains herself to a jet of flames which I match with a single weak torrent of wind, though Smoulder grumbles about it.

Even with all our efforts turned towards her, Traxla keeps dodging, not doing anything but deflecting our attacks.

With nothing but my weakest spells, I feel nearly useless. I'm even running low on Facet and Focus. Beth stops firing after a minute, but the rest of us continue. Even though she's not targeting us, there's enough random fire that it's still hectic. Then, after nearly two minutes of attempting to harass Traxla, Roberts informs us Genitha is stable.

But not conscious.

Yet, it's enough. Enough that we let up our, admittedly useless, assault for a second.

Traxla immediately dives towards Roberts and Genitha.

But Beth's waiting for her, her invisibility failing as she uses the last of her Umbra. This time she doesn't miss.

A puff of blue dust and a single falling soul stone herald Traxla's end.

But I'm already kneeling by Roberts's side, staring at the new scar on Genitha's breast. Her chest is rising and falling, but it seems shallow.

"Mum!" Rufka cries out as she comes skidding in. Damn, I should’ve brought her closer myself. When she sees Genitha's chest rise, she chokes.

"I thought you could heal anything," Rufka states, staring at Roberts.

Roberts meets her gaze evenly. "Maybe I can. But I need time. And so does she."

Rufka nods but doesn't say anything. I grip her shoulder to offer support.

"Rufka-," I start but she interrupts me, nearly knocking me over as she collapses against me, crying into my neck. I can't help but think I wouldn't be half this upset if my mother was hurt.

Genitha and Rufka deserve better from me.

"Hate to say it, but we're not done, people."

I stare blankly at Beth. She's standing on one of the outcroppings, staring to the east. Where Ivicka's Sanctum lies.

Then I remember the prisoners. And where they were supposed to be processed. We're lucky we fought her out here. There hasn't been a quest update, even though Ivicka's dead. There are several for taking out the Fallen, including Traxla, but nothing for Ivicka. Or the summoner. Does that mean she wasn't the summoner, or that the System needs proof that she was the summoner?

Well, it seemed to deliver on the giant weapon, might as well try asking directly again. So, I mumble my thoughts to myself.

Which Rufka hears. "You think she wasn't the Summoner?"

"I'm just thinking it's a possibility," I explain, hoping the System will update. But no such luck. Guess the giant millipede was a coincidence.

"Same as I was thinking kid. No quest update." Beth strides over to look down at Genitha. "Is it safe to move her?"

Roberts kneads his brow with one hand, standing with a sigh. "Her body was thrown around just like the rest of us. Yet the only damage was from that beam. I'm inclined to say we probably couldn't hurt her if we tried."

Genitha's body lying there unconscious doesn't look that strong. Again, I'm struck by the similarity to papa, lying in his bed after the accident.

And again, I feel like it's all my fault. If I'd thought to bring Roberts immediately, maybe she'd still be okay. Or if I hadn't hesitated with the dragon. Or if I-

"Thank you," Rufka whispers, breaking me out of my self-recriminations.

"Uhm. You're welcome?" Not really sure what she's thanking me for. But I feel like admitting that would be unwise. One of those questions that would get me called an idiot.

Or maybe that's just something my mom does.

A loud sloosh draws my attention to where a section of the dragon I bisected has tipped over, spilling pooled blood across the ground. When it starts seeping in our direction, I realize I should get on looting everything.

Right after my Facet recharges. Wow, I haven't been this low on Facet in a while.

"Did anybody see where Ivicka fell?" Beth calls out from where she clambered over the rise.

Blinking, I process what Beth's not just asking, but implying. Maybe Ivicka is the summoner but isn't dead.

Thinking back, I have an idea of where her body should have landed. If it hasn't turned to blue dust already.

"I think so," I yell back while extricating myself from Rufka's arms. "I'll go check."

Rufka holds onto my hand, making it clear I'm not going alone. Heh. Alright then.

We fly over to where Ivicka’s body was, indicating the location to Beth. It's buried under mountains of rubble thrown up by Traxla.

Or at least that's what I thought. As we search, shifting entire truckloads of earth and stone, we find no trace of her. Even the part of her I teleported is nowhere to be found. But we do find the rifle mostly intact. It's taken a bit of a beating from being tossed around, but it was undamaged by the teleport I thought killed Ivicka.

"She's not here," Beth states.

"There's no way she got up from that… is there?" I ask, turning to Rufka.

She tilts her head to the side staring into space, "Well, mum said…" Rufka trails off as she looks over to her mum. Then she shakes her head, continuing, "She'd need to have reached Silver. Which is nearly impossible."

"Nearly?" Beth prods.

"Yeah. Mum's Silver. But mum said the quest to unlock Silver has been sealed."

"In the same way I thought other entrances into the Sanctuary were 'sealed'?" Tipan asks, poking Rufka in the side with her elbow.

"Oh. Vaus-damnit."

"What does this mean Rufka?" Beth prompts.

"She's alive. Probably. Which means she's in her Sanctum. Mum's made a point of explaining that's what happens to her when she gets critically injured. She gets teleported home."

We all turn to stare at where her mum is lying on the broken ground.

"Yeah…" Rufka sags so Smoulder and I move up and support her. She glances at me with a small half-smile then adds, "Look, that's what mum told me. I don't know how it works. Or why it didn't. I'd tell you to ask my mum but…"

"Like I said. We're not done, people. Just means we need to kill her properly." Beth punctuates the word kill by hefting the rifle Ivicka used on Genitha and sighting down its length. "Kid, think you can analyze this thing."

"Sure. Just give me a second," I reply. My Focus is still fine, and my Facet's recharging nicely. In fact, I can probably loot most of the area now. Which would be nice, the smell is getting offensive enough I wouldn't be surprised if it starts lowering our Health soon.

When I Focus on the rifle, it actually feels as though there's resistance.

Which is a little weird, but not impossible to overcome. So, I truly Focus on it, using my improved scanning ability.

As my tendrils of Facet pierce the rifle, an understanding of its materials, construction and method of firing all fill my head, accompanied by an unwelcome System message.

"WARNING!: Reaper Paragon Genitech detected. Anti-Corruption measures deemed insufficient. Star System will be purged in twelve days. All Citizens are recommended to evacuate Star System MWVAE-22XXX prior to purging."

I'm about to tell the others about the notification when Beth says, "Well, that's not encouraging."

"Lexi," Rufka whispers at the same time, "Why do I have a notification saying the world is going to end in twelve days?"

Huh. This rifle is so badass the System wants to wipe out an entire star system to get rid of it?

That's kind of awesome.

...

Terrifying, but awesome.

I'm not sure how to respond to Rufka. I just scanned the world-ending Reaper rifle. It's not like I told the System to issue armageddon.

In fact, isn't this exactly the kind of thing we're trying to prevent?

"I don't know, I just scanned it," I finally admit after trying to figure out something better to say. And failing.

"Fuck. We did not need this. How the hell are we going to find our way off-planet in less than twelve days?" Beth snatches the rifle. "Do you at least know how to fire it?"

I nod, then take her through the firing system. It has an annoying number of switches that need to be toggled before it can be fired. It's almost like someone thought it was dangerous. Hehe.

As soon as I'm done taking Beth through how to fire the Reaper rifle, (it's probably Sab's dad talking, but I'm pretty sure it'd be better for everyone if it was a reefer rifle,) I reach out to Wyonna.

"So, we just got hit with a notification saying the world's going to end in twelve days because I scanned a gun. What's up with that?"

(Wyonna) "Hahaha. Good one."

"No, seriously."

(Wyonna) "Uhh. One sec. Okay, so I'm going to say you either found some restricted Creator or Reaper technology. And since you're not telling me about the new facility you have access to, I'm leaning towards Reaper."

"Yeah. Some sort of Reaper Paragon Genitech."

(Wyonna) "Yep. That would do it. The System would gladly purge a planet for a chance to rid itself of a Reaper Paragon."

"Seriously? Are they that much of a threat?"

(Wyonna) "To you? Not at all. To the System? Oh hell yeah. Besides, it's not like the System cares about people. It can just create a new world with a bunch of K'tharn from its genetic storage banks. But nevermind that. You can probably cancel the countdown by destroying the Reaper Paragon. Or proving it's gone."

"Well, I guess that's something. I'm going to tell the others."

Relaying what I learned from Wyonna puts a smile on Beth's face. "Well, if the System wanted us to kill the bastard, why didn't it just give us a damn quest? Not like we're going to go easy on friends of Ivicka."

There's a barely audible buzz, accompanied by a quest notification the moment Beth finishes speaking.

"Quest Received: Kill the Bastard. Description: Find the Reaper Paragon that introduced their technology to Akilo. Kill them. Or prove they've left Akilo. Bonus rewards for every piece of Reaper Genitech relinquished to the System. Requirements 0/1 Reaper Paragon killed or fled. Rewards: Cancellation of Star System Purge, 1 iron-rank Integration point. Time: 11 days, 23:56:22."

"Note: System Penalties for using Reaper Genitech will not apply when used against Reapers or Corrupted Entities. Normal System Penalties will apply if using Reaper Genitech against non-corrupted System Integrated Entities."

"Ha. There it is," Beth crows out in triumph, a single ray of light glinting off the glossy black of her raised fist.

Yay?

3.34 To Them the Spoils

6:32 pm, local time. (July 15, 2023, 11:32 pm.)

Seeing that we have the ability to stop the System from purging Akilo is a huge relief. Not so great having less than twelve days to do so, but still.

"It's nice to see the System wants us to save Akilo so badly it's willing to give us an entire Integration point," Rufka spits out.

"Yeah, that part of the reward is pretty crap," I agree.

Tipan shrugs. "It would seem the System thinks no further incentive is needed. Personally, I'm glad it's made it clear we have some recourse. Though it's hard to believe the System wants to wipe us out over a single person."

I start connecting to the bodies lying around us, preparing to loot everything as I say, "Wouldn't surprise Demo, I bet."

Tipan nods sagely, her mohawk bobbing in the sudden wind as everything not-rock, and even some rock from the Golem creatures, turns to blue dust. And an incredible amount of essence.

"Holy Hand Grenades!" I exclaim when I see the notification. In one casting, I've gathered over a thousand mana-shards. Twelve hundred and two iron rank essence shards and one copper rank shard, to be precise. And there are still more bodies on the other side of the compound.

"What's the problem kid?" Beth asks, rushing over to me. But I don't respond as I'm too busy laughing in disbelief. Beth gives me a solid two seconds before she clasps my arm, physically shaking me out of it. "Alexis!"

I try to stop. I really do… but I'm only able to gasp out weak wheezes. Once my giggles finally die down, I explain how many shards we just acquired. No one else laughs, though Beth does sigh in relief. "That's all? You had me scared we had another unexpected disaster on our hands."

Smoulder is nuzzling against my cheek as I finally stop. "Sorry, it's just. Here we are complaining about only getting a single point. But we each have hundreds. And it doesn't help because we don't have the time to sit around waiting for our attributes to go up."

"Well, it'll help a little," Tipan points out. "And there's no guarantee we'll be able to finish in a day, so we may well be able to use most of the points by then." She pauses, shaking her head before she starts laughing softly, "In fact, we could make use of the prisoners as an anchor for your teleport. Then we could Return to Raz's, ensuring Genitha is safe. While there, we could use the dilation chamber to accelerate our growth and recover our depleted resources. We'd be back in an hour or two. Maybe Genitha will even recover."

My laughter dies, replaced by silence as we all stare at each other.

I distribute enough for everyone to start increasing all eight of our attributes immediately. As soon as I'm done, Beth snaps at me to get the rest of the essence gathered though I'm already moving.

It takes several minutes and three small skirmishes with remnants of the Fallen force and a grounded draco-squid to gather up the rest of the essence. By the time I'm done, we have two thousand, seven hundred and thirty-three iron rank essence, not including the ones we already spent. Including Genitha (and Demo and Josh, though we haven't decided if Rose qualifies for Josh's share) that's three hundred and forty full mana shards for each of us, with the extra thirteen going to me at Beth's insistence. We've decided to hold onto the copper to give to Genitha when she wakes up.

Talk about a massive power spike.

We do exactly as Tipan suggested, flying back to the prisoners. Because I didn’t think to bond to them earlier. We may have forgotten it took half an hour to fly out, but no one complains. In fact, despite our windfall, we're in a sombre mood. Rufka flying with Genitha draped in her arms is a constant reminder we're not fighting on a level playing field. And our newfound wealth won't negate that fact.

It should help though.

We arrive where we left the prisoners to find that one of them has managed to work her way free of her head binding. Her otherwise grey and black stripes are only interrupted by black patches surrounding her eyes. If not for the trademark physique that marks every K'tharn as a predator, she would remind me of a raccoon.

"You're back. Not to sound ungrateful, but did you find a key? Getting these things off is a serious pain." She holds up her still shackled hands, shaking them in our direction.

Crap. I didn't even think to look for a key.

Luckily, Tipan did. At least, she has a key, so I'm guessing she did the whole 'look for it' part too.

After a brief introduction, we learn the raccoon-esque K'tharn's name is Balka of Clan Pantela.

Tipan gasps out, "The clan Pantela? How did you end up in chains?"

"My cousin opposed Minister Yelthen on her proposal to introduce some sort of 'unholy abominations' into the Desh’ila. Then my niece tells me there was news of fighting in the council. Next thing I knew, our whole family was shackled in our sleep, then shipped off like a herd of wild vhethal."

"Minister Yelthen. Did Genitha mention her?" Beth asks.

"She's the minister of Defence. I've heard talk they were considering retiring the position," Tipan supplies while starting to unfasten Belka's chains. Another prisoner with a spotted pattern, similar to a cheetah, pushes forward when Tipan gets Belka's legs free. Behind her, the same group of K'tharn who wanted to leave the prison first, surge forwards, demanding they be freed. Or at least they mumble and growl through their muzzles while shaking their bonds in Tipan's direction.

Unlike my solution in the prison, where I admittedly caved to their demands, Beth snaps out for them to settle down. "Now, everyone's going to be released. But since you can't be bothered to behave yourselves, you'll be unlocked last."

When one of the prisoners growls something, Beth puts a round through their manacles. It does cause one of their shackles to fall away, but it also strips away her fur and skin, revealing the raw flesh underneath.

"Or we could do it the hard way. If you're in that much of a hurry."

While the suddenly much less enthusiastic group falls back, cheetah-spots takes Beth up on the offer, sticking her manacles out. Beth seems taken aback, but adjusts quickly. She gets cheetah-spots to kneel down then carefully places a blast through each of her bindings.

Though this time she ensures she doesn't draw blood.

When the mask preventing speech comes off, her mumbling becomes clear, "Please, my sister, you have to save my little sister Athice."

"Hold on. Almost done," Beth tries, but the prisoner doesn't cooperate ignoring the rest of her shackles. Seems she just wanted to be able to talk.

"Please, they took her before you arrived."

"Lutha, calm down. They took your sister days ago." The first prisoner, Balka, tries to wrap her arms around the cheetah-spotted K'tharn's shoulders.

But she's rebuffed as the distraught sister turns her fists on her, violently screaming her denial. Still, she allows herself to be led away, still partially shackled. She sobs quietly to herself as Roberts shakes his head. "It's never easy to lose family."

"Maybe we can save her," I opine quietly.

"If we're lucky, perhaps. Though I fear Ivicka has finished with her by now."

Still, I take the time to approach the distraught K'tharn, getting her description from her. Unsurprisingly, the missing K'tharn shares her sister's spotted pattern though she also has a tattooed ring on her shoulder. Lutha, who will always hold a place in my heart as cheetah-spots, the original, also shares things her sister used to like. None of these details are going to help me locate her missing sister but telling me seems to make her feel better.

Which is good, since I'm not certain I'll see her sister unless she's already been turned into a Fallen.

And speaking of Fallen, we still have three Awakened Fallen prisoners to question.

A fact Beth appreciates now that we're taking the time to 'upgrade' before assaulting Ivicka's stronghold. She and Roberts fly off to pump them for information while Tipan continues releasing the prisoners, also getting information in the process. The only tidbit that catches my attention is the fact that none of them know about the world's impending doom. Guess the update wasn't world-wide like I thought.

Even while watching over Tipan, I create a temporary underground bunker. We considered evacuating everyone but decided there are too many to get everything sorted in a reasonable timeframe.

The bunker isn't my best work. The chandelier is a solid piece, not even able to rotate. But it'll keep them hidden and sheltered. At Smoulder's insistence, we include what's becoming her trademark bunny symbol at the entrance.

A couple of the prisoners stop to say a few words of thanks to the bunny sculpture before investigating further inside.

Wait. Are Smoulder and I starting a religion? Smoulder reminds me it's only natural for others to want to emulate her hotness.

Chuckling quietly at Smoulder, I make my way outside to where Rufka is nestled in one of the nearby trees keeping watch. I watch her kick her toned leg, the carefree motion contrasting with the pensive frown on her face. Every few seconds, her gaze flicks to where her mum is resting on an earthen bed Tipan made for her.

Right. Am I a jerk for being able to laugh at a time like this? Or is now the perfect time to play a prank on Rufka? Yeah, she definitely needs a distraction.

Before I can think of anything though, Smoulder preempts me by hopping her way up to Rufka. She almost slips on the second to last branch, but Rufka notices her ascent and subsequent slip, extending her bow to stop Smoulder's fall. Smoulder thanks her by giving her a gentle headbutt then staring up at her, her tail waving gently behind her.

Rufka lets out a small chuckle then starts giving Smoulder head-scritches. Seeing her smile, I just stand and watch them for a few seconds. Then instead of disturbing them, I check if Tipan needs assistance. I find her just in time to see her unshackling the last of the prisoners.

Huh. I guess they're technically not prisoners anymore.

Tipan suggests we dole out some food to the ex-prisoners which turns out to be well received. While a couple of them had storage tattoos, and some small amount of food stored away, most of them were divested of their storage items. Or just didn't keep much food in their inventory. Turns out, food is readily available throughout the Aetherium. Most people only keep a couple of snacks in their inventory if anything.

Point is, they weren't fed while being held, so there's a lot of hungry K'tharn who aren't used to being hungry. Once they're fed, I talk to Belka, the ex-prisoner who partially freed herself. She readily agrees to serve as our anchor point.

By the time we've finished handing out all the food, Beth and Roberts have returned.

We gather in the special teleport room I made in the bunker. Because if I'm going to make a bunker, of course there's going to be a room set aside for teleportation. It's got several rings set into the floor, clearly delineating the safety zone.

Before we teleport, I run through everything three times before I'm sure no one's going to be leaving anything behind.

This time when we arrive at Nexus point 392, my stomach does a little flip-flop as I reassure myself everyone made it through okay.

We file into Raz's only a couple hours after leaving. Technically, it was a victory. But with Genitha being carried in Rufka's arms and the impending countdown to the end of Akilo…

Well, it certainly puts a damper on our enthusiasm. Returning to find Raz's packed full of strange beings doesn't help much either, as we have to force our way to our table. Rose and Demo aren't at the table, off in the garden according to my IFF.

We earn more than one sideways glance as we sit down. One particularly large avian creature with spines rising through his feathers looks like they want to challenge us, but their eyes go glassy. Then they sit down with an audible thud.

Huh, weird.

We have a brief conversation with Raz where he supplies us with an absolutely massive amount of food. If we're going to be investing three hundred points over the course of a day, our bodies are going to need fuel. And he suggests we spend an extra period inside ensuring there are no ill effects. It's unusual for any user to have so many points to spend at once.

We don't commit to it, but he manages to get us to admit to giving it some thought. The real question is whether we should take Genitha inside. Roberts doesn't want to leave her unattended, but we don't know if taking her inside will hurt her condition.

Rufka decides that Genitha should come with us, overruling Beth and Roberts discussion.

We place Genitha's hands in position then discover the entire discussion was moot. She can't accept the prompt while unconscious. It's strange watching Raz spirit her away on an invisible platform through the crowded room without drawing a glance. Rufka grumbles beside me until they vanish up the stairs.

Raz also informs us that he'll see what sort of equipment he can procure, since we're all going to have several available slots when we come out. He does have good news on the Demo front. The System granted Raz access to an item to restore his leg. And with Demo's share of the loot, he'll be able to afford it no problem. That said, we give Demo's share over to Raz. He's our System assigned representative. If he's going to go bad on us, it's probably best we find out now.

I'm sure it'll be fine.

With every matter other than whether we should give any of Josh's share to Rose addressed, we place our hands on the table.

Then we're inside.

We spend an hour talking about the battle, what went wrong, how we can improve, that sort of thing. I try to listen, but I'm more focused on how I'm going to spend my shards. Maxing out my Intellect and Spirit are obvious. And keeping Resolve and Perception high enough I don't experience the mental imbalance again.

I'm also going to bring all my physical attributes to at least thirty.

All that will cost me one-hundred and fifty-two shards.

Which leaves me with… well, let's round off to an even two-hundred to spend on attributes. That'll still leave me with plenty of shards to use for other abilities.

I want to invest some of the fortune into Smoulder, but I know I should concentrate on my own attributes.

Still, setting sixty points aside for Smoulder will give her excellent gains without hurting too much. Besides, it's not like I really need more Strength and Constitution. Which will still leave me with a hundred and forty points.

With that in mind, I decide to increase Endurance and Agility to sixty each. Though I'm tempted to push Agility further. Ivicka's ability to react is frankly terrifying. And the negative effects of imbalance are supposed to be less for physical attributes…

Okay, so let's see then. Almost forgot about the point I put into each attribute earlier. Guess I've got an extra eight points.

I could give Smoulder more points or… I could further increase Perception and Resolve… Or…

Damn, I want to cap Agility. But we're not going to have enough time for my Agility to increase to sixty as is. Unless we stay here for a double session like Raz suggested. Even then I'd only be able to increase it by seventy-two...

So… by seventy-two it is then. Which with the point from earlier would leave it at ninety-four. I think that'll do it.

And the rest of my points can go into Perception and Resolve, leaving them at a total of ninety each.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-2

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 0 > 30

Constitution: 15 > 30

Agility: 21 > 94

Endurance: 8 > 60

Intellect: 100 > 125

Spirit: 100 > 125

Perception: 50 > 90

Resolve: 50 > 90

Storage: 4.44 > 7.44 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 2/3 > 2/6

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 0

Progression Marks: 0

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 151/151 > 151/391, Edge: [9.5] > [24.6], Regen: (80/day) > (260/day)

Stamina

Pool: 144/144 > 144/424, Edge: [10.6] > [34.8], Regen: (80/day) > (328/day)

Mana

Pool: 683/683 > 683/984, Edge: [60.3] > [78.7], Regen: (572/day) > (938/day)

Focus

Pool: 602/602 > 602/955, Edge: [44.2] > [67.4], Regen: (445/day) > (845/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 178/190 > 178/278, Edge: [15.6] > [21.4], Regen: (148/hour) > (250/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 0/3

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Wish I could peruse Raz's armours while we're locked in here.

The table where we're discussing is being taken over by food as the hunger kicks in for everyone. It doesn't take long before Beth has the recordings playing again.

It's strange looking at the compound from before our assault. It seemed so formidable, but the only real challenge was Traxla. Who stopped fighting back after Genitha was taken down.

Wait… did she stop when Genitha went down. Or when I injured Ivicka?

No one can confirm or deny it either way.

Without magic, we spend most of our time trying to relax or adjusting to our physical attributes as they change.

Once my Agility reaches thirty, I'm able to do a cartwheel for the first time in my life. Rufka asserts it was probably a lack of prior effort on my part rather than my attributes improving. Which leads to an impromptu game of tag. Which Smoulder wins.

Despite needing to investigate Ivicka's Sanctum, and this Minister Yelthen, we decide to spend the time to let our attributes finish increasing in a second session. But we're taking a break to see what Raz might have found and to check on Genitha.

Rufka and I are cuddling on a table in the command room when everyone starts gathering. Another day and a half together locked away in what's turned out to be a relatively small space has truly emphasized the importance of unlocking our personal spaces. The bedrooms are sufficient for privacy, but only barely. Plus, the beds are uncomfortable.

Returning to Raz's, we find Rose waiting for us outside, a giant grin on his face.

"So, I heard you defeated Ivicka. Congrats!" Rose says holding his paw out towards me.

I've had some time to process, but the idea of high-fiving him after slicing Ivicka in half doesn't appeal to me. Besides... "We're not actually certain she's dead. No quest update."

"Wait. You're not sure we've won? Then why're you back?"

Oh em gee, I so do not want to handle this.

How do I tell Rose we got a massive haul of loot that we're not ready to share because he might not be the real Josh?

Yeah, this sucks.

I'm starting to sweat when Roberts steps forwards, "Hey, Rose. You've watched Star Trek, correct?"

"Yeah. I love TNG. Kirk was tons of fun too. Don't get me started on Enterprise though."

"Right. Anyway. Remember when Riker was cloned by the teleporter? Which one was the real Riker?"

"Both, technically. That was a tough episode can you imagine…"

"Indeed. That's why you're only getting half of Josh's share. Until we figure out if there are two of you, that is."

Rose stares at Roberts for a second before asking, "Wait? Seriously?”

There’s a pause as he looks at each of us before adding.

“I get loot?"

3.35 Humble Abode

6:53 pm, local time. (July 15, 2023, 11:53 pm.)

I can't help but laugh at Rose's sputtering response when Roberts informs him that, "Yes. I'm quite certain a hundred and seventy is only half of Josh's share. I'd be willing to keep some if it would make you feel better."

Rose's response of, "What?! No! I was just surprised," doesn't allow me to recover from my laughter. A better person wouldn't be laughing right now. For the first time in a long time, I'm glad I'm not a better person, cause Rufka's laughing quietly beside me.

Now that we're out, one of the first things we need to check is whether there have been any changes with Genitha. Especially now that Roberts has had a chance to recover his resources and reflect on her condition.

I tag along for moral support, ready to be the shoulder to cry on or hand to hold. But Rufka doesn't need anything like that this time. She's pensive, but not shaken as before.

Roberts is able to confirm Genitha is stable. He's still not certain exactly what's wrong with her but he thinks the rifle caused a disruption in her being. Or her connection to her System. Whatever it is, she's getting better. Based on her current rate of recovery, he infers that she should wake in a few days. He admits he's mostly relying on what Reprieve's telling him, but Rufka is adamant with her thanks.

She even gives him a quick hug. Then Rufka sits down, regaling her unconscious mum with tales of our adventures so far. I'm pretty sure she's exaggerating, but it's not like Genitha can call her on it. I envy Rufka in that moment.

At least she knows her mum will wake up.

Now that we're done, we head for the Change Room to unlock our personal rooms. I mean, we've got keys, we might as well use them. Especially if we're going to spend another day and a half in there.

As soon as I unlock my personal room, the mirror frame warps and expands while its reflective finish turns to an opaque grey. A small pop that startles Smoulder precedes a simple push handle appearing.

"Citizen Private Room Unlocked. Note, unauthorized creatures cannot access a Private Room."

"Would you like to set this room as your default Return and Restoration point?"

Delaying the prompt for my spawn point, I step through the door. My new room is remarkably bland. The walls are that eggshell colour that's chosen to make a room as inoffensive as possible. There's a set of very boxy furniture in one corner. The chair, bed and even desk look uncomfortable to use. But at least the room's spacious. And there are options to change… well everything.

"Private room: Citizen Pandora.

- Width: 12 metres. Increase by 1 metre for 1 iron rank Integration point, up to 144 metres.

- Length: 12 metres. Increase by 1 metre for 1 iron rank Integration point, up to 144 metres.

- Height: 3 metres. Increase by 1 metre for 1 iron rank Integration point, up to 144 metres.

- Theme: Default. Unlock additional themes through Achievements or by purchasing them at approved System vendors.

I can't even picture a room that size. At first, I wonder what I'd even do with that much space but then I take a quick glance at the menu. There are options for purchasing individual pieces of furniture, placing walls and all sorts of other minor customizations. Even adding partial floors.

Smoulder points out just how large I could make the obstacle course in here.

But that can all be explored once we're inside the CMCC, so I force myself to leave.

But I'm stopped by a notification just before I step back into the change room.

"Would you like to set Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository as your default exit point? This can be changed at any time from within your Private Room. Note, the default exit can only be set to unlocked Return points. Entering your Private Room from Constrained areas will lock the exit to those locations. It will also enact any constraints imposed on the area within the room."

Not too surprising, but it looks like I can exit to any of my unlocked locations? Now I want to spend a month travelling around just to unlock more. Okay, not actually. But the ability to exit anywhere is cool. Even if it is functionally the same as casting Return or using Raz's place. It's enough to convince me to set the room as my default Return and Restoration point.

When I return to the change room, I look longingly at the bath but march out to join the others. Only to discover I'm the first one out. I can't tell where the others are with IFF when they're inside their rooms.

Interesting.

Waiting for the others at the table, they all join me in less than five minutes.

Raz seems pretty upset with most of the items he's found. But he presents several of them to us anyways, grumbling about mass-produced dreck. Since none of them cost more than two essence, we buy the lot for a total of twenty.

I find his grumbling amusing. Because even though he's complaining, he only had half an hour. And he even managed to track down a cure for Demo's leg.

His solution is some sort of machine that's going to literally reweave his leg. Unfortunately, it's a process that requires drawing on ambient mana to restore it properly. Which means he's going to be stuck staying behind again. I'm beginning to think Herv, our innkeeper, was right. We really should’ve just cut it off then regrown it. Definitely would’ve been faster.

After bidding Demo luck, it's straight back in the CMCC.

Once inside, the first thing we do is sort through the gear.

Raz included several belts and pairs of boots all with the same basic stats.

The boots aren't even as good as my current boots, but they give the others an even two Edge for both Stamina and Health and only cost one point to bond.

The belts are similar, but instead, give two Edge to Mana and Focus.

There is one item that Raz was rather proud to include. A stylized firing stock which can be combined with a user's resource pool to create custom ranged weapons. It costs a shocking ten Integration points to bond, but it allows one weapon to be created without any Edge cost and reduces the cost of all attacks made with any such weapon by thirty percent.

I swear I can see Beth drooling as she reads the description.

No one tries to talk her out of it.

There are two other items.

One is a necklace of brown wooden beads. It makes a pleasant 'clacking' noise as Rose hoists it up for everyone to see.

"Astra's Prayer Beads: These beads can be called upon to cast one of the inscribed spells. Each spell corresponds to one of the three inscribed beads. After being cast, each bead must recharge for thirty-six days before it is ready to be used again.

Bonuses once bonded: Ability to cast a single copper rank spell. Takes three seconds to cast. Spell selection: Heal. Sanctuary. Flare.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: three iron rank Integration points."

Huh. Doesn't seem that impressive.

Tipan's gasp, causes me to reread the description. Is it the fact it's a copper rank spell?

"Those are rare spells. If I were able to copy them…" Tipan is already pulling the beads out of Rose's hand, caressing three beads in the centre. One of which has a glowing red rune that Smoulder is fascinated with. Well, I'm voting Tipan gets these. Or maybe we can share them? I'll definitely want to study them with her.

The last object Raz gave us isn't technically wearable equipment. It's a handkerchief. Which, I suppose you could wear like a mask.

"Razalin's Old Bandana: While worn, this Bandana prevents accurate results when scanned by another user.

Bonuses while worn: Hidden: Displays blank or altered Status when scanned. Can only lower apparent strength. Does not block scans conducted by Citizens, Builders or Creators.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: Item not bondable."

Oh, I guess it's a bandana, not a handkerchief.

Rufka plucks the bandana off the table, tugging the simple plaid fabric until it's smooth. "This would’ve been useful a week ago."

I snatch the bandana from her hands, waving it about. "I guess you should have asked Raz for help. Oh well. Now that you don't need it…"

Rufka attempts to grab it back, but I anticipate her movements, rolling out of reach. This improved Agility thing is soooo amazing.

It's like permanent haste but without costing any Facet.

Rufka and I spend a few minutes running around the command room before she eventually tackles me, though by then I've returned the bandana to the pile in the middle of the room. All she's achieved is the satisfaction of tracking down the thief.

Considering she keeps me pinned in place while strategically tickling me, I’m starting to suspect she never even wanted the bandana.

Eventually, we make our way back to the pile of equipment. I don the belt, while Rufka experiments with the boots, eventually deciding against them. You can unbind items, destroying them in the process. But that's not what she's worried about. She just doesn't like having them on her feet. "Too bulky. Guess I'm just spoiled by mum's tattoos."

After that, we spend a couple of hours in my private room as I customize it. The first thing to go is the eggshell. The only options currently available are basic colours, but I'm able to find a nice earthen brown that's not bad. I notice that some of the options include vistas similar to the ones projected in the command centre. But those require achievements or silver rank Integration points, neither of which are in reach at the moment.

Once I've finished choosing a new bed, I ask Rufka if she wants to customize her room.

"Nah. With what you've said, it'd be too frustrating. I'll wait."

With mana restricted here, I'm not able to form an obstacle course for Smoulder. But I do create partitions allowing me to section off the room. It's only after I'm finished that I realize the starting size is bigger than our apartment back on earth. It felt bigger, but I'd assumed it was similar to how an empty room feels bigger than one that's full.

When we gather again, I find out Beth actually managed to convert most of her room into an obstacle course using the available furniture. She insists everyone needs to use the course several times to help adjust to our attribute changes.

Personally, I have a blast, but I think it's wasted effort since we're able to fly everywhere.

Until I watch Roberts move through the course like flowing water. At this point, his Agility can't be more than thirty points higher than mine. But that's not how he moves.

As if to prove Roberts isn't the only one who can move like that, Rufka follows him through the course. Her movements aren't quite as fluid, but she's slightly faster.

"What the heck," I complain as she does a spinning dive before grabbing the corner of a heavy wardrobe, completely negating the set of jumbled rugs at the last corner.

Tipan shrugs next to me. "Probably has some interesting movement Skills."

Right. Skills for moving. Checking, I confirm my running has increased by a point. Guess I'll be at this for a bit still.

Even as I'm prepping for my next turn, Rufka bids me goodbye, saying she's as good as it gets.

I'd be more upset if it wasn't true.

After my workout, I realize my room is missing something very important. A shower. It's totally worth the single iron-rank point to add one to my room.

When we prepare to leave, I'm practically jumping in anticipation, though I'm unable to explain why until we return to Raz's. The second we're out, I can feel my Mana flowing smoothly again. There's a moment where I almost start casting spells right inside Raz's.

Instead of waiting for the others, I hurry to the door, brushing past a startled patron that resembles a moose without antlers. Guess that would just be a female moose.

The second I'm outside, I float into the air, allowing myself to revel in the flowing Mana as I send bolts of lightning and a chilling blast of frigid air into the sky.

Okay, I appear to have a bit of a problem.

Clearly, I can't spend too much time in the dilation chamber.

After spending another few minutes reacclimatizing myself to a proper amount of atmospheric Mana, I prepare to head back in to join the others only to discover them waiting for me outside.

No sign of Genitha, but then I didn't expect a miraculous recovery.

I set a single foot down, going for a poised ballerina pose I never could’ve pulled off back home, everyone gathering around me.

No one except Rose raises an eyebrow or makes a comment, his low chuckle is good to hear though.

Damnit, this is why we need to bring Josh, I mean, Rose with us. But Beth still doesn't feel comfortable having him along. Despite the fact, we just spent a day and a half locked inside the time dilation command centre and she spent more time with him than anyone else.

Maybe she really is concerned about him.

Either way. He's standing at the door leading into Raz's. I know he's way outside the zone, but I still move another half-step back.

The glowing rings rise into place as I check everyone's position again.

I'm finally confident in everyone's position when Rose calls out "Keep your arms and legs within the vehicle, it's time for takeoff!"

"Not funny, Rose!" I yell at him as we teleport to the prisoners.

Balka is expecting us, but still jumps when we appear. We only give her a few minutes, plus some additional supplies we picked up from Raz before we start flying towards Ivicka's sanctum.

Hopefully, she won't have prepared much. If she's there. I'm really hoping she stays dead, but I've never been that kind of lucky.

Our flight is peaceful, no one wanting to break the silence. It lasts until we approach the remains of the compound. They're exactly as we left them. Not so much as a stone has shifted, abandoned bandoleers and other equipment strewn about. Collecting and sorting through all the Fallen equipment would take too long to tackle right now. Maybe we can let the prisoners go through it after we're done.

We continue flying over, directly to the mountain that houses Ivicka's sanctum.

The entrance is a yawning mouth shaped in Vaus's image, the snarling feline face more feral than the smooth features of the K'tharn. There's an ominous orange glow emanating from guttering flames in the otherwise empty eye sockets. It's so lifelike that we maintain a constant vigil as we approach, ready for it to spring into action.

However, it doesn't react. Even as we near the entrance, there are no signs of activity from within. The more than hundred-metre cliff leading to the entrance probably serves as enough of a deterrent. A wall would be kind of pointless.

The yawning opening must be at least twenty metres across. Easy access for the dragons, I'm guessing. We don't just step inside the cave. Once more, Beth's going to serve as a scout while I remain with the team, ready to provide back-up.

The inside of the cave is smooth rock, no stalactites or stalagmites in sight. Whether they’ve been sheared off or removed with earth manipulation, the passage is smooth and featureless. Beth makes it all of fifty metres before coming to a halt.

The smooth entrance comes to an end, opening up into a large interior space. There are several empty pens which I can only imagine are where the dragons resided. The fresh gouged stone certainly reminds me of Asterix's tracks back outside the church.

Beth continues forward past the empty pens into a smaller hall in the back. There are doors set into either side. She gently opens the first one on the left.

The room is full of pods from Folthka's compound. But they're all empty.

Beth continues her way forward, finding nothing but empty room after empty room.

Finally, she arrives at the end of the hall which ends in a pair of beautiful wooden doors. There are reliefs of Astra and Vaus fighting against an unending horde of horrors etched into the door. Amongst their allies, I'm able to make out Uthica and her aunt Jethico. In fact, almost every warrior I saw Uthica fighting with is represented on the K'tharn side of the battlefield. With one notable exception. There's no sign of Uthica's father, Pern.

I suppose his exclusion could be attributed to the fact he spent his time teaching, rather than fighting, but I suspect that's not it.

Beth doesn't linger at the door, pushing through into the room beyond. A grand entrance foyer greets her, as if she stepped foot inside a mansion. There are doors leading off either side, with broad curved stairways flanking both sides of the room.

Beth methodically searches every room on the ground floor, including an impressive kitchen where a meal sits half-prepared and abandoned. There are different luxuries in each room, including an entire auditorium full of what appeared to be stuffed trophies, but Beth still hasn't encountered a single living, or Fallen, creature.

She's starting down the left hallway on the second floor when a rasping cough sounds out from the end of the hall behind her. Quickly switching focus, Beth starts towards the sound. "You heard that too, right kid?"

"Yeah. Some sort of cough," I confirm. Then I tell the others, "Everyone, get ready. Beth might need us any second."

Receiving nods of assent, I reaffirm our ready status to Beth who's waiting outside of the door.

With a gentle kick, she unlatches the door, causing it to swing inwards.

The room is as outrageously furnished as the rest of the inner Sanctum. There's even a four-post bed dominating the centre. The curtains are drawn back, so Beth is easily able to make out the bed's lone occupant.

Ivicka is laying there, nearly as damaged as the moment I teleported away. Her arm and eyes aren't just missing, the wounds are still open, a thin black film the only thing keeping her together.

"Oh perfect. I was afraid… hurgh… afraid you weren't going to come." Ivicka doesn't turn in Beth's direction but one of her remaining arms does wave her closer. "That would’ve been a shame after all the… blurg... effort he put into keeping me alive to act as a messenger."

"Huh. Not sure who did this to you, but I feel like I should thank them." Beth prods the black film with an incense holder taken from the nearby nightstand, eliciting a pained growl from Ivicka.

When Ivicka recovers, she wheezes out a weak laugh, "Ha. If you can find him. He'll be hiding, just like a pu'shaha."

"Was he the summoner? The one who corrupted the Soulstones?"

"No. He never does anything himself. Just gives others the tools. Had me fooled. Never would’ve worked with him if I'd known what he was."

"What, a Reaper?"

"No… hurk... " Ivicka gasps before devolving into a coughing fit. When she recovers, she adds, "A male."

Well...

At least she's staying true to form.

3.36 Message in Hand

9:41 pm, local time. (July 16, 2023, 2:41 am.)

There's a moment of silence before Ivicka descends into another coughing fit, though I'm pretty sure there's some chuckling in there too.

Beth prods Ivicka's prone form with the top of her rifle. "Hmm. I'm not sure if I should be asking her more questions or if I should end her now."

Ivicka stares at Beth, her cough subsiding. "Still… have to give you… the message…"

"Why? It's clear you don't want to."

Ivicka's smile is equal parts satisfied grin and pained grimace. "Not telling."

Beth ignores Ivicka's comment about the message for several seconds as she pokes her again. I'm not sure, but I think she's making sure Ivicka's actually stuck there. "What about the soul stones? And summoned Fallen? How many are there?"

With only the occasional cough interrupting, Beth continues interrogating Ivicka. Ivicka's surprisingly forthcoming, if hard to immediately understand at times. Though with the details she's sharing, I can't help but feel she's too forthcoming, explaining exactly how she's been trying to fix the Aetherium. Most of Ivicka's information is in the form of bragging. Those she'd fooled or been smart enough to join Ivicka in her takeover.

It's clear she's proud of the people she's killed, claiming they were just making the Aetherium weak. Finding a way to use them afterwards was only icing on the cake. Not that she used that phrase.

It's hard to listen to. Yet I not only listen, I also relay everything she says to the others. Though I leave out the grisly details.

For all her disjointed rambling, Ivicka avoids mentioning whoever this 'him' is, always talking about the things she's done. Partway through, the System updates the Anti-corruption Quest.

“Quest updated - Purge Corruption. Requirements: Summoner found 1/1, Summoners neutralized 0/1, Research destroyed 0/1. Rewards: 80 iron rank Integration points, 4 Progression Marks. Time: unlimited."

Even with the update, Ivicka's giving Beth all sorts of info on who not to trust in the Aetherium, so Beth doesn't end her immediately. Though I see her raise her rifle, as though she's tempted.

Of special interest is her mention of Minister Yelthen. The minister of defence that the prisoner Balka mentioned. She's been one of Ivicka's closest allies since the start. She didn't question where the Fallen came from, but happily made use of them. It sounds like Ivicka never informed her of the process.

And regarding the process itself, Ivicka mentions less than two percent became awakened Fallen. Obviously, they're much more capable since they retain not just their former memories but also their skills and abilities from when they were alive.

However, as we discovered, they're also capable of disagreeing with her. She spends nearly a minute complaining about how much work it was to get Traxla to comply. Apparently, her Fallen can't disobey orders, but Traxla was adroit at interpreting Ivicka's orders in ways that tended to subvert them to the point of uselessness.

She even managed to get Ivicka killed once.

That particular bit sends Ivicka into a hacking fit that continues for nearly a minute after she screams about it. Traxla's aversions explain a lot about why she held back so much when we were trying to save Genitha.

At this point, Ivicka's rambling has grown mostly incoherent but Beth keeps her going, asking weirdly specific questions about the summoning process.

Pretty sure we don't need to know this much about how the Fallen are summoned to shut everything down. Which I mention to Beth over chat. Beth informs me she's trying to catch Ivicka in a lie. And getting her to keep talking is the best way to do so.

Beth's also poking around Ivicka's room, warily watching her 'supposedly' invalid form.

She doesn't find anything dangerous, but Ivicka does have a rather impressive collection of printed books ranging across a number of topics. I can't help but notice a dark blue one labelled 'Reign of Uthica' that shows obvious signs of perusal. It's funny, even with the ability to read directly from the System interface, written text is surprisingly common.

I suppose physical books do have a certain weight to them, a sense of being the interface can't match. Wonder if they're worth much? I never did find out if there was a market for those books from the silver bullet.

Even as I'm pondering, the books disappear into Beth's inventory. Guess I'm not the only one thinking they might be worth something.

Ivicka doesn't seem to notice, ranting about how unfair it is she's been stopped when she was 'this close' to setting the Aetherium "back on course."

Ivicka is starting to repeat her complaints when Beth prompts her, "So, you said you had a message for me?"

"For whichever one of you monsters showed up, yes."

"I'm sorry, we're monsters?" Beth can't help but chuckle.

Ivicka snorts, but it turns into a wheezing cough. Spitting a disgusting lob of black phlegm towards Beth, Ivicka continues, "He said you'd understand, 'Give them the finger'."

Beth and I are both surprised when instead of flipping her off, Ivicka uncurls her hand to reveal the severed tip of a finger. I can't help but notice it's not a K'tharn finger. It's too smooth. Like, human smooth.

I can't help but analyze it, yet the only thing the System tells me through Beth is that it's a severed finger. Immediately, Beth messages me.

"Kid, you got anything?"

"Not yet. Seems like a severed finger. Hold on."

If I can extend attachments that let me teleport through others, surely I can copy the in-depth scanning method, right?

Reaching out, I am able to extend several tendrils towards the finger. The… severed… finger…

Why am I doing this again?

Right, could be a clue to preventing Akilo from being obliterated.

Kind of important.

"Object analyzed: Reaper Paragon Finger."

"The finger of a Reaper Paragon."

"Update: Biological signature of Reaper Paragon acquired. Initiating Scan for any matching Reaper biosignatures."

Huh, are we going to get something that leads us straight to the mysterious bad guy? But why would he leave his finger for us on purpose then?

Even as I'm musing, a golden wave of light sweeps across the room.

"What the-" Beth starts speaking, but she cuts out at the same moment as a new notification forces its way into my vision.

"Target found. Location: System MWVAE-22XXX at the outer rim of the accretion disc."

I'm sorry. Accretion disc?

"Quest updated: Kill the Bastard. Prove that the Reaper Paragon has fled System MWVAE-22XXX 1/1 as per standard Reaper Paragon observed behaviours. Rewards: 1 iron rank Integration point. Cancellation of Star System Purge.

Permanent Bonus Objective Added: Tools of the Enemy. Rewards for relinquished Reaper Genitech remain in effect."

I can't stop myself from laughing. If I'm understanding correctly, the System knew he'd run away. No wonder the quest was only worth a single point.

While I'm laughing, Beth is sighing in relief.

Which Ivicka seems to notice. Or maybe it was the golden wave of light. "Wh… Coff… What?"

Either way, I can feel the smirk on Beth's face as she responds, "Not telling."

Beth's expression and my laughter falter when the black film covering Ivicka's side starts bubbling.

Then the bubbles start popping. The little black explosions don't seem threatening until I notice that everything they land on starts melting. Then they start bubbling again. They're spreading!

Beth doesn't stand around waiting, booking it straight for the door. But when she reaches the entrance, she finds a layer of the same black film blocking the hall. In the time it takes us to inspect the new film, I can hear hundreds of popping bubbles exploding throughout the room behind her.

"I'm going in," I warn the others, muting my connection to Beth for just a second. If she can't get herself out then-

A sharp pain explodes in my head, interrupting my thoughts.

As my sight returns, I realize I'm looking at my own knees. The connection to Beth is gone. "Beth!" I choke out, turning towards the cave entrance.

Roberts grabs my shoulder. "Alexis, what happened?"

"Beth finished the qu-" Tipan exclaims, but is interrupted by a loud rumble that echos from within Ivicka's Sanctum.

Roberts grasp loosens as he gets that far-off look in his eyes.

Checking my own notifications, I don't see Beth's name on my party screen.

It takes a second to remember I'm not in her party. Her name being absent from my list is normal. So, I read the notification.

"Quest Completed: Purge Corruption. Rewards: 80 iron rank Integration points, 4 Progression Marks."

"Citizen Anti-Corruption Systems Running Final Check. Expected time until deactivation. Twelve minutes."

But it's just a quest update. It doesn't tell me anything about Beth.

"Beth?" I ask Roberts, whose forehead is creased.

"Her name just went grey and there's a countdown next to it."

"So, then she's…" I can't bring myself to say it. Even if we're able to come back, it feels… wrong.

"We should check. Just in case," Roberts suggests, flying slightly closer to the cave entrance.

"Right."

We fly in together but we only make it to the open area with the pens before we come across a pile of collapsed stone. The passage that led towards Ivicka's chambers has completely imploded.

Working together, me and Tipan attempt to recreate the passage, yet the stone is surprisingly challenging to work with. Instead of simply shaping a tunnel through, we're forced to excavate materials while placing steel support struts to reinforce the tunnel. For a moment I wonder if this is how real miners feel.

But my thoughts quickly refocus on our work.

It takes us five long minutes to reach the room where Beth found Ivicka. It takes another two to find a sign of Beth.

The bottom of her boot is only barely visible under a particularly large stone. I don't have much hope of finding her intact, but still we dig.

She's not where I last saw her, near the entrance. Instead, she's practically on top of where Ivicka used to be. Used to be, because as we pull the rubble away we find nothing but a smooth spherical gap under the rubble. As we shift the last large stone, her boot is knocked free, sliding to the bottom of the sphere, the black leather surprisingly untarnished by blood.

When we wave Roberts in, he stares at the leg for a few seconds. "I truly hope the Restoration ability works. There's nothing I can do with just her leg."

Nodding, we continue searching. The entire time, I can practically feel her leg pressing against my thoughts. It's all I can do not to look at it instead of trying to find another trace of Beth.

Which is what it is. Just a leg, Alexis.

Beth will be fine.

As I repeat my mantra, we continue to scour the room. Luckily, there are no other 'pieces'. But everything Ivicka had in the room seems to have been crushed or burned away.

Not that any of us are in the mood to scrounge for loot.

Once we've confirmed there's no chance of finding her, we gather around Beth's leg.

"Should we… bring it back for her?" Rufka asks, nudging the boot gently with the tip of her bow.

Tipan nods, levitating the boot up while holding the foot in place with a stone vice. "I'm certain she'll appreciate it."

The sucking 'glorp' when the foot comes free makes my stomach lurch. Thankfully, I don't have to handle it. Tipan wraps Beth's foot in a layer of stone then both disappear into her inventory.

We remain quiet, everyone gathering around me as I prepare to teleport directly to Raz's. We discussed sorting out the prisoners first, but we're all anxious to see Beth as soon as she's 'Restored'.

There are only four minutes left to wait when we make our way into Raz's. Roberts halts in the doorway, causing me to nearly bump into him. Glancing over his shoulder, I discover what's caused him to halt.

Sitting at the table, enthusiastically bantering with each other, are Josh and Rose. I can't hear anything they're saying, the special System aura around the table muting their volume, but Rose's sweeping gestures clearly convey his excitement.

"Well. At least we know 'Restoration' works," Roberts notes before stepping forward to greet Josh with a slap on the back.

"Wha… Roberts! Good to see you! And Lex. Welcome back!" Josh practically trips over himself in his rush to get out of his chair. He doesn't have his robe. Instead, he's wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. It's so normal, it's utterly wrong.

After giving Josh a quick hug, I'm about to comment on his and Rose's conversation when he asks, "So, where's Beth?"

"She's…" my throat chokes closed before I can finish.

"Going through Restoration. Just like you did," Rufka finishes for me a few seconds later.

"Yeah. That."

"Oh. Shit. Sorry. But hey, she'll be fine. Better than fine," Josh reassures us.

"It really is good to see you're okay. And that you're getting along with Rose," Roberts remarks while directing Josh back into his chair.

"Oh yeah. I mean, who else am I going to talk about Corrie with."

"Corrie?" I can't help but ask. Was that the name of Josh's old girlfriend?

"Just a show I, uhh, we used to watch before we were brought here," Rose interjects. It's funny. Rose almost seems embarrassed but Josh is just excited. "Sorry Beth didn't make it. But you guys were successful. He got the update."

"Yeah. And check this out," Josh gushes, growing a thorn and rosepetal replica of the Eiffel tower over his hand. The moment the last thorn weaves itself into place, he passes it to Rose. Rose waves his hand over the replica, causing it to grow to twice its previous size.

"You both have powers. So cool." Glad to see at least one thing worked out. Not that I understand how.

"Yeah. I thought they were gone. But whatever you did… I'm not certain, but I think I'm a copy." Josh doesn't seem as upset about this possibility as I'd be. In fact, he seems completely unconcerned.

We continue to check with Josh on his condition, but he seems surprisingly relaxed as Roberts and I each do a thorough scan. The System is convinced that he's Citizen Rose, but my analysis does reveal a minor detail which explains why Josh thinks he's the copy. His name isn't just Citizen Rose. When I focus on it, his name comes up with an attached time-stamp labelled 07-012, 13261, 22:13:05 GST.

Wow.

The fact the System has a way of handling this situation suggests it's not the first time it's happened. Glancing at Rose, I amend that. I doubt the System's had to deal with a pu'shaha gaining a core from one of its Citizens before.

After giving Josh a clean bill of health, we all settle at the table. Rose informs us that Demo's in his room, letting the device repair his leg. There's a nervous energy around the table as we wait for the timer on Beth's Restoration to count down. When there's less than a minute left we all go silent, watching the door to the change room.

Then Roberts informs us the timer has hit zero. "And her status has reappeared in the party screen."

I'm not the only one who sighs in relief. Despite having Josh sitting at the table as proof that Restoration works, I was still worried. Especially after seeing what happened to Ivicka.

We wait for over a minute but there's still no sign of Beth coming out of the change room.

"Should we check on her?" I ask.

"Yeah. We totally should," Josh states. But he doesn't make a move towards the door.

Roberts tugs at his still scraggly beard. "Can we even get inside without her letting us in? I believe we need to remain patient. She'll either respond through chat or come out on her own."

As if she heard us, Beth steps out of the change room. Like Josh, she's wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. Is there a default replacement of non-Equipment gear?

Beth seems surprisingly uncomfortable as she makes her way over, regularly pausing to look over her shoulder while rubbing her arms vigorously.

"Beth, glad you're okay," I say, getting up to give her a hug before she's even reached us. This is followed by a round of similar sentiments from everyone at the table, except Josh who remains quiet.

"Thanks kid. Everyone," Beth gives us a half-smile that doesn't reach her eyes. She's avoiding looking directly at Josh who's standing at the head of the table, his posture tense.

Suddenly, I realize we shouldn't be here.

Grabbing Rufka's hand, I wave for everyone to follow. Rose is the only one who delays, looking between Beth and Josh, his ears twitching before joining us.

I'm heading straight for the garden when Raz descends the stairs, a series of jingling bells trailing behind him. "Oh good. You're back. Your friend Genitha has awoken."

"Mum!" Rufka calls out, charging up the stairs. She doesn't let go of my hand, so I find myself pulled along. Good thing I fly everywhere these days or I might’ve tripped over myself.

Then again, with my improved Agility, maybe I wouldn't have.

Rufka charges into her mum's room, nearly knocking me off the doorframe in her haste. Not that it would’ve hurt now that I've finally increased my Health attributes.

"Oh. Hey, kitten."

Rufka stops as quickly as she started, staring down at her mum, her jaw opening and closing but no sound issues forth. After a couple seconds, she shakes her head before kneeling down beside her mum and giving her a big hug. She doesn't let go of my hand, pulling me into the hug with her mum, which is a little awkward. When her mum starts whispering reassurances into Rufka's ear, I extract myself. I don't go far, mentioning I'll be waiting outside the door.

I'm not sure Rufka hears me, but her mum nods in my direction.

Roberts and Tipan are waiting for me when I step into the hall. I'm about to address them when one of the beetle-like patrons aggressively pushes me to the side before heading towards the pub. In fact, I think it's the same one who bumped into me before. Back before Rufka went to Aethire to find her mum when we were going to bed.

"Wow. Some outlanders are so rude," Tipan remarks at the beetle's back as it retreats down the stairs.

"A different culture, perhaps. They don't seem to be bothered when others bump into them," Roberts observes before asking, "How did she look?"

"She seems okay. I didn't scan her or anything though." Which I suddenly wish I had. Just to make sure she's okay.

Roberts steeples his fingers, tapping the peak against his nose for a second. "I'll give Rufka another minute then I'll check on her. I'm frankly surprised at how often my training has been useful here. Especially, considering I have magic capable of literally knitting together a life-threatening wound in seconds."

I can't help but give a nervous chuckle as we wait in otherwise comfortable silence. Just as Roberts is about to go in, Rufka emerges. She waves him in then leans her head on my shoulder.

"She's going to be fine. Apparently, she wasn't hurt bad enough to return home." There's a sense of disbelief in Rufka's voice.

"Well, that's good," I offer.

"Yep. Anyway. Let's go make sure Josh and Beth are okay. I don't know about you, but I could use a break. And then I can't wait to hit the change room."

Oh yeah.

We have levels to gain and points to spend.

3.37 Ring-a-ding!

10:40 pm, local time. (July 17, 2023, 3:40 am.) Time to unwind.

I feel both excited and guilty at the idea of spending my Progression Marks to level my class. If our final interaction with Ivicka hadn't cost Beth her Restoration, or even if I'd been the one to 'die', I'm certain I wouldn't feel guilty.

But it wasn't me.

Beth and Josh are still talking when we reach the pub, so we decide to sit at another table. Rose is staring, so I kick him gently, while asking if everyone wants to play a round of Astra's Stride.

"Actually, since they're still busy, I'm going to proceed with 'leveling up'," Roberts decides, going so far as to use air quotes before turning back towards the change rooms. As if Roberts deciding to go was a signal, we turn and follow him, making our way into the change room one at a time.

When Smoulder and I finally enter the room, she butts up against me. At first, I expect her to want me to build her an obstacle course. But instead, she directs me towards the bath. She doesn't get in, because she's already purified herself with fire. But she's insistent that I need to relax.

I don't fight her on it. Won't be the first time I've used the Nexus while luxuriating in the bath.

As the bath fills, I run my hand in circles, watching how the water trails behind it. Of course, I can't stop there. Soon I have arches of water twisting over the bath. Which are soon joined by complimentary arches of each of the other elements until I have a lotus of twisting elemental power floating next to the bath.

Creating the lotus is almost as relaxing as slipping into the tub itself. Almost.

Despite the calming effect of the water, I find myself creating churning whirlpools as I excitedly make my way to the class advancement option.

Despite my excitement, I pace myself, only spending one Progression Mark at a time.

"Your Class - Cataclysm Seed has progressed to Iron Rank - level 3."

- +1 Class Ability Point

- New Ability unlocked: Lingering Bonds

- Health and Stamina have increased: +2 pool, [+0.1 edge], (+1 regen/day).

- Mana and Focus have increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+6 regen/day).

- Facet has increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+3 regen/hour).

- Lingering Bonds: 0/2 Doubles/Triples status disability duration.

The first unlock is as unremarkable as last time, though the ability itself catches my attention. Too bad most of my opponents are either so strong they basically ignore any disabling conditions or they're too weak for it to matter.

I continue to unlock each level, the only difference between them the abilities I unlock.

- Shifting Tides 0/1 Teleport any targets caught within a single ability, swapping their position with any other target within the effect or any linked target within 120 metres.

- Echo of Agony 0/2 All elemental damage inflicted is applied again over a period of a minute while also increasing all targets’s age by a year.

- Entropic Shift 0/1 Allows instant shifting of elemental mana type within active spells. All favourited spells can be used with any element.

They're all kind of interesting, but except for Shifting Tides, none of them seem that important. Just minor quality of life improvements. Though Echo of Agony is kind of insidious. It doesn't list a minimum amount of damage to trigger the aging effect.

I spend a solid five minutes looking over my new options before deciding to talk it over with Tipan and Rufka first. Maybe I'll even ask Genitha. She'd probably have all sorts of insights about what sort of Class Abilities might be more powerful than others.

Since I'm here, I also invest half the Integration points we received bringing my Strength and Constitution to fifty each.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-2 > Iron-6

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 30 > 50

Constitution: 30 > 50

Agility: 94

Endurance: 60

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 90

Resolve: 90

Storage: 7.44 > 7.84 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 3/6

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 0

Progression Marks: 0

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 391/391 > 391/465, Edge: [24.6] > [31.6], Regen: (260/day) > (335/day)

Stamina

Pool: 424/424 > 424/476, Edge: [34.8] > [37.4], Regen: (328/day) > (376/day)

Mana

Pool: 984/984 > 984/1048, Edge: [80.7] > [83.1], Regen: (938/day) > (978/day)

Focus

Pool: 955/955 > 955/1019, Edge: [69.4] > [71.8], Regen: (845/day) > (884/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 278/278 > 278/331, Edge: [21.4] > [23.8], Regen: (250/hour) > (281/hour)

Unspent Ability Points: 4

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 0/3

Lingering Bonds: 0/2

Shifting Tides: 0/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 0/1

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

I give forty of the points to Smoulder. It's kind of funny that I have to give her points but she has full control of where they're invested. It's a shame there aren't more opportunities like the training areas that grant pets their own points.

Smoulder doesn't disappoint, putting all her attribute points into increasing Stamina as much as she can. Her mental attributes are… well, at least they're balanced.

Then I browse through the store, checking to see what options I might be interested in. The Anti-Corruption submenu is still there. Guess the System's decided we might still need them. "Though if the System really wants us to use all the anti-corruption measures, it'd give us an Ascension Crest to buy the Claim Nexus feature."

…

Oh well, didn't really expect an answer.

Since it's only one iron Integration point, I decide to purchase the Analyze ability. I want to test it compared to my already formidable ability to analyze things. But I also wanted to see if purchasing it unlocks an advanced version.

The second I purchase the ability, there's a slight tingle in the tip of my fingers, but it's gone as soon as I notice it. Way smoother than the Restoration upgrade.

Checking the menu, I find that Analyze is still listed, but instead of a range of Touch and only being able to Analyze mortal objects, I can purchase the upgraded version which would allow me to Analyze iron-rank targets at a range of up to two metres. All for a single iron Progression Mark.

That's not happening any time soon.

Finished with my browsing, I luxuriate in the bath watching the lotus as I make it pulse. I cycle through each of the elements, watching to see how each reacts when they're in the presence of so many other elements.

Most of them seem to weaken whenever I flare the other elements. The only exception is when I tweak Twilight. For some reason, when I increase its 'brightness', every element gets 'stronger' as well.

I continue playing with the elements until I get a message from Beth asking me and the others to join her at the table.

Begrudgingly, I inform her I'll be out shortly before getting redressed. As I'm pulling my jacket on, I glance in the mirror. I almost don't recognize myself.

It's not the jacket or other equipment I've acquired though.

The way I stand has changed. In the past, even when I was trying to strike a confident pose, I've always had a bit of a slouch. Now my feet don't even touch the ground. And it's not that I'm flying. I'm flying with a poise I've never known before.

Is this a result of my increased attributes? Or acceptance of the power that imbues my every movement?

Either way, I like it.

With one last glance at my reflection, Smoulder and I step into the busy bar. The first one I notice is Demo, who's leaned over the table his tails wound tightly around each other. My eyes dart to his leg. There's a massive metal case wrapped around it, with flickering blue lights on the casing. Looks like he's still healing then.

"Yeh're not upset?" Demo asks Josh, who's leaning back in his chair, his pink robe nearly touching the floor.

"Nah. System brought me back just fine. I lost more time the first time Ivicka captured me. Even healed a few injuries from when I was younger. Pretty sure the pin in my knee from football isn't there anymore. . . oh, and it turns out that I'm not circumcised either."

Rose interjects, "Oh, you want to talk about genitals, do you…"

Demo throws his hands up disrupting whatever Rose was about to say as he turns away from Josh. Which is when he spots me.

His snarl disappears, morphing into a wry smile as he congratulates me. "Good job chasing off the Reaper. They're bad news. Only thing the System gets right."

"Uh. I didn't do much," I counter.

"Really? I heard yeh're the one that got Ivicka."

"Oh. That. Yeah, that was me."

"Nasty bit of business. But at least yeh're done."

Beth's voice carries from the far side of the table where she's sitting between Josh and Roberts, "There are still Fallen out there. And we never found Folthka."

"Indeed. And we still need to return the prisoners to their homes," Roberts adds.

"Which isn't to mention needing to find a way home. After we figure out a way to save Earth from the incoming mana-swarm," I grunt out.

"I might be able to help with that," Demo volunteers. But before we can get excited he holds up his hands, adding, "If we can find my ship."

Beth nods, "We'll ask Genitha and check the cameras. There's a chance we can find the swamp you mentioned."

As I listen to the others, I realize we're making plans for the future. Without Ivicka looming over us, maybe we'll finally have an opportunity to explore Akilo.

I wonder if I'll finally have an opportunity to work on my crafting skills?

I'm drawn out of my thoughts when Rufka hip-checks me hard enough to push me out of the chair I was just settling into. Before I can retaliate, she pulls me into her lap, wrapping her arms around me from behind. She's so short that she rests her head against my back since she can't see over my shoulder.

"Jerk," I mumble as I let her hold me.

"You too."

As Tipan sits down next to us, Smoulder hopping into her lap, I look over the table. Rose is pestering Demo about his leg, asking if he can see the process because 'he has an idea' while Roberts and Beth argue with Josh about what we should be doing first. Or more accurately, second.

Everyone agrees that getting the prisoners squared away is first.

When Genitha joins us a minute later, we take the discussion inside the table.

This time, something is different.

When I arrive, I'm alone. None of the others are with me.

Thinking maybe I just spaced out again, I make my way to the central chamber.

When I emerge, the viewscreen isn't showing any of the varied vistas of Akilo.

Instead, there's a view of a dark structure, the black panelling glinting in the starlight. Above the panelling, a thick golden disk hangs in the sky, blocking out the stars. In the lower right corner, the label reads System Primary Nexus Outpost MWVAE-22009- Monocerotis Station, Accretion Camera 12.

I'm so busy staring at the view, that I almost miss it when a figure with a beautiful rainbow coloured Mohawk, jean jacket over a Johnny Rotten t-shirt, pair of strategically ripped blue jeans and a pair of painful-looking high heeled boots appears.

"Hey, Lexi."

"Hi, Wyonna. What's going on?"

"Oh, you know, just pre-empting the System to bring you here so you could have a one-on-one."

"Don't you mean, so we can have?"

"Yeah. About that. Turns out things have gone sideways since I was sent to Earth. Remember how I was sent here? Well, there's someone who needs to talk to you." As Wyonna finishes speaking another form flickers into existence next to her while Wyonna herself fades, a mocking salute frozen in place on her face.

Her replacement is wearing an elaborate set of overlapping wraps, a cacophony of colour that obscures most of her features. I barely make out hands with the rough consistency of tree bark and deep blue eyes with no iris or sclera. They're even faceted, like a gemstone.

"Hello, Forerunner Pandora. My name is Theglia."

"Uh hi. Your name sounds familiar, who are you?'

The being pauses, as if judging me. After several long seconds, Theglia finally speaks.

"A question with a long and complicated answer. I sent the AI to find you. But the most salient truth is I'm the one who launched the Forerunner Initiative."

A note from Draith

And thus ends arc 3. With a couple epilogues incoming, of course.

Thank you for the amazing review Authors Dread.

3.38 The Few Who Stand

GST 03-013, 13246, 09:17. Galactic Standard Time. A long time ago. Specifically, five minutes after the Forerunner Initiative began.

System Primary Nexus Outpost MWVAE-22009- Monocerotis Station.

Theglia couldn't believe it. She was alive. The System had updated, but it didn't remove her. It didn't send System avatars to hunt her down. It was like it didn't consider her a threat any longer. Fighting against it for years then suddenly it gives up.

It didn't make sense.

She supposed she should be grateful, but she'd been ready to die. They all had. No one had been chosen who hadn't lived for at least five centuries. That was the cutoff. Because no one made six. To live longer, you had to advance past Gold. Whatever came after Gold was off-limits. Unless you were a Citizen. And she hadn't seen a Citizen in decades.

It's possible there had been others, before, but the System controlled access to all reliable long term record storage. And only Citizens or Builders were allowed access to files from before they were born.

And it's not like she could ask a Creator. They were notorious for ignoring the 'lesser species'.

Unless they were hunting them to extinction or playing with them. Safer not to draw their attention.

Theglia shook her head and stood up. Sitting here ruminating on the state of the galaxy wasn't going to help anything. For a second she considered contacting the artificial intelligence, but it was already surfing the mana-swarm. She wouldn't be able to get a clear connection for decades at a minimum. But she could report back, let the remaining Forerunners know her team has done the impossible. She could practically hear their cheers. There'd be a party to celebrate her success and return from the dead.

There'd be no mourning for her dead friends. They'd said their goodbyes and shed their tears before slipping aboard the supply cog. Savagamus, the rite of before and after, had been held instead of a funeral.

I guess I'll get to watch little Barthelm gain his class after all. He's been so excited to join the team. I'll have to keep my eye on him, make sure he grows up strong, like his mother.

Her eyes turned to her sister's body.

It should be you watching over him as he earns his place Belthar. I've always been better with machines than people.

Stepping carefully, Theglia picked her way back towards the supply dock, her way illuminated by her glowing blue eyes. A necessary modification to complete her work. One of many she'd made.

The cog would be gone by now but another would arrive soon enough. The System could transport small objects instantaneously, but it relied on cogs, massive freighters to handle raw material shipments.

And every primary Nexus used substantial amounts of raw materials. The Forerunners theorized that System rewards were created in the primary Nexuses, but no one had ever found proof. The fact that non-Citizens tended to be vaporized if they tried to teleport into a primary Nexus tended to discourage exploration. As did the fact that the supply cogs were actively hostile to integrated civilians. Unintegrated too. Everyone really.

Theglia sighed when she saw Duluth lying at the entrance to the docking bay. It had been his idea to use the temporal matrix as a cloaking device. After all, how do you detect something outside of time? That had been an unsettling experience. One moment cowering in a crate, the next awakening inside the station. But it had worked, they'd remained hidden. Right until they'd needed to step off the cog. Then the System detected them, initiating its emergency counter-insurgency routines.

Routines which hadn't been as overwhelming as Theglia had feared. Yet they'd still been horrible.

Duluth had been the first to fall, forcing the System to focus all its efforts on him. He'd bought them the time to make the hallway. Theglia liked Duluth. They'd taken a tumble more than once, though it'd never been serious. He had the same tendency to disappear into his projects that got Theglia into trouble with her own family.

As they'd made their way up the hall, Juthd had been the next to fall. Theglia hadn't really known Juthd well. She'd been a Forerunner for less than two decades, as green as they came. She'd only joined after losing her entire family to a creator's fanatical purging of her home continent, trying to kill a Reaper. Her sacrifice got them to the first door.

Joth got them through that door. He'd volunteered for this mission because he couldn't do anything but fight anymore. Something had broken upstairs. On his good days, he knew it. He'd been glad to have a chance to die helping the cause.

If we'd only realized all those damn puzzle doors would be here, half the team would’ve survived instead of just me. But no one thought we'd need a dungeon guru in a primary Nexus. I'm just glad I used to run dungeons back when I was young and foolish. I might not be a guru, but at least we weren't stopped for long.

Kithtoper and Amathla got them to the command centre where another door awaited them. It had taken the sacrifice of Thabita and Simoth to make it inside. Which had only left Belthar and Theglia.

I expected we'd have to cut down at least one of our Other Selves the System is so fond of, but the doors were the only obstacle. Other than the System itself, of course.

Stepping forward, Theglia removed Duluth's flask from his belt.

"Thanks," she gestured to him as she took a swig. Duluth never went on a mission without his lucky flask filled with Gathenite whiskey. It was awful stuff, but that didn't matter. It was a tradition he'd followed since his first dungeon. Said it saved his life at least once a decade. Theglia had heard a dozen different versions of the story, but there was always a bit involving a bristleback boar, a freet-shooter and a parachute.

She never did find out what a freet-shooter was.

Taking another swig, Theglia stood then walked over to the loading dock window. She didn't know why there were windows in the primary Nexus. She'd never heard of anyone visiting one. She couldn't imagine a creator coming to one of these utilitarian outposts. When they weren't disrupting the Core Worlds, they were either on their paradise worlds or busy playing out their little apocalypse events.

She was about to turn away when she realized she had a notification.

Theglia's hearts froze in shock.

She hadn't had a System notification in nearly a century. Not since she'd started work on the first of the specialized matrices.

Warily she brought the notification up in her vision.

"Hidden Quest completed. Proving your worth V. Requirements: Make a significant contribution to the System. Incorporate a unique matrix into the System 9/1. Exceptional performance effect: Citizen status granted to recipients of all Astral Grade matrices. Reward: Citizen status. Return of System interface. Quest: Another Time unlocked. Quest: Restoring The Lost unlocked."

"Achievement unlocked: The Few Who Stand."

"Welcome to Primary Nexus Outpost MWVAE-22009, Citizen Theglia Yhodlath."

"Would you like to know more?"

3.39 Playtime

After the defeat of Ivicka. Exact time and location unknown.

When Minister Agatha Folthka woke, it was with a start, a chill running up her spine with such a force it sent her entire body into spasms.

If she'd been thinking clearly, that she could feel a chill would have left her puzzled. It'd been decades since the last time she'd been cold, back when she was only a low Iron-Rank user.

However, Agatha wasn't thinking clearly. In truth, she was having a hard time stringing a single question together.

"What happened?"

The words filled her head as she tried to remember where she was. Her last clear memory was the cold snap of one of her own control collars being locked in place from behind followed by a familiar voice commanding her to sleep. After that there had been voices. And pain. A heat unlike any she'd ever experienced. But it was all hazy.

The darkness… Agatha realized she'd opened her eyes at some point, but the darkness hadn't faded. When she attempted to call on her magic to pierce the darkness, not so much as a single mote answered her call.

Which is when Agatha realized the chill in her spine had nothing to do with the cold fluid she floated within.

Bereft of her System-enhanced eyesight, Agatha groped about blindly, trying to make sense of her situation. The first thing she discovered was that the fluid surrounding her only came up to her shoulders. There wasn't enough room for her to drown, the sides of her containment close enough to hold her upright. If that wasn't enough, the harness that held her back firmly in place certainly was. There didn't seem to be any release for the harness, so she started feeling out the edge of her container, seeking something, anything that might provide her escape.

It only took her a moment to pull her hand back, cursing at an unexpected twinge when her hand crossed over a jagged edge. Touching the end of her finger gingerly, her hand came away with a sticky wet substance.

"Did I just cut myself? By brushing against something? What's my Health?" Agatha wondered to herself.

Agatha could feel her panic rising, her breath going out of control as she realized her interface was completely missing.

She tried to fight it down, but her inner strength had diminished. She felt as though she were a cub again. Her soft cries echoed around her as she struggled to bring herself under control.

"It would seem this one is sad," An unsettlingly sweet cub-like voice said from the darkness. Agatha was finally able to stop crying, her fear causing the cursed tears to freeze in place.

As Agatha was struggling with this new wave of unwelcome emotion, another voice spoke, sharp and hissing with pronounced clicking. "It's also afraid. Perhaps it suspects its fate."

"Unlikely. It has only demonstrated marginal imagination. It is unlikely it even knows where it is."

"I…" Agatha stopped at the sound of her voice. It soundedcub-like. "I can hear you!" she screamed defiantly at the darkness. To her shock, the shrill pitch at the end reminded Agatha of her daughter Celthi when she had night terrors.

"It speaks," The hissing voice observed. A second later a wave of blinding light washed over her.

"Unimportant. Are the reagents ready?"

"Nearly. Our new supplier is less reliable. They claim the war has-"

"Irrelevant. You indulge these beings in their need for gossip far too often X-23." Agatha was almost able to make out a pair of dark grey splotches as her vision cleared. The shorter one didn't even come up to her waist while the taller one might reach her chin.

"Yes, Overseer," the tall shape grumbled with several angry sounding clicks.

The smaller shape gained definition as it moved closer to Agatha. It was as if, with each step, another layer of thin gauze was stripped away. Finally, as it drew close, Agatha saw she was suspended within a tank. However, unlike the sealed tanks she used in her trials, this one was open at the top, the edges broken away. With a final step, the shape pressed a dull brown hand up against the glass, allowing Agatha to see it clearly.

She wished she hadn't.

A howl broke free of her lips as the small doll-monster stared up at her.

Her dread spiked even higher when Agatha recognized this particular doll. The braided mane of fiery orange and tawny brown fur could have been any of a thousand 'Jethico the Just' dolls given to cubs as part of the winter Wilved Festival.

"And if her captor was a doll that meant…" Agatha didn't understand how, but it seemed she'd ended up in the hands of Aethop's Daughters.

Even as Agatha tried to calm herself, to think of some way to escape, the doll thrummed her fingers on the glass. Agatha's feeble efforts at calming herself were shattered. She flailed about, straining against her harness to escape, but her Copper-rank strength had been stolen from her. She'd lost her partner to these monsters a decade ago, and seeing one so casually inspecting her tore her resolve to pieces.

She'd taken her children, leaving her partner Deltha to fend them off as she ran like a coward.

"Calm it," the doll commanded, her child-like voice strangely firm.

A low grumble that could generously be referred to as an affirmation sounded out from the larger figure as it stepped forward into the light. Instead of the doll-like features of the first, this creature was as alien to Agatha as the Outlanders who invaded her home. If anything, she would have compared it to a methis beetle that stood on only four legs.

Its forelimbs ended in bladed cleavers. She was certain a single swing could slice a Vhethen herdbeast in half. As one of the blades approached Agatha's tube, it split open, revealing a cluster of tendrils that grasped a small valve. With a painful screech, the valve turned. Agatha felt pressure against her back.

Her thoughts calmed as she focused on the sensation of the strange fluid on her back. The part of her mind that screamed that the liquid wasn't important, the part that knew she was in danger and needed to escape?

Well, it found itself locked away, the metaphorical key destroyed.

The rest of Agatha focused on the warmth spreading from the centre of her back, marvelling at how soothing, how wonderful it felt. As though she were being wrapped in a cocoon of peace.

She barely registered the words as Stitches spoke. "Much better. Why was she awake?"

"It happens sometimes. The occasional prospect regains consciousness once their mana has been fully drained." Agatha couldn't tell if the voices were getting farther away, but it seemed like they were getting quieter.

Why is the room spinning?

"As long as it doesn't affect the Weaving."

"It will not, Overseer."

Agatha wasn't able to understand their response, her focus was on her own body and the incredibly fluffy feeling infusing her being.

Then she lost consciousness.

This time when Agatha awoke, there was no chill.

In fact, she was tucked into a comfortable bed. A familiar bed.

It took her several minutes as her mind tried to understand what had happened before she realized where she knew the bed from. It was her daughter's old bed when they'd lived in Wilved.

While her daughter's bed had seemed small when they'd lived there, now Agatha found it expansive. That the room and bed seemed to remain the same size, indicated it was Agatha who had changed. Had she shrunk?

When she pushed herself out of the bed, she discovered her fur was lustrous, as though she'd spent a day at Satha's salon back in Aethire.

Agatha's inspection of the changes to her body were interrupted by a scuffing noise from beneath the door.

A moment later a furry face popped into view, pushing the door open. It was an uncomfortably familiar face yet the features weren't quite right. It had the right general colouring to be her lost partner Deltha. The dark black star over one eye especially stood out. But her proportions were wrong. As were other little details, such as the fur. Much like her own, the doll who stood before her was far too lustrous to be mistaken for a living k'tharn.

"Hello my love," the doll said.

But not in words. There was no sickly-sweet cublike voice. Instead, her mind was filled with the familiar voice she'd last heard two months before Qern was born.

Despite her terror, something else flickered inside Agatha. A feeling she'd almost forgotten.

But she hadn't survived three centuries, hundreds of mana-storms and losing her first two children only to surrender to it now.

"Who are you?" Agatha tried to respond, but the sound that emerged from her throat was only a soft rustling. Like the discarded wrappings for meat-bites crinkling underfoot.

"You can no longer speak as a mortal, my love," the thing that resembled Deltha informed her as it padded its way across the room until it was standing directly before her.

Agatha tried to ask again, who the doll was, her voice again producing the same useless sound.

"Try to send your words to me as though you were sending a message through the System."

Agatha tried to focus on her interface, but it remained absent. She didn't understand how she was supposed to message this… thing… if she wasn't able to access her messages.

But then. It hadn't said she needed to use the System's messaging. It said to send the message in the same way.

Agatha thought her message was very clear. "Who are you? What have you done to me?"

"Oh, my love. You know who I am. It's your dearest, Deltha. And all I've done is keep the others from using you as a soldier."

"No. You can't be Deltha. I saw her die when she was only iron-rank. There's no surviving that."

"You're right. In a way I didn't. But I'm still her."

"Prove it."

"Do you remember the night we decided to have Kalim?"

"Of course."

"Well, I was understandably nervous about the idea of having a male. But you reassured me. You told me that no matter what gender our child was, we'd love them either way."

"Anyone could deduce that."

"But not anyone would know that I spit Blue Treshire juice in your fur when you told me you'd already chosen his name."

"Deltha? How is this possible?"

Deltha caressed Agatha's face softly as she said, "In time, my love. But first, I have an important question... How is Kalim? How is our son?"

A note from Draith

Okay, that's the end of this arc. We're gonna have like a two day break now because... I wanna? Atrocious, I know.

Thanks for the amazing review, Synod.

Also, thanks to everyone for your edit suggestions. You'd think after this many attempts to get it right, there'd be no typos left. Instead, there have been all of the many.

*Edit* Oh, right. Supposed to ask for ratings and little thumbs up reviews you agree with. So bad at that part, but this is the end of another arc, so it's time.

Thanks for reading.

4.00, A Meeting Between Moments

A note from Draith

We're back! A chapter every 4 hours for the next 8 days. And probably for another 8 after that too. Let's go!

Theglia's hand fiddled with the empty flask at her waist as she waited. Soon the messenger would appear. That's what the System had promised.

As to whether it would deliver… Theglia had reason to distrust the System. More reason than most. But in the last two decades… things had changed. She’d been sent halfway across the galaxy. The quests… she never would’ve expected the System to seek to preserve…

But the results spoke for themselves. Twelve worlds that would never be enslaved. Never to be entered into the System’s official registry. Small worlds. Weak. Places that would've been crushed beneath one of the Consortium’s Mercantile Expeditions or a Ploxid Crusade.

Never mind the direct attention of a Creator.

And now it had led her here. To speak with the System's chosen champion, the child her AI had bound to Theglia’s greatest achievement.

Her diamond-like eyes crinkled at that thought. She still didn’t understand why the AI had chosen a child of all things to-

Brilliant rainbow-hued light interrupted Theglia’s musings as the child appeared. An elvenoid with rounded ears, pale skin, dark brown hair and equally dark eyes.

Theglia introduced herself quickly, ready to move on to business.

Then the child turned those eyes on her with a small smile. “Hi, my name’s Alexis.”

A chill colder than the galactic core wormed its way up Theglia's spine. Even now, in a System created mana-void, Theglia could feel the mana wafting off the child.

Maybe there was still a chance.

11:47 pm, local time. (July 16, 2023, 4:47 am.)

Theglia stands in front of me, her thick and colourful wrappings barely moving as she weighs my response. I can’t believe Wyonna tore me away from the others for a private conversation, then left me alone with her creator. And I can't believe I spoke before thinking.

Actually, I can.

Not sure I’m ready for this so soon after everything we’ve been through. I definitely don’t feel ready to have a secret meeting with the person who sent us to Akilo. Still, I need to say something.

“You’re the founder of the Forerunner Initiative? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to ask for your help.”

I can’t stop the laughter that bursts out. She tries saying something, but I can’t hear her over my hysterical cacophony.

“Are you okay? I’m unaware of what is so amusing.”

“You… you sent me to another world. Gave me the power to warp Space-Time. Stuck an AI in my head. And now you want my help? Me? Alexis Wyonna Everette?” I gasp once I’ve calmed slightly. Why did she have to appear inside the temporal space, where I have such limited access to the reassuring feeling of mana. Wyonna didn’t even leave Smoulder for support. My fluffy little manahare better be okay.

“Yes.”

“Seriously? What can I even do for someone like you?”

Theglia doesn’t answer immediately, instead, making her way to the table we’ve been using for meetings when in the CMCC. Her wrappings are surprisingly tight, accentuating her movements with flowing undulations. She gestures to the seat across from her at the table, folding her hands in her lap, waiting.

I don’t know if there’s a point to this, but I decide to oblige her. The moment I’ve sat, she speaks, “There are things you can do. Things I can’t. Things that no one can. Well, no user.”

“Yeah? And I’m supposed to... what? Help you just because you gave me these powers? I’ve learned some unpleasant truths about the Forerunners. Like you’ll experiment on children and innocent people.”

It’s hard to tell, since all I can see are her sapphire-esque eyes, but Theglia doesn’t seem upset by my accusation.

“I’ve made many lamentable choices. Choices made to achieve the impossible.”

“Not impossible. Just highly improbable,” I respond, borrowing a line from Rose. Who’d have thought that once the K’tharn Kalim fused their memories with Josh, he’d be such an inspiration? Even though Josh’d been my neighbour for years, I had no idea he had so many wise-neighbour sayings stored up.

“Yes. Well… Look, what do you want?” she asks, leaning forward as her voice climbs an octave.

“I’m sorry?” I reply, keeping my face as still as possible. Is she trying to confuse me?

“For your help? What do you want from me?” Her eyes blink repeatedly like flashing LEDs.

“Uhm…”

“Essence? Equipment? Anything!”

“A way to save Earth from the mana-swarm?” I ask. I mean, if she’s offering, it’d be great to solve the problem. Also… she may be an alien sorta-tree person, but it almost feels like she’s more nervous than I am.

She leans back, her eyes dimming as the flickering stops.

There’s no other response, so I sit waiting patiently. After a few minutes, I’m starting to worry I broke her. I’m about to poke her when she lets out a rather human-sounding sigh. “I might be able to help you with that. But you’d need to do most of the work. All I can do is provide you with guidance.”

“Wait. You can actually help?”

“Yes. But it will take a veritable fortune in Essence. Billions.”

I choke on nothing, before asking, “Billions of iron-grade shards?”

“What? Iron-grade. Of course not.”

Sighing in relief, I try to imagine how much effort it would take to gather a billion mortal essence shards. Technically one-tenth as much work as gathering Iron-grade. As I’m calculating how many battles like the one against Ivicka it would require, Theglia interrupts me.

“If you want to protect the entire planet, they’d need to be Copper-grade mana shards.”

I stare at her as my calculations grind to a halt.

She looks away from me, waving her hand in the air as if typing on an invisible worksurface while she rambles out, “Of course, repurposing the Sanctuaries would be more feasible. There are even several that could be used. And she’d be able to help me in the course of wresting them free. Still need thousands of essence but-”

“Sanctuaries?” I interrupt, reminding Theglia that I’m here.

Her eyes flash once before she turns her gaze back on me. “The Builders' toy cities. They’ll need to be broken free of the System. But each would allow you to shelter large numbers of your people through the initial turmoil. They may even offer some measure of protection from the Creators' experiments.”

“Uhm. So you want me to steal Builder cities?”

“No. I have no need for their cities. Though I could make good use of their archives. And while you’re retrieving the records, I can have the AI help you salvage the Builders' abandoned cities.”

“Is that why you sent us here? To get access to a bunch of abandoned records?”

“What? No.”

“Then… why?”

Theglia looks away, her eyes blinking rapidly again. It takes ten seconds of silence for me to realize she’s not going to answer. In fact, other than the blinking of her eyes, Theglia remains rigid. Deciding I don’t want to continue sitting in silence, I decide to move the conversation forward, “Okay. Fine, so you need access to the archives. And in exchange, you’ll allow Wyonna to help us. Even though she probably would have anyway?”

As if the change of topic has reanimated her, Theglia leans away, tapping her chin. “Wyonna? Oh. You’ve named the Artificial Integrated? And as for why we sent you… the answer is really quite simple.”

“And?” I ask, leaning forward.

“Hope,” Theglia says, her eyes locked on me. “I… we hoped we could make things… better. So yes, I will give you all the aid I can. All I ask, all I hope, is if you find the records, you have the AI archive them until we can meet again. I’ll train you to make the changes. I do have some skill with rewriting System permissions.”

“Why don’t you get these records yourself?”

There’s another long pause as she goes rigid again. I’m starting to wonder if some questions just cause her to get lost inside her head, so I’m about to ask something else when she finally speaks, “I can’t travel to Akilo. Or any Sanctuary world for that matter.”

“Why not?”

“The System prevents it.”

“Really? Didn’t you just say you were good at bypassing the rules?”

Her eyes flash unusually bright, the brilliant blue light casting the room in stark relief. Then the light fades as she shakes her head. “The rules can be bent, not broken. I’m not allowed on Akilo.”

“Not allowed, huh,” I mumble to myself. I wonder if she means world-ending not-allowed like what the System was going to do before we proved the Reaper ran away. Well... proved seems a bit strong. The Reaper was able to hide from the System before, maybe he tricked it again.

I wouldn’t be surprised.

“If I were, then Phrasis might still… No. Too late to change the past. Though I suppose you might… But then you’d… No, better not to consider it.” Despite her back and forth with herself, Theglia sounds remarkably certain.

“Consider what?“

“Nothing. You know, I didn’t expect you to be so elvenoid in appearance.“

“Me? An elf?” I snort.

“Very much so. Same colourations, muscle distribution and general size. There are some minor aesthetic differences.“

“Ha. Like the fact I don’t have pointy ears?“

“Hmm. And your chin isn’t as sharp. Still, compared to the difference between most species, you’re essentially the same. A shared genetic ancestor perhaps? That would be a remarkable discovery. I can’t imagine the Calum Discordia would be pleased.“

“Calum Discordia?” I ask then I realize we’re getting off track. “These Sanctuaries, you really think we can take them to Earth?“

“Of course. With suitable preparations. It’s far easier to leave a Sanctuary world than it is to enter.”

“So, what do I need to do?“

“Ah yes,” Theglia starts placing several crystals on the table. At first, I think she's placing them there for me to take, but when I reach for one, she lightly slaps my hand away. Once she's placed over two dozen crystals on the table, she feeds energy into them. A moment later, I receive a notification.

"Citizen Theglia has requested access to your interface."

"Warning. Granting Access to your interface will allow Citizen Theglia to see your Status Screen."

"You want access to my interface? Seems kind of personal. Why should I trust you?"

Theglia halts again. "It's required. How else am I supposed to instruct you?"

"How about through Wyonna? You can do that, right?"

"You'd rather have my instructions passed through the AI?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No. In fact, it should make things a great deal easier." Theglia goes silent for several seconds as the crystals flash again. I didn't notice the first time, but her eyes are blinking in sync with the crystals.

"What have you done to it?" she demands after ten quiet seconds.

"Sorry. What do you mean?"

"I can't access its code. I'm completely locked out."

"Wait. You're saying you can't change Wyonna?" A swell of relief spreads through my chest at the thought. Suddenly, it occurs to me that I can ask Theglia about Wyonna's hidden protocols. "And what did you order her to do in the first place? She won't tell me."

"After you were sent to the planet, it needed to ensure you made contact with Forerunner command. Which is what this is." She waves to both of us. "I never expected to be the one handling the call personally."

"That's it?"

"No."

I wait for her to elaborate, but once more, she remains silent.

"Can you tell me what else she's been ordered to do?" I press, my voice hitching near the end.

"I'm sorry. The AI was a collaborative effort, but Duluth handled most of its programming. The only part I had in the AI's design was ensuring it would interact properly with the Matrixes."

"You could ask him."

"He's dead."

"Damn," I sigh. I don't know if she's telling the truth, but even if she's lying, it doesn't look like I'm getting any easy answers out of her. At least she can't make any more changes to Wyonna.

I just hope whatever programming remains isn't going to hurt us. Or Wyonna.

Theglia breaks me out of my thoughts with another flash of the crystals. Before I can ask what she's doing, she says, "It would appear I can still send the AI data packages. It's not as efficient, but I should be able to teach her what you need. However, I can’t guarantee it’ll work."

"Right." I wonder if Beth's going to be happy that I found a way to save Earth. Well, the people. It's not ideal, but it's better than anything I've come up with.

Since she's here, there are probably some other questions I should ask her. Little things. Like...

"Why me?"

"What?" Theglia asks, because of course I mumbled.

"Why me? Why did you choose to send me here?" I repeat, stating it as clearly as possible as I meet her glowing eyes.

"I didn't. All I did was give the AI parameters. You must have been the best candidate."

"What kind of parameters?"

"A full explanation would require hours, and I'm afraid we don't have that much time. Suffice to say that if you were chosen for the Endless Matrix, you have excellent dimensional affinity."

“Okay,” I mumble. “So, I’m compatible. Great.”

“It’s wonderful. Oh, to be able to study your abilities. But again, not enough time. Never enough. A problem you don't share, do you?” Theglia asks, her eyes flashing rapidly. “And the transfer is complete. The AI should be able to assist you now.”

“Hey,” I interject, grabbing her arm as she turns away. She pauses, looking down at my hand before tracking my arm up to my eyes. It’s almost enough to make me freeze, but I shake it off, meeting her unblinking gaze. Despite everything that could have gone wrong... Looking at her now. Being sent to Akilo. Being given a chance to rediscover my magic. Rufka.... “Thank you. For everything.”

“Oh. Well, you’re welcome. It was… we did all we could with what we had.”

“And I appreciate-“

The rest of my words are lost as she blinks out of existence, the rest of the party appearing behind me in a cacophony of noise.

Taking a deep breath, I run a hand through my hair as I brace myself. Then, turning around, I smile at everyone.

“So, there's the good news, and there's the other news.”

4.01, I have a… no? Later then? Okay

11:47 pm, local time. (July 16, 2023, 4:47 am.)

As the last traces of Theglia disappear and everyone’s eyes turn toward me, Beth holds up her hand. “Kid, can it wait?”

Crinkling my brow, I look around the command centre. Time is going pretty slowly. So I nod, biting the inside of my lip as Beth sighs, casting me a small smile.

“Okay, good. I know we said we'd talk stuff over but... Well, I need some time. It’s been… it's been a day,” Beth says, waving as she marches toward her room.

Roberts hums as Beth starts walking away, Josh following close behind. Roberts places his hand on my shoulder. “We don't need to wait for her, if you’d like to discuss it now?”

“No,” I say, my shoulders slumping as I watch Beth walk away. “It… it can wait.”

Wyonna buzzes in my head even as I answer. “It might need to! What is all this? Where did it… Theglia?"

“If you’re sure,” Roberts says, then he hesitates. Looking over my shoulder, he smiles. “It’s probably for the best. She’s right about it being quite a day. And to think, I was shocked when I discovered you could manipulate time.”

I nod, grinning back as he steps away.

As he’s walking toward his room, Rufka comes up to me, throwing her arm over my shoulder and leading me to ours. I glance back at the meeting room as Wyonna beeps in my ear. “You guys definitely need to give me time. It’s gonna take me hours to sort through this mess. Maybe longer. Who even uses a type-31 rxt file format for data storage?”

“Sure,” I reply, taking one of Rufka’s hands. It’ll be nice to have Wyonna help. With a last glance towards the others, who are also quietly retreating, we slip into my room. “Take all the time you need.”

12:22 am, local time. (July 16, 2023, 5:22 am.)

The soft covers of my private room lay in a pile at the foot of my bed as I attempt to extract myself without waking Smoulder or Rufka.

Beth’s insistence to rest turned out to be a good idea. I hadn’t realized how tired I was. Not until we’d reached our room and I passed out with barely a peck on Rufka’s cheek. The remnants of the morning pass in a blur as we continue to enjoy more mandatory rest time.

Lunch is spent with Tipan and Rufka, the others coming in slowly.

"So, now that you're Citizens, what's the first thing you're doing?"

"Restoration, obviously," Rufka states. "Even mum's enchantments aren't as guaranteed as a System-powered rebirth."

"Agreed. It will be... strange, knowing we will return so easily. It will. Well, it's the sort of thing they said about Ivicka. Even death couldn't keep her down," Tipan says, poking a crisp on her plate with extra force.

"Yeah. That's not a fun thought," I say, pushing against the horrible pressure that's keeping me from manifesting mana to properly crisp a haunch for Smoulder. "Though, maybe if the System doesn't want the summoner to cause more trouble, it just won't revive her."

"Hmm. Mum says the System's not always that smart. But she's not a Citizen, so maybe it's different for us?" Rufka says as Rose comes in, giving a casual wave as he plops down across from us.

With Wyonna’s still chomping through Theglia’s download and Beth not emerging from her room, we continue chatting and avoiding an active discussion of our next steps to just relax and decompress.

Nearly a day and a half of dilated time later, we’re finally gathered in the observation room of the CMCC (Citizen Mission Control Centre) again. And I’m chomping at the bit to get out. The lack of mana is driving me crazy.

Still, now that we’re assembled, Wyonna is ready to divest the relevant bits of Theglia’s gift. Her face dominates the central screen as she brings up a map of Akilo, several glowing red dots shining over the room. Wyonna waves a hand at the screen to her side as she says, “These little blips should be familiar to those who’ve been paying attention.”

“The Sanctuaries?” Rose asks, a robe similar to Josh’s around his shoulders,. But his is a deep blue that’s surprisingly striking with his orange and black striped fur.

“Yep. Those are the good news. Sorta. Really, they’re like the golden apple. Don’t take a bite unless you’ve got good teeth.” Wyonna accompanies her statement with a picture of a stick figure losing all its teeth.

Setting a plate on the table, Josh takes a seat next to Rose as he asks, “So they’re defended?”

“By Sentinels. Creator anti-theft measures.” Wyonna flashes a picture of a statue on the screen. It’s only as I see the ‘Alexis for scale’ that I realize the thing is at least ten stories tall.

“-won’t be enough to protect most of Earth. A few Australias max.” Wyonna says in response to a question I missed.

“Better than we had,” Beth says, rapping her fingers on the table. “How tough are these sentinels?”

Wyonna shrugs her digital shoulders as she flicks the camera view to show the cracks splayed across the statue’s surface. “Tough enough to withstand everything Akilo could throw at them. They’re all standing.”

“Except the one in the dungeon,” Roberts points out, leaning forward while tapping his chin with steepled fingers. “Though I suspect it was under different rules.”

“Yep. Not sure what was going on there. Creator cities aren’t rezoned as dungeons. Well, not usually.” Wyonna’s display flips to a view of one of the Sanctuaries from a hilltop. Not one I recognize. But the statue is visible in front of the silver spire at the centre of the Builder city.

With a smile, Wyonna turns her eyes to Beth then to me. “Anyway, you two might be able to take one down. There isn’t much that can stand against your devastating attacks.”

With a tap of her staff, Tipan draws our attention, her mohawk hanging to the side as she blows at it. A new style Wyonna suggested. “We can attempt it. Without Ivicka, we should be able to make a quick incursion.”

Turning to Genitha, Beth says, “Speaking of which, any word on the…“

Genitha raises her left eyebrows as she leans back in her chair, her feet on the table with all four of her arms behind her head. “No. My friend hasn’t responded yet. I intend to visit Aethire to find her.”

The skip-skap of a rolling ball draws my attention to the side where Demo is standing away from the table, rolling one of his grenades back and forth. He gives me a slanted smile, his toothpick flicking as he sets the grenade on his belt.

Then Rufka pulls me forward as she leans toward her mum. “You’re not going alone this time. We just got you back.”

“Kitten, I’ll be fine.”

“Yep. Cause we’re going with you.” Rufka crosses her arms while glaring at her mum, Smoulder hopping on the table next to her, adding her own glare to Rufka’s. Though I get the impression Smoulder’s just being supportive and has no idea why she’s glaring at Genitha.

A loud crack sounds through the room, Genitha’s chair slamming into the floor as she rolls forward, suddenly looming over Rufka and I. The only sound in the room is Smoulder rustling her fur as Genitha stares down at us. Then her face relaxes into a smile. One I’m familiar with. Rufka’s face is the same when she manages to get something by me. “Excellent kitten. I’d love to get to know your new thiani.”

With a groan, Rufka places her face in all four of her hands.

“Hmm. While you’re doing that, I think the rest of us should start sorting out the prisoners. Including purifying some of these soulstones,” Beth says, pushing away from the table. “We’re gonna have a lot of work for you once you get back, kid. Don’t take too long.”

“We won’t,” I promise.

“I’ll make sure of it. Someone has to keep these earthbound in line,” Tipan says as she joins us, standing at my elbow.

Genitha raises a single eyebrow at Tipan, causing her to wilt slightly before Genitha’s attention shifts to me, extending her hand. I take it with some trepidation as she pulls me into a side-hug, leaving me looking down at where Smoulder is nuzzling against Rufka’s still table-side head.

“This’ll be a fun little adventure. Tell me, Alexis, has my daughter taught you how to play Astra’s Stride?”

Finally exiting the CMCC is like stepping into an air-conditioned room after being in a desert during a heatwave. I almost let my mana swirl out to fill the area around me with elemental energies as we emerge, but I manage to constrain myself. Though not entirely. A small blob of molten metal forms, accompanied by small shards of ice and a lick of fire.

While tidying those up, I escape Genitha’s immediate interrogation by heading straight towards the garden with Tipan. We purify several of the soulstones taken during the fight with Ivicka, each of us taking a turn. While Tipan avoided using Bel’ther’s soulstone, not wanting to bind a personality other than her sister, some of these are closer to what happened with Dhanni.

There were quite a few that seem to have intact souls, for lack of a better word, and most of the soulstones end up inside Tipan’s inventory, since she’s the only one able to bring them back in any capacity. At least for the moment. There are some references in the anti-corruption menu to buildings that might allow restoring a user from a purified soulstone, but we don’t have access to those yet.

Traxla’s soulstone is intact, but hers can’t be used either, though that’s because she was Copper rank. Our current shrine isn’t even powerful enough to purify her soulstone.

Of the soulstones that Tipan can use, she adds a metal and stone to her staff. The first allows her to channel her staff into a metal cage that absorbs incredible amounts of heat and lightning damage. The second is good at bridges. But she expects them to grow alongside her class.

During this time, I mostly provide resources. Just being able to spend Mana on support is enough to relieve the urge to blast about wildly.

Barely.

Once we’re finished inside, I do unleash a little past the brambles of nexus 392. A bolt of curving lightning. An exploding ball of ice. A dozen flaming butterflies. And several more besides. I spook a few birds, but my release is otherwise harmless, impacting the statues I’ve left amongst the trees, and nothing else.

When I turn around, ready to teleport the others to the prisoners, my smile is met by Genitha’s.

“Very good. An excellent start. We’ll make a real elementalist of you yet.”

Somehow, those words… not so reassuring.

4.02, Living Dead Guards

1:05 am, local time. (July 16, 2023, 6:05 am.)

It doesn’t take long before the others are ready. I deliver them to the temporary prisoner camp. The former prisoners are already organizing themselves, and there’s a consensus not to return to the Aetherium. Not yet, at least.

Which leads to me spending an hour teleporting them to a ship they’ve arranged to take them down-river. Roberts already ensured they’re all in good health, and there are a few more awakened Fallen among their numbers. It seems that with Ivicka gone, more are regaining their freedom. Not all though. There were a few who wouldn’t stop fighting until they were destroyed.

Amongst the awakened, there's some optimistic whispering about being free of their summoner's bonds. But others seem almost dazed and lost. I... I don't know how to help them, so I'm grateful there are K'tharn who seem to have a plan.

The former prisoners board a ship that hovers just over the surface of the river. It has a paddle wheel, reminiscent of the ones that old steamboats had. As it was approaching, I was able to observe the glowing paddles, hidden enchantments reshaping their interaction with the water beneath. Demo is planning to travel with them, to make sure they arrive safely and give us the ability to teleport in case of emergency.

They all seem in good spirits when Beth approaches, clapping me on the shoulder and letting me know my assistance isn’t needed for the rest of the day. So it’s back to the nexus, then off to Aethire.

Arriving in Rufka’s little apartment in Aethire is far smoother than our first trip, no stumbling over chairs or tripping over the bed hosting the rest of the furniture. It helps that there are only four of us. Genitha runs a hand down one of her arms as we arrive, looking toward me. “That is remarkably smooth. Almost as smooth as the System’s transportation.”

“That’s what it’s based on,” I admit, turning away. “Basically just copied it.”

A rich rolling laugh echoes out of Genitha as she takes us by the shoulders. “Never underestimate the power of copying something that works. The Aetherium would be skies better if the ministers didn’t insist on being as independent as possible.”

"Mum, not this-”

With a chuckle and shake of her thick mane, Genitha interrupts Rufka before extending her right hands toward her daughter while also offering me a pair of crooked elbows on her other side. “Sorry, kitten.”

As I link my arm with Genitha’s, a nervous flutter fills my belly. Exploring Aethire while on the arm of my thiani’s mum. It’s not the most normal date I’ve ever had.

…

Actually…

It probably is.

“It’s fine. Why don’t we… change?” Rufka gestures downward at herself, running a hand over her tawny-brown fur and tracing over one of the darker sections where her tattoo is hidden. And then the colour of her fur starts to shift. Not drastically. But enough that the patterns in her fur are different. And her eyes are closer together. Genitha’s image shifts in a similar manner, her own disguise dropping into place.

Tipan’s transformation is far more drastic, her staff changing from it’s normal white to a dark brown and her fur following suit. It sweeps over her in an instant, but only because she’s using a trinket Genitha had on hand for such transformations. One that only works on K’tharn. She holds one of her arms out, turning it back and forth. “I’ve… this is magnificent. Thank you so much, Genitha!”

Waving her off, Genitha smiles, “It’s nothing. A small trinket for my Rufka’s friend.”

The tears in Tipan’s eyes say otherwise, but she just gives a small nod as she adjusts her hair to a different style of mohawk. One that’s not so neat and organized, hanging loosely over her eyes.

Which only leaves me. I was planning to just go invisible, but Rufka objects immediately. “We can’t go shopping together if you’re invisible.”

“Ah. I believe I can help,” Genitha notes, smiling. “You should practice your illusion magic anyway. Most users won’t pry if they notice a bad illusion. Especially since most practitioners are Agents of the Deep or one of the Taken. Neither group are people the average user wants to bother, even if they are a bit inept.”

“Mum, they’re not inept, they’re just not-“

“Yes, yes. Alexis, my kitten, you will need a proper spell. And I have just the one for you,” Genitha says, waving at Rufka before creating a sophisticated matrix that floats in the air between us. I can see that it has the vague shape of a K’tharn, but there’s so much more to it than that.

The next hour is spent with Genitha teaching all of us the basics of the spell, though I’m the only one currently capable of wielding twilight.

And while they can’t use the spell on its own, Tipan and Rufka are both able to use it in conjunction with their items to tweak their own appearance. Genitha is patient as she instructs us, and soon we’re all able to copy the spell into our spellbooks.

Which I’m thankful for. The complexity of the spell is amazing. Thousands of little runes interwoven together as they spread across my skin. Even with the benefit of having the spell in my book, it takes us a few hours of fiddling with our new ‘fur’ before we’re satisfied. My new fur isn’t too complex, a nice light brown, based roughly on my hair. A detail that gives me an anchor to base it on. Luckily I don’t have to address the issue of the extra set of eyes or arms. The System provided the basics for both. I do need to make several adjustments to the colour and shape of my eyes though. When I’m finished, the others are playing a game of Astra’s Stride at one of the little tables. Most of the room has been rearranged while I worked on the final details.

…

Did I just spend over an hour in character creation? Sab would never let me hear the end of it.

Damn. Sab. Wish you were here. There’s so much here you’d love.

Rufka’s arm slips over my shoulder as I sigh. She says, “Don’t worry, you don’t have to get the illusion perfect.”

“It’s not… I miss my friend,” I reply, leaning my head on her shoulder as Smoulder pops out of my pocket.

“You know what I think, kittens?” Gentiha asks, all four hands on her hips as her eyes glint with mischief. “Time to put your disguises to the test. Let’s visit the World Dungeon.”

“Mum. Don’t you think-“

“It’s fine. She’s right. Let’s go. I want to know what a World Dungeon looks like,” I interrupt with a quick squeeze before standing.

“I thought it’d be a decade before I’d be ready to enter,” Tipan says, holding her staff against her chin. “And now it feels like we’ll be ready to enter in a week or two.”

With a nod, Rufka jumps to her feet beside me. “Just don’t be too disappointed. We probably won’t be able to see the dungeon itself.”

“Now, kitten. The World’s End Palace is worth seeing on its own. And I have friends. They’ll get us inside.” Genitha doesn’t give Rufka a chance to refute her words, striding out of Rufka’s little cabin. I turn to Smoulder, whose form remains unaltered. I try to impress on her that going ‘flame on’ will mean less treats. She nods in response, her nose raised in the air while broadcasting deep solemnity across our bond.

Which is ruined the moment I boop her snoot. Smoulder wiggles it furiously, nearly falling off my shoulder as she rubs against my cheek. I chuckle softly as we follow Genitha outside.

We’re greeted by a scree from a bird overhead. A motley of grey and white feathers, it circles a nearby bridge, chasing after some unseen target before flitting out of sight itself.

“Damn Ackels are getting bolder,” Genitha says, shaking her head as she leads the way up the narrow ladder from Rufka’s balcony to the main thoroughfare above.

“Never understood why you hate them so much,” Rufka says, offering me a hand as I reach the top step. It’s strange to walk when we could fly. But it maintains our disguise. After all, a sizable portion of the cities residents don’t fly.

A snort from Genitha seems like the only answer Rufka’s going to get as Genitha saunters away. I give a small shrug as I move to follow. But Genitha’s stopped at the edge of the bridge, and is pointing to the bindings. “See these? They attract all sorts of lesser mana-bugs. And the Ackels feed on them.”

“Doesn’t that mean you should like them?” Rufka asks, not bothering to follow her mum’s outstretched arm.

Tipan on the other hand, leans halfway over the bone rail. Even with flight only a single cast away, it still sets my heart beating faster. She plucks one of the glowing bugs hidden in the shadows out, holding it on her hand as she inspects it. “Oh, glimmerlings. I thought they only came out at night.”

Shaking her head, Genitha waves us along. “The insects are harmless. But the Ackels can damage enchantments. They shouldn’t even be allowed in the city.”

Even as Genitha finishes speaking, another “Scree” sounds out from the far side of the bridge. A moment later, the Ackle reappears, flapping directly toward us. I can feel Smoulder perched on my shoulder, preparing to leap at it. I caution her to stay still. Even as I’m issuing my instructions, the bird explodes in a burst of flame, plummeting to the side of the bridge into the abyss below. I watch it disappear as Smoulder sends me a wave of disappointment mixed with a demand as to why someone else was allowed to fry the offensive creature.

A good question. And one I’m about to ask Genitha when Tipan pulls me to the side. A pair of Fallen dash past us, their matted fur and red eyes gleaming. And one of them has their hand on a still smoking wand.

I nearly fling them away from us when they turn in our direction. But I stop when another K’tharn jogs up, swearing at them. “Vaus’s tits. I told you to get rid of the Ackle, not explode it!”

The K’tharn turns to us, her otherwise black fur marked by a white patch over her lower left eye. On her sash is a burnished bronze medallion with a spiderweb pattern engraved on it. “I’m sorry about that. New recruits are…”

Not only does she not finish her sentence, she starts dashing toward the Fallen. The one with the wand is holding it up with two hands. They glance at their companion, then at the empty pit where the Ackle fell. And then they throw the wand into the pit.

“Hey! Do you know how expensive those are?” With a gust of air, the wand is blasted up into the air before floating back down to her hand. Turning back to us, the K’tharn with the white patch says, “Sorry again. If you have a complaint, please, make sure to file it with your local matriarch.”

With that, she takes off, leading the pair of Fallen away. And leaves me staring after them.

“Did you see the crest on their bandoleers?” Genitha asks, stroking her chin.

“Yep. It’s weird seeing Fallen serving in the Thiren. Better than the Stormguard though,” Rufka says as we start moving in the opposite direction of the Fallen and their supervisor.

“Thiren?” I ask, scritching Smoulder in an attempt to keep her from going after another Ackle in the distance.

“They patrol Aethire, do repairs or respond to System requests. They’re like the Desh’ila, only without the ability to fly. An honorable profession that many look down on,” Tipan answers while Rufka calms Smoulder with a piece of charred… something.

We cross through a round gate at the end of the bridge, the bone arch worked so smoothly it looks like a single piece, merging seamlessly with the rest of the building beneath us. Genitha pauses for a second before striding towards one of the much larger bridge-tunnels where I can already see dozens of K’tharn. She wasn’t kidding about putting our disguises to the test.

As we move beneath another bone arch, Genitha glances over her shoulder. “The Thiren aren’t allowed to leave Aethire either. Keeping the Fallen out of the Desh’ila should give the council more control over them. Nice to know they aren’t all idiots.”

“Would they even be able to join a Desh’ila? Wouldn’t the System kick them out?” I ask as we join the flow of K’tharns moving North.

“Hmm. Don’t see why. It’d be easy enough to-“ I nearly bump into Genitha’s back as she comes to a sudden halt. Which is impressive. A week ago, I would’ve slammed into her. And probably taken her to the ground with me.

Peeking over her shoulder, I realize she’s watching a K’tharn in the distance.

With a loud ‘humph’ Genitha turns back to us. “Change of plans. You three go shopping. I’ll meet you at Vethala’s.”

“Mum,” Rufka says, her eyes narrowing.

“It’ll be fine, kitten. Just some… personal business. I’ll see you in a few hours. Or I’ll send a message.” Genitha doesn’t give Rufka time to argue, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before striding away at twice the pace we’d just been walking at.

Rufka grumbles as her mum strides away, rubbing at her cheek as she watches her leave. A small crowd of K'tharn pass between us, and she’s gone. I slip my arm around hers, pulling her attention back. “You heard her, she’ll be fine. Besides, didn’t you want to take us shopping?”

Patting Rufka’s other shoulder, Tipan says, “And you promised to show me ‘A side of Aethire I’ve never seen before.’”

A smile slowly creeps across Rufka’s face as she glances after her mum before looking back at me. “Yeah. I did.”

“Also,” I say as I match Rufka’s casual stroll in the direction we’d been heading before stopping. With a glance at Tipan, I double check my connection to Genitha. Ensured it’s still in place, I turn to Rufka with a smile. “I know exactly where she is.”

4.03, What Stays Up

2:07 pm, local time. (July 16, 2023, 6:07 pm.)

Rufka leads us through Aethire with a clear goal in mind, her stride not faltering as she walks past a bazaar large enough to dominate an entire set of the bone-structured bridges. And not just the bridges, most of the space between is filled with what look like temporary shops floated into place.

Her stride might not falter, but both Tipan and I do. It’s the most diverse and alive place I’ve seen on Akilo. There are thousands of K’tharn browsing through the hundreds of floating stalls.

We pass between several, Rufka guiding me by the elbow as I try to take it all in. It’s not just the diverse displays that draw my attention, but the stalls themselves are fascinating.

The leather walls offer a brief respite from Aethire’s constant winds, despite not seeming like they should. Are they enchanted to redirect the wind over and above? It looks like it. But most only protect their own shopping area, causing small whirlwinds to form in the open areas between them. It creates an area I find almost playful to move through, dancing around the gusts of wind as we walk. I can feel Smoulder poking her head out as I dash between the whirlwinds. Her desire to play with me wars with my instruction to stay put, and thankfully she listens.

The K’tharn around us don’t even turn their heads at the small whirlwinds, side-stepping them as they go about their business. They're far more efficient about it than I'm being. Except for a group of children who’re throwing scraps of cloth into the whirlwinds and giggling as the leather goes flying into the air. I pause to watch them as they go running after the scraps, shoving at each other to gather the most pieces. From what I can see, a short girl with a grey and black zig zag pattern on her head is in the lead. Another girl seems about to catch up when I'm finally cajoled away from them by Rufka wrapping an arm around me.

“Did you ever play ‘tufts’ when you were a cub?” Tipan asks Rufka while gesturing back at the playing children.

“Once. Wasn’t very good,” Rufka admits, her voice more grumbly than usual as she stops to look back. “I… may have tried challenging one of the other cubs for their tufts instead of collecting them. Turns out that was against the rules.”

"The rules are as changing as the wind." Tipan giggles.

Which makes Rufka grunt, staring back at where the kids are playing. Deciding that maybe we should move on, I make use of Rufka’s arms around me, leading her away.

We make it all of three steps before I remember… I have no clue where we’re going. Not that I let it show until Rufka starts chuckling.

“What?” I ask as I attempt to step onto a ramp leading upward.

She holds me back with a single tug, shaking her head. “You don’t know where you’re going.”

“Well… no.”

“You know, you should watch your step,” Rufka says, taking the lead again while pulling me away from the narrow ramp. “It’d be a shame if you fell off, plummeting to your death in the great mana pools below, gasping out my name as you choked on mana.”

I roll my eyes, poking her in the side. “I can fly, silly.”

“Yep.” Rufka nods, not uttering another word as she takes giant strides forward while Tipan’s laughter grows louder behind us.

Another three bridges, two markets and several patrols of Fallen later, we reach a corridor that’s different from most we’ve been walking along. Instead of a solid bridge, it’s a wide tunnel with large airships moving back and forth along the passageway. Ships that I haven’t seen anywhere else in the city. Unlike the floating stalls, these look like they're designed to be moved quickly.

“The grand corridor,” Tipan says as we step out onto a platform one of the large ships is stopped at. Larger than a schoolbus, it’s frame reminds me of an old wood sailing ship, though one carved of bone. It even has a pair of skulls mounted as… uh the things that are normally put on the front of a ship. Mast heads? Moor heads? Something like that.

But it has one on each end.

The front is clearly a dragon, or something very dragon-like. But the back is of a creature I don’t recognize, the bulbous shape making me think of a chipmunk with it’s cheeks stuffed. Except, more skull, less fluffy rodent.

Several K’tharn and a very ant-like individual wait in line as more Fallen stand ready behind a pair of guards who’re stopping people. Each passenger hands over a small amount of essence before being waved on board. They pass quickly, and when our turn arrives, the shorter of the pair turns to us.

“Physical payment?” Rufka asks, even as she pulls the shards from her inventory.

The guard shrugs. “New policy for the tour-skiffs. If you have a problem, talk to your matriarch.”

“Why does every-user keep saying that?” Rufka asks as we step aboard the ivory planks of the airship. It bobs slightly beneath my feet as I cross to the far railing, the planks having more give than I expected. Moving to the railing, my hand runs over the incredibly polished surface. While I know it’s made of bone, it’s so smoothly fused that I can’t tell where the railing ends and the supports begin.

Several more bone-ships float up and down the corridor, but each is different. The one we’re on has only a single open deck. But there’s one across the way that has five different platforms, each one barely large enough for a group of six if they squeezed in tight. Such as one such group of K'tharn on the uppermost platform. Unlike ours, it’s not stopping at any of the nearby piers. Instead, there are people hopping on and off. One K’tharn leaps a gap at least twenty meters wide to land on the rearmost platform as it zooms away.

In fact, as I watch I realize most of the other ships don’t stop. Leaping on and off seems to be the standard method of travel.

“How come we’re not taking one of those?” I ask, pointing at a ship that resembles a three-pronged fork laying on its side as Tipan joins me at the rail.

She glances up, watching the ship cruise away from us before turning to me with a smile. “Because you need to be linked into Aethire’s central accounts to ride those.”

“Ha. No you don’t,” Rufka laughs, leaning on the railing on the other side of me. “Anyuser can use one, if they have a pass.”

“That’s the same thing!” Tipan shoots back, rolling all four eyes as she turns away.

“Nah. See? Pass is a real physical object,” Rufka says, holding up a square piece of bone with deep etching on it. “You just never needed one, skyborn.”

“I… well, I guess not,” Tipan admits, slumping slightly.

“Could I get one?” I ask Rufka, staring at the bone plate as she twirls it in her fingers. The lines remind me of something, a pattern I swear I’ve seen before but I’m unable to place it.

“Mum’d be able to get one. They’re not very expensive.” As Rufka tosses it up, a gust of wind almost knocks the pass overboard before Rufka snags it out of the air. “A hassle to replace though.”

The ship shifts beneath our feet as a chime sounds out. Then a System notification pops up, listing the route and any interesting stops. While looking over the list, I notice that the World’s End Palace is at the very bottom. More than twenty stops away. And according to the schedule, more than an hour. So I go back to observing the other vessels travelling along the corridor. “You know, I’m surprised there are so many airships here. I didn’t think the Aetherium used airships.”

“Airships aren’t liked by skyborn. Least, not anymore,” Rufka says, while tucking the plate into her inventory. “They’re only used by the trading consortium.”

“It is an honour to earn one’s own right to fly,” Tipan agrees with a nod. “Taking a skiff or skimmer is fine. But to venture beyond Aethire under the power of a machine instead of your own magic? It’s not done.”

“Unless you work the barges,” Rufka counters as the skiff floats toward the top of the open corridor. It stays on the edge of the corridor as it drifts upward, out of the path of the much faster skimmers. Once it’s reached the apex, it passes between a pair of dark beams to float above the corridor, granting us a view out over Aethire. Ahead of us, its dark black towers scraping the sky, is what can only be the World’s End Palace, the home of the council. And the World Dungeon.

Unlike everything else in Aethire, the Palace is constructed of stone, with clear lines that give the impression of giant stacked blocks. But I suspect it’s just a facade. I can’t imagine them not fusing the blocks together using magic.

“Look, there’s a barge,” Rufka says, nudging my shoulder and getting me to turn to the side.

Which is when I realize Aethire isn’t a flat city. There’s another channel, much like the one we’re traveling along, to the southeast. And it sticks above the rest of the city like a mountain ridge. And both channels slowly climb upward until they reach the Palace.

At the southernmost end of the other ridge, I’m able to make out a dot that’s barely visible, rising above the city. With a quick enhancement of twilight, I zoom in to find a full blown airship. It’s hard to tell the size, but the K’tharn crew on deck make me realize it must be at least as large as the container ships from Earth. Probably bigger.

“That’s… bigger than I expected,” I admit, rubbing my jaw as I Focus on the barge.

“Jethico-Class cargo transport.”

“Used for transporting cargo within the remaining settlements of the Aetherium, the Jethico-Class cargo transport once carried goods and people across all of Akilo.”

[Wyonna]: "The Aetherium used to have thousands of these barges. Now they have twenty-six. Most were abandoned as the Aetherium dwindled in size."

“Indeed. One barge can bring back an entire herd of valka in a single trip,” Tipan informs me, nodding with a small smile. “My mother used to bring us fresh valka every time she returned home after docking.”

“Wait, your mum used to work the barges?” Rufka asks, tilting her head to the side as she stares at Tipan. “You’re a barge-rat?”

Tipan’s ears flatten against her head as she looks away, her shoulders slumping.

“Hey, I didn’t mean… I just…” Rufka trails off as Tipan shakes her head.

Then Tipan looks up, staring out at the barge. “No. My mother is in charge of inspections. She never… worked the barges.”

“Oh,” Rufka says, glancing at me. But I can only shrug.

“You know that’s a very impolite term,” Tipan adds a moment later.

“What? Barge?” Rufka asks while elbowing me and pointing toward a cluster of buildings. The market we passed through earlier. The kids are still playing their game of tufts, the only reason I’m able to tell it apart from any other cluster of buildings. Despite the high quality of craftsmanship, most of the floating stalls are very similar on the outside.

“No. Rat. Don’t you know that it refers to…” Tipan glances at me, her tone going low as she finishes. “A furless K’tharn?”

Rufka’s laughter echoes out as she reaches over me to clap Tipan on the shoulder. “Did I ever tell you about the time I had a Felk outlander pop out of one of the storms? I ended up losing most my fur to an angry water elemental getting him to safety.”

“No. And I have no idea what a Felk even is.”

“Oh, well, they’re a bird-like outlander, stands nearly three meters high. Anyway, this guy, he…” Even as Rufka continues, I tune her out. Unlike Tipan, I've heard this story before. I look out over the city, watching as hundreds of k’tharn move beneath us and my eyes are slowly drawn towards our eventual destination. The World’s End Palace stands high above everything else in Aethire, a beacon of everything the K’tharn can achieve when they work together.

“You what!?” Tipan demands, sputtering as Rufka continues her story, not bothering to repeat herself. Instead, she starts talking about how it’s the Felk’s fault she’s completely defurred only steps away from Theria’s tower.

My eyes move back to the palace as Rufka continues. Yep. Amazing what you can do when working together.

4.04, Something Rotten

3:01 pm, local time. (July 16, 2023, 7:01 pm.)

As the tour-ship floats further into the heart of the city, I take a moment to look over my Status.

I've grown a lot since I came to Akilo. Almost a different person. But I didn't come into my Status to reflect on my growth. I've been holding off picking my abilities, since none of them call to me. Except the teleport swap, Shifting Tides. I took that one immediately after talking it over with the others.

There's something about the aging one, Echo of Agony, that seems… evil. When I Focus on it, I can tell that it works on System-integrated people too. And it doesn't seem to have an off switch. Which would mean if I accidentally struck someone with one of my spells, I'd rip life away from them. I can't bring myself to do that.

Which leaves me with Lingering Bonds and Entropic Shift, neither of which are amazing. But they're both solid upgrades. Even if Lingering Bonds’s extra duration isn't very noticeable, maybe in the middle of a Pause it'll matter? And Entropic Shift… will let me keep more spells in my spellbook. Or at least less elemental copies. It would be much more useful if I couldn't craft whatever spell I need inside frozen time.

Which is perhaps a good reason to take it. I don't have an unlimited supply of Facet.

Nodding to myself, I put a point into Entropic shift and two into Lingering Bonds.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-6

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 50

Constitution: 50

Agility: 94

Endurance: 60

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 90

Resolve: 90

Storage: 7.84 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 3/6

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 0

Progression Marks: 0

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 391/465, Edge: [31.6], Regen: (335/day)

Stamina

Pool: 424/476, Edge: [37.4], Regen: (376/day)

Mana

Pool: 984/1048, Edge: [83.1], Regen: (978/day)

Focus

Pool: 955/1019, Edge: [71.8], Regen: (884/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 278/331, Edge: [23.8], Regen: (281/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 0/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

The second point in Lingering Bonds makes me raise an eyebrow. Instead of the triple duration I'd been expecting, it increases the duration of Ailments to six times the original. Do… all the multi-rank abilities work like that?

A quick question to Tipan and Rufka later negates that idea. Most are linear increases, though drastic jumps aren't unheard of.

With a flick of my fingers, I summon a crackling bolt at my fingertips. Holding it out, I pause time then tap Rufka on the back. It's not enough to overcome her Health Edge, but it still makes her fur stand on end. And she's shocked long enough for me to time it. It's still less than even a fraction of my Pause, but it's much longer than such a weak zap should be.

"What was that?" Rufka asks, looking over her shoulder at me when time resumes.

"Just testing one of my new abilities," I answer, smirking at her as I tap her nose, this time without pause.

She wriggles her nose, before bopping me back despite my attempt to dodge. If not for a 'harrumph' from Tipan, it may have turned into a wrestling match. Instead, Rufka pulls me to her side, holding me trapped as she continues the story she was sharing with Tipan before I interrupted.

"And when I landed, Felk was still staring. He couldn't bring himself to turn away. Not that I can blame him. I am pretty amazing."

Tipan laughs, shaking her head. "You ever thought of playing Desh'mersa?

"Nah. You need to take a subclass just to play, don't you?" Rufka asks as the barge drifts down to one of the docking stations to exchange passengers before continuing deeper into Aethire.

With a shrug, Tipan says, "Not all Desh'mersa players take the air jockey subclass. Not everyone needs it. I doubt you would."

"Really? I thought it was in the rules or something," Rufka says.

"There's a test required to prove competency, but that's all," Tipan replies, "Lethana tested through. It's why she's one of my favourite players. That and the Silva Pennites are amazing. Mom and I used to watch their games every year. Ivicka would…"

Tipan's enthusiasm disappears, her entire face drooping as she stops. Then she shakes her head, a slight smile appearing. "She used to put me on her shoulders so I could see better. Despite the protests of those sitting behind us. Even then she'd look out for me. I… I still don't understand what happened to her."

Before I can offer my sympathies, Rufka's placed her own paw on Tipan's shoulder. "Hey. I'm… uh… Well, I'm not sorry. She did try to kill us. Repeatedly. So… I guess I'm sorry she changed?"

I can't stop myself from snorting out a laugh, and even Tipan chuckles. She nods, patting Rufka's hand. "Thank you."

Rufka just shrugs as I ask about this game that Tipan seems so excited about. And I listen closely, the view obscured by great ridges of bone, arcing up on either side as we get closer to the palace making it pointless to do anything else. Besides, it seems important to Tipan.

We spend a few minutes as Tipan and Rufka both try to describe the game to me. In one way, it sounds like a more advanced version of the racing we've done. But it also sounds like air-basketball, with dribbling and everything. If dribbling was done by bouncing off transparent spheres scattered throughout the 'court'.

There's other stuff too, like alternate ways to score points, other than just getting it through the goal. In fact, it might be better to compare it to pinball. Where the players are the ball and the paddle. Starting to feel like there’s no good analogies.

"Oh, hey, we should make a stop here. There's a shop I want to visit," Rufka says, leaning against the rail as we float over an empty platform.

"Sure. Your mum already went off-" Upon receiving the first part of my confirmation, Rufka barely gives me enough time to stand before yanking me over the railing. Even as we dive toward the platform, I can hear Tipan laughing from just behind us. When we land, I look back up. We just jumped from higher than my apartment building, and with just a small gust of wind magic, it was less painful than stepping off the porch wrong.

As in, painless.

"You're getting better," Rufka remarks, throwing her arm over my shoulder while escorting me up a flight of stairs worked into the side of the hall. It lets out into a bustling area that makes the market from earlier feel like an empty field. I can't take a single step without running into an elbow. Which is especially awkward given the extras the K'tharn bring with them.

Tipan takes the lead, slipping through the crowd like its water. Rufka follows behind her, managing to guide me with only a few bumps and one mumbled apology. It's a scant few minutes later and we're standing at a rise, the rest of the bustling crowd sliding around below us. And I'm finally able to see what everyone is doing here. It's almost immediately next to one of the arenas that Tipan was pointing to earlier. Everyone is milling about, visiting booths with merch or food. Or watching one of the holographic projections.

"Forgot they added the arena," Rufka grouses, wiggling her nose in irritation. "We should've come later."

"But then we would've missed the game," Tipan counters, her eyes glued to one of the holographic displays.

"Eh, any-user could watch it later," Rufka waves it off, her eyes squinting as she peers at a merch stand loaded with sashes and skirts all emblazoned with one of the playing team's colours. Or… not at the booth, but at the sunken pit behind it.

"Is that?" I start, but Rufka's already pushing towards the booth, her hand still in mine. There's a sudden surge from the crowd, their voices ringing out in a deep roar. Even Tipan’s. I flick my eyes toward the display, but it's obscured by the surrounding crowd.

Turning to Tipan, I try to ask what happened, but then there's another deafening roar. K'tharn are moving back and forth, yelling at each other and I'm seriously tempted to pause time to make my way through the crowd. But then we emerge, the thick press of bodies left behind.

"You coming, Tipan?" Rufka asks, pausing at the top of the pit which I see is more of a long ditch with grates along the side peeking down into the abyss. Wisps of green mist float out of a pair of vents near the far end of the ditch, pooling along the bottom of the ditch outside a hatch that looks to lead even further down.

I glance back to see Tipan standing at the edge of the crowd, floating slightly off the ground while peering back toward the game. She keeps staring until Rufka repeats her question, at which point Tipan turns back to us with a shake of her head. "My apologies. Keeltha pulled off a tri-crispy while being hocked by two blockers."

I stare at Tipan for several seconds, waiting for her words to make sense. When I look to Rufka, her scrunched brow and tilted head tell me she's as confused as I am. "Sure… So that a yes?"

"Yes. Again, sorry for allowing myself to get drawn in."

"Nah, it's nice. Good to know you're like any-user else when there's something you care about," Rufka says, throwing her arm over Tipan's shoulder before leading us down the alley.

"Yeah," I agree, shooting Tipan a smile. "Nice to see you excited."

Tipan just smiles back as we step directly toward the pooling green mist. I can sense the higher concentration of wind mana in the lackadaisical green mist. But there's something else to it as well. Something I don't recognize.

"Don't step in it," Rufka warns as we get close. "Tathia's a Caustic mage. Best cheese in the city but, nasty byproducts."

"Why's she so close to the stadium then?" I ask, as I send a gust of wind to wash the pooling mist out of our path. It takes a great deal more effort than I'm expecting, like it's a barrier instead of simple mist. I end up having to switch to ice manipulation to push the caustic mist to the side.

"It is likely that her family has owned the shop longer than the stadium’s been in the area. History still has some value in Aethire," Tipan answers, though I can hear her drop in tone at the second sentence.

"Yep. Tathia doesn't get involved in Aethire politics either. Keeps to herself and her experiments. Mostly." As Rufka speaks, she gingerly reaches over to the door, pulling it open with the tip of an arrow before stepping back. More of the green mist comes pouring out, pooling near her feet even as I use more panes of ice to push it away.

"We're closed! Can't you read the sign!" a rich voice bellows from inside. Even at such a volume it sounds almost soothing.

"You didn't put your sign out, you fetid swamp-rat!" Rufka yells into the shop, prompting a small gasp from Tipan.

"Is that my least-favourite tree-pounder? What're you doing back here so soon?" A voice calls, emerging from amongst the green mist like a whale rising from the sea. She's the most… uhh… curvy… K'tharn I've ever seen. I think. It's hard to tell if that's her natural shape or the shape of the thick outer layer of leather covering every inch of her.

"Ha, I think you meant your most favourite," Rufka counters, taking a step back as another gust of mist wafts by.

"So, you finally claimed your place as a tree-pounder," Tathia states, pointing at Rufka with a pair of tongs. "I always knew you had too much love for your damn trees."

"No more than you love your cheese," Rufka shoots back.

"About that," I say, looking down at the green mist in concern. "All this mist… it's not connected to the cheese, right?"

Both Rufka and the heavy leather outfit containing Tathia turn toward me at my remark, Rufka snickering and… well, I can't really read the expression of a pair of goggles or leather helmet.

After a couple seconds, Tathia shakes her head. "No. This has nothing to do with cheese. What sort of shop do you take this for?"

"I don't know, I just… well, where I come from, cheese can be made with some pretty… uhh… intense smells. And I just…"

"Oh, yes. Cheese can definitely get smelly. But this is all Subclass related. Been working on breaking my Brewing through to Copper," Tathia grumbles, her rich voice settling into a smooth cadence. "That's why I put up the damn…"

Her words drift away as my eyes follow hers to where a thick wooden sign rests just inside her doorway. In big Vausian words, the words are clearly marked, "CLOSED! Subclass trials in progress."

Her thick form starts jiggling for a few seconds before she stops, shaking her head. "Well, guess I did forget to put up the damn sign."

"So, does this mean we can't get any cheese?" Rufka asks even as Tathia hefts the sign onto her shoulder and steps up the stairs out of her shop.

Tathia doesn't even slow as she hops up the side of the ditch-like alley to grab a thick strut protruding above her shop. Her voice rumbles out as she slides the sign into place. "Not today, tree-pounder. Stop by next week."

Rufka lets out a deep sigh, nodding as Tathia releases the strut and lands next to us with a surprisingly loud thud. Enough that Smoulder pops her head out, ready to help defend me.

Which is right when Tathia looks in my direction, her goggles locked onto my jacket pocket as she asks with a hard edge to her voice, "Is that a mana-warped mana-hare outside my shop?"

Uhm… oops?

4.05, Living on the Edge

3:45 pm, local time. (July 16, 2023, 7:45 pm.)

With Rufka's… friend, Tathia, staring at Smoulder, I take a step back, putting distance between us while urging Smoulder to calm down. Cause from her spike of anger, I could tell she almost launched herself directly at Tathia.

"It's okay, Tathia," Rufka says, stepping between us. "She's not warped. Not mana-warped at least."

Tathia's helmet remains motionless, then tilts slightly as she turns toward Rufka. "Fine," her deep voice rumbles, "So long as she doesn't get near me, fine. Anyway, I should get back to it. Unless you have some other Vaus-twisted thing to shove in my face?"

"Uh. No, sorry," Rufka apologizes, stepping back.

Tathia just huffs, turning back and stepping into her shop, leaving us alone with a slam of the door.

"Well, that was almost as intense as Keeltha's tri-crispy," Tipan says, putting her arm over Rufka's shoulders. "Seemed like it was about to be just as violent too."

"Nah, Tathia wouldn't go that far…" Rufka trails off as a loud boom resounds from behind the closed door of the shop, and more of the caustic mist leaks into the alley. "Still, we should probably leave her in peace. She’s had trouble with mana-warped before. I didn’t even…"

"We do still want to visit the palace. And since we'll be so close, we can visit my mother as well," Tipan says, releasing Rufka's shoulder. I nod along, glad she’s taken the lead on distracting Rufka as Tipan looks back toward the packed area around the arena. "But perhaps we should take another route."

Rufka nods, waving us forward as she hops over the pool of caustic mist. The rest of us follow, likewise making our own little leaps to keep clear as Rufka leads us out of the alley through a few short turns until we emerge onto another corridor-bridge. Considering the packed streets of the arena a short distance behind us, the emptiness of the street we emerge onto is… eerie.

"Where is everyone?" I ask, as I look around at the empty passageway.

"We're getting close to the edge. Users don't like to live near the edge. Not the eastward edge anyway," Rufka states as she picks her way across the bridge with surprising care. "Watch your step. Maintenance isn't as thorough out here."

"Why'd we come…" my words fail me as I glance up through a break in the clustered pod buildings along the edge of the street. Or maybe ‘the edge’.

Either way, beyond those pods sits a castle straight out of a fairy tale. Somehow, the World’s End Palace seems more majestic from here than atop the tour-ship. Then the bridge shifts slightly, and the view is gone. I almost fly up to get a better perspective, but Rufka's urging us along, so I follow.

Another few streets later and we are definitely at the edge. And my view of the castle is completely unobstructed. Dark towers of obsidian stone rise from the depths of the abyss. As far down as I can see, there isn't a single bit of unworked stone. And it's not a tiny little thing either. The castle fills half the horizon, and we're easily over a kilometer away from it.

But as I look closer, I can see signs of neglect. Not in the upper levels, where everything seems to be in perfect shape. But lower down. There are passages open to the air that were clearly never designed to be. And staircases missing entire steps.

Still, it's a very impressive castle.

"Hard to get a proper view if you just go straight in," Rufka says, walking over to the edge of the bridge where there isn't so much as a single home attached.

"I've… it's different from here," Tipan mumbles as she kneels down next to Rufka, peering over the ledge. "I've visited the palace dozens of times. Maybe hundreds. I never realized… do you see the decay?"

Tipan's not looking at me, she's staring at Rufka.

"Yep. It's a big place. Can't be easy to maintain."

"Not with our disdain for terramancers. But still, it would only take a pair of them a month to restore the palace. To leave it like this…"

"No-user cares. They don't come out here. Not from the council, anyway." At Rufka's last words, I notice a shape moving further down the bridge. Another K'tharn, shorter than most. They're kneeled much like Tipan is, though they have several items spread out in front of them and their head is bowed.

Rufka must've noticed my interest, cause she says, "Ah. Yeah, some come here to pray. Think being so close to the End'll make it easier for Astria to hear em. Carried to the sky on the mana-currents and all that."

None of us say anything as we watch the distant K'tharn for another few moments. They remain on their knees, their lips moving, but their words inaudible. As I turn away, realizing I'm basically spying on someone when they're trying to have a private moment, Tipan clears her throat.

Glancing over her shoulder in the direction of the palace, she says, "The view is… amazing from here. But as I mentioned, I would like to visit my mother."

"Right. We should do that," I agree, standing up and pointedly turning away from the K'tharn who's praying behind us. Which leaves me staring in the direction Tipan was glancing. The district just outside the World's End Palace.

While not as grand as the palace, even from here, I can tell it's better maintained. Well, better than the lower palace. Which… is kinda the mountain it's built into. Nevermind, not important. What is important is that we're walking towards this fancier section of the city.

And it's not just the better quality of care that tells me that.

As we get closer, the materials around us take on more interesting patterns. A bright red hide, striped through with orange is framed by nearly black bone on one side, while across the way, a building of yellow hide is suspended amongst bright green bonework. And their density… unlike many of the outer areas, the walls here feel solid to my mana.

Tipan continues to lead us forward, passing over where the channel leads to the courtyard surrounding the World's End palace and taking us down to a smaller cluster of homes with a single bridge leading to them. The end of the bridge is sealed with a steel and gold gate, guarded by a single K'tharn.

When they step forward, Tipan greets them, spending a moment talking before they let us by. The K'tharn's eyes flick over each of us as we pass, but goes back to their position next to the gate without mention.

Inside the gate is a small courtyard with small plots of carefully tended flowers planted in front of each of the dwellings. Tipan leads us to a dwelling whose flowers are a mix of light green and bright white. Glancing at the colours of the flowers in front of the other buildings, I can't help but notice this is the only one with any white flowers.

Tipan reaches out as if to push the curtain aside and stroll in, but then seems to change her mind, knocking on the frame next to the canvas flap. As we wait, I flick a quick inspection at the closest flower.

"Sky's Bloom."

"Chosen for their inherent bond to wind and water mana, these flowers are tended in many alchemists' gardens. Due to their finicky nature, they're rarely used as ornamentation. The sole exception is when a house gives birth to a Skyborne."

Well, I guess that explains why they're the only white flowers. Funny that they're probably there for Tipan yet she's not even her usual all-white self at the moment.

As we wait, I notice Tipan standing with her lower arms behind her back, tapping her thumbs together. A motion that would be completely out of sight of anyone within the pod-home. More of a pod-mansion, really, with its size. Upon closer inspection, I realize it's not just the flowers that set this home apart from its neighbours. It has twice as many trophies mounted above the door, a pair of monstrous skulls staring down at any guest.

Which I might have even found intimidating before everything that’s happened since we came to Akilo.

After more than a minute of waiting beneath the empty stare of those defeated beasts, Tipan turns to us with a frown. "I suppose mother isn't home."

"Do you want to come back later? Or just send her a message?" I ask, shifting slightly to move away from the empty gaze of the skulls. Even if they’re not intimidating, they’re still a mite creepy.

"It might be for the…" Tipan's eyes move past me, tracking someone behind me. The corners of her mouth tug up into a smile for a moment before settling back into a neutral expression.

"You! Who gave you permission to stomp about my den!" A deep voice calls from behind us. I turn just in time to see Ivicka bearing down on me.

4.06, Not Ivicka

4:33 pm, local time. (July 16, 2023, 8:33 pm.)

As the tiger striped K'tharn steps closer, the evening sun catches her fur and I realize there's no way this is Ivicka. For one, she's too short. Ivicka towered over… well, everyone. This K'tharn isn't even as tall as I am. Teanie tiny Ivicka, he he.

There’s an obvious family resemblance, considering the almost identical pattern of her fur. As I'm trying to parse what, or more accurately, who, I'm seeing, Tipan bows, taking a step forward to place herself between the K'tharn and the rest of us.

"Greetings. I have news of your daughter," Tipan says, reminding me that her mother wouldn't have much reason to recognize her.

And I'm sure that must be who this K'tharn is. Ivicka and Tipan's mother. Tipan hasn’t mentioned any more sisters and there’s not many other tiger striped K'tharn running around. And after our little tour today, I've seen thousands. Tiger-striped is very distinct.

Their mother folds all four arms across her chest at Tipan's words, squinting at her. "You're not one of the council's lackeys. Not from my youngest's Desh’ila either, I know those cubs. So… not terrible news, but I doubt it'll be pleasant. Alright, you can come in. I'll put on some tea and you can give me your news."

"Thank you," Tipan says, bowing slightly again, clasping her lower hands tightly behind her back as she does so. Is she always so formal with her mom?

Her mother just nods, stepping past us to the tight door flap, which lights up after a moment, the flap losing rigidity. Then she pushes inside and we follow. Inside, I halt, afraid to take another step on the immaculate floor.

We're greeted by a beautiful but austere wooden interior, a stark contrast to the outside. A pair of beautiful paintings hung in bone frames flank the hall past the entryway, but not a single other decoration occupies the space. Not even a shoe rack. Which kinda makes sense since K'tharn don't often wear shoes… but still. It's so empty.

Even as Tipan's mother is stepping towards the hallway, Tipan's form flickers, her brown illusion disappearing as she pulls off the ring Genitha gave her. "Mother."

The single word makes the woman hesitate. Thens she turns and looks Tipan over, her eyes scanning from head to toe. She takes a single step towards Tipan before her eyes flick towards Rufka then me. Halting in place, she smiles, though it doesn't reach her eyes. "Tipan. I'm glad you're home. We have much to talk about."

"I… yes, mother," Tipan agrees, inclining her head fractionally. “More than you know.”

"But first, I believe introductions are in order. Or do you intend to bring strangers into our home?"

"Sorry mother. This is my friend Rufka of clan Plethesa and this is Alexis of clan Everette. Alexis, Rufka, this is my mother, Tithan of clan Lithania."

"Nice to meet ya," Rufka says, stepping forward with her hand held out for a fist bump. I manage to keep from face palming as Tipan's mother gives Rufka's outstretched hand a once over, raising an eyebrow towards Tipan. Tipan isn't as successful as I am, her whole body slumping as she sighs.

"A pleasure, I'm sure," Tithan replies, tapping Rufka's fist with a single finger.

"We'll just wait here," I offer, hoping to extricate myself before Rufka and I ruin Tipan's reunion, but Tipan's mother shakes her head.

"Nonsense, you can join us in the Astrarium," Tipan's mother says, waving for us to follow her as she strolls down the hall.

Tipan doesn't immediately follow, glancing at us before stepping after her mother. Before she can say anything, her mother adds, "Best to let Outworlders feel as comfortable as possible."

I stop in place, narrowing my eyes as Tipan gasps.

"So, you did bring an Outworlder into my home," Tithan says, turning back to lock all four eyes on Tipan. We all stand there for a few seconds as Tipan works her mouth, but no sound comes out.

Finally, Tithan waves it off, moving away and stopping next to the first door down the hall. She pushes the door open, then turns back to look toward where we're all still standing. "Through here. Tipan, can you prepare the tea?"

"Of course, Mother."

"Aged daydrop, I think, dear."

Tipan only nods before stepping further down the hall while Tithan leads us into a room that is several steps lower than the hall leading in. The walls are mostly dark, displaying a starscape that's entirely different from the night sky I'm used to seeing on Akilo.

As I'm looking over the impressive display, Tithan says, "So, how did you turn my daughters against each other?"

"I… uhm," I close up as I turn back to where Tithan is glaring at me with her upper eyes closed.

While I'm trying desperately to think of what to say, Rufka replies, "Lexi didn't do anything. It was all Ivicka."

"I mean… I… Uhm." How exactly do you tell someone that you may have killed her daughter. Even as Tithan turns back to me after Rufka's interjection, I breathe a sigh of relief as Tipan comes back into the room with a small levitating cart. After a short Pause to consider how to respond to Tithan, I take the opportunity to switch topics. "That's a cool cart."

Smooth. Possibly the best redirection of my time.

"Thank you. It was a gift from the matriarch of Clan Tel'thost after I resolved the Zanbia incursion," Tipan's mother says as she waves a hand, several leather chairs unfolding themselves from an alcove next to the door.

I take one of the chairs and Tithan starts grilling Tipan with rapidfire questions, pressing her on where she's been, why she didn't message her, what did Ivicka do this time.

Tipan begins fielding her questions while pouring each of us a cup of tea, her words slow and deliberate.

Thankful not to be Tithan's focus, I listen, taking a sip of the honey flavored tea as I inspect the Astrarium's ceiling. There are faint lines running between the stars, illustrating the old constellations. Back when Akilo's sky had stars.

As Tipan begins telling her mother about everything Ivicka's done, my eyes return to them. Her mother's barely moved since Tipan began her story, only taking an occasional sip of her tea. It's only as Tipan reaches the end, explaining that Sel’dast is bound to her staff, and that Ivicka's dead, that Tithan speaks. "So, we won't be seeing your big sister for a while then."

Tipan blinks, turning to me, then Rufka, before finally looking back to her mother. "Mother, I… I don't think Ivicka's coming back this time."

Shaking her head, her mother gives Tipan a small smile. "This isn't the first time your sister's 'died'. It might take her a month or two to resurface, but I'm sure she'll recover. Only this time, I fear the Taken will be waiting for her."

Tipan's sharp inhale is followed by a shake of her head and a rueful smile. "Maybe."

"So, is this why you brought the Outworlder into my home? To tell me of my daughter's defeat at her hands?" Tithan asks, her eyes moving towards me. Yep, Tipan didn't spare her mother from the fact I was the one who maimed Ivicka so bad she blew herself up. Spared me from having to tell her though.

"Yes. No. I brought her here because she's my friend. And I needed to tell you. But… I didn't think I could do it alone," Tipan says, wringing her hands. I reach over, giving Tipan's shoulder a squeeze. Least I can do after she told her mom for me.

A smile stretches across Tithan's face at the same time, as she reaches forward and squeezes Tipan's hand, bringing it to rest. "It's hardly the first time your sister has died. And if somehow this is the last… Well, I've accepted that she'd change our world or die trying. My tears have all been shed. I'm just glad you're still well. And with hope for Sel’dast. I’m proud of you, dear."

I try to turn away as I see the moisture building in Tipan's eyes. And then she's hugging her mother, eliciting a 'woof' as she clasps her tightly.

Tithan chuckles while stroking Tipan's back. "You've grown a great deal in the last few weeks I see. At least that went according to plan."

Nodding, Tipan pulls back from her mother. "Like I said. A lot happened."

Releasing Tipan, Tithan pats down her fur before picking up the tea kettle and pouring herself another cup. Then she holds the kettle towards us, offering the rest of us another cup. Once finished she returns to her seat, shifting for a second until saying, "As I said, I'm just glad you're safe. Especially with all these Fallen running about in the streets. Using such monsters. I can't believe your sister was involved… hmm… actually, I can. It’s exactly the kind of over the top solution Ivicka preferred."

Tipan's grimace matches my own at that. Though likely for different reasons. I can't help but wonder how many of the Fallen are victims in all this. It's not like they asked to be twisted around and turned into soldiers.

"Not just involved," Rufka points out. "She was the user behind it. Her and Folthka."

"That is harder to believe," Tithan replies, shaking her head. "Folthka was always striving to make things better for the Aetherium. One of the only ministers I respected."

"I mean, technically, Folthka didn't want to create Fallen. Ivicka just stole her design," I point out, which earns me a frown from Rufka and a slight narrowing of the eyes from Tipan.

But they both nod, and Tithan gets a smirk on her face.

Then Tipan shakes her head, pressing on, "Mother, why are there Fallen patrolling the streets?"

Tithan doesn't answer immediately, instead standing and turning toward the tapestry of stars along the walls of the Astrarium. "You know the Aetherium once claimed the entire eastern continent? We protected our people as far north as the Frozen Wastes and to the southernmost shores of the Pelthian jungle."

"I don't…" Tipan says, turning to look to us as if we might understand her mother's tangent. I certainly don't know where she's going, so all I can offer is a shrug.

"We don't even protect the eastern reaches anymore. Our closest coast. We can hardly protect Aethire and the corridor to the west." Tithan turns back to us, her eyes passing over each of us in turn. "We're dying, Tipan. The Aetherium. The K'tharn. There are less of us each year. Less of us being given quests to have children. Did you know there are less than a million K'tharn in Aethire? Two centuries ago there were over ten. And over fifty a century before that. The System is killing us, one generation at a time."

"What? That… how come you never told me?" Tipan asks, her tea sitting at her side.

Tithan continues as though she didn't hear Tipan, her eyes distant. "Did you know I'd hoped that Ivicka would give me grandchildren? A Copper! And so young. She had the quests. But… she refused. We got into more than one argument about it."

Tipan nods, looking away. "I know."

"Uhm, not to be rude, but what does this have to do with the Fallen?" I ask, getting Tithan's eyes to focus on me.

"The Fallen are Minister Yelthen's solution. Though it sounds like they were Folthka and Ivicka's first." Tithan turns back to Tipan. "They might even help. For a few years."

"Uhm." Rufka says, drawing everyone's attention. "Mum says it's only the Aetherium having these problems. That it's your own…" she stops, shrugging instead of finishing.

Instead of pushing Rufka to finish, Tithan faces Tipan, asking, "How long are you home for? Should I prepare the guest rooms?"

"No, but thank you, mother. We have a place."

Ha, we could have rooms on both coasts and be home in time for dinner. Even as I'm thinking that, Tipan adds, "In fact, we have a lot to do today. We should probably be going."

Tithan seems flustered at Tipan's words, nearly dropping her cup before straightening it out. "So soon? You just got home?"

Tipan gives her mother a smile that doesn't reach all the way to her eyes, but she does reach across the cart and squeeze her mother's hand. "I'll be back soon. And we can take a walk through the gardens. With… some preparations, Sel’dast might even be able to join us."

"Oh. Oh good. That would be… Well, in that case." Tithan pushes herself to her feet, bowing slightly to Rufka and I. "It has been this matriarch's pleasure to meet you, Alexis of clan Everette. Rufka of clan Plethesa. May your Essence be varied and your Quests within reach."

Rufka and I mimic her bow, and repeat her farewell.

"Now, if you don't mind. I'd like to have a few minutes with my daughter before she leaves," Tithan requests, her lower eyes flicking towards Tipan who nods.

"Of course. We'll see ourselves out," I reply, pulling Rufka away by her elbow.

Once we're outside, I turn back, looking at the door.

"Huh. That went better than I expected," Rufka notes.

"Oh? What were you expecting? Another Ivicka?" I ask, elbowing Rufka.

"Kinda. Especially after seeing her." Rufka strokes her chin while staring back towards the building. "You notice how Tipan kept us out of her room? Didn't even offer a tour."

"And?" I ask, not sure what Rufka's implying.

"Well, how are we supposed to judge her bedroom if she doesn't let us see it?"

"Pretty sure I've never seen your bedroom either," I note, stepping away from the building, looking toward the setting sun. We were inside longer than I'd expected. But Tipan did end up telling her mother a lot of her story.

"Your bedroom is my bedroom," Rufka states, her arms slipping around me. "I don't need any more than that."

Looking over at Rufka, I can't stop the smile from creeping across my face as I lay my head on her shoulder.

As I hear Tipan opening the front curtain-door behind us, I whisper, "me neither."

4.07, World's End Palace

6:10 pm, local time. (July 16, 2023, 10:10 pm.)

Tipan's white fur is dappled with oranges and yellows from the setting sun as she steps out of her house, and the colouring almost reminds me of her mother. She has a half-smile fixed on her face and there's a slight stiffness to her movement as she joins us, but neither Rufka or I say anything. What would we say? Your mom’s nice, we should visit again?

Deciding that would be a good thing, I do say it.

Tipan smiles back, and thanks me.

Then to avoid further awkwardness, we turn away from her home. Directly towards Genitha. I knew she was coming closer, but somehow I'm still surprised to see how close she is. Benefits of being Copper rank.

Unlike Tipan, Genitha's smile feels full and genuine as she strides across the open area of the compound.

"Hey mum," Rufka says, her waving arms managing to shake me enough to almost cause me to stumble as her mother approaches. This could be considered a downside of being so close to Rufka, I suppose. Worth.

"Rufka!" Genitha exclaims, stopping a few feet away and reaching out to hug her daughter. Which catches me in the embrace as well.

Her mother's arms are strong, squeezing tight, and I'm reminded again of how much taller she is than her daughter. Which is exactly, not at all. Genitha's voice is warm as she releases us, "You didn't tell me you knew people in the Colmb district."

"We were visiting Tipan's mum," Rufka says, motioning over her shoulder.

Genitha's eyes flick between Rufka and I before settling on Tipan, her smile still warm. "This is your home?"

"It... was," Tipan says, with a slight nod of her head. I barely notice the way her voice hitches as Tipan continues, but it’s definitely there. "Anyway, we wanted to see the palace today, correct?"

"Yep. I want to see this courtyard you mentioned," I reply, accepting her choice to change the subject and starting us away from Tipan's home. This prompts Tipan and Rufka to start talking over each other about their favourite features in the courtyard one of which is a specially curated garden that the nearby vendors all use spices from for their food.

As we move towards the centre of the city, I listen, but my attention is drawn to the flows of magic running beneath our feet. As we draw closer to the palace, it becomes more noticeable. Just the street we’re walking down has more magic flowing through it than I might channel in a day. It's a little overwhelming. Like walking on a high voltage power line.

When we first arrive in the courtyard, I almost don't notice, I'm so lost in tracking the mana. But doing so leads me to stare directly at the… transfer point? Source? The spot where most of it passes through, at least. It’s a great stone carved with runes, standing taller than my old apartment building, an obelisk at least four storeys tall that dominates the centre of the courtyard. In a way, it reminds me of the standing stones. The glowing glyphs carved into its surface are certainly similar. But instead of a circle of complementing rune-carved stone, this Nexus stands alone. It would be a mistake to think that means it's less complex though. Even a cursory inspection has me amazed at the number of glyphs overlapping each other.

There are a pair of Fallen in the courtyard standing in front of the obelisk, one of them wearing a set of leather armour that looks like it was designed for someone much shorter than her. Her companion is more suited to a battlefield, her thick armour painted in dark colours and adorned with what looks like skulls. They don’t seem to notice us, which isn’t a total surprise with all the other traffic in the area.

My eyes wander away from the two Fallen as I take in the rest of the courtyard. There's several small waterfalls and a series of steps leading up to the obelisk itself. The walls surrounding the courtyard are made of white marble engraved with gold leaf. No magic running through that though. Pure ornamentation.

As we move through the courtyard, we pass the Fallen. I look back at them, finding both of them watching the crowd. They don't seem particularly threatening, but then again, they're Fallen. It's been a long time since I've been afraid of Fallen. Even if I hadn't had a shot of moonshine this morning, I'd probably be fine.

"What do you think?" Rufka asks, catching my attention. Her smile makes my breath catch for a second.

Then I lean forward, giving her a peck on the lips. "It's amazing."

Rufka's smile is almost as bright as the sun setting behind us as she sneaks another kiss. Then she glances over at the obelisk. "You'll have to tell me how it works when we get inside."

"Oh? You think I've figured it out already?"

Rufka elbows me, chuckling as she asks, "You mean the great and mysterious Lexi hasn’t?"

Shaking my head, I give her a half smile as I reply, "Not even close." Not that I'm not interested. And now that she’s basically given me an excuse, I pause time, taking notes for later examination. Considering what I learned from the standing stones, I can only imagine what secrets the obelisk in front of me holds. Especially once I compare it to my notes from the library.

After half a minute of real time, I've recorded everything I can from the obelisk. Which feels like nowhere near enough. There are depths I can’t reach with my current skills, buried under the complex web that makes up the surface.

Time to investigate it on the System side. As I connect to the Obelisk, I find most of the usual Nexus options, though notably it lists transport as restricted to Aetherium citizens. Which is different from System Citizens. Which would be inconvenient if I couldn't just teleport wherever I want. Or if being a Citizen didn’t seem to override the restriction.

Once I'm finished poking at the rather boring System functions of the obelisk, we take a short tour of the area. Genitha and Tipan work together as tour guides, coaxing our group into the first alcove on the side of the courtyard. They take us past a dozen different landmarks, each with a System message attached, describing their significance. Mostly incidents with mana-warped beast swarms or old incursion threats, uncovered by someone stumbling across a ship buried for centuries. At every landmark, Genitha informs us of how it actually happened, and what was changed to keep people calm. And Tipan explains how she was taught, which is completely different from Genitha and the plaques. It's rather entertaining, and Rufka and I remain as mostly passive observers, snuggling as we learn about the history of the Aetherium. All three versions of it.

After having gone through dozens of exhibits, Genitha and Tipan are arguing back and forth as Genitha leads us to an open food court though there's no real heat in it. But once Tipan realizes where we’re going, she interjects. “I know a better spot.”

There’s almost a note of triumph in Tipan’s smile when Genitha bows her head, allowing Tipan to lead the way.

She takes us to a hidden food cart parked along a narrow walkway that runs towards the top of the outer palace wall. There's a long line but I'm so relaxed, I’m able to just enjoy my time with Rufka as we listen to Tipan elaborate on the logistics of getting enough fresh meat into the city for the entirety of Aethire's sizable population.

Something Tipan's mother used to play a large role in before her most recent promotion. And apparently a lot of the rest of her family before her. It's nice to hear Tipan talking about Aethire. She's proud of the work her family's done here, and I can understand why.

When we're leaving the plaza, we come across a K'tharn who moves to block our path. She's short. And if not for the brace of daggers and unfamiliar symbol pinned to her bandoleer, I'd probably have guessed she was a child. Then again, maybe she is.

"Archmage," the K’tharn says, bowing slightly towards Genitha. Who just raises an eyebrow and steps to the side. I move to follow, but the K’tharn is already backpedaling, attempting to stay in front of Genitha.

"Archmage, I'm sorry to disturb you, but the K'mintar has requested your presence," the K'tharn manages to get out, all while shuffling backwards. That she does so without seeming awkward impresses me more than a little.

While I'm trying to figure out how exactly she's shuffling like that, Genitha asks, "And has the K'mintar forgotten the last time we spoke? She never did apologize."

The K'tharn doesn't miss a step, even when another pair of K'tharn come from the bridge, carrying a crate taller than they are and nearly walking into her. Instead, she just sidles to the other side of Genitha as she responds, "If you've spoken with the K'mintar, you know she doesn't apologize. You also know I can't go back to her until you agree to come with me." I can hear the frustration in her voice as she says that, her ears flicking forward as she closes her upper eyes.

"Hmm. You're correct. What is your name?" Genitha asks as she leads us onto the bridge.

"My name?" the K'tharn asks, stumbling for the first time as she narrows all four eyes.

"Yes. Your name."

"I am Kellica of clan Pelmor," she says through clenched teeth. "Now, if you could come with me, please archmage?"

"Kellica? That's a beautiful name."

"Uhm. Thank you?" Kellica says, clearly confused at this point. I'm already chuckling though.

"So, Kellica of clan Pelmor. You said that you can't return without me, correct?" Genitha asks, stopping as we reach the far end of the bridge, allowing Kellica to stop dodging other K'tharn.

Instead of answering immediately, Kellica stares at Genitha for a few seconds, as if trying to figure out what sort of trick Genitha’s playing. Then she nods slowly as she responds, "Yes. I can't return without you."

"It is unfortunate for you that we both know you can't force me to attend, isn't it? So, I suppose you had best inform your superior that you'll be going on a trip. Hmm. I believe two weeks shall suffice. If you perform well enough, I may even meet with your K'mintar," Genitha says, nodding as she reaches out and hands something to Kellica. "Meet my daughter here in two hours. Alone, please. No need for all your friends to join us."

As Genitha says this, she releases a wave of mana. It passes through the area in an instant. It slips right over my glamour, but it disrupts no less than twelve other K'tharn. All of whom jump as if they've been stung. Not that I don’t also jump at their sudden change. It would appear that the Aetherium's not-so-secret, secret police have been tailing us. I remember Rufka mentioning they'd trail persons of interest, but I didn't think we'd gather this much attention. They must really want Genitha.

Kellica's ears go flat as she crouches, all four hands reaching for daggers. So do several of the K'tharn who surround us. While I prepare to stop time, just in case, Genitha just raises her eyebrow at Kellica in response.

I have to stifle my chuckle when Kellica growls at one of the others, waving them closer. She steps away from us and we continue on our way. When we've made it to a familiar cross-street near Tipan's, Rufka turns to her mom. "Mum, why is she reporting to me."

At this, Genitha frowns. "If the K'mintar is trying to talk to me instead of sending someone to kidnap me... something serious is going on. And I'll need to talk to her. But not without some preparation."

"Okay... but that doesn't explain why she's reporting to me. She's just going to get in the way. I don't want a Taken following us around."

"Of course, you don't, kitten. But I forced her to follow you around anyway. Why?"

As Rufka narrows her eyes, I try to imagine what reason Genitha might have. Does she want us to befriend the Taken? Maybe learn her secrets? Does she want us to convince her to help us with something?

While I'm pondering, Rufka claps a hand over her face, dragging it downward over her eyes. Then she looks up at her mom. "You're kidding."

Genitha's smile gives me zero clue as to what Rufka's figured out.

Sighing, Rufka turns to me with her 'I'm sorry I stepped on your foot' smile. The one she used this morning when we were rising from bed. Morning's really not her best time of day. "So, I'm being punished."

"Ahem.”

"Sorry," Rufka rolls all four eyes, glaring at her mom for a second. "I'm being given an opportunity to learn a crucial life skill."

"Much better," Genitha says, squeezing Rufka's shoulder which earns her a grimace from Rufka. "And?"

Rolling her eyes, Rufka turns to me. "And I'd appreciate your help."

Genitha tilts her head to the side, regarding Rufka. "Not what I was going for, but... it's an excellent idea kitten."

"Mum, I'm not a kitten," Rufka complains even as she leans into Genitha's scratching behind her ears.

Trying not to let my smile show, and failing horribly, I clasp Rufka's hand in mine. "I'd love to help."

It's not like I was going to ignore the super spy that had been thrust into our lives anyway.

Besides, there’s absolutely no way this could all go wrong.

Nope. None at all.

4.08, The Taken known as

10:22 pm, local time. (July 17, 2023, 2:22 am.)

With a new companion joining us, we're not able to leave as I'd kinda been planning once we were finished with our tour of the palace. So, instead, we head to a late-night market. The same one that was overcrowded with Desh'mersa fans earlier. This time, when we arrive, the crowd is much calmer, though there's still a decent amount of themed trinkets for sale. Even a little hat that looks like a toque from home. Except the headwear has two little ear flaps on it. I suspect those are more functional than purely decorative like they'd be on Earth. I'm almost tempted to buy it for Rufka to see if it works.

Hmmm.

A few seconds later, I find myself talking with the owner of the stall. It costs me an entire Iron-rank shard, but I'm soon the proud owner of one Desh'mersa themed toque.

While I'm making my purchase, Rufka's eyes keep sweeping the area. On guard for Kellica, I imagine. Or other Taken. Either way, it makes it much easier for me to plop her new toque straight on her head. The jump and spin is almost as funny as the way she gasps when she realizes it was me.

She's not usually such an easy target.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up," Rufka says, reaching up to remove the toque.

But I step forward, tugging it down. Which earns me a pout, Rufka focusing her lower eyes on me. It's adorable, so I give her a peck on the lips and finish my adjustments. "There, all sports teamed up."

Her hands drift up to tug on the ears, and a few seconds later, I see the left one flick. Then the right.

It really is designed for K'tharn ears.

"Ugh. I hate these," Rufka says, reaching up to tug at her ears again.

"Well, I think it's cute. Indulge me for a while?" I ask, holding one of the earpieces out for her to get it fitted properly.

As if agreeing with me, Smoulder emerges from her pocket to leap directly atop Rufka's head. Rufka runs a hand down her face as Smoulder settles in, locking the hat firmly in place.

Failing to hide my smile, I turn away only to notice Kellica approaching. She's staring at Rufka, cause of course she is. Rufka's damn adorable.

Sliding my arm into Rufka's, I turn her towards the Taken agent. Rufka doesn't even flinch, smiling at Kellica as she approaches.

"What…" Kellica starts to ask but she trails off.

Not bothering to give her time to think about it, Rufka reaches a hand forward. "Since we're officially going to be working together, what should I call you? I'm Rufka."

Instead of taking Rufka's hand, Kellica stares at her headwear for another second. When she finally recovers, she states, with the most serious expression I've seen today, "You may use my agent name. The Darkest Arrow to Pierce the Night."

Thankful I was already laughing before she approached, so it’s not suspicious when I giggle again.

Rufka's even more amused than I am, given the way her eyes angle and mouth twitches. "Yeah... that's not happening."

"Fine. Then you may refer to me as Kellica of clan Pelmor," Kellica tries, finally realizing she's been ignoring Rufka's hand and reaching to shake it.

When they grasp hands, Rufka pulls Kellica forward a step. "Nah. I think I'll just call you Kell. That's okay, right?"

The Taken agent seems startled by Rufka's approach, but I'm still fighting back laughter, so I doubt I'm the best judge.

Rufka continues to interrogate Kellica about her expectations and skills while I sit back. Shortly after, it's revealed that Kellica's good at invisibility and... cooking.

Even as Genitha and Tipan are walking up from where they were shopping, Kellica is frowning at Rufka, her lip twitching as she says, "I'm serious. Look, put me in a kitchen with a three-elements burner and I'll make you the best Kultori you've ever had."

"Uhm. What's Kultori?" Rufka asks, glancing in my direction. Though I note she doesn't move her head much, keeping Smoulder properly balanced.

Responding with a shrug, I decide Smoulder needs some scritches. So, while Rufka turns back to Kellica, I float up just high enough to pet Smoulder. She leans into my hand as Kellica explains the dish, "It's a traditional mix of smoked condor meat, veltha root and spices served in a long-bowl. You've seriously never had Kultori?"

Kellica seems legitimately upset by this. More upset than when Genitha told her that she'd have to work for Rufka for two weeks to get a meeting.

In response, Rufka just shrugs. "Nope."

And with that she turns to me. "So, I guess we're not going back to Raz's."

"We're not?" I reply, my attention diverted from Smoulder as I look at Rufka, then over to Kellica.

"Don't really want to spoil the place by bringing a Taken there," Rufka explains, one of her hands coming up to tug slightly at the toque.

Personally, I'm not worried about taking her to Raz's. But I guess if Rufka doesn't want her there, we can always teleport somewhere else... or stay at Tipan's. As I look toward Tipan, she gives me a short shake of her head. Okay, not Tipan's.

"We can take her to Theria's," Genitha states, pointing with a carved object that has spinning bits on it. I'm not sure if it's an attempt at misdirection, cause she's pointing in a direction more south than towards where I’m sure Theria lives. At least, based off all the stories Rufka's told me. "In fact, that will work quite well. Perhaps we should arrange for Beth to meet us there?"

"I can just pick them up," I reply even as Genitha starts strolling in the direction she was pointing.

"At a later date, perhaps. We wouldn't want you getting exhausted," she says, turning her head just enough to wink at me.

It takes me longer than it should to realize she's trying to hide my capabilities from Kellica. For some reason, I feel at ease around Kellica. Hmm. Wonder if she has some special ability.

I narrow my eyes, staring at Kellica while trying to discern if there's any magic affecting me. But my mana-sense can't pick up anything. Not that I'm perfect. But even pausing time and inspecting carefully reveals nothing.

As insurance, I decide to attach an IFF tether to her. This way she won't be able to disappear without me knowing where she is. It'll make her easier to teleport anyway. Even as I'm establishing the link, Rufka is talking to the same merchant I bought her hat off. A minute later, she turns around, her grin stretched out to dangerous territory.

With a lightning-fast lunge, Rufka strikes, her hands bringing a warm fuzzy material down over my ears. As I recover from her assault, I reach up to discover a hat that I'm sure is much like her own. Rufka's face droops slightly as she looks at me, reaching up to play with one of the ears.

"Vaus' tits. I forgot... the ears.." Rufka says, stepping to the side.

Right. Cause I don't have any. But that doesn't mean they have to stay that way. It only takes a tiny amount of wind magic to fill the hat's ears. But I don't stop there, sending my new cat ears flopping in every direction. Including several that normal K'tharn ears couldn't pull off.

"That's just weird," Rufka states, pulling me in for a quick kiss. She plays with my hat's ear for a moment, trying to twist it away from me. We spend a few seconds playing tug of war with my hat-ear before Rufka chuckles. "But then, that's why you're not like any-user else."

Unable to keep myself from blushing, I look down to see that her lower hands are holding another of the hats. "What's the second one for?" I ask, using the hat as a diversion.

"Oh, right." Rufka turns toward Kellica, holding the hat menacingly.

Kellica just raises an eyebrow, taking the hat from Rufka and setting it on her head with a couple quick tugs.

I'm unable to hold in my laughter at the way Rufka goes slack jawed in response. She recovers quickly, nodding at Kellica as she paces around her, humming while rubbing her chin. Kellica just stands in place as Rufka continues her inspection. While they're doing that, Tipan returns from making her own purchase. She has a similar hat, though hers has a different team on it.

"Wanted to get in on the fun?" I tease, elbowing Tipan lightly.

"I did. Though I had to search to find one with the South Tribune's logo. They're not as popular here," Tipan replies, showing me the embroidered symbol of three triangles on a circle, all pointed down. "Cost twice as much, but it was worth it. I also got this." She holds up a ring with the same symbol.

"A ring? Didn't know they did rings," I reply, my eyes drifting over to where Rufka is searching through the vendors while Kellica stands just behind her. Pretty sure Rufka is trying to find something that Kellica will be embarrassed by.

"Not just a ring. It's a team spirit ring!"

Tipan's bold statement gets me to turn back to her right as she's slipping the ring on. There's a half second where the colour of her disguise flickers white, almost going out, but then it's replaced by a bright neon-pink and green combination. It's incredibly flashy. And it gets everyone's attention.

Including Genitha's.

"Okay kittens, I think that's enough playing around. We should get going."

Genitha's proclamation stops Rufka who was only two steps away from Tipan with a massive grin on her face. The grin fades as we turn to follow her mum. I slip my arm around her, and a bit of her smile returns as she gives me a quick peck on the cheek.

Genitha leads us towards the Edge, and while Tipan tells us about the Southern Tribune's great win four years ago, I receive a message from Rufka reminding me we shouldn't take Kellica back to Raz's and that her mum thinks we should go to Theria's. Sending her a confirmation, I follow Genitha into a small, abandoned cabin that's perched right at the edge. Once inside, everyone gathers in a circle. Except Kellica, who's standing off to the side, looking at an abandoned mirror that someone left behind.

"Who do you think-"

Kellica is cut off by Rufka who huffs out, "Get your sneaky ass over here."

Setting down the mirror, Kellica walks closer, her eyes darting around the room. "Why are we here? Is this location-"

Before I can get distracted, I pause time, using the moment to check, then re-check my spell. Then once I'm sure everyone is close enough, and everything is safe... I check it again. Twice.

Mostly sure of myself, I send us off to the Standing Stones. The same Standing Stones where we first arrived on Akilo.

The spell goes through without a problem, each of us arriving safe and sound.

I look out past us, and I can't help but smile when I see the giant dinosaur munching on leaves in the distance. My peaceful moment is ruined by the sound of Kellica losing her lunch.

Ah, well. Not everyone can handle nature.

A note from Draith

Oh. There's a discord server. Not too much going on there, but we have one.

4.09, Higher Heights

3:03 am, local time. (July 17, 2023, 3:03 am.)

While we wait for Kellica to recover, I continue to look around the clearing, dropping my glamour. The grass inside the circle of standing stones is still a lively green, but outside the stones, the grass has been replaced by a thin layer of snow. Guess winter's come to the Reaches. That doesn't seem to bother the Zanbia outside, it's long neck stretching to shake loose the snow from a nearby tree as it takes in another mouthful of covered leaves.

Leaves that I realize probably should've fallen by now. I guess trees handle snow differently here. Maybe they're magical?

Before I have time to investigate the nature of the trees, Genitha floats into the air, lifting us with her. Even Kellica, who hasn't recovered from the teleportation, is hoisted alongside us. Then we're soaring over the forest towards a spire of rock on the north side of the river.

Her spell doesn't interfere too much, and I'm able to analyze the tree the Zanbia is using for it's snack.

“Plant analyzed: Unnamed marcescen tree. Gene seed D. A tree with passing similarities to trees from Earth that uses mana to protect its leaves from the cold. It can be used for mortal and iron grade crafting. Resistant to ice magics. Grants limited resistance to ice-derived concepts. Makes excellent firewood once dried."

"Unfortunately, it's defences are useless against the Zanbia."

I was right! It does use mana. And it's resistant to ice! Ha! Point for Alexis, which leaves me at... I've lost count, but another point for me! Nature's probably still winning.

The journey to Theria's is smooth, and I lose myself in memories as I look over the region we arrived in a mere three weeks earlier. Special attention is given to the church. It was my first attempts to change things with my stoneworking powers... and it shows. Definitely going to have to revisit it. Maybe fix it up a bit. Oh, and check out the door.

My main focus though is definitely going to be fixing up the church.

The edifice that houses Theria's home soon fills my vision, and I'm brought back to the present. It's one of those stacks of rock that stick out of the earth. A... yeah, I don't remember the word. Atoll? Doesn’t feel right. I think.

Whatever the word, if this was Earth, I'd be worried about the whole thing falling over. But I can see traces of mana flowing out of vents along the sides of the tower. I wonder if the mana formed the tower. Like a volcano, but instead of tectonic forces, it's all earth and stone mana.

I haven't seen mana act like that on it's own. But maybe there's a creature or something? Maybe an earth elemental. Or… hehe, an earth worm. I'll need to ask Genitha later.

Speaking of Genitha and elementals, she's shouting something about the time Rufka lost all her fur on the right side of her body when she was a cub. Honestly, it seems Rufka's lost her fur a lot.

The tale continues, telling us of Rufka's decision to tame a fire elemental. And her refusing to give up just because she'd 'lost some fur'. I can't help but look over at her with a smile. But her ears are back and she's looking away from everyone. Overriding Genitha's spell, I float closer to Rufka and take her hand, giving it a squeeze. She shakes, then glances over at me. When she see me, Rufka squeezes back, her ears standing up.

Just in time for her mom to tell us that Rufka succeeded in taming the fire elemental. By letting her fur get burned off while spraying it with water. Repeatedly.

"What happened to it?" I ask Rufka, noting that I haven't seen a pet fire elemental.

"Squish is living in a mana-vent a few hours north of here," Rufka answers, her eyes gazing off into the distance.

"Squish?"

"I was five..."

"Still. Squish? Fire?"

Rufka just shrugs and I pull her closer to give her a quick peck on the cheek as I chuckle. Then we remain close as Genitha guides us in to land within a clearing halfway up the jagged tower of rock. It feels sturdier than the outside structure makes it look. And for some reason, despite having just spent a day in a city suspended by nothing but bone and magic, part of me is worried it could collapse at any moment. Maybe that's why, when Genitha sets us down, I continue floating just a touch off the surface.

Which is when Kellica turns to stare at me. Not sure if it's cause I'm floating or just cause I dropped my disguise. Either way, I just wave at her before following Genitha towards a blank wall. As I step closer, the wall shimmers and fades. On the other side is a valley that must fill the entire structure. In fact, it looks like it extends through several levels. On the sides are terraced plots, with all sorts of greenery growing on them. Unlike outside, they're completely unaffected by the winter cold.

It's much warmer inside the glimmering illusion that hides the valley, and I'm suspecting it does more than prevent a casual eye from noticing the small sanctuary.

Despite that, none of the stonework in the valley seems to have been crafted using magic, the crude blocks having visible mortar even near where we stand. Well, crude compared to the near perfect finish mana can achieve.

Genitha has us wait on a small circle of stone benches near the entry-illusion. After a minute, another K'tharn makes their way toward us. They're not flying. In fact, they're walking slowly. So slowly they take the time to pause to inspect one of the terraced fields next to the path before they continue towards us. Eventually, they reach the top, taking a moment to look us all over before stretching their arms wide towards Rufka.

Stepping forward, Rufka wraps her arms around the dark brown K'tharn, mumbling something. The only words I catch are 'good' and 'Theria'. Then they break their hug and Rufka begins introductions. And the K'tharn is indeed Rufka's friend Theria. As they continue talking, I notice that Genitha's usual levity is missing when she addresses Theria.

I'm not sure if she's being more respectful, or if it's something else.

No matter the reason, I decide it's not important. What's important is that Theria is giving us a tour of her place, pointing out the hard work she and her guests put in to her home. I feel kind of singled out when she says, "Everything here was built by hand, free of the System and Mana."

"You still use mana for your wards," Genitha notes, and I hear the same edge Rufka uses when she disagrees with someone, but doesn't want to completely call them out.

Something Rufka doesn't use on me. She tried it once after we'd been cuddling and I told her to just tell me what was wrong. And that's why I don't... actually, that's kinda private.

"Of course we use mana for wards," Theria says, not pausing. "For a lot of things. Mana is a tool to be used. But you know the valley's not just for growing food."

This seems to catch Kellica's attention, because she asks, "Then what is it for?"

At this, Theria smiles, showing enough teeth she could be challenging an old clan matriarch for domination of their clan. "Excellent question. What could a hidden valley where we don't use mana be for?"

Kellica starts answering, throwing out theories. My personal theory is that it's for people who just don't understand how awesome magic is, but there are people who abandon technology on Earth, and that's just as weird. Still, long as we don't have to stay here too long, I'm sure I'll be fine. At least they don't strip the mana out of the air. Even as I get lost in my thoughts, Theria lets Kellica talk, only humming in response. I can hear Kellica's frustration growing. And I can hear Rufka's soft chuckling.

I elbow her softly and Rufka messages me.

[Rufka] "Theria does this to everyone. It's like an initiation."

[Alexis] "She's not doing it to me."

[Rufka] "Cause you're my thiani."

I can feel my cheeks warming as Rufka pulls me into a kiss when she sends the last message.

We make it down to a central fire as Theria plays Kellica along. They're not just talking about mana usage, but the nature of plants and the meaning of life. Which somehow has something to do with a fruit that’s similar to mangos? Seems weird to me.

The fire is being tended by a chitinous creature with four legs, its upper body set in the middle of the legs. Like one of those cranes that unfolds for stability. It looks armed for war, the upper limbs boasting serrated edges and each of its joints having massive spikes. It turns its surprisingly soft-looking eyes towards us, blinking as we get closer. It's focused on me, I realize as we stop.

I give it a timid wave.

As if I poked it with a stick, the murder-bug jumps away. Then runs into a long low building not far away.

"Ah. You'll have to forgive Ckichik. He's had some bad experiences with mancers," Theria says, giving a small nod in my direction.

How did he... looking down, I realize I'm still floating. With a blush, I force myself to set foot on the packed stone surrounding the fireplace. Another person comes by, though they keep their distance from the burning fire. Which makes sense, given that they look more bark than flesh. In a way completely different from Theglia. I’d compare Theglia to a person who had bark for skin. Whoever this is, they seem more like a willow tree that happens to be able to use its roots to move.

They talk to Theria for a moment. At least, I think it's talking. It sounds more like wind blowing through the trees than any words I can pick out. But Theria responds in Vausian. "Thank you, Thistle. We have a mage here who might be able to help with your blockage in the morning, if you'd like."

There's some more rustling from the plant-person, who I guess is named Thistle.

"Very good. Tomorrow then." At this, the plant person bows towards Theria, then steps off to the side, still well away form the fire.

"Thistle has prepared beds for you. Genitha, tea?"

At that, Genitha nods, then turns back to us. "We'll talk in the morning. But for tonight, rest."

She and Theria go around the far side of the fire, leaving us with Thistle. She makes a warm sound and waves us to follow. At least, that's the best interpretation I can make of the way her fronds bend.

After guiding us inside a nearby lean-to, which is actually more sturdy-looking than the tower this whole valley is resting inside, Thistle waves goodbye. Left to our own devices, Smoulder emerges as I claim one of the bigger hammocks set in the shade of the lean-to.

Tipan grabs the hammock next to me, which causes Rufka and I to look at her. But she's already turned over, pulling her floppy hat over her eyes.

Kellica takes the hammock on her other side, her eyes fixed on us as she settles down. Her glare is undercut by the fact she's still wearing her hat from earlier. In fact, we're all still wearing our hats. Pulling mine off, I stop as Rufka pouts at me. Rolling my eyes, I put my hat back on, then settle in. But it's not that easy.

"What are you?" Kellica asks.

"Me? I'm an elvenoid, can't you tell?"

"Not that. Your class. I can't read it."

This gets Tipan's attention as she pulls the hat away before sitting up. "You can read classes? Isn't that... right. Taken."

"What?" I ask.

Tipan shifts enough to smile our way as she responds, "The ability to read classes is restricted. Which clearly the Taken aren't affected by."

"Wait, so you can read their classes?" I ask, tilting my head as I stare at Kellica.

Instead of answering, Kellica squints at me, closing her upper eyes. Then she shakes her head and leans back.

But Rufka's not having that. "Hey, Lexi asked you a question."

"Yes. I can see your class, Astra's Chosen," Kellica answers, turning to Rufka. "Yours and the Summoner’s. But your thiani's is just a bunch of nonsense symbols."

"Cause she's special," Rufka states, pulling me tight against her.

"Uhh. Astra's Chosen sounds pretty special," I note, looking at Rufka.

"It is," Tipan says, staring at Rufka. "There's only ever one Astra's Chosen."

"It's not that great. Not half as useful as being a Summoner," Rufka says, waving Tipan away.

Kellica comes closer, sitting on Tipan's hammock, which Tipan grumbles at but otherwise just pulls her feet to the side. "It's pretty strong. But not specialized. It basically guarantees you'll get a truly unique class if you can progress it."

"Tell you what. You tell us your class, and I'll tell you mine," I offer, crossing my arms and staring at Kellica.

"Wait, really?" Kellica glances between us. "Just like that?"

"It's just a class name," I say, shrugging.

"Yes... but..." Kellica squints again, looking between us.

"Look, you're going to be spending the next two weeks with us. And I doubt we'll be sitting still for most of that. Knowing more about each other is going to be important," I say. I don't mention that my class's name isn't going to tell her anything about me she doesn't already know.

Her fingers curl into fists before straightening out while Kellica looks away. Finally she balls them up, turning to look directly in my eyes with her lower ones. "Fine. I'm a Venom Aurancer."

She sits there with her hands curled into balls, like she's expecting us to attack her.

"Huh. Neat." Not sure why she's so tense.

"Really?" Tipan asks, making Kellica twitch. Then Tipan reaches over and takes Kellica's hand. "That must be tough."

Whatever reaction I expected the Taken agent to have to Tipan's comment, I did not expect her to start crying.

Guess sleep's going to wait.

4.10, How Do You Like Them Poisoned Apples

3:16 am, local time. (July 17, 2023, 3:16 am.)

In the hammock just in front of Rufka and I, Tipan holds Kellica as the Taken agent wipes her eyes. Her tears didn't last long, but she seems embarrassed that we saw them, if the flatness of her ears is anything to go by. Or maybe she's angry we saw. Could be both. Either way, she's not shrugging out of Tipan's arms, so I'm sure she'll be okay.

"Sorry," Kellica says, looking at Tipan. "That's... no one's..."

Tipan just nods as I look to Rufka in confusion. Rufka's shrug isn't very helpful. But it does prompt Kellica to say more. "Venom mages are... it's assumed we're all evil. Even in the Taken, those with a Venom class are shunned."

"And they'd all know," Rufka states, nodding in understanding.

"Worst part is the Taken insist that some of us become Venom Aurancers. The K’mintar made it sound like an honour," Kellica spits, then she shakes her head. "Anyway. I'm sorry, I... think I need to get some sleep."

"Didn't you want to know about my class?"

Kellica pauses, her hand on the pole holding Tipan's hammock in place as she looks back at me. Then she shakes her head. "It can wait till tomorrow."

With that Kellica returns to her hammock, her back towards us. As I turn away, I notice her take the hat Rufka bought and hug it in her arms.

I do the same, except instead of a hat, I pull Rufka close. Wishing her goodnight as Smoulder settles atop us, I pass into sleep the moment I've leaned back.

I wake to terror and flames.

Rufka is lying next to me, screaming as half her fur burns away. Tipan's lying metres away, picking herself up as she looks around. I follow her cue, pausing time as I search for our attacker. I'm not able to see anyone. The only people here are the same people who went to bed last night. Kellica is struggling to get free of her hammock as the lean-to burns above us.

At least that's easily dealt with. A minor flex of mana douses the flames.

When I drop out of pause, I slip down next to Rufka, who's screams pierce me to my core. I want to pull her close to me... but the burns along her side are-

Before I can process what’s happening, Rufka stops screaming. She's still burned, but now she's just shaking her head. Then she smiles at me. Which isn't quite as charming as normal, what with the melted flesh. "Well, that was unpleasant."

Then she slumps down.

I just about have a heart attack, preparing to teleport her directly to Roberts when white light washes over her body. When the light fades, she's coughing, but the burns and melted flesh have all returned to normal. I kneel down, tentatively touching her, just to confirm she's okay. And thanking whatever just happened that she's not pained by my touch.

"Well. That was unpleasant," Rufka notes, trying to give me a smile. But it's broken by another cough. "Remind me not to poke you when you're sleeping."

...

"What?" I ask, my face going cold. "Are you... I did this? To you?"

"It's no big deal. I'm fine. See? My fur’s back and everything." Even as she's speaking, her fur starts filling in. Leaving her just as I saw her before bed.

"How... what... how..." despite all my supposed Intellect, I'm unable to process Rufka's response to what just happened.

"That's some impressive healing magic. How'd you do that?" Kellica asks while stomping on a small ember I missed.

"One of mum's tattoos. Required the blood of a trugunta, I think? Only works once a day, but it's pretty great, right?"

Kellica nods in agreement while I'm still fixated on the source of this mess. Me.

There's a conversation in the background as I wander away. I'm halfway out of the valley before a hand lands on my arm. It's Rufka. I flinch away from her.

Immediately, I regret it, her eyes widening at my response. Then she shakes her head. "First time blowing up your thiani in your sleep, huh?"

That manages to get my attention.

"You say that like you've done it too," I observe, still not trusting myself to get too close to her.

"Not me. But Dhanni did it to me three times before she got used to sleeping next to someone."

"This never happened before," I point out. "Not with us. And I didn't wake up throwing spells. I woke up to you screaming."

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

"Are you... Apologizing for screaming after I burnt half your face off?"

"Yep. I normally have better control. You just surprised me."

"Rufka. That's... That's not normal."

"I know! I'm just that awesome!"

At this point, I can't stop myself from face-palming. On the plus side Rufka has somehow made me feel better about setting her on fire. Guess she really is that awesome.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you," I say, giving her a long side look.

"Did what? Got blown up by you? Total accident," Rufka says, all four of her hands interwoven behind her head.

This time, I decide to poke her. Just to see if she'll explode. But the only explosion I get from her, is an explosion of laughter. Probably for the best.

When I look around, I realize we've walked all the way to the outer edge of the valley. I can see the smoldering remains of the lean-to. And Tipan and Kellica working to set up a new one. Without using magic.

"We should probably help," I suggest, gesturing at the others.

"Probably. Let's walk instead," Rufka says, turning along a path that runs along the upper rim of the valley. And then ignoring it as she leaps to the top of a stone post. Then to a wooden railing that shakes under her as she glances back at me.

I smile at her, embracing the challenge of following in her wake. Without using magic. A task that would’ve been impossible to do three weeks ago. Before I've landed on the log behind her, she's shot off, leading me around the rim. And then Smoulder's running beside us. She doesn't follow Rufka's trail, making her own way. I don't use magic as I follow behind, counting on my increased attributes to carry me.

For all of a minute.

Smoulder and Rufka keep having to stop to wait for me, so I start cheating. Just a little. A slight lift with wind manipulation while dancing across a field of rocky outcroppings. Making the mud patch grip my foot so I can't slide off the slimy log. And whisking away the water covering the top of a rock in the middle of a stream.

We've circled the valley twice before Rufka changes tack, and turns it into a game of tag.

This time I have to cheat to even get close to her. And once I've finally tagged her, she calls a timeout by drawing me into a kiss. One that's interrupted by Smoulder landing on my head.

"Feel better?" Rufka asks, resting her head on my shoulder. "Not afraid to hold me, right?"

"I... no, I guess not," I reply, realizing she'd managed to make me use my magic just to catch up to her. And now I was holding her like I hadn't just...

"It was an accident, Lexi. These things happen when users get sudden spikes of power. And we've had lots of those lately. We just need to be prepared. We need some healing talismans. Maybe mum has extras. Or we can go shopping for some. I've got a bunch of shards left over. Not like I need them for attributes."

I'm unable to respond, my throat tight as I rest my head on Rufka's shoulder, matching her stance. Which sets Smoulder tumbling. She looks up at me, but instead of the indignation I expect, I can feel Smoulder's worry.

It makes me smile as I release Rufka, kneeling down to apologize to Smoulder. "Sorry, Smoulder. Set something on fire I shouldn't have."

Smoulder sends me reassurance. I don't think she understands why, but she knows I'm upset. And that's all that's important. Yet somehow, her action jogs loose the memory of when I'd woken up to her trying to burn down our room. And failing utterly to hurt me.

Rufka kneels down next to me, holding a snack for Smoulder. Smoulder accepts her tribute, and I can feel her smugness return as Rufka fawns over her.

While Smoulder and Rufka continue to play, I hop down to the lean-to, copying Rufka's earlier leaping. I do it poorly, but flying feels wrong here. Or maybe I'm just not in that much of a hurry.

Either way, I arrive to find Tipan and Kellica have already sorted out the remains. As I step closer, Kellica looks at me with a smirk fixed in place as she says, "I guess I should've asked for your class name if this is what happens when you keep things pent up."

Tipan barks out a laugh, covering her mouth as she looks to Kellica. Who, I realize, is wearing the hat from last night.

"You know," I start, kicking lightly at a piece of charred wood that escaped most of... whatever happened. "You might have a point there."

That stops Kellica's grin.

I can't fight the smile as I turn to her, arms spread wide. "After all. I am a Cataclysm Seed!"

The way her eyes narrow as her jaw tightens up almost makes up for not having a place to sleep for the rest of the night.

Right as Kellica is about to respond, a stray ray of light breaks into the valley, causing her to turn away swearing. When I look to the source, expecting to maybe see Rufka or Genitha, I instead discover that the eastern wall is a mosaic of crystal, with each part of it directing light to different parts of the valley. Where Kellica has been standing would've been the side of our lean-to. And based on the way the light is striking some of the other buildings, it was probably supposed to function as an internal light source. The design is really cool. And would be super impractical if you couldn't form custom mirrors with a wave of your hand.

Even as Kellica is recovering, I begin playing with creating a light tower to scatter the incoming beam of light. I get a little lost in the process, forgetting entirely that we're not supposed to use magic here. Until a hand lands on my shoulder.

Looking up, I find Theria staring at me with her right eyebrows raised. Then my eyes drift to the tower I've erected where the lean-to once stood. It's already a dozen meters tall. Maybe more.

"Sorry, got carried away," I say, stretching out to take the tower back down. But Theria's grip on my shoulder tightens, stopping me.

"It's quite alright. Using magic for art is one of the few uses I encourage here."

Looking at the tower, I tilt my head to the side. I suppose it could be considered art. The pair of Smoulder statues at the base were the only real flourish I put into the tower though. The rest was mostly just playing with different ways I could reflect the light. Turns out that when you can generate pretty much any metal, stone or other mineral, you can make lots of different reflective surfaces.

Which is good. Cause I have zero idea how mirrors were made back on Earth.

"Your mum wanted me to remind you that you need to pick up your companions for a meeting," Theria says, and for a second I'm confused. My mom shouldn't be anywhere within a hundred lightyears of us. Then I realize she's talking about Genitha.

"She's not my... I'm not even a K'tharn," I mutter.

"She's already calling you her kitten. You might as well accept it," Theria says, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "I've rarely met a woman as stubborn as her." As she releases me, she gets a far off look in her eye as she mumbles, "Or one so vigorous."

If I wasn't embarrassed before, I am now. I let Rufka know I'm going to collect the others through a quick text, and with only the minimum triple checks to ensure safety, I teleport away.

Arriving beneath the tree of Nexus point 392, I take a moment to ready myself. Then I access the Nexus, calling for Raz's door.

When I step through, I'm greeted by the familiar sound of Raz's guitar. Then, as I'm turning towards our table, I'm stopped by a familiar bug. The same one who's been bumping me every time we've passed each other.

I'm not familiar with his species body language. But I feel that having several friends around him, all with their weapons drawn and pointed in my general direction indicates some level of hostility towards me.

Not exactly the welcome I'd been expecting.

4.11, Tabled Meetings

9:11 am, local time. (July 17, 2023, 9:11 am.) Three seconds after meeting big and ugly, face to face.

Thanks to my ability to pause time, I have more than enough time to start building up three different levels of hurt. Then I take a look around. There are a lot of people here. I can't exactly unload. As I'm inspecting the scenario further, I realize most of the other bug people aren't with big and ugly.

Their eyes are locked on the door.

When I allow time to resume, the bug person barks something at me I don't understand. We stand there for a moment. Then he takes a swing. Hasting myself lets me easily dodge out of the way with a blast of wind magic. But he manages to catch me across the face with one of his outstretched hands, shaving off a few Health.

Throwing up a basic shield, I toss out a crackling arrow of lightning which only causes him to stutter for a second before reaching forward and smashing straight through my shield to knock me down to half health.

I'm about to conjure a wall of titanium when the tentacled waitress, Amanana, shows up, waving a pair of tentacles in the bug person's face. Who spits more of the sharp hisses and clicks back at her.

Then she turns to me, my arm already coated in a thick layer of titanium. "Terribly sorry about that, Alexis. There's been some trouble and Raz has needed to..." she trails off, glancing at the bug people behind her. "Tekill's being overprotective. Not everyone's been as polite as they should be. And… he might have a thing against elvenoids. Raz will compensate you for the trouble."

"It's fine," I say, though I glare at the bug-man. Still, I understand she's not responsible, so I follow her towards our table. Where I'm surprised to find everyone waiting for me. They're not even facsimiles generated by the table. Because for some reason, they're not sitting at the CMCC System table.

And when I get closer, it's apparent they're arguing.

Which thankfully, Roberts explains in a single sentence, though its directed at Beth, "we don't have a choice. You read the System notification. The table's been confiscated."

"I... Oh, hey kid, when did you get here?" Beth asks, glancing over from where she's squeezing the edge of the replacement table.

"Uh. Just arrived. Feels like I missed something. What happened to our table?"

Beth turns away, but I can hear her grinding her teeth as Roberts answers, "The System said the table had been confiscated. By order of someone named Doloth, in accordance with some Creator mandate. You didn't get the notification?"

"Not so much, no."

"That's okay, I didn't get a notification either," Rose says, leaning forward on the table from his spot next to Josh. It's a little hard to take him seriously, he's just so cute. He's even got his fur done up in little braids along either side of his face. Stop it Alexis, he’s a person, not a collectible.

"We've established that your System's not working right, though," Josh observes. "The rest of us got the notification. I wonder why-"

I hold up my hand as I feel a notification pop up.

"By order of Doloth, the CMCC has been confiscated, under Creator mandate KED-717. As this was a reward for a System Citizen quest, compensation has been determined to be ten iron-rank integration points.”

“Or one of the System generated options of similar value, claimable at any System Nexus."

"Wow. Only ten integration points?" I ask, reading the notification again.

"Yeah. But you should read what the 'equivalent options' are," Josh says, unable to keep the grin off his face.

Raising an eyebrow, I pop open the linked list. The very first choice in the list is a plus ten to physical Edge. Not Health. Physical. And the choices get stranger from there.

"What the hell is plus one-hundred resistance to System influence even supposed to mean?" I ask as I sit down at the end of the table.

"What? Did anyone understand what Alexis just said?" Beth asks, waving her arm in my direction.

"I said-" but that's as far as I get before Beth holds her hand up. "Don't bother. I won't understand you anyway. This is what I'm talking about. First it takes the table away. Now it won't let us discuss our options. Doesn't that seem strange?"

Roberts steeples his fingers, tapping then against his chin as he meets Beth's glare. "Strange. Yes. But you didn't say strange. You said it was attacking us."

Beth continues glaring at Roberts for another few seconds before slumping down in her chair.

Even as she's doing so, I've already selected the plus one-hundred resistance to System Influence. Cause I'm pretty sure that's what just happened. And I suspect it's not each other that the System is trying to keep us from informing.

As I expected, the resistance doesn't show up on my Status.

"Right. So, losing the table sucks," I say drawing everyone's attention. "But Genitha's got those dungeon locations you wanted."

"Finally, some good news. That's what she wants us to meet about?" Beth asks as she accepts a glass of blue juice from Amanana.

"Yep. I was just supposed to swing by to pick you guys up. But it seems like there's been some excitement on this end."

"Not as exciting as going to Aethire. What was it like?" Rose asks, popping the question immediately after being handed his own drink.

"Uhm. Pretty cool. I'll tell you about it later. Everyone's kinda waiting on us."

"The kid's right. Let's get moving, people. We can... I guess we can't talk about the table later. Fuck. Whatever."

Beth slams her drink back, leaving the glass to wobble on the table as she pushes out of her seat. The others follow suit, finishing their own drinks, though none in quite as dramatic a fashion.

Before I know it, we're back at the exit. Amanana is there as we leave, ushering us past the guards as she says, "Uhm. If the next time you try to connect, it doesn't go through, wait a few minutes then try again. We're aware of the issue and we're working on it. Okay, bye!"

Before any of us can respond, she's gone, disappearing behind the wall of bug flesh and chitin.

"Well, that's not worrying. First the bar fight, then the table, now Raz's itself," Roberts says, shaking his head as we step out amongst the roots of Nexus Point 392.

"Plus we haven't seen Raz since this all started," Josh points out.

"Are you sure Aethire was more exciting?" I ask Rose as everyone takes their positions around me.

"I mean, I didn't even get to see the bar fight. Heard Beth just about killed a few people though," Rose replies with a shrug.

"They were fine. Just a few broken bones. And they started it. Should've left me-" Beth's words are lost to whatever lies between spaces as I complete my preparations and we appear in the clearing at the edge of Theria's valley.

Didn't feel right teleporting them to the center of the valley, so Rufka is waiting close to where we arrived. Three of her. Two of which I'm able to determine are just glamours. When I pull the real Rufka close without a second's hesitation, she pouts for a moment before saying, "Welcome back. Mum's waiting with Theria." To me, she adds in a low voice, "you could've at least played along."

Booping her nose, I can't help but give her a kiss on the cheek as she wiggles her nose before I respond. "Beth'd probably kill us if we mess around too much right now. Sorry."

"Ah," Rufka says, glancing over at where Beth is arguing with Josh in hushed tones. I can't help but notice that they haven't held hands once since I showed up.

Still, that's not my place. They're adults. I'm sure they have a better idea of how to handle their relationship than I do. My last relationship ended with my boyfriend cheating on me, after all.

Genitha is waiting for us in a small clearing near the firepit. Far enough away that my ruinous moment of the night before is out of sight. Or maybe they've just covered it up already. The clearing has three small stone tables set to one side, each with three seats. As we arrive, Theria walks around, handing out cups of tea and lightly spiced meat crisps while Thistle directs us to our seats with her leafy fronds.

It's a little weird, being instructed where to sit when the setting otherwise feels so casual. But since I'm sitting between Rufka and Tipan, I don't feel like I have room to complain. I feel bad for Roberts being placed with Josh and Beth though. Even as we sit down, they continue arguing. Until Roberts switches places with Rose.

That manages to quiet them, right as Theria finishes handing out the tea. Then she and Thistle disappear into the house. Which leaves us at the three tables, each with three people looking inward to a central point. Genitha is flanked by Roberts and Kellica as she turns to Beth, who is likewise sitting in the central, and now that I'm looking, higher seat.

Checking my own chair, I'm able to confirm that the middle chair is the highest chair at all three tables. Did Theria do that on purpose? If so, why would she give me one of the high seats instead of Roberts?

Before I can ponder it more, Genitha clears her throat, then takes a sip of her tea. As soon as she does so, I notice Rufka tense up beside me, clenching my hand so tight that she manages to knock a few points off my Health. And that's not as easy as it would've been two weeks ago. Heck, even the bug knocking off half my health probably would've killed me then.

A message from Rufka informs me to take a sip from my tea. Immediately.

Confused, I do as instructed. It's a pleasant blend, and if Rufka hadn't insisted I take only a single sip, I might have had a longer draw. Scratch that. I definitely would've had more.

Instead, I place my cup down after my single sip and turn to Beth. She's staring at Genitha. Then she looks at the cup. Then back up to Genitha.

"Okay. What the hell kind of game are you playing?" Beth asks, picking the cup up and taking the long draw I denied myself. She's also asking a question I'd like answered. When I message Rufka about it, she informs me it's a ritual of Theria's. And not knowing the ritual is part of the point. Technically, she wasn't supposed to advise me about anything.

But she's never seen her mother take the ritual seriously before. And that's set her on edge.

While I'm getting all this from Rufka, Genitha takes another sip of her tea. Then she offers meat crisps to Roberts and Kellica. After accepting the snack, Roberts takes a single sip of his own tea. As does Kellica. Again, I mirror Genitha's actions. Though I take a longer sip of my tea. It's damn good. And I offer both Rufka and Tipan the meat crisps but take two for myself. Rufka and Tipan both play along, copying me.

Meanwhile Beth leans back and crosses her arms, throwing a meat crisp in the air before catching it in her teeth. Then she places them on the table, in ready reach of Josh and Rose, saying, "Dig in."

Unlike Beth, Josh and Rose pick up on the mood Genitha is setting. Instead of following Beth's example, they follow... Mine.

What?

But as I replay their actions in my head, I confirm it. They followed my lead instead of Genitha's. Or Beth's. Longer sips. Two meat crisps each.

While I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, Genitha starts a third round. This time, I don't wait for Roberts and Kellica to mirror her. I copy her with small variations of my own. And before Beth has done anything, everyone else moves to follow me.

Which is when I pause time. Cause seriously.

What in Vaus' name is going on here?

I interrupted so Genitha wouldn't think I was trying to upstage her. Then everyone copied me. Why? Are they seeing something I don't?

When I ask Wyonna, she's as lost as I am. And Rufka can't help during a pause. I still send her a message, and wait anxiously as everyone sets their tea down and looks to Beth.

Beth looks around at everyone. Then she looks at me. The smile that stretches across her face is so wide and genuine it shocks me. Then she turns back to Genitha. "So. I'm guessing the kid passed?"

Genitha inclines her head slightly. Barely enough I'd call it a nod.

"Fuck... This is another of your jokes, isn't it? But one with consequences,” Beth demands, pointing a finger at Genitha.

At this, Genitha cracks the smallest of smiles. But otherwise only inclines her head in that narrowest of nods. Definitely feels like she's messing with Beth.

"And I screwed myself cause of my impatience, didn't I? The dungeon has some kind of special condition?"

At this, Genitha's facade completely cracks as she smiles widely, shaking her head. "So stubborn. Saw right through the problem, but assumed it was designed to be the test, instead of preparing you for the future."

"Better ways to prep people," Beth says, shaking her head. "But this is your world, so I'll play along. What're the consequences?"

"You won't be able to enter the first dungeon I picked out for you. The others have chosen Alexis as the leader over you."

"Wait, what?" I object, slamming my chair back. She... did she just say they... no.

"Vaus' tits," Rufka mutters as she stares at her mum. "You got the location of Elementalist’s Peak?"

Before I can ask Rufka what she's talking about, Genitha returns her daughter's gaze, giving her a gentle smile. "I did. And you have the opportunity to go. All seven of you do."

"Wait. Does this mean I might not have gotten to go if Beth had been chosen?" I ask, glancing over at Beth though I'm still trying to get over being chosen as a leader. That's... weird, right?

"No. If at least two people had followed your lead, you could enter as a team of three. I'll admit, I was tempted to keep Rufka and Kellica at my side to give myself a chance as well. I certainly didn't expect you to swing the Taken."

Kellica mumbles something into her cup, but I'm unable to hear her words. Genitha reaches down and ruffles Kellica's hair before turning back to us.

"I have the list of other dungeons for you. But Elementalist’s Peak is on a time limit. You need to reach it in the next three days or your chance to enter will have passed for the next decade."

"Wait," Rufka interrupts. "Theria's been having us do this ritual for years. Did she know where Elementalist’s Peak was this whole time?"

When Genitha turns towards the house, her upper eyes are closed as she sighs. Then she turns back to her daughter. "I believe so. There are many things she refuses to talk about. You know that."

"Not like you," Rufka says with a shake of her head.

"Oh. I have a few secrets. I don't tell you everything."

"Mum, you told me your favourite..." Rufka stutters to a stop as she slowly rotates to look at the rest of us before adding, "uhm, spells."

The way Rufka glances in my direction, I get the impression that's not what she was going to say. Genitha's deep bellied laugh further reinforces the thought, but before I can wonder what she meant, Beth says, "So, you have the other dungeon locations for me then?"

"I do. Why don't you and Alexis join me and I'll share them with you?"

"Mum, behave," Rufka says, kissing the top of my head before waving me away.

Which leaves me confused as I move to Genitha's table. And a little nervous when Genitha throws a barrier up around us. Nervous enough, I reach for a sip of Rufka's moonshine. Only to find the flask she gave me is empty.

As I sit under a magical barrier with Beth and Genitha, sealed off from everyone else, I can't help but feel a chill run up my spine. Did we really need to seal ourselves off to talk about the Peak?

Then Genitha turns to me with a smile, squeezing my shoulder. And a moment later, Beth does the same. "Good job, kid. That should keep them from asking questions."

"Uhm. I don't know about that. Cause I have a lot of questions," I reply, looking between Genitha and Beth. "Like, what was that? What does drinking tea have to do with going to Elementalist's Peak? Why did you put me in the leader's role?"

"That... was all theatre. There's no restriction on the Peak. And the barrier is... well, to hide the real reason I won’t be going into the next dungeon with you," Beth says before placing a book on the table in front of me. A book I saw on Ivicka's shelf shortly before she blew herself up. I only caught a glimpse of it at the time, but now the cover is laid out in front of me.

A single-eyed-being stares out from the cover, with the words 'Reaper's Guide to Breaking the System. Notes and Translations by Ivicka of clan Lithania,' below its gaze.

Damn. Now I want that moonshine even more.

4.12, Forbidden Knowledge, Denied

10:09 am, local time. (July 17, 2023, 10:09 am.) Just after having Beth and Genitha drop the anti-System book on the table.

Staring at the book, I tear my gaze away from the single-eyed-being on the cover, only to shift it to the two women who sealed me inside the magical dome with it.

"What... why... I don't..."

"Look, kid. We didn't want to have to drag you into this-"

"Yes, you did," Genitha interrupts, tapping her chin while smiling at Beth. "You insisted she should be here."

Beth blinks twice before turning to Genitha with a frown. "You're not going to let me do anything my way today, are you?"

The answering grin on Genitha's face tells me that Genitha is totally going to interfere with Beth every chance she gets. Beth's choice of swear words kinda implies she agrees with me. Also, I'm pretty sure that without magic, doing that with a pepper shaker would be impossible.

Shaking her head, Beth turns to me. "Okay, I did want you here. You and Wyonna."

I sit, attentively listening as Beth takes me through what she's found in the book. And... it's a lot. Like, some of it we already knew, such as the Forerunners and the Phothens fighting against the System. But there are other factions listed, such as the Reapers and the Reavers. Who are different.

It also spells out ways to play different parts of the System against itself. Specifically the Creators and their Chosen. Their disagreements are what leaves cracks in the System. Or so the book claims. There's plenty of trouble in paradise, it seems.

There's also a few sections that seem to be written in code. And others where the words are obfuscated. Blobs of grey on the page that resist my attempt to read. And Beth and Genitha's. But for them it's even harder to read. I can at least tell there are words behind the blobs of grey.

"See, this is why I thought you should join us, kid," Beth says as we look at the first of the blobs. "It just looks like a blank page to me."

"Hmm. Powerful Illusion magic. Or possibly Mental. I wonder why you can see through it when we cannot," Genitha ponders, tapping her chin as she runs a finger through the grey blob. It kind of looks like she's running her finger through the world's most disgusting pudding.

Blinking, I prepare to inspect the blob using Focus. But then I reconsider. Would that alert the System? And if so... which part of the System?

Luckily, Focus isn't my only trick. First, I try messaging Wyonna but she's not much more help. Not without using the same mechanisms I'm avoiding. She does suggest I pause time, but I'd already been planning to do that. We fire through a few more thoughts, but none are particularly revolutionary. I still add each to my list to try.

Pausing time, I send small strands of Facet out. The obfuscation is less like a fog now that time is paused and more solid. Still a blob though. A blob that resists any attempt to pierce it. So, I try working around it instead. Or pulling it apart. Hitting it with strands of each type of mana instead of Facet. Basically everything Wyonna and I could think of. None of my attempts manage to do anything more than leave small indentations on the blob. Indentations which snap back into place the moment my Pause ends.

"Hmm. You did something, didn't you?" Genitha asks, glancing in my direction.

"Paused time and poked at it a bunch. Barely scratched it. And it all came undone once Pause ended."

Beth pushes away from the book, looking at me instead. "Think you could pause time for longer? Get more time to spend inspecting it?"

"I... maybe. But I'd want to practice that before trying it in conjunction with... whatever we're doing here," I answer, trying to poke it with mana now that it's not frozen in time. But it's just like Genitha running her finger through it. It deforms and bounces back. "I think I could blast the glamour away. But I'd probably destroy the book. Gotta be something we're missing."

"Or someone. This was written by Ivicka. It would make sense that she sealed it for herself. Or maybe those she trusted," Beth states, flipping the book to another blank page, which I confirm has the same grey blob over it.

"Of those Ivicka trusted, there are few I would feel comfortable letting see this book," Genitha adds, moving to stand next to me. "Though I would have your opinion on one of them."

"We would," Beth interjects, closing the book and stepping up next to Genitha, giving Genitha a glare before turning her eyes on me. "You've spent a lot more time with Tipan than I have. Do you think we could trust her with the book?"

"I..." I take a moment to process the question. Do I think we can trust Tipan with her sister's diary slash book of anti-Systemness. Yes. Do I think it's a good idea to expose Tipan to the book, though? "Could it be dangerous for her?"

"Hmm. It could be. We're unaware of what lies on the glamoured pages."

Beth snaps her fingers between Genitha and I. "Anything could be dangerous."

"Right. I think we should show it to her," I decide. "But maybe warn her about what could be inside? Let her choose?"

Genitha is nodding, and Beth shakes her head once before she nods as well. "Fine. We'll show it to Tipan. After your trip to the dungeon."

"Uhm. Why after?"

Genitha steeples her fingers. Almost exactly like Roberts would. It surprises me until I notice how Beth is glaring at her. Then I suppress a chuckle as Genitha says, "We're going to consult with my friend. They may be able to pierce the glamour. And detect any traps Ivicka or her guide may have left behind. However, I can't bring a whole veltha herd of outlanders to visit them. And I'd like to remind both of you, it would be best to keep the existence of this book to ourselves until we can vet its contents."

"Okay. Still not getting why we're not showing Tipan. And... why tell me?" I ask, looking between them. "Wouldn't it have been better to keep it completely secret? Wait, is your friend dangerous?"

"Told you the kid's smart," Beth states, crossing her arms while looking at Genitha with a smug smile.

Genitha just waves her right arms at Beth as she responds, "Yes, yes, very clever. My friend can be... moody. So, yes. There is an element of danger. But it's also going to be a long trip. It… I would prefer to talk to my friend before we involve Tipan, if possible. As for your involvement, if you were able to find anything useful... well, it would've been convenient."

"Wait, so now I have to keep a secret from your daughter instead? How's that fair?" I ask, crossing my arms as I glare at Genitha.

"It isn't. And it's not an order. Merely advice," Genitha replies with a shrug. "You'll have other things to occupy your time while we're on our trip."

"Speaking of, we should start preparing you for your dungeon run," Beth says, pushing the book, and the conversation, to the side as we gather around the table again.

The next half hour is spent with Genitha giving me the rundown on everything I'll need to know about Elementalist Peak. Which turns out to be a lot. My notes are extensive by the time we finish. The dome drops, and Beth and Genitha both pat me on the back, making me feel like when Sab and I would spend the evening with her dad and he'd let us get away with something.

Except, somehow, more condescending.

The book has been stored in Beth's inventory long before this point, and there's no mention of it as we greet the others. The second Beth and Genitha leave, I'm assaulted from all sides about what happened. I give a short version of everything I learned about the Elementalist’s Peak, omitting any mention of the book. I even mention that part of it was just Genitha messing with Beth. But I can't help but feel guilty about keeping the book's existence from them.

I trust all of them with my life. Beth and Genitha's decision to keep the book secret... feels wrong.

But if the System could take it away at any time...

I'm brought out of my thoughts by Rufka hugging her mother goodbye.

"I'll see you soon, kittens. We'll be here when you return. But in the meantime, Beth and I will run some errands. It's been far too long since I inspected the wards at the cabin. And we need to check on how the free Awoken are doing."

After a much shorter goodbye with Beth, Rufka tugs me up the hill, where Thistle has prepared a goodbye breakfast for us with way more grains and vegetables than I'm used to seeing on Akilo. There's hardly any meat. A fact Rufka complains about despite enjoying a generous portion of soft vegetable pie with a rich gravy. And going back for seconds.

While we're eating, I relay more about Elementalist’s Peak. Including the fact we need to leave as soon as breakfast is over.

"I'm looking forward to spending more time here once we're done. This valley is truly serene," Roberts says as he collects my plate, washing it with his limited water magic before returning it to Thistle. "And I don't have to feel bad about my limited magical talents."

"My understanding is that everyone's magical talents are probably going to improve during this dungeon," I point out, stealing the last bite of pie off Rufka's plate to give to Smoulder. As Smoulder ignites the pie and starts munching on its charred remains, I continue, "It's why it's seen as valuable. Completing it guarantees an upgrade to an Elementalist class variant for most users."

"So, powerful. But less useful for you?" Tipan asks, leaning on her staff as Roberts collects the last of the plates.

"Mhmm. But still useful. At least, Genitha thinks it'll help me too. Second hand information and all."

"Mum's wanted to go since before I was born. Surprised she let it pass," Rufka says, shaking her head. I almost tell her that Genitha has a reason she doesn't want to go. But I bite my tongue at the last second. Literally. And thanks to my Health, it doesn't even hurt.

Rufka raises her right eyebrows at me, but then smiles, reaching out and ruffling my hair. "Still, it'll be more fun with you. Mum would just do everything for us."

"Uhm. From the notes I was given, I don't think that's possible," I reply. Then I spend a half hour taking them through a quick briefing, making a few tactical uses of Pause to give myself time to think before answering their questions. For some reason, we don't get through a third of what I covered with Beth and Genitha.

Deciding we've delayed long enough, I call a temporary halt to the questions, leading them out to the edge of the valley, where I’ve prepared a room for teleporting.

The room isn’t that special, except for the pedestal I form in the middle. I attach a test beacon in the centre. One I should be able to connect to with IFF, letting me teleport to it even without a person to link to.

"I'm surprised you're allowing me to join you in this venture," Kellica observes from where the others are waiting just inside the room.

I pause my preparations as I smile at her. "Hey, we've shared tears and lost living space together. What’s a little magical knowledge?"

My IFF successfully connects to the simple beacon, making me smile. Hopefully it holds up.

"Besides, Mum wouldn't have let me leave you behind, since you passed the test."

Rufka's comment causes Kellica to frown. But before anyone else can say anything, I whisk us away.

When we arrive, it's not in Rufka's tiny cabin, but in a much larger space, full of bundles bound in fur and bone. Along one wall stands shelves filled with various ingredients neatly sorted into cupboards that curve along the bone struts supporting the room. Several of the ingredients are glowing from inside their sealed jars. Or maybe that's the jars themselves? Whichever is the source, the room is lit in a soft rainbow of light. It's especially striking on Tipan's white fur, and I elbow Rufka to point it out.

Tipan notices our attention and twists to try to look at herself, "Did I spill something?"

"Nah. Lexi was just pointing out how striking you are under the enchanted light," Rufka states, patting Tipan's shoulder with a smile. I shoot Tipan one of my own as we make our way out of the storeroom even as Genitha starts casting her much longer teleport spell. I'm tempted to stay and watch, but we're on a time limit.

It doesn't take us long to acquire a few more healing charms. And some cheese from Rufka's friend. She's much friendlier now that she's finished her subclass advancement, but still rushes us out of her shop. Smoulder remains safely tucked away the whole time.

Then I teleport us north, out over the abyss, at the limit of my vision. For a terrifying minute there's nothing within sight except the barest shape of the World's End Palace to the south. And the blur of the rim to the north. And that's with me using my Twilight-enhanced vision. I almost don't bother with my double checks, never mind the triples before teleporting us away.

This time, we emerge near the rim. And for the first time, I'm able to see some of the enchantments that Genitha is so proud of. A giant metal structure is imprinted into the side of the rim. And a mere hundred meters down, another similar structure rests. There must be thousands of the mega-runes. And each one is different. Yet they all have one feature in common. They all draw enormous amounts of mana from the currents that rise from the abyss below us. Enough that it almost feels like we're in a manaless area. This time, I take extra care with extending the teleport. Because even though we're on the friendly side of the runes, Genitha's warned me that the glamour can affect what we see outside.

It takes me five minutes, and one fully intact practice dummy, to be certain that we'll be able to cross safely.

As soon as we're through, I turn northwest, towards the frozen sea.

Because of course Elementalist's Peak is a flying volcano situated in the coldest part of Akilo.

4.13, Hottest Spot Around

A note from Draith

Minor edit to chapter 4.12:

There was a missing line when getting ready to teleport:

The room isn’t that special, except for the pedestal I form in the middle. I attach a test beacon in the centre. One I should be able to connect to with IFF, letting me teleport to it even without a person to link to.

"I'm surprised you're allowing me to join you in this venture," Kellica observes from where the others are waiting just inside the room.

I pause my preparations as I smile at her. "Hey, we've shared tears and lost living space together. What’s a little magical knowledge."

9:44 am, local time. (July 17, 2023, 1:44 pm.) Several kilometers north of Aethire's outermost defensive Freeze Rays. And other, less interesting, defensive measures.

After arriving outside of Aethire, I confirm everyone's safe before teleporting us to the horizon again. We spend the next few minutes teleporting, only taking short breaks for everyone to recover. Once my Facet dips under half, Tipan takes over, and we move into formation within the tear-drop barrier of her aspect until I’m full again.

We repeat the process twice more until we’re in sight of Elementalist's Peak. The volcanic dungeon is oozing lava down its side, which then drips down hundreds of meters to strike the frozen sheet of ice below. Because of course it's a floating island. It also has lightning striking it every few seconds. Somehow, Genitha managed to leave that little fact out.

Not that we'll have trouble reaching it. Kellica's the only one without an easy method of flight, stuck with her basic glider. But that's more than enough that she's been able to keep up with only a little assistance from Tipan and I. Heck, we could probably have carried her without it.

My attention returns to the flying volcano. We've arrived at Elementalist’s Peak, but we technically haven't gained access.

"So, somewhere in all that lava, is a dungeon entrance?" Tipan asks, running one of her hands through her mohawk, making it flop despite the frigid winds being stopped by our barrier.

"That's what I was told," I respond, searching for a clue as to where the entrance might be hidden. "An onyx gate, two K'tharn tall. Or so the notes say."

"That shouldn't be too hard to find," Rufka says, floating directly above Tipan and looking down.

Tipan just rolls her eyes, before sending a large bolt of wind in the direction of the island. It only takes me a second to realize it's the same height as her and Rufka. As the bolt gets closer to the floating volcano, its scale gets clearer.

"Oh," Rufka says as the brilliant green bolt finally impacts the side of the island. It was barely visible. And couldn't have been more than a hundredth the height of the volcano. "So, best get started then?"

"Unfortunately, it'll just be me and Smoulder doing most of the searching," I say, staring at the island. "The rest of you don't have enough resistance to stay close for long."

"We may not have resistance, but I can still help," Roberts says, floating closer. "My shields should be able to weather a fair amount of heat without any real damage."

"I... didn't think of that," I admit, watching as Roberts creates a dome large enough to encompass the rest of the party.

"And I'm actually not terrible with fire," Rose declares, holding his hand out in front of him. And having a small lick of flame no larger than the tip of my pinkie pop into existence. And then flutter and die out.

It's not much, but considering Josh can't summon even that much yet, it's not bad.

"Yeah. I'd just be a liability," Josh states, eyeing the volcano warily. "Most of my powers aren't going to be useful when dealing with fire. Maybe I should sit this dungeon out."

"It's called the Elementalist's Peak, Josh. Not the Firemancer's Peak. Where's your sense of adventure?" Rose asks, elbowing Josh.

"Left it in my other pants," Josh replies, but there's a slight smile on his lips. It's good to see him smile. He hasn't done that much since he and Beth started arguing after his... return. Rebirth? The time when he came back from the dead. Right, Resurrection.

"Well, guess you'll just have to make do with these pants," I say, which earns me a smile of my own. Good.

"Indeed. This is hardly the time for changing pants. Though I do have some rather dapper ones that would suit you," Roberts says from slightly above me.

"Thanks guys. I get the point, I'll stay," Josh says with a light chuckle. "But I still don't think I'm our best bet for exploring."

"Nope. But that's why I sent Smoulder ahead," I say, looking over at where a small blob of lava was just displaced. "She's been searching since we started talking."

Roberts’ laugh drowns out any other response until he recovers.

"Something wrong?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Nothing. Nothing. Good thinking, Lexi."

"Uh, thanks?" I reply, arching my eyebrow at him before turning back to the glowing mountain. Smoulder's already feeling satisfied. But there's no sense of accomplishment so I'm pretty sure she hasn't found the arch yet.

Instead of joining her, I fly to the far side of the island. As I approach the lava, I'm amazed at how not even my bound clothing is getting seared. My elemental resistances are kind of amazing. Roberts and the others take another point, closer to Smoulder. They work as a group, and while it's slower than either Smoulder or I on our own, I admit that they are at least covering a fair portion of the volcano.

I'm still the one to find the gate. It's buried a third of the way down, completely covered in hardened magma. It was only the subtle tug of several types of mana that gave it away.

Guess that's appropriate for Elementalist's Peak.

It takes an hour to clear a path I feel is safe enough to get the others inside. A path that might possibly have a couple Smoulder statues at the entrance. And more light fixtures than are necessary. Since the required number is basically zero and the tunnel has dozens.

Still, it looks like an appropriately dungeon-esqe entrance instead of a random hole in the ground.

Which no one except Rufka seems to appreciate, as they all just fly past me to the entrance once I alert them I've found it. But Rufka indulges me, allowing me to explain the flourishes I incorporated. It's a small thing, but it reminds me of how great she is.

We approach the Onyx gate together. Unlike with the last dungeon, there's no visible city or anything like that on the other side. Instead, the entrance is a swirling mass of colours. Which I'm pretty sure are representations of the elements. Green for wind. Purple for lightning. Light and dark blue for Water and Ice respectively. Going around, I confirm they're all there. And in the gaps, just the faintest hints of the yellowish dusk of twilight.

"It's... prettier than I expected," Rose says, holding his hand out towards it.

"Hmm. So, who goes through first?" Roberts asks, pulling Rose back before he can get too close.

"I should," I say, stepping forward. "If there's anything on the other side, it shouldn't be able to hurt me."

What I don't mention is that if no one else is there, I can use teleportation offensively with no risk of hurting them. Before anyone can put a hand on my shoulder, I step inside, Hasting myself.

Passing through the gate has a similar feeling to entering Raz's, but the passage itself is different. The actual building blocks are more complex, but the mechanism is simpler. Even more material for my notes.

Then I'm through, and I'm left standing on a small island barely ten meters across. The gate stands behind me, firmly in the middle of the island. The edge of the island drops away, revealing choppy water far below. Ringing the island are eight bridges, stretching out around it. They're each marked by a faint tinge of elemental mana, but the far end is obscured in the dusky haze of twilight mixed with their element colour. I check the island for danger, but other than the gate it's completely unoccupied. Figuring they should be safe, I send the all-clear through party chat.

As everyone joins me on the island, I read through the System notification I received on arrival.

"Iron rank training challenge Elementalist's Peak joined."

"Teleportation abilities have been locked to Elementalist's Peak training zone."

"Zone Quest received: Complete the basics. Requirements 0/8 Basic Elementalist Challenges Completed. Rewards: 10 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank class Progression Mark. Time: 12/12 days remaining."

Okay, well, that's nice and standard. Though twelve days seems like a lot of time. Wonder if there are hidden challenges here like there were in the Builder City dungeon. Gotta be, right?

"Hmm, that's a pleasant aroma," Tipan says, stepping up on my right.

"Huh. Yeah, kinda fruity," Rufka agrees as she joins me on the left. "Where's it coming from?"

The three of us only take a minute to discover it's coming from the island of Earth.

"That's weird, right?" Rose asks. "Like, that's a basic element. Should it smell like fruit?"

"Did Genitha not say this is a rare dungeon? I'd be surprised if it was boring," Roberts says, stepping up next to the bridge leading towards the blob of brown. As he steps closer, the blob resolves itself slightly. Instead of being completely formless, it now looks like a stack of rough bricks, though they flow at the edges. When Roberts sets his foot on the bridge, a notification next to it pops up, warning that the trial is in use. As he steps back, the notification disappears. And the bricks drift back to their formless shape. "Interesting."

"Okay. Like I said earlier," I begin, getting everyone's attention. Which makes me gulp for a second. But then I remember that Beth believed I could do this. It's an easy dungeon, and it's not like I'm their leader. Just the person relaying information. "We'll each need to complete the trials individually. And then there will be a group challenge. Which should unlock the rest area once we complete it."

There's a round of nods then Josh and Rose both walk towards the Earth trial. When Rose steps onto the bridge, the notification fails to pop up. Then Josh joins him and they nod at each other before walking down the bridge together.

"Pretty sure that's cheating," I mumble as I watch them cross, already laughing. Then I notice Roberts stepping onto the trial for fire. Which surprises me. He's had more trouble learning fire than any other element.

When he turns back, he notices my gaze. He gives me a smile, while wagging his bushy eyebrows in my direction. "It's best to challenge yourself, when you can." Then he turns back and strolls towards the giant ball of fire that resolves itself into a platform with glowing torches.

"I suppose I should try my hand at lightning?" Kellica asks, taking a single step towards the glowing ball of purple before looking towards me. And I know she's not looking towards Rufka, cause Rufka's dangling her feet off the edge by the Earth bridge, playing with Smoulder.

"I don't see why not," I reply, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. That's what a team leader would do, right?

"Right. I'll conquer this trial shortly then return!" Kellica declares before charging across the bridge, her ponytail flailing in the wind behind her.

"She's rather... enthusiastic," Tipan comments from beside me, brushing her mohawk out of her eyes as we gaze after Kellica’s retreating form.

I shrug, my gaze shifting to where Rufka and Smoulder are playing. Rufka has managed to capture Smoulder in her arms and is getting my mana-hare companion to kick at a little ball of water. Then I focus back on Tipan. "Did you have a preference?"

"I think I'll start with wind. Should be simple enough for me. And will allow me to evaluate what sort of tests we're being put through. You?"

"Figured I'd let everyone else choose first. Doubt any of the elements are going to be much of a challenge."

"True. Well, wish me luck," Tipan says, taking her staff in both hands as she steps toward the wind bridge.

"Good luck. And may Astra guide you," I say, trying to offer the encouragement a team leader should. Like Beth would. Maybe?

"Thank you. You as well," Tipan replies before starting across the bridge to the wind blob. Which resolves to a small valley surrounded by thin reeds that whistle as she gets further away.

"Just you and me," Rufka states from behind me, making me jump. She ambushes me with a flurry of kisses before pulling away. "Guess I should get started. Was thinking I'd do Stone."

"Oh yeah?" I reply, stopping her as she moves to take a step towards the floating grey island.

"Yep. Wanted something challenging," Rufka says with a wink as she spins out of my grasp. “But decided to go somewhere hard instead.”

It takes me a second, but then I can't help but groan at her pun as she walks across the bridge. Ahead of her, the grey blob resolves into a shape reminiscent of a spoked wheel. If the wheel also had jagged ridges along each spoke.

Smoulder hops over to me, landing on my shoulder as I consider my options. I look to her as I say, "You know, we're going to have to do all of these. Hope you don't mind starting with ice?"

Smoulder's return smugness ensures me that anything I can handle she can too. Which… fair.

With that decided, I take my first step towards the first challenge, the dark blue blob resolving into a frozen palace twice the size of any of any of my companions' challenges.

As if noticing my surprise, Smoulder rises up on my shoulder, igniting herself and glaring at the castle as I walk closer.

Despite the icy building ahead, it's with a warm shoulder, and an equally warm heart, that I start the first challenge of Elementalist's Peak.

4.14, Challenge Requested

A note from Draith

Minor edits:

Chapter 3.07:

That doesn't stop Josh and I from creating several lawn chairs out of his petals and stems reinforced with my metal. Which he has to enchant, since for some reason, I can’t gain the skill.

It's over a week since we've split from Rufka, who I’ve been calling every day, swapping stories. I've told her all about... well, almost everything. Sab. My aunt Sharon. Mom and papa. And she's been sharing just as much with me. Stories about her mum, the outlanders who she guides to her friend and secondary mentor, Theria. Who apparently has an entire valley where she doesn't allow casual use of magic. Despite Theria's crazy no-magic rule, Rufka is clearly fond of her.

I only call Theria weird a few times. I'm proud of my restraint.

I've just finished a call with Rufka when Tipan brings us to a stop, turning in place. There's been a kind of static feeling building in the air that I haven't been able to place, but Tipan's next words identify the source.

Chapter 4.09

Kellica starts answering, throwing out theories. My personal theory is that it's for people who just don't understand how awesome magic is, but there are people who abandon magic on earth, and that's just as weird. Still, long as we don't have to stay here too long, I'm sure I'll be fine. At least they don't strip the mana out of the air. Even as I get lost in my thoughts, Theria lets Kellica talk, only humming in response. I can hear Kellica's frustration growing. And I can hear Rufka's soft chuckling.

Chapter 4.11

As I sit under a magical barrier with Beth and Genitha, sealed off from everyone else, I can't help but feel a chill run up my spine. Did we really need to seal ourselves off to talk about the Peak?

Then Genitha turns to me with a smile, squeezing my shoulder. And a moment later, Beth does the same. "Good job kid. That should keep them from asking questions."

"Uhm. I don't know about that. Cause I have a lot of questions," I reply, looking between Genitha and Beth. "Like, what was that? What does drinking tea have to do with going to Elementalist's Peak? Why did you put me in the leader's role?"

"That... was all theatre. There's no restriction on the Peak. And the barrier is... well, to hide the real reason I won’t be going into the next dungeon with you," Beth says before placing a book on the table in front of me. A book I saw on Ivicka's shelf shortly before she blew herself up. I only caught a glimpse of it at the time, but now the cover is laid out in front of me.

A single-eyed-being stares out from the cover, with the words 'Reaper's Guide to Breaking the System. Notes and Translations by Ivicka of clan Lithania,' below it's gaze.

Damn. Now I want that moonshine even more.

1:44 pm, local time. (July 17, 2023, 7:44 pm.) Seconds before Ice capades begin.

The ice castle rises above me, seeming to get larger with every step I take. Which is totally possible. It did just form out of mana.

Inside, the castle is decorated with empty ice paintings, and ice sculptures with no faces. They're vaguely human in form though. Only two arms, and no sign of claws. It's weird how much more creepy that makes them than if they'd been K'tharn-like. The rooms are all sealed behind thin doors of ice, and I continue following the main hall until I enter a ballroom. Inside are several tables, set back from the grand staircase that leads down. It all seems a bit much for what's supposed to be a simple challenge.

Following the staircase, I notice one of the tables has a wavering flame over it. Even if it hadn't been the only thing of note, Smoulder's interest would've ensured it was the first thing I investigated. As we get close, the flame flickers, growing brighter for a second before returning to normal.

I'm less than three paces away when I get a notification.

"Would you like to start the basic Ice Manipulation Challenge, Control-1 for 0.1 Focus?"

Unable to help myself, I snicker at the Focus cost. Then I accept the prompt. The flame refocuses into a little round circle, a small cube of ice forming on a plate on the table as I get a new notification.

"Move the cube of Ice through the flame without letting it melt."

I glance at the cube, then back at the circle. Then back at the cube.

With a shrug, I lift the cube into the air and send it through the circle.

"Congratulations! Basic Ice Manipulation Challenge, Control-1 complete. Would you like to start Basic Ice Manipulation Challenge, Power-1 for 0.1 Focus?"

That... was it? Seriously? I didn't even...

Right, no looking gift horses in the mouth. Accepting the second prompt, the flame shifts to a solid orb.

"Suppress the flame orb with the cube of Ice provided."

Waving my hand for effect, I move the cube of ice around the flame. I don't use it directly, instead letting it form a perfect airtight cube. And I almost fail the test when Smoulder glares at me. But then the flame puffs out. Smoulder huffs as the notification dings, but settles down when the flame pops back into existence.

"Congratulations! Basic Ice Manipulation Challenge, Power-1 complete. Would you like to start Basic Ice Manipulation Challenge, Flexibilty-1 for 0.1 Focus?"

Again, I confirm the prompt. This time the flame splits into eight different flames. Then they start moving in a circle. Very, very slowly.

Instead of a cube, this time I'm given a spoked wheel, similar to the trial that Rufka ended up in. And the notification informs me I just need to keep it moving between the flames. I follow the instructions, and soon I get a notification telling me I've completed the challenge. And get a new notification asking if I'd like to try the test for Control-2. Which is the same as Control-1, except there are two flaming circles.

The entire sequence repeats, with only tiny increases in difficulty until I complete Flexibility-3.

As soon as I'm done, I get a new notification.

"Congratulations! You've completed all Basic Ice Manipulation Challenges!"

"Rewards: 0.1 Mana Edge. 1 Iron Rank Integration point."

"Zone Quest updated: Complete the Basics. Requirements 1/8 Basic Elementalist Challenge Areas Completed. Rewards: 10 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank class Progression Mark. Time: 12/12 days remaining."

I stare at the update, squinting my eyes. "There's no way it's that easy. Where's the challenge?"

Waiting, I glance around the ice ballroom. But the System doesn't respond by throwing another challenge my way. Sighing, I walk out of the ice castle, back to the centre island. Tipan is making her way back from the wind island, and I decide to do it next. It's just as easy.

It only takes me an hour to make it through every challenge except the fire trial. And that's only because I have to wait for Josh and Rose to finish. Who are still doing all the trials together. When they finally make their way back to the island, I cross with Smoulder. While it's as easy as the rest of the islands, it's a lot more fun with Smoulder taking an active part. Which nearly causes me to fail the first of the control challenges when she dashes through the flame I'm controlling.

But then she gets distracted by the other decorative flames, and I'm able to complete the rest of the challenges with ease, getting the usual notifications, including the quest update. And one notification I didn't expect.

"Zone Quest Hidden objective completed: Complete the Basics. Hidden requirement: Complete all Basic Challenges without failing. Rewards: 1.0 Mana Edge."

"Zone Quest updated: Complete the Basics. Requirements: Defeat the Basic Elementals with your party. Time until start: 1 hour after all party members have completed the Basic Manipulation Challenges. Rewards: 10 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank class Progression Mark. 12/12 days remaining."

The extra mana edge is cool, but looking at my Status, it's barely a bump up. Nice to have though for such an easy quest. And if there are more dungeons like this one, they could really add up.

Collecting Smoulder from where she's batting around a flaming rock, I make my way back to the central island. Tipan joins me soon after. Rufka is the next to join us, plopping down in the grass, completely soaked.

"I hate Water manipulation. I ever mention that?" Rufka huffs while staring at the empty sky above.

"Don't think you have," I reply, whisking the water right out of her fur while depositing the dirt to the side. "And aren't you good at it?"

"Normally, sure. But normally, I don't have to weave a stream of water through a pile of dirt without turning it into mud."

"I thought that was rather easy," Tipan remarks even as she sets a folding table between us.

"No disagreement here. It even had holes in the dirt," I say as I motion for Rufka to sit up. And more importantly, to pull out Astra's Stride. Kellica just left, and she's only done four of the challenges so far.

Rufka grunts as she pushes herself up, placing the board in its usual position. "Who needs to weave water like that though? Water's for getting rid of dirt, not avoiding it."

We continue bantering and playing Astra's Stride as the others finish their trials. When Josh and Rose pass through on their way to the metal challenge, Rose mentions that he's not getting any of the quest notifications, but he is getting the Mana Edge if he completes the challenges.

I look at Smoulder, and wonder if I can get her rewards by getting her to complete the challenges. But the thought of trying to convince her to do them immediately makes me drop the idea. Smoulder will be fine without a tiny boost to her mana-edge.

When Kellica comes back from her fifth trial, the Ice Castle, which is half the size for everyone else that it was for me, she sees us playing Astra's Stride and charges over. She spends a few seconds, pointing and gasping before she plops down next to the board, peering at it intensely. "It’s real, isn't it?"

"Yep. Genuine Astra's Stride," Rufka declares proudly, crossing all four arms over her chest.

"No wonder you've all been finishing these trials so quickly! You already have your manipulation skills unlocked!"

"Wait," I say, leaning across the table to stare at Kellica. "You mean you didn't? How've you been finishing the challenges?"

Should I have addressed this before we started? Have I failed as a leader already?

Kellica mumbles something I can't understand, and out of reflex, I ask, "What?"

"I... did the ones I had the skills for first. And there's a training section that lets you unlock the skill if you don't have it. But it takes half an hour," she says, staring at the ground so hard I swear she's trying to light it on fire with her mind. Which would be possible, but I don't think she's done that challenge yet.

"Hmm. Faster than getting the skills through Astra's Stride," Rufka notes, moving her piece... into a space that lets Tipan skip right over her.

"Well, at least you're unlocking all the skills, right?" I ask, trying to rouse Kellica's spirits. "So it's not like it's a waste of time. And we're not in a hurry. We do have twelve days."

"Right. I'll just…" Kellica turns, not looking up at any of us as she charges towards the bridge to the metal challenge. Only to slam into an invisible barrier since Josh and Rose are inside.

She shakes herself off, glancing back to catch me looking at her before dashing towards the fire challenge. As she's running, Tipan calls out, "May Astra guide you!" Rufka and I join our encouragement to Tipan's but Kellica doesn't look back as she runs across the bridge, disappearing in the haze that surrounds the challenges.

"I'm starting to think Mum did her a favour," Rufka says, finally looking in Kellica's direction. And managing to give Tipan another excellent move. I'm starting to think she's doing that on purpose.

As I contemplate my own move, I ask, "Oh, what makes you say that?"

Rufka's gaze moves back to me, as she raises her right eyebrows. "Other than her obvious lack of real world experience? And apparent ostracization from other users?"

"Yeah, other than that," I reply, trying not to blush as Rufka points it out to me.

"Oh, well, the fact she doesn't have all her elemental skills unlocked. And she's one of the Taken. Either someuser really liked her or... well, like she said. They make some users become Venom Auramancers. Disposable tool, I'd guess," Rufka says while managing to set Tipan up for a third excellent move.

Luckily, this time I planned for it, and when Tipan takes her move, I follow up with my own. Which leads to me leaving myself completely open to Rufka's next move which gets her piece all the way into its final spot. Blinking, I return my attention to the conversation. "Disposable? Why train a Venom mage at all then?"

"Interrogations," Tipan says, holding her piece but not committing to a move. "She's being trained to produce the Venoms they use in interrogations. But if she's not properly trained..."

"They're only using her for the Venom," Rufka says, leaning back from the board while shooting me a wide grin. "Which means they're not treating her properly."

"I'm glad your mum assigned her to us then," I say, realizing that Rufka has successfully gutted my next few moves. "Maybe we can... you know, be her friends."

I'm not sure if my comment distracts her, or if Rufka is playing another mind game, but her next move is worse than the ones I thought were bad earlier. "You want to be friends with her?" There's an edge to her voice, causing me to look up at her instead of the game. She has her upper eyes closed, and her lower eyes are narrowed, staring at me.

"I mean... shouldn't we? It sounds like she could use some friends," I suggest, not paying attention as I make my move. Pretty sure Rufka's got me beat anyway.

"I'd be amenable to that. She seems like a decent person. If a little naive," Tipan says as she takes her turn.

"Ha!" Rufka declares, pointing her piece at Tipan. "You calling someone naive. That's funny, Skyborne."

"I'm sorry not all of us have the same breadth of experience wallowing in the mud as you," Tipan replies, lifting her nose slightly while giving me a wink that Rufka can't see.

"Wallowing? It's called training. And not so long ago, you were the one who had no idea what was beyond... Oh," Rufka says, shaking her head as she grins at us. "Well played, Skyborne. Well played."

Tipan follows up by moving her final piece across the board, managing to win the game as she says, "I rather thought so."

Laughter fills our little island as I reset the board. It's another three hours before Kellica finishes her final trial and comes running back. When she sets foot on the little isle in the middle, a new bridge forms, accompanied by a notification we've all been waiting for.

"Quest updated: Complete the Basics. Requirements: Defeat the Minor Elementals with your party. Time until start: 59:09. Rewards: 10 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank class Progression Mark. 12/12 days remaining."

Watching the shapes form at the edge of the floating disc, I stand up walking towards it.

The others follow until we're all standing on the platform, surrounded by glowing elemental energy. Our opponents seem to be little more than concentrated mana. Once we're all on the island, a new prompt appears, asking if we'd like to start the challenge early.

Accepting, we all get ready. Then the elementals attack.

I pause time, shooting off an elemental arrow at each of them. Just a test, to see how strong they are as I prepare to Focus on them.

The answer... not even strong enough for a single arrow.

Less than a second after the challenge begins, it ends, a new notification popping up.

"Zone Quest Hidden objective completed: Complete the Basics. Hidden requirement: Defeat Basic Elementals in less than a minute. Rewards: 1.0 Mana Edge."

"Quest updated: Complete the Basics. Requirements: Defeat the Basic Elementals with your party. Time until start: 59:09. Rewards: 10 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank class Progression Mark. 12/12 days remaining."

"Rest area unlocked."

"Quest received: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Requirements: Complete the remainder of Elementalist's Peak in less than five days 0/1. Rewards: Variable. 5/5 days remaining."

Reading through it, I look around at the rest of my party before grumbling under my breath.

Cause I'm pretty sure the tighter deadline is my fault.

A note from Draith

Thanks to Dreydfaer for the awesome review!

This part gave me warm fuzzies.

This is one of those situations where someone has dedicated themselves to telling their story, and set aside ego to make sure that the story that was being written had the same meaning to its author and its readers.

4.15, High Voltage, Rock and... Twilight?

9:03 pm, local time. (July 18, 2023, 3:03 am.)

As the last wisps of the elementals fade, I cast out, gathering a handful of essence from them. Not even enough to add up to a single integration point. The island we fought them on remains, and as I finish reading through the notification, a staircase appears along the edge, leading down to the underside.

We make our way down, and sure enough, there's a link to a rest area. I use Raz's device to connect his place, but when we try to go through, it fails to connect. But we're able to use the default rest area. It turns out to be a simple room, with a System-only menu of a dozen simple options. At least it allows us to access our private rooms.

Which Kellica doesn't have. She's able to sleep in the System provided rest room, and the rest of us spend an hour visiting and eating food we brought from Raz's before turning in.

Chomping down on a thick leg of seasoned bird-leg, I open my menu and invest my integration points into Perception and Resolve, bring both to ninety-nine. Frustratingly close to a hundred, but not worth spending shards to get the rest of the way. Not yet.

Next, I spend my class Progression Mark, eagerly inspecting the new ability.

"Your Class - Cataclysm Seed - has progressed to Iron Rank - level 7."

- +1 Class Ability Point

- New Ability unlocked: Sympathetic Overflow

- Health and Stamina have increased: +2 pool, [+0.1 edge], (+1 regen/day).

- Mana and Focus have increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+6 regen/day).

- Facet has increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+3 regen/hour)."

"Sympathetic Overflow: Increases target's status disability chance after being affected by your spells. Doubles/Triples Status effect chance."

Oh. Wow, that works well with Lingering Bonds. Which... yeah, I guess it makes sense my class would have synergy between Abilities.

After putting a point into Sympathetic Overflow, I look over my Status one last time.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-6 > Iron-7

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 50

Constitution: 50

Agility: 94

Endurance: 60

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 90 > 99

Resolve: 90 > 99

Storage: 7.84 > 8.02 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 3/6 > 3/7

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 0

Progression Marks: 1 > 0

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 452/465 > 452/472, Edge: [31.6] > [31.7], Regen: (335/day) > (340/day)

Stamina

Pool: 470/476 > 470/483, Edge: [37.4] > [37.5], Regen: (376/day) > (381/day)

Mana

Pool: 1010/1048 > 1010/1089, Edge: [83.1] > [87.9], Regen: (978/day) > (1021/day)

Focus

Pool: 912/1019 > 912/1074, Edge: [71.8] > [76.7], Regen: (884/day) > (955/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 205/331 > 205/351, Edge: [23.8] > [24.9], Regen: (281/hour) > (296/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 0/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 1/2

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Only need fifty-two more points to max out my mental stats. No biggie. I doubt we'll get them here, but hard to say with the unknown rewards for the rest of the dungeon. Most quests seem to include rewards that give some amount of Integration points. Maybe I could work on some crafting quests? If tomorrow is like today, I'll be done way before everyone else.

Closing my Status, Rufka and I are the only ones still at the table. Kellica is on her bunk, and everyone else seems to have retreated to their rooms. Taking their cue, I tug Rufka to her feet, wishing Kellica goodnight as we pass.

The next day I let everyone else pick ahead of me again. Which leaves me tackling the lightning challenge first. The ball of energy reforms into the same shape as it took yesterday, a shallow valley with a pair of massive trees at either end, lightning flickering between them and several smaller trees scattered around the plain.

As I start, I quickly go through a set of slightly more advanced tests than the ones I completed yesterday. However, when I complete the third, a matter of directing sparks to hit small branches instead of the metal rods that are spaced between them, a new notification appears.

"Congratulations! Standard Lightning Manipulation Challenge, Flexibility-1 complete. Would you like to start Standard Lightning Manipulation Challenge, Channelling-1 for 0.1 Focus?"

Accepting the prompt, a new message appears next to my little ball of crackling electricity as it's surrounded by a small circle of metal orbs.

"Prevent the orbs from getting too close for five minutes."

At first, I don't understand how I'm supposed to pass the challenge. Then one of the orbs gets closer, and the ball of lightning shoots out, freezing it in place. But the ball of lightning also gets smaller. Then the ball begins to drop.

Before it's able to, I use my mana to prop it up. And then I understand, as another few sparks fly out to strike the surrounding spheres. But only as long as I keep the ball directly over its pedestal. I'm forced to continually push mana into the lightning orb, though it's such a small amount I hardly notice. Still, at the end of the five minutes, I realize I've invested roughly thirty mana into the little orb.

On my second round through, I try to crank extra mana into the orb, and am rewarded by pushing the balls even further back. But they return faster, so it's a net loss in mana compared to the regular method. I try several other methods to not have to channel continually, but none of them are as efficient.

Much more interesting though.

On the third try through, I decide to dump triple the total mana I used on the previous channel into the trial. One of the metal balls punches through my sleeve, shaving off a dozen health as they all rocket away from the small ball of lightning.

And then they come back just as fast.

A second pulse stops them from slamming into the ball, but it takes me three minutes just to get them back to a stable state, almost failing several times. When the challenge finally finishes, I swear not to mess around while doing the challenges anymore.

No matter how boring they are.

After each of us finish the first challenge, I wait for the others, trading advice. I stay as everyone else moves onto the next challenge, ensuring everyone gets a proper chance, now that we realize there are bonuses for not failing.

Despite my minor mishap with the lightning ball, the rest of the day proceeds as I expected, only with the new channelling challenges providing even more difficulty for the others.

Even with my time spent waiting after the lightning area, I still finish the rest of the challenges first, netting another 2.4 Mana edge. With the metal factory-esque building collapsing into a ball behind me, I stroll to the middle of the main island, pulling up my quest log to review my crafting quests.

Hmm. Only need to create iron-grade tools for 'Metal in the Making'. I've already got my Metal Shaping up to the required one hundred just from using it as part of my buildings. Similar for 'If you Build it, They Won't Come,' except I need to create an iron-grade structure. Which might be a waste inside the dungeon since an iron-grade Stone structure is going to be more durable once I infuse it with Essence. And not very moveable.

'Plenty of Pots'... I'm almost tempted to pass on. Ceramics are interesting, but not terribly fun. Which is probably why I haven't leveled the skill much since I unlocked the quest. Ten iron-grade ceramics doesn't sound too challenging though.

I'll leave it for last.

While I'm tempted to start on the structure quest, I decide to postpone it. Because I know I could spend the rest of the day just tweaking it until it's perfect.

Making another set of utensils is easy. Reinforcing them with Essence from shards? A little trickier. The metal objects are obviously best reinforced with metal Essence. Which I have a fair bit of lying around. Just merging it with them after they're formed was a mistake. Which I vaguely remember Tipan and Rufka mentioning at some point. Whoops.

Starting over, I shape the fork I chose as my test unit while channeling mana through the Essence shard, pulling channels into place alongside each prong while setting the shard in the base. When I'm finally done, the shard flickers slightly, before settling into place. Hefting the fork, it feels more solid than a regular fork. Less prone to manipulation, if only slightly. But it doesn't count as an update for the quest.

"What, not tool enough for you?" I ask the empty air, earning myself a snort from Smoulder. Reaching over and giving her a vigorous headscritching, I end up chasing her for a few minutes before returning my attention to the quest.

Unfortunately, I can't recover the shard from my first attempt. It's bonded with the new form and reshaping it will reduce its strength. Besides, even if the System doesn't think it counts, I think a tougher fork is going to prove worth having. Especially the next time someone tries to plunder my dinner plate.

Cackling, I decide I could use a new set of tools for burying... loot. Yep, definitely loot and not user-shaped objects.

So, I start working on a spade-head shovel. Again, I push the Essence through the metal, but this time the larger object causes me to fail. It's not even immediately apparent it's happening. Everything was going smoothly, and then the shard crumbled.

On my second attempt, I pay closer attention to the Essence as I push it into the metal. Only to realize it's getting stretched too thin right as it fails. With my third try, I use two Essence. Which turns out to be much harder to control. It goes fine at first, but when I'm almost three-quarters finished, it splits apart, leaving me with two halves of the shovel. Which I can weld together, but I can detect the weakness in the joint. The system doesn't count it either. Instead of starting over again, I redo the weld, only draining a mortal metal shard as I do so. As the quest dings I inspect my new tool.

"Object analyzed - Spade-head Shovel, Iron-grade. This shovel has been crafted by user Pandora."

[Wyonna] "That's not going to dig-dug you very far compared to your magic."

"What does that even mean?" I mumble at Wyonna as I give the shovel a good swing. And hear the air whistle as I slam it into the ground. Hard. I stare at the embedded shovel for a second before opening my Status back up. Yep. Fifty Strength. Kinda forgot about that.

Levering the shovel back out of the island, I give it another couple test swings before storing it in my inventory. Never know when I might need a shovel. Deciding to stay on theme, I create a rake, a flat-head shovel, a bucket and... a crowbar. Because it's the most versatile tool I'll never ever use.

It's as I'm crafting the crowbar that Rufka returns, having completed all her challenges. I wave at her but remain focused on my work. When I'm finished, I notice Rufka and Tipan coming back from the rest area. Guess Tipan's done too.

I wave to them as I read the notification.

"Quest objective completed: Metal in the Making. Rewards: 7 Iron-rank integration points."

"Quest updated: Metal in the Making. Description: Create tools that will endure the ages. Requirements: Create 0/25 copper grade tools using Metal Manipulation, raise Metal Shaping skill 100/200. Reward: 21 copper-rank integration points. Variable."

Nice. That’s more than enough to get Perception and Resolve to 100 each, with plenty left over. I don’t think I’m going to be using shards for attributes anymore. At least, not iron-rank ones. Feels like all my extra shards will be more useful for crafting. Kinda regretting dumping so many of the ones we got from the battle with Ivicka into...

Just thinking about the battle ruins my mood.

Luckily, I'm shaken out of it when Tipan sets up the table for Astra's Stride again. I'm tempted to join them when Rufka motions me over, but I shake my head, a smile practically cracking it in half as I consider my next quest.

I have an iron-grade building to sculpt.

The first step is making sure the area will work for the building. So, I spend time shooing Rufka and Tipan to one side before pacing out where I intend to place the foundation. Then I shape several blocks into place. Now that I know I can meld things together after forming the building blocks, I'm going to take advantage of that.

"What're you doing?" Rufka asks as I finish creating the last of the slabs.

I brush my hands off as I turn to her, despite the fact I haven't been doing any of this with something so mundane as hands. "Building an iron-grade structure for my crafting quest."

"In... a dungeon?" Rufka asks, tilting her head to the side as she squints at me with her lower eyes. "You do know, it'll probably disappear when we leave, right?"

"So?" I ask, tilting my head to match and squinting right back at her. "I want to complete the quest. Not live here."

Rufka holds her hands up, stepping back. "Just curious."

Grumbling to myself, I turn back to my work. Then I take a deep breath, taking several quick steps before wrapping Rufka in a hug. "Sorry."

"I... apology accepted?" Rufka says, ruffling my hair as she pats my head. Taking it as my cue, I explain myself.

"I thought the same thing earlier, then I snapped at you for pointing it out. Cause let's be honest, it's wasteful if I build it here," I say, leaning into her back so she can't turn around. "... I'm still gonna do it though."

Rufka's rich laugh makes me smile, and I release her enough she's able to turn around. Over her shoulder, I notice Tipan's hand is covering her mouth as she looks away from us.

Ironically, their laughter makes me feel better about my choice, and I don't hesitate to move back to my work area.

Soon I have the pieces for the small building ready. Then I begin fusing them together. It's... different than with the metal. The Essence feels like there's less chance of it shearing off. But it also doesn't spread as evenly as when I use it in the metal. It's when I activate my Twilight-enhanced sight to inspect what’s physically happening, that I happen to get my Eureka moment.

Just activating my vision causes the area I was looking at to become smoother.

I toggle my vision several times, and each time I turn it on, it smooths out the underlying Essence. So long as I’m actively working on it. Does... being able to see it better make my Essence distribution improve?

Taking a break, I go to ask Rufka and Tipan, who've been joined by Kellica, to my surprise.

"I'm... just taking a lunch break," Kellica explains at my raised eyebrow.

"Totally understandable," I reply, squeezing her shoulder. "How've the trials been today? Any trouble?"

Kellica squints up at me, then glances over to the others before answering. "No. But I've been holding off on doing the lightning trial. I... I do not fare well with lightning magic."

"I can help you practice after lunch. If you want," I suggest. That's the sort of thing a leader would do, right? "It won't be perfect, but I can simulate what you'll need to beat."

"I... you don't have to do that," Kellica sputters, shaking her head.

"I don't, no. But I will, if you want," I agree. "But only if you want. While you decide, I'll be working on..." I wave my hand in the direction of my half-finished building, "that."

Receiving another set of chuckles from the other two, I ask them about stone crafting. Of course, they both admit it's not their area of expertise. Though when I mention how looking more closely seems to help, Tipan says, "That... is strange. I know it can help with healing magic, to see the wound properly. But I'm not aware of augmented vision helping any other magic except illusion."

"Might be the Twilight," Rufka says, peering off towards where the earth challenge is turning back into a brown ball as Roberts strides closer. "Twilight is important in enchanting. Especially anything complicated. It's kinda like glue."

"I... hmm," I reply, then turn back to my quarter completed building. It looks more like a flopped over lettuce leaf than anything more. But it’s a work in progress.

As I experiment, I discover Rufka was right. Just a tiny amount of Twilight mana woven in more than doubles the efficiency of each Essence shard I use. And the material feels stronger as well. I end up having to redo the first quarter of the building, just to meet my new standards, but I soon have it all but completed. I just need to put the finishing touches on the door.

No one is surprised when I put a carving of Smoulder at the top of the door. But there's a gasp when I step back to reveal the rest. Figuring that it was a shame we didn't have any good photos, I decided to do a rendering of everyone that had come with us. Plus, the door’s removable. The gasp had come from Kellica, since I'd decided to include her.

I'll admit, I didn't think I'd make her cry again.

4.16, Taken Tears

1:11 pm, local time. (July 18, 2023, 7:11 pm.) Shortly before being drowned in a grown K'tharn's tears.

Luckily, Kellica's tears are short lived as she wipes them away, saying, "Thank you. I... Sorry, I didn't think you'd include me."

Not the reaction I expected. Didn't even occur to me that it'd matter. I'll admit, despite my mom's attempts, I never felt like the odd kid out when it came to group activities. Was always more worried about her than what anybody else thought of me.

Yay, fringe benefits?

"No problem. You're here and part of the team," I say, waving my hand at the rest of the building. "But I didn't even get to the cool part."

"Oh?" Roberts asks, setting aside a book he was paging through.

"Yeah, I made a bathhouse! Even has showers, just add water. And heat, if you want. Okay, so it's not perfect," I say, waving that away. "But it's private. And we all have magic now anyway."

"Hmm. Love it," Rufka says, stepping up and pulling me against her. Then she whispers so quietly it sends a chill down my spine. "Perfect size for two."

I... that hadn't been something I'd considered when designing the baths. I just wanted it to be big enough to stretch out in. But I don't tell Rufka that, snuggling against her instead.

Our inspection of the bathhouse is cut short when Smoulder decides to test how well it will work as an obstacle course. Instead of trying to convince her otherwise, I just create more of a course off to the side that's actually a challenge for her, using as many elements as she can handle. Which at this point is most of them. Right as I create a veil of twilight to make it harder for her to see the waterslicked ice near the peak, I get a notification.

"Hidden Objective completed. Requirement: Use all nine elements at once. Rewards: 9 Iron-rank integration points, 9 Mana edge."

Unlike the previous rewards, I can actually feel the difference this time. A small reduction in the amount of mana it takes me to finish Smoulder's obstacle course.

Analyzing the bathhouse, I get the notification I was waiting for.

"Object analyzed: Bathhouse. Iron-grade structure. Built by user Pandora."

"Quest objective completed: If You Build It, They Won't Come. Rewards: 7 Iron-rank integration points."

"Quest updated: If You Build It, They Won't Come. Description: Create structures that will endure for ages. Requirements: Create 0/5 copper grade structures using Stone Manipulation, raise Stone Shaping skill 100/200. Reward: 21 copper-rank integration points. Variable."

Nice. Combined with the points from the last quest, I’ve got more than enough to get my Resolve and Perception to one-hundred and ten. In the points go. At this rate, even Beth will have a hard time hiding from me.

Turning to the others, I tell them about the hidden quest objective, which leads to several of them starting experiments. And shows me how much harder it is for other people to use more than one element at a time. Well, more than four. It's pretty easy to use elements that have some kind of synergy, like ice and water. Or even water and lightning. But using water and fire at the same time?

Apparently, not so easy.

So, while Kellica leaves to continue her unfinished trials, I start trying to teach the others how to use all nine elements at once. Which leads back into me trying to teach them how to use Twilight.

"This should be handled by the ring," Rufka says, not for the first time as I try to help her get the basics by adjusting the colour of her disguise ring's fur without her mum’s spell. But it's not working.

"Perhaps something smaller in scope?" Roberts suggests while tapping his steepled fingers against his chin.

"Oh! Good idea. I just did my eyes the first time I experimented with Twilight," I say, causing Rufka to squint at me. I blush, but wave it off with a smile.

Rufka closes all four of her eyes for a few seconds, and when she opens them, they're the same dusky yellow I associate with Twilight.

"Good job," I tell her, squeezing her shoulder. "You made your eyes Twilight!"

"I... That doesn't sound like they're blue. I wanted blue," Rufka states, crossing her arms as she closes her eyes again. Tilting my head to the side, I hear Tipan giggling behind me as Rufka waves me away.

She remains like that, her eyes Flashing between colours as I work with Tipan and Roberts, who quickly unlock Twilight by altering their own eyes using Tipan's disguise ring. Then we work on using multiple elements at once.

Which turns out to be easy. Just add a touch of Twilight. As long as there's a little bit of Twilight mana in the working, they're able to hold different elements in place longer.

By the time Kellica has finished her trials, everyone has completed the hidden objective. Even Rose, despite his wonky System. Not Smoulder, of course. That would be wrong.

Or that's the impression I get from her anyway.

She did figure out Twilight manipulation though. Just cause she thought it might allow her to make her flames hotter. It didn’t.

We don't have time to finish teaching Kellica before the next boss fight triggers. Again, we're surrounded by a bunch of elementals. These ones are strong enough that the single blast doesn't completely destroy all of them. The Ice and metal ones each take two shots.

As I drop out of pause, Roberts chuckles. "I expected this to be much harder."

I nod as I read the system notification.

"Zone Quest Hidden objective completed: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Hidden requirement: Complete all Lesser Challenges without failing. Rewards: 2.4 Mana Edge."

Okay, the Mana Edge reward is going up. That's good. We're going to have a lot of extra Mana Edge by the time we finish.

"Objective completed: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Defeat the Lesser Elementals. Rewards: 10 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank class Progression Mark."

"Quest updated: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Requirements: 3/3 days remaining."

Wait, did it... It reduced our remaining time available. Again.

I can't help but squint at Roberts even as I move to open my status. Pretty sure this one's on him.

With my status open, I drop the point into my class and look at my new ability.

"Limits of Mortality: Each different element used against a target will reduce their resistance against spells of all other elements. This effect can be applied once using each element."

Yep. Absolutely taking that.

Then I drop six points into Agility to bring it to an even hundred. I’m about to move the rest into Endurance... But I pause before I confirm, then move them over to Constitution, setting it at fifty-five. More health is good for keeping Alexis alive.

Yep. Nice to see that go up. Not at all regretting that my cap is lower than it would be with most other classes. Nope.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-7 > Iron-8

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 50

Constitution: 50 > 55

Agility: 94 > 100

Endurance: 60

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 99 > 110

Resolve: 99 > 110

Storage: 8.02 > 8.35 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 3/7

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 0

Progression Marks: 1 > 0

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 472/472 > 472/498, Edge: [31.7] > [32.7], Regen: (340/day) > (362/day)

Stamina

Pool: 470/483 > 470/503, Edge: [37.5] > [39.2], Regen: (381/day) > (404/day)

Mana

Pool: 772/1089 > 772/1141, Edge: [85.1] > [104.1], Regen: (1021/day) > (1076/day)

Focus

Pool: 761/1074 > 761/1144, Edge: [76.7] > [82.6], Regen: (955/day) > (1049/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 350/351 > 350/374, Edge: [24.9] > [26.3], Regen: (296/hour) > (318/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet Regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 0/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 1/2

Limits of Mortality: 1/1

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

As I glance over my status one last time I wonder if I could set up a reflexive time stop for if I get reduced to less than half health. I've found other ways to interact with the interface. I should talk to Wyonna. And Genitha.

I've only just messaged Wyonna when Rufka collapses on the lawn, clutching her stomach while letting out great peals of laughter.

Even as Wyonna tells me she'll think about how we might execute the emergency time-pause, I move over to Rufka.

Kneeling down, I look around as I ask her, "Uhm, did I miss the joke?"

"I..." Rufka tries to respond, but then starts laughing again. It takes her three minutes and twenty-two seconds to calm down enough to finally get out the words, "I did it. Finally, did it."

"Did... What?" I ask, her hand held in mine.

"I finally unlocked an upgrade for my class!"

Pulling Rufka off the grassy surface of the floating Island, I brush a strand out of her hair as I ask, "What sort of class upgrade did you unlock? Are you taking it?"

She pulls me into a hug, answering my questions over my shoulder. "Astra's Sheath. And no, I'm not taking it. At least, not yet. But it lets me see the conditions. And now maybe I'll be able to figure out some more upgrade paths. Then I'll finally be rid of this Vaus-damned class."

There's something special about her swearing about a god-named class using another god's name. But I don't comment on it.

For all of two seconds.

"Vaus-damned Chosen of Astra, huh?" I tease, tweaking her nose while referring to her unupgraded class.

Rufka just rolls her eyes, which is far more forgiving than she should be.

She spends the next few minutes fielding questions from the rest of the party while I help Kellica. Though I do listen in. Turns out that completing ten hidden objectives was the main requirement. But one of the others was completing a specific dungeon that doesn’t exist anymore. As she does, a notification appears.

"Quest: Not so Unique. Objective complete: 2/2 rare class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveal the rarity of any unique rare class.

“Quest updated: Not so Unique. Description: The pinnacle has been spotted, but has not been reached. Requirements: discover two methods for upgrading any uncommon class to any rare variant. 0/2 epic class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveals the rarity of any epic, rare or uncommon unique class. Time: unlimited."

I... kinda forgot about that quest. I almost flub my instructions to Kellica as I read it, then laugh when I check my class and it's not revealed. So, it's an epic, at least. She looks at me in surprise, and I wave her off with a smile.

"Does that happen often? Dungeons disappearing, I mean?" I ask, returning to the conversation when there's a lull. At the same time, I hold Kellica's hand, trying to guide her as she squeezes her eyes closed for the seventh time, trying to get a feel for Twilight.

I meant it for Rufka, but Kellica answers instead. "It's not actually gone. We just don't know the entrance requirements. Just like with Elementalist’s Peak."

Her eyes open, and she's frowning as she looks over to the others. "There are a lot of dungeons like that. Usually they're more dangerous. A lot of K'tharn don't come back from hidden dungeons."

"Oh?" I reply, watching as Kellica manages to lose her focus again.

"Of course. Every Taken is taught which myths to avoid," Kellica says, even as she closes her eyes to try again. I'll say this for her, she has a great work ethic.

We continue working for another few minutes, and it's only when I decide to take a different approach that we're able to make any progress. Instead of just having her make the changes herself, I start doing it for her, while being wasteful with the mana so she can detect it. Well, I'm wasteful on the third attempt. My first two were so subtle and efficient she didn't even notice.

It works, Kellica managing to create a small orb of disparate elemental energy. Her eyes take on that distant stare of notification reading for all of 0.1 seconds before she whoops out a cheer. Then she schools her face as she turns, bowing to me. "Thank you for your instruction, tel'thoni."

Welp, there's a word I never expected to be heard applied to me. Pretty sure Tipan would die to have Genitha as her great teacher. But only cause she can come back to life now that she's purchased the Resurrection ability. First thing her and Rufka did after they became Citizens.

"Uhh. You're welcome," I say, patting her shoulder awkwardly.

Before I can say more, Rufka's nabbed me, pulling me towards the bathhouse. "Bout time you're done. We need to break in the bath."

Glancing back at the entire rest of the party, who are all watching as Rufka steers me towards the relative privacy of the bath, I can't help but have my face go red.

Maybe I can make the walls thicker.

That might not help with my embarrassment, but it'll keep anyone from overhearing us.

4.17, After Earth Magic

A note from Draith

Edit to chapter 4.07

As Genitha says this, she releases a wave of mana. It passes through the area in an instant. It slips right over my glamour, but it disrupts no less than twelve other K'tharn. All of whom jump as if they've been stung. Not that I don’t also jump at their sudden change. It would appear that the Aetherium's not-so-secret, secret police have been tailing us. I remember Rufka mentioning they'd trail person's of interest, but I didn't think we'd gather this much attention. They must really want Genitha.

3:57 pm, local time. (July 18, 2023, 9:57 pm.) The moment the door closes.

Rufka is already conjuring water as the door closes behind us. And I'm already working to enhance the walls with a second layer, increasing the soundproofing. As the tub fills, I can't help but watch Rufka, admiring her form as she slips inside. I'm knocked free of my daze when she pats the side of the tub. Undressing quickly, I follow her in, snuggling into her side as we conjure the water together.

"So," Rufka says as the tub fills, leaving the warm water swirling around us.

"So?" I ask, her tone causing me to look up at her face. She's looking at the roof of the bathhouse, which I realize is far too blank. I should put some sort of mural there too.

When I start to do so, she sighs, rubbing my head. So I stop.

"Didn't say you had to stop," Rufka says, giving the top of my head a kiss.

"Yeah... but you did sigh," I point out despite the part of me that wants to keep adjusting the ceiling.

Rufka shifts slightly, bringing my face towards hers. "I do love your fascination with magic. Just... sometimes I want it to be just us. And... maybe I'm a little jealous. Of you spending time with Kellica."

"Oh," I say. Then I look at the closed door. Not even Smoulder is with us, outside with the others. She didn't have time to join us. And now I realize that was probably intentional. Leaning against Rufka, I can't help but repeat myself. "Oh. Guess we should schedule time together? Just us time."

Which produces a rich laugh from Rufka, prompting me to glare up at her.

"Sorry. If you were anyuser else, that wouldn't be so funny," she says, giving me a kiss on the lips. Then we get lost in each other for a while. Long enough there's a knock from the door. Well, more of a thump. Smoulder's the only one brazen enough to interrupt. When I send her a pulse letting her know I'm busy and would appreciate alone time, I'm surprised when she sends back a simple acknowledgement.

I'd been worried about hurting Smoulder's feelings for a week, and that's all it took?

I...

Don't think about it, cause Rufka quickly distracts me again.

She's really good at that.

When Rufka and I finally emerge, no one else is in the clearing. Which... not surprising. When we seek them out, we find them gathered around a table in the rest area.

Rose starts to raise his voice, but barely manages to get out, "Hey, Lex. What do you-" before he's elbowed by Josh.

I raise my eyebrow as they fall away from the table, wrestling on the ground. Josh mutters something about original as he puts Rose in a chokehold. Rose manages to escape Josh's hold with the full application of all four arms to pry his way free as he says, "No way. Atlantis."

Turning to Roberts, I ask, "What's that about?"

"They've been arguing about Stargate all morning. Rose was going to get your opinion," Roberts replies as he raises a delicate tea cup to his lips. "Josh wants to keep you out of it."

"And... they're fighting over that?"

"I believe it's the same as you wrestling with Tipan and Rufka after your little races," Roberts observes.

"Right. Makes sense," I agree, sitting down next to the recently mentioned Tipan who's having a quiet conversation with Kellica. Something about different flavorings of meat-crisps at Desh'mersa games.

"Sorry bout running off like that. Are we going to start on the next set of challenges?"

"Actually," Tipan says, turning away from Kellica halfway through her sentence. "We were talking about it. And we thought it might be better if we let you do the challenges first, then showed us what we'd be up against. Some of us didn't get the bonus for completing without failing last time."

"It was Tipan's idea," Kellica states. "And she's talking about me. I'm the only one who didn't get the bonus quest completion."

"Hey, I don't mind," I reply, already pushing myself to my feet. As I'm rising, Smoulder emerges from where she was resting on Tipan's lap, jumping to my shoulder with enough force to make me have to consciously catch myself.

"Excellent. While I may not have failed, I came close a couple times," Roberts says before taking another sip from his tiny little cup. "Having some forewarning would be most helpful."

With that decided, I give Rufka a peck that lands on her ear then head out. This time, I decide to head straight to the metal challenges. The blob resolves itself into the open sphere of overlapping rails. The same shape it's taken every time before. Like a wireframe globe. The trials are held at the core of the sphere, and if I was a regular mortal, I'd think getting to the trial area was part of the test. But with my capped Agility, it's a cakewalk to balance on the thin beams leading up to the testing area.

The thick metal book appears when I accept the prompt for the Control challenge, asking me to turn a single page. Which is a lot trickier than the initial challenge of just opening the book without breaking it. Which is part of Power's challenge, except I have to overcome the stone lock wrapped around it. Then Flexibility requires me to dog ear pages. Which feels weird, since all the pages are blank. Channelling used to require adding pages. But this time, the challenge requires me to replicate the entire book.

None of it is especially tricky, and I'm back to the others less than twenty minutes after I left.

I have to re-examine my estimation of how challenging it was as I work with the others. Luckily, Tipan picks it up immediately, and is able to help. Cause she's much better at teaching than I am. I follow her lead, showing the others how to guide mana to each task without blowing things up. Or creating random spurs of metal. Or twisting them into weird shapes.

None of these are problems I've faced, but everyone else except Tipan has at least one mishap.

Once everyone has it, I head off to the next trial. And we repeat the process again. And again. By the time we've finished the first seven, I have a headache. Not an actual physical headache, but I'm starting to get annoyed at how bad a teacher I am.

Tipan is ten times the teacher I am, and... I'm kinda jealous. I don't mention it, but instead of staying to help the others as she starts teaching them what to do, I head straight for the eighth trial.

Saved fire for last, since Smoulder wanted to play.

The stone platform is covered in torches again, though the subtle little furnaces and pools of glowing magma tucked in corners are both more prevalent than the early platform. The challenges are the same as usual, a little bit of avoiding burning things for Control. Then Smoulder's favourite, burning things that are resistant to being burned. We're all the way up to some sort of dark stone. And we don't burn it so much as melt it.

But that's still a success. The pattern for fire's flexibility test is reminiscent of the sphere we do the metal challenges in. At least in the expanded form. More of a ball when it's collapsed.

Finally, Smoulder's second favourite part is increasing the fire's flames to the point where the light would've been blinding once. Now it just shaves a few fractions of health off every second.

As I wait for Smoulder to complete the challenge, I look out into the open air. It's a little strange how the islands are all floating without anything to anchor them. The dungeon doesn't even try to hide its nature. No fog or mountains or cave walls. Just sky for as far as I can see in any direction.

Instead of heading back once we're finished, I plop down on the edge of the island and just stare into the distance. I can hear Smoulder playing in the background as I think about how everything's gone today. Technically, it's going well. Tipan's been teaching everyone everything, and no one's failed a challenge. I just... it feels like I'm barely contributing.

With a dramatic plop, I lay down on my back staring up into the sky. As I'm staring into nothing, Smoulder pops her head into view, blinking down at me, her paws on my cheek. Then she reaches forward to bop my nose with her own, a sense of silliness being transmitted over the bond.

Specifically, that I'm being silly.

Chuckling, I grab her and hold her over me.

"You know Smoulder, you're right."

Her usual smugness returns over the bond. She might not understand most of the things I say, but somehow, I think she knows what those words mean.

"I am being silly. Tipan's a better teacher than I am. But I can watch her and maybe that'll help me be better too."

Smoulder doesn't have a response to this, other than to continue broadcasting her smugness. Which is interrupted when I bop her on the nose then dump her as I leap up to race across the bridge, sending back my own sense of smugness. We spend a few minutes chasing each other around the central island before I return to the rest area. Only Roberts and Tipan are in the central area when I walk in, and they both look up from their... card game?

As I sit down, I recognize the metallic cards. They're regular playing cards from Earth. Sab and I went through many decks of those cards. Rarely playing card games though. More often they'd be used for... well, pretty much anything we could think to use a small cardboard rectangle for. The sailboats were a fun but ultimately flawed premise. Alas, sir floats-alot, may your soggy sails rest in peace.

Probably be even worse with these metal cards.

"Roberts is teaching me... what was it called, poke her?" Tipan asks, enunciating the English word rather poorly.

I can't hold back a small snort as Roberts just smiles and corrects her, "Poker. One word."

"Poker. It reminds me of a game my mother and I used to play when she spent her days at the barge-docks. Though we used System enhanced disks instead," Tipan says, almost lowering her cards so Roberts can see them.

He corrects her grip with a single metal card from his own hand. She smiles as she pulls the cards close. "Though I'm having trouble remembering not to show my cards. With the System disks, it's impossible to accidentally reveal your hand."

"I see that," I say, sitting down next to them. As they play out a hand, I find out they've both completed the previous trial and Rose and Josh are completing it now.

This time, when I teach them how to do the fire challenge, I watch Tipan as she instructs Roberts. And I realize the big difference. She doesn't tell him how to do things. She just asks questions. As the others pass through, she does the same with them. Or breaks down what they're doing and gets them to try it with a different approach. As Rufka, this time choosing to go last, walks off to complete the Fire trial, I turn to Tipan. "You're really good at that, you know?"

"Hardly. I don't have half the skill with Fire manipulation you do," Tipan replies, though her ears do flick slightly at the compliment.

"I meant teaching. You're good at it," I say as Kellica takes a place across the table from us.

Tipan acknowledges my clarification with a small nod, and the barest hint of her ears laying back. But then my attention is diverted as Kellica leans forward, her eyes shifting back and forth as she takes a deep breath.

Tipan and I trade a glance as Kellica mumbles something low enough I can't make it out, even with my enhanced Perception.

"Pardon, what was that?" Tipan asks as we both lean toward Kellica.

With a grimace, Kellica straightens herself out, glancing over her shoulder at where the others are playing cards before turning back to us. "I said, ‘I'm sorry’."

Again, Tipan and I exchange looks before I ask, "Sorry for what?"

"I... you know I'm a Taken, yes?"

"Yes..."

"And that we are spies for the Aetherium?" Kellica presses, her eyes boring into mine.

"I mean... sure," I reply. Wasn't exactly a secret.

"I... I just got a quest update. A hidden objective."

"Isn't that a good thing? That's why we've been putting in all this work."

"I don't think she means relating to the dungeon," Tipan observes, frowning at Kellica.

Shaking her head, Kellica points at Tipan. "She's right. Before... when we were preparing to come here. I sent in a report."

"Okay," I say, squinting at her as if I could extract what she's trying to say faster by looking at her harder.

"My hidden objective? It was to assist in stealing from a Silver-rank user's stronghold," Kellica hisses, looking at the entrance that Rufka walked through just before she sat down. "They stole something from the Crimson Archmage, and it's all my fault!"

As Kellica flicks her ears back and forth continually, I can't help but blink at her. Did she really help them steal from Genitha? And how is that even possible? The one part I don't doubt is that something was stolen. Unless...

She's lying to us about that.

When I glance at Tipan, I can just barely see the corner of her mouth twitching upwards.

Which prompts my own smile.

"What?" Kellica asks, her brow furrowing as she looks between us. "What's so funny?"

"Oh... just the idea that someone stole from the Crimson Archmage... without her letting them," Tipan says, glancing at me.

I nod, smiling along. "What did you tell them?"

Kellica squints at us, her upper eyes closed as she flicks her lower eyes between me and Tipan. Finally, with a sigh, she says, "I... may have listened in when you went into the dome with the Archmage."

"You... I didn't know you could do that," I say, now feeling unsettled. If Kellica was able to listen in, then none of that protection was worth anything. And that's not even to mention that I still haven't told Tipan about Ivicka's book.

"It's not perfect. But I was able to confirm that the Archmage was going to be away from her stronghold for a few days," Kellica says, her eyes flicking towards Tipan. "And that she was taking some book to get inspected."

"A book?" Tipan asks, raising her eyebrows as she glances at me. But she doesn't press, turning back to Kellica. "Is this a class skill of Venom Auramancers? I'm not aware of many ways to pierce a privacy barrier."

Kellica shakes her head. "No. It's... oh Vaus, I shouldn't be telling you this..."

Again, she looks over her shoulder. This time, I can't help but wonder if maybe it's not the others she's worried about. Maybe she's concerned the other Taken will follow her here somehow.

Afterall, Ivicka's found a way around dungeon limitations before.

"Look. It's fine," I say, reaching across to pat Kellica's hand.

"It is?" she asks. Which is closely echoed by Tipan.

"We knew you were a spy. And Genitha is the one who invited you to come with us. It's kinda her own fault if she underestimated you," I say as I lean back.

This draws a snort from Tipan, who nods along. "Indeed. I don't think even she will be upset with you for doing your job."

"Mhm. But uhm." This time, it's my turn to cast a look over my shoulder, looking at the door Rufka left through. "We should probably figure out how we want to tell Rufka."

My thiani’s pretty awesome. But even she has to be worried about people stealing from her mom.

Right?

4.18, Petting the Pussy-cat

11:02 pm, local time. (July 19, 2023, 5:02 am.) Close to tomorrow.

Before telling Rufka, I inform the rest of the party about what Kellica shared with us. Which results in a soft chuckle from Roberts and Rose, while Josh just rubs his head.

"I'm less worried about Rufka, and more worried about Beth," Josh states, looking around at us. "She's been getting more and more... I... she's not taking the whole dying thing well."

"What does that have to do with the Taken stealing from Genitha?" I ask, watching as Roberts gathers up his cards.

"I... nothing. I'm just worried about her," Josh says, rubbing his forehead and catching some of his dark curls between his fingers as he pauses.

We all remain silent, waiting for him to add more. But when he lowers his head into his hands, all he does is repeat himself once more.

"I'll keep it in mind," I say. Wonder if Beth ever has to deal with us constantly going off topic... yeah, of course she does.

"Keep what in mind?" Rufka asks as she slips through the entrance before striding to join us at the table.

Tapping his deck of cards against the desk, Roberts says, "That Beth is having some trouble after her recent resurrection."

"Oh. Yeah, mum says the first one's the hardest. Good thing they're spending time together. Mum's got experience with helping cubs through that," Rufka says as she takes a seat next to me. "We ready to wash out the next wave of elementals? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hoping Lexi leaves a couple for the rest of us."

I can't help but chuckle nervously as I glance at the quest notification.

"Zone Quest updated: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Requirements: Subdue the Primal Elementals with your party. Time until start: 08:09. Rewards: 10 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank mana ingot. 2/3 days remaining."

Huh. Much shorter warmup period for this one.

Pushing to my feet, I start heading out. I'm at the entrance when I realize no one else has moved. "You guys coming?"

"We still have... oh shit," Josh says, pushing to his feet. "Only ten minutes to prepare this time?"

"Guess it doesn't want us waiting around," Roberts says, though it's almost lost as everyone starts moving to join me.

Now that I have them with me, I head outside to the boss area. Shortly after we're all out, everyone confirms they're ready and I accept the prompt to start the encounter early.

This time, the elementals that form are more than just blobs of their respective element. They all take vaguely animal-like shapes, though most aren't upright and they all have extra limbs. When I drop into time stop and shoot off my opening blast, I discover that these are the first real obstacle since we've arrived here. Not a single one of my Piercing Arrows does more than chip off a piece of the elemental. Chips that start to reform as soon as they're struck.

Snapping out an analyze on the elemental fire-cat glaring at Rufka, I hope to find out why.

“Creature analyzed: Primal Fire Elemental. Mana seed: 2.

A fire spirit bound to Elementalist's Peak. This elemental has been working with its counterparts to challenge the best Elementalists of Akilo since before the rise of the Aetherium. While it’s unlikely to kill you, it has no compunctions against searing your flesh.

Name: Ineesis

Attributes: Physical; High, Mobility; High, Magic; High, Awareness; High.

Attacks: Flame Dash, Engulfing presence, Flame blast, Purge Conditions.

Defences: High physical resistance, medium magic resistance. Immunity to fire. High Resistance to all other base elements."

[Wyonna] "These are old elementals. Didn't think they could even get this old. And this isn't even their final form! Something super duper special about this dungeon. Anyway, this is a good sign you're getting to the interesting parts of the dungeon."

Not... okay, not encouraging. But also not terrible. It's just... resistant to everything. Snapping off a couple more analyzes confirms it's not just the fire-cat. They're all highly resistant.

As I let my time-stop come to an end, I attempt to teleport myself to the side to dodge the deluge of return fire I earned from my initial burst. But it refuses to activate. The others are protected inside Roberts' barriers, firing their own projectiles outward as I catch a face full of molten dirt. It manages to get past my resistances, the combined attacks shaving off over a hundred health.

When I look around, I discover that, except for Josh and Kellica, everyone else seems to be having as much trouble damaging the elementals as I am. A single toss of Josh's spear tears a hole in the earth-bear elemental's shoulder as I start shifting my weight manually, cursing the teleportation lockout. At the same time, one of Kellica's blobs of dark-green fluid splashes against the water elemental, causing it to slump.

I throw out a variety of attacks as I pause time again, trying to get a fraction of their success. Torrents, sprays and any other form of elemental attack are all nearly ignored. I'm not even sure if my new Ability to reduce resistances is doing anything. If I keep at it, I can probably knock them down by attrition. As long as I can get behind Roberts' shields, I'll do that, if I can't think of something better.

But the elementals have separated me from everyone else. We've barely been fighting them for five seconds, and they've already worked to surround me. If not for the solid beating Josh was dishing out to the earth elemental, I wouldn't even be able to escape by flying away.

Still, his efforts are enough for me to flit out from between the other elementals, leaving me dangling over... nothing. Lots and lots of nothing. Not sure if being able to see forever is better or worse than the Abyss under Aethire.

Also, now's not really the time to worry about that. Dropping down, I'm pursued by the wind-bird and fire-cat elementals, neither having any trouble following me. I fly directly under the island. Right as I pass the deepest point, where I'm about to reverse direction to use the island as cover, my flight spell cuts out.

As I bring time to a stop, I look up. There's... something on the bottom of the island sucking up the remains of my flight spell. I can barely see the faint aftereffects, the lines of my spell twisting as they're drawn in.

Note to self, avoid spell vacuum.

Recasting my flight spell, I'm able to twist out of the way of a pair of fiery orbs as they rocket past me but I'm hit by an invisible blade of wind. Luckily, it's only a glancing hit, so I only drop a couple Health. Looking back, I wonder if the spell vacuum is what we need. Then the fire elemental flies straight through it, dashing my hopes before they're fully formed.

The next few minutes are mostly the same, taking an occasional fireball or windblade as I dodge around the bottom of the island. Every time I start to get close to the others, the elementals team up to keep me away. Otherwise, only the wind and fire elementals follow me.

In a moment of frustration, I shoot my most basic spell at the fire-cat elemental. A pure, non-aspected Pierce spell. To my shock, it disrupts the fire-cat enough to throw off the aim of their next pair of fireballs.

Grinning, I pause time and unleash a small storm of Pierces at the fire-cat. It manages to dodge half of them, but the rest land, scattering its flames wide. Yet the wind elemental manages to land another invisible blow, shaving off more of my Health.

I'm willing to accept the blow as I repeat my attack against the fire elemental from close range. The wind elemental's been too hard to even hit unless I'm close, and I feel grim satisfaction as ten separate Pierce spells find their mark.

Going to help the others, I make it to the top of the island and have unleashed another wave of Pierce spells when I see the fire-cat emerge on the other side of the island. Even as my Pierce spells land among my allies, scattering the elementals around them, the wind-bird elemental rejoins the fire-cat.

With the elementals finally giving me room, I land inside Roberts' shield and take a look at everyone's status. No one else has even lost any Health. Roberts' shields are just that good, I guess. Still, he's running low on Reprieve, and I haven't figured out how to beat these things yet.

"Nothing is doing permanent damage," Josh observes, looking out the barrier where the elementals are already reforming. I watch as the lightning elemental, in the form of a lizard, strikes Roberts' shield.

"I noticed," I reply. "There has to be something we've missed."

"We've hit them with every spell in our repertoire," Tipan says, even as she traces a shape with the tip of her staff. Then she releases a burning disc of screaming fury. It splashes harmlessly off the metal-monkey as it dashes forward to slam against the barrier. "And I'm running out of variations."

"Maybe it's..." Kellica starts, pausing as she throws out a blob of dark black fluid on a wave of wind. It catches the metal-monkey, causing the metal to deform but it just falls back and sheds its skin before moving to wail on the barrier again. "Maybe it has something to do with the challenges?"

As I release another wave of unaspected Pierces to clear the elementals, I step back. The others are all watching with me as the elementals fall back to reform.

"She may have a point," Roberts agrees as half of his barriers disappear for a second. They reappear before the elementals can attack, but they're even more transparent now. And we're packed more tightly together.

"Yeah," I agree, squinting at where the primals elementals are gathering on the other side of the barrier. "But... what are we supposed to do, channel mana into them until they pop?"

"Perhaps? Or perhaps we can manipulate them... if we get close enough," Roberts says with a shrug.

"Might be able to do it while they're dispersed," Josh says, throwing a spear that splits into three the second it's in the air, catching the earth elemental as it barely gets its shape back, reducing it to pieces again. "But I can't fight them and manipulate at the same time."

"I believe we will need to rely on Rufka and Tipan to do that while the rest of us keep them dispersed," Roberts says as one of his barriers collapses.

"I can do both," I note, grinning now that we have a plan.

Now that I'm looking for it, I can almost swear the elementals have little magical siphons in them. They're kind of similar to the mana-vacuum on the bottom of the island, actually. With Roberts’ Reprieve so low, he's forced to drop his shields.

I throw up a metal shield as I grab the fire-cat's attention again, channelling mana into it. Which immediately triggers a change inside it. Its channels open, and it slows down, the orb of fire it was about to throw disappearing with a small pop. At least, I imagine there was a pop. Not that I can hear it, with everything else that's going on.

That's not the important part anyway. The important change is the internal structure, which now has visible striations that I'm able to grasp and shift the channeled mana to match. It takes me several seconds, but I'm able to realign them.

As soon as I've finished, the cat sits back, licking its paw then drawing it over its head. I'm about to inform the others of my success when the wind and lightning elementals interrupt me with tag team attacks.

I take another hundred Health damage as payment for my inattention, but then I'm taking cover behind a bramble shield woven by Josh with the others. They've managed to cool the heels of the earth and metal elementals, and as I join them, I finish adjusting the lightning elemental.

Multitasking at its finest.

I trade high fives with Rufka as I speed past, linking to the wind elemental this time. I get buffeted about a little, but without another elemental to distract me, its unable to land any of its bursts before I get it lined up as well. When I look for my next target, I realize we're finished. The notification that appears a second later confirms it.

"Zone Quest Hidden objective completed: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Hidden requirement: Complete all Expert Challenges without failing. Rewards: 9.0 Mana Edge."

That's a pretty sizable chunk of Mana Edge, considering each of the challenges was only giving 0.5 per completion. Glad we took the time to ensure everyone got the reward.

"Zone Quest completed: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Requirements: Subdue the Primal Elementals with your party. Rewards: 10 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank mana ingot."

"Zone Quest received: The Final Challenge. Description: Complete one of the final challenges. Every participant can only complete a single final challenge. Requirements: 0/1 final challenges complete. Rewards: Increased Matrix Edge and Regen. One piece of bondable gear. Reward quality will scale based on number of participants who complete their challenge. 24/24 hours remaining."

Blinking a couple times, I reread the notice as the elementals gather around us. In the distance, there's a roar as each of the floating blobs shifts, turning into portals of dusky yellow rimmed by flowing elemental materials.

As I'm reaching down to offer Smoulder head-scritches the fire-cat sneaks its head in, instead.

Despite all the health I just lost in the fight with the elementals, there's zero doubt in my mind that the look Smoulder gives it is the most dangerous thing I've seen since we entered Elementalist's Peak.

It's with all due haste that I transfer my hand to Smoulder's head, leaving the fire-cat tilting its head as I stand up with Smoulder properly secured as it rubs against my leg. But I don't give in to its meows.

An elder elemental the fire-cat may be, but Smoulder's my ball o'doom.

4.19, Elementary Spell-craft

11:55 pm, local time. (July 19, 2023, 5:55 am.) Somehow, not freedom time.

Tucking Smoulder into my arms, I look down at the fire-cat. It looks back, rubbing a paw over its ears as though it were any other cat not made of fire. And like it hasn't been trying to explode me all over the place for the last couple minutes.

I narrow my eyes at it, Focusing again. Its description remains unchanged. Not sure if I was expecting it to say it was my pet now, or just to say it was an ally, but for some reason, I did expect it to update.

It didn't. It's still a primal fire-elemental named Ineesis.

A crackling meow as it rubs against my leg draws me out of my analysis. Looking around, I notice that the other primal animals are investigating the rest of my party. The way Kellica and the Earth-boar are staring at each other almost makes me snort. And no one can prove the sound I made when I saw them was any such thing.

When we retreat into the rest area, we get another surprise. The elementals follow us. They don't hang out though, instead moving to the wall. The formerly boring surface shifts as the elementals approach. The walls fill with arrays of runes, simple shapes at the top, working down to more and more complex designs towards the bottom.

"Are these... Spells," Tipan asks, stepping towards the wind-bird's mosaic of runes, pointing to an array about a third of the way down. "I recognize this. This is the Aethirium's mass-flight spell. And this is... There are dozens of spells here I don't recognize."

We spend the next hour looking over the spells, and the entire time, I'm copying them into my notebook while making use of Pause. We'd barely have time to test the easy half of these spells, but I suspect we'll be needing them in the trials.

The others agree, and we set to deciding who will tackle which portal. There's some discussion about which spells to practice, with each of us starting with the spells directly aligned with our portals. And several spells that might be aligned opposite.

I was going to let the others decide on their portals first, but Smoulder kinda stopped me from doing so. Between the way her and the flame-cat chased each other around the rest area and the fact that Smoulder sat down to learn the basic fire spells with me, I think we might have the most to gain from the fire portal.

Which is fine, since Rufka's got a preference for lightning, Tipan loves her wind and Roberts is still most comfortable with water. The only real contention is who gets earth, since both Josh and Kellica want it. Though for very different reasons.

"Not sure that being able to tear chunks out of the elemental is the best reason to want to go into the earth-portal," I weigh in when they start on their third round of 'discussion'.

Kellica uncrosses her arms, her silent glare at Josh fading into a softer expression as she turns to me. "I... What do you think I should take, tel'thoni?"

Whoops, put myself on the spot. "Well, we still have Stone, Metal and Ice," I say, buying time to Pause. A Pause that should be a little longer than normal, as I invested extra Facet into it. Might as well start testing extending my Pauses while I think about what advice to give to Kellica.

Thinking back, I go over each of her practice sessions. She wasn't bad with Ice or Stone, not like she was with Twilight and lightning. But Metal was the one she seemed to understand the best. Which... Yeah, I didn't really need an extra length pause to think that through.

And it is longer, though only a few extra seconds.

When I return to the normal flow of time, I keep it simple, "You should go with Metal."

Kellica taps her wrist once as she looks off into the distance, whispering, "The strongest arrow bends but doesn't break." Then she turns to me with a nod. "I'll do it."

Well, that was easy. I should've stepped in ten minutes earlier.

"Thanks Lex," Josh says as Kellica walks away, still tapping her wrist as she moves to the mosaic of Metal spells. "I really... These spells call to me, you know?"

"You just wanna plant your seed," Rose says, elbowing Josh now that Kellica has moved away. "You can't see past the fertile valleys."

Josh sputters for a half a second before retorting, but I've already stepped away. I move over to Roberts, who I notice is attempting one of the easier water spells and having some trouble. It's a simple water-jet, one that could cut through stone back on earth.

We spend the next few hours like that. And despite my plan to focus on the fire spells, I instead spend my time moving between the others, helping them as they get stuck. There's less banter than we usually have, everyone focusing on their chosen spell tree. We make great progress, everyone making it to the bottom of the mosaic. After little effort, they've each made it to the final spell on their specialty.

And I've picked up most of the spells along the way, heavily abusing Pause. There's a lot more utility than I was expecting. We have three different ways to turn invisible now, for one thing. Turns out it's not just the domain of Twilight, but water and wind each have their own versions, with very different spell forms.

Now that they're on their final spells, I spend my time with Smoulder, working our way through the fire spells. It's a lot faster than the others, but it still takes the better part of an hour, despite abusing Pause heavily. By the end of it, Smoulder and I have dozens of new ways to light things on fire, several crafting specific heat-regulation spells and a heat haze camouflage spell.

Which only leaves us with the final spell. If I'm able to interpret it correctly, it's a massive siege level spell that uses ambient mana to literally consume enchantments and matter. However, forming it might take more mana than I have. It's at least an order of magnitude more complex than any of the other spells, taking up almost a quarter of the mosaic all on its own.

After half an hour spent studying the siege-inferno, I take a break to talk with Rufka. She practically knocks me over when she thumps her head against me. "Mum woulda got this in less than an hour," Rufka mumbles while glancing back at the lightning spell. It's a sort of area control spell, transforming several hundred square meters of terrain into a lightning field, which the caster can move through at will. Rufka thinks there might even be a component for tagging multiple people to be included in the effect, though as she hasn't mastered the spell yet, she can't be sure.

"You'll figure it out. We still have time," I say, turning her around to massage her shoulders.

"Did you figure yours out?" Rufka asks while glaring at the spell-form as though she can scare it into submission. Which... I'm not entirely sure she can't.

I shake my head. "Nope. Not even sure I can cast it. It takes a lot of mana just to create the framework."

Rufka nods. "First cast is always the hardest. You know, I think-"

Whatever Rufka was saying is lost as a thunderous boom throws us toward the wall. I've paused time and am scanning the room before I've had time to make contact.

My eyes lock on the green form of a K'tharn, her form completely transmuted to wind-aspected energy.

Oh.

Looks like Tipan managed to finish her Embodiment of the Wind spell.

As I drop out of pause, we all watch Tipan wave her hand back and forth. The wind cascades away from her, gentler gusts sweeping my hair back as she experiments. Eventually she looks up. If she was human I'm sure I wouldn't be able to see her blush. Yet, since she's a K'tharn, it's easy to see her embarrassment in the way she folds her ears back.

"Congrats Tipan," I say as she holds herself still. But even her ears flicking back send small flurries racing away from her.

"Indeed, congratulations. That appears to be a rather dramatic spell," Roberts notes, looking around the room. "Perhaps we should move our testing outside though. We wouldn't want these spells triggering while we're all in close proximity."

With a murmur of assent, we move outside. My eyes remain fixed on Tipan's form though, looking over the spell-form in my notebook. I knew it had a transformative component, but I didn't expect the final product to be so… drastic. Even as we step outside, Tipan remains a living embodiment of wind.

Once outside, her motions are far less disruptive. And most of our personal spell progress is delayed as she experiments and we all ask questions.

Tipan shares several minor insights on how she completed the spell, which will likely be important for when the rest of us make an attempt. But more importantly, she adds, "There seems to be a hidden condition when learning the spells. I received a notification informing me that I'd used up my elemental guidance after I… well…" Tipan trails off as she gestures down at her still wind-augmented body.

After some more comparison of notes, we go back in to inspect the spells again. Knowing that we're receiving guidance, even if it's just gentle nudges, we all reconsider the spells we're learning. However, considering the limited time we have remaining, we're not exactly able to change track.

Except for me. I could learn a different spell than Inferno. And the Ice Castle spell is a little tempting.

But when I glance down at Smoulder, and see her dutifully tracing out the spell lines of the siege-inferno spell-form, I can't help but smile. The fire-cat is sitting nearby, watching us work. When I notice it, I glance over to Tipan. She's had the wind-bird on her shoulder the entire time…

It can't be that simple, can it?

Reaching out towards the fire-cat, it meets me halfway, walking up to rub against my leg. As I consider the siege-inferno spell, I can almost feel it coalescing. The little issues I was having, sorting themselves out for me.

Before it can finish, I send as clear an image over my bond to Smoulder as I can, stressing that the fire-cat can help her burn things better. There's a moment of indignation when I set the fire-cat next to her. But then as it rubs up against her, I feel the indignation turn to… well, not shock, but mild surprise, followed by excitement.

"Not on the island!" I can't stop myself from shouting.

And I feel like it's just in time as Smoulder turns away from the island, a tiny dot of fire shooting into the distance. It's nearly out of sight, even with my augmented vision, when it expands. From several kilometers away, I can feel the heat of the expanding spell against my skin. Even with nothing but the air around it for fuel, it burns for over a minute.

Smoulder tilts her head up at me, and I can feel her pride radiating through our bond as I reach down to pick her up. "Good job," I tell her as I give her head-scritches. The fire-cat rubs against my leg, and I add, "Yeah, you too."

Even as the fire-cat continues, I reflect on the siege-inferno spell again. And as I suspected, the learning boon is gone. Even the connections I had made are harder to understand. Luckily, I'm able to partially bypass that by spending a few points of Facet for perfect recall. I'll still have to piece together the rest of the spell on my own.

But that's fine.

I've never considered myself a princess, but now that I get to create my very own ice castle.

Well, it's time to play.

With Smoulder still playing with Inferno, and a quick discussion where I inform everyone how to access the guidance, I turn to the ice-primal, a frozen wolfadillo like creature. Unlike the fire-cat, there's no friendliness here. Instead, I'm met by cold, empty eyes. Which… ice, so fair.

As I place my hands on its… shoulder? Or upper hip? The part just behind its head, I wait for a second, not opening the spell yet. It doesn't react, other than to tilt its head slightly to look into my eyes. At least, I think that's where it's looking. Its gaze remains just as empty as before.

Doing my best not to get put off by the wolf, I allow myself to think about the spell. And I realize… it's not just an ice-castle. It's a temporary Nexus. Casting the spell will allow me to create a Nexus that lasts for up to… okay, I'm not sure how long it'll last. Not off the runes I can decipher. At least a day, I think. Depends on ambient mana. And if I continue channelling mana into it. And how neatly I do the runes…

There's a lot to consider, honestly.

But I can feel the ice-wolf's help as I start building the spell-form. The process is… different from System imbued knowledge. It's less, download and done, and more, subtle nudging. It feels more natural, like a hand on mine tracing out the patterns with me.

Except, you know, in mana floating invisibly in the air in front of me. Totally natural.

I follow its guidance, but purposely mess up at several points. Just to test what it would do. It doesn't force me back, instead giving me other suggestions on how to complete the spell-form. And as I go, I realize that some components are very customizable. Such as the shape of the castle. Other components have almost no room for change. Such as the Nexus link. Any change to the link causes that part of the spell-form to simply cease functioning. It takes me an hour before I feel ready to cast the spell. But when I do, I feel confident that I understand most of what goes into it.

The others have all managed to cast their chosen spells, Rose having to take Stone since the elemental only granted the Earth guidance to Josh. Rufka sits behind me, Smoulder curled in her lap as they both wait for their mana to recharge. While these spells are impressive, they're not cheap.

The spell-form for the ice-castle is almost a miniature of the same, reflected in front of me. The key difference is the Nexus access point and the interwoven strengthening runes. Unlike a regular ice sculpture, my castle will have a degree of resistance to physical damage. And melting. Which is going to be important if I ever take it somewhere really warm. Like a desert… or anywhere I bring Smoulder.

Completing the spell-form, it takes fifteen minutes of slowly feeding my mana into it as the ice castle takes shape. I could empty my mana to speed up the formation of the castle, but I'm pretty sure it'd only shave off a minute or so. The mana cost is immense, and the spell-form is designed to allow mana to 'settle'. I'm not sure it'd even do much good.

So, I don't force it. I let it go.

The castle starts by forming a bridge, leading off the central island. Thankfully, that's all the anchor it needs to stay floating as I cross into the middle of the emerging castle, guiding the spell-form to completion. For some reason, the spell is designed to be cast in stages, with the final stage being…

As the central podium rises beneath my feet, I admit that, yes, this is worth having a spell that takes fifteen minutes to cast and is cast in phases. I'm standing at the tallest tower in my very own ice castle.

I may not be a princess but that doesn't matter.

I'm the queen of my castle.

A note from Draith

Quick note. While I love all comments and typo corrections, I shall never change Lexi's 'Worth's to 'Worth it's.

Thanks though!

4.20, Ineesis' Trial by Fire

10:59 am, local time. (July 20, 2023, 4:59 pm.)

Even as my spell completes, the final turrets of my castle tinkling into place with soft chimes, I get a notification.

"Hidden Reward claimed: Spell: Annella's Solitude. No other Extreme complexity Spells will receive guidance."

There aren't any other rewards for learning the spell, but there really doesn’t need to be.

I slip down the tower to the grand entrance, twin staircases spiralling up on either side. In the centre, there's a fountain that sprays near freezing water into the air, causing snowflakes to drift down instead. My castle is lacking in Smoulder decorations because... that would be kind of wrong.

And she doesn't seem to mind their absence, leaping from Rufka's shoulder to mine as Rufka joins me in the entrance. She places a hand on the fountain, tracing a hand along it before turning to me. "It really does let you access all the Nexus functions. Mum's gonna love this."

"I'm kinda loving it myself," I admit. Which has nothing to do with the Nexus access that's tied to the fountain. That's nice, but it's secondary compared to the castle. Which... I probably won't use much, since it's so freaking huge. Pretty sure it's bigger than a stadium, and that's just its footprint. It's at least as tall as it is wide.

Turning away from the fountain, I inspect the rest of the grand entrance. It's spacious, but if I'm going to summon it with any regularity, I'm going to need to fill in some of the blank spaces on the walls. Creating copies of monsters from tabletop games as carved art counts as fair use, right?

Hmm. Maybe I could decorate with some of the ship designs that are rattling around inside my skull. It’d only take a few rooms.

Shifting my attention away from my castle, I realize it's time to head for the final portal. Well, almost. We agreed we'd have one last meeting first. Ensure everyone's ready before we step through the big shiny portals.

Which leads to me spending another hour with Kellica. She's still struggling to finish the final steps of the Metal Snake spell. But honestly, considering where she was at when we came here, she’s doing amazing. And I tell her that.

“Thank you, tel’thoni. I just… this is so complicated, how am I supposed to learn a spell this complex? It’s impossible,” Kellica breathes out.

“Not impossible. Just frustrating,” I reply, taking the rune and breaking it apart. “And we can beat frustrating.”

Working together, we create a series of hastily formed metal sculptures, we decipher a sneaky set of runes hidden inside a box that basically powers the spell. The box is super reinforced. And if we're reading it right, that's cause if the internals are damaged, the spell is disrupted.

Once we have that figured out, the System magic practically takes over as Kellica suddenly transforms into a heavy metal cat ninja.

Literally.

She's now formed entirely of... I'm not sure what metals she's using. It's dark and has a matte finish. It's also spiky. It reminds me slightly of Josh's thorn-armor, but more... Metal. Figuratively.

"So, how customizable is it?" I ask, running my finger along one of the jagged spikes, several points of health disappearing though my finger remains undamaged.

"Very," Kellica responds, then the spike next to me retracts to a more delicate point. One that almost looks thin enough to snap off in a breeze. "I… it's designed to be adaptive during a fight."

"No bow?" Josh asks as he and Rose stop practicing their own spells. "I thought you'd want a bow, as the Arrow That Pierces The Night."

He says it with a straight face. I'm mostly sure he's being serious. At least, I'm not able to pick up any hint he's mocking her.

"I… well, I am the arrow. So it'd need to be a big bow," Kellica turns away at this, as if to hide her reaction. Which is amusing, since we can't see her ears or her face through the metal suit she's wearing.

Josh claps her metal shoulder as he says, "Right. That makes sense. Guess you'll be an even better arrow now."

Kellica nods, slowly, as if waiting for something more. But Josh is finished, turning back to Rose as they sit to the side.

With Kellica's spell unlocked, we're finally ready to step through the portals. It only takes us a minute to exchange quick farewells. And half of that was me and Rufka.

Then I'm walking across the bridge towards the fire portal. It's similar in structure to the only other portal I've seen, the one from Uthica's memories, leading to another world. Instead of the silver of the world portal, this one is rimmed in bands of twisting orange and red, specks of dusky Twilight floating amongst the otherwise featureless black surface.

With a deep breath, I push my hand through. There's a distinct warmth, and I get a sense of excitement from Smoulder as my shoulder passes through, but otherwise, it's rather uneventful. Kind of like walking through a wave of smoke, but with less hacking and gagging.

It takes me a dozen steps through the featureless smoke before I emerge into what is a castle that bears a passing resemblance to my own, except writ in fire instead of ice.

And if mine was a toy model inspired by a real-world monument. It's impossible to tell how big the flame palace is from where Smoulder and I stand at the edge, but it's clear that wandering through the interior would take a long time. So, I float up, looking for any points of interest. Or anything looking to fight.

I'm able to ascend all of three meters before bumping into an invisible ceiling that domes in the entrance courtyard.

Which isn't a total shock. I'd be more surprised if I was allowed to fly everywhere. But between the closed in ceiling and the lack of notifications, it means Smoulder and I need to figure out our purpose here the hard way. I can't keep myself from trailing my hand on the hard flame of the railing as I ascend the grand staircase at the far side of the courtyard. Despite its warmth, it doesn't feel like it would be hot enough to burn me, even before I raised my Health. And it's solid. As solid as if it had been made of ice.

Part of me is kind of jealous. Ice castle. Definitely cool.

But a castle wrought out of flame? That's next level ‘hell yeah!’. Maybe I could modify the ice-castle spell?

I continue pondering as I continue wandering.

Despite the apparent size of the hall, there aren't any choices. Taking the corridor at the far end, I arrive at the next point of interest, a cozy courtyard with four crimson trees stationed around a low table. Sitting on the far side of the table is the fire-cat, Ineesis. Who I know didn't step through the portal with me.

Yet him being here doesn't surprise me. If the dungeon wasn't locked down, I could easily have accomplished the same thing. And he's the one in control. At least, I think he is.

Ineesis flicks his tail back and forth twice before laying a paw on the table. A small tea set appears on the right with swirling flame stretching up the side. A gameboard with a matching flame motif pops into existence on the left, its arrival heralded by a notification informing me I've started the first task of the final trial. Even as I'm inspecting the flaming pieces, the cat nods his head in my direction.

With no reason to refuse, I accept his quiet offer, sitting across from him as the gameboard slides into place between us. Then a cup of warm tea floats into my hand. A quick analyze confirms it isn't poisoned. Nor does it have any cool magic properties. It's just tea.

Hmm. Peach flavoured. Glad it's not mango. I don't think I could trust anyone who likes mango flavoured tea. No matter how much they may like mangos.

Watching the fire-cat lap at its own tea as the boardgame sets itself up, I stifle a chuckle as some of the tea drips down its glowing cheek. When I turn my attention back to the game, I realize I don't recognize it. The game is played on a series of hexes, but none of the pieces are familiar. Ineesis doesn't give me time to figure out what they're for. Or what the rules are. He simply moves the first piece, then looks at me.

Since I have no idea what I'm doing here, I do the only thing I can. I ask, "Don't suppose you could give me a copy of the rules?"

The fire-cat tilts its head at me before returning its gaze to the board. Sighing, I Focus on the piece that moved forward under its obviously magical gaze.

"Object analyzed. Ineesis's Flagrant Overflow Tower."

"This board-piece is bound by spell runes, granting increased mana-flow to all adjacent pieces of the spell-crafter. If disrupted by the counter-speller, this piece reduces the strength of the surrounding pieces instead."

[Wyonna] "These are pieces from an old System-based game called Undu. Grumpy old wizards used it for teaching counter-spelling. Like, really old. It was out of fashion before Akilo was integrated. Still, it's more in style than fedoras."

Hmm. After reading through the analysis, I look more closely at the pieces. There are runes worked into the bottom of each of the pieces. They're not all familiar, but a lot of them were used in the spells we learned in the trial. And it doesn't take me long to piece together most of their basic functions.

Even as I'm considering, the fire-cat moves another piece.

"Hey!" I protest, even as Wyonna sends me another message.

"Turns are timed. You snooze, you lose."

"Yeah. I got that," I reply as I take a piece and move it into place mostly on instinct. It doesn't seem to do anything, and before I can miss out on yet another turn, I pause time to inspect the rest of the pieces. It takes me two full pauses to read through everything, and even once I'm done, I'm not certain how I'm going to win.

Several moves later, and I've accumulated my first loss. But there's no notification for failure, and the board resets. Then the fire-cat starts again, using a different piece.

I end up playing nine games against Ineesis before I'm able to win the last. But not through proper understanding of the game. Instead, I win by following the flow of mana.

Upon my victory, a notification informs me that winning five times is the first of four tasks Ineesis has set for me. Even as I start the next game, I can't help but wonder why I'm playing a boardgame instead of something more... Well, just more.

"So... magic chess, huh?" I ask while considering my opening move.

Ineesis doesn't deign to respond, flicking his tail back and forth while his piece moves into place.

I keep asking inane questions as I learn the game, Ineesis ignoring my banter as I learn the rules through prodigious abuse of Pause. Fifteen moves and two games later, I figure out that he's following pre-established patterns. After that little discovery, it only takes me another two games to get my next win. And then four more to get the rest.

As I place my last piece, earning my final victory, Ineesis gives me a small nod, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Grinning at his dramatic disappearance, I stand up as a wall morphs into a new doorway on the far side of the courtyard.

Deciding not to dwell on the fact that he can teleport, and I can't, I move on. I don't use flame manipulation to make crude drawings of him with a butt-face in the walls. Cause I'm mature.

However, I don't pretend to hide my snicker as Smoulder picks up on my thoughts then does exactly what I was thinking, leaving a rather unflattering picture of Ineesis engraved in the wall. It doesn't match the surrounding decor, but that's part of its charm.

We move up an exposed spiraling staircase that gives a magnificent view of the castle until we arrive at the top of a tower, a wraparound balcony with several sets of flaming shoes waiting for us, different hues and patterns of flame. There’re even several sets sized perfectly for Smoulder. Ineesis stands beside the shoes, flicking his tail as he waits.

Smoulder and I spend longer experimenting with the shoes than it takes us to complete the challenge. Once we've finished modeling for each other, Ineesis takes off, leaving smoke trails behind.

Dancing across barely visible lines of smoke in my new electric blue flame shoes, Smoulder and I reach the far tower with a shared sense of amusement. Ineesis is waiting, letting out a long yawn as we make it across.

Once we’re standing on solid ground, he gives us another nod and poof combo. As the new staircase appears, I turn to Smoulder. "This guy doesn't have much to say, does he?"

Tilting her head, Smoulder sends a feeling of indifference over the bond before hopping to the top of the staircase.

With a shake of my own, I follow.

Ineesis is sitting just inside the tower, which immediately sets me on edge. We're only a few paces down when the next challenge starts, the steps flickering in different hues of intensity. The step I'm on shifts to a blue that's hot enough to make my Health tick down by several points. When I move to the next step, I realize it's not that dangerous, not even being warm enough to do damage.

Testing the next few, I'm gaining confidence when Ineesis decides to rub up against my leg as I'm stepping.

I fall forward several steps, barely catching myself before the next blue, giving him my best withering glare. He continues rubbing up against my leg, but now that I'm on guard for it, it's not that dangerous. Neither are the stairs, once I realize I can use Fire Manipulation to shape a safe passage through the more extreme steps.

We're sixteen steps down when the steps start rotating through cycles. Each colour has its own pattern, and instead of solving them, I just blast through to the bottom. Ineesis leaps up on the rotating fire-sculpture that dominates the centre of the new courtyard we find ourselves in. Squinting at it, I wonder what he's perched on. The burning nature makes it tough to discern what it's supposed to be. An octopus, maybe?

Once more, with his nod and poof routine, he moves on to the next, and what should be my final task. When I step forward to find our path, the sculpture he was sitting on starts moving, its limbs twisting inward.

Smoulder and I spread out, ready to stomp this thing. Is it weird that I'm relieved that at least one part of this trial is combat?

But instead of the fight I'm expecting, the fire-octopus continues folding inwards before contorting into an entranceway to a great spiral staircase, leading a long ways down, far beneath the fire-castle. Standing at the top, I'm surprised to see what looks like dark stone, etched with runes along the walls. Runes so complex, they make the Siege-Inferno and Ice-Castle spells look as simple as the basic arrow rune I used in my first spell.

Despite having no idea what any of them do, I take copious notes while searching for any sign of a trap. They pulse faintly, their lines filled with fire mana as I send probing magic down the well. After a few minutes of them not exploding, we descend, Smoulder hopping along the floor and sniffing at the runes.

Waiting for us beyond the dark staircase is a giant ornate door, that remains closed. But just to its side is a hallway, at the end of which is a small room, cluttered with what appear to be broken toy cats.

Upon closer inspection, I discover that several of them are just scuffed. But that doesn't take away from how worn in the room feels. How very… plain it is, compared to the castle above. It's not just the toys. There's a bed in the corner, with simple, well-worn sheets and a table nearby with a clean but dull bowl atop it. And next to the bowl is Ineesis. His eyes track us as we enter the room.

As I glance around the room, I can't help but wonder what comes next. Are we going to use fire to power some of these toys? Maybe we'll need to repair them? Or-

My thoughts are cut off as a notification appears.

"Zone Quest Object-"

Before I can even read it, the notification is disrupted by another, though this one has a strange intangibility to it.

"Quest update override. Dungeon Administrator privileges: User: Ineesis."

I'm barely able to catch this one before it's replaced once more.

"Zone Quest Objective Updated: The Final Challenge. Description: Complete the Citadel of Fire. Requirements: 3/4 tasks complete."

"Zone Quest Objective: Pet Ineesis for an hour."

I'm sorry...

Seriously? My final task in the dungeon is going to be petting a fire-elemental for an hour?

Even as I'm staring at the notification, Ineesis hops from the table to his bed. Shaking my head, I take a step towards him. I might as well get it over with.

Before I make it to the bed though, Smoulder has placed herself between us, glaring at Ineesis.

I'm not sure how she knows, but I can feel Smoulder's displeasure radiating through our link.

Maybe this won't be as easy as I thought.

Smoulder keeps glaring at Ineesis until he shifts slightly. As if this is some invisible signal, Smoulder hops forward to join him. And my quest updates again.

Now I need to pet both of them for an hour.

Squinting at the text log for a second, I shrug before moving to sit on the bed next to them. Then, instead of petting them where the little stinkers are laying together, I scoop them up and deposit them in my lap. They both turn to glare at me, but I ignore it. If I'm going to be sitting here petting them for an entire hour, I'm going to be comfortable while I do it.

Though my Health Edge does prevent the worst side-effects of sitting in an awkward position.

It's a strangely peaceful hour as Smoulder and Ineesis remain in my lap while I continue petting them. It's long enough that despite my now-hefty Stamina edge, I lose a few fractions of a point near the end.

Even as my Stamina starts ticking down, the quest completes.

"Zone Quest Objective Completed: The Final Challenge. Requirements: 4/4 tasks complete. Rewards: 10 Iron-Rank Integration Points. 30 Iron-Rank Pet-Only Integration Points. 3 Pet-Only Ability Points. 1 Armor Upgrade."

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective Completed: Complete All Hidden Zone Quests. Rewards: Additional Training Dungeon Progress Toward Class Advancement. 1 Copper Grade Mana Shard. 1 Elementalist Peak Unique Armor."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

Huh. Wonder if I'll be able to claim those at my castle. It counts as a Nexus, right?

Not that I can summon it here.

With my rewards claimed, and a new portal forming at the far side of the room, I gently push Ineesis off my lap while transferring Smoulder to my head. He takes it with typical cat aplomb, mewling at me before settling back into place and watching me approach the exit. No more poofing. At least from him.

I step through the dark portal, back into the world.

4.21, Hero Pose

3:02 pm, local time. (July 20, 2023, 9:02 pm.) Not long enough to get all the cat hair off.

As I step out of my trial, I find the little island empty. When I check party chat, I discover no one else is finished with their tasks yet. I'm not surprised that indulging a cat in playtime took less time than what I suspect were more serious trials. But who knows. Maybe Josh is grooming the earth-bear. I could see that taking longer than playing with Ineesis.

While I wait for the others, I summon the Ice Castle again. Might as well claim my rewards.

"Item received: Armour Upgrade: Cat's Favour.

"Cat's Favour: When used on existing armour, adds the Cat's Favour modifier. Grants a bonus of 10.0 Stamina Edge, doubles existing bonuses and you have a much higher likelihood of landing on your feet when you fall."

"Note. Armour upgrades will become a permanent part of armour once used. Applying a new armour upgrade will replace the old upgrade."

[Wyonna] "Doesn't do much about actual falling damage, but you’ll be like, super ninja."

The Armour Upgrade adds a new option to the Equipment Management submenu, Upgrade Armour. Pretty on the nose there. Selecting it, I'm given the option to select one of my existing Soul-Bound items. Given my attachment to my Aunt Sharon's jacket, I select it to be upgraded. Then the menu reveals that it costs three Iron-Rank mana shards to upgrade it.

Honestly, for an extra ten Stamina Edge that would already be cheap. But doubling the existing bonuses too? If I had that much on hand, I'd spend it. Only one problem.

With this dungeon not having any mobs in it, I haven't had a chance to replenish our stock. I'm actually kinda broke, other than the Copper shard it just gave me. Which I could use, but it doesn't look like it would refund me the extra essence. Might have to spend some time hunting once we're finished. Or maybe just borrow a few.

Shaking my head, I move onto the last reward, the new armour.

It appears in my hands, and for a moment I'm confused at the strip of cloth. Is it a scarf? Then I Focus on it.

"Wrap of Ineesis. After having completed his trial to a satisfactory level, Ineesis has deigned to bestow upon you his second-favourite flutter toy."

"Originally used by the elemental as a plaything, this wrap can be secured around the hand to protect the wearer from all heat damage, granting a twenty percent resistance to heat or cold effects before Edge is applied. Focused. Improves Mana Edge by 1.0 and Focus Edge by 2.0 when equipped."

"Current Bond: Citizen Pandora, pending acceptance."

Huh. That's new. No cost to bond. Might as well.

When I accept the bond, a small burst of information accompanies the bonding, like a mini-codex. All it is, is a suggested method of wrapping that I can't help but notice would leave a bit of cloth dangling free where it would be easily swatable.

Deciding to at least test it out, I pose for Smoulder with the wrap, my hands on my hips as I take a classic 'hero' pose. Which is, of course, when Josh and Rose return.

Luckily, I feel them through my IFF before they're able to get close to the bridge to my castle. Though the muffled laughter has me wondering if they noticed me despite the walls in the way.

Not that either of them have any sort of scrying that I'm aware of.

After a quick message through party chat, they join me in the castle, looking around. I wait as they take advantage of the built in Nexus to claim their own rewards. They both get new gloves. Rose's are the same emerald green his mother used to wear, complimenting his golden fur nicely.

Josh's are not pink.

I know that not everything Josh wears has to be pink. I know this. But somehow, the gloves offend me. They're brown. The sort of brown I'd typically see on a workman's gloves. Oh Josh, how far my image of you has come. While I'm lost in thought, Josh holds his new gloves out, dangling from a single hand while his mouth twists sideways. "These..."

Preparing myself to console him, I step forward to pat his shoulder.

"These are perfect!" Josh exclaims, pulling the gloves close and hugging them to his chest.

I blink slowly, as Rose looks over. Josh is beaming as he says, "They let me create dirt. Like, proper fertile dirt. Plus they're great for zapping bugs!"

They're gardening gloves. They're even called Gardening Gloves when I Focus on them.

"I... congrats?" I say, my consolation pat on his shoulder turning into congratulations.

"Thanks Lexi. What'd you get?"

Showing them my new wrap, I discover that the loose end is indeed swattable as Smoulder takes a swipe at it, bouncing off Josh's leg in the process. And nearly knocking him over.

"Whoa. She's really got some oomph to her now."

Looking at Smoulder, I pop open her status to discover she put her points into Strength. And apparently the points she was awarded were before the conversion value. Smoulder's Strength has skyrocketed.

And she has some new class options. One of them she's even considering taking.

Class selection available:

Infernal Sun God (Unique):

- Attributes: Minor increase to Strength, Constitution, Intellect and Perception. Moderate increase to Agility and Endurance. Large Increase to Spirit and Resolve.

- Resources: Small increase to Health, Stamina, Mana and Focus. Pool evolution: Ignis to Infernis. Immense increase.

- Abilities: Epic. Infernal. Sun.”

I have to double check my memory, cause I think the class is as strong as Cataclysm Seed. And by the time I've replayed the memory, it's a moot point. Smoulder's already accepted her class.

Looking down at her, I search her for changes. But there aren't any. Except maybe a bit more of a gleam in her eyes.

Now that she's chosen a class, she could look at a species upgrade too. But even with her amazing new class, she's not satisfied with the options. Not even the Hare-eld of the Apocalypse. I can't help but giggle at the spelling.

As Smoulder snuggles up on my shoulder, I can feel her warmth pressing against me. And I realize that if I hadn't just equipped the wrap, she'd probably be damaging me.

Even Josh and Rose take a step back. When I check her status, I realize she's not even using mana. She just passively radiates that much heat now.

Which is causing slight issues with the frozen castle, the floor getting melty underneath us. So we relocate to the central island right as a fully metal clad Kellica stomps out of her trial, the clanging of her steps announcing her presence.

Before she makes it to the island, I can feel Roberts emerge from his trial. Which only leaves Tipan and Rufka.

Before they join us, I take Smoulder to the far end of the island, the magical grass that doesn't break, even under Kellica's metal steps, wilting around us.

She's purring contentedly as I give her head-scritches, but that only seems to be increasing the amount of heat she's throwing off. Sighing, I pull her from my shoulder and look into her eyes. "Look, Smoulder. I know you have fancy new powers now, but we're gonna need to dial it down a notch."

Smoulder just looks at me as she dangles there, then leans to the side to push her head against my thumb for more scritches. Sighing, I push the image of her radiating less heat through our bond.

Which doesn't seem to help, as she immediately raises the temperature to a point that makes me start sweating, even with my new wraps and my high resistance. The distorted air around us probably isn't a good sign either.

It takes several more attempts to get through to her, and it's only once I point out that she's not going to be able to get head-scritches from anyone else that she finally starts trying to pull her aura in. Which takes us over an hour.

By the time we're finished, Tipan has joined the others at the far end of the island, near the bridge to my ice castle.

As I walk up to the little table they're playing cards on, Smoulder's heat completely dissipates. There’s a flickering flame on the tip of her tail. But seeing as it's not lighting my clothes on fire, I choose to ignore it.

Smoulder curls in my lap as I let Roberts explain the game they're playing. Something he calls Sevens. I listen half-heartedly, but my attention keeps drifting towards the crackling energy of the portal to the Lightning trial. Rufka's still not back. I know she's alive, cause I can feel that my tether's still connected. But her status in the party screen is grayed out, so I don't know if she's alive and doing well or...

Shaking my head, I ask about the other trials, and I'm relieved since no one had anything deadly. Though nobody else was expected to pamper their elemental either.

Just me.

We've finished playing a round of Sevens and put the cards away, discussing our plans for returning home when Rufka finally emerges from her trial. We all notice, because her return isn't subtle. It splits the sky with a bolt of lightning that leaves my hair standing on end. Rufka's standing in the middle of ground zero, a cheeky grin on her face as she poses with her left hands on her hips her right arms in the air.

Just like Sab always used to.

A sudden wave of nostalgia washes over me, tears forming in the corner of my eyes. I blink them away before going to congratulate Rufka on her completion, but I'm interrupted by a notification.

"Zone Quest completed: Ascend The Peak. Requirements: Complete all Challenges. Reward: Channeled Casting added to Class Abilities. Receive the first level at no cost. *Due to completing all Hidden Challenges, you receive the first two levels at no cost. Return to a Nexus to update your abilities."

"Rest areas have been disabled. Training completed. Teleportation has been unlocked. Any users who remain within the training area in ten minutes will be sent to the exit."

We don't wait for the dungeon to kick us out, everyone gathering together instead. Thankfully Kellica has stowed her armour and Tipan's not floating around in wind-avatar form as I prepare the spell-form for teleporting us back to Theria's.

Thankfully, no last minute interruptions arise, and the spell transports us safely to her hidden valley. Well, technically, it's just outside the valley, in the little alcove I shaped specifically for this purpose. When we arrive, I feel the bond to the test beacon disappear. Checking the mana shard I used, I find a crack running down the side. Going to need more testing. And probably get Rufka’s input.

For now, I replace the beacon with a similar one, cursing the lack of an enchanting skill.

"We should check on the cabin," Rufka reminds me the moment we step out into the twisted canyon that leads between Theria's valley and the rest of the Reach.

"You shouldn't need everyone for that," Roberts says before I can reply. "I'm going to check with Theria to see if there's been any word from Beth."

I nod, and everyone except Rufka and Kellica go with Roberts.

Glancing towards Kellica, she shifts her gaze away. "I... need to see what they... what happened because of me."

When Rufka doesn't object, we make our way out of the canyon to the edge of the promontory Theria's valley is hidden inside. For a moment, we all just stop and stare at the incredible sunrise. Even with my timesense, I hadn't realized we'd be arriving in time to catch the rays of light as their sun crested the rise. And if it was just that, we may not have stopped. But Ukila hangs low in the sky, its surface reflecting against the ocean. And in the distance, only barely visible, a mana-storm roams the surface of the ocean, moving towards the Reach.

"So beautiful," Kellica murmurs, her voice barely louder than the gentle wind in our still sheltered alcove.

"Yep. Mum said the sunrise was one of the reasons she settled in the Reach," Rufka says, patting Kellica's shoulder. "Though the frequent mana-storms help too. Most users are afraid of them."

"I suspect there's a good reason for that," I say drily, giving Rufka the side-eye.

She rolls her shoulders and grins back at me. "Sure. They're not as awesome as me and mum."

Thankfully, a gust of wind covers most of my undignified snort. And before anyone can comment, I leap off the edge of the cliff. I let myself fall for a second, just enjoying the sensation of freefall before flaring my magic out to catch me. As I come up above the river, I realize how... absolutely insane that was. Sure, I'd done things like that before. But I'd always been fortified by Rufka's moonshine.

Now... now there’s no moonshine. I leapt and I… I just trusted my magic.

The absolute feeling of freedom I feel in this moment is unlike anything I can remember.

Then Rufka catches up to me, and I feel Smoulder's discomfort at being so high up and out in the open. Which isn't helped by her precarious position on Rufka's shoulder.

Oops.

I fly closer, collecting Smoulder and putting her in her pocket where she's properly secured. Kellica comes up behind, slower than either of us under the effect of a new flight spell, metal wings stretched wide.

It doesn't take long until we're circling over Rufka's cabin. It looks intact, not so much as a patch of scuffed grass.

After a quick check of the area, Rufka glides in to investigate while Kellica and I remain overhead.

"I... thought it would be worse. You think she'll find anything?" Kellica asks as Rufka lands in the clearing below, taking her time to inspect the edges before moving toward the cabin.

Bobbing slightly as I shrug, I squint as Rufka stops on the porch. But she shakes her head before turning to us and gesturing us down. "Guess not," I reply while moving to join her.

"Someone was definitely here," Rufka says as we land, proving me wrong immediately. "Mum's major wards are intact, but they trampled through the subtle ones."

"Oh?"

"Vaus-sucking voidbrains don't even realize that I can just..." Rufka's hand glows as she spins what I thought was an ornamental carving of a flower next to the door. The entire yard lights up, thin lines of lavender criss-crossing it. And clearly illuminating three forms crouched near the creek at the edge of the clearing.

Even after we've all turned to stare at them, the figures remain crouched. Do they not realize we can see them? Now that I'm looking, their invisibility isn't even that good. They're barely translucent. I can even see some of the middle one's fur.

"You know we can see you, right?" I ask as I take a seat on the edge of Rufka's porch.

This finally prompts a reaction out of them, all three standing up.

"What're you doing here, burner?" The middle voice asks, leaving me utterly confused. Who is he talking to? And is that supposed to be an insult? The tone kinda implies it is.

"I'm not..." Kellica starts before choking off, looking down at the ground.

"What did you just call her?" Rufka demands, sparks dancing across her fingers as she approaches the three invisible figures.

Oh. Guess we're doing things that way. I Focus on the three of them, preparing to drop into Pause while hopping off the porch. I blink twice after a quick scan of their strength reveals that none of them are a threat to us.

Even as I'm thinking that, Wyonna messages us, "Wow. I've seen paper lanterns that were less flimsy than these three."

"We were told not to engage," one of the invisible shapes hisses at the one who spoke.

"It's just the burner," the other shape says, letting their invisibility drop. She's a K'tharn with muted greys and blacks whose eyes flick over us as she starts to step forward. "Besides, we know the Archmage is busy. And they're barely iron."

An invisible hand partially obscures their shoulder, halting them before they can take another step forward but it's the voice on the other side that speaks. "Is this how the Taken normally operate?"

"No," hisses the other voice again, trying to pull on the shoulder of the K'tharn who's revealed herself to us. But she doesn't get a chance, cause while they've been arguing, Rufka strode across the lawn and is now standing directly in front of them. Kellica and I are just behind her, and I've already managed to secure tethers to each of them.

Though there's something weird about the way my tether attaches to the third presence. A quick double check reveals that his powers are web based and his name is Pogell, which almost makes me laugh.

Rufka flexes her hand and their remaining illusions shatter, revealing that neither of the others are K'tharn. The one on the left, who's been hissing, is covered in scales, similar to Raz though nearly twice his height and with mottled green scales. And their name is Lik'tik.

The one on the right is so fluffy, it's hard to make out more than their vaguely humanoid shape, though they only have two arms and according to my analysis, their race reads as Malkog. Though it should probably read as 'big fluffy puppy who stands on two legs with an incredibly boopable black nose.'

"Apologize," Rufka states, staring at the one in the centre. I can't help but wonder if she's asking them to apologize for trespassing, stealing from her mum, or the burner comment. Maybe all three?

The K'tharn, whose name is Ael'thani, according to my analysis, draws her eyes together as she takes Rufka in. "To you? For what?"

I'm considering how to point out all the things they could be apologizing for when Kellica speaks. "For breaking into her home!"

The K'tharn's eyes flick to Kellica for a moment and Kellica kinda just... deflates, her shoulders hunching in while her eyes fixate on an empty spot near Rufka's feet.

"No," Rufka growls out, sparks surging up and down her arms. "For calling her a burner."

This gets the K'tharn to scoff, lifting her head to the side as she affects the almost same hero pose I was in earlier. "Why would I apologize for calling her what she is?"

Suddenly, Rufka's display stops as she laughs, turning away from them and clapping Kellica on the shoulder. It makes Kellica flinch but she meets Rufka's eyes. "She has a point, friend. Why don't you show this vethka stain who you really are?"

I'm at a loss, but something seems to pass between Rufka and Kellica as Kellica gives Rufka a small nod before squaring her shoulders. Rufka still has one hand clenching and unclenching. But it's behind her back as she keeps her lower arms folded and her other arm on Kellica's shoulder. Taking her cue, I move to the other side of Kellica.

Kellica glares at Ael'thani for a second but instead turns to Lik'tik, who is still partially camouflaged, their skin mottled in a pattern similar to the trees behind them. Though with their yellow eyes staring back at us, they're not particularly hard to spot. "Please inform the K'mintar that I am invoking the Vigil of Eyes. Ael'thani shall cast no shadow."

"What? You can't do that!" Ael'thani sputters, turning to their companion. "Can she?"

"As you have so tastefully pointed out, she is a Truth Searer. It is within her rights to invoke a Vigil. No matter how disfavored she may be. And she has the right to make you her Light," Lik'tik replies, running a hand over their scaly ridgeline while letting out a low grumble.

"These are the ones the K'mintar wants, are they not?" Pogell asks, his fluffy fur not moving nearly as much as I feel it should when he shifts to look towards Lik'tik.

"No. These are just her subordinates," Lik'tik answers, their yellow eyes fluttering as they look back at us.

"Perhaps we should take them? Would that not get the Archmage to come to us?" Pogell asks.

Okay. Despite how adorable he looks, I'm starting to think Pogell isn't a nice puppy. Also, not that smart, if he thinks they can handle us. We're right outside Rufka's home for crying out loud.

"Yeah. We should just take them," Ael'thani agrees. "Then we-"

Lik'tik hisses, cutting Ael'thani off as the lizard-person takes a step back. "I will have no part in such idiocy. I shall relay your message to the K'mintar." Before we can respond, they leap away, bounding into the jungle.

"Hmm. If Lik'tik believes it is a bad idea," Pogell mumbles before stepping towards the bushes.

"What? But you said..." Ael'thani starts before realizing she's been left alone. She stands there for three more seconds, her eyes locked on Kellica for the entire time before spinning around and darting into the forest. Much less smoothly than Lik'tik did. It's almost as bad as when I first ran through the forest before meeting Rufka.

"So..." I say as the three Taken disappear into the woods. "The Vigil of Eyes?"

"I... it's for resolving internal disputes. We'll be expected to prove our skills. And then we'll be given a chance to air our grievances," Kellica explains, "It will be a private matter, though I suspect the K'mintar will not approve the Vigil until after I have completed my time with you. She was rather insistent about the meeting with your... with the Archmage."

"I'm proud of you," Rufka says, squeezing Kellica's shoulder. "Even if you never should've let them call you a burner in the first place."

"I... Ael'thani isn't that bad," Kellica mumbles.

Rufka and I both stare at her for a second before Kellica tilts her head back. "She wasn't... I mean, yes. She called me a burner. But there are others who are much worse."

"What about the other two? The outlanders?" Rufka asks with a glance towards me.

"Lik'tik doesn't get involved in anyone's business. They're not big on socializing. And the other one is new. I've never seen them before."

"Should we stop them?" I ask Rufka, pointing in the direction they ran off.

"Nah. Looks like they didn't get into anything important. And you tagged them, right?"

I nod, shuffling the tethers to be lower priority. I don't really want to keep them in mind unless they're close. Wonder if I can figure out a way to do that automatically?

Looking into the forest, I can't help but wonder. If they didn't take anything important... what were they looking for?

And are all Taken that incompetent?

4.22, When One Door Opens

9:02 am, local time. (July 21, 2023, 9:02 am.) Forty five seconds after the walking puppy disappeared into the forest.

With the Taken gone, and Rufka finishing her inspection of the cabin, I take a moment to open my ability screen. While wondering about how messy those Web abilities might be for the very fluffy Pogell, I realize I'd been so distracted by my physical rewards, I'd forgotten to look at what Channelled Casting does. So I open it up to take a look.

"Allows 2 channeled Spells or Abilities to be maintained at the same time without Focus costs."

Focusing on it slightly, I'm able to determine that it has three ranks maximum, and if I invest another point, it'll go up to three channeled Spells or abilities.

When Rufka comes back, confirming that nothing important is missing, I convince them to join me for a quick stop. There's a door I visited a long time ago that I've been meaning to return to.

As I fly into the clearing near the church where the others were taken on the day we arrived, I can't help but frown at it. It's... kinda hideous. My early work shows how little I knew about crafting with stone. And the less said about the plumbing, the better.

I'm tempted to make changes, but...

"I still can't believe you desecrated a two-hundred year old temple," Rufka says with a chuckle.

Even as I'm about to object, Rufka raises her hands.

"I know, I know. You told me. Still, it's funny to see."

"Was busy worrying about my life," I grumble to myself as we descend through the poorly fortified turret, since it's the most easily accessible route from the sky.

"You did this, tel'thoni?" Kellica asks, running a hand along one of the steps I left jutting out of the temple's walls. "After only a day of knowing how to use magic?"

"Kinda," I answer, frowning at the steps. They're practical but ugly. So ugly. They don't have any extra traction, nevermind artistic flourishes. "Technically, I started using magic a long time before I came to Akilo."

"Oh?" Kellica asks, tilting her head in my direction.

Which leads to me explaining about my childhood. An explanation that's soon interrupted, since it’s only a few steps and a short hop before we’re standing in front of the rune-covered door in the basement.

As my eyes trace over the runes, I follow the flow of mana through them as I read out the words, my voice rising in pitch halfway through. “This node has been claimed and sealed by Uthica of clan Halterin in accordance with directive 24.1 of the Lathian Conclave.”

"This is related to Uthica!" I practically shout, turning to Rufka who's smiling at me. "I... I knew that."

"Registered user detected. Access granted."

“Quest updated: Knock knock. Description: Open Uthica’s door in the Goddess Vaus’ temple basement on Akilo. Requirements: open 1/1 doors. Reward: 5 Iron-rank integration points.”

Even as the messages appear, the door slides open, revealing...

An empty room?

Stepping forward, I stop myself just before I cross the threshold. I inspect the room for magic or traps or... anything. Rufka and Kellica stand beside me. But the only thing I see inside is a single piece of broken pottery.

"Looks clear," Rufka says after more than a minute standing at the door.

"Uhm. Agreed. But it might just be too subtle for me to detect," Kellica says, from where she's kneeling by the edge of the door.

"Nah. You saw how bright it was before Lexi stepped up to it. Now it's as dim as Ael'thoni," Rufka replies, drawing a soft chuckle from Kellica while taking a step through the door. Before she crosses, I Pause time. Just in case. But nothing happens. Other than her taking a step into the room, of course. I definitely don't Pause a second time just to admire her form.

Nope.

She strolls around the room, her hand on the wall until coming to a stop above the broken piece of pottery. She holds it up, flipping it over then grins in our direction, waving us closer. Remaining ready to drop into Pause again, I join Rufka, accepting the offered pottery shard from her. Our prize for opening what doesn't seem to have been a particularly secure door.

It's similar in style to the patterns on the side of the building, a depiction of Vaus and Astra, though this is more intact, showing them standing across from each other. The colours are faded, but part of me knows that Astra was once white and Vaus had been midnight-black with a golden circle between them. The gold is the only part of the relief that hasn't faded. The piece of pottery, our only real loot, isn't even magical. Well, not any more magical than everything else surrounding us. Even so, I feel a sort of connection to it. Something less to do with the magic, and more to do with… a feeling of familiarity.

"This is pre-integration," Rufka mumbles, her hand caressing the faded imagery. "Mum's gonna flip."

"You're sure?" Kellica asks while stepping past me.

"Mhm. See the way the edges have faded. After integration, the artist subclass let users figure out how to avoid the uneven fading. And the mana-signature is too uneven."

Focusing more closely on the mana, I think I can make out what Rufka's talking about. There are... clumps of different elemental affinities. But it's so subtle I missed it on my first inspection. Well, I'm glad we found something. Cause I was feeling pretty bummed about the empty room.

We don't bother going upstairs as I teleport us directly to Theria's again.

The others are gathered near Theria's eating, and Theria gets up as we approach, coming to meet us. We've barely finished our greetings when she hands me a letter from Beth. Actual physical paper and everything. She hands a similar one to Rufka.

"Hey kid,

Looks like we're going to be a little longer than planned. Genitha's 'friend' needs us to take care of some stuff for them. Nothing too challenging, but we'll be a few days. In the meantime, you should head to Glimmering Sands. We've made peace with the authorities and arranged for transport to the next dungeon. It's a combat dungeon that Genitha says has much higher than normal rewards. I'll tell you the details in person. If she's right, it'll be more than worth the extra travel time. Plus, it's outside the Aetherium and the M'tari's territories. Which is important for other reasons.

Not sure if you heard about it yet, but we're also tracking down Genitha's missing property.

Tell Josh... well, tell him I'm... even if I'm not the original... I still... you know.

Anyway, take care of our tribe. I know you can.

Beth."

Huh. I'll admit, I'm a little surprised they're not ready to meet up. We spent enough time doing Elementalist's Peak. Attached to the letter is the estimated arrival time of the ship in Glimmering Sands. I glance over at Rufka and she gives me a half-smile, her ears twitching slightly. "Guess we're headed back to the beach."

"Looks like," I agree. I gather the others and discover Beth sent most of us a letter. Not Kellica, of course. Unsurprising, since Beth didn't even know her when we left.

It doesn't take long to agree to depart for Glimmering Sands, and with a brief thank you to Theria, we teleport beneath the empty tree of Nexus point 392, spending the night at Raz's.

He's not able to see us, busy with other tasks for the System.

Then in the morning, much like our trip north, Tipan and I chain together teleports and her aspect to get us close.

After a few hours, we drop out of high-speed mode, the settlement on the horizon with the sun high above. The residents haven't been idle. Most of the bricks from the falling tower have already been cleared away, and the buildings look rebuilt. The tower itself hasn't been restored. Because it seems it’s been redesigned instead, a new open air garden running up the side Ivicka destroyed.

Our approach is quiet, floating over the surprisingly intact settlement to land at the designated landing platform.

Instead of the casual greeting we got last time, this time there are a pair of K'tharn who look us over. They glower but wave us through once they notice Tipan.

Once I’m on the ground, I can see signs of where the blocks fell. But only because I'm looking for them. The holes in buildings have already been patched over, and it's only the change in designs on some of them that even show there was damage. Also, there are still a couple of blocks resting between a group of buildings, but they’ve all been converted into patios.

There are a lot of K'tharn in the streets, and it's only as we're making the way up the steps to the Inn the others stayed at last time that I remember there was an upcoming celebration. The Great Tidal Festival. And as I check again, I confirm that there are indeed decorations praising the Deepest Court. Whoever that is. Something M’tari related, I’m sure.

Focusing on the decorations doesn't reveal anything, but when we make it through the doors of The Ocean's Breeze, where a familiar black and white K'tharn is fiddling with a new set of ornaments, I Focus on a sculpture not unlike the yin-yang symbol hanging in the center of the room.

"Object Analyzed: Ward of the Depths."

"This talisman is created in the deepest parts of the M'tari Acendancy to pay homage to the Deepest Court. The secrets to its creation are well hidden, while its effects are equally well known. Any who spend eight hours within thirty-three meters of this talisman will gain the ability to breath water and improve any water-based skills at an increased rate for twenty-four hours."

[Wyonna]: "That is one heck of an essence-hungry enchantment. It looks like it takes an iron-rank water shard every two hours or so. Peme must be spending a McDuck's ransom to keep it running."

"A what's ransom?" I ask, squinting at Wyonna's last comment but then hold my hand up to forestall her explanation.

"Oh! Hello there. Didn't expect to see you back so soon after how your last visit went," Peme says as she spins around, smiling at Roberts before looking to the rest of us. "I'm afraid we don't have anything but hammocks available. All my rooms are booked."

"Hammocks?" Roberts asks while I look more closely at the ornaments. In just two weeks, she's managed to change out almost every one of them. Again.

"Mhm. Just for the festival, like you suggested," Peme agrees, nodding vigorously. "I kept a few just in case you came back."

"Thank you. That was quite considerate of you," Roberts replies, bowing slightly towards Peme.

She laughs. "They're cheap and take up hardly any Storage space. It was no trouble. And I'm afraid you'll need to set up near the North beach. It's our designated mana-form zone this year."

"Of course. And the North beach is?"

Peme pauses in her adjustment of one of the ornaments, then laughs before giving us directions to a location nearby. Then she pulls several hammocks out of her Inn's storage space, which she explains to Roberts is quite separate from her personal storage space. As Roberts offers to pay for them, Peme leans forward, patting his hand. "I'll have none of that. These aren't even enchanted."

And so, with a bunch of hammocks woven out of what appears to be a green fibrous material, material I suspect is the local equivalent of seaweed, we walk to the North beach.

Before we even get there, we're greeted by a throng of K'tharn. Even in Aethire, the only time I saw K'tharn packed this tight was when we visited the Desh'mersa stadium.

"I don't see anywhere to set up our hammocks," I note, looking over the packed crowd.

"Well, I can't even see the water," Rose grumbles, causing me to look back at him. It's easy to forget when we're all flying around, but his diminutive stature does make it hard for him to see.

Honestly, it's a little weird that I can see over most of the K'tharn. But they tend to be around my height, and I only barely need to go up on my tip toes. While testing just how far I can see, I happen to see an area further up the beach where the K'tharn aren't packed in as tight. And where there are multiple pillars with hammocks strung between them

Pointing it out, we set off through the crowd, nearly getting separated several times despite a conscious effort to stay together. There's a different feel to the K'tharn here than the ones in Aethire. More... vibrant. Again, not counting the Desh'mersa fans.

They also have a lot more tattoos, which are clearly visible to my mana-sight despite being hidden beneath their fur. They seem to be temporary, given how much mana they're throwing off. When I ask Rufka about it, she leans closer and whispers, "They're letting users know their... preferences. The one with a half-circle and dozens of curving lines, she likes group recreation. And see her, with the closed circle with only two lines inside? She prefers only one thiani. Preferably with a long-term commitment."

As I look around, I realize there are at least a dozen different patterns. And even then, most of them have variations in addition to the core shapes Rufka points out.

"Is this a mating festival?" I ask as we finally break free of the crowd and near the pillars.

"It's unlikely that most of these K'tharn have unlocked the right to bear children," Tipan says with a shake of her head. "If only it was so easy."

Right. Somehow, I managed to forget that I need the System to give me permission to have kids.

Shuddering, I follow behind as we make our way further up the beach to an empty set of pillars. We could just stay at Raz's, but everyone seems to be in agreement about a change of scenery. The pillars are all marked with signs indicating users are only to manipulate enough stone to secure our hammocks. Looking around, I see that there are minor flourishes on the anchors, but otherwise, everyone else has followed the guidelines.

So I do the same, securing each end with small anchors that are perfect replicas of Smoulder in full 'flame-on' mode. I consider having her hold the ends in her mouth, but decide to go with her sitting on it instead. Rather not have her get miffed at the art and destroy it in the middle of the night.

As I'm testing the strength of the hammock, Rufka plops down next to me. Looking to where she was setting her hammock up next to mine, I see she skipped any sort of artistic flourish beyond imprinting her name over the anchor. My inspection of everyone else's work is cut short before it can begin when Rufka pulls me up against her. "Cuddle time."

I laugh, snuggling in tight.

This visit's already looking a lot better than our last.

4.23, Another Gets Blown-off its Hinges

2:02 pm, local time. (July 22, 2023, 8:02 pm.) Not enough cuddle-time.

After I’ve been cuddling and chatting with Rufka for half an hour, Roberts stops by to check how we're doing. I ask him about the hammocks, and he explains they were an offhand comment, but they've clearly become popular. An understatement, given the web of them spread through this section of the beach alone. Then he gets up, saying he's looking forward to enjoying our thirty hours of free time before the ship is supposed to arrive.

"Hey, if we have a whole day off," Tipan calls from out of sight, "That means we can go to a Desh'mersa game tomorrow! If you'll take me, Lexi?"

"Only if I get one of those giant hats!" I call back, earning a soft chuckle from Rufka.

"Yes! Wait. I need to check the schedule, are the…" Tipan's voice trails off as she paces closer, her eyes gazing into the distance.

"Since we are already here, I would like to visit this healer you mentioned," Roberts says, looking over the crowd of K'tharn towards the alabaster tower to the south. "Perhaps she would be interested in an exchange of knowledge."

"Oh, that's an excellent idea," Tipan agrees, blinking as she refocuses on Roberts. "I meant to talk to her about an apprenticeship."

"Didn't you find the place making the figurines of us?" Josh asks while rising from where he'd been partially buried by Smoulder's attempts at earth manipulation. Which amounts to her blasting the sand with fire, getting it to fly in the direction she wants. It's going exactly as well as it sounds. "I'd love to pick up a set, if they still have them."

"That sounds like a great idea. In fact, Rose, why don't you and Smoulder join them. Lexi and I would like to take a walk," Rufka says, giving Rose a wink with both her left eyes.

I don't remember deciding we wanted to take a walk, but I'm not dense enough to ignore Rufka's hint. Rose grumbles about being assigned pet watching duties as he reaches down to collect Smoulder. But she just uses his arm as a platform, leaping from him to Josh's elbow until settling on Tipan's shoulder.

"Should I?" Kellica asks, glancing between Rufka and everyone else.

Placing a hand on Kellica's shoulder, Rufka says, "Go, have some fun. Despite what mum said, you're not my servant."

As they push their way through the crowd, Rufka and I turn north, heading away from the action. But even here, there are K'tharn setting up stands and games. Some of them even have System plates floating over them, listing out their prices. We stop and grab some slushed ice cones that are advertised as 'genuine Stormbringer Ice Flurries,' which are a pleasant contrast to the heat of the day. Not that the heat is bothering me. It's nice that resistances don't take away the pleasant feeling of basking in the sun but they negate sunburn and heatstroke. At least, from normal sources.

With the last remnants of my cone, I flick a tiny bit of ice at Rufka. Not even using magic, just my enhanced agility. Which she dodges without even looking at it. Then retaliates with the rest of her slush, to equally unimpressive results.

Still, it is a crime most foul, and I leap forward to prevent her from taking advantage. Which devolves into us wrestling on the beach, which is going swimmingly until we hear someone cough from nearby.

Looking up from our tangle of limbs, we find a K'tharn looking down on us. Actually, on closer inspection I realize she's an Awakened Fallen. One of the ones we rescued from Ivicka. Pretty sure her name was Cristha.

"Sorry to interrupt. But we were wondering if we could talk?" she asks. As I look past her, I realize there are two more Fallen standing further up the beach.

Rufka's glare is almost strong enough to set the poor Fallen on fire as she leans back in the sand. I squeeze her shoulder before turning back to Cristha. "Sure, what's up?"

For a second, she just shuffles back and forth before taking a deep breath I'm not entirely sure she needs. Do Fallen still breathe? Then she says, "We... I... Thetilda will explain."

I glance over at Rufka. She meets my gaze for a few seconds before flopping back, throwing all four arms out to the side. "Fine. Let's go help." Then, in a voice so low I can barely hear it, she adds, "not like we were enjoying our private time or anything."

"I'll make it up to you later," I whisper back, pulling Rufka to her feet. "I'll even do that thing with your ears you like."

The way Rufka's ears twitch back and forth lets me know that my words had the desired effect as we join the Fallen. I take her hand as they lead us back to where they're camped, squeezing it. When we arrive, I realize it's less of a camp, and more of a secondary settlement, with stone-shaped huts in neat rows and a waist high wall that traces out the perimeter.

It's practically an island amidst the rest of the settlement. There aren't any stalls here. Nor are there many K'tharn. There are nearly twenty Fallen though, all Awakened if the way their eyes track us is any indication. The weight of their gazes feels heavy, accusatory. As if they're judging us. Expecting us to make things worse.

We're led to the second hut on the right, a simple carving of the name ‘Thetilda,’ being the only thing that sets it apart from any of the others. Cristha holds the door open, waving us in. There are two Fallen inside, one of whom is stretched out on a slab that serves as a bed. The other is on a folding chair next to her. The second looks up when we enter, her eyes flicking to our escort then back to me and Rufka.

"So you are the ones who rescued us from Ivicka's control?" she asks, standing up and bowing slightly in our direction. "I am Thetilda, the unlikely leader of this little enclave. I understand our freedom is due to your intervention. Thank you."

"I... you're welcome?" I say, not sure how to respond. It's not like we knew how to free them from Ivicka's control. Or that it was even possible.

"Would you like some tea? I find my appetite isn't what it used to be, but the aroma is as pleasant as ever," Thetilda asks while moving to a small kettle set to one side of the room.

"Uhm, sure," I reply, shifting awkwardly in the doorway.

"Oh, where are my manners. I swear, the decay is getting worse every day, no matter what that fool girl says. Cristha, fetch some chairs, would you dear? And get my daughter." The Fallen who was standing at the entrance nods and soon returns with a trio of folding chairs before stepping back to the door.

"Please, sit," Thetilda says even as she continues fussing with the tea. "And please forgive me if... if I forget what we're talking about. The decay is unforgiving, even if I suffer from it less than the others."

"The decay?" Rufka asks while taking one of the folding chairs and setting it against the wall where she can keep an eye on the entrance and our host. I place my seat next to her, technically blocking off said entrance a bit.

Before she can respond, another Fallen enters the tent. "Mother, you- who are these people?"

As she turns to stare at us, I realize that she's not a Fallen. She's just a K'tharn, one with very messy fur and eyes that have a kind of strain I'm familiar seeing in my mother, but haven't seen much of on Akilo.

A weary sigh resonates from Thetilda as she addresses her daughter, "These are the ones who rescued us from Ivicka, Trellani. Please show them some respect."

"Huh. Thought you'd be taller," Trellani says while taking one of the folding stools then setting it next to her mother while glowering at us.

"Now. As I was saying. The decay-"

"Wait, you're talking to them about the decay? Why should they care? They brought you here then dumped you?" Trellani protests, bumping into her mother and nearly spilling her tea as she turns.

"It seems that being free of our bonds is bad for our condition," Thetilda says with a soft sigh, ignoring her daughter and instead looking over to the Fallen who lies on the bed. Upon closer inspection, I realize the Fallen's eyes are open, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Cristha here discovered a way to use our mana to stave it off."

"For all the good it's done," Cristha grumbles from the doorway.

"It has allowed us to hold onto our minds, and that's not nothing," Thetilda replies, looking past us to where the other Fallen shifts back and forth. "And it has kept us free."

"Kept you free?" Rufka asks, leaning forward slightly. "Free from what?"

"The Aetherium have a solution."

"That's not a solution! It's slavery to a new master!" Trellani interjects.

Thetilda waves her daughter down with two hands while lifting her tea to inhale. "We could bind ourselves to their matrix and be sustained. And it would be a solution of a sort. But we have no desire to serve a new master. We would rather end ourselves than return to slavery."

"Mom. No, it… it won't come to that. I'll figure something out. If using mana can delay the process-"

“I know dear, but as you said, it’s okay to ask for help,” Thetilda says, cutting her daughter off with a wave.

"I... I'm not sure what you're asking us to do?" I say, finally taking a sip of my own tea.

"We're asking you to stop the Decay. No more, no less," she says, squeezing the hand of the vacant-eyed Fallen behind her, which prompts me to Focus on her.

“Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 11.”

“A mana-warped version of K'tharn. This Fallen has been Awakened through a corrupted summoning ritual. The bound matrix has been destroyed, unlinking the soulstone and rendering it vulnerable to ambient mana. This Fallen is degrading into a standard Fallen.”

"Name: Pelthica of clan Atheidies.

Attributes: Physical; Very Low, Mobility; Very Low, Magic; Very Low, Awareness; Very Low.

Attacks: This Fallen is incapable of remembering any of their skills.

Defences: This Fallen has a weakness to any mana-based attacks."

Even as I'm looking over the analysis, my System sends several more notifications.

“Quest updated - Purge Corruption. Hidden Objective completed. Requirements: Decaying Awakened Fallen scanned 1/1. Rewards: 3 Iron rank Integration Points. Schematics for Awakened Fallen Purification and Revival chamber."

"Quest received. Cleanse the Fallen. Cleanse a single Fallen of their corruption. 0/1 Fallen cleansed. Rewards: Structure: Tracking Array. Focus: Corrupted Soul Matrix. 5 Iron rank integration points. 1 Iron rank Progression Mark."

"Quest received. Purge the Matrix. Find and destroy the new Matrix the Aetherium is using to Enslave the Awakened Fallen. 0/1 Matrix destroyed. Rewards: Soul Crystal Purification Work Station."

"Oh, wow," Rufka mutters from next to me. "Guess we still need to clean up after Ivicka."

"We do not intend for you to do this for free. We are not entirely destitute. Not yet. Will you help us?" Thetilda asks, clasping her hands together in a way that jostles a piece of her loose fur to swing wildly. She grabs it quickly, turning her head away while her ears fold back.

Trellani steps next to her, and I can feel a small swirl of earth and water magic before she looks towards us again.

"I... think we might be able to," I say, ignoring the smell of rotten flesh that drifts past my nose as I open the schematic for the Purification chamber, displaying a copy in the center of the room. The only part I recognize is the thirty-two Iron-rank Mana shards the blueprint requires. Though I'm able to guess that a 'Water-Essence mana-regulator' is used to control the flow of water essence. There are several parts like that, including one for Twilight.

"What… how?" Trellani stutters, her eyes darting across the diagram.

"This is half-Enchanter, half-Artisan work," Rufka says as she looks over the plans. "Pretty sure mum has most of this stuff. Not sure where we'd get a mana de-condenser though."

Thetilda's ears perk up at this. "A mana de-condenser? As in, to pull mana apart? I heard Ivicka talking about having a salvaged one from the Builder city." Then her ears droop. "But all of her equipment was destroyed."

"Guess we should check, at least," I say before pushing to my feet with only a tiny bit of wind magic. "No time like the present."

"Should bring the others," Rufka says, sending a message to them in party chat even as she nods to Thetilda. "Hopefully, we'll have something soon."

"Wait," Trellani says before we can make it through the door. She closes her upper eyes, her lower eyes locked on me as though trying to tear my secrets free. Then she lunges forward and wraps me in a hug, whispering, "Thank you."

I pat her back, looking awkwardly to Rufka who just gives me a small smile.

As we step out, I feel the collected gazes of the Awakened on us once more. Nothing has changed except what we learned inside the hut. But that's enough. Cause now I know they're not judging us, afraid we'll make things worse.

It's so much worse than that.

They're hoping we succeed.

4.24, Oh Mighty Rabbit Queen

3:18 pm, local time. (July 22, 2023, 9:18 pm.) Moments after walking out of the Fallen village within a village.

Leaving the Awoken cloister behind, we choose to head north as Rufka flops her head against my shoulder. "Much as I appreciate the System giving us a new quest, think we can get some us time now?"

"Absolutely," I reply, messaging the party about the quest. Roberts sends a quick reply asking to be filled in later, but indicates they're going to be busy for a while.

Which gets a whoop out of Rufka that quickly dies out when she looks back over her shoulder to the Awoken camp.

Navigating away from the crowd, we climb atop an isolated spear of rock that juts out over the water. As we settle down and cuddle together, looking out over the gently rolling waves, I add, "Do you think we should delay the dungeon? Try to get the chamber built?"

"Yeah," Rufka sighs. "Gonna need to talk about it with everyuserrrrrrrrrRRR...." Rufka trills as I trace my finger up and down her ear. She shakes her head, flicking her ears before punching me softly in the side. "Not out here!"

"Sorry," I reply, unable to keep the grin off my face. "Couldn't resist."

Suddenly I find myself falling forward off the rock, barely able to twist around to land smoothly on the sand below. Even as I'm about to right myself, a weight lands on my back, forcing me to one knee.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Rufka says from where she sits atop my back.

"Oh, it's on!" I declare, wrapping my arms around her legs. Then, with a display of Strength I couldn't have achieved two weeks ago, I stand up, hoisting her into the air without using any magical assistance before charging straight at the waves.

Rufka squeals and then it devolves into a battle of dunking and chasing each other. By the time we're finished, the sun is starting to dip low in the sky. We make our way back to the others with equally silly grins on our faces. Which might be related to our post water games timeout.

Being able to make a private spot in seconds no matter where we are will never get old.

Upon our return to the hammocks, Smoulder immediately rockets towards me, successfully doing what Rufka failed to do for several hours and knocking me on my ass. I give her the expected tithe of head-scritches then settle her on my shoulder before going to talk to the others. And discovering that there's a Nexus point we can use for teleportation inside the Tower.

Can't believe we missed it, but I guess we were kinda interrupted last time we visited, what with the whole Ivicka attacking their Lord of the Deep and bringing the tower down and all that.

Oh. And being chased by a dragon. Much fun.

With only a little daylight left, Tipan and Kellica guide us to the Tower. As we get close, the surrounding K'tharn once again get so thick we have to practically force our way through. Kellica proves to be rather good at this once she clads herself in her metal form. For some reason, people respect a seven-foot-tall, full-metal K'tharn.

So strange.

Following in her wake, we make our way inside. The water-elevator still dominates the centre of the chamber, despite the changes to the one side.

Instead of leading us to the main elevator, Tipan leads us to a smaller side elevator, descending to the lowest level. The Nexus itself is off to the side, in a quiet garden of bright coral, most of which is underwater. The garden's sole illumination comes from long glowing eels that swarm beneath the surface. They're clearly not a threat, seeing as there are several K'tharn walking amongst them while tending the coral.

As Kellica drops her armor, a process that reminds me of the first Transformers movie, Tipan directs us to a cluster of rock that's almost lost beneath the coral. And then, with a single mental tug at the System, we're registered with Glimmering Sands's official Nexus point. I notice that we're unable to access Raz's from here. And that we have to pay to Return or teleport here. Restrictions that would be lifted if we were official dwellers of the M'tari Ascendancy. There’s even a small notice attached, reminding users that the M’tari Ascendancy is the official name of their alliance, not the Lords of the Deep.

Once we're registered, Tipan leads us to a performance where a troupe of K'tharn are enacting a rendition of the Last Stand of Queen Bellathiva. Which turns out to be a love triangle that leads to war between her jealous lovers before she convinces them she's more than woman enough to satisfy them both. It's... quite a bit raunchier than I'd envisioned.

"That's probably my favourite play by Lady Ruffem," Tipan says as we leave the Tower.

"Never would've taken you for the kind of user who likes Ruffem," Rufka replies as she tears a piece of glowing pink fluff off a treat we found on our way out. It's remarkably similar to cotton candy, even tasting vaguely like cherry.

"Is it just me, or did it seem like they were real thiani?" Kellica asks, accepting a clump of the fluffy treat as Rufka waves the wand in her direction.

Tipan nods vigorously, before looking up into the sky. "The Handsome group prides themselves on having recruited real Triads to play the roles. It's in their fliers."

"That certainly explains some things," I say, glancing at Rufka. My ears are burning just imagining doing some of the flirting they did on a stage in front of hundreds of people. Nevermind the kissing and groping at the end of the second act. And the third…

"So... does that mean you're into Triples?" Rufka asks, elbowing Tipan.

Tipan coughs, her ears going flat as she continues looking at the sky, "I'm not against it. But it would have to feel natural, you know? It's not something you can force."

"Mhm. Mum says any relationship is a lot of work, but Triples are nine times as much. I know I prefer a single partner."

"But... it could be fun to be a triple," Kellica adds, her voice barely audible. "At least... to try."

"Maybe if I didn't already have the best thiani on Akilo," Rufka states, tossing the candy wand to Kellica and wrapping her arms around me.

I try to fight down the blush as several nearby K'tharn glance in our direction with knowing smiles. And I fail utterly.

"Eh, she's alright," Tipan says, waving her hand dismissively at us. "Get back to us when she can do act three."

At this, Rufka's grin gets far too wide and I clamp my hand over her mouth before she can reveal just how much we've been experimenting together.

Thankfully, she takes the hint, and the topic shifts as we make our way back to camp. Unfortunately, that shift includes talking about the Fallen, and what we can do to help. At which point, Tipan points out that we're going to need to visit Ivicka's fallen stronghold or loot a mana de-condenser from one of the Builder's cities. And seeing as we need to reclaim the cities anyway...

The topic is put on hold until tomorrow, and we spend the rest of the evening singing songs around a small bonfire.

We take turns introducing songs, with mine being a song Seb and I made up during space camp about one day going into space and touching the stars. A goal I haven't really reached, despite being on a distant planet. Tipan's contribution is a haunting poem of lost summers while Kellica shares a sailor's song that her old caretaker taught her before Kellica was sold to the Taken.

With Rufka snuggled up beside me, Smoulder purring away under my chin, and the sound of my friends singing in the background, I end up falling asleep on the beach staring out over the ocean waves.

The smell of bacon wakes me, the morning light falling over where Rufka and I are still snuggled together on the sand, our hammocks less than ten meters away.

Oops.

Smoulder isn't in her spot on my chest, and when I look around, I find her collecting head-scritches from Kellica. Even in the early morning light, Kellica has a fire going, and over it is the source of the heavenly smell. A rather prodigious collection of meat is neatly laid out on a thin sheet of metal that floats above the open flames of the fire.

As I watch, the sheet moves, flipping what must be over a hundred strips of bacon in a single shift of the pan. Now that right there.

That is magic.

Once the others start moving, Kellica reveals she also has biscuits and a light syrup that pair well with the close-enough-to-bacon.

While we're eating breakfast, Roberts informs us that Beth is expecting to arrive in the evening, which Tipan uses as a chance to ask about going to the Desh'mersa game. And suggesting we can check with her mother about parts for the purification chamber. Though we don't need any mana shards, as almost everyone else still has a bunch left over.

"We're going with Tipan," Rufka declares as she licks a drop of syrup off her biscuit. "I haven't seen a Desh'mersa game in years."

"Well, most of us haven't seen one at all," Roberts points out as he neatly slices his biscuit open while using floating metal tongs to carefully fold his bacon inside. "I think it would be marvelous."

"Good, then it's settled. We'll get everything we can before the game. Maybe even find a de-condenser," Tipan nods.

With that settled, we finish breakfast while Tipan regales us with a story of going to a Desh'mersa game with her Father.

"So, I'd been watching the game when one of the grunters nearly obliterated the other team's grunter, and I lost my snack over the seats as I jumped up in shock when the blood hit us. My father just handed her snacks to me and wiped the blood off. We continued watching, and I dropped my snack again, only for her to pull another one out. This was before I knew about inventories, so I thought my father was performing magic. So, of course, I dropped a third snack. Which is when the people in front of us finally spoke up," Tipan admits with a smirk.

"You know, you don't talk about your father much," I say as we're getting ready to head to Aethire, cleaning up the beach.

"I... don't see her often. She doesn't live in the Aetherium," Tipan admits with a small shrug. "She takes her responsibility to the Stormguard very seriously."

"Stormguard?" I ask while we both pause to watch Smoulder and Kellica chase Rufka down into the water.

"They deal with damage and beasts from mana-swarms. They're mostly neutral, working anywhere disaster strikes," Tipan says with a smile while standing a little straighter.

She's about to continue when there's a loud crash down by the water. I shake my head, laughing silently as a cloud of superheated steam expands to cover the nearby ocean.

"That sounds kinda like our emergency services back home," I reply, turning back to our conversation.

Down on the beach, our three companions are approached by another K'tharn who dictates some sort of fine for overuse of magic, if I'm hearing them correctly. While Rufka sorts out the fine, Tipan and I compare notes on earth's emergency response and the Stormguard.

And I come to realize the Stormguard do a lot more combat than a regular Search and Rescue, but are otherwise pretty similar. Except instead of first aid, they have actual healing magic to assist them.

"Which is part of why I want to study here," Tipan says, tilting her head towards the tower. "There aren't many healers willing to take on apprentices from outside their organization."

"Couldn't you just get your father to arrange something with the Stormguards?"

"I... I can't join the Stormguards," Tipan replies, running a hand along her mohawk.

"Why not?"

"Cause Father and I don't get along," Tipan says, slumping her shoulders while giving me a weak smile. Then she takes a deep breath, "Plus, she's high-commander."

"Oh," I reply softly, reaching over and giving her hand a squeeze. "Sorry 'bout that. I know what it's like, having a parent you don't... get along with."

Kinda feel like I'm underselling me and mom, but that's okay. This isn't really about me.

"Not your fault." Tipan gives me another half-smile before turning and waving to the others. "Are we doing this or what? Let's get going!"

Before I know it, we've all gathered inside the Tower, which is somehow even busier than the night before, standing at the teleportation point. I reach out, make sure everyone is secure, and then we're in Aethire. Nice and smooth. I'm almost feeling comfortable teleporting people again.

Even as we're materializing at the beacon in Rufka's now empty cabin, Rose says his goodbyes. When he heard we were coming to Aethire, he arranged to visit his pu'shaha, Bem, and his siblings instead of 'wasting time watching a bunch of skyjocks throw rocks at each other'. I give him a quick hug before he leaves.

Then we all don our disguises before slipping off towards the Desh'mersa arena. We go to the same one as before, but this time Rufka hails a charter ship to take us directly, a ship that looks a bit like a zeppelin, except it's mostly windows and we sit inside the blimp. It costs more, but it's definitely faster as it rockets along above the city.

From up here, the city looks a bit like a spider's web, with the World's End Palace right in the centre. Not ominous at all.

I barely have time to make the observation before we're descending again. Our transport opens one of the windows, floating next to one of the small platforms near the stadium for loading and unloading passengers.

"All right. Everyone remain near me," Tipan yells to be heard over the sudden wave of noise that slams into us as we step out near the stadium. I swear, it's as busy as Glimmering Sands.

Tipan leads us directly into the stadium, and shortly after we get inside, she stops and taps a map. A second later, I get a notification that says I'm now a registered guest for booth Blue-42 for the next 24 hours.

While I'm reading, Tipan leads us to a shaft that is full of constantly cycling air. It reminds me of the water tube they use in the Tower. And sure enough, the K'tharn in front of us jumps inside and is swept up and over the side of the stadium. After only a moment, they slow down and step out on a platform halfway up the dome.

"Okay. That's awesome," Josh says as we stand next to it. "But how do we know where to stop?"

"We have booth Blue-42," Tipan replies, "So. Lift 42," she points at the System number floating above the tube then her eyes roam upwards along the dome before stopping as she points. "And the blue landing."

She's pointing to a spot that's most of the way up. Easily visible, as it's the only blue patch on this particular... air lift? Wind-evator?

"So, can we get snacks up there? Or do we buy them down here?"

"Every booth has a System shop. You only buy snacks outside if you're in the blood seats," Tipan says as she turns around and backs into the tube with her arms held wide. "Come onnnnnn."

And then she's gone, zipping away to our booth. Shrugging, I follow her in, spreading my arms just like she did.

The wind grabs me as gravity drops away. In a way, it feels like falling up.

Landing is even easier than if we were flying, the air tube slowing me then depositing me on the landing outside our booth. That's some smooth System integration.

Tipan's grin is almost wide enough to split her face as she says, "I always loved doing that as a kid. Drove my father crazy when I figured out how to go to other landings."

"You can go to other landings?" I ask as the others arrive.

"Oh yeah. It's not hard, you just… actually, I’m not supposed to tell people. But it wasn’t a big deal, you can't even get into other booths," Tipan replies as she turns around and walks directly towards the stone doors of booth Blue-42. The doors grind open with more noise than I'm used to hearing from magical doors. I imagine that in a place like this, that must be intentional. Tipan doesn't comment on it as she leads us to what are some very comfortable looking chairs.

As I'm taking a seat in a large double wide chair that reminds me of a beanbag as much as a loveseat, I realize there must be gravity magic at work. Cause even though we're way up the dome, the chairs are facing downward, giving us a complete overview of the arena. As we're getting comfortable, Tipan starts explaining the game, including the Blood seats, which are the seats that ring the arena at the main playing level. Which is where her father prefers to watch the game from.

"After mother found out, she forbade father from letting me watch from the blood seats. I'm pretty sure it was because father didn't make sure to get the blood out of my fur before taking me home after the Southern Tribunes beat the crap out of the Celestial Screamers in the cup game. Shame they lost the cup," Tipan says while tearing at a piece of jerky.

Once the game starts, it's actually less magical than I was expecting. I mean, yes, they're all flying. And they're shooting a projectile back and forth. But it's almost like hockey. Except in the air. With floating obstacles that can be used to change momentum or slam people into.

But there are very few spells, only occasional shields that flicker near the goalie. Or as Tipan insists they're called, the desh.

As we watch, I quickly see how the blood seats earned their name. While all the booths, such as the one we're watching the game from, are out of the main playing field, and covered besides, the blood seats are right next to the actual goals. And instead of a transparent window, they're only separated from the players by a thin mesh that does nothing to stop the blood..

At several points, Tipan jumps out of her seat, screaming at the players below. Then when the play ends, she sits down and calmly explains what happened like she hadn’t been raving at the top of her lungs.

During the intermission, which comes after they've played for two Honors, which are basically just rounds from what I can tell, Josh is browsing through the System store and pulls out a tiara with bunny ears.

"It's perfect for you," he says without a hint of sarcasm. Taking it from him, I inspect the shining diamonds and not so floppy ears. Feeling Smoulder radiate her approval, I sigh before putting it on.

"How's it look?" I ask, tilting my head up and to the side slightly.

"I live to serve, oh mighty rabbit Queen," Josh chuckles, bowing from his seat.

Neither Tipan nor Roberts comment, though they do both smile. Rufka just gives me a peck on the cheek before turning back to her snacks. But Smoulder continues to radiate her approval, so I decide to leave it on for the rest of the game.

The game is played across four rounds, and when the fourth and final round begins, Tipan's given us a pretty complete rundown of the rules. Which is when she starts telling us about the backstories of the Southern Tribunes between each play. By the end of the game, I know more about each player of the Southern Tribunes than I do about my neighbours on the second floor of the small apartment building back home. But not the first. First floor was laundry and our building manager George's apartment.

Everyone knew George and Jube.

As we emerge from the stadium, Tipan is regaling us with the story of how Baska, one of the Tribunes, grew up working on the same ships that her mother manages. And used to get fines for getting in fights with other workers before she became a professional Desh'mersa player.

We make our way to Rufka's friend Tathia's cheese shop, since we're in the neighbourhood, while Tipan continues the story of meeting Baska before she joined the team.

Rufka and I split off from the others, ducking inside where we find several other K'tharn lined up. Rufka manages to convince Tathia to quadruple her order this time, since she's been sharing more than she expected and we'll be away from the capital for a while.

As we're waiting for Rufka's friend to finish wrapping her order, a group of four Fallen enter the store, led by a rather short K'tharn with dark brown fur.

When Tathia sees them, she growls through her leather mask, "What do you want, Fiska?"

"I'm just here for the week's taxes. You know it's not personal Tathia," the short K'tharn says with a shrug while two of the Fallen move forward to flank her.

"Uh huh. You're lucky I've been doing good this week. Don't know why the council's switched to shards, but it's a pain to convert," Tathia growls while leaning forward to glare at the short K'tharn.

Fiska just shrugs while waving for one of the Fallen to grab a small bag from Tathia. "Don't know any more than you. Just that your stink-shop is on today's list."

"You've got your shards, go on, get out," Tathia practically yells. But she's doing it to their backs, half the Fallen already outside the shop by the time she speaks. When I look back at her, I notice her hands cracking the wood of the counter.

"They're taking taxes in shards now? And weekly?" Rufka asks as Tathia finally releases her grip on the counter.

Tathia doesn't answer for a moment, her attention focused on wrapping Rufka's cheese, pulling the cords extra tight. Then she turns back with several large packages and a heavy sigh. "Yeah. Damn ministers had a hundred page rant about the benefits of a hard currency system for the purchase of 'curated food'. It's all just politics if you ask me. The law doesn't even force us to collect hard Essence. Just pay our taxes in it. Some-user pissed off one of the ministers and now the rest of us have to suffer. Anyway, here's your cheese."

"Thanks. And hope it gets better," Rufka says as we move out of the shop to where the others are waiting.

When we emerge, Roberts steps over, his voice low. "Are you okay? We heard yelling. Was there a problem with the Fallen?"

"No," I answer while looking up the street to where the Fallen are coming out of another store. "They're just collecting taxes."

"Which is so backwards. Every-user knows the System does a better job of handling taxes," Rufka states while shaking her head.

"Demo might not agree with that," I say with as straight a face as I can manage, which earns me a soft chuckle from Rufka as she throws her arm over my shoulder.

"Well, if there's no problem, we should get going. Lots to do before we head back to Glimmering Sands."

Roberts isn't wrong about there being a lot to do. With the list of items we need for the Purification chamber, we split up into three groups, visiting several different merchants before meeting at Tipan's place hours later. Rose is waiting for us. As are Bem and his siblings.

When we approach, Bem stands up, brushing himself off.

As soon as he sees me, he says, "I want you to scan us."

Well, I guess that's one way to say hello.

4.25, Population Limits

A note from Draith

Minor edit to chapter 4.22

Looks like we're going to be a little longer than planned. Genitha's 'friend' needs us to take care of some stuff for them. Nothing too challenging, but we'll be a few days. In the meantime, you should head to Glimmering Sands. We've made peace with the authorities and arranged for transport to the next dungeon. It's a combat dungeon that Genitha says has much higher than normal rewards. I'll tell you the details in person. If she's right, it'll be more than worth the extra travel time. Plus, it's outside the Aetherium and the M'tari's territories. Which is important for other reasons.

3:55 pm, local time. (July 23, 2023, 7:55 pm.) A few minutes before a little light scanning.

"Dad!" Rose immediately protests as he stands up from the bench they were sitting on in front of Tipan's home, his younger brother hanging on his side. His father ignores him, standing straight, his hands clasped behind his back as he meets my gaze. Rose's sister ruins his stoic stance as Celthi clutches his side while waving at us. He makes an effort but her enthusiasm causes him to take a step forward to stay balanced.

"Hi Bem. Didn't expect you today," I reply, which I think shows how much I've grown. I didn't even drop into Pause to think about how to respond. I'm not shocked he knows about the quest to scan them either. I did let Rose know about it over a week ago. Though I can't help but wonder... "What changed your mind? Rose said you declined."

The pu'shaha looks up to me, managing to scoop Celthi up without breaking eye contact before saying, "I know that when Kalim first told me about it, I was a little skeptical…"

"You threatened to light Aethire on fire, dad. I'd say that's more than a little skeptical," Rose notes while bouncing his little brother on his knee.

"Fine. Very skeptical. But I was grieving your mother. And I thought I'd lost you too. You can forgive an old pu'shaha for not thinking clearly," Bem says, frowning at Rose. Then he turns back to me, hefting Celthi up against his side. "So, will you do it outlander? Will you scan us?"

"Of course," I answer, starting to Focus on Bem while directing my tendrils of Facet to scan him. Time to change Akilo. Probably.

A complete breakdown of his body fills my mind, adding to the codex that was started with Rose. Then I shift my attention to Qern. Once more, my tendrils reach out, encompassing the young pu'shaha as I tease out everything about him.

"Quest completed: A New Normal? Requirements: Perform a thorough scan of pu'shaha Bem and Qern. Requirements: 1/1 Bem scanned. 1/1 Qern Scanned. Reward: 5 Iron-rank integration points."

I blink at the notice in my vision, a little underwhelmed. That's it, huh. I guess I built that up in my-

"Vaus's palace of playtoys," Tipan mutters which is soon followed by both of my other K'tharn companions with their own interesting curses.

Then Bem turns, grabbing his sons and pulling them into a hug.

"Okay. So, I'm guessing that did more than just give me a few integration points."

"Integration points?" Tipan asks, her eyes not even focusing on me. "I... this..."

"I'd say you are correct, Alexis. Perhaps we should give our friends a moment," Roberts says, clasping my shoulder.

"It's fine," Rufka says a second later. "But this is big. Like, bigger than mum sinking a city big."

"I'm sorry, your mum did what?" I ask.

Rufka doesn't answer, waving her hand as she adds, "Here, you should see."

"Congratulations! Due to recent scans by user Pandora, your species has been proven to have more than one sapient gender! In accordance with System Statute 4.10032.2, Akilo's population limit has been increased from 1,048,576 to 4,194,304. Please note, this will not increase your personal limit. Additional Subclasses will now receive child limit increases as possible rewards. As always, unused child limits after your first will not be counted against this limit. Non-resident users child limit remains separate and capped at 1,024 per species."

Oh. Okay then. Guess it did do something. That's a pretty massive increase too. Literally four times as many people. But at the same time...

"Well then," Roberts says, rubbing his chin. "That's not very many people."

"Yeah, I was just thinking that. Do you think that's a hard limit?" I ask, biting my lip before pointing a finger at Rufka. "Also, don't think I forgot about that sinking a city thing."

Ignoring my aside, Roberts steeples his fingers against his nose. "Impossible to say. From what we've heard, most people in the Aetherium didn't know there was a limit."

"Well, they know now," Josh says, looking over his shoulder at where some of Tipan's neighbours have gathered across the plaza from us. Several are glancing in our direction. Correction, they're not glancing at everyone. Their gazes are locked onto me.

"Uhm. Why are they all looking at me?"

"Oh. There's a picture attached," Rufka mumbles, displaying the image on the screen. It doesn't just show my original face. It shows my carefully constructed K'tharn avatar as well.

"Uhm. Well, we should probably go," I say as the K'tharn from across the courtyard start striding towards us.

Tipan barely responds as I push her towards her house, still staring off into space until I try to step past the entrance foyer. At which point, some sort of instinct kicks in and she guides us to the same room I met her mother in. But she remains distant, tapping her chin as she stares blankly ahead. Right until there's a knock on the door.

She sighs, before squeezing my shoulder and walking past us to deal with her neighbours.

The second she leaves the room, her mother walks in. Tithan stops, her upper eyes closed and her lower eyes focused on me as her lips crack into a small smile.

I'd just taken a seat, but I immediately rise to greet her, giving her a shallow bow. She returns it before passing her gaze over everyone else. "My. This is quite the gathering. When Tipan said she'd be having friends over, I only expected the two. It seems she really is becoming more social."

"She's good people," Josh replies with a big grin and two thumbs up.

"Indeed. Two big surprises in one day. I'm glad my Health is full, else I might've died of shock," Tithan states as her eyes come to rest on Roberts, who's disguised not as a K'tharn, but as a Malkog. After I described them to him, he insisted that his disguise be one of the big fluffy puppies. Honestly didn't see it coming.

Probably should've.

"Alright. I've convinced the neighbours that you just look similar to user Pandora. Though I'm not sure Kevama believed me," Tipan says while rubbing at her head as she returns.

"She has a nose for gossip. I suspect we will have all sorts attempting to sneak into the compound in less than an hour," Tithan says. "Best we discuss what you originally came for, before you turned the Aetherium upside down."

"You know, mum had an idea on how to do that," Rufka says while taking a seat on the edge of my seat. We all turn to look at her and she shrugs. "What? It's a floating city. And mum gets all kinds of stupid ideas."

"Is this related to her sinking a city?"

"No. That was a… a different kind of floating city. And no one lived in it. At the time. Because they'd evacuated. Look, mum's not perfect. It was when she was a cub, and over a hundred years ago. And it wasn't all her fault."

I can't hold in my chuckle, and I'm not the only one.

Before I get carried away, I clear my throat and return to business. The tiniest expenditure of Focus, and I display the list of parts we still need. There's only three things we weren't able to find during our earlier shopping spree, and unsurprisingly, one of them was the mana de-condenser. "Hmm. These two are no problem, I have a friend who deals in them, on occasion," she says, pointing to the other two items on the list. "And this can be built, though the process takes nearly a month."

"Really?" I can't help but ask, "we can just get someone to make it for us?"

"That is what Enchanters do, young lady. Not that anyone is likely to have one lying around. The only regular use they have outside some very specialized engines is to break apart Essence, and the System does that well enough on its own."

"That... is unfortunate," Roberts notes while steepling his fingers. "Are you able to inquire about the prices for the others?"

"Tomorrow. I'm afraid that few of my contacts will want to discuss business today. I'm thankful the System allows us to build up stores in case of emergency. I suspect we will be dealing with the disruptions of this change for years."

"I... uhm... sorry," I mutter, frowning at the back of Rufka's hand.

"Don't apologize!" Tipan practically jumps in my face, she's moving so fast. "The Aetherium is going to be growing again! A little disruption to the supply chains is a small price to pay for being able to thrive again!"

"My daughter is correct. This is good news. I have simply learned to temper such with the reality that change is seldom simple. And never as easy as we would like. Isn't that right, my dear?" Tithan asks, extending her hand up to Tipan.

Tipan nods, taking her mother's hand and squeezing it as she moves next to Tithan. Despite Tithan's tiger-striped fur, in that moment, I can see the resemblance between them. It's more about the way they hold themselves, than their appearance. A shared stance, even with one sitting and the other standing. I wonder if my mom and I are like that?

Vaus damn, I hope not.

"Now, I've not been a good host. Though I'm sure you can forgive me, what with the unexpected miracle that has been dropped on our door. But I feel it would only be proper to invite you all for dinner," Tithan says, inclining her head towards Tipan. "If that would be acceptable, Tipan."

"I... of course, mother."

"Good. I should get started then. Perhaps you can show the children to the courtyard. It has been far too long since it has seen proper use," Tithan suggests with an arched eyebrow.

"Excellent idea mother. Celthi, Qern, would you like to see the courtyard where I first learned magic?" Tipan asks, while taking a step towards the door. "You're welcome to come too, Bem."

Before Bem can respond, Celthi and Qern are pulling him across the room. And Rose too, I note, his hand still clutched tightly in his little brother's. The next hour is spent in pleasant conversation, though Tipan's mother refuses to share embarrassing stories from Tipan's childhood. I swear, withholding such critical information is against the mom code.

After a post dinner tea, we return to Glimmering Sands, arriving in the side of the coral area and immediately having the transit fee issued as a prompt.

Paying the handful of emgee, we exit the room just in time for a ship to enter the harbor below. It catches my eye not just because of its size, though it’s easily ten times any other ship in the harbor, but because of its unique design. It floats on a pair of skis, its hull suspended above the water as it cruises past.

Unlike most of the ships I've seen on Akilo, it has a mast and furled sails. There are only three K'tharn atop its deck as it glides into its berth, and I can't help but Focus on the unusual ship.

"Elkon Class Frigate. Name: Twice Scuttled.”

“Used for transporting people to the most dangerous corners of the world, the Twice Scuttled is a bunker ship. Bunker ships are designed to withstand even the harshest of mana-storms without being turned into pure mana. Despite the captain's choice of a name, the Twice Scuttled hasn't been scuttled once since she was rechristened.”

[Wyonna]: "Remember when you went to see whales with Sab and her dad? And the waves were taller than the boat? Well this beauty would sail right over those waves. We should get one."

"That is one fine vessel," Roberts says as one of the K'tharn on board starts shouting at one of the guards that greet them. "Excellent lines."

"Kinda reminds me of the Enterprise. If you flipped it upside down. And mixed it with Adventure Planet," Josh adds before the ship's berth's curtain closes, blocking it from view.

We make our way back to our camp, with the crowd having thinned out around the tower.

There are a pair of K'tharn near the entrance, and they both stop when they see me walk past. I give them a small wave, and when we're walking away, I hear one whisper. "Isn't that the Outlander who brought the baby boon?"

"Yeah. Ugh, what happened to the poor thing's fur?" The other responds, getting me to tug on Rufka's arm to block their vision.

"Some outlanders are like that. Think we should talk to her?"

"With the Ascendancy's rules on celebrity privacy? Do you want to get evicted for the festival?"

The last line makes me sag slightly in relief. Then I look towards the beach, and it's easy to see where most of the other festival-goers went. There are thousands of K'tharn in and above the water, with colourful flags and rings floating out for over a kilometre. Some of them are playing Desh'mersa, or at least a version of it, using flags like we used to when the teacher made us play touch football. Which was always a lot more physical than it was supposed to be. Like to see Brie try that crap with her elbows now.

Shaking my head, I look out to where a group are racing over the water. Even more seem to just be relaxing at the water's edge, sipping drinks, chatting and playing little games. As I'm taking in the scene, I see a wave rise up in the distance, tall enough it blots out the evening sun. But instead of crashing down on the K'tharn playing over the water, it splits, rolling to the sides along an invisible boundary.

And as I focus on it, I see K'tharn inside the wave, riding objects that are suspiciously similar to surfboards.

Back on earth, I never once considered surfing. But now, watching the K'tharn here, I want to try. Something nice and intense should be an excellent distraction from the world shaking changes I may have triggered today.

Which is why, while the others, including Smoulder, join a game of Desh'mersa, Rufka and I move to a stand selling surfboards. Or Tidal boards, as the shop attendant informs us they're called here, when I ask about the engraved wooden object.

They're not just a sport, they're part of a tradition observed during the Great Tides. A M'tari tradition, adapted for their K'tharn subjects. The last bit doesn't come from our attendant, but from the codex when I analyze one of the boards.

The helpful K'tharn from the stand is showing us several styles of boards we can purchase when a Fallen enters the shop. It's one of the Awakened from the camp, and I hardly would've noticed them if not for the other K'tharn around the open-air stand going quiet.

The Fallen stops just inside the entrance, and clears their throat. "I'd... like to participate. If that's allowed?"

“Of course. All sapients are welcome to take part in the Great Tides!” Our attendant calls out with a smile.

And just like that, the tension snaps.

Our attendant apologizes for the interruption, and informs the Fallen they'll be with them soon. Then they finish our sale and we're back on the beach.

Just in time to see Smoulder turn a section of sand into glass.

I walk towards where Smoulder is sitting on the edge of a now broken Desh'mersa stage. She's glaring at Josh, and Josh is glaring right back even as he turns glass back to sand.

Before I can interfere, Roberts and Tipan are there and I can feel Smoulder calming down through our bond. Then Josh huffs, turning towards us. And I notice his eyebrow is missing. A quick conversation reveals that Smoulder was remarkably good at the game. Without lighting anything on fire. But then Josh broke the rules, which he claims was an accident, and Smoulder, as Roberts puts it, overreacted.

I can't help but chuckle, which earns me a half-hearted glare from Josh.

Pulling Smoulder away from Tipan, I hold her up in front of me. "You know, if you get kicked out of the match, you can't win the game. And destroying the arena is a pretty good way to get kicked out."

Smoulder just looks at me, before sending a feeling of frustration over the bond. I'm able to pick out bits of her watching the professional teams play, and now she's trying to understand why it's different.

Which makes me realize something more important. Smoulder's getting smarter. She still doesn't understand language, but she understands rules. And something as complicated as a game.

I try to reassure her over our bond. And explain the difference between playing for fun and professionally. I... think I get the general idea across, since Smoulder hops over to Josh and headbutts him gently a few times. But it's hard to tell. And the others play another game of Desh'mersa, but this time Smoulder just sits down to watch.

After ensuring Smoulder doesn't want to join us, Rufka and I hit the waves. We're taken out to our launch pod by a smaller Lord of the Deep. Or just M'tari, as they explain, as only the city masters are actually Lords.

Rufka and I surf until after the sun has set, still riding the waves in as Ukila rises in the night sky. For a moment, as I'm cruising down the inside of the wave, I swear I see the glitter of distant light.

And then it's gone.

Dismissing it, Rufka and I go out twice more, until the M'tari who was ferrying us informs us they'll be taking a break until tomorrow. Deciding not to paddle out ourselves, since flying and most uses of magic are still prohibited, we return to shore riding one final wave.

We find Kellica and Tipan playing a game of Astra's Stride when we come to shore, two other familiar forms sitting at a nearby campfire. Looks like Beth and Genitha are finally back.

With a nod, Rufka moves to join the game while I head towards the campfire.

"What, you didn't want us knowing you were back?" I ask as I sit down next to Beth. Wetly. There's something satisfying about the feel of ocean water. Though, I don't think I’d enjoy it so much if I didn't know I could clean it away in an instant.

"Didn't want to interrupt your fun, kid. Why are you so wet?" Beth asks, leaning away from me.

"Good night for it," I answer, leaning back to stare up at the sky, watching the thin wisps of clouds roll by. Faint flashes of colour are visible within, the tiniest bits of mana adding to the beauty of the night.

"We're gonna hit a Builder city tomorrow," Beth states, drawing me out of my sky-gazing. "Apparently the captain of our ship decided to get in a fight with a guard. It's not too serious, but they've delayed our departure for a day. And it'll probably be best if you're not out in public too much, given the recent announcement."

I'd almost successfully forgotten about the announcement. None of the K'tharn in Glimmering Sands even seem to notice me. When I look up, I see Genitha smiling in my direction. "Seems I owe you thanks. The council no longer has an excuse to pressure me to have more kittens."

"I... uhh, no problem," I reply while digging my toes into the sand.

"It's amazing how many of my friends have informed me of changes in their plans for the next couple decades," Genitha adds, her gaze looking down the beach. "I suspect the next couple years will be much busier than I've become accustomed to."

"Changes..." Beth grunts. "Nothing compared to what's gonna happen to Earth."

"Ah... yes. That is true. But that is part of your efforts tomorrow, is it not?"

"It is. And you're sure about... you know, the gift?"

"Yes. We'll give it to Tipan before you leave."

"Right. Guess that means I just need to..." Beth trails off, her gaze moving to where Josh, Rose and Roberts are building a tower using small bricks lifted into the air with nothing but wind. A sanctioned use of magic for the game in question. Not sure they could've played it at all without knocking the whole thing over a week ago.

Beth gets up, her quick strides carrying her to them in an instant. After a short exchange, Roberts comes towards the campfire while Beth, Josh and Rose walk north.

Roberts sits down right where Beth was sitting, stretching his hands towards the fire. "I suspect that's a conversation that's long overdue," Roberts says without turning in the direction of the others.

"Probably," I agree as I finally choose to cleanse myself of the water, my eyes following them until they move over a small rise and disappear.

Before I can comment further, Smoulder lands on my lap. Following behind her, Rufka, Tipan and Kellica all join us, though luckily none choose to lounge in my lap. Rufka complains about not getting a chance to play even as she snuggles into my side. Which prompts Genitha to tease her kitten.

I settle down, and once more, drift off to the soft sound of ocean waves and gently crackling flame, the thought of world changing announcements and Fallen refugees, blissfully far from my mind.

Well, they were.

4.26, A Not So Honest Merchant

5:49 am, local time. (July 24, 2023, 11:49 am.) That special moment before you're really awake, floating on a cloud of possibility.

When I wake, I gently free myself from Rufka's arms with a careful combination of replacing myself with a sand-body double and a gentle wind to lift myself up. I can't help but stroke her chin before moving to start cooking breakfast. It's been a while since I made breakfast for everyone, or more accurately, warmed up the food I bought from Raz's, but it doesn't take long before I have a pleasant aroma spreading through our camp. Beth is one of the first to join me, and she's got a smile on her face.

Hopefully that means their talk went well.

We go over the plans for the day, even though they boil down to 'Fly southeast, check out Builder City.' Genitha has her own plans, and she steals Rufka and Kellica for them before breakfast is even over. Once Tipan is awake, she informs us her mom was able to get everything for the chamber. She even placed an order for a de-condenser, just in case we can't find one.

After breakfast, it's not long before we've left the city and are flying over the nearby grasslands. As we approach the Outer Theslian Sea, I drift closer to Beth. "You think we're ready?"

She doesn't answer me immediately, her eyes fixed on the horizon as we soar along the coast. The way the sun glints off her hair, it's almost as if Smoulder had decided to light her on fire.

But this fiery glory is all Beth.

Finally, Beth turns to me, and for the first time in a long time, I feel that familiar danger in her eyes as she smiles. "Kid, I think you and me are gonna reduce this guardian to spaghetti."

"Uh, spaghetti?" I ask, falling behind for a second as I try to imagine turning a giant guardian capable of defending a Builder city into… pasta. Nope, can't do it.

"Yep," Beth agrees without offering further explanation.

An hour later, we're floating at the lip of a valley that doesn't quite line up with the surroundings, the edge of the Builder's city protruding from the ground like an unevenly stacked plate from the top of the sink. If we didn't have the location from the first dungeon's maps, we would've flown past without realizing it was a Builder's City. There's no silver spire, and vegetation has covered most of the surface. I can still see the shapes of the buildings, but in addition to the lost spire, most of the great silver engines are missing as well.

Only one on the far side of the city remains, fixed in place. But with how deep that side of the city is buried, it's gonna take even more earth-shaping than the first one to get at its entrance.

We move through the city with its mostly empty buildings. When we make it to where the tower once stood, we find a crumpled head staring at the sky, one side of its face caved in.

We float at the edge of the clearing as I Focus on it.

“Creature analyzed: Menas Sentinel. Mana seed: 1.

A Sentinel Construct deployed by the followers of the Creator Menas to prevent non-authorized Users from accessing the core functions of a Builder City. These Sentinels are incredibly durable and will destroy a Builder City rather than allow outside forces to capture one.

Name: Dominic the Vithwraner-MWVAE-20 (Rough translation: The Wrath of the Sea)

Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; None, Magic; High, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Hurricane Aura, Slam, Menas’ Gaze, High Water manipulation.

Defences: Extreme physical resistance, Extreme magic resistance. Immunity to Water."

[Wyonna] "Dude's having a bad century, but he's still functional. Get too close and you're gonna get wet."

After I relay the information to everyone, Beth gets another of her dangerous grins.

"This is perfect. Kid, see if you can damage it with your teleportation. Then I'll take a few shots."

Nodding, I fly forward. Which is almost immediately met with a tug on the air around me. Deciding I shouldn't mess around, I teleport next to the face, then teleport away with my 'boundaries' pushed out.

I manage to take a section of the face with me, but it's not a clean slice at the edge like it was with Ivicka. Instead, it's a thin layer of stone, almost a perfect shell of the left side of its face. A massive jet of water fills the air where I'd been standing, drilling a new hole into one of the surrounding buildings. And a couple buildings beyond.

Before it can track my new location, a ripple of darkness passes through the head.

Which isn't enough to stop it, but it does distract it from blasting at me again. It takes another dozen shots from Beth, two more teleport-cuts from me, and half the remaining city's infrastructure before it goes still. No rewards or quest progress though.

Scanning the head with Focus and Facet, I'm not able to find anything else of interest, and my codex doesn't get updated either. Shame.

Guess that just leaves the engine.

When we arrive, I start working my way down from the surface immediately. Thanks to our studies in the dungeon city of Lescado, I know the doors all face towards the centre of the city. At least, when the engine isn't torn loose of its mounts. After only a few minutes, I've built a shaft that runs adjacent to the engine, complete with a little roof to keep the rain off. And a few small Smoulder statuettes, of course.

While it's nice not having to make stairs now that we can all fly, it does mean the entrance is a smidge less interesting.

Despite the state of the rest of the city, the door on the engine slides open smoothly once it confirms our Citizen status. There's no skeletons just inside either, just an empty hall. We search the engine, starting from the top, but it's mostly empty. The consoles on the top floor don't even respond. When we get to the engineering deck, we discover the engine isn't as intact as it looks. Something sheared off the bottom, leaving nothing behind except a few conduits leading upwards.

And a few spare parts that look different from the original construction, which we salvage for enchanting.

"This... was disappointing," Josh says as we make our way back to the surface.

"Indeed," Roberts agrees as everyone waits for me to reseal the passage down to the door. No point in leaving tripping hazards. "Though this close to the Aetherium, perhaps it was to be expected."

I find myself nodding, even as I look at the half-buried engine. This was supposed to be one of the cities we were going to bring to Earth. And it's useless. A ship big enough for millions of people, and it's just... dead. Are we going to find any that will help? What if they're all like this. How are we going-

A gentle headbutt against my leg draws me out of my thoughts, and I look down to find Smoulder sitting next to me. When I reach down to pick her up, she drops something into my hand. With only a small bit of char on the corner, it's not hard to recognize it as the front cover of one of the lunchboxes. Though this one has a different cover. A picture of an elvenoid girl and her pet bunny, skipping down a road.

I almost snort, but decide to give Smoulder some head-scritches instead as I put the lunchbox fragment in my inventory.

She's definitely earned them.

Our return to Glimmering Sands is quiet, the light banter we'd maintained on our way out completely absent. Kellica and Rufka are waiting for us when we arrive, with no sign of Genitha. As the rest of us settle in, the surrounding celebratory atmosphere almost feels stifling. I can't help but wonder if this is how the Fallen are feeling.

We don't pick up any of our usual games, and instead sit around silently. Rufka and Kellica seem to pick up on our mood, Rufka coming over and taking my hand as she settles in the sand beside me. We remain like that for a few minutes until Beth claps her hands.

"Okay. That was... less than ideal. But we knew there'd be problems. And besides. We showed that we can disable one of their Sentinels."

"You mean you and Lexi can. I wasn't able to dent the thing. And it was only a head," Josh says, throwing a braided strand of thorns he was holding towards the ocean.

"We're a team. A tribe!" Beth declares, though I can't help but notice a bit of an edge to her words. "None of us can do this alone."

"I'm not saying... it's..." Josh grumbles before shrugging. "We're trying to save the world. Do you even hear how arrogant that sounds? We should just try to get home as soon as possible and warn people."

Yeah, cause that'd go great. Hello officer, the world is ending on a Tuesday. Do I have proof? Uh… I saw it in a vision?

I don't say any of this, frowning at the sand instead.

"Even if we could convince people of what is coming, what would you suggest we do? We still need a way to return home," Roberts reminds us, sitting down beside Josh.

"I don't know. But... there's gotta be a better plan than salvaging ancient cities that can't even fly anymore."

"Mum did mention that the cities close to the Aetherium have received a great deal of scrutiny. And the one you visited was within their borders a hundred years ago. Not surprising they'd break it."

A soft cough draws everyone's attention, and Kellica's ear folds back for a second when we all look at her. Then she straightens herself out, clearing her throat again. "The Taken have records of extracting large amounts of machinery from one of the Builder's Cities, as you call them. Though we call them Sanctuaries. The Aetherium only ever stripped one, at least according to the histories I've read. So the others should be intact. Probably."

Beth smacks a fist into her open palm as she stands up. "Okay, so we're still good. And we have another of these Sanctuaries near our next dungeon. We'll be able to investigate it after we've finished."

"Speaking of the next dungeon, have we heard any news of our ship? You mentioned it was here," Roberts says, his eyes drifting towards the tower.

Beth's eyes go blank for a second before she responds, "The captain wants her deposit tonight, though she won't be ready to leave until the morning."

"I'd like to meet her," I say while lifting myself from the sand. Better than sitting around stewing in the impossibility of our task.

"Hmm. I think... I think I shall return to the healers. If we're to be setting out again, it'd be best to make the most of our remaining time," Roberts says while looking towards the tower. “There’s still so much to learn.”

"Mind if I join you?" Tipan asks him, to which, he nods in assent.

Josh and Rose decide to stay behind, and when Rufka sees them starting a game of Astra's Stride she gives me a peck on the cheek and tells me to have fun before moving to join them. And before Kellica can make up her mind, Rufka insists she join the game as well.

Before we leave, Beth retrieves a small sack she had hidden within a cubby, one only accessible by stoneshaping the pillar supporting her hammock. I tilt my head as she fastens it to her waist but Beth just gives me a half-smile in response as she ties it to her belt instead of putting it in storage.

We make our way to the tower, with the crowd having thinned enough there's a clear line of sight. But not thin enough we don't have to push our way through on occasion. As soon as we're inside, Tipan and Roberts step into the water tube and are whisked up and away. Beth leads me to a set of stairs leading down a single level, passing by several guards clumped at the bottom. I meet the eyes of one of them, and she gives me a grin before patting her lap.

Blushing, I turn away quickly at her invitation. I follow Beth as she pushes through a shimmering curtain of... something that looks like silk, but when I brush my hand on it, the texture is more like rough linen. I analyze it, then read the notification as I jog to catch up to Beth.

"Object Analyzed: Roughspun Trika Webbing."

"This durable material is produced by ovulating Trikas in vast quantities to protect their eggs while signaling to their mates that the eggs are ready for fertilization. The beauty and durability have led to it being a popular material throughout the M'tari Ascendancy, leading to large Trika hatcheries being established throughout the lesser Depths."

Huh. Neat. Wonder what a Trika looks like.

I don't have long to ponder the beautiful material before we pass through a second curtain. Before I can take in the room, I stagger from the stench. It's like someone took a barrel of fish and dumped it in cow manure. But only half as pleasant.

With a light application of wind magic, I clear my face of the smell, before deciding to extend it to encompass my entire body. And Beth too, after I hear her muttered curse.

"Thanks kid," Beth says, her hand clasping my shoulder for a second before we both turn to take in the room.

Along the left is a mostly open bay, with a hanging scaffold stretching between the two-skied ship we spied earlier. On our right, rows upon rows of fish hang from the ceiling, which seem to be the source of the smell. Despite the stench, they appear to be in perfect condition. In fact, if they weren't hanging so still, I'd believe they were still alive. Beneath them are long grates, and unless I'm mistaken, the worst of the odor is coming from their hidden depths.

Through where the forest of fish meets the edge of the harbor, I can just make out a pair of K'tharn arguing. The bigger one, leaning over the desk is complaining about not being paid in hard essence, while the smaller one, who's sitting at the desk seems to be repeating what sounds like a canned apology.

With no direct path, Beth and I zig-zag our way through the fish forest just in time for the larger K'tharn to turn away in a huff.

When she sees us, she stops, all four arms crossed over her chest as she takes us in. So, I decide to do the same.

“User analyzed: K'tharn. Female. Gene seed D. The secondary sapient species on Akilo. See K'tharn codex for more information.

Name: Tlugla e'Tell.

Attributes: Physical; Comparable, Mobility; High, Magic; Low, Awareness; Comparable.

Attacks: Swagger based abilities.

Defences: Medium physical resistance, medium magic resistance, poison immunity, disease resistance."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Swagger resource for 0.1 Focus and 0.1 Facet."

Wow. I haven't gotten that option in a while. Wait... could I have been expanding my codex by scanning random K'tharn? Damn.

For the moment, I hold off on accepting or declining the prompt. As I've learned, that's best done when I'm headed to bed for the night, not when meeting our potential captain.

Her inspection of us comes to an end with a huff, apparently no more impressed with us than the K'tharn she'd been arguing with when we arrived. "Are you the outlanders that want to try the dungeon in the Crown of Vaus?"

"That's right," Beth replies, her tone flat. "Are you captain of the Twice Scuttled?"

"Hmm. Might be. Or, might be I'm an honest merchant who-"

Her declaration is interrupted by a roar of laughter from the K'tharn she'd just been dealing with. "You're as honest as a Barge-rat, e'Tell. Get your dealings out of here. Our business is done."

With a rude gesture in the direction of the other K'tharn, Captain e'Tell smiles at us with a shrug before waving us towards the ship. "Come, we'll talk aboard my ship where we don't have to be surrounded by fish offal."

Beth and I settle in behind her as I exert extra effort not to step in any of the gunk on the floor. We've made it halfway across the room when she stops, raising a hand. We match her, my feet carefully placed to avoid the fish-gunk. Once we've halted, I hear a low rustle behind us. When I look over my shoulder, I see entire sections of fish disappearing at a time. It's so rapid it's causing a faint whooshing as the disturbance sweeps across the room. And then the fish we're standing beside vanish too.

Just like that, we're left in an empty room. Where we entered, I can make out the brown fur of the other K'tharn as they pass through the curtain. With the fish gone, I consider dropping the wind barrier, but a glance at the grates and the still present gunk makes me think I'd regret that. A lot.

There's a pressure when we cross the gangplank… I think that's what they're called. Is it still a gangplank if it's suspended by magic?

The pressure seems to press against my sphere of pure air. Instead of trying to fight it, I let my spell drop and the pressure disappears. So does our perfectly clean air, but luckily, the ship doesn't smell like fish gunk. Just wet-K'tharn.

On the deck of the Twice-Scuttled, a table has been set out with three chairs. Two of them are simple wooden chairs, but the third is more akin to a throne, with more gems embedded in it than a royal dowry. I can't bring myself to call it pretty. It's too blatantly gaudy for that. But it is shiny. I'm not surprised, and even a little relieved, when the captain takes the throne for herself.

Beth and I sit in the wooden chairs, and I'm tempted to use a bit of earth magic to make it more comfortable. But we're guests, and that'd be rude, I think.

"Thought there'd be more of you," the captain says while hooking a leg over one arm of her chair-throne. "Not giving you a discount just cause some of your users got dry feet."

"Oh, they'll be here. But you made it clear you wanted half your payment today. And you did say we wouldn't be leaving until morning." Beth replies.

"Might not be leaving till morning, but having your team onboard tonight would make for smoother departure once we get our clearance."

"Won't be a problem," Beth states while my attention wanders to the runes carved into the mast of the ship. The entire thing seems to be a continuous enchantment, though I can't tell what it does. Even the sails seem to have runes woven into them, a special thread having been used that is only visible to my mana-sense. And barely at that.

My attention is drawn back to the table when Beth plops the sack she retrieved in the center. I'm surprised at the tinkling sound from within. It doesn't sound like Essence shards. And when captain e'Tell opens the bag, she reveals a large number of coins with gems set in their center clustered within.

"Good. None of that System garbage," e'Tell says as she takes out one of the coins before pulling a mask out of her storage.

I analyze the mask while she does the same to our payment.

"Object analyzed: Mask of Analysis. These rare constructs are highly valued for their improved ability to analyze magical objects."

[Wyonna] "It's not as good as your Facet-net, but it's on the higher end of equipment we'll see on this backwater."

When I shift my Focus to the coin, I discover they're a currency used by the Thenite Consortium, referred to as an Aurum. And they can be used for Integration points, but their worth is generally much higher than the equivalent mana shard.

"Hmm. Authentic. These really are Consortium standard. Or good enough facsimiles not to matter. No trace of Spatial-stress either," captain e'Tell says, plucking the bag off the table and securing it to her waist. "And the rest is...?"

"Held by Glimmering Sands, to be released on our return."

"Then I think we're done here. Unless you'd like to be shown to your bunks?"

Beth declines, and we’re soon making our way off the ship. I turn back in time to see one of the other K'tharn come out to retrieve the table and chairs. I chuckle when I see them lift the throne instead of storing it in their inventory. Seems the captain doesn't like to have her treasures put in storage for some reason.

Beth messages the others to rendezvous with us at the tower, then we head up to wait for Roberts and Tipan outside the healers. Turns out that if we're not injured or actively apprenticing, they prefer we remain outside. The rest of our crew show up, Josh and Rose arguing about a TV show again while Rufka is explaining — something about enchanting, I think — to Kellica. There's definitely mention of mana-regulation.

It's only a few minutes before Roberts and Tipan join us, then we head back to the ship together. By the time we return, the floors have been cleaned, and the grates are no longer visible. I keep up my wind barrier though. Rather not take chances with the smell.

When we return to the ship, we're greeted by another K'tharn, who introduces herself as Second Vul'tel. Her analysis reveals that she's also an e'Tell. When she shows us to our rooms, I'm surprised when they're not bigger on the inside. There are four bunks to a room, with only enough space to squeeze between them. And the bunks themselves are barely big enough for Josh to lay inside. Which is plenty of room for me, but I'm still surprised about the lack of Spatial magic. When I ask Vul'tel about it, her response is brief.

"Spatial compression is... unreliable when exposed to mana-storms. We don't use it."

With a quick glance over our group she shakes her head. "If you need anything else... ask the captain." Then she turns and leaves.

"This is so cool," Josh says with a hand on his bunk. "I always wanted to be a pirate."

"But... we're not-" I start, but Beth squeezes my shoulder.

"Let him have this," she whispers, her eyes soft as she gazes at Josh's excitement.

I nod, deciding to head up on deck, Rufka right behind me. I let Smoulder out, suspecting she's not going to have as much space to play as we've gotten used to once we're underway. As Smoulder bounces around her course, which I had to create off the side of the ship past the gangplank to escape interference, we're approached by the Captain.

"That's quite the spectacle," Captain e'Tell says as she comes up beside where Rufka and I are sitting with our legs dangling over the edge. "Not often you see such a small creature bound as a pet."

"Smoulder's a lot tougher than your average mana-hare," I reply.

"As pets tend to be. Will your pet require this sort of.... diversion, regularly?"

"Uhm... if we can?"

"While it wouldn't be advisable while underway, there should be some opportunities to... exercise, as we make our way down the western shore."

"How much," Rufka asks, pulling away just enough to look up at Captain e'Tell.

Captain e'Tell grins. "If we were delaying for it, I'd charge ya three Aurum an hour."

Rufka snorts and I can't help but roll my eyes in agreement. I saw how much Beth paid her, and there were only eighteen Aurum. Besides, I've been testing the boundaries of the ship's 'pressure' and I think I'll be able to construct obstacles for Smoulder alongside. It'll just mean she runs around the ship instead of above the deck. And it'll only be a couple dozen obstacles.

Better than nothing though.

"Tis an impressive display though. You working together on that?" the captain asks, turning back to the obstacle course.

I blink at her for a second before turning to Rufka. "You wanna?"

The way Rufka narrows her eyes, with just a small twist of her lips tells me that I should've asked her this earlier. Cause she's clearly looking forward to helping me put Smoulder through her paces.

An hour later, a rather exhausted mana-hare sleeps snuggly in my pocket. With Rufka's help, we were able to incorporate a lot more moving elements in the design. But it also made me realize how much is involved in working with others. If we're not careful, it's easy for our magic to cancel or merge with each other, when it's that far away from us.

Also explode, cause of course things like to explode.

When we return to our bunks, Rufka and I choosing to snuggle despite the tight space, I’m already dreaming of ways we’ll be able to combine our magic together in the future.

As I wake in the morning, I find that Smoulder and Rufka have somehow found a way to smother me even further into the corner. I suspect the extra blankets are helping with that. Not sure where they grabbed those from, but our bunk now extends a few feet past the edge due to pure girth.

I doze until Rufka finally shows signs of life. Then I subtly let her know I'm ready to get up. By dumping her on the floor. Smoulder is spared from this fate by virtue of using Rufka as a landing pad.

While they're still wrestling their way free of the blankets they used to ensnare me, I escape to the deck. Rufka's curses are probably going to wake up the others, so I go to see if there's any food. It's a pirate ship, so they should have good grub, right?

I find what might be a galley down the hall, a long table with over a dozen chairs along the sides. No sign of the throne, so I suspect the captain doesn't eat here. Or maybe she only brings out the throne for visitors?

Unfortunately, there's no obvious food. There is an enchanted station at one end of the room, and my scan reveals it is, in fact, a food preparation unit. But there’s nothing that's prepared. I'm tempted to give it a try, but spot Rufka stomping towards me, sparks dancing over her hands.

I laugh as I escape out the far end of the galley, darting up a ladder that... doesn't lead to the deck, but to a subdeck that's barely tall enough to crawl through. If it wasn't also jammed full of crates. Dropping down the ladder, I come face to face with Rufka.

Several minutes later, our tickle fight is interrupted by Vul'tel, the captain's second. They maintain the same blank look they had when showing us our room yesterday as they say, "The captain would like all guests to attend her in the navigation lounge."

"There's a navigation lounge?" I ask while elbowing Rufka out of my face until I get enough room to sit up.

"Yes."

"Can you show us where it is?"

"Yes." Before I can escape Rufka's grasp, Vul'tel turns around and starts walking away. Rufka and I scramble to our feet, and I only kick her once before we’re standing behind Vul'tel. She leads us back on deck, then into the raised back part of the ship where I'd assumed the captain's quarters would be. Inside is a room that stretches across the entire width of the ship, surrounding a table that has several physical maps on it.

Not a single holographic map to be seen.

Along with the captain are three unexpected but familiar faces.

The Taken we encountered outside Rufka's cabin are standing to one side, Ael'thani smirking with all four of her arms crossed. Neither of her companions share her smirk, standing quietly behind her.

Next to Kellica, Beth is arguing in low tones with the Captain, who maintains her steady grin as she cuts Beth off, "You did not ask for exclusive travel arrangements. And they have paid for their passage. In full."

I can't help but squint at the Taken at this. They're coming with us? Does this mean...

I might get a chance to pet the super-fluffy puppy?!

There are far worse traveling companions than a super fluffy puppy.

Now… how do I ask to pet their tail?

4.27, A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea

A note from Draith

Edited April 29, 2023

5:05 am, local time. (July 26, 2023, 11:05 am.) The morning before setting off into the great blue yonder.

Even as Beth and captain e’Tell trade pointers on every seafarer’s greatest skills, their impressive knowledge of swear words, my eyes return to the Taken.

"So," I say as I sidle up next to Kellica. "What's going on?"

"The K'mintar has granted me my Vigil. However, she has insisted that since I named Ael'thani as my shadow, she needs to travel with me. And the others are here as witnesses to make sure neither of us act… rudely."

“She means try to kill each other,” Ael’thoni says, her smirk still fixed firmly in place.

"A waste of our time," Liktik complains, flicking their tongue out. "There are problems within Aethire we should be addressing."

This earns a glare from Ael'thoni, "Are you saying you disagree with our duty?"

"No. I disagree with the K'mintar's belief the Truth Seeker would run off. Or that she might turn her blade against you without just provocation."

"At least one of you respect her," Rufka says, patting Kellica's shoulder in what I'm sure is supposed to be a sign of support, even if it does make her stumble a half-step forward.

"Yes, yes. You all have history. But you are all to be good friends on this trip," Captain e'Tell declares, breaking off from her exchange with Beth while placing a hand on Rufka and Ael'thoni's shoulders. "You are all to behave. No violence, or you will find yourselves swimming back to shore."

For a moment, everyone goes silent. Then I ask, "Does that apply when we dock?"

Instead of answering, e'Tell lets loose a deep laugh, turning back to her map, her apparent disagreement with Beth forgotten. Or forcibly ignored, I guess. She spends a few minutes explaining our route south, and where we'll be stopping. Only a couple short breaks along the coast at Strongholds that only have a few K'tharn in each.

The first day of our journey is quiet, the captain's reminder hanging over everyone after we leave the navigation room. Later in the day, Tipan explains that she thinks the ship counts as the captain's stronghold, which means her rules are more than just guidelines. They're System enforced.

Which Beth is relieved by, if the way her shoulders slacken once Tipan informs us at dinner are any clue. I don't really share her relief, but then, I've been more concerned about the etiquette of how to ask to run my hands through Pogell's super fluffy fur.

Seriously, he would make the best pillow ever.

And when he comes over to talk to Tipan and I, I end up sticking my hands in my pocket so hard Smoulder grumps at me through our bond. Giving her consolation scritches keeps helps keep my hand busy.

“Hello, I thought I might join you. While we have a duty to observe Kellica, I find myself intrigued by… well, I’m something of a scholar among my people, and I’ve heard rumors of a species similar to your own,” Pogell says, standing next to us, his eyes on me.

I think.

It’s hard to tell through all the floof.

“Oh?” I reply, shifting to let Smoulder out of my pocket. Which unfortunately frees my hand.

“Yes. Our world had several visitors, and one of them looks quite similar, though their covering was darker,” Pogell says, then gestures to bench on the other side of the table. “May I?”

“Sure,” I chirp out, thankful when Tipan’s voice joins my own.

His questions are simple, asking what my home was like, and how I’ve adapted since being spit out on Akilo. Which is his story. It takes little prompting to get him to share more. He was ejected by a mana-storm after being snagged on another world. And while he misses his home, he admits coming here has been amazing. He even managed to break into Copper before joining the Taken.

It’s with soft huffing laughter that he admits that getting the resources to continue advancing had grown frustrating. And that’s what led to his recent apprenticeship with the Taken. They were so interested in his skills they offered him resources just to be a provisional member. Even as the conversation shifts away, he remains polite and soft spoken, asking Tipan about her family.

Which is a drastic contrast to when Ael'thani comes in and starts harassing him about being so close to the burner’s friends.

Shortly before dusk, Beth interrupts to bring Tipan and I below decks. She leads us to a private room she's acquired for our private use. It's only a little larger than our bunk rooms, but it has a desk along one side, with a bench that's secured to the floor by a railing of all things. The mounting is so mechanical, I can't help but inspect it further. And other than reinforcement runes, I confirm that it relies on regular physics to keep it in place.

After securing the door, Beth pulls out a thin stand that more than makes up for the lack of other magic in the room. It may look like little more than the frame of an umbrella glued to a tripod, but every millimeter of its surface is engraved with runes.

"Okay, now Genitha said I need to…" Beth mumbles, tugging at the stand for a second until it unfolds, the arms securing themselves to the ceiling before stretching around the room. When they link at the stand, the entire room is cut off from outside mana. Even my tethers are suppressed, though I can still feel them if I focus on one at a time.

"For privacy. A loan from Genitha," Beth explains as she pulls a book out of storage. A familiar book, the guide she and Genitha showed me shortly before we went into Elementalist’s Peak. Beth explains the general concepts laid out inside to Tipan, including the anti-System nature of it. Then Beth pauses for a second before locking her emerald green eyes on Tipan. "Tipan, we think your sister left you this for-"

"That's Ivicka's?" Tipan asks, stepping away from Beth and bumping into me. I quickly grab her hand as she breathes heavily. "And... you think she left it for me?"

Beth's gaze weighs Tipan for a few moments before she nods. "We do. We're not sure why, but Genitha's friend thinks it's been... keyed to you."

"I..." at this, Tipan steps forward, laying a hand on the book. "I didn't think she still cared."

Beth glances at me for a second, then back to Tipan. "Well, seems she did. We're pretty sure there are no traps on it at this point, but it could still be a risk. But if you don't want to chance-"

"No!" Tipan cries as Beth reaches for the book. Then she runs a hand upward, straightening her back and her mohawk at the same time. "No. If Ivicka left me a message, I want to read it. Sel’dast will want to know too. Though..."

"Though?" I prompt softly, still holding her hand.

Tipan turns to me with a half-smile. "I would prefer to have you here when I do. And Roberts. Just in case."

"Sure. I'd be happy to."

"I'll get Roberts. And hope you can get some bloody answers out of this book," Beth grumbles, reaching for it. But Tipan's hand comes down on top of the book.

"I... I believe it would be best if I held on to the book. For now. If it was meant for me..."

"Right. You do that," Beth agrees, nodding then placing her hand on the empty umbrella frame before looking back to Tipan. "Come here. You shouldn't be bringing the book out without this. Genitha suspects it's what the Taken are after."

Tipan steps forward, and Beth guides her through the activation and deactivation of the mana-blocker. I'm pretty sure the function is similar to the mana-gathering devices, though it affects a much smaller area. And it blocks magic, obviously.

Once Beth is done showing us how to activate the mana-stand, she leaves the room and Tipan looks to me. "Thank you. I know she was... awful, at the end. But maybe this will let me know what happened to her."

"I hope so," I reply. Despite having stood up to Ivicka's madness, I never hated her. And if reading her last words can help Tipan, I'll be here for her. And if Ivicka left a trap... well, I'll be here for that too. Hopefully.

Roberts returns alone. Which is probably a good thing. Once we close the door again, I realize just how cramped the space is. Tipan deploys the mana-blocker again then lays the book out on the table. She starts paging through it, stopping at the first of the obscured pages with a small gasp. I'm watching for any sign of harm, ready to Pause.

But Tipan's eyes just fill with tears as she reads down the page. Then she turns to me. "She... knew she was going crazy. Or suspected, at least."

"Oh, what's it say?"

Tipan shakes her head for a moment before turning back to the book with a small frown. "It... talks about her work with Folthka. And an experiment. An early attempt at what they did to Josh and Rose. But they didn't use another user... they used an old core that Folthka had recovered. According to this, they didn't know who it was from. But this was... she talks about bursts of anger just seeing Kalim. Or Bem. It's why she suddenly started serving on distant flights. Oh, I have to tell mother."

"You sure about that?" I ask, as I remember what it was like when I discovered what really happened to papa.

"What? Why wouldn't I tell her?" Tipan demands, glaring at me. I stutter, unsure of how to reassure her.

At this, Roberts clears his throat, getting us to look at him, "I believe Alexis is just worried about how your mother may react. You should, of course, tell her. But keep that in mind."

I point a finger at Roberts while nodding. "That. That's what I meant."

"I... I'll think about it. But for now... I'd like to continue."

Roberts and I share a nod, and Tipan turns away from us. I can't help but notice that she shifts slightly away from me as she continues reading. And that she's no longer sharing what she finds. Part of me is relieved she can get closure, even if only a little. Another part is hurt that she's not sharing anymore. Which I guess is my fault.

I remain lost in my thoughts for another half-hour before Tipan snaps the book closed.

"That's enough of that," Tipan declares as she pushes to her feet, the book disappearing into her storage. Then she reaches over and deactivates the mana-blocker. "Thank you both, for being here in case... in case something went wrong. Now, I’d like to talk to my sister. The living one. Or, well, the not… you know what I mean."

"Of course," Roberts says, angling his head toward Tipan slightly before leaving the room.

I shuffle after him, but Tipan grabs my hand just before I'm out of the room. "I do appreciate you being here. And... if it's okay with you..." she pauses, chewing her lip as our eyes meet, "I'd like it if you were here next time I read as well."

There's no stopping the smile that creeps across my face, and I don't even try, nodding to Tipan. "Of course. Might have to bring Rufka if it's going to be a regular thing though."

The corner of her mouth crinkles upwards as she chuckles softly. "I suppose I could live with that. Long as she sits still and remains quiet."

"Oh. Is that all?" I ask, trying to imagine Rufka sitting still for half an hour. And realizing that she'd totally do that. As long as we're cuddling. "I'm sure we can manage."

After all. I do love my cuddles.

The next few days pass quickly, as the Twice Scuttled cruises south along the coast. The Taken agents mostly keep to themselves, though Pogell is a bit of an exception, befriending Tipan and I. I even manage to pet him. His fur is as silky as it looks. I also find Ael'thani harassing Kellica on more than one occasion. Harassment that's quickly dropped when Rufka or I show up. It gets to the point that Rufka and I take turns keeping Kellica company.

It's while Rufka is keeping Kellica company, that Tipan asks me to read with her again. She's been through the entire book by this point, but sometimes she'll go back to a previous page and swear she's discovered something that wasn't there before.

Which, if it wasn't a magic book with words that literally hide themselves from my vision, might've had me doubting her. But with that as a baseline, who am I to judge?

As Tipan mutters to herself, I close my eyes and work on testing Pause. I've been performing experiments for the last couple days, testing to see how long I can extend it by spending more and more Facet. I've also been combining it with my new Channeling ability, which I'd dismissed as a cheaper way to maintain multiple spells when I first acquired it. But I'm starting to suspect it's more useful than that.

Simply dumping extra Facet in hasn't been very impressive. It takes nearly my entire pool just to increase the duration by half. However, when using channeling, I've discovered I can keep it going much longer. But it comes with a major downside. I can't cast spells. Which isn't to say I can't use magic. I can still use the instinctive magic that occurs within a small area around me, my magical presence or aura. But I can't form the runes that give greater direction to mana while I'm channelling my Pause. Not even a second channeled ability.

Which would make it extra boring to practice, if I wasn't also learning how to expand and contract my aura. Theria implied my aura was what set Rufka on fire, so working on it is kinda important. And inside the mana-blocked area, it's a lot easier to tell where my aura ends.

Not that it makes it easier to control. Controlling my aura is like trying to adjust the skirts of one of those big flouncy dresses, the ones my aunt Sharon loves, by pulling it into place using spaghetti noodles.

Still, I think I'm making progress. My aura used to just butt up against the edge of the mana-block, but now I can pull it back a few millimeters. On one edge. Over less than a meter of the perimeter. It's a lot harder than controlling my actual magic.

But since I'm not doing anything else while waiting with Tipan, I continue my efforts.

When she calls our reading session to a close, we make our way above decks to enjoy the scenery. The south tip of the Aetherian continent passes on our left, which Roberts has informed me a couple times is the port side, but I still think of it as left, while ahead of us is the main reason we've come on the Twice Scuttled instead of flying. Ahead, the ocean stops following the rules of physics.

Or, at least, the rules as I've always known them.

Instead of the smooth curve of the horizon, the ocean lifts up. A shiver runs down my spine at what would be a city destroying wave, rising like a mountain. But it's so much more than that. It's dominated the horizon since the morning, and it stretches up into space, towards Ukila. This is the ultimate manifestation of the Great Tide. A water-spout bigger than any mountain on earth, surrounded by constant mana-storms. And apparently, it's always like this, just usually to a less violent degree.

Somewhere inside that maelstrom, is the dungeon we're here to complete.

We could've chosen an easier one to get to, but the rewards...

The Twice Scuttled pierces through a wave, the water crashing down around us, but not landing on deck. Not through enchantments, but careful management of the ship's stronghold boundaries. Captain e'Tell is using the System's stronghold effect as a shield. Because where we're going, enchantments have a habit of being torn apart.

Which makes me wonder at the difference. Why is the System able to create a magical effect enchantments can't?

Another thing to study.

The captain is at the rear of the ship, at the wheel, which she's revealed is mostly symbolic. She can command the Twice Scuttled without even being aboard, though she remains cagey about the range. Not that I blame her.

Beside the captain on one side is Beth, who's enjoying the 'relaxed' shielding of the uppermost deck, her hair flowing in the wind. The relaxed shielding is a feature, as far as the captain is concerned. Makes the experience more authentic. On her other side, looking far less pleased, Ael'thani glowers at both the captain and Beth while clutching tightly to the nearby railing, water dripping from her fur.

I move up to join Rufka and Kellica, who are at the front of the ship in the other part where the shielding is relaxed. It's so loud, that even yelling I wouldn't be able to hear the sound of my own voice. Not without using magic. Which would defeat the purpose of the relaxed shielding.

So when I slide up next to Rufka, I just give her a smile while wrapping my hands around the rail. The ship crashes through another wave, and the water washes over us again. But here, enough is let through to soak us.

Not a typical design feature, but the Captain assured us it's safe. Mostly. If we see dark shapes in the water, we're supposed to retreat to the central deck. It's only happened once so far, and turned out to be nothing.

We stay there for ten minutes before I decide to leave. Rufka follows, which means Kellica also tags along. I find Smoulder sitting in the middle of the safe, and dry, zone. She doesn't mind looking out at the surrounding ocean, but she is definitely not a fan of the wet zones.

Wicking the water soaking me away with a wave of my hand, I return to the galley, where we've been spending a lot of time talking. And playing games. And generally just spending time when we don't want to be wet or cramped.

Roberts, Josh and Rose are talking with one of the Taken when we arrive, the lizard-like one, Lik'tik. Josh is nodding enthusiastically. "Yeah, just like that. We have a bunch of words in our language that sound like other words in Vausian. For example, bell in Vausian sounds like sausage."

"And Reaper sounds like 'Oh damn'," Rose adds.

"My personal favorite is how close the Vausian phrase for please sounds like 'au contraire'," Roberts chimes in.

"That's not even English," I say as I take a seat next to them.

"It's close enough," Roberts counters while pushing a plate of steaming... sausages towards me. I stab one with my fork, holding it up as I raise an eyebrow at him while the others go off about several other words they've noticed, with Rufka joining in with words I pretend not to hear.

"It's how the conversation started. Josh was asking about Pogell, and Lik'tik here said he was something of a retrieval expert," he pauses and wags all four of his eyebrows.

"Yes, yes, very clever," I say, a small smile tugging at my lips.

"Mhm. So after we stopped laughing, and explained how we have dogs who look like Pogell and like to play fetch, he added that it was amusing how similar the word sausage in Vausian was to idiot. There may have been an implication that Ael'thani was occasionally sausage-like," he informs me with the smallest trace of a smile.

I can't help but smile while taking a bite of the sausage.

Then I almost choke, as the heat hits me.

Gah! Why can't elemental resistance work on spicy food!

4.28, The Isle of the Vale of the Tomb of Desh Atun

9:12 am, local time. (July 30, 2023, 4:12 pm.) Not in time to prevent heartburn.

Cleansing my palate with a judicious application of water, I glare at Roberts who just chuckles at my misfortune. Note to self, Health Edge doesn't work on food. Or I don't have enough of it. Hmm. Would that have killed me before?

My thoughts on the relationship between food and Health Edge are derailed by Beth coming into the galley. She's reaching for a sausage, and while I'm tempted to warn her, I can't help but share a smile with Roberts instead.

However, Beth doesn't gasp in shock. Instead she licks her lips before saying, "Now that's what this world's been missing. Haven't had anything with decent kick since we got here."

I watch, my mouth hanging open as Beth spears another sausage then sits next to Josh throwing an arm over his shoulder. Josh doesn't seem to notice, still caught up in his conversation with Rose and Lik'tik. Somehow they've shifted to the topic of how honey is produced on earth.

With the sausages off-limits, I move to grab some of the other food kept ready in the kitchenette. Preferably something that won't cause me to feel like I'm breathing fire without the flames. I prefer doing it with flames these days. The Twice Scuttled's pantry is more robust than the average K'tharn's, and I'm able to make something resembling pancakes, though I have to use a light bacon gravy since there's no syrup... or honey.

It's still amazing.

Rufka agrees, giving it four thumbs up.

Take that, cooking skill of zero.

A few hours later, while doing a basic obstacle course with Smoulder in the center of the main deck, I notice we're not on the flat of the ocean anymore. We're still piercing through waves regularly, but when I look to the side, there's a tilt to the mainland behind us. Smoulder forgives my inattention, snuggling close as I move up to where captain e'Tell is singing a song that would've made me blush before I met Rufka. Now it just makes me smile.

Okay, I still blush, but it's not nearly as noticeable.

Shaking my head, I make my way to the rear rail with Smoulder. The waves directly behind us make it harder to notice, but again, looking to the sides, I can confirm we're travelling up the side of the mountainous water-spout. It wouldn't feel so weird if not for the way I still feel like gravity is pulling me down in relation to the ship.

Captain e'Tell seems to notice my discomfort. "It's a side effect of making my ship my Stronghold. I have absolute dominion, so down is down. Would make this journey a lot trickier otherwise. Navigating the Depths round here are almost as tough as navigating through that," she states, one hand waving towards the mana-storms that are getting closer to blocking the horizon. "You're lucky I love making this run, otherwise you'd never have been able to get me so cheap."

Before I can comment on that fact that a price of hundreds of Iron shards isn't exactly cheap, a shape emerges from beside us, swimming up the spout. I blink before moving closer.

Over the side is a school of not-quite-dolphins. They're the right general shape, but instead of the blue-grey I'm used to, these have shorter jaws crammed full of teeth and the black and white patterning of killer whales.

They leap and sing next to the Twice Scuttled, their cries reminding me of birdsong, Captain e'Tell laughing in a sort of counterpoint in the background.

There's something about the beauty of the killer-dolphins that keeps me from Focusing on them. Part of me doesn't want to have the moment ruined if they have an ugly name, or some horrid history. So I just watch them instead. The others make their way on deck shortly after, Wyonna having informed them over party chat. Even the Taken emerge and watch in silence.

Once the killer dolphins leave, I return to practice and continue to wait. It won't be long now. The captain informed us that it should be less than a day once we started up the side of the spout. Not that the time of day is as clear a concept when you're travelling up the side of a massive waterspout where the sun never stops shining.

Still, a dozen hours later Beth lets us know to get ready.

We're almost there.

The isle of Desh Atun lies ahead.

On the horizon is a tiny dot. It almost seems to bob in the chaotic swirl of the waters this high up the spout. But I've been informed that's an illusion. The dot is actually the island the vale resides inside of. Kinda.

Island isn't a great word, since the only land on the 'surface' of the spout is a thin strip of rock that shields what basically sounds like a giant tunnel that descends deep into the spout.

Even from our distance, I can detect the air and water mana emerging from within. A 'minor' release mechanism that bathes the area in more mana than Aethire uses to stay aloft. All of which feeds into the storms that are born here before they drift across Akilo.

We're all on deck watching as the dot gets closer. The Taken won't be getting off at the island. Turns out they really are just here to keep an eye on us. Too bad for them we’re bringing Kellica with us.

The Twice Scuttled is forced to swing around the island amongst waves tall enough to blot out the sky, circling twice before Captain e'Tell crashes us down beneath the surface. The relaxed shielding is no longer in effect, yet water still seeps past the Stronghold's barriers, soaking the deck. A sign of the incredible pressures outside, both mundane and mana. The ship shudders several times, dark shapes swimming around us for over a minute.

And then we're through, the water exploding out as the Twice Scuttled comes to rest in a sheltered... space. I want to call it a cove, but the way we emerge from beneath the water, before coming to rest on its surface... and the stillness of the surrounding water.

It feels like I need a bigger word, but cove is close enough.

To one side, light pours in the tunnel, illuminating the length of the massive chamber as far as I can see, revealing vast stretches of green with ribbons of dark blue waters cutting between. And while I call it a tunnel, the sheer scope of it...

There must be more than ten kilometres from where I stand looking up to the far side above us. As I turn away, I realize the light reaches far deeper than I would've expected, the tunnel illuminated far into the distance until it curves upwards, out of sight..

This is the Vale of Desh Atun. And somewhere in this mess, is the actual Dungeon. The Ring of Desh Atun. Or tomb, according to the Taken. Trying to find it on our own would take months, even with our ability to fly and teleport. Luckily, Genitha left Beth with a tool that will lead us straight there. A map.

"This..." Tipan breathes out next to me as the Twice Scuttled drifts slowly towards the shore.

"Yeah," I agree, my eyes tracking the abundant wildlife moving amongst the trees.

"This is unclaimed land. Even the bravest Archmage knows better than to set up here," e'Tell calls from above. "Not that the System would allow any-user to establish a Stronghold here."

"It has a dungeon though," I point out.

"Yep. A dungeon that only gets a few users every other decade," e'Tell agrees with a nod. "You're the first group I've brought here since Genitha and I first came."

"Wait," Rufka says, looking over her shoulder at the captain. "You know mum?"

"Might be I do," e'Tell answers with a wink of both her left eyes and a flick of her ear. "Might be I know your mum real well, if you catch my meaning."

The way Rufka's ears fold back as she quickly turns away almost has me chuckling. But I content myself with a soft smile as I pull her close and look back out over the water. We don't make landfall, the abundant air-mana in the area making flight so cheap it practically increases our regen rate. Though not actually.

I wonder if there's a way to do that.

Leaving the ship behind is... weird. They're just going to wait for us to complete the dungeon, which I suppose is the real reason it cost so much to get them to bring us here. Especially since we're planning to be inside so long.

And since we are... I finally have an opportunity to use my castle. The best part... after some feedback from Tipan, I realized my class ability, Entropic Shift allows me to change the element. I can erect a literal castle for them to camp in. Though the nexus access might not work properly.

It takes nearly an hour for the stone monument to rise from the beach. It's much more durable than the ice castle version, though not quite as pretty. A proper testament to Smoulder though, since now she adorns the gates and... well, most of the railings, spouts, fountains and... do I need more variety in my designs?

The smugness radiating from Smoulder tells me I'm probably good.

Despite the size of the castle, none of the crew are particularly impressed. E'tell thanks me for giving them a sturdy distraction even as they set up camp on the beach. If she hadn't asked for it, I'd be worried I did that for nothing.

"So, kid. What next?" Beth asks, shaking me out of my thoughts.

"Sorry, what?" I ask, then realize everyone is formed up behind me.

"You're in charge. What next?" Beth says, her arms crossed. "Don't you remember? Everyone chose you."

"But that was just for..." I trail off at her smirk. "You're just teasing me."

"Only kinda," Beth says as she floats forward, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. "We're going to be practicing lots of stuff in this dungeon, if it's like Genitha says it is. And part of that is going to be your leadership skills."

"Oh. Right," I reply. We did talk about this, but I figured we'd wait until we were inside the dungeon.

"So, what next?" Beth asks again, raising one eyebrow.

"Next... Tipan uses her map to guide us to the dungeon while the rest of us keep a watch on the forest?" I ask more than order.

"Not bad. Though we need to work on your firmness. Can't be soft in combat."

"Except... we're not in combat, so that wouldn't apply," I state.

"There you go kid, getting the hang of it already."

I can't stop the grin as I turn to the others, lowering my voice as I say, "Alright people, you heard her. Let's move."

Roberts chuckles as he pats my shoulder. "Excellent Beth impression."

"What?" Beth protests as everyone floats forward, Tipan's map flickering into existence in our midst. "I don't sound like that."

"Definitely not," Roberts agrees, though he doesn't stop chuckling.

I can't stop smiling as we float above the trees. There are zambias here, the giant herbivores easy to spot when they poke their heads above the foliage to take a look at us. They have different patterns than the one I saw when I first arrived, jagged cracks of gold spreading across their otherwise dark brown skin. There seems to be a soft breeze that brings the leaves towards their mouth with every bite.

Huge dinosaurs that use mana to eat. Awesome.

The map leads us through the jungle, and while there's an abundance of life here, none of the creatures are mana-warped. Considering the huge amounts of air and water mana in the area, it's a little surprising. Then again, everything I've seen so far seems to have water or air based abilities. Maybe mana-warping only affects elements that are different from the normal species?

When I ask Tipan, she shrugs, and agrees that's how it usually works. But not always.

Another half hour of flying just above the canopy brings us close to our destination. At least, according to Tipan's map. Once we're there, it takes us another hour of flying through the actual jungle to find the Dungeon. When we do, I'm almost surprised we missed it. The Ring of Desh Atun is actually more of a dome, at least from the outside. And despite the barrier preventing plants from getting inside the dungeon, nothing has prevented them from growing on top. Still, the top of the dome is sticking out of the canopy, even if it is covered in vines.

With the dungeon located, it only takes us another five minutes before Roberts and Beth find the entrance.

When Rufka and I slip through the canopy near them, we're greeted by more vines. Right up until Beth unleashes a rapid stream of void, the dark bullets slicing through the vegetation and causing the structure underneath to shimmer. There are even some small gouges where a couple of her shots landed, though most of the vegetation itself remains stubbornly in place.

"Heh, whoops," Beth says as she shoulders her rifle. "Guess I could let someone else clear it."

"We've all been cooped up on the ship for days. It's understandable that you want to... express yourself a bit," Roberts says while flicking bits of fallen vegetation away with transparent barriers.

"She definitely expressed herself all over that entrance," I say before clapping a hand over my mouth.

"That's what she said?" Kellica adds, though her tone makes it clear she's not sure if she's using it right. Josh and Rose give her a thumbs up, and she stands a little straighter.

"That is indeed what she said," Roberts agrees, though he has a hint of a smile.

Our attention turns back to the entrance when Smoulder decides the vegetation needs to have its day completely ruined, as she deploys enough heat that Roberts re-deploys his shields to keep it off us. When the heat haze passes, an area over a hundred metres in diameter has been cleared. The jungle outside has come alive, a cacophony of movement and screeching arising behind us as Smoulder sits smugly outside the now fully revealed ring of Desh Atun. And it is a ring, similar in form to the standing stones. Though much taller, made of a golden sandstone and with no gaps except the entrance.

An entrance that seems to be made entirely of bone.

Pleasant.

"Guess I wasn't the only one who needed to let off some steam," Beth says while stepping out of Roberts's protective circle.

As the ground hisses and puffs around us, I can't help but raise my eyebrow. Did Beth just make a... pun?

With the entrance cleared, alongside a sizeable portion of the jungle, we step inside.

"Iron rank training challenge Ring of Desh Atun joined."

"Teleportation abilities have been locked to Ring of Desh Atun combat zone."

"Zone Quest received: Desh Atun. Requirements 0/1 Desh Atun defeated. Rewards: 25 Edge. Time: No limit."

And there it is. The reason we came all this way.

A bonus of twenty-five Edge. To everything.

4.29, So Edgy, it Must be Emo

2:03 am, local time. (July 31, 2023, 8:03 am.) One small second after stepping into the Ring of Desh Atun.

With the quest reward confirmed, I can't stop a sigh of relief from escaping. We'd avoided talking about it, almost as if we were afraid we'd jinx it, but the zone quest really does have a 25 Edge reward.

And if Genitha is to be believed, it doesn't just apply to our existing resources. It'll apply to resistances we don't even have in our Status sheet. Which makes it unique amongst Iron-rank dungeons on Akilo, as far as Genitha's aware.

The entrance is also distinct from the other two dungeons we've visited, existing as a sort of staging area that allows for multiple parties to enter at once, as long as we're all in the same User-Group. The System's version of raid groups from what I can tell.

On either side are hallways which will lead to several barracks, a shop, a park with a fountain that serves as a partial Nexus and even a fully functional kitchen. Once they're unlocked. On the other side of the console are the six sets of stairs to the various instances of the arena itself.

The interface that sits on a pedestal in the center of the room only has the lightest of System touches, with translation for the various functions hovering directly above a control panel that would look more at home in an Egyptian pyramid. Probably. There are a lot of hieroglyphics anyway. Even the System translations match the look as best they can. Along the left, a set of images shows different beasts. The right displays groups of K'tharn holding different weapons.

Going through the list, I confirm the breakdown Genitha gave Beth. Dozens of different monsters to choose from on the left. On the right, ritual combat against the System's best impression of the K'tharn warriors who once called this place home. In the middle are the selections for group size and difficulty.

At the moment, the only opponent whose icon is properly filled in with details is the first beast, a more durable version of a camel. Luckily with nothing interesting. No laser eyes or flaming spit.

All the other challenges need to be unlocked.

In addition to additional challenges, the other upgrades we can purchase are arranged along the bottom. Including the kitchen and the arena shop. The shop is the second reason we came here. We'll all be able to max out our attributes and levels in this single dungeon, just by farming enough Arena points. Something Genitha discovered after she'd already been level ten.

Glancing back, the entrance remains open, allowing us to leave at any time. And unable to return.

We split up to settle in, choosing rooms and checking for oddities. Just cause Genitha didn't encounter danger in the dorms during her visit doesn't mean we're assuming the same will be true for us. After looking through the complex and confirming most of the features simply don't exist yet, we settle in a series of rooms that are close enough to each other we can respond quickly but are still able to maintain our privacy. They're also close to where the kitchen should show up.

Complete coincidence.

Given the long day we've had, once we've ensured we're reasonably secure, we head to bed in the spartan rooms. The morning finds Rufka and I in the challenge room before anyone else.

"Can't believe I'm finally here. It's crazy that mum might've been one of the last users to come here," Rufka says, running her hand over the challenge pedestal.

Nodding, I step up next to her, looking down at the console. "Think we'd be okay to take on the, what was it called, jexel?"

Rufka shifts, giving me a smile as she waves my concern away with her left hands. "A jexel? Easy as falling. Mum's drilled me about everything we might face here. Was always planning to bring me here, once I felt ready."

"You did mention that," I reply, shooting a smile back at her. Then I select the jexel symbol, dual combat and the basic difficulty. Not that the harder difficulties are available.

"Quest Received: Mersa of Desh Atun. Defeat combatants: Jexel. 0/1 jexels defeated. Rewards: First Clear: 25 Arena points. Unlocks: Jexel - level 3. Rewards: Subsequent Clears: 5 Arena points."

The door beside the pedestal grinds open, the material separating from itself like great jagged teeth, leaving a path of polished bone leading up. Rufka and I exchange a glance before starting up the stairs while Smoulder peeks out of my pocket to investigate the noise. When she realizes we're moving into combat, she bounces off Rufka to land back on my shoulder, eliciting a chuckle from my thiani.

When we get to the top of the stairs, they let out into an open arena of hard packed dirt surrounded by a crowd of roaring K'tharn. A quick analysis shows that they're all 'dungeon facsimiles'.

As the roaring dies down, a curtain at the far end lifts, revealing not just a cage with our chosen combatant, but the Queen herself. She sits above the crowd on a throne of crudely bound bone, but she's no less majestic for the shoddy craftsmanship. Easily as large as Ivicka, the Queen has a great golden mane that cascades down behind her. Mounted above her rest a pair of weapons that vaguely resemble scimitars.

If scimitars were as thick as their wielder, and just as tall with a long knotted grip set in their middle.

Then she stands up, and the surrounding crowd roars again. Though this time they cry a name. Atun.

Unlike the others, when I pause time and analyze her, I discover she's not a facsimile.

“Creature analyzed: K'tharn. Gene-seed D."

"Name: Atun of clan Okerren."

"Atun was once one of the greatest Desh (Rough translation, warrior-queen) to walk the face of Akilo. Once she conquered the entirety of the Aetherian continent, she settled in the harsh southern regions, the weather the only thing she was unable to claim. From atop her throne of skulls, she pitted warriors against vicious beasts to earn the right to challenge her in personal combat. While she had many contenders, few were able to challenge the Desh themselves. And of the few who did, none survived."

"Attributes: Physical; Very High, Mobility; High, Magic; Comparable, Awareness; Comparable."

"Attacks: Desh Mandate-Abilities. Multiweapon fighting."

"Defences: Physical: High. Magical: Comparable."

"Special: Disruption Field, Integral Being."

[Wyonna] "One of the ancient warrior queens herself. Well, a good copy of one."

She... doesn't look as challenging as Genitha made her sound. At least, not from base attributes. Focusing further, I discover that the Disruption field prevents mana from interfering within fifty-seven meters of her. Which covers over half of the arena, and a good portion of the stands too. Is that going to affect our other fights?

It's definitely going to make fighting her tricky. Switching to Integral Being, I can't help but feel disappointed. The only thing my Focus tells me is that her being is integral. Maybe that's the source of the elemental resistances Genitha was talking about? I suppose it makes sense for the boss of a dungeon that gives a flat Edge bonus to have a similar ability.

Having inspected the queen, and the crowd, my gaze finally rests on our opponent. But a quick scan of the jexel reveals it's pathetic across the board. Its only special ability is its low water resistance.

I almost laugh as Pause comes to an end and it snarls at us from within the cage.

Before it's released, Atun speaks and despite not raising her voice, she's easily audible over the crowd. "After many years, challengers have come to my mersa! Let us see if they are worthy!"

At Atun's final word, the front of the cage drops down and the jexel jumps out. This time, I do laugh as its uneven gait carries it towards us. A single arrow from Rufka lays it down, the crackling energy tearing through it like it was made of wet paper.

"Huh," Rufka says as she lowers her bow. "That... was easy."

"Yep. Somehow, this managed to be even less of a challenge than I expected."

Across the arena, Atun has barely finished retaking her seat before standing again. "Looks like we have new contenders. I pray you survive long enough to whet my blades."

"Quest completed: Mersa of Desh Atun. Defeat combatant: Jexel. 1/1 jexels defeated. Rewards: First Clear: 25 Arena points. Unlocks: Jexel - Lesser."

With that notification, the crowd roars again and Atun returns to her seat, the curtain already closing around her. Even as it does, she keeps her eyes on us until it hides us from sight.

"Vaus damn. That was even easier than I expected," Rufka says, staring at where the jexel is already breaking apart into blue dust. Which is a lot faster than it usually happens.

"Yeah... I didn't even get to do anything," I note as we start back down the stairs.

"Might be a while before you need to," Rufka says, throwing her arms around me. "Think I can take it down with only left hands?"

"That one? You could take it down with no hands. Probably with your eyes closed too."

"Ha! Challenge accepted, come on, let's get as many of these easy ones done as we can before the others are up."

So Rufka and I start working our way through the challenges. She takes down the lesser jexel without any hands and with her eyes closed. We still do the challenges as a pair, just in case. Also, cause we're enjoying having time just to ourselves, Smoulder having decided that none of these opponents were worth burninating, and sleeping instead.

By the time the others come to find us, we've unlocked the jexel's hardest difficulty and have enough points to purchase one of the other basic creatures. Or buy the kitchen.

It's only been ten minutes.

The most tedious part is waiting for Atun to start and end each performance. Her words have little variation, though after the first, she no longer mentions how long it's been or calls us new contenders. Her fixed dialogue is almost disappointing. For how alive the other two dungeons have been, this one feels… fake.

"Good initiative, kid," Beth says as Rufka and I walk down from defeating the Extreme jexel. This one had finally had an active attack, a spike of frozen water that had surprised Rufka enough she opened her eyes when it struck. Not that it had been enough for her to need my help.

"Thanks. Guess it's time to start group combat?" I ask, glancing towards the console and the max party size of six. I'm glad it allows us to run several 'Mersas' at once. With the small groups available, even with our small party, it would get busy quick. I couldn't imagine coming here with a full User-Group only to have most of them sit around.

Beth waves my question off while inspecting the console. "Nah. You guys have the right idea. Let's unlock as much as we can first. We'll move on to group combat once there's something worth practicing against."

With a couple flicks of a button, she taps in solo combat against the jexel then moves to the staircase on the left before giving the rest of us a quick salute. Rufka and I spend a few minutes answering questions from the others before we find ourselves moving on to the next creature.

We spend most of the day listening to Atun praise our worthiness and fighting monsters that are little more than pin-cushions for Rufka's arrows until we encounter the first who survives her opening salvo.

A turtle-shelled creature sits in a cage on the far side from us. On its back are a pair of thick bone tubes, each bigger than my... well, me. Analysis tells me it's called a Blast-turtle.

It's impressive that this least variant is capable of withstanding Rufka's arrows. So long as they hit its thick shell.

"Oh," I remark with a smirk. "We should let Smoulder have a go. We've kinda been hogging all the fun."

Rufka smiles back, waving forward. When I prod Smoulder, she sends a wave of eagerness back.

So we let Smoulder play.

She charges across the arena, each pounce leaving the ground behind her more and more scorched until her last leaves behind broken glass. She's totally messing around. She could have made it across in a single leap. Her final leap takes her straight up and into the turtle's face. And then she's through, emerging out the far side of the poor Blast-turtle.

Guess they're not as tough on the inside. Rufka and I are delayed from leaving as Smoulder decides to explore the stands, leaping around until she smacks into the closed curtain. It brings her to a complete stop, with a solid twang echoing through the arena.

Even though I know she's okay according to my Status, I run towards Smoulder. But I stop when I find her glaring at the curtain. Then she unleashes a wave of pure fire. It's hot enough, I grab Rufka and teleport both of us to the far side of the arena before I have time to think.

The curtain remains undamaged, though Smoulder has incinerated the arena seats, revealing smooth stone buried beneath. Retrieving a still grumpy Smoulder, I give her plenty of head scritches while Rufka and I move on to the next challenge. Which we again let Smoulder take.

Instead of focusing on the Blast-turtle, Smoulder attempts to smash Atun. But she's knocked back by an invisible barrier where the curtain normally falls closed. Which only makes Smoulder angrier. The Blast-turtle ends up being incinerated as a mere side-effect of Smoulder attempting to get at the queen. Rufka and I are eating snacks and watching from the far side, where we're maintaining ice-walls as simple counters to Smoulder's struggles.

Smoulder spends almost an hour trying to get to the queen before she gives up. At this point, even the stone near the queen's resting place has been cracked and warped, revealing a solid black surface beneath. A surface that isn't even slightly affected by Smoulder's best attempts.

While interesting, probing it with Facet reveals it's simply the boundary of the training space we're in. Hmm.

After her frustrating performance, Smoulder needs almost an equal amount of time receiving head-scritches. Luckily, Rufka and I are able to continue moving through the challenges while I oblige her.

It's nearly the end of the day by the time we've completed all the beast challenges as a pair. At this point, we have 4,525 Arena points each. More than enough to unlock access to the arena shop, park and kitchen for a hundred points each, which we have to pay for separately.

Despite our success, we still haven't accumulated enough points to unlock the ritual combat side of the arena. The cheapest costs ten thousand points. And even with all the first time bonuses, we don't have enough. I'm glad the first time bonuses are available for every mode, so we should be able to unlock ritual combat early tomorrow. Hopefully, some will be interesting.

Today was lucrative, but if I hadn't spent the day with Rufka and Smoulder, it would've been tedious. Not looking forward to doing the solos.

As Rufka and I enter the arena shop, my attention is drawn to the array of items available. Instead of a simple list, everything is presented as a physical item. Next to an elderly looking K'tharn, whose fur is grey and sagging in places, Integration Points sit in a bowl. They're small black chits with swirls of colour beneath the surface, similar to Mana Essence but more solid.

There’s a set of slates next to them, ten black disks carved with branching paths with the same colour scheme which the System informs me are Progression Marks. None of the prices are listed in the System, instead, displayed on little wooden signs scattered amongst the merchandise.

I find it interesting that the most immersive part of the arena is the shop. And that's despite the fact that not a single item in here is a physical object. There's a collection of red feathers woven into a headdress on one side and according to my analysis, buying it will grant increased fire resistance.

There are dozens of similar items throughout the shop, all intangible, but permanent improvements. And the plan is to buy them all. Luckily, we each have our own 'inventory', so whatever I purchase won't affect the others. Not that I can afford much yet. The headdress alone is a hundred thousand points. The only thing in our price range, would be Integration Points at a thousand arena points per.

"Huh. More expensive than I expected," Rufka says while looking around. "Mum did say we'd be here a while though."

"Yeah. I think I'm going to save my points for tomorrow. The ritual combat's worth more, right?"

"Mhm. Though Mum said most of our points are going to come from beating the Queen," Rufka says while hefting a spear that represents an increase to Metal-based damage by ten percent. Only a quarter million Arena points.

My gaze flicks to the old k'tharn behind the counter, but he just smiles as we continue inspecting the available upgrades.

Once we're finished drooling over all the upgrades we can't afford, we make our way to the kitchen. Inside, we find that while the upgrades are expensive, food is cheap. We can purchase complete meals for a single point. Or meals that give long lasting buffs for ten.

"Mum mentioned the food was good, but she forgot to mention the buffs," Rufka half-complains while devouring a giant bowl of rolled meat in a soft fluffy pastry.

I don't respond, too busy with my own meal. There's a brief greeting when the others come in before we retire for the night.

The next morning is spent getting the rest of the points we need to unlock ritual combat. Without having to spend points on unlocking new creatures, it doesn't even take us that long.

When we spend the points on the first of the ritual combat scenarios the outline of the figures fills in with details. A pair of K'tharn, one with a pen and paper, the other with a giant chain. Once we have it locked in, Rufka and I head up to our arena.

Once more, Atun rises as we enter. But this time her voice sounds different, the cadence less artificial.

"Welcome, challengers. You have proven the beasts of our world are but stepping stones for true warriors. Now you shall face our most deadly foe, fellow K'tharn."

"Quest Received: Mersa of Desh Atun. Defeat combatants: K'tharn Scrivener, K'tharn Atoner. 0/2 K'tharn defeated. Rewards: First Clear: 1000 Arena points. Unlocks: K'tharn Scrivener and Atoner - Lesser. Rewards: Subsequent Clears: 50 Arena points."

Huh. Decent uptick in the first clear rewards. More than double what the toughest of the Extreme beasts were giving us.

The arena itself is also different. Instead of an open field, there are platforms scattered throughout. As I look closer, I realize I recognize the platforms. They're similar to the floating platforms used in desh'mersa.

Smacking my forehead, I can't help but chuckle. Desh Atun. Mersas. Ritual combat. So obvious I can't believe I missed it. I blame Rufka for being so distracting.

Yep, it's definitely her fault.

"What's so funny?" Rufka asks while watching the two on the far side of the room.

"We're playing desh'mersa," I reply, stepping to the side as a feather whistles through the air beside me.

"Not..." Rufka pauses as she fires an arrow across the ring at the opposing K'tharn who both manage to dodge, despite the arrow's curving trajectory. Already they're proving more interesting than the strongest of the beasts. "Not really. Not yet."

I nod as I step out of the way of another whistling quill, which blows a hole in the stand behind me. The desh'mersa game we watched with Tipan was a little more structured than our current challenge. Really, the only similarity is the shape of the arena.

Not wanting to ruin Rufka's fun, I continue stepping to the side without using Pause, shooting weak blasts of fire at the Scrivener to keep its attention. Despite my minimal assistance, it only takes Rufka half a minute to defeat them both.

"Flawless Victory!" Atun declares from her throne, throwing her head back and laughing as the blue dust of our opponents swirls up towards her. It… She hasn't done that before. The curtain doesn't close as the exit appears behind us. Atun leans back in her chair as if dismissing us, I turn to go when a faint system notice appears, not even fully displaying its full message before flickering away.

"Primary Dungeon Sapience engag-"

A chill goes down my spine as I turn back to look at Desh Atun.

Her eyes meet mine.

4.30, Immortal Kombat

11:05:02 am, local time. (August 1, 2023, 6:05:02 pm.)

For several long seconds, Desh Atun and I stare at each other, neither of us blinking. Then Rufka calls to me from the exit and I reflexively flick my eyes in her direction. When I look back to Atun, she's lounging across the throne, collecting food from a tray that wasn't there a second ago.

I remain looking at her for another few seconds, and even snap off a second analysis. But nothing's changed. Whatever intelligence I saw before seems to have disappeared.

With a displeased frown, I tell Rufka what I saw. She glances over, but shrugs when she doesn't see anything. When the quest notification pops up, I'm pleased to see there's a bonus reward for a flawless victory, doubling both of the other rewards. The beast mode didn't have that.

We continue through four more matches, with Atun declaring our flawless victory each time but no sign of that intelligence. When we defeat the sixth and most difficult version, I've almost convinced myself that it wasn't real. Rufka and I are talking about what we might have for lunch when we notice the exit hasn't opened yet.

Behind us, Atun's voice shakes the arena, the crowd going silent, "Today we have true contenders. Six flawless victories in a row. Foes worthy of your Desh!"

Rufka and I pause, glancing at each other before turning towards her throne. Atun stands at the front, one foot on the short wall just inside the invisible barrier Smoulder was throwing herself against. Then she leaps forward, landing on the far side of the arena with a slam.

"Mum never mentioned this," Rufka says while drawing her bow.

"Uhm. I don't think this is normal," I reply while analyzing Atun again. Her stats still haven't changed.

I rouse Smoulder from her pocket, and her excitement at the annoying K'tharn not being locked away is obvious the moment she lays eyes on Atun.

Okay, three vs one. We can do this.

I pause time, sending nine piercing arrows at Atun. A cheap and simple test of her defences. None of them land, the mana collapsing before it gets close to her. Rufka's arrows meet slightly more success, only robbed of their crackling lightning as they soar past Atun, one drawing a thin line of blood across her cheek.

Not a promising start, but I just need to think. As Atun runs towards me, I drop into Pause.

Let's see. Attacking her directly with magic is out, so maybe-

After less than a second of Paused time, the effect collapses and I feel tearing inside me. Then I realize that Atun is still charging towards me. With a gasp, I lurch to the side as her foot slams down on where I'd been standing. I'm staring up at the calloused bottom of her foot as Smoulder hurtles into her. Smoulder's flames are smothered, but I can still feel the pure heat rolling off her as she smashes into Atun.

Atun flinches, but only barely. Yet Smoulder buys me enough time to retreat a single step. All my usual tools aren't working. This close to Atun, my magic is useless, worse than on the ship, even my aura is suppressed. I need to get away.

Before I can make it two more steps, I feel something wrap around me from behind. I'm just able to make out the golden fur that lines Atun's fist and Rufka's scream in the background before my head is smashed into the stone beneath the stands. In that single blow, my health is drained to a few points. Before I can react, I'm slammed again even as a familiar heat surges above me.

For the first time in weeks, I'm knocked unconscious.

I come to in the challenge room, without so much as a headache. My resting spot turns out to be one of the stone slabs between the stairwells.

"Well, that was bad," I say as I sit up, finding Rufka rising on the slab next to mine. And Smoulder shaking her head on the furthest. "What the hell happened?"

"You..." Rufka doesn't speak so much as lurch forward and wrap her arms around me.

She manages to squeeze tight enough that my Health starts ticking down. I give her a few moments while rubbing circles on her back. It only takes ten more health before she eases her grip.

"You... we died. I think," Rufka says, her hand brushing my cheek before kissing me.

When we break the kiss, I check my Restoration ability and find that it's still charged. So we didn't actually die then. I don't even have any new conditions. Her mom did tell us it would be safe.

When I mention this to Rufka, she laughs, but it sounds strained. "It's... a lot easier to know that than to believe it when you see the body of... when I saw you..."

"Hey, hey, I'm okay," I remind her, pulling Rufka into a hug again. Rufka just nods into my shoulder as Smoulder arrives and snuggles in between us. I can feel the reassurance wafting off her. We sit there for a while before Beth comes out of her own arena. She notices us immediately, but doesn't say anything taking a seat on another of the slabs until Rufka finally pulls away.

There's a small burst of magic as she dries her tears, leaving only a smile as she turns to face Beth. "So, good news. We found out you can't die!" Rufka says with far too much exuberance.

Beth glances at me, and I nod before she looks back to Rufka who's still talking.

"And we found out that if you get six Flawless Victories in a row, Desh Atun will come out of her throne and bring Vaus's own judgement on you," Rufka adds with an almost perfectly faked smile. Other than it being too tight. And not quite reaching her eyes.

"Good to know," Beth acknowledges, giving Rufka a nod. Then she stands up and walks over to the pedestal. She glances back at Rufka for a second, then punches in a new combination. As she reaches the stairs, she looks back at us. "It's hard to lose the people you love. Even if they come back."

Before Rufka or I can respond, Beth hustles up the stairs, disappearing into her next challenge.

"I think... I think I want to have lunch. And maybe... give you that massage?" Rufka says, leaning against me.

"Sure," I reply as we stand up together, Smoulder staying in Rufka's arms.

As we turn to leave the room, I glance back at the challenge pedestal. A new hieroglyph has been partially filled in, though it has less detail than the rest. In the center of the console is the form of Atun, only her eyes and smile visible.

After a very relaxing massage, and at least as much time spent relaxing in... other ways, Rufka and I return to the challenge room. Despite our 'defeat' at the hands of Atun, we still got the full payout for our flawless victory. With nine more sets of challengers, Rufka and I resume our grind.

When we defeat the sixth team for the second set of challengers, we stand ready. We watch the swirling mana-dust collect in Atun's hand this time, and even with Pause and Twilight-enhanced eyesight, I still almost miss when it collapses into a single bead of mana that sinks into her skin.

"Once more, our contenders stand before us! Another six flawless victories, and another opportunity to prove their worth!"

Before she's done speaking, we're moving. As she demonstrated last time, the stands are a valid part of the arena. Which means I can stay out of her aura by skirting around the-

"Attend me!" Atun cries, and it feels as if the entire room shrinks for a fraction of a second. When it returns to its original size, I find myself standing within immediate striking range. Not part of the plan, but we did discuss what I should do if she somehow cornered me. So instead of dodging away, I dive between her legs.

The deep-bellied laughter from Atun isn't exactly reassuring. Nor is the sudden tug on my leg as I'm hoisted upward. I catch a glimpse of Rufka being flung by Atun's other arm before I'm smashed into the stone beneath the stands once more. This time, I don't just let her slam me down, using the brief pause to kick at her hand. She doesn't even flinch.

As she slams me down again, I realize something obvious. I should really have a weapon.

Smoulder dashing forward in a bundle of fur and heat prevents Atun from slamming me a third time, which is fortunate, since the first two have already drained my health to nothing. Then I see Rufka. Or what remains of her.

I don't have time to fully process it before Atun uses me as a club to smack something small and extremely hot. This time, it’s with painful clarity that I realize it's not unconsciousness that takes me.

When I wake on the stone slab, I practically throw myself off the slab to find Rufka. When I see she's okay, I can't help but gulp in relief as I react much like she did. I... understand better now, what she meant. What Beth meant. It's like a waking nightmare, seeing someone you care about like that.

"How..." Rufka says as I sit next to her, holding her tight. "How did we manage to do even worse on our second attempt?"

"She didn't use that space-shrinking ability the first time. What even was that?" I ask, still not wanting to let go of Rufka.

"Pretty sure that was one of her Mandate abilities. Mum said she couldn't do it often," Rufka says, rubbing her head. "Mum also said that she only did it when she was losing. We didn't even scratch her."

"Pretty sure Smoulder did, actually," I say, reaching down to give her some well deserved head-scritches. Despite our defeat, Smoulder remains certain of our eventual victory. Which, I mean... fair. We do get to keep coming back.

Rufka lets out a deep breath before pushing to her feet, dragging me with her. "Mum did warn us she was challenging."

Even as I nod in agreement, a swirl of dark energy appears over a distant slab. As Rufka and I watch, the dark energy coalesces into Beth, who sits up with a gasp. "Holy shit!"

Rufka and I share a chuckle at Beth's reaction, though neither of us can maintain it.

"Take it you fought Atun," I state more than ask while looking over at the pedestal before shaking my head. I don't think I'm as bad as Rufka was earlier, but I still feel like I need a few minutes.

"That was as much a fight as I'm a virgin," Beth says, shaking her head hard enough to set her fiery red hair floating above her for a second. "Fuck."

We remain silent for a minute before Roberts appears from the other side. When he sees us all standing together, he raises one of his bushy eyebrows. "Problems?"

"Could say that," Beth says, flopping back onto the stone slab in a way that would've stung before we had Health Edge. "You saw my message, right?"

"About us reviving if we die. And facing Atun if we had six flawless victories in a row? This is related?"

"Yep. I just got stomped by her. Not a fun experience. Her damn aura prevents me from shooting her."

"Ah, yes. That would be troubling," Roberts agrees, tapping a thin loop of wire against his chin. "I haven't encountered her yet myself. After your warning, I decided to only proceed to the fifth stage of each challenge. It seems to have work-"

Roberts is interrupted by another pair of swirls, one is emerald and gold, the other pink and dark brown. The former resolves into a prone Rose while the latter coalesces into Josh. Without even sitting up, Josh throws a clump of thorns at the wall beside him before flopping his arms out to the side.

While Josh is decompressing, Rose sits up next to him with a huff. Then he notices the rest of us. "Meeting time?"

"Wasn't the plan, but since we're all here, why don't we discuss," Beth agrees.

Which leads into us exchanging notes on everything we've fought so far, including our experiences with Atun. Something about the way everyone describes entering the mersas gets my attention, and I can't help but replay our entrance and exit in my mind. By the time everyone's done, Tipan and Kellica have joined us and we end up having to repeat things for a third time, though I'm still lost in thought, only paying partial attention.

Beth leans on the pedestal while addressing the rest of us, her hands folded over the butt of her rifle. "Okay. Maybe we've officially found an opponent that's worth group combat. Too bad we have to go through an entire round of Flawless Victories to encounter her."

"Are we aware if she triggers on a subsequent run?" Roberts asks.

"Probably triggers on a rainy day, just to make it worse," Josh complains, throwing a ball of thorns at the wall again.

"Can we check later? Taking her on isn't urgent, right?" Rose asks, grabbing the ball of thorns out of the air the next time Josh throws it. Josh just scowls before laying back against the slab. "Dying like that sucks."

"I don't think we're really dying. It's just temporary constructs," I say as I finally figure out what's been bugging me. The tethers haven't been moving beyond the entrances.

Everyone turns to stare at me and I blink, before smiling. "Right. None of you can... anyway, I'm not totally certain, but I think we're being put in stasis whenever we reach the tenth step, where the portal is. It's not like entering a private room at Raz's. Next time we go in, I'm going to scan myself, just to be sure but..."

"Thanks kid. That... that actually makes me feel better. And Genitha mentioned we'd get to the point where we could unlock her with points."

"Mum left out the Flawless victory part," Rufka grumbles, pulling me to my feet.

"Maybe your mum never got that far?" I suggest.

"Or she was already so powerful it didn't bother her. Seriously, your mother is crazy OP," Josh says.

"Thanks, I think," Rufka replies as she pulls me towards the pedestal. "Now, I'm ready to go kick some more ass. Lexi?"

"Yeah, let's do this," I reply as she punches in the next challengers.

Even if I don't have my magic, we'll figure something out.

Though if I'm honest...

Not using magic?

Not gonna happen.

4.31, Sweetest Things

3:04 pm, local time. (August 1, 2023, 10:04 pm.) Immediately after deciding to charge back into the arena.

Our next set of opponents are both wielding ridiculous weapons. One of them has an axe with a head the size of a smart-car while the other has a whip with a studded ball at the end. Neither of them are able to hit us, but every swing from the ax leaves a wind blade that flows outward. It's enough that I have to actively counter the effect. Though part of me is tempted to let them hit us. There's no reason we need to face Atun.

Ah, if only Rufka or I were able to humble ourselves like that.

Didn't realize I was so proud of my capabilities. But there's certainly that feeling as I teleport around the ax-wielder to crack them over the head with my Elementalist Staff. Even as they collapse, I glance up towards Atun. No noticeable change, though I'm not expecting one.

But I wasn't expecting her to jump in and kick our asses the first time either.

Rufka and I work through the rest of the round, and the pair is challenging enough I have to Pause on the final round, as much to position myself near the outer edge of Atun's aura as anything. This time, we're going to test if stepping out of her aura triggers the pull ability she used.

Smoulder is already wiggling, prepared to pounce as Rufka defeats the whip wielder. Atun steps up to the edge of the balcony, proclaiming our third round of flawless victories. Nice of her not to count the curb-stomping she's been giving us in there.

Before she has time to set foot in the arena, Smoulder smashes into her then leaps away. At the same time, I pedal back several steps until I'm out of her aura. The second I'm outside, I start channeling Pause while creating compacted Stone walls, sucking as much mana out of them as possible. The walls of the arena don't seem to be affected by her ability, so this is our first real-

"Attend me!" Atun bellows, and despite the wall I threw up, I find myself in her face again, my staff lost behind me. I drop to the ground, rolling to the side, and this time she misses in her attempt to grab me. A slash at her with a crude blade of created steel, and I’m gratified when it doesn't crumble when I hit her. But then she grabs it, flipping it around and backhanding me with a laugh. I crash through the stands, pushing my way back out of the benches I crashed through only to come face-to-sword with my own blade.

It doesn't manage to take me to zero health, though it does send me spinning. I attempt to Pause on reflex, and discover it works for nearly a full second before her field disrupts it.

That second is just enough time for me to realize she wasn't wielding my sword, and simply used it as a projectile. Grabbing my fancy club, aka my blunted sword, off the ground, I charge back towards her.

I Pause again right as I strike.

It gives me a single second of time where I can manipulate the sword to swing even faster. And I have the satisfaction of knocking her back half a step.

I don't see what knocks me out after.

Waking on the stone slab outside, I can't help but pump my fist. That was way better than our first two attempts. When I sit up, I find Rufka staring out the open door at where the jungle is already starting to creep back in. If we stay as long as Beth expects, Smoulder might have to blast our way out too. Not that she'll mind.

"So, that went well," I say, sitting up and slinging my feet over the side of my slab.

Rufka sits up, leaning on her left elbows as she meets my gaze. "I messed up. She shouldn't have had time to get you, but I was more worried about you than..."

"Hey. It's fine. We're learning here. And... you avoided looking, right? Like we agreed?"

"Yeah. And... it did help," Rufka says, nodding.

"Kinda glad bodies poof quickly. Be a lot tougher to avoid looking otherwise," I say, pulling her to her feet. "Now, come on. We've got a lot more of these jerks to get through. And we're doing better."

"Yeah... Yeah, let's kick her Vaus damn ass," Rufka shouts right as Roberts is walking down from his most recent challenge. He just raises an eyebrow at us as we select our next opponent and very casually run up the stairs at full speed.

Super chill.

We blast through the next few rounds, our opponents barely able to hamper us with the sword and spear combo. When we're fighting the final pair, we spend more time prepping the arena. Several metal traps that we can easily dive through but will require Atun to go around or get beaten up breaking through.

Thwacking the sword-K'tharn over the head with a new metal club, I check my positioning, hoisting my shield up. Rufka takes her opponent down with a roar, riding the spear-K'tharn several meters towards one of our tangles of steel. I tried doing titanium, but it's crazy mana intensive.

"Congratulations, Citizen Pandora and Citizen Ashkaban, on achieving twenty-four consecutive Flawless Victories," Atun calls, keeping one leg on the wall of bone separating us, instead of immediately jumping into the arena.

"This is new, I hate it when she does new stuff," I grumble while hefting my shield.

"Not loving it either," Rufka agrees, her bow held at the ready.

"Three times you have fought my least avatar, and already, you start to improve. I wish you luck, in this fourth... and final, attempt." At the end of her speech, Atun launches herself into the arena. I've already paused time, and shot several thick metal nets in her direction. Smoulder leaps forward, trailing a net of her own, one that's heated to temperatures that mostly negate the net's structure as it crashes into what is apparently Atun's weakest version.

I don't have time to worry about that, diving to the side through the metal tangle as Atun attempts to grab me. Thanks to the nets and the constrictive passage, I manage to get away, slipping into the next tangle before she pulls herself free. Then Rufka hits her from behind. We continue to harass her, neither of us getting too close or too far away. Then I see a fleck of blood go flying. Which is when she cries out, "Attend me!"

When we're drawn forth, I'm already swinging my club. It bounces off, barely staggering Atun's giant frame. But when Smoulder follows up a second later, it's enough to knock Atun to one knee. Then Rufka manages to take a gouge out of her cheek with an arrow.

Not willing to give Atun time to recover, I grab one of the nets that missed her earlier, then Pause, gaining just enough time to throw the net with metal manipulation. Atun jabs a hand out, catching the net and wrapping it around her hand until it looks like a mitten. A solid steel mitten that is speeding towards me. My shield absorbs most of the blow, but crumbles in half, nearly useless.

Even so, I'm feeling pretty good about our chances until I look up and see that Atun's wounds are healing before my eyes.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" I yell as I get caught in the shoulder by her mailed fist before my head slams into one of our tangles.

The next thing I know, I'm waking up from unconsciousness.

Though this time, I'm still in the arena. I only blanked out for a second, though my health is still at zero.

Rufka is still peppering Atun with arrows, and Smoulder is spending more time avoiding Atun's strikes than attacking. Atun is close, no more than five meters from me.

And I have a handy projectile right over my head.

I Pause, accelerating the entire tangle into Atun's back. Despite her fast healing, it doesn't seem like her Health has recovered, and the projectile tears something that was keeping her standing. Once Atun goes down on one knee, Rufka and Smoulder become relentless, striking her over and over.

I'm barely able to stand with the assistance of my club turned oversized walking stick. Rufka practically cackles as Atun collapses forward.

Our moment of triumph is cut short when she bursts into blue dust. I cough on the thick sweet cloud as it swirls back to her throne, reforming into Atun. She laughs, then as we glare up at her she starts clapping which is accompanied by a notification.

"Hidden Objective Complete: Defeat the Least Avatar of Desh Atun before purchasing the final ritual combat. 1/1. Rewards: 10000 Arena Points. Counts as one Arena Achievement for purposes of unique gear and unlocks."

"Really doesn't feel that hidden when she comes in to kick our ass after the fight," I mutter, my eyes still fixed on Desh Atun. Finished with her clapping, she lazily plucks a still-sizzling piece of meat from a tray and pops it into her mouth, with a raised eyebrow in our direction.

"Nope," Rufka agrees. "But I've had enough of her for today. Let's go spend some points. Pretty sure we've got enough for a couple levels."

I throw one last glance at Atun before following Rufka out. She gives me a casual wave before tossing another piece of meat into the air. I don't watch to see if she catches it, already following behind Rufka. We stop once we're down the ramp, and Rufka leans over, hugging against my side.

"We did it," I say, now that we're not in the arena.

"Yep," Rufka agrees into my shoulder.

"I honestly didn't think we'd pull it off."

"Liar."

"Okay. Didn't think we'd get it this early."

"Did too."

"You know I-"

"Yep."

"You don't want to talk about it do you?" I ask, finally turning to Rufka.

"Nope," she replies, tilting her head to the side with a grin. "Let's go spend our points."

"Right," I chuckle, following her as we return to the arena shop. Today was decently productive, especially with the bonus points from defeating Atun. Not enough to buy the truly exorbitant items, but more than enough for the last two Progression Marks I need, plus two integration points. And that's while keeping enough points to unlock our next challenge. Those bonuses from our flawless victories really added up.

Once Rufka's done buying basically the same stuff, we return to the kitchen. While making dinner together, we remain quiet as we each look over our new class unlocks.

Surprisingly, each of my levels gives me two new abilities to choose from. Meaning I'll need even more Progression Marks if I want to buy them all. Since there are still eight points left for purchase, it doesn't seem like a particularly daunting task.

"Eye of the Storm: Grants passive flight speed. Improved defence and maneuverability while flying if channelling at least two elements at once."

I almost drop a spice mix I'm still not sure of the contents of, despite analyzing it, as I’m passing it to Rufka when I read my first ability. Straight up flight. I suspected it was coming, but this is... I should probably read my other options first. That's what I should do. As a responsible adult.

I don't.

Humming happily to myself, I start reading the next ability.

"Anchor: Allows casting an anchor in the tides of time, allowing momentary reruns through local space time. Does not account for outside forces interfering. Can not use best result. Must end the result to resume the flow of time."

This time I do drop what I’m holding, specifically the honey for the glazed yams.

Taking a deep breath, I lean against the counter as I reread the description. Okay. Not actual time travel. I... think? Still, it's... that's still... It's my level nine ability. Sitting down I run my hand through my hair, frowning as my hand gets caught on a knot until I use a short blast of wind to untangle the offending strands.

"Good stuff?" Rufka asks as she picks up the dropped spice mix.

"Uh. Yeah. Yeah, you could definitely say that," I reply. For a second I consider dropping my second point into Anchor. But I was already hasty once.

"Lesser Cataclysm: Area effect ability that rips into every non-linked creature within a 1km diameter OR every linked creature within a 1km radius. Deals Immense spatial damage to all targets."

That doesn't seem as... wait a Facet-enhanced second. Does every creature mean even the bugs? Would that wipe out every living creature in the jungle outside? That's... terrifying. Focusing on it, I'm able to determine that the links the spell is describing are related to my IFF. And it technically includes an upgrade to the IFF that allows me to set specific targets to be targeted by the ability. That's a lot less worrying. And... very powerful. I wonder if it would work through Atun's disruption effect.

...

Nah. That'd be too...

Sigh, that's going on the short list too.

As Rufka sets a plate down in front of me, I read my last ability.

"Seed: Gestates a System Seed."

Huh. Going the opposite direction on this one, I see. Focusing on the description is-

Focusing on the desc-

The room wavers as equations start bombarding me. I feel the faint ding of a System notification, but it's lost in the sea of confusion. Then Wyonna's there.

"What just happened?" Wyonna asks as the numbers go away, my head still aching.

"I... just tried to read one of my class abilities," I explain while rubbing my head.

"Which one?" Wyonna prompts as Rufka's hand lands on my shoulder.

"Seed," I reply, giving Rufka a small smile to let her know I'm okay. Mostly.

[Wyonna] "Sorry. Whatever you just said isn't translating."

I blink slowly, then try sending the name directly.

[Wyonna] "Okay. Well, good news. I saw that you sent that message. Bad news. I still can't read it."

"It's... one word. It's not even an uncommon word. Like, apple seed," I say. But even as I say it... there's something different about the way I was saying the ability's name.

"What are you doing?" Rufka asks me as I say Seed aloud several times in a row.

"Saying my new ability name," I tell her even as I start switching between lower-case, regular seed and upper-case Seed.

"Your ability name is seed?" Rufka asks with a chuckle. "Isn't that your class name?"

"I... uhm, kinda forgot that," I admit. Despite it being at the top of my character sheet, I don't actually look at my class name very often.

Opening my status, I drop twenty Integration points, including the ones I'd been saving, equally into Strength and Constitution. Atun being able to take me down so quick is a reminder that every bit of Health helps. Which is why I also bug Rufka to lend me three mana essence so I can bond the armour upgrade I got from Ineesis. Then I review my status again.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-8 > Iron-10

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 50 > 60

Constitution: 55 > 65

Agility: 100

Endurance: 60

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 110

Resolve: 110

Storage: 8.35 > 8.55 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 4/7

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 20 > 0

Progression Marks: 2 > 0

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 498/498 > 498/535, Edge: [32.7] > [36.2], Regen: (362/day) > (403/day)

Stamina

Pool: 480/503 > 480/529, Edge: [39.2] > [40.5], Regen: (404/day) > (429/day)

Mana

Pool: 699/1141 > 699/1173, Edge: [104.1] > [105.3], Regen: (1076/day) > (1096/day)

Focus

Pool: 812/1144 > 812/1176, Edge: [82.6] > [83.8], Regen: (1049/day) > (1068/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 212/374 > 212/402, Edge: [26.3] > [27.5], Regen: (318/hour) > (334/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 0/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 1/2

Limits of Mortality: 1/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1

Anchor: 0/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1

Seed: 0/1

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 2/3

Reading the Seed in my class name feels almost identical to the way I'm saying Seed now. Except everyone can hear it when I say it as part of my class name. Which prompts me to make a rather erudite remark.

"Weeeeeeird."

"Mhm," Rufka agrees before stealing one of the glazed yams off my plate. Which distracts me for several seconds as I fight to regain my honour. And my yam.

Then I turn my attention back to my abilities. I... well, I don't feel like Seed is critical. At least, not in the short term. At the same time, it does feel significant.

Still, with the current abilities available, I decide to pick up Lesser Cataclysm. Anchor feels more useful in the long term, especially in social situations, but I intend to buy it tomorrow, once I have enough points. And the same for Seed.

But that can wait for after I get my hands on Rufka for stealing my last piece of glazed yam!

4.32, Thirty-Six Days and Nights

6:03 am, local time. (August 2, 2023, 1:03 pm.) The morning after tickling Rufka into submission after she ate my last glazed yam.

After a not-so-productive, but definitely enjoyable night, Rufka and I are on our way back to the challenges when I get a notification I was half-expecting, but had kind of lost track of.

"Quest Completed: Survival. Requirements: Survive for 36 days. Calculating Rewards."

I stop in the middle of my explanation about the difference between an animated character and CGI, a topic prompted by Josh and Rose's argument about the best Disney princess during breakfast.

Elsa, obviously, though I didn’t bother correcting them.

"We completed our Survival Quest," I inform Rufka.

Her ears perk up as she takes me by the elbow and guides me to one of the stone benches in the challenge room.

"Rewards calculated. Base rewards: "Quest unlocked: More than One; System Features Unlocked: Subclasses, Class Advancement."

Knew those were coming, but it's still nice to see. Now, there should be some bonus-

My eyes trail down the long list of bonus rewards. Most are subclass unlocks, such as Explorer. Or mechanic, engineer or clockmaker.

I've also earned sufficient contributions to unlock the first two stages of the More than One quest. The prompt floating there asking if I'd like to begin gestating a child is more than a little surreal. At least I know that when I close it, the option will remain available in my Quest menu.

A thought that feels a little too heavy.

So I continue looking through the subclasses. Teacher, Tel'thoni, Instructor. Similar, but all different subclasses. For a second, I wonder if Tipan swapped her subclass out while we were teaching the others in Elementalist's peak.

Probably not.

Part of me is offended that there are no cooking subclasses available. I know they exist. Rufka has at least three unlocked.

Cooking isn't the only missing subclass. For some reason, despite my study of Rufka's enchanting, and my general knowledge of runework, I don't have any enchanting subclasses unlocked.

At the bottom of the list of bonus rewards are an upgrade of two cubic meters to my spatial storage, a coupon for one free meal at Raz's I’m totally going to abuse and a pair of socks. A special pair of socks.

Going to the park, I claim the socks.

"Sab's Favourite Socks. A perfect replica of the socks Forerunner Pandora borrowed from her friend after a sudden winter shower left her feet soaked. Now both friends can wear the same socks, depriving neither of their comfort."

"Bonuses once bonded: Warm and Cozy: Improves Health Edge by 1.0 and Stamina Edge by 3.0 while equipped. Nostalgic: Improves Mana and Focus edge by 2.0 while equipped."

"Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: two Iron-rank integration points."

I hold the black socks with their little tuft of black fluff at the top, a smile fixed on my face even as tears bead in the corner of my eyes.

Rufka's hand on mine draws my eyes towards her. "These are Sab's socks. She lent them to me before we were whisked away. Not even a month before our unannounced departure. Sab and I’d been wandering around, looking for apartments together. Cause we knew we'd need to find a place soon. We were looking at this horrible old place that looked like it might topple over if the wind blew too hard."

"But they had cheap rooms, so Sab and I were there to check it out. She didn't need to; did I ever mention that?"

"Mhm," Rufka answers as Smoulder climbs into my lap.

"Anyway, when Sab and I go inside it's still a bright and sunny day. When we come out, sudden downpour. So, we made our way back to Sab's. Right outside, I get distracted by this truck driving by. Semi-truck, you know, the big vehicles like non-flying airships."

"I remember."

"Right. Well, I stepped away, lost my footing and stumbled back into this puddle that was the size of a lake," I say, stretching my arms out to my side.

Rufka arches her eyebrows at my exaggeration but doesn't comment as I continue. "So, what does Sab do? She hauls me out of the puddle, getting herself soaked in the process, then takes me up to her place, and immediately sends me into the shower. By the time I came out, she had a change of clothes laid out for me. Sent me home with my wet clothes in a bag, telling me I could keep everything I was wearing. Including these socks."

"She never told me they were her favourites," I mumble at the end, running my hand over the sock.

"You are lucky to have such a good friend," Rufka states.

"Yeah. Yeah, I always knew it too. Told her I didn't deserve her."

"On that, I disagree," Rufka says, pulling away and turning me to face her, tenderly brushing the tears away from my eyes. "You were her friend. There is no deserving when it comes to friendship."

I give Rufka a small half-smile, then pull her towards me into a hug. Smoulder's warmth soon joins us and I take a deep breath.

"Okay. We should... we should get back to it. I've got new gear, and a subclass to equip and-"

Rufka holds a single finger to my lips, not releasing me from the hug. "I think we can afford to wait a few minutes more."

Nodding, I hold the sock in my hand as my heart reaches out for my missing friend.

For a second, I can almost see her face.

After I've recovered, and bonded the socks, which are just as comfy as I remember, Rufka and I begin the challenges for the day.

On our very first round, I tag Atun with my new ability. Which sends IFF into a weird fit for a second as it registers her location in six different places at once until resetting to only the one in front of us. Even as I was setting IFF in place, Rufka was distracting our opponents. And by distracting, I mean knocking the first one out of the fight while peppering the one carrying a three handed shield with arrows.

While they're still focused on Rufka, Smoulder decides to stretch her legs and knock them out of the fight. And the arena. Discovering that Smoulder has also been getting all the arena rewards for all this was... kinda shocking. Not as shocking as the fact that Rose has access to two shops though. Apparently, he counts as a pet as well as a properly integrated user since the update.

Shaking my head, I watch as the body disperses into blue mana, floating up to Atun. She gives us a wink as the mana slips beneath her skin, calling out our victory and laughing. Then it's onto the next round. When we finish our string of flawless victories, Atun leaps down into the arena. Before she has a chance to use her ability to draw me closer, I open with Lesser Cataclysm.

It drains all my Facet, as the entire arena seems to flicker for a second, cracks spreading out like shattered glass. The cracks are the worst around Atun's avatar, shattering her to pieces.

When reality reasserts itself, Atun is back on her throne... and her corpse is still lying defeated on the arena floor. We get the quest victory notification, much like the last one but Atun isn't smiling or laughing as she leans forward on her throne, staring at me.

I can't help myself as I smirk and give her a little wave.

After the amount she's been cracking my head against the stone? It feels good to one shot her.

"Not sure what happened, but we won, right?" Rufka asks as she steps up beside me.

"Oh yeah," I reply, still grinning at Atun.

"Cool. Let's hit the shop. And it's my turn next!" Rufka says, leading me out under Atun's watchful eye. As we step out of the arena, we get a new update.

"Bonus quest. Defeat Desh Atun's remaining avatars without using the Ability Lesser Cataclysm. Rewards: 10,000,000 Arena Points. 1 Armour Upgrade. 1 Personalized Armour."

"Guess she didn't like you smashing her that hard," Rufka says as I stare at the rewards for a second before dismissing the message.

"Guess not. Worth fighting her without it, you think?"

Rufka just looks at me, blinking all four of her eyes for several seconds before grinning. "Of course, it's worth it. How boring would it be if you one shot her every fight?"

I chuckle as we make our way to the shop, both of us picking up another two of the Progression Marks. Smoulder spends all her points on Integration points, and when I check her Status, I notice she's maxed out her physical attributes already and is bringing her mental up as well. I pick up Anchor immediately and given the strength of the rest of my Abilities, I decide to purchase Seed as well.

Testing Anchor, I use it then start teasing Rufka by asking her questions, then repeating the question only to answer it for her. With the minimum Facet, I'm able to loop three times before I become 'unanchored', each attempt lasting a maximum of thirteen and a half seconds.

More than enough to be useful, though I notice it creates a kind of field that limits the effect to the shop when I use it. Further tests confirm that it has a rather small range. Which I can increase if I pump Facet into it, but it gets expensive fast. It also feels like a stronger version of my Pause, since it seems to freeze time outside the anchored zone while I run the loops. My time-sense assures me time is still passing, just at a very low rate.

Even better, I can activate it when I already have time Paused, though it ends the regular Pause the moment I do so. Still, it means I can have three attempts to do things after a full Pause. At least, when not dealing with Atun's weird field. Unfortunately, it also has a cooldown equal to however long I spend in all three loops.

Satisfied with Anchor, I attempt to activate Seed and... nothing happens, other than getting a sensation in my gut that I did, in fact, activate it.

"Weird," I mumble as Rufka flexes her bow several times.

"Did you grab that seed ability?" Rufka asks as a bolt of blinding energy forms on her bow.

"I... yeah. Is that plasma?" I ask, the energy like something out of the YouTube videos Sab would make me watch. It's a lot more impressive when it's right in front of you. And not held in place by anything but my thiani's hands.

"Think so. It's Arcane Bolt," Rufka replies, sucking the energy out of existence instead of firing. "Creating it takes half my Blitz. Firing it would take the rest."

"You know what that sounds like?"

"What?"

"A good excuse to make breakfast. I'm out of Facet anyway," I add after a second. Then I start heading for the kitchen as I consider my abilities.

Anchor is going to be useful, though the fact I can't keep any of the loops does limit it somewhat. And Lesser Cataclysm... It honestly feels more powerful than anything I've ever heard about. And I want to test it outside the dungeon and whatever the weird dungeon space is that we're inside when we're in the arena.

Once Rufka and I finish breakfast, we tackle our next set of opponents. Then face Atun without my Lesser Cataclysm. Despite Rufka's new arrow working through Atun's field, we lose, though it takes her several minutes to pin me down. The next round is similar, though I get defeated much quicker. After, Rufka claims she almost had her.

On our third attempt, we make the arena almost completely impassable, cluttered with solid chunks of metal anchored to each of the tiered platforms that felt more like flavour than significant battlefield hindrances until we made our changes. Our opponents are still alive, trapped in a forest of reflective surfaces too blunt for them to easily kill themselves until we're ready. With passages through most of the arena that will only allow Atun through if she hunches, Rufka and I finish the final combatants. Atun laughs as she leaps forward, the metal structure shaking as she lands. But it holds.

Then there's a flurry of action as Atun charges through a passage to get to me. Anchor lets me see three different versions of how she's coming at me and gives me a solid chance to avoid her.

I follow the guidance of my best course of action, taking a half-step backwards as a now-us sized Atun roars up the tunnel. Should've known that a little thing like battlefield preparation wouldn't stop her. I fire off another Anchor, thankful that it doesn't seem to be affected by Atun's disruption effect. None of my three attempts to dodge her succeed, so I decide to punch her instead. To my surprise, my punch lands, and even knocks her back.

"She's not as heavy," I call even as I dive out of the way of an incoming Smoulder. Smoulder's impact throws Atun into the nearby post, causing it to bend under the impact.

A bright pulse hits Atun before she can recover, exploding and sending me flying. I can vaguely make out loud noises as I'm tossed around through our metal cage. When I come to a rest, I realize something's broken. Probably a lot of somethings. And my eyes have bright spots that are nearly impossible to see through.

I notice something furry come up along the edge of my vision even as we get a victory notification for defeating Atun. Then I'm hoisted up by soft arms. When I'm carried across the portal threshold, my injuries vanish and I feel completely fine. Not that I don't milk being in Rufka's arms until she reaches a bench and sits down.

"That... was terrifying," Rufka says, stroking my hair.

"Hmm," I reply, leaning my head into her hand.

"Didn't expect it to be so.... explosive."

"Contained area. Nowhere for the concussive force to go except through us," I say before stopping myself. "At least, I think that's what happened. I don't really remember it that well."

"Sorry."

"No problem. Much better than when I nearly burned you in my sleep," I say, kissing Rufka's cheek.

"I don't deserve you," Rufka replies, making me blush for a second.

Then my eyes narrow. "You said that doesn't apply."

"As Roberts is fond of saying, all's fair in love and cuddling," Rufka replies as Smoulder nods sagely from her shoulder. Pretty sure the little traitor doesn't even understand what Rufka's saying.

"That's not... it's love and war," I complain, though not with any great amount of effort.

"Are you sure?" Rufka asks, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

"I... This feels like an argument that it would be foolish to win," I admit as Rufka steers me towards the kitchen for lunch.

"Good," Rufka says with a serious nod. Then as we reach the kitchen she adds, "Also, I totally deserve you. I'm just that awesome."

My retort is lost as she silences me in that, oh so effective, way that lovers do.

And I can't help but agree. She really is.

4.33, Grinding Atun

1:01 pm, local time. (August 2, 2023, 8:01 pm.)

With lunch... and other things... out of the way, Rufka and I return to the challenges. This time when we get to the final fight, despite having completely rearranged the arena again, Atun ignores our efforts by using her ability to suck things closer to turn it all into a metal ball.

Which she uses to bash us to pulp.

Then we fight her with only a few small preparations and manage to take her out with a lucky arrow from Rufka when Atun is focusing on finishing me off. For some reason, she prefers to go for me first.

This time, Rufka is ready for her.

Unfortunately, it leads to me being nearly blind. On the plus side, nearly blind means Rufka carries me out in her arms, so that’s nice.

The next fight, Atun doesn't leap down to challenge us. She just watches us from her throne, smiling the whole time. Which prompts Smoulder to attempt to break through again. She doesn't get any further than the first time, though she does get a smile out of Atun.

After letting Smoulder smack into the barrier for half an hour, we continue to the next challenge. Again, Atun doesn't descend to fight us.

Worried that she's getting ready for something, Rufka and I take a break, going to spend our points. At this point, I have enough saved up to buy another forty-two integration points. But I only buy thirty-five, to get my numbers even. It's enough to bring my Strength and Constitution to eighty each. When I test my new strength by lifting Rufka off the ground with one arm around her waist, she laughs before smacking me and telling me let her go.

When we head into our next set of challenges, the difference is immediately noticeable. Atun is no longer leaning back in her throne. Instead, she's kneeling at the front of her booth, her eyes fixed on us as we ascend.

I analyze her again, and her status doesn't seem to have changed. No new abilities. But the way she watches us as we fight is a little unsettling. When the K'tharn who was wielding some sort of club with fancy metal ridges on the end swirls into dust, Atun doesn't declare a flawless victory. Which makes Rufka and I check our status. But there's nothing there.

When I glance up at Atun, her smile widens as she makes a shooing gesture with one hand.

Several rounds later, I hold down the club wielder while we stare up at Atun.

We don't have any tricks left. And I've run through Anchor twice, killing the K'tharn underfoot. And each time, Atun is able to get a serious hit on me before Rufka or Smoulder can retaliate.

I need to take the hit, but keep the effect as light as possible. Which is when I realize I haven't been using my new ability to fly. Maybe I'm not out of tricks. If it's like Anchor, and not affected by her disruption effect then... well, at least I might not get one-shot.

Waiting the extra time for my next Anchor to be ready, I let it run through. And two out of three attempts, I'm able to get away. Kinda wish I'd practiced with the ability first, but trial by fire I suppose.

"Hey Rufka," I call, smiling up at Atun.

"Yeah Lex?" she replies, picking up on my hand signal.

"You haven't forgotten about any of your new abilities, have you?" I ask, even as I finish off the fancy club bearer underfoot.

Atun is in the air before Rufka can reply, leaping toward me with one of her massive blades in hand. I swirl up and to the right as I pull on the strange 'muscle' that is my new flight ability. The edge of Atun's blade whistling through the air behind me is close enough to knock a single point off my health and send me spinning.

But Smoulder manages to catch her, setting up the combo for Rufka's arrow to strike. When I reorient, Atun is still standing, though her blade is partially slagged.

Before I can take the scene in, Atun shouts, "Attend me!"

This time, I can't escape in time, and Rufka and I wake up in the chamber outside.

"So, forgot you could fly, huh?" Rufka asks from her own slab.

"Yep," I answer, not getting up from my slab.

"Me too," she chuckles. "Wanna go practice?"

This time, I don't answer, rolling off the slab and walking backwards towards the park before drifting up slightly. "You coming?"

She doesn't bother standing, letting herself be pulled towards me by her flight effect. Which leaves her hair falling into her eyes causing her to nearly crash into the doorway.

It’s only once we begin practicing in the park, I finally stop laughing.

The next fight against Atun ends quickly. Now that we can't one-shot her with Rufka's ability, we're relying on flight even more. But Atun's ability to draw us in, combined with her disruption, is... tricky.

We sit at the table with the others and discover that we're the only ones who've had success with Atun after the least version. Though Roberts doesn't count, since he hasn't fought her at all yet.

"She's too fast," Josh notes, shaking his head. "If she wasn't able to smash through my Brambleback walls so easily, I might last more than a dozen hits."

I choke on my burrito as I hear that.

"A dozen hits?" Rufka asks, leaning forward. "You can take a dozen hits?"

"Man's good at taking a beating," Beth says with a completely straight face as she takes another bite of her own burrito.

While Josh goes red, we continue talking about Atun. And discussing what's worked for Rufka and I. Tipan reveals that as long as she gets Flawless victories on any of the first four challenges she tried, she can fight against the weak version of Atun again. Which prompts me to record which of the groups of K'tharn Rufka and I have unlocked Atun with.

Our comparison reveals that Atun isn't as powerful when only one person is fighting her. And even Josh and Rose, who've been doing most of their challenges together, don't seem to be fighting an Atun as strong as ours.

Whether that's because of Smoulder or something else, we can’t determine. And I don't intend to fight Atun solo.

At least, not yet.

As an experiment, Rufka and I go back and challenge the first set of K'tharn that triggered our fight against Atun. And just like Tipan said, she's back to her slower and weaker version. She also gives way less points than the first time we fought her. On the other hand, we only had to go through a single set of K'tharn to trigger her.

So we spend the day fighting her without using Rufka's plasma arrow, until we can reliably defeat her weakest form. I even gain two ranks in a new skill, Melee Weapons. Then we move on to her next form, until we can defeat her without turning the arena into a tripping ground. By that point, we collapse into bed, too tired to hold hands.

The next day is similar, with Rufka and I taking a break to train hand to hand skills with Beth. And then staff combat skills with Tipan. Kellica teaches me the basics of using bladed gauntlets.

I hate it.

It's so much worse than magic. But it turns out to be far more effective against Atun, when used in combination with our abilities. I choose to focus on the staff, since it feels the most natural and I already have my Elementalist staff. Not that I use it, considering how much more control I can get out of a metal one.

The extra range of a quarter staff is nice too.

Throughout our training, Atun no longer calls out the beginning or end of each match, instead watching us with a small smile. A smile that morphs into a ferocious grin when she's able to leap into the arena.

It takes us two more days before we feel ready to challenge Atun properly again. When we walk into the arena, she steps up, calling, "Our contenders return! After days of grueling training, they feel fit to test themselves once more. May the mersa, begin!"

After we handily defeat the pair of K'tharn, Atun roars out our citizen names, and the crowd joins her. Even knowing they're all simple facsimiles, a blush crawls up my cheeks as we leave the arena.

"Now she's using psychological warfare. Not fair," I say, leaning against the wall.

Rufka leans against the wall across the way from me while Smoulder pokes her head out of her pocket with a yawn. "By cheering our names?"

"I... yeah?" I shrug while pushing away from the wall. "Not used to fighting so much."

"Hmm. We could take a break. Play Astra's Stride," Rufka suggests, which gets a chuckle from me.

"Nah. We got this," I reply, shaking my head. And we do, though we slow down a touch, spending more time talking between each match.

We take an extra few minutes before the final match talking about our plan. When we march into the ring, Rufka already has her bow drawn, and I whip shards of molten metal across before our opponents have even started moving. By the time we step fully into the arena, they're already collapsing into blue dust.

This earns us a mighty laugh from Atun as she dives forwards into the ring. When she attacks, I'm able to hold off her attacks with my modified quarterstaff while dodging with flight.

At the same time, Smoulder is able to smash into her repeatedly, warming the arena while Rufka circles around, chipping away at her Health. When Atun cries, "Attend me!" it hardly breaks our flow, repeated practice allowing us to adjust to the drastic location change easily.

The edge of Atun's blade is sliding along the edge of my staff when Rufka's plasma bolt strikes her, causing her to collapse.

With a sigh, we back up, Atun returning to her ledge.

She bows to us, leading the crowd to follow suit as we get a notification with our latest rewards. Then I get another ghost message as Atun rises on her throne.

"Zone Hidden Quest requir-"

"Arena Hidden requirement override. Dungeon Administrator privileges: User: Atun."

Before I'm done reading, Atun silences the crowd. "The contenders have proven worthy. Let them participate in Desh'mersa!"

As the crowd roars, loud enough I swear the others must be able to hear them in their own arenas, I trade a glance with Rufka.

Now this, her mum definitely didn't mention.

4.34, Desh'mersa

11:25 am, local time. (August 7, 2023, 6:25 pm.)

The exit doesn't open as Atun waits for the crowd to quiet. "Are there any here who would stand with these brave warriors, that they may compete?"

Even as she speaks, every one of the K'tharn we've defeated jumps forward, out of the crowd. Despite her words, for a second I expect them to attack us. Then I realize we're being given the opportunity to pick our teammates.

We can use non-user teammates.

Rufka and I glance at each other, then we point to the K'tharn with the claw and shield combination. She was tough enough to tank a plasma bolt, and almost fast enough to hit us. More importantly, if this is anything like the Desh’mersa we watched with Tipan, we're going to need a grunter. Someone who can actually survive taking a solid hit.

The soldier steps forward, Atun clapping behind her. The others remain standing there. So Rufka and I talk for a bit, then settle on another who was annoying to track down, usually requiring three arrows or spells to defeat.

There's not a lot to work with, really.

Again, Atun claps her hands. This time, all the others step back, collapsing back into blue dust as a prompt appears.

"Select K'tharn Bulwark and K'tharn Runner as your third and fourth team members? Unanimous vote is required."

I confirm with Rufka that we want the bulwark and we both vote yes.

"Congratulations on forming team Mud-dollops. Please note, to earn the right to change your team’s name, you must survive a full season of Desh'mersa."

After that notification is a long list of the rules. It's not quite the same as the game Tipan took us to. For one thing, lethal combat is expected. Though there's a penalty for the opposing team if the person who dies isn't holding the Theet. Which is the name of the fancy frisbee from Tipan's original explanation. Another change is that it prohibits flying. And all magic except shields. The shields are a surprise, but I suppose even here, the game's been adjusted from what it used to be.

I also note the literal pages of rules for substituting new team members. Most seem to be flavor text, describing how their families will be contacted once they die. Amidst that, I come across a passage stating pets can't participate. Now I'm sure these are System modified rules, since I doubt anyone would've tried to play with a pet before integration.

As I scan over the rules, Atun speaks again. "As is customary, the Mud-dollops shall have an entire day before their inauguration. May they make peace with their gods."

Once she's finished, the exit opens and the crowd starts to fade. Rufka and I exit the arena, not speaking until we're back at the pedestal. Hovering above the pedestal is a new display, showing a list of team names.

I can't help but note that Mud-dollops is far from the worst. I think that honour might go to Zanbia dung. Above the list of team names is a counter with just over twenty-four hours. The display below it remains the same, though Atun's features in the middle are almost filled out. Only the outside of her head remains blank.

"So... Tipan's gonna love this," I say, looking up at the team names and noticing that they're all slated to resolve tomorrow.

"She's going to need to unlock it herself," Rufka points out.

"Mhm. You think that's gonna stop her?"

"Course not. Little sky-rat's better than that," Rufka laughs. "She'll probably have it unlocked by the end of the day."

"She is getting pretty close, isn't she?"

"Mhm. This'll be the last push she needs. Speaking of last though," Rufka looks at the remaining set of challenges. "Do we want to try Atun's next difficulty?"

"I... lunch first? But then? Hell yeah."

"Good. Smoulder would never let me hear the end of it if we gave up now," Rufka says, looking at where Smoulder is sitting on my shoulder.

Smoulder nods slowly, though I can tell through the bond that she's confused and is just mirroring Rufka. Even so, Rufka’s probably right, even if Smoulder doesn't understand.

After a quick lunch of tangy chicken, we enter the next stage. Atun doesn't challenge us after the fight. Nor the one after. Even as we complete the final set of K'tharn challengers, she simply sits atop her throne watching us with her ever present smile. As the exit opens, she waves us off.

"That... was a little disappointing," Rufka says as we leave the arena.

"Little bit," I agree. "But... we've finished every challenge we can. You know what that means?"

"Yep. 'hardcore mode' time," Rufka says, using the English word as she runs her hand across the console, punching in one of the more challenging sets of opponents. "No magic, solo. I think it was your turn."

"You've been talking to Josh and Rose about video games too much," I say, shaking my head. "I was thinking cuddles."

"Uhhhh. Tempting," Rufka admits before shaking her head. "But no. We can cuddle on Smoulder's turns."

"Fine," I reply, spinning my staff once in a way that Tipan instructed me I absolutely was not to do in combat.

No matter how cool it is.

Thus decided, Rufka and I spend the rest of the day practicing while grinding more points. At the end of the day, I'm able to purchase enough points to cap my Strength and Constitution at 90 each, and Endurance at 100. I could afford to bring my Perception and Resolve to 125, but I hesitate as I look over my class abilities.

I'm tempted to pick up the Elemental Chakrams I unlocked when I first levelled my class. As a class ability, there's a good chance they'd work inside Atun's disruption field. And we've confirmed she still comes into combat as long as we fight against one of the sets of challengers that originally triggered her.

Deciding it'd be best to start training with a new weapon sooner as opposed to later, I buy a Progression Mark and save the rest of my Arena points as we head to the park.

Taking the full ten minutes the ability requires, I summon the Chakram, my attention focused as the ability guides my efforts to create a more stable form of condensed mana. The only thing I’ve seen that’s similar are the mana ingots.

An inspection with Facet gives me ideas about how I might be able to reinforce other constructs too. But it's a slow process without the System providing its assistance.

Then I stand up, Chakram in hand.

I can't stop the smile as I give it a practice swing. It feels more right than any of the weapons the others have tried to teach me. And after several swings, I can feel my Melee Weapons skill giving me feedback about what I'm doing wrong. A sort of shadow Lexi that tugs at my movements. Something it wasn't doing with any of the other weapons.

When I look closer at the form, it seems to be more of an image of a taller amazonian warrior princess. Does having proficiency make me more like Xena? And does that mean I'll be even better with more points? Or does it just give better guidance?

"Oh. You never mentioned you had a class weapon," Rufka says, staring at the solidified fire I hold in my hand.

"I... uh, kinda forgot about it," I admit as I shift into a blocking stance Melee Weapon Xena is whispering to me. "You know I prefer my spells."

"Sure," Rufka agrees, squeezing my shoulder. "What do you say we practice a bit?"

"Uh. One second," I reply, running back to the shop to buy another Progression Mark, upgrading to the second rank of Chakram as soon as I return to the park.

Rufka and Smoulder are already flying around on the far side, away from the entrance. While they dance and dodge, I start following the guidance of my Melee Weapon skill. Even as I work, the skill goes up, feeding back into my steps. After an hour, I already feel more comfortable with the Chakram than I am with my staff.

Then I throw it for the first time.

As the flaming ring soars across the park, I can still feel the connection. There's guidance from my Throwing skill, similar to when using it as a melee weapon. And what the description fails to mention is my ability to control it in flight, even outside of my normal aura.

Further testing reveals that it being out of sight greatly degrades my control, but I can re-establish it the second it comes back into view. After several minutes of flying my chakram around like a drone, I bring it back. At this point, Smoulder and Rufka are done for the night. I'm tempted to keep playing, but cede to their desire for dinner.

The night goes by in usual fashion, though with the highlight of Tipan proving Rufka right, defeating Atun and unlocking Desh'mersa shortly after we tell her about it.

Most of the evening is spent listening to Tipan gush about having a dungeon where she gets to play. She's even able to join our team, replacing the non-user runner. Kellica also manages to solo Atun, though she didn't care about unlocking Desh'mersa. It helps that her metal armor blocks most of Atun's damage.

Only after we're talking about the newly unlocked Desh'mersa does she reveal that she's been fighting the harder version of Atun. But as soon as we unlocked the game, the harder version was locked to her. To say she's excited when we ask her to join our team is understating the amount of damage she does to the kitchen.

While they're not as excited as Tipan or as dominating as Kellica, the others manage to complete the challenge as a four-person party. Roberts still hasn't faced Atun in single combat and he just chuckles when asked about it. They get the dubious honour of receiving the team-name paw-sludge.

I'm unable to keep a straight face when I try to tell Josh it could be worse.

Of course, this means we're all waiting in the challenge room the next day, chatting as we wait for the timer to count down. The second it does, we get a new quest.

"Quest received: Complete a full Desh'mersa tournament as the victors. Rewards: First place: 1,000,000 Arena Points. Second place: 500,000 Arena points. Third: 100,000 Arena Points. Unlocks: Desh Atun combat."

There's a moment of silence as the team names reshuffle before flashing into place in pairs. Of course, we're listed at the top of the board. And our first opponents?

Paw-sludge.

"Oh. We are so going to kick your ass," Josh says as their team slots into place next to ours.

"You're just saying that cause I can't use magic," I grouse, glaring at him.

"Yep," he agrees, crossing his arms as he grins down at me, his stupid curls flopping down.

"This'll be a good training opportunity people," Beth says. "We've been getting sloppy on teamwork lately."

Josh and I both turn towards her and she smiles back as she adds, "Plus, we're totally going to kick your ass, kid."

"Oh, it's on," I reply, grabbing Rufka by the elbow and inclining my head towards the kitchen where we can make battle plans in private. Which we immediately defer to Tipan, though Kellica has a few ideas of her own.

We enter the arena across from the others a few minutes later, before the forfeit timer can count down. I'm positioned as our goalie, and while most magic is against the rules, a blanket statement that prohibits everything except shields, this is the one position where my proficiency will give us an edge.

Of course, Roberts is guarding their goal as well.

Just glad he doesn't get to use his special barriers.

The game starts quick, and it's not long before I have to get my hands dirty, grabbing the Theet. Before Josh can smash into me at mach-9, I toss it to Kellica who takes it on the counter offensive. I quickly lose track of the number of times it crosses the arena before it comes back, launched at me by Beth. When I go to grab it, it curves at the last second, bouncing off my hand and giving them the first goal.

I stare at where the frisbee like object floats inside the net for several seconds before pulling it free and watching it reform in the centre.

It's the last goal either team scores for the rest of the game.

There's lots of cheers from Beth's side after, while our team moves directly onto the next match. Thankfully it's not an elimination tournament. Instead, we're granted points for each victory, and we're going up against every other team twice. Which means we'll have a rematch eventually.

Our first matches with the non-user teams are surprisingly brutal, their attributes letting them mostly keep up with us in a way they couldn’t in regular combat. Doesn't keep us from winning three games in a row, until we're matched against Zanbia-dung. The match seems to be going well until one of them kills me with the Theet.

It's so sudden, it's not until I'm reforming on the slab outside that I even realize what happened. Staring up at the ceiling, I play back the sequence in my head. Kellica was blocking two of their team. Rufka was still near their goalie after a failed shot. Tipan had a solid grip on the Theet. Or so I thought when I flicked my attention back to the two Kellica was wrestling with. Next thing I knew, I had taken a Theet to the forehead several times.

Embarrassing.

Thankfully, the screen updates with a victory a short time later and I see my friends come out.

"Guess you guys didn't even need me," I say as Rufka hops over the pedestal to get to me.

"Rufka kinda unloaded on them after you went down. I forgot that this version allows you to..." Tipan waves her hand in my direction even as Rufka plops down beside me.

"I'm sorry I failed, Tel'thoni," Kellica says, nodding in my direction.

"Uh. You didn't? I'm the one that let myself get brained," I reply, waving off Kellica's concern.

"But it was my duty to keep them away from you."

"Not like you have your armor," Rufka says from beside me. "Sides, Lexi is right. She needs to be more careful."

"Thanks. I think," I say as Rufka gives me a kiss on the cheek before pulling me to my feet.

"You're welcome. Now, come on. We can't let this slow us down. We're already a game behind," Rufka says, waving at the projection.

I nod, then follow her inside. The rest of our games go much better now that I take our opponents more seriously. It also helps that we know we can beat them with the Theet to take them out of the game without penalty. I feel like that's a flaw in the rules, but don't question it.

Our very last match is against our friends. After another round of trash talk, we return to the arena. Unlike with the non-players, none of us feel comfortable taking the others down with the Theet. Until Beth almost takes Rufka's head off with it.

That's when things get... messy. I'm not able to track half of the fight as the others smash into each other, but I find myself yelling at them to focus on the game. At some point, we score a goal, and when the game ends, we get our victory.

But when everyone else exits the arena, only Roberts and I are on speaking terms with our opposing teams. Instead of leaving, I turn my gaze towards Atun, who has remained silent throughout these matches.

She meets my eyes and smiles back.

4.35, Round One, Fight?

5:52 pm, local time. (August 8, 2023, 12:52 am.)

That empty moment after you see your friends snarling at each others’ throats.

As I walk out of the arena, I find Beth, Josh and Rose talking in hushed tones on the far side of the room, casting glances at where Tipan, Rufka and Kellica are gathered. Despite not taking part, Smoulder is sitting with them, confusion radiating through her bond as she nudges Rufka's shoulder. Roberts is standing to my side, frowning at everyone with his hands clenched into balls instead of his usual steepling.

After looking over everyone, my eyes drift up towards the floating text. It wants us to play a tie-breaking match.

When I look down to the two groups of people, both filled with people I care about, I shake my head.

"No."

"What was that, Alexis?" Roberts asks, turning towards me. His question is soft but solid. Loud enough to carry to the rest of the room. The mumbling stops as everyone looks in our direction.

"No. This isn't... this can't..." I take a deep breath before Pausing. I've been growing used to not needing to Pause at every little thing. But this, this needs calm. I can't see my friends get torn apart just because of... a game. And... as I take in their frozen countenances, I know I don't have to. I could walk away. Let my team use one of the NPC replacements.

But I won't. Because that's just like... it's like how I ran away from what I did to papa. We don't even need to be like this. We could be letting one of our teams win. And we're not because... pride?

Or because... because we've been fighting non-stop for days. And winning. All of us.

After several more seconds of considering how to approach the problem, my pause ends. I still remain quiet for another couple seconds, everyone's eyes locked on me. Then I look at Beth, locking my gaze with hers. Then Rufka. Then every one of them for a solid second.

"Okay," I say, letting the word sit there for five seconds. "Okay, that was... bad."

"Bad, she just about took Rufka's-" Kellica starts, jumping to her feet.

I hold up a hand and to my amazement, she goes quiet. Not dwelling on my surprise, I continue. "I think we all got carried away."

Roberts arches his eyebrow, but thankfully, he remains silent as I continue. "There was no reason to even contest it that hard. It was a game. And... I think it was a game that was set up to create this division."

At this, I notice Beth and Rufka frown immediately, though the others just seem confused.

"Roberts. Did one of the players attack you with the Theet at any point? Maybe knock you out of the match?" I ask, crossing streams of mana behind my back instead of fingers.

"They did. It was decidedly unpleasant."

"And it was early on? And realizing you could use the Theet as a weapon made the rest of the matches easier?"

"Indeed," Roberts agrees, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Beth says as she sits down on the bench, hard, her head in her hands. "Fucking again."

My growing sense of relief collapses at her reaction.

"Oh. Wow," Rufka says on the other side. "Wow. I really..." Then she turns towards the others. "I apologize. Never was much of one for team sports. Guess this proves I should probably avoid them."

"We... should've known better too," Josh says, sharing a glance with Rose who nods back.

Most of the others apologize, going so far as to move forward and clasp hands or give hugs, though Beth remains on the bench with her head in her hands.

I glance desperately at Roberts, hoping he'll be able to help, but he gives me a sad little shrug as he places a hand on my shoulder, "I'd only make it worse. Best you talk to her. In private."

Nodding, I sit down next to Beth. I could try to lead her away, but it's honestly easier to create a private space around us. Roberts subtly guides the group to the far side of the room as I erect a stone chamber, only including Beth and myself.

"So," I draw out the word as I sit down next to her. "Wanna talk about it?"

There's a small snort as Beth looks up from her hands. Then another as she notices the stone enclosure. "Wow, kid. You worried I'm gonna hurt them for real?"

"Uh... I wasn't, no," I reply, looking around at the stone walls. Pretty sure they wouldn't be enough to stop her, but that doesn't feel like the right thing to say. "Just thought you might like a little privacy."

"Oh," Beth gives me a half-smile that crumbles almost immediately. "This..." Beth waves her hand at the wall of stone, roughly in the direction of our party. "This whole group thing. I told Wyonna I wasn't good at leading groups on extended missions. Solo operative."

"But... I have memories of you leading people before," I reply.

"Yeah. Didn't end well. Never ends well. Pull shit like I did today. Too easy to get lost in the moment once blood starts flying," Beth sighs as she looks up at the stone figurine of Smoulder etched in one corner. A ghost of a smile flits across her face before she turns back to me. "There's a reason I've been pushing you to take the reins, kid. Out of all of us, you're the most level-headed."

I blink at her, crossing my arms as I respond with a single name, "Tipan."

"I... okay, out of us going back to earth," Beth chuckles. "Kid does have a good head on her shoulders."

"Roberts is-"

"You know he won't. He'll give advice. Or argue till he's blue in the face. But he won't lead. Not if he doesn't have to. I'm not the only one with a past," Beth says, staring at the back of her hands as she slowly flexes them. "Ever tell you about the first time I saw him?"

"Uh, no."

"He was out shopping with his daughter and grandson. Cute kid. Polite too. Roberts was pushing him around in a wheelchair. And that was how I knew we had him. Cared too much about the boy not to accept a chance to save him."

"Ethan, right?"

"Yeah. How fucked up is it that I didn't care that he might not ever see his grandpa again?"

"Do you now?" I ask instead of replying.

Beth laughs, but it's short with a small choking sound at the end. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. Getting him back to that kid is... it's more important than making it back myself."

"You know... we don't have to play her game," I say, gesturing in the direction of the arena we came out of.

"We do if we don't want to be stuck farming points for weeks," Beth spits to the side.

"I... okay, yes, we have to finish the quest. But we don't have to hurt each other. We've done lots of sparring that wasn't half as brutal as what you were doing today. And we could literally let one team score then wait out the clock."

"That's..."

"Smart?"

"Feels like cheating," Beth says, with a grin on her face. "I love it."

"Good. Now I need you to apologize to my girlfriend for almost cutting her head off," I say, clapping my hands as I stand up, earning a groan from Beth as she puts her head in her hands.

"Can you just kill me instead?" she asks without looking up.

"Nope," I reply with as much forced cheer as I can. And not a small amount of petty satisfaction in Beth's discomfort. "What sort of leader would let their co-captain off the hook that easily?"

"A benevolent one?" Beth asks as she shakes her head. But there's a trace of a smile as she stands up.

Instead of replying, I do my best cackle.

The way Beth shudders as I bring down the stone barrier tells me I'm improving.

Beth shakes her frown off once the wall comes down, and immediately strides over to Rufka. Once Rufka notices Beth's approach, she glances at me for a second before turning to face Beth.

"I... sorry about hitting you in the face with a metal disk," Beth says, her back stiff as she tries to burn a hole through my thiani using nothing but the power of her gaze.

"Hmm," Rufka stares back at Beth for several seconds, turning enough to give me a hidden wink before she steps forward and hugs Beth. "Apology accepted. But try not to do it again. Felt like I got kicked by a Zanbia."

There's a moment where Beth doesn't seem to know how to react before she pats Rufka gently with one hand on her back. Then she's released, and there are more apologies throughout the group. Roberts comes over and squeezes my shoulder. "Well done, Alexis. I... thought this was going to be much worse."

As everyone shuffles around, I shake my head. There's still a nervous tension. "Didn't fix it, just made it... better."

"You don't fix people. You can only give them support," Roberts says in a sort of tone that makes me think he’s said something similar many times before. Then he nods towards the others. "Now I hear Beth saying something about cheating our way through the last round. What do you say we join them?"

"Sure," I reply, a smile tugging at my lips as I move forward.

"Ah, kid. Good. I was just telling them about your blindingly obvious solution the rest of us overlooked," Beth says in way of greeting. "And we've decided your team gets to win."

"Based on?"

"Based on, if we can do the tournament again, you'll let us win. And if not, then well..."

"We were jerks," Rose says, stepping forward. "And you and Roberts weren't."

"I feel obliged to point out, I'm on your team," Roberts says with a light chuckle.

"Yeah. Well, the rules allow us to change that. So, Kellica's going to drop from your team and join ours."

"I... we can do that?" I ask, squinting at Rose. "That seems... broken."

"Oh. It's totally broken. But who cares?" Josh says with a little too much cheer.

"Okay then. We're decided," Beth states, to a general round of nods.

It's a quick process to remove Kellica from our party and add Roberts. With Roberts' addition, I'm no longer the goalie, though it doesn't really matter. When we go in, I'm given the honour of tossing the Theet past Kellica, who simply stands to the side. Then we all wait out the clock.

As it counts down to zero, without a single one of us having so much as bumped each other, I can't help but watch Atun. Her frown causes a smile to blossom on my face.

When we win, she stands up, holding her blade in one hand. Even as she stands, a third team appears from amongst the crowd. Team Zanbia-dung, who took third place. As they enter the arena, Atun draws my attention back to her with a flourish of her blade. "Through a show of strength and wit, these contenders have proven their worth. Know that they stand before you as testaments to the true spirit of the Belkavan Queendom."

"The who?" Rufka mumbles from beside me.

I shrug as the quest completes, granting us our million arena points. Despite her words, Atun's eyes remain locked on me as we shuffle out of the arena. I smile and wave.

When I get outside, the Desh’mersa graphic has a timer above it, just like it did yesterday.

I barely notice.

Cause in the center of the console, fully filled in, and raised several centimetres above the surrounding tiles, Atun's sigil awaits.

4.36, Desh Atun

6:31 pm, local time. (August 8, 2023, 1:31 am.) A time to reflect, and a time to shop.

Instead of heading back in, I guide Rufka to the shop while Beth takes Josh for a walk in the park and the others head back to the kitchen. Despite our massive influx of points, there's no celebration. Not yet.

Shaking my head, the first thing I do is buy enough Integration points to cap my Perception and Resolve at 125 each. With all my attributes capped, I glance at Smoulder's status. She's doing well, but it's only a hundred thousand to buy enough Integration points to bring her to max. I also buy the rest of the Progression Marks. Which still leaves me with over eight-hundred thousand to spend. I start looking through some of the other upgrades, eventually settling on increased damage when using fire, lightning, metal and ice alongside their matching resistances.

My investigation also reveals there is no damage bonus for Twilight. Not a total surprise.

Once Rufka finishes making her selection, we move to the park and I buy the last point in Elemental Chakram. Again, the guidance I receive is improved, and despite our day so far, I find myself grinning as I craft a second Chakram out of a tough metal alloy and a third of lightning. With each one, I feel I get a better grasp of the process. I'm considering changing the third to ice when Rufka indicates she wants to practice.

So, for the last few hours of the day, Rufka and I test our abilities against each other until she calls for a break after a particularly rough trade. As she picks herself out of the new furrow in the ground, I step away, letting my non-metal chakrams drift into a lazy orbit. We're both smiling. Despite knocking more than a few Health off each other, our vigorous training hasn't once taken on the sort of edge that arose in the arena.

"I'm done," Rufka calls as she picks blades of grass out of her fur.

I nod, saving her more effort by whisking the grass away.

"Those extra points over a hundred really make a difference," Rufka says, waving to the ball of condensed grass I stripped from her fur.

Shrugging, we make our way off the mound. Thankfully, the others have already turned in by the time we get to the kitchen. Or they're doing challenges. Either way, Rufka, Smoulder and I have the kitchen to ourselves as we talk about our plans for the morning.

Which we've decided is going to involve a lot of not getting out of bed.

We follow through on our plan, only joining the others in the kitchen at lunch. Beth isn't there, but she's the only one missing as Roberts prepares an 'old family recipe' that seems to involve a lot of green vegetables I don't think we have on earth.

It doesn't stop it from being delicious.

As I'm dragging a slab of flatbread through the last of the creamy sauce from Roberts' stir-fry, Beth storms into the room. No one else seems to notice as she stomps over and takes a bowl for herself. It's only as she takes a bite that her expression changes. When she looks up, I'm already sliding into the seat across from her.

"Rough morning?" I ask, twirling a strand of hair around my finger as I sit.

"One way to put it. Atun's final form is a... very big step up."

"Oh? You've been fighting her?"

Beth nods as she takes another bite. As I wait, Kellica comes over, speaking as she takes a seat, "We've all given her a try. Except Roberts, of course."

"Tipan almost beat her by using her wind-form and her new class ability. But apparently she's highly resistant to status effects now."

"Now? I haven't seen her more than a little staggered or stunned," I say, looking towards the steaming pan of stir-fry and gauging whether I want another bowl.

As I give in to my desire for 'moar fudz', Kellica confirms Atun's increased resistance. Apparently, it's almost impossible to move Atun now. The others come over, and soon everyone is comparing notes. I'm surprised when Beth mentions it might be easier if we could fight in groups instead of just pairs. I thought she'd enjoy the challenge.

After our group's thorough analysis of Atun's new combat abilities, Rufka and I find ourselves standing in front of the challenge console.

"So. Ready to get thrashed like newborn Zanbia?" Rufka asks with a smile.

"Hell yeah," I reply as we reach forward and press Atun's symbol together. Like Beth mentioned, only the single combat and pair options light up.

"I'm kinda gonna miss this," Rufka says as we walk towards the arena.

"Fighting Atun?" I ask as we pause in front of the portal. We both know exactly where the invisible portal is at this point, with how often I've stopped to inspect the boundary.

"That too," Rufka says as she takes my hand. "But no. We've had so much time, just you, me and Smoulder. It's been... nice."

I nod. It has been.

"Anyway, let's go kick this Vaus-damned Desh's ass," Rufka says, squeezing my hand while shooting me a smile.

I shoot one right back, following her inside. We emerge in the arena with Atun already waiting in the arena for us. I snap another analyze on her, almost expecting the results to be the same. When they're not, I drop into Pause to read them properly.

“Creature analyzed: K'tharn. Gene-seed D."

"Name: Desh Atun of clan Okerren."

"Desh Atun is the living remnant of the former warrior queen. When integration came, she was offered a chance to continue her trials for as long as the System remained. After eagerly accepting, Desh Atun's arena became the premier dungeon on Akilo until a great mana-shift reshaped the surface. Now, she slumbers for long periods until worthy contenders awaken her."

"Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Very High, Magic; High, Awareness; High."

"Attacks: Desh Mandate-Abilities. Multiweapon Mastery."

"Defences: Physical: Very High. Magical: High."

"Special: Disruption Field, Integral Being."

[Wyonna] "Oh, sweet. She's not just a copy. Betcha she learns your moves as fast as you learn hers."

My eyes move back to Atun, registering the way she stands with both of her blades out. The grip seems more natural. As if the weapon is an extension of her arm.

Stepping forward as my Pause ends, Atun raises both her weapons out and to the sides, leading the artificial crowd to roar. "Finally, our contenders Citizen Pandora and Citizen Ashkaban have chosen to face me. Let their courage be known to all in attendance. And may their screams be sweet."

Before she finishes, Rufka and I are already moving, splitting out to the sides. Our discussion with the others gave us the heads up. Atun likes to charge the moment she finishes speaking. No reason to let her catch us together. As she usually does when we split, Atun chooses to focus on me. My metal chakram meets her blade, still several steps out of melee range, redirecting Atun. Or at least, that was the plan. Instead, Atun adjusts, sliding under the chakram, somehow using it as a support for a twisting uppercut.

I prevent her from doing more than a few health damage by blocking with my lightning and fire chakram, then it's a frenzy of twisting, blocks, parries and attempts to escape her oppression with Anchor.

Thirteen point three seconds go by before Rufka is able to land an arrow of plasma, hitting Atun in the leg. I break away, attempting to move to a safe middle ground. But then Atun reminds me we're not against the lesser versions of herself, that follow standard patterns as she calls out, "Attend me!"

The unexpected usage is enough for her to clip me with a backhanded strike. I'm only able to recover by using Anchor, and even then, I use an entire 'path' just to recover from the shift in battle.

Then Rufka is there, and I move to support her. Our actions are in sync, despite having mostly been practiced on the lesser versions. Thankfully, Atun still has a lot of the same habits. I'd say it's muscle memory, but since she's an avatar made by the System, I'm not sure it applies.

Three point one seconds after we begin the latest exchange, Smoulder arrives. She's able to maintain her heat even better now, storing it close to her until just before she strikes. It still only singes Atun's shoulder. Which is fine. That means we're through her Health.

Now we just need to deal with her body’s insane resilience.

"Acknowledge me!" Atun cries as I'm dodging a two handed overhead chop that probably would’ve split me in two if it had hit dead on. The crowd roars back, and suddenly Atun is moving faster. I take three hits, shredding my armored jacket and my Health before I'm able to adjust to the new tempo.

And then, we're being pushed back.

Three on one, and we're being pushed back.

Even so, I can't help but smile. Because we're not being thrown to the ground. This is her strongest form, and she's still not able to run us into the ground. If she beats us now, we'll be able to keep coming back until we win.

Then I see an opportunity. I don't need Anchor or Pause, laughing as I roll to the side, one foot on the back of Atun's blade. Using the momentum of her swing, I fling myself away from her. I'm able to get outside her disruption field, and the cackle rises up as I channel every element I can into a storm. I don't unleash it on Atun.

Instead, I send the whirling ball of death at the crowd.

The figures barely have time to notice before most of them are dead. As the last falls, Atun's speed returns to normal. The sudden loss of speed costs her, as Rufka drives an arrow into one of her eyes.

Atun roars, but before she can speak, my fire chakram smashes into her mouth. A second later, Smoulder hits her behind the knee.

In a flurry of elemental violence, we bring her down, until her body finally collapses into a wave of blue dust.

My eyes flick towards her throne, but she doesn't reform.

There's nothing but silence in the arena as Rufka and I receive a pair of notifications.

Then we laugh.

As Smoulder climbs up on my shoulder I can feel her smug surety mixed with a sense of disappointment. It takes me a moment to realize she's upset she didn't get to mark her defeated foe. Luckily, her smug satisfaction at winning outweighs her disappointment.

The arena is a wreck, the only thing not turned to glass or stripped away is the throne and the exit. It's a little weird to not have Atun watching us as we walk towards it. But as we're about to leave I stop, grabbing Rufka's hand.

"Lex?"

Pulling her with me, I can't wipe the goofy grin off my face as I fly to Atun's throne. And just like I suspected, it's no longer protected. So, with Rufka in my arms, I plop down in Atun's throne.

And then we celebrate.

After Rufka and I are done celebrating in Atun's throne, I finally look at the notifications.

"Bonus quest. Defeat Desh Atun's remaining avatars without using the Ability Lesser Cataclysm, 1/1. Rewards: 10,000,000 Arena Points. 1 armor upgrade. 1 personalized armor."

"Zone Quest completed: The Queen Atun. Requirements 1/1 Queen Atun defeated. Rewards: 25 Edge."

I can't stop from chuckling. "Guess we're done here, huh?"

"Yeah... I mean, I don't know why it's so many points. Can we even spend that many?" Rufka asks as we hop down from Atun's throne, Smoulder rousing from where she was napping in the groove where Atun fell.

"Not from what I saw. Guess we're just going to have to pig out in the kitchen," I reply as we return to the challenge room. Beth is there, splayed out over one of the stone benches. For some reason, I'm struck by the urge to sneak up and tickle her.

Probably cause if I saw Rufka like that, that's exactly what I'd do.

"Another rough fight?" Rufka asks as Beth sits up. Beth waves as we get close, but now I see a small smile on her face.

"Yeah. But I almost had her. And you know what I just realized? I didn't reset my class. Was gonna do it after I had enough points to max out the temporary class, but I forgot after my fuckup yesterday. How're you guys doing?"

"Oh... it was pretty close," I say, then I can't help but glance at the entrance that we walked down.

"But... you won? Wasn't that your first attempt?" Beth asks, and despite the smile, I can't help but hear an edge to her voice.

"Yeah. But we were fighting her together. Don't think I could win solo," I reply, trying to reassure her.

But Beth surprises me, flipping onto her feet then wrapping me in a hug. "Don't sell yourself short, kid. You guys did good. I'm proud of you."

I'm not able to speak as I return the hug. A lump the size of Smoulder seems to have climbed up my throat.

Even when Beth releases me, I'm still unable to talk, so I just nod as Beth squeezes my shoulder before jogging towards the park and telling us to wish her luck.

Rufka steers me towards the shop, her hand in mine as we enter. And it's only as my eyes fall on the material representations of power that I turn towards Rufka and start sobbing into her shoulder.

And I don't know why.

4.37, Exit to Your Left

A note from Draith

Edited April 29, 2023

Edit to chapter 3.19

"Yeah," I nod in agreement before returning my attention to Josh. Should I... attempt to pull him to me? Flashbacks of what happened to all the monsters I teleported that way flash through my mind. It might be selfish, but I don't think I could handle seeing that happen to Josh. Pushing the thought away, I focus on him.

1:37 pm, local time. (August 8, 2023, 8:37 pm.) Shortly after using Rufka's shoulder as a tear rag.

After I'm done crying, Rufka and I buy everything in the store.

It's fun at first, pulling the expensive looking metal pauldrons from the shelf and placing them on my shoulders as I model them for Rufka. But then it becomes a chore as we pick everything up, putting it on and purchasing it piece by piece. Luckily, I'm able to just pick up the jug of integration points and buy them all at once.

Which leave me with hundreds of unspent Iron-rank Integration points. That I guess I can use to bond armour? Or spend on staying in a Sanctuary? Other than the Integration points, all my elemental resistances are boosted by ten percent, as is the damage from every element except Twilight. Instead, the collection of seven star-forged bracelets boosts the effectiveness of Twilight by seven percent.

The Arena achievement point allows us to unlock one additional bonus to an edge of our choice. Including our special resources. I pull the 'unstuck' stopwatch up, looking at it for a few moments before buying it. Once I strap it on, it becomes part of me, granting an additional 5.0 Facet Edge for the low price of a million points. Shame we only got one Achievement.

When we go back to the Nexus, Rufka laughs as she says, "I'm going to buy every ability I can. Mum's always bragging about having all of them. Now I'll get to brag about getting them all younger than she did."

Her excitement makes me smile. It also makes me lean over and kiss her, drawing her out of her shopping spree for a minute.

With the reminder that we can use points on abilities, I flop back staring at the fake sky as I explore the options. Can't believe I forgot how many other uses for Integration points there are besides just spending them on attributes. While laying in the grass together, soaking up the fake rays from the fake sun, I browse through the menus. After picking up the System's version of auto-loot and a few other silly goodies, I sit up.

"We still need to claim the physical rewards," I say, then notice Rufka is already playing with a new set of gloves, that leave her fingers free. "Or maybe that's just me."

"Yep, totally just you," Rufka says, standing up and punching upward at the empty air, small waves of crisp blue energy floating upward.

Rolling my eyes, I prompt the System to give me my goodies.

"Item received: Armour Upgrade: Desh's Mandate."

"Desh's Mandate: When used on existing armour, adds the Desh's Mandate modifier. Grants a bonus of 10.0 Health Edge, doubles existing bonuses and you will heal physical conditions at double speed."

"Note. Armour upgrades will become a permanent part of armour once used. Applying a new armour upgrade will replace the old upgrade."

[Wyonna] "Hmm. That's interesting. I'm not saying you should go get smacked around, but it would help me figure out how to copy the effect."

I give a half chuckle. Too bad I didn't get it before the dungeon. I certainly would've finished Wyonna's request by now.

"Circlet of Atun. Having defeated Desh Atun in a single attempt, you have been judged a worthy successor, and she bestows this circlet as recognition of your valor."

"Once belonging to a rival queen, Atun recognized the simple elegance of this circlet as she did the elegance of the queen who wore it. In a battle that took hours, she eventually took her opponent's life. Atun kept the circlet in memory of her opponent, until recognizing a similar spirit in you. This circlet supports your claim to the now defunct Belkavan Queendom, should Atun's spirit ever be freed from her duty within the Ring of Desh Atun. Courageous. Improves Edge by 3.0 when equipped."

"Current Bond: Citizen Pandora, pending acceptance."

"Note. Additional item bonding option available: Engrained Tattoo."

The simple metal loop is... almost disappointing. If it didn't give a flat three edge to everything, I'm not sure I'd want to keep it. Also...

"Hey Rufka, do you know anything about this Engrained Tattoo option?" I ask, as I run my finger over the circlet's single sapphire.

"Sure. Mom used em for a couple of mine. Takes a lot longer to craft, but then she didn't have to do the tattoo by hand. Still hurt though," Rufka replies from next to me, her voice echoing slightly.

"Huh," I grunt out, holding the circlet up in front of me. "More or less than getting our head smashed by Atun?"

"Less. Though it lasted longer. Why?" Rufka asks, finally looking over at the circlet I'm holding. "Oh, nice. That'll make a sweet tattoo."

"I guess." The thought of getting a tattoo that doesn't have any real meaning to me is... not great. But at the same time, the constant battle of the last week has shown me that I don't want anything on my head that could offer a grip.

And, in a way, the crown does mean something to me.

"So... wanna help me choose a spot?" I finally ask, which gets a good guffaw out of Rufka. Then she runs a finger along my thigh.

Nodding, I bring the circlet next to my thigh then I pause.

"Hey, can tattoos be upgraded after they're uhm... attached?"

"Yep. Has to be after. Doesn't work otherwise," she replies, still running her finger back and forth across my leg. It's rather distracting.

Still, I place the circlet next to my thigh again, Focusing on the tattoo prompt. Which makes me sigh when it opens up a separate screen for selecting the tattoo's location. Using the screen to roughly match Rufka's… preference? Or suggestion? Yep, her suggestion.

I Pause right as I confirm the prompt, sweeping Facet through my leg as the System takes over. It starts by deconstructing the circlet, and I can see it holding the mana in a steady pattern, but the runes and mechanisms it's using are too complex to understand. So, like everything else I don't understand, I record what I can for later study.

Then it... bonds the circlet with my leg. But it's not just my leg. It also bonds it into my aura. Does it do the same-

The sudden spike of pain isn't mitigated by Pause in the slightest. And it ruins my ability to concentrate. I drop Pause, but the pain continues. It takes almost a minute for it to clear, leaving me gasping for breath.

"That... was way worse than anything Atun did," I gulp, only realizing Rufka is holding me as the air fills my lungs. Was I screaming? I can't remember.

"Sorry. It was never like that with mum. I don't..." Rufka bites her lip as she frowns down at me.

I reach up to pat her cheek. "Pretty sure it's my fault. I was... uhm, trying to watch."

"Oh," Rufka says, her frown deepening. "You could've warned me."

"Didn't expect it to hurt," I shrug, tracing my hand over the simple braided chain that now encircles my leg. "And it only kind of tingles now."

"So you're all better?" Rufka asks with a slight lilt to her voice.

"Yes?"

"Good," she states as she attacks my sides.

Four arms give her far too much of an advantage in a tickle fight, and for the second time in five minutes I find myself gulping for air.

Then we're back to the business of upgrading our class abilities. I could spend my remaining five Progression Marks to upgrade my Facet. Or to gain one of the abilities I skipped. But nothing jumps out to me, so I put it off, staring upward as Rufka continues her shopping.

"Oh. I unlocked another class upgrade when we beat Atun. I think I'm going to take it," Rufka says, breaking me out of my daydreaming.

"Yeah? What's it called?"

"Unshackled Champion," Rufka answers in that way that tells me she's only partially paying attention to me. I don't mind. If she's looking at a class upgrade, that's a serious decision.

"Sounds cool," I say, just to let her know I'm listening if she wants to tell me more. But she remains quiet.

A few minutes later she pushes up onto her elbows, grinning at me. "What do you say we run another couple?"

"I take it you have some new abilities you want to try?"

"Yep. Plus you never got to play with your Cataclysm ability either."

"True," I agree with a smile, pushing to my feet. "Not that I can use it much. It has a nasty tendency to suck me dry."

"Yeah. Little weird, but not as weird as your seed."

With that reminder, I prod Seed again. Whatever I did when I first activated it, it hasn't repeated since. "Yep. Still just sitting there."

"Guess your class has a dud too," Rufka says as we make our way to the challenge room. We end up waiting as Josh and Tipan are there, punching in their own challenge. They wave at us before going in to face Desh Atun.

Once they're gone, Rufka and I choose one of the runs that ends with a lesser version of Atun. Inside, Rufka dives forward, swinging. For a second, I think she's using her bow as a club, but as I step around the other K'tharn's errant arrow, I realize her fist is covered in sparkling plasma. The second she strikes the first K'tharn, she disappears, reappearing in a flash of lightning that strikes the second one down.

Neat.

The next few fights are similar, with Rufka testing her new abilities. To my surprise, Rufka is able to attack Atun with impunity. Then again, I guess all my class abilities worked. Rufka just didn't have as many to work with. We do two more runs before Rufka is satisfied. When we come up against Atun, I unleash Lesser Cataclysm again, but this time, I try to limit it to half my Facet.

It doesn't work.

It's like trying to hold in a sneeze when I'm already sneezing. Actually, I don't think I've had to sneeze much on Akilo, so not sure that applies anymore. But it's definitely like that.

As I sneeze-Cataclysm all over Atun, I get a headache, which I suspect is linked to trying to hold my Facet in. It also does a perfect job of defeating her, but I hardly notice that part as I clutch at my head. It's only as the pain starts to fade that I realize it was more than just my head, just to a lesser degree.

"Okay. Note to self. Lesser Cataclysm really doesn't like being cast at half power."

"Like, with only half your pool full? Or using half your pool?" Rufka asks, kneeling next to me. Which is how I discover I also collapsed.

"Trying to use only half my full pool," I reply, still rubbing at my head even as the pain becomes a dull ache. When I check my conditions, I find that I have a temporal disruption, but it'll be gone in a few minutes. When Rufka and I walk out of the arena, my headache remains.

Which...

"Second note to self. That damaged the real me, not my copy," I say as we sit on a nearby bench.

"Don't do it again. Got it," Rufka says, pretending to write in the air. Or maybe she really is recording it in her System. She probably has the notebook feature now if she didn't before.

"Actually," I say, as I think about her earlier question. "There's one more thing I need to try."

Once I've recovered, we go through one more round. This time, I only have a quarter of my Facet pool. But that's still over a hundred points. And when I hit Atun with Lesser Cataclysm, it works.

And best of all, no headache.

"Looks like it's a good finishing move," I say as we walk out of the arena.

"Didn't you say it was capable of doing multiple targets too?" Rufka asks as we head back to the kitchen. There's not much left for us to do other than experiment with our abilities while we wait for the others to grind out their points. We're the only ones who got a quest reward of ten million points, afterall. I was surprised Smoulder got it too, which is... convenient. Like, super convenient. She just got her class and is already level ten.

Totally awesome.

Now if only the little ball o'doom wasn't so smug about it.

Ignoring Smoulder's aura of 'I am the most incrediblest mana-hare ever' as best I can, Rufka and I prepare a proper buff-based dinner for the rest of the party, to help them finish just a little faster. They come through in pairs, everyone working on Desh Atun, even Roberts, until the tournament opens again. Which makes Kellica super popular, since she can't lose.

"It's not that I'm skilled, it's just that Venom Auramancer is really potent," Kellica explains as she's dipping one of the rolled-meat-in-biscuits we made into a thick gravy. "I spent so much time making Truth venoms and paralytics for the Taken to use later, I forgot I could apply the paralytics to my own weapons. Even though her resistances prevent total paralysis, they still slow her down. Combined with my armor, it's not hard to contain her. Does take me a few minutes to create enough paralytic to keep her slowed though."

"That's gonna save some time," Rufka says, patting Kellica on the shoulder. "Thanks for helping everyone."

Kellica tries to hide her smile, but she's not super successful. Even as she leaves with Tipan, talking about their strategy for their next attempt, she's still smiling.

"You done good," I say to Rufka once we're alone in the kitchen.

"I know," Rufka replies as she pulls out the board for Astra's Stride, setting Smoulder on the opposite end. "But... uh, maybe you could clarify what I did?"

"Hehe. You made Kellica feel better about herself. And everyone's been working together to take down Desh Atun. I'm glad no one's hung up about yesterday," I say as I sit beside Smoulder.

For a few minutes, I watch Rufka try to explain the game to Smoulder. But Smoulder eventually yawns, before coming over to me and snuggling into my pocket. Apparently maximum mental attributes doesn't mean she suddenly wants to play boardgames.

With her opponent having forfeited, Rufka does a little victory wiggle before turning to me. "Yesterday was... I don't know, exactly. But I don't think anyone meant to go so far."

"Me either. So, what do you say we play a game?"

The way Rufka's eyes light up almost makes up for how terribly she stomps me.

Hmm. On second thought, not almost. Completely. Definitely, completely.

It takes the others another day and a half to clear out their stores to their satisfaction. Roberts finally fought Atun solo and had no problem dismantling her. Helps that his barrier armor wasn't disruptable once he got it as a class ability.

Even after everyone has all their points, we still spend a couple hours getting ready to leave. And not just getting ready. Tipan holds us back before we can leave.

"I believe our success calls for some small celebration," Tipan says, pulling a shimmering blue bottle from her inventory, even as one of her lower hands rests on where Ivicka's journal still hangs at her waist.

"Wow. Is that seven-depths hoska?" Rose asks, stepping closer. "How did you get a bottle?"

"Mother gave it to me. She received a crate from minister Traxla after Mother resolved an incident with an Ascendancy delegate," Tipan replies even as she floats out several matching glasses.

When she hands me a glass, I take a second to Focus on it, out of curiosity.

"Substance analyzed: Seven-Depths Hoska.”

“Description: Brewed in the deepest caverns of the Ascendancy, this heavily diluted alcohol grants increased courage at the expense of caution while also bolstering the soul, increasing Iron rank Mana edge by ten. Both effects last for an hour. Reduced effectiveness on Copper rank or above. Toxic to mortals.”

"Good call, Tipan," Beth says, her eyes sweeping back through the chamber. She only shudders a little before looking forward again. Then, once we all have drinks in hand, she raises hers. "Excellent job, people."

"Once we get away from the spout, we need to have a race," Tipan says, as we stand just inside the entrance, waiting for Smoulder to burn away the jungle that did indeed reclaim the entrance. Beth goes to the back, her hand tracing the edges of the console while looking up at the schedule for the next Desh'mersa game. One no one will play.

"Oh, yeah. Now that everyone's got innate flight, that'll be awesome," I say, rubbing my hands together as I float out over the still molten sand, taking the lead with Tipan. It seems Smoulder went a little overboard, since it's warm enough it's causing my Health to tick down just flying over it, even through my enhanced resistances. "Actually, we could do that now, couldn't we?"

"Uh... the subsystem doesn't work in here," Tipan replies, her eyes looking up as the others come out of the chamber behind us, everyone floating up to get away from the molten ground. "I think there's too much interference."

"Yeah, the mana here is kinda-"

I don't get to finish my sentence, something striking from the bush. I've paused time and am already analyzing the giant lizard before I know what's happening. It’s jaw is stretched open, and I see more teeth than scales as it leans forward. The analysis reveals it's a young Ravnor, though it's not much of a threat.

However, its physical stat is still very high, so it's strong enough it could do some damage. Not at the level of Atun, thankfully.

Considering it's as much mouth as anything, and that mouth is currently stretching forward to snap closed over our party, letting it finish its attack seems like a bad idea. So I blast it away with a spinning torrent of molten rock and metal lifted from beneath us.

The combination smacks it backwards as my Pause ends, and its roar manages to announce our location to everything within a ten kilometer radius.

"Maybe holding off until we get back to the mainland is a good idea," I say as the beast collapses backward into the jungle with several other projectiles through its head. "According to my analysis, that was just a young one."

From the back, where she's scanning the jungle behind us, Beth calls, "You heard her people, let's-"

Again, we're interrupted, this time right as we're flying over the canopy. More Ravnors emerge, using the foilage and the thin grey web that seems to have spread over this section to launch them up into the air.

It’s a slaughter, though not in their favor.

The Ravnors are easy to stop, each of us reacting to the sudden surge of violence with violence of our own. In less than three seconds, over a dozen of the giant lizards lay trapped within the grey strands they used to assault us.

To her embarrassment, Rufka was snagged by some of the webbing attached to one of the Ravnors, and is tangled in the canopy. Which is surprisingly flame-resistant. While I respect my duty as her partner and move to help her, I almost can’t stop the snickering at Rufka being snared by a web of all things.

Even as we’re working to free her, there’s motion from a short distance below. Instead of another attack though, it’s just the Taken.

They all have weapons out. Ael’thani has a pair of swords not unlike Desh Atun’s and Lik’tik has a sort of rifle. Pogell has a pair of metal gauntlets.

When they see us floating safely above the Ravnor corpses, they lower or disappear their weapons.

“We heard…” Ael'thani starts, before shaking her head. “It’s about time you finished. We’ve been waiting for-“

“This can wait,” I counter, scanning the surrounding jungle, my amusement at Rufka’s situation having evaporated. This webbing adds a dangerous new dimension to the surrounding jungle.

Ael'thani looks like she wants to object, but she holds her tongue until we’re at the outskirts of camp. Then she moves toward Kellica. I move to support Kellica, our time inside the trial not enough for me to forget how Ael'thani was acting before.

As Tipan moves off with Pogell, talking excitedly, I almost sigh. Why couldn’t they have put him in charge instead of Ael'thani? When I see Beth following them, I turn back to Kellica. She’s squared her shoulders, and as Ael'thani approaches, it occurs to me that maybe Kellica doesn’t need my support anymore.

Well, not physically, anyway.

Ael'thani barely gets out the words, “Kellica your time-“ before we’re interrupted by a low thwip. As I squint, trying to identify the vaguely familiar sound, a much louder crash starts behind me. When I Pause time, I note a smooth hole through not just the collapsing tree that seems to be the source of the noise, but other parts of the underbrush as well.

I’m just barely able to make out the trajectory of whatever tore a hole into the underbrush by the time my Pause ends. Unfortunately, I’ve also found whatever they were shooting at. There are more Ravnors pushing out of the jungle, trailing ripped webbing. They almost look like t-rex’s in dresses.

Despite their adorableness, we don’t hesitate to stop them where they stand. Smoulder punches a hole straight through one as I go on overwatch, making sure no one is caught out.

Again, it only takes us a few seconds to take them down, though their web-dresses provide some bare resistance.

Even as captain e’Tell is approaching, my eyes are scanning the edge of the woods. Tipan and Beth are missing.

Their tethers lead inside the jungle, and when I attempt to contact Beth, there’s no response. I don’t wait for Tipan, Pausing time and shooting towards them. They’re close enough, blasting forward through a single Pause should be faster than teleporting while giving me time to react.

Activating Anchor lets me know the situation before I arrive. Beth and Tipan are both on the ground, collapsed, and there’s no sign of Pogell. There is a large collection of webs though. Whatever’s hunting in the jungle seems to have taken him. But when I check his tether, it points towards the stone castle that still stands on the shore.

My first concern is the safety of Beth and Tipan. Kneeling down, I find Tipan still breathing, though her motions are stiff.

Still, my party screen gives me further confirmation she’s alive, just out of Focus, and I can feel Roberts on his way.

Shifting to Beth, I turn her towards me only to be met with the ruins of her face. I hesitate, unprepared to see Beth like… this.

I can’t even close her eyelids. There’s not enough skin left to cover them.

Point two seconds later, as I'm scrambling to pull out my healing talisman, her tether snaps.

A note from Draith

Quick shoutout for a great friend of mine. She's written a bunch of stuff and her most recent story is a fun adventure involving a time-looping swordmage who kinda prefers the 'hit his head against the wall until something works' approach to loops. Lots of fun. Check out Maelstrom!

4.38, Yeah, They Had Something to do With It

A note from Draith

Edited April 29, 2023

11:07:02:23 am, local time. (August 10, 2023, 6:07:02:23 pm.) Point two seconds too late.

I pull Beth close sealing her flesh with an earth compact.

Channeling healing through my artifact, I attempt to fly towards Roberts. But the webbing snags me for several long seconds. I swear, teleporting free even as my healing refuses to work. I’m bad, but it should be doing… something.

Then I'm next to him, and his hands are already reaching out to take her from me, not asking questions as he sends energy into her.

Her body is restored instantly, pristine. But she doesn't open her eyes.

Roberts doesn't stop, and I see her chest rise. Once. Twice.

Then it goes still.

"What's..."

"The System took her. I can't bring her back." There's an odd lilt to his voice I haven't heard before. A kind of raised pitch as he clenches and unclenches his hands over her chest. "I can restore her body to perfect condition, but I can't bring her back because the System decided..."

I stare at Beth's body for another second before my attention shifts to the webs. Whatever did this is still out there. And it could have Pogell. When I check my tether, I find it still stubbornly inside the castle. And when I attempt to connect, something shatters.

Rufka is already at the body, Smoulder next to her. Her eyes trail over the clearing, then leaps forward, telling me what she found over chat even as she moves. Something is triggering the web.

I teleport to her position,

Even as I appear, I almost immediately fall behind as Rufka teleports away amidst a lightning bolt. For a second, I consider just using Lesser Cataclysm. But we're moving kilometers in seconds, and I don’t have a proper tether to Pogell. He could be caught by accident.

So, I continue following Rufka, scanning the jungle for any sign of Pogell. It takes three hops before Rufka tells me she’s found a trail leading towards the mouth. She’s following small strings spread between the trees. With a clear destination in mind, I'm able to catch up to her. A second later, I leave her in the dust as the search grows more desperate. Pogell might be Copper, but he’s obviously not strong enough to fight back.

The strand continues all the way to the outer edge of the ring, leading us to a rocky promontory jutting out over the edge. I freeze as I look up at the chitinous figure moving next to an obviously enchanted contraption. They’re wearing Pogell’s robes, and have the same gauntlets. But that’s the only resemblance. The fluffy grey fur is gone.

There’s only a set of eight red eyes, that I catch only a glimpse of as they turn in our direction.

To say I’m confused is putting it mildly. So I Pause, to give myself time to understand what’s happening. Which is when I finally notice the book. He has Ivicka’s journal.

It hangs from his waist, and despite pause, he’s still climbing into a bubble strapped to a glider overhead. There are four thin strands of that same thread keeping it tethered at least a hundred meters past the edge of the ring, and getting further every second. He's reeling himself out. I attempt to create a new tether. And once more… I realize it feels wrong.

Rufka's hand lands on my shoulder as Pause ends, and she manages to get out the words, "The storm-" but then I'm gone.

The chitinous face of Pogell meets mine as I appear next to him, the storm flashing around us.

I detect several strands of web shooting out of him as I reach for the journal, my mouth screaming unintelligible words. Even as I block his threads, I attempt to rip the book away with wind manipulation. But my control is contested.

So I switch to offence, I blast Pogell with several piercing shots along the arm. And successfully sever it. But before I can retrieve the book, a strand of webbing I missed grabs me around the foot, fastening me to his glider.

Tugged downward by his glider, I teleport free.

Only to find Pogell diving into the storm after the book.

And I hesitate. Only for a fraction of a second, but long enough that his glider is blasted by a bolt of nothing from within the storm. As I stand on the lip, I can barely make out his frantic movements as he disappears into the maelstrom, his glider tumbling after him.

That doesn't stop me from throwing a storm of destructive energies in his wake. I should've just killed him and taken the book back. I feel a buzzing warmth as Rufka flashes beside me, then pulls me down before I can be swept away in the storm.

My vision is blurry when I turn into Rufka's shoulder. "Beth..."

"Hey. It'll be okay. She'll be okay. A couple weeks for her cooldown and she'll be back," Rufka says, pulling me into a hug as I'm reminded it's worse than Beth just needing to respawn. She's already used the ability once. A few seconds later, Smoulder arrives. She keeps back from us and the edge of the world where we're standing, but I can feel her concern through our bond.

Which is what gets me moving.

Returning to the clearing where Josh is crouched over Beth’s body only requires a single twist of space. Roberts has restored Tipan, and she’s leaning against a tree, her eyes focused in the distance, Sel’dast visible at her shoulder.

As I take in the clearing, I realize that if I'd just thought for a second about where the thread was leading, I could’ve beaten Pogell there. Just like if I'd gone to Beth first, who was obviously worse than-

"Hey, I don't know what you're thinking, but stop," Rufka says, shaking my shoulder.

I look up at her, and she nods, no trace of her usual smirk in sight. "Things like this happen. We all should've been waiting for a Taken trap. We got complacent."

"Wasn't..." Kellica trails off as she steps forward from the edge of the small clearing, where she and Rose are standing. When I nod in her direction, she clears her throat before continuing. "Wasn't the Taken. At least, not all of them… us. Lik'tik would never have been part of this, not while he's observing for my vigil. I'm sure of it."

"Doesn't matter. We need to get my book back," Tipan snarls, turning towards me. "How could you let her get away?"

"I..." I take a step back, caught off guard by Tipan's vicious snarl and narrowed eyes.

"Sorry," Tipan says, shaking her head as she closes all four eyes before turning towards where Roberts is once more leaning over Beth. "Sorry. I know we have more important problems. I just..."

"What even happened?" Josh asks, his eyes fixed on Beth's unmoving body. "One second we were talking, then blam, Jurassic fever and..."

"Pogell. Turns out he wasn't a friendly puppy," I reply, looking around. "We can't stay here. We should get back to the ship. And find out if this treachery extends to the captain. But keep your eyes open. And..."

My last words are lost as I realize everyone’s already in their battle-forms.

Looking around, I realize that with her new class, even Rufka has armor now, forged of hardened plasma. Which I'm pretty sure shouldn't be possible, even with mana, but what do I know. Then my eyes land on Rose, who is just as unarmored as I am. He shrugs at me with a small smile. "No good class yet."

I snort as I lift Beth's body on a wave of air behind us. Rose and I remain in the centre of the formation as we fly back to the ship. It's exactly where we left it, and only one of the crewmen is on deck. Everyone else is in the small basecamp they've built in the shadow of the castle, at the edge of the cove.

When we land, there's a litany of swear words from captain e'Tell as we smash into the nearby sand. A lot of them seem to have to do with my mother's breeding habits. If she's trying to offend me, she could've chosen a better target.

Without ending her litany of pointless cursing, she storms towards us, "What's with the..."

I stop paying attention to e'Tell, because as she started towards me, I felt the weight of Beth's body diminish.

"No. No, no, no," I say as I turn to where I'm supporting her body. I find it breaking apart, the blue dust of the deceased filling the air with an insultingly sweet odor even as I blast through it, trying to force it back together.

Despite my efforts, it continues to disappear. Just like that, even her body is gone.

A crack echoes through the camp, and it takes me a second to realize I caused it. A tree is knocked over, hanging from the webbed over canopy, the trunk where I punched it severed by the force of a blow I barely felt. I stare at the destruction and can't help but feel numb at how useless such destructive power feels.

"Alexis," Roberts says, drawing my attention back to the present. He's standing in front of the others, all of whom look as lost as I feel. Except Roberts. I can still rely on him. And they can rely on me.

"Right. We need to move," I say, shaking splinters off my undamaged skin. Instead of marveling at that, I turn towards e’Tell who is standing nearby, frowning at our group. Stepping forward, I ask, "How long until the Twice-Scuttled is ready?"

"She's ready now. Only need a few minutes to pack up camp. Though I have a few questions," the captain replies, turning around and signaling to her first mate. "They'll wait a few minutes, but once we're heading down-spout, I expect some answers."

"Fine," I agree, glancing at where the perpetual mana-storm whirls in the distance. There's a chance I could make it through, teleport myself to the bottom. But not a good one.

Focusing on Pogell's tether again, I realize it's not completely gone. With some effort, I trace it to a spot in camp.

Walking towards it, I find a small figurine in the sand. It's a perfect copy of how Pogell looked before he revealed himself. Other than the fracture down its middle. Turning it in my hand, I frown. My tether is definitely attached to the figurine. I almost crush it, but stop myself. I should study it instead. Figure out why it fooled my ability.

Turning, I spot Lik'tik and Ael'thani standing together near the shore, I start towards them. Only to realize Kellica and Rufka got to them first. Rufka and Ael'thani are in the middle of a yelling match when I arrive, neither of them so much speaking as hurling insults at each other.

Lik'tik and Kellica are both standing back, so I turn my attention to the unoccupied Taken, waving them away from my thiani and her venting. Much as I love her, I know sometimes the only thing that will help is a chance to scream expletives at someone.

"So, how much did you get before they started escalating?" I ask as Lik'tik follows me a few paces away from Rufka.

"That your friend died due to a... spider… or a weasel," Lik'tik replies with a glance towards Rufka. "Though I suspect that between your friend's anger, and our missing compatriot, Pogell had something to do with it."

"If by 'had something to do with', you mean ambushed Tipan and Beth, stole from them, then left Beth on the brink of death… Then yeah," I reply, my strands of Facet tightly wound around Lik'tik as I study them for their reaction. Unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with lizard-person biology, so their lack of external reaction doesn't really tell me anything. "Yeah, they had something to do with it."

"I... hmm. That certainly explains your friend's reaction upon seeing us. I doubt it will mean much, but I assure you, we had no part in this. I can only assume their mission was separate from our own," Lik'tik follows his statement by leaning forward, bowing deep enough that he exposes his neck to me. I feel like it's some form of sign of submission or request for forgiveness.

But that's not what I'm focused on. "But you would've helped, if it had been part of your mission?" I ask, my hand wrapping around the metal chakram at my side as I weigh the threat.

"Of course. It would have been my duty," Lik'tik replies, blinking their eyes once, slowly.

"I..." I'm not actually sure what to do with that. Lik'tik basically just admitted he would've done what Pogell did. Openly.

As I'm staring at him, I realize the yelling between Rufka and Ael'thani has died down. When I glance over, I find them glaring at each other, both with their arms crossed. But it looks like no one jumped straight to violence, so... Rufka's decided that they're not to blame. Or she's waiting for me to make the call.

"Where would Pogell be headed?" Roberts asks as he approaches from behind us. I get to see Ael'thani jump in surprise at his quiet appearance, which gives me a small twinge of satisfaction before I focus on Lik'tik.

"That would depend on his mission. And even if I knew, I'm sure you can understand why I can't tell you," Lik'tik bows his head slightly in our direction. This is different from his earlier bow, but I think I'm already starting to understand his body language. At least a little. I wish I'd spent more time watching the Taken on our way here.

"He'll have a Return pod set up near the bottom of the spout, Tel'thoni" Kellica says, earning a frown from Lik'tik. "Assuming he survives his suicide dive through the storm."

"So, chances of us finding Pogell by chasing him down are basically zilch," I say, squeezing my eyes shut. "Okay. First thing is getting moving. Then... fuck, I hate this. Then we ignore Pogell for the moment. We're near, which Builder City was it, Burnesq?"

"That's correct," Roberts confirms, his voice flat.

When I open my eyes, I notice everyone has gathered around me. I can't help but look towards Josh, who's clenching and unclenching his fists. But when he meets my eyes, he nods.

"Okay, then we're going there first. Just like we planned. Beth isn't dead. Not really. Just gone for a while. A couple weeks, and she'll be back. Until then, we still need to get things done. And that means going to Burnesq. And hopefully finding a way to convert it into an operational spaceship. And failing that, at least finding a damn mana-decondenser."

When I turn, I see Tipan glaring at me, but I meet her gaze. After several long seconds she shakes her head twice before nodding. "Right. That makes sense. I just... when we find him, I'm going to feed him his teeth."

Blinking at Tipan's exuberant endorsement of violence, I turn to the others, receiving similar gestures of agreement.

"I... once we are out of the spout, I have to return to the Taken," Kellica says, raising her still metal-clad hand.

"But-" I start, only to be interrupted.

"The Seeker is correct. As soon as we're clear of the spout, we must Return together," Lik'tik agrees. "She has fulfilled her part of the bargain, and thus the Archmage will be obliged to fulfill hers. The Vigil must begin."

"Oh, mum'll be visiting the K'mintar, I can guarantee that," Rufka practically snarls at Lik'tik.

"Then our task is nearly complete," Lik’tik says, nodding in our direction, before turning away. They collect Ael'thani, and both board the Twice-Scuttled as I turn back to Kellica.

"So, you're leaving us then?"

"I... my duty is to the Taken. At least for the moment. I made a commitment and I will see it through. I still adhere to the tenets," Kellica says, straightening in her armor. "Also, I believe I will be able to learn more of what Pogell was up to by being part of the Taken than as an outsider."

Rufka sighs, hitting Kellica on her shoulder hard enough to make her take a half-step back, despite the metal encasing her. "Don't do anything Lexi wouldn't do, you understand?"

"Don't you mean you?" Kellica asks, blinking at Rufka.

"What? Hell no, don't you dare try to use me as a guide. Any-user would tell you that's a bad idea," Rufka denies with a grin.

Before any further sentiments can be shared, e'Tell calls out that she's ready to depart. When I turn around, I see everything except the basic shape of the camp has already been loaded. Nodding to the others, we fly over, landing on the deck.

The moment we're on board, captain e'Tell spins her wheel and the entire ship slips to the side, cutting through the surface with the same ease as Smoulder melts through the jungle. We remain quiet as the ship passes to the outside of the spout. As soon as we're clear, my eyes lock on the sky. Just because the chance of spotting Pogell is low, doesn't make it none.

"You're not going to spot him," Rufka says from beside me, at the front of the ship.

"Probably not," I admit, squeezing the railing. "But... I don't know. There's a chance, so I should at least try."

"Not your fault. You know that, right?" Rufka asks as she lays her hand overtop mine.

"Up here, sure," I say, tapping my head, "But not so much here," I finish, tapping my heart.

"That... is such a strange expression," Rufka says, elbowing me. "None of your emotions are regulated in your chest, from what I understand."

"I... you've been talking to Roberts," I reply, my eyes still searching the horizon.

"Rose actually. For some strange reason, he's fascinated by the differences between pu'shaha and humans," Rufka says with a playful nudge.

I give her a weak half-smile, and allow her to draw me out of my fruitless search. Soon, we've descended the spout, our down-spout journey being somewhat similar to going downhill. Though not entirely, due to the weird distortion of gravity. As we clear the last of the mana-storm, Kellica and the other Taken come on deck.

Kellica comes over to me, giving me a bow, which I return. "Thank you for all you've done for me Tel’thoni. I have grown and learned more over these past few weeks than I could've imagined."

As she stands up, I can't help myself and draw her into a hug, earning a squeak before she returns it. "Take care of yourself Kellica. You're not going to have us to watch your back, you know."

"I know. But I believe I can rely on Lik'tik. They believe in the tenets. As do I."

"You never did tell me what those were," I note as she releases me, only for her to be caught in a hug by Rufka.

Kellica glances in my direction once she's released. Then she smiles, giving me a wink. "I'm afraid telling you about the tenets would violate them."

And with that, Kellica vanishes from the surface of the deck, Ael'thani and Lik'tik disappearing immediately after.

Huh. Respect for the dramatic exit. Gonna miss her.

Rufka squeezes my shoulder, and my eyes turn back towards the horizon, the southern tip of the continent growing closer.

I set my anxiousness to the side. And the pangs of loss.

Ahead waits the Builder City. And with some amount of luck, a way home.

4.39, One Small Step

4:52 pm, local time. (August 10, 2023, 10:52 pm.) The quiet moment when you prepare to disembark.

The Twice-Scuttled carries us into an unnamed bay near the south coast. We part ways with the captain, and I assure her that she will be paid upon her return to Glimmering Sands. Beth made sure I knew the password in case anything happened to her. I thought she was just being paranoid. Being over-prepared is better than under-prepared, as seems to be her motto.

Guess she was right.

Watching the ship float over the waves, I look north. Now that we're back on the mainland, free of interference, returning to Glimmering Sands would only take a simple teleport.

Shaking my head, I launch myself above the thick temperate rainforest that covers the coast where they dropped us off, joining the others as we fly in the direction of Burnesq. Our flight is mostly quiet, stopping late in the evening after tracking our way to a nearby Nexus point. When we're able to add it to our network, and open a door to Raz's, there's a collective sigh of relief.

Then we're through the door, into the waiting lobby. An unknown beetle-person shows up, though they seem to recognize us immediately and show us in. Amazingly, Raz shows up as we're seated.

"I was getting worried," he says as he brings us drinks we didn't have time to order.

I pick up the blue-fruit juice, taking a sip, and I sigh. "We had a good couple weeks. Then a rough five minutes."

"Well, you'll have to tell me all about it over dinner. It's amazing how much more free time I have now that I have good help," Raz says as he pulls up a chair. "Hired a manager, and let me tell you, she's..." Raz pauses, looking over his shoulders before leaning forward over the table, when he seems certain we're alone, he continues, "terrifying. But amazing with the staff. And keeping things ordered. And pretty much everything."

There's a silence that sets over the table as I take another sip, and I glance to the spot beside me. Standing there, with her dark-green arms crossed, is a dracanoid around Raz's size. And she's clearly a her, the breasts giving it away before I even Focus on her.

Even as I give Alzanin's analysis a quick once over, she speaks. "Razalin Crancoid. I do believe that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me. Terrifying, am I?"

"Alzanin. Should I not be terrified of anyone who can do paperwork as fast as you?" Razalin says, flashing a grin full of razor-sharp teeth.

Before any of us can respond, Alzanin turns away, her wings flaring behind her as she disappears into the crowd.

"Well. It appears your story must wait. If I don't appease her, she might kill me in my sleep. Or worse, close the bar," Razalin says, practically leaping over his chair as he dashes after Alzanin.

"Damn. I missed this place," Josh says as he takes a long pull on his drink.

Which he immediately spits up when he discovers the bug-shaped berry I teleported into it.

It really is good to be back.

We don't spend much time at Raz's in the morning, having completed most of our business the night before.

There is, however, a message from Demo. Apparently, he's established contact with the Daughters. He's negotiating with the doll-mercenaries for the location of his ship, though he indicates that the things they want are truly non-standard. He doesn't say how long he'll be, but he mentions that he'll be sending messages daily, and if we don't get one, assume the worst has happened.

As I respond, then relay that unexpected news, we grab a hot breakfast. We head out just in time to witness Raz and Alzanin bickering. Though with the way they’re smiling at each other, I think they’re enjoying it. That or one of them will be missing next time we visit.

As we step back onto Akilo, my eyes are drawn upwards. From this far south, Ukila almost hangs in the sky. Even from hundreds of kilometers away, the spout is visible, reaching upwards toward Akilo's partner. No one has ever sailed between them, from what e'Tell told me, but she's given it a shot. Unfortunately, there's a point where the mana-storm and the ocean become one and the same. Add on that the storm doesn’t actually reach Ukila more than once a decade, and it makes the journey a bit tricky.

The morning passes quickly, and we're getting close to the Builder's city when I notice a small herd of Zanbia fording a river. Well, there are only five of them, but given the size of the Zanbia, that small herd is big enough to occupy a football stadium. I find myself smiling at their smaller fifth member as he struggles to climb up the shore, one of the other Zanbia reaching back to scoot him upwards with their head.

Even as the larger one is stretching downward; a small form emerges from the bushes. Then more and more stream out. There are dozens of the shapes, and when I zoom in with my Twilight-enhanced vision, I recognize them. They're Pothlin, the twisted fake-pu'shaha that chased me just before I met Rufka, and they're snarling as they leap on the smaller Zanbia.

We could keep flying. The Zanbia are strong. Probably strong enough that they'll swat these pests like the nothing they are.

But...

I don't hesitate to teleport closer, dozens of tethers lashing out in an instant as I drop into Pause. Once I'm certain I have them all, I release Lesser Cataclysm. It's my first time using it since inside the dungeon, and the result feels different. Instead of space around me shattering, there are small distortions around each of the Pothlin.

Amazingly, Lesser Cataclysm doesn't pull me out of Pause, though it does suck away all my Facet. I watch the distortions spread as the features of the Pothlin are twisted even further. Then they collapse into small balls, before puffing outwards in swirls of blue dust and tinkling essence shards.

When Pause comes to an end, the Zanbia, who were just starting to react to the Pothlin... keep reacting to the Pothlin for several long seconds before realizing the threat is gone, stomping down, and flailing their tails about. One of them even snaps its massive jaw in my direction, though it draws up short. When they've settled, they turn away, two of them keeping themselves between me and the smaller one.

Unable to help myself, I wave at them as they retreat. "Stay safe! Don't let the Pothlin bite!"

As I lift into the air, moving towards the others, I run into Rufka whose expression is twitching as she attempts to keep a smile off her face. "That was reckless."

"It was just Pothlin," I reply, taking her elbow as I turn towards where the others are waiting higher up.

"Not that. You used your ability. The one that leaves you empty."

"Ah. Right," I acknowledge. That was probably... "Yeah, I didn't need to do that."

"Good."

"But you have to admit, it was pretty awesome," I say, unable to keep the smile off my face. Especially since that was totally worth it to experiment with my ability.

"Do I?" Rufka asks, tapping her chin. Then she smiles. "I do, don't I."

Chuckling, I watch the herd of Zanbia as they move towards the forest north of the river, the little one stopping regularly to glance back in our direction. I wave at it again, even though I doubt it can see me. Then we continue on our way towards the Builder City.

An hour later, we see it on the horizon, the glint of silver visible even without Twilight enhanced vision. When I zoom in, I grimace. The engines look intact, but I don't see any trace of the central spire. Floating closer, I note that most of the buildings are also intact, which is promising. Even the engines are all in their proper positions. Where the spire should be, waiting in the center of the city, facing away from us, is another of the Sentinels. It's missing the fist on one hand but is otherwise intact. The damn thing is taller than most of the buildings around it. A quick analysis confirms its stats are similar to the last, though it has wind affinity.

Luckily, my Facet has recharged. I could try hitting it with Lesser Cataclysm. However, the strange resistance the other one had to my teleport-shear attack makes me wary. That was just a head. And I’d rather not go straight to empty.

"So, what do we think?" I ask after telling the others everything I've observed.

"We’re much stronger than when we faced off against the last one," Roberts says, but the tone makes me think he's not advocating we fight.

Tipan is distracted, much like she's been since Pogell stole the book. But she still turns back, looking in the direction of the Sentinel. Then her form changes, wind infusing her body, and the faint image of Sel’dast manifesting beside her. "I vote we fight. And be ready to run. Wyonna says they won't chase us."

"A fight sounds good," Josh agrees, clenching his fists while glaring at the statue. Rose nods silently beside him.

I don't need to bother asking Smoulder if she’s ready for a fight. Cause, duh.

And Rufka just nods to me, not in agreement with the others, but an acknowledgement that she'll go with whatever I choose. I squeeze her hand, looking back to the Sentinel. "Okay. We fight. But first, let's review our options. And our fallback conditions."

The next few minutes are discussions of the tactics we've been learning from Beth, tactics that are outdated, when accounting for our new abilities. I realize as we talk that this is something we could've discussed at any point on our way. And we would've if Beth had been here. We spend half an hour adjusting the three most likely plans before confirming we’re ready to fight the Sentinel.

Beginning the fight is an exercise in rapid assault. Not because it’s the most likely to succeed, but because it’ll be the most satisfying for the others.

As the others armor up, preparing their attack spells, I wrap us together and teleport us almost on top of the Sentinel. Before it has a chance to register our presence, it's hit with an avalanche of attacks. Given the giant hand of Earth Josh summons, the avalanche is almost literal. Then we're away, to a nearby rooftop. My entire focus is on providing mobility.

We strike twice more before the Sentinel ruins the tactic by summoning several whirlwinds. While they don't do any damage, they're enough to tear our formation apart, pushing the others outside the area I feel safe teleporting. "Scatter!" I yell, moving to plan C.

The others are moving even as I teleport away, unleashing Smoulder on another rooftop before hopping to the next. Even as I throw a barrage of my own piercing arrows at the Sentinel, Smoulder smashes into its side. It staggers slightly as the mana-hare that's not even the size of its nostril slams into it. Which gives me another idea. Sending it through the bond, Smoulder is soon leaping towards its face and manages to get inside its nose. Unfortunately, when she detonates inside, it just knocks the nose off.

It doesn’t even acknowledge the damage, bashing down into a flurry of gusts, which should be Tipan harassing it in her wind-form alongside the echo of her sister. But its fist just passes through, less effective than Smoulder’s assault on its schnoz.

With the others taken care of, I start using the occasional teleport shear, shaving away slightly larger chunks than before. Though the sentinel proves such an approach is still dangerous. A single glancing blow reduced my Health by a third.

It takes us several long minutes but eventually we get it to fall sideways, its left leg rendered useless. Even then, it continues to fight, blasting at us with jets of air that leave nickel-sized holes in anything they strike. It takes half an hour to reduce it to a point it stops fighting. As I inspect its fallen form, I realize that somehow, it's still functioning.

"The hell," I mutter as I kick the pieces apart, searching its insides for anything that might be keeping it functional. My attention is drawn to a twist of mana in the center of what used to be its chest. Finally, I find it, a small silver orb barely as large as the tip of my finger. When I pluck it out of the stone it was embedded in, the rest of the body collapses.

When I scan it, the analysis still reads the same. "Huh. Wonder if you can reuse these."

[Wyonna] "These are locked to Citizen control. I believe you'd need to be a Creator to adjust their settings. Possibly Creator Menas himself."

"That's some access level. You can't crack it?"

[Wyonna] "I’m good. But there’s nothing to crack. You can’t hack the sun, Lex."

"Sure you can. It’s not even that complicated. Lots of magnetics and… Nevermind. It’s a good thing the cities themselves aren't locked down this tight. Any chance we can fly this thing?"

[Wyonna] "Unlikely. Looks like the controls have been thrashed. With concerted effort, some old fashioned elbow grease, and a little spit, it might be possible to repair it. I'd have to see more, but my projections put it at a week, at least."

"Bad news?" Roberts asks as I'm frowning into space.

“Not terrible,” I inform him, then tell everyone Wyonna’s analysis, my eyes drifting to the silver engines. With the knowledge from my codices, I'm certain we could retrofit one to return to earth. But that would be pointless. We need the cities to get people off earth once we get there.

"Well. This isn't a total waste at least," Josh says, tossing the little ball of silver to Rose. "If it only needs a week of repairs, that's not too bad. Especially if we can get help."

"Indeed. And we know we can take down a Sentinel while limiting the damage to only the inner city," Roberts agrees, his eyes drifting to the nearby building that was caught in an explosion of force when the Sentinel almost caught Rose.

"You know, I think it looks better this way," Rose says, holding all four hands up to form a box as he pretends to take a picture of the busted plaza. Somehow, the already awkward gesture looks even more awkward with four hands.

"Now that we're done here, can we return to the Aetherium?" Tipan asks, breaking me out of my contemplation.

"Not quite. There's a Nexus point an hour outside the city we should hit first. And we need to check for a de-condenser," I remind her.

"Yes, yes. But then we'll head back?"

Looking at the others, I receive a round of agreement.

Even then, it takes time before we’re ready to leave the city, Tipan circling above us as we split up to each search one of the silver engines.

When I head downstairs, and the entire compartment is full of tubes, flow regulators and other components, I let out a sigh of relief. There’s some minor damage, but most of the engine's functional bits are intact. Following the knowledge of my codex, and combining it with the image from the quest, I even find a small object that analyze confirms is a mana-decondenser.

It doesn't match up to either the codex or the image in the schematic, not exactly, but it's close enough. I'm pretty sure that Rufka will be able to make any adjustments we need.

With the de-condenser in hand, I return to the surface victorious. Wyonna informs me the other engines are in even better shape. Having confirmed the state of the ship, we fly toward the Nexus point.

I spot an unusual star pattern of pink flowers I suspect are the Nexus point when a wave of mana-pressure presses against me, throwing me hundreds of metres higher. When I readjust, I see the others floating above me. Looking down, I orient myself on the pink star. Then I look to the horizon and realize... there's a new cliff face a few kilometers to the north. Bits of the edge tumble down as I stare at the hundred plus meter cliff that just... pushed its way up.

It stretches from horizon to horizon, and as I inspect it, I realize we're near a low stretch.

"That's one hell of an earthquake," Roberts says, his eyes locked on a void in the distance. As I follow his gaze, zooming in, I realize it's a mana-vent, spewing huge amounts of mana into the air.

It seems Akilo is having one of those days.

"It happens. The farther you are away from one of the major vents, the less stable the surface is," Tipan says, her voice low as she clutches her staff with all four hands, her ears flicked back. "I've heard the Lords of the Deep are able to prevent it within their territory."

"Mum knows how to prevent it too," Rufka says as she floats down. As she does, I realize I was least affected by the concussive blast. Least, I'm guessing that's what it was.

"Your mother knows how to prevent mana-swells?" Tipan asks, turning to Rufka, her upper eyes twitching. "And she hasn't told anyone?"

"What? No," Rufka says, waving her hand in Tipan's direction. "She shared it with the Aetherium when I was a kitten. Apparently, they already knew how to do it."

If Rufka thought that was going to calm Tipan, I think she miscalculated, as there’s an audible crack from where she’s gripping her staff. Then Tipan takes a deep breath, closing all four eyes.

After a long exhale, she smiles, a smile that reminds me of Beth. There’s a glint in Tipan's lower eyes as she looks north in the direction of the Aetherium. "Of course, they do."

"So, how often does this happen?" Josh asks, chewing on his lip as he takes in the newborn cliff.

"They don't really know. My mother theorized they happen several times a year," Rose says, "They're about as common as earthquakes on Earth, but as you can see, they tend to be more violent. If the mana flow changes, this could actually be drawn back down."

"Folthka studied mana-swells?" Tipan asks, turning towards the diminutive pu'shaha.

"Mother studied many things. Especially if they were related to the natural behaviour of mana or its interactions with the System," Rose answers with a shrug.

"This is all fascinating, but I kinda want to take a closer look," I say, waving towards the distant mana-vent.

"But we were about to- Actually, I'd like to take a closer look as well," Tipan says, squinting at the vent.

"Excellent, let us investigate this phenomenon," Roberts says, clapping a hand on our shoulders. “I believe we could all use a bit of wonder to refresh our spirits. I know I certainly could."

Nodding, I gather the others together, then teleport us a short distance from the vent. I might have miscalculated the safe distance, as we’re close enough I can feel it pressing against us.

"Best we don't get too close. While it's uncommon, it is possible to get mana-poisoning from being exposed to a fresh mana-vent," Rose warns us as Tipan and I were taking our first step forward. Glancing back, I give him a nod, then push out, using my own mana, bound into a wind sphere, to keep the ambient mana back.

It presses in with enough force that even my aura starts to shrink. Which I take the time to study, trying to simulate the feeling. Not too different from having a bath in jello.

Wonder if Sab's dad is still angry about that?

Trying to pull my aura back while it's under pressure is easier than before. Not exactly controllable though, seeing as it kinda collapses then bubbles back outward. But it gives me a chance to practice.

So while we inspect the cavern, I continue to flex the edges of my aura. There are shards of essence lodged into the sides of the vent, and even as we creep closer, I lock onto several, drawing them into my inventory. Most seem to be earth and wind, but there's a smattering of almost every element mixed in.

"Do people mine mana-vents?" I ask as I continue sweeping the far side.

"Not often. It's dangerous to be this close. And auto-loot doesn't work," Rose says, peaking around the corner, projecting his own bubble of wind. I can't help but note it's not even a tenth the size of mine. Guess he needs to work on his aura even more than I do.

"Mum strips any that pop up in the reaches," Rufka adds. "It's pretty easy for her."

"Okay, dangerous for most people. Not everyone is like your mother," Rose says, rolling all four of his eyes.

With the essence on the far side of the cavern stripped, I switch my attention to closer nodes.

"I think... Lexi, are you looting essence?" Tipan asks, squinting at the disappearing essence while leaning on her staff.

"Totally," I reply, working my way deeper.

Tipan nods, though she's not looking at me. "You may want to be careful. We don't know what looting all that essence might do."

"Collapse the vent, if she takes enough," Rufka answers with a shrug. Which is enough for me to stop. I've already removed every shard in sight anyway. We're now thousands of mortal elemental shards richer. Fair number of Iron shards too. No mana essence though.

"Fascinating as this is, if we are unable to explore safely, perhaps we should be on with our day," Roberts suggests, stepping away from the opening. “Unless we have ideas for delving deeper?”

None of us do, so I move away, the others close behind. Except Rose, who passes outside my aura, his own almost collapsing once it's left to fend off the ambient mana on its own. Then it stabilizes just over his golden fur.

He shakes his head, then takes several slow purposeful steps towards us until he moves back into my aura. He glances at me for a second and I just give him a quick shrug.

Then we continue, landing at the pink star-flower, triggering the Nexus point access. With a thought, we're back in Glimmering Sands, where I gleefully pay our fees out of my sudden glut of elemental shards.

With our fees paid, we make our way to the surface, which feels empty now that the festival is over. The others make their way towards the inn, hoping to secure rooms for the night while Rufka, Tipan and I head north.

There are Fallen to cleanse.

4.40, One Giant Teleport for Lexi

3:35 pm, local time. (August 11, 2023, 9:55 pm.)

Our return to the Fallen compound is mostly quiet, only Rose and Josh bantering at the back of the party. The streets of Glimmering Sands have less people than I'm used to seeing in the late afternoon. Part of me misses the festive atmosphere. Another part of me is looking forward to the quiet. But most of me is worried about having been gone so long.

As we get closer, I see a new structure in the centre of their camp. It's tall enough it protrudes above the huts the Fallen are staying in, a thin spire of exposed tubes, bone and...

I blink twice, going so far as to analyze the fleshy component. It's a heart. A Zanbia heart. Which is apparently functioning as a mana-pump. Staring at it, I compare it to the diagram for the Awakened Fallen Purification and Revival chamber. Yep. That's it. Bigger than I expected. A little more organic looking than the diagram too. Which I suppose is an Aetherium thing.

Even as we approach, I see the one non-Fallen K'tharn who seems to spend time in the camp. Trellani is kicking at a protruding tube for redirecting thick flows of mana when we stop behind her. I can't help but notice that her fur is cleaner than on our last visit. Still, messy, but without clumps of dirt in it. Well, excepting the foot she's kicking the tube with. That has a large clump of mud running up the side.

"Ahem," I cough, causing Trellani to do an impressive spin, landing facing us in a crouch. Then her eyes go wide as she seems to recognize us.

"You're back! Mum said... do you have the de-condenser?" Trellani asks, standing from her crouch and taking a step forward.

"We do," I say, pulling the small cube out of my inventory and holding it up.

"Thanks," Trellani says, plucking it from my hand. I smile, trying not to laugh at her presumption as she runs inside the spire, only her legs visible as she grunts while squeezing past a chair dominating the centre.

"You think we should..." I start, but Rufka and Tipan are already stepping forward to inspect the spire. I follow along, and Rufka starts explaining the enchanting to me. The basic function of different parts, and the adjustments that Trellani has made to adjust for the parts she's using. It's an impressive feat of enchanting work, from the way Rufka describes it.

"I'm not sure I could've put it together this fast," Rufka admits with a grumble.

"Well, she does have strong motivation," Tipan observes, her hand tracing a ribbed tube that has an uncomfortable similarity to a spine.

"Speaking of. Where are the Fallen?" I wonder, looking at the empty compound.

"They're conserving mana," Trellani's voice echoes from where she's working inside. "Can one of you hand me the number three mana-scriber?"

"Got it," Rufka replies, picking up a thin tool from near the spire's entrance, passing it inside.

"Thanks. Anyway, Fallen don't regen mana very quickly when they're not controlled by a Matrix. And mum figured out that it was mostly cause they were moving around. After all, they don't eat, so gotta get their energy from somewhere. So, they're all meditating or whatever to keep themselves in stasis," Trellani says, pausing as there's a series of small popping noises.

I glance at Rufka in worry, but she just waves my concern away.

"How long do you think you'll need?" I ask, kneeling so I can see what she's doing.

Trellani has two hands holding the de-condenser in place with another braced against the ceiling. She's holding herself locked in place atop the luxurious chair that dominates the space as she traces lines into the decondenser. With a quick tug at something near the ceiling, she pulls a tube down, setting it against the lines. The tube seals in place with another series of small pops.

Once it’s done popping, she looks over at me, then back to the cube in her hand. "About an hour? Then half an hour of testing to make sure nothing's going to blow up."

"Is that a common concern?" I ask, not just Trellani, turning towards Rufka and Tipan as well.

"Not if you test things properly!" Trellani declares happily, whistling to herself as she starts etching another set of lines in the side of the cube.

Tipan and Rufka both nod in agreement, though Tipan's is a little slow.

So, for the next hour, Rufka gives me an impromptu lesson in enchanting.

Part of it I understand from the codices, but there's a lot involved when doing enchanting with non-standardized components. And apparently, that's the only kind of enchanting on Akilo. Even the invading fleets from Uthica's days had to fall back on custom enchanting.

My lessons are often interrupted as Tipan or Trellani interject, disagreeing with Rufka whenever she ventures into theory. They spend ten minutes arguing whether organic components work better because of the soul, System-bias, or evolution.

Smoulder and I just sit and watch while I give the sweet little bundle of fur head-scritches. When Rufka points out that her mum has used Forerunner components that are better than natural parts, it ends with the others grunting and agreeing that those are master tier components that most people can't copy. Trellani mumbles that they probably stole someone’s soul to make them.

But they let the matter drop as we resume our lesson. Which has Rufka asking me to repeat what she’s told me so far.

Finally, Trellani calls out in triumph, "Done. Now, let's do a system check."

Assuming she means an analysis, I scan the spire with Facet. I can't help but grin, as my scan reveals a few possible flaws. "There's a blockage here," I start, pointing to a tube just over my head. One that's hard to reach with Glimmering Sands’ ban on flying.

Smoulder surprises me by understanding my intent, hopping up on my hand and flicking her ears forward, pointing to the spot for me. Then I move on to the others, pointing the rest out with her continued assistance, though I don't technically need it after the first.

"Astra's bountiful bosom," Trellani says as she checks the first tube with a round device made of a giant wishbone and inlaid essence. "That's a handy enchanting ability you've got."

"It's..." I'm about to deny her... but can I use it for enchanting? Maybe even cleaning out the clogs on the chamber with a little tactical teleportation?

Deciding not to risk breaking it, I instead stand back while Trellani runs through all the problem spots I pointed out, using another tool to 'break up' the clogs. Then she turns sections on, cycling mana through them before stopping in front of the de-condenser.

"Don't suppose anyone has a Mana shard they can spare?" Trellani asks, frowning back at us from where she's crouched inside the chamber.

"Sure," I reply, combining one out of the essence I collected from the cavern. Rufka raises her eyebrow, a small smile on her face. Right. I should pay her back the shards I borrowed. Adding that to my literal to-do list, I hand the newly formed Mana shard to Trellani.

She plucks it out of my hand with a high-pitched, "Thanks!"

With a little wiggling, she threads it into the top of a stand of mana-less bone, directly below the mana de-condenser. Then she steps back, flicking several buttons that initiate… something.

The Mana shard collapses into blue powder then the dust is sucked upward before being pumped through the rest of the chamber. Several of the exterior tubes light up as the heart pumps with solid thuds every half-second. Then the entire chamber goes dark a few seconds later.

"That's good, right?" I ask, giving it another scan. Nothing seems broken or clogged. But I have no idea what we're doing next. While the chamber did come with instructions on building it, using standardized parts, it didn't have any instructions on using it.

Good thing we have several enchanters.

"Yep," Trellani replies, stepping back to look at the chamber, her hands on her hips. "I think it's ready. Now... Now we just need to put mom inside." She keeps her smile locked in place, but there's a tear beading at the edge of her eye.

I turn away, looking towards the hut her mother was in before. "Do you need help getting her inside?"

"I... no, I've got it," Trellani says, stepping past me to a different hut. A few seconds later, she emerges, her mother draped in her arms.

We stand silently as Trellani walks past. She lays her mother inside the chamber with a great deal of care, pausing to press a kiss into her forehead. She steps back, her hand hesitating over the panel for several seconds.

Then she nods, punching in several commands. The chamber lights up, filling with a thin blue mist. The entrance seals over with a final hiss and we can only watch the machine as it works. For several long minutes, the thudding of the heart filling the compound is the only sound, a myriad of colours pulsing through the tubing.

It's far more colourful than when it broke apart the shard.

Finally, the colours begin to grow faint, and a few beats later, the heart stops pumping. Then the entrance flickers but doesn't open.

"What..." Trellani starts, then she steps forward. She spends a minute looking over the small display before taking a step back. Then she leans forward and slams her foot into the chamber door.

Before I can object, there's a hiss and the door slides open, revealing her unconscious mother. Scanning her reveals that the chamber worked, which is confirmed a second later by a notification.

"Quest updated. Cleanse the Fallen. Cleanse a single Fallen of their corruption. 1/1 Fallen cleansed. Rewards: Structure: Tracking Array. Focus: Corrupted Soul Matrix. 5 Iron rank integration points. 1 Iron rank Progression Mark."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

While Trellani hugs her mother, I look to Rufka and Tipan. They're both smiling, and I pull them into side-hugs as we wait for Trellani.

"It's a start," Tipan says, wiping a tear away.

We wait until Trellani's mother has recovered.

After spending a minute hugging her daughter, Thetilda attempts to sit up, only to realize she's still strapped in place. After Trellani helps her mother out of the straps, they climb out and Thetilda turns to us. "Thank you for your assistance. It is good to be... alive again. Though it seems we will be starting over."

"Oh?" I ask, scanning her again. She seems totally healthy. And… young.

"My System thinks I'm a young K'tharn. Hmm. This may be a favor from Astra veiled by Vaus," Thetilda says, "Though... being so weak will take some getting used to." To punctuate her words, Thetilda sits down, leaning against the wall. "That really took a lot out of me, it seems."

"Should we start on the next-"

I don't get to finish my question, Thetilda nodding and grabbing her daughter's hand. "Take care of them, Trellani. I'll be okay."

Trellani hesitates over her mother, but finally she nods, leading me to the next Fallen while she returns to the chamber, resetting it.

While I carry out the next Fallen, Rufka shares some food with Thetilda. No one realized they’d be starving after the cleansing process. We remain for the next few cycles. At that point, Thetilda and a couple of the other former Fallen have regained their strength and are able to take over. I deplete most of my extra food stores, leaving them with a feast that should be more than enough.

After saying goodbye to a distracted Thetilda and Trellani, we move to the edge of the compound.

Looking back at them, Tipan asks, "Now... what was next?"

"Pretty sure we need to see a Taken about a book," I reply, my eyes drifting towards the schematic we just unlocked. "And if they don't want to talk, well, we'll just have to track them down."

As we walk back to the Inn where the others are waiting, we review the design for the tracking array. Tipan and Rufka confirm that we shouldn't have a problem getting the components, though it might be more expensive than the chamber. Still affordable, especially with our recent windfall. We also figure out that the Focus reward is required to use the array. With that in mind, Rufka and I split off from Tipan, heading directly to the Nexus. We both get a copy of the Focus, which I suppose will be useful if we decide to build more than one of the arrays.

Instead of heading straight back, Rufka and I take a slow tour around the tower.

We're on the third level when a familiar K'tharn approaches us. Vethel, the Lordite guard who arrested us when we first visited Glimmering Sands. The frown on her face tells me she remembers me. Still, Beth already made arrangements for us to be back, so I’m not worried about being arrested. Plus, she only has one other guard with her.

She stops in front of me, looking me over, her hands still wrapped around her staff. Since I never got a chance to scan her the first time, with my abilities broken, I take the time to find out how strong she is.

My scan reveals that she's still stronger than me, but only physically. Lucky for her, she doesn't seem to be here for a fight.

Wait...

Did I just...

Before I have time to consider my newfound confidence, Vethel speaks. "Lord Thansome has requested your presence. And this is merely a request," she stresses the last part as she speaks.

"I heard..." I start, about to mention that Beth had told me he didn't survive the attack. But then... Beth is undergoing Restoration right now. He might be doing the same. Which would mean Lord Thansome is either a Citizen or Silver rank. Unless the Lords of the Deep have another way of unlocking the ability. And honestly, they might. Instead of my original statement, I ask, "Did he want to see us now?"

"If you have a few minutes, yes," Vethel says, giving us a small bow. I glance towards Rufka and she gives me the shrug that tells me it's my choice.

"Are you sure he actually wants to see us? Last time, he seemed..." I wasn't sure how to describe the absent-minded ruler without seeming rude.

"I... he's young, and easily distracted. But he remembers you quite vividly," Vethel attempts to reassure me. Except none of those words make me want to get closer to a potentially Silver-ranked child-murder-squid person.

Unable to school her reaction as well as I am, Rufka lets out a loud snort. "So, he remembers we were brought in with the same K'tharn who killed him?"

Vethel glances at the guard beside her, then turns back, rubbing her forehead, all her eyes closed. "I vow on the M'tari Ascendancy that you will be safe until you next leave Glimmering Sands."

About to express my scepticism, I stop when I receive a notification informing me I've been granted diplomatic immunity in the territory of Glimmering Sands. When I check my conditions, I discover it's not just an idle promise. As long as we don't leave Glimmering Sands, for the next twenty-four hours, the System itself will instantly incarcerate anyone who attacks me.

"Okay. You've convinced me," I say, giving her a slight bow and gesture for her to lead the way. "Why didn't you have protections like this on your boss last time?"

Vethel looks to the side at her companion but doesn't answer. Which... less than reassuring.

A few more steps and we reach the platform going up. When we're nearly to the long stairway that leads up to Lord Thansome's chamber, the other guard nods at Vethel and steps away.

Instead of immediately leading us up, Vethel waits for them to leave the landing. Once the door shuts behind them, she mutters a few words, and a spell rises into place around the landing.

I can only barely see the edges of the spell, but the second it snapped into place, my tethers became muted. They're still there, but it takes actual Focus to concentrate on any other than the one connecting me to Rufka.

And the one I attach to Vethel.

That did not feel like a harmless act, and I'm suddenly wondering what sort of actions can be taken against us that wouldn't trigger the diplomatic immunity condition.

Vethel doesn't raise a weapon or cast any additional spells though. Instead, her hand twists a small octopus in the décor along the wall and a door, which was seamlessly hidden, drifts open. She stands next to it, waving us in.

Inside I see a cozy looking room, with a desk stacked with reams of actual paper. The three chairs facing a fireplace are a nice touch, and I wonder if the room was set up for us, or if Vethel normally has other people over.

Trading a glance with Rufka, I confirm I have a strong enough tether I could teleport us away, if need be, then move into the room. I immediately take the chair with the bright red cushioning. Vethel freezes at the door before moving to sit in the chair across from me, leaving Rufka in the middle.

"Let me start by saying, I'm sorry for lying to you. Lord Thansome doesn't want to see you," Vethel says, as I watch the hidden door slide shut behind her. On its surface are views of several parts of the building. Including the hall, the far side of the door, and the stairs above. None of which Vethel can see from where she's sitting. Nice.

"I'd gathered as much when you snuck us into a super-secret meeting room," I reply, noting that there's even a view of the old throne room, though it looks like that's part of the new garden renovations. One of the screens seems to have a bunch of thick tubes on it, and it takes me half a second to realize it's probably Lord Thansome. She's spying on her own boss. "Does your boss even know we're here?"

"He does not. Lord Thansome is... meditating on his defeat," Vethel says, leaning back in her chair. She doesn't sigh, but the way she sits stiffly makes me think she wants to.

"Sulking, you mean," Rufka says, sipping on a drink she didn't have a second ago.

Making a gimme motion at Rufka, I receive a blue-fruit juice of my own, causing Vethel to pause for a second before speaking. "Lord Thansome isn't why I wanted to talk to you. Not directly anyway."

I nod for her to continue as I draw Smoulder out of her pocket so I can give her head-scritches. Since we're lounging around anyway.

"I received word of what you did with the Fallen," Vethel says, her eyes only flickering towards Smoulder for an instant. "Can I take it this means you're in opposition to the Aetherium's plans to deploy Fallen forces?"

"I mean... I'm not exactly for it, especially if they're enslaving them," I reply, shifting in my seat. Not the direction I expected this conversation to go. Though maybe I should've? It's clear she has eyes on most of Glimmering Sands. Even her own boss.

"Plus, they smell awful," Rufka adds, reaching over to give Smoulder some more head-scritches.

Vethel nods but doesn't comment for another couple seconds. "You asked earlier why we didn't have protections on Lord Thansome. The truth is... he is not allowed such protections. The Lords are sent to the surface to learn. And their parents believe they should not be shielded from pain or failure. However, Ivicka was... unusual. She bypassed the handful of protections that should have been in place with her Fallen. We're still not sure how she did it. But if the Aetherium is bringing more of these living weapons against us, the Ascendancy will need to act."

"Oh," I reply, petting Smoulder harder than strictly necessary for several strokes before adding. "So, when we started turning Fallen back into regular K'tharn…"

"It made me realize you were more than Ivicka's pawns," Vethel says, nodding.

I can't help but blink at her several times.

Then I turn to Rufka, my mouth hanging open as I point to Vethel. But Rufka's no help, her head tilted back as she shakes with silent laughter. So I reorient on Vethel. "You thought we were working for Ivicka? Us?"

"You arrived in Glimmering Sands the same day she did. You had several interactions with her before coming to the tower. You fled with her as the tower fell. And you count her sister and squad mate among your companions. Yes, I did believe you were cooperating with her," Vethel says, her brow furrowed as she studies me. "Which, I will admit, unless you have an extraordinary deception class, is rather unlikely at this point."

"Unlikely, she says."

"My point is, if you are going after the Aetherium's Fallen, I can help," Vethel says, causing me to snap out of my shock. “And we would be willing to reward you for doing so.”

"Help how?" I ask, trying to keep a smile from creeping across my face.

"Obviously, I can't send our pledged with you. They have duties here, and besides, the Aetherium would take it as a hostile act. But I can provide Essence or resources for devices like the one you built in their camp. Also, I can allow access to Lord Thansome's dungeon. They’re all on the table."

"Wait," Rufka says, holding up a finger. "Access to a Lord's dungeon? Mum said Lords have to give permission for that."

"It is under my purview. Lord Thansome has granted me... considerable authority while he meditates," Vethel says with a small smile that doesn't reach her eyes.

"Okay, so, say we are going to go after the Aetherium. And maybe even their ability to control the Fallen. What will this dungeon do for us?" I ask as Smoulder glares up at me, demanding I resume petting her.

Rufka snorts, then looks at me and smiles.

"Will it grant Ascension Crests? Copper rank resources?" I ask, leaning forward.

"No. It's not a World Dungeon," Vethel replies, frowning. "The Hidden Depths is a puzzle dungeon, relatively safe and quick. I was able to clear it in less than a day by myself. And its main quest grants an Enduring armour and an armor upgrade."

Huh. Okay, that might be worth it.

"And you can access it from beneath the tower," Vethel adds, seeming to know that she just needs one last tug to land her fish.

I sigh, looking to Rufka, but she's grinning like she's the cat that ate the canary.

"Yeah, okay. We were gonna do it anyway, and this sounds like it'll help. So, what can you tell us about this dungeon?"

"How much do you know about mana-beetles?" Vethel asks, leaning back in her chair and giving us what feels like the first genuine smile since she brought us into the room.

Rufka replies before I can say anything. "They eat mana and ignore most magical defences."

Vethel points a finger at Rufka. "Correct. And they're one of the Taken's favorite tools. They're also the only real enemy inside The Hidden Depths."

Damnit. Are we going to have to smash a whole bunch of bugs? When I glance over and see the excitement in Rufka's eyes, I can't help but sigh.

Maybe a kaiju will rise out of the ocean, and attempt to eat us all instead.

A girl can hope.

4.41, An Unusual Vigil

A note from Draith

Minor edit April 29, 2023

7:20 pm, local time. (August 12, 2023, 1:20 am.) A long time until we're gonna smash bugs. I hope.

When we leave Vethel's tiny little office, not only has she granted us future access to The Hidden Depths, but she’s also arranged for the materials for the tracking array. Most will be here tomorrow, and the only missing component will arrive the day after. We also received a hundred Iron-Rank Mana shards. Each.

Makes me feel like my windfall of shards I mined was almost nothing. Honestly, I hadn't expected the windfall of shards when I asked Vethel to throw them in. She’d even offered more if it would help get rid of the Fallen.

Walking down the tower, Rufka and I remain quiet. The casual exploration we were enjoying before Vethel approached us is no longer appealing, so we make our way to a restaurant near the beach. I watch the frankly miniscule waves as they crash against the shore.

With a sigh, I say, "I miss the waves.”

"We could go flying," Rufka says even as a pair of K'tharn bring our meal to the table. "We haven't raced since we got back."

I nod, but my eyes remain fixed on the ocean. I don't really taste our meal as I stare off into space, trying to figure out why the lack of waves bothers me so much. Even as Rufka and I finish dinner, I'm unable to figure it out.

She pulls me out of my thoughts with an enthusiastic discussion of how much building the tracking array is going to help her subclass advance. Which reminds me that I need to set my own.

Backtracking to the Nexus, I set my subclass to Explorer. I'd been hoping for an Enchanting subclass, but even with all the recent lessons from Rufka, I haven't unlocked one. Despite Wyonna denying any involvement, I'm suspecting something similar to my locked cooking skill.

Shaking my head, I focus on the subclass I do have, and just equipped, as Rufka and I return to the inn.

"Subclass Equipped: Explorer."

"Partial Credit for Banked Explorer Experience has advanced the subclass to Level 3."

"Explorer Subclass Abilities Unlocked: Unerring Compass, Traveler's Socks."

I can't help but smile as I read the description of the abilities. Compass points to my current planet's rotational north. Or south. It allows me to set it to my preference. But it's the second ability that has me smiling. It prevents my feet from getting sore after long hikes, or from being too cold or wet. Between Health Edge and flight, it's almost completely useless.

And yet... just seeing it is enough to make me get over the lack of roaring waves. I take Rufka's arm, pulling her close and talking about all the things I want to see.

I wonder if I can get experience for being a tourist on earth?

When we get back to the inn, the others are in the garden area out back, gathered around the table. Everyone is there, except Beth.

Josh, Rose and Tipan are playing a game of Astra's Stride. Even as Rufka moves towards them, I step over to where Roberts is sorting small stones with the innkeeper, Peme. She's extolling the virtues of certain patterns, and how certain stones have special meanings. I can't help but squint. Then I copy the stone she has in her paws with Stone Manipulation. Yep. It's that easy.

So, why...

"Oh, Alexis, Peme was just telling me about a game her father played with her when she was a kitten," Roberts says, interrupting my thoughts as he motions to the bench next to them.

I accept his invitation, and Peme explains the rules of the game. Like a lot of games on Akilo, the use of magic is restricted. For this, the goal is to find the most interesting patterns. Creating a stone is against the spirit of the game.

When I ask why, Peme laughs, "Creating stone is fine. But it's more of an art, and not one I could play when I was a kitten, now, was it?"

Right, not everyone has the ability to use magic as a kid, even on Akilo.

I end up begging off early and find myself looking over the designs for the tracking array when Rufka joins me for the night.

Snuggling into my side while only slightly disturbing Smoulder, Rufka asks, "Is it Beth?"

"I... what?" I ask, my head lost in the diagram for a second before I turn towards her. "Is what Beth?"

"Whatever's bothering you," Rufka states, pulling away to look into my eyes, her upper eyes closed. "You've been weird since Vethel."

"I... well, Beth's part of it, sure. But also..."

Rufka doesn't push me, laying there, and waiting patiently as I search for the words. Finally, I say, "It's everything. Beth. The sudden wealth. Fallen becoming K'tharn again. It feels like we've been sprinting to catch up for weeks and suddenly we're... ahead and behind at the same time. And now I'm feeling listless. I mean, I know we're going to build the tracking array, and then we'll try to track down Pogell. It's just… just a feeling."

"Mhm," Rufka says, closing her eyes and laying her head across my side.

"Also... I miss the waves," I add, which earns me an amused snort.

Then Rufka pulls away, looking at me with just her lower eyes again. "Wait, you're serious, aren't you?"

"I... kinda, yeah," I reply with a helpless shrug.

Rufka shakes her head as she returns it to my chest. "You know, when we got together, I thought I was going to be the adventurous one."

"You are?" I say, kissing the top of her head.

"Mhm," Rufka mumbles. It's just a normal tone of agreement. But for some reason, I feel like I just accidentally issued a challenge.

Part of me is nervous, but a bigger part is excited. Pretty sure it’s the adventurous part.

The next morning is spent putting together the basic structure of the tracking array. Vethel provides us with an unused house that was destroyed during Ivicka's attack. The exterior looks intact, but inside, it's a completely empty building. Not so much as a shoe rack.

Rufka and Tipan decide it’ll be better if we build the control centre of the tracking array in the living room, mostly to keep from being disrupted as we work. We'll need to put the actual antennas outside, but we're still waiting on most of the components for those, so for the moment we concentrate on the control centre.

As we're working on it, I sigh. "This would be so much easier if we'd just added Pogell as a friend. That's a thing, right? Tracking your friends through the System?"

"It can be. If you have the right equipment," Rufka laughs, gesturing at the array we're building.

"Ha. Right. Guess it wouldn't just work."

"Mum says any Copper could do it pretty easy. It's why she avoids adding anyone. Cept me. But that's cause I'm family."

Before I can respond, Tipan gasps.

When we turn to her, her ears are folded back and her eyes are so focused on the crumpled assembly in her hands, I'm half-expecting it to burst into flames. Or turn into stone.

"Tipan?" I say, not sure if I should reach over. "You okay?"

"Uh. Yeah. I just realized something. Uhm..." she trails off. Then she shakes her head, and looks up to meet our gaze. "I... might... maybe... have been on Ivicka's friend list."

Rufka and I both just stare at her as she continues, almost tripping over her words. "I totally forgot! She's been on my friend's list since I was a little kitten. And I just... we never use it for finding each other, not in my family. And I..."

"Hey, it's okay," I say, deciding that this does indeed call for a shoulder squeeze. "I... I did something similar. Just before I came here."

Tipan calms down as I tell her about my mistake with my mom's joint account. And what a joint account is. Which leads into a whole other discussion about banking and currencies on Earth as we return to work.

And it turns out we have enough components to get the array's base features working, but it has a range of less than twenty meters without the antenna. We end up spending a few hours experimenting with different materials, and Rufka even ties it to the house's shell. Which gets a whopping range of three-hundred meters.

I'm arguing with Josh about the merits of trying to create our own personal radio tower outside town when I feel three tethers suddenly jump much closer. It seems Kellica is back. And she brought Lik'tik and Ael'thani with her. Cutting off the argument with Josh by walking away in the middle of my sentence, I wave to Rufka, who was watching us while petting Smoulder.

"Problem?" Rufka asks with a hint of a smile that she fails to keep off her face.

"Kellica's back," I reply, raising my voice loud enough the others can easily hear.

Soon everyone is waiting on the front porch with me, watching as Kellica approaches. She stands tall, her shoulders square as she gets close. Lik'tik looks the same as always, their mottled skin even now seeking to adjust to the buildings behind them.

On the other hand, Ael’thani seems... jumpy. Her eyes are flicking about, her upper and lower eyes tracking different directions at the same time. And never any one direction for long.

One direction she avoids looking is Kellica's.

"Tel'thoni," Kellica greets, bowing slightly as she reaches the lowest step.

"Hey Kellica, welcome back," I say, waving my hand at three empty folding chairs serving as our patio furniture. Temporary furniture just felt thematically appropriate. Plus, it's a lot comfier than it looks.

"Thank you," Kellica says, taking a seat across from me and Rufka. The others are also here, but they're having their own conversation on the other side of the porch. Kellica acknowledges them with a short wave before turning back to me. "The K'mintar has... given me an unusual task for my Vigil."

"Hah, unusual," Ael'thani huffs, throwing herself into the chair next to Kellica. "Unusual she says."

"She is correct. It is unusual. But many things are unusual," Lik'tik says, inspecting their own chair as if afraid it will collapse if they attempt to sit in it. They decide not to risk it, taking a position at Kellica's shoulder instead.

"Pogell has gone rogue," Kellica says, drawing my attention back to her. "And she has supporters. The Taken are... compromised."

"Many drift from the tenets," Lik'tik says, nodding as if this implies their agreement with Kellica. Which, maybe it does.

"Compromised, huh?" I ask, mostly as acknowledgement.

Drawing in a deep breath, Kellica nods. "And the K'mintar believes it would be best if we can prove our innocence. We are to complete the Vigil by returning a lost outpost to the fold."

"And you're allowed to get help from us?" Rufka asks, crossing her arms as she leans back.

With a short nod, Kellica taps the table as she continues, "I'm allowed to use any personal resources. But Lik'tik and Ael'thani are the only Taken assets I have been permitted."

Ael'thani stops her frantic searching to stare at Kellica for a second but doesn't say anything before looking outward, resuming her scan.

"Okay. So what can we do to help?" I ask, leaning forward.

"There... is an outpost. A training centre. Pogell was last seen heading there before they implemented isolation measures. We need to infiltrate the compound without hurting anyone."

I nod, looking to Rufka before glancing to the others. "Well, I'll help. But why don't we pull the tables together, and you can ask the others."

At my confirmation, Kellica's shoulders slump, a smile sneaking onto her face for the first time since she sat down. "Thank you, Tel’thoni."

I also get a notification, but I ignore it for the moment, waving the others over.

As they're pulling the tables together, I look at the message.

"Quest Received: Upholding the Long Night's Vigil of Eyes. Capture the Taken Agents at Outpost S-232. Rewards: Reduce Citizen Raven Queen's Restoration Timer by thirty-six days (Exclusive to Citizen Pandora). 1 Iron-rank Progression Mark. 1 Copper Mana-Essence."

Well, that's... unexpected.

Welcome, but unexpected.

I'm not surprised when everyone agrees to help. And they do so before I even get a chance to mention the rewards.

We were planning to go after Pogell anyway. When I mention that it'll let us bring Beth back quicker, it doesn't change anything.

Except for the massive surge of relief that passes through us. There's a new fire in Josh as we start planning, even though we decide to do most of it on the way. The outpost is a few hours south of the twisted tree Nexus point where we met Demo, and Kellica wants to leave as soon as possible. After distributing doses of Kellica's paralytic venom to everyone, we depart.

Teleporting everyone is more comfortable than ever with my recent insights into my aura. It allows me to understand exactly how close people need to be to safely teleport them. Which makes it even more embarrassing when we arrive, and Tipan loses a few strands off her mohawk.

I don't think anyone else even notices, but I stare at the tiny divot while checking the boundaries of my teleport against my aura... and it's not totally steady. The top of my aura bubble wavers a bit. Okay. Still need a bit of a safety margin. And to not let Tipan stand at the outer edge. Welp, better hair than a body part.

Even while I'm reflecting on my slightly imperfect teleport, we're already taking to the air and heading south under the cover of Tipan’s wind-aspect. For the first few seconds of our flight, my new compass updates our direction as we fly a few degrees west of south. Glad I can turn it off. I don't need to know what direction we're heading at all times. Least, not yet.

We discuss several plans and approaches, as we get closer, though we won't commit to anything until we can see what we’re dealing with. The outpost is in the middle of the Desert of Drowned Souls, which has some pretty unique flora. Instead of cactuses and other such plants deserts on earth might have, the surface of the desert is covered in thin strands of tough fiber.

The drowned souls are a reference to the noise the desert makes when wind blows over these strings, which Tipan says sounds like a drowning K'tharn. Which apparently sounds like a lot of high-pitched squealing interspersed with low rasping.

When we're just out of sight, Kellica calls a stop. Tipan brings out her map, and Kellica points to a pair of coordinates high above the flat desert. Our team's insertion point. After everyone confirms we know what we're doing, Lik'tik, Josh, Rose and Roberts continue on their southern trajectory. They're going to be the initial point of contact. And if that fails, they'll serve as a distraction. Looking up, I do my best to approximate where Kellica was pointing.

Once everyone is in formation, I teleport us above the outpost. It's perfectly visible from here, though I was off by a few hundred metres. Zooming in, I inspect our target. It's a squat ugly stone building, thrown together like the earth mage responsible was offended by having to put it here. There isn't a single artistic flourish. I'm almost offended.

When I unzoom, I'm reminded just how high we are. We're a couple kilometers up, but with a sphere of wind mana around us, it isn't even uncomfortable. For a second, I forget about our mission and look into the sky... I wonder just how high I could get? Then the others shift around me, Lik’tik approaching the gate.

It's go time.

We drop towards the outpost, most of the guards hidden from sight. The few who are visible are reacting to Lik'tik already. They're talking to him, which makes me wonder if we might not need-

And they just attacked him.

As Lik’tik avoids the sudden blast of fire and lightning, I teleport us a few hundred meters closer, bypassing the shimmer of the shield protecting the outpost. I'm thankful it's not a Stronghold, or my little trick might not have worked.

Soon as we're inside the shield, we shoot out dozens of small metal wire fragments. Small projectiles coated in Kellica's paralytic venom. The same venom Pogell used on Tipan and Beth. Similar to how Pogell used his webs to bypass Health, the metal strands are small enough they shouldn’t do more than tickle. Which makes them harder to aim. So we’re making up for poor accuracy by using a lot more of them. A paralyzing shotgun.

The guards attacking Lik’tik collapse under the assault, as do the ones who were waiting behind them. A second barrier pops up, closing off access to the interior. But it's a barrier of barely reinforced stone. When I get closer, I can see where it’s weak, and it only slows us a little. With Kellica and I combining our efforts, we break through the copper-rank walls in less than a minute.

"Okay, we're inside. Three minutes to take full control," Kellica says, the first words any of us have breathed since we started. We split up, Kellica heading towards the command centre of the hub with Ael'thani to prevent the outpost from destroying itself.

Smoulder and I go towards the trainee quarters while Rufka and Tipan move towards the entrance to ensure all the guards who were hit with the first wave of attacks are down. And that none of them are in danger from the sudden assault.

There are a few Taken coming down the stairs from the shielded quarters, but a flick of my wrist has Kellica's metal shards in their necks before they can blink...

I think I'm going to need more of this paralytic.

It'd be nice to have such a safe and easy way to disable people. It doesn't even care about how much Health they have, just their Focus. It helps that it basically punches up a level, doing enough Focus damage that a Copper-Rank can't take more than a couple hits. Unlike Pogell, I make sure none of the K'tharn are at risk of being injured, setting them back in their beds before moving on.

Smoulder and I complete our sweep with two minutes and twelve seconds left. We're back at the stairs when a loud 'wuff' echoes up from below.

That... wasn't part of the plan.

4.42, I’ll Show you a Sacred Tool

2:20 pm, local time. (August 13, 2023, 5:20 pm.) Ominous wuff-o-clock.

It takes me less than two seconds to make it to the central room using quick teleport-hops. My party screen tells me that Rufka and Tipan are safe. So, I follow the Tether towards Kellica, rapidly teleporting through the outpost until I'm outside the command centre. Ael'thani is climbing to her feet, but Kellica is on the far side of the wall, separated from us.

I reach through to the tether, and the connection feels... frazzled. Deciding not to risk a group teleport, I use Kellica as a jump point, and move inside, Pausing the second I appear.

Kellica is on the ground, fully enclosed in her metal form with a burly K'tharn atop her. Several of the little nubs of metal we've been using to knock people out are sticking out of the second K'tharn's fur.

Guess she's immune to their effects. Which means she's probably a venom classer too. A quick analysis confirms she is, and that her name is Petra. Her mouth is frozen open in a nearly silent scream, which I ignore as I direct metal bracers to form around her wrists and ankles.

When Pause ends, I yoink her up. I can feel her contesting my control but a quick use of Anchor shows that she's not breaking out right away.

While I'm holding Petra in the air, Kellica quickly flips to her feet. She spares Petra a glance but runs forward to a stone block in the centre of the room. The second she lays her hand on it, a pulse shoots out.

"Self-destruct deactivated. Communications re-established," Kellica breathes out as our quest pings with a completion. Then she glances at me, "Any casualties?"

"Not on our end," I reply, having already been informed through party chat that none of the entrance guards had been hurt. "No sign of Pogell though."

The venom classer, a knight of all things, manages to get one of her hands to swing forward at that, and I look towards her. "Petra, right?" I ask, stepping closer. "Any chance you know where Pogell has gone?"

Petra just glowers in response, struggling against her bonds.

"You know, I never asked, what are you guys doing out here anyway?" I direct this question toward Kellica, stepping around Petra to look at the controls. But she's talking to the K'mintar through the console. I think. I don't actually know who she's talking to.

This question Petra deigns to answer, which is nice of her. "This is a training facility. You put my doshni in harm's way without even knowing you were coming to a school. If so much as a hair on their heads is out of place, I'll-"

"That's enough of that," I say, muffling the sound of her threats with a sphere of wind. Her concerns are understandable. And honestly if the guards hadn't attacked, we wouldn’t have invaded by force.

"Vaus-damned burner," Ael'thani says as she steps into the room. Then with a glance towards Kellica, she grimaces. "I mean, Vaus-damned Zanbia-fucker."

I... is she trying to be nice towards Kellica?

Deciding we have more important things to focus on, I ask, "Did you find any sign of Pogell?"

"Yeah, he was here. She said as much before going ballistic on Kellica," Ael'thani replies, nodding her head in the direction of Petra. "What even was that?" She asks, though this time she's looking at Petra.

"She... uh, can't hear you. Wind sphere," I say even as I drop the effect. Which leads to the room quickly being filled with more of Petra's ranting.

"Hey, you, shut-up!" Ael'thani yells at Petra, which earns her a glare, but does get our prisoner to quiet down. "What in Astra's name was that traitor doing here?"

"Pogell is no traitor. She serves the true will of the Weavers," Petra replies, attempting to spit on Ael'thani. But I catch it and send it straight back home.

While Petra chokes on her own spit, I turn to Ael'thani. "Ever heard of the Weavers before? I mean, I know about Reapers. And Reavers. And the Thenite… well, lots of factions, actually. But this one is new. Is it related to the Taken?"

"It's another name for Reapers. Specifically, their bio-weavers," Ael'thani replies, glaring at Petra. "One of the threats we're supposed to be protecting the Aetherium from."

"Damn. You guys really suck at your job then," I say, while looking back at where Petra is finally recovering. "Their influence seems to keep popping up everywhere."

"Hey!" Ael'thani protests, turning her glare on me.

I just raise an eyebrow in response, waving at the floating Petra. I don't even bother mentioning the whole Ivicka incident. Partially cause we haven't told anyone about the Reaper involvement there. Considering the System was ready to wipe out the entire planet at the hint of one being present, we've kept our Reaper discussions to a minimum.

As Ael'thani glances at Petra, she grimaces again. "Okay, you're right. But that's not really my fault. I've only been out of training for a few weeks."

"Just saying," I reply, looking towards Kellica who's finally finishing whatever she was doing on the console. "So?"

"Pogell was here. This giant heap of Zanbia dung gave her full access to the capital's network. She's gone to Aethire," Kellica says, then before I can register exactly what she's doing, Kellica spins towards Petra.

A spike now protrudes from Petra's chest, and she starts gasping.

"What the fuck?" I say, stepping forward to pull the spike out, only to be stopped by Kellica's hand.

"It's required to subdue her. As a venom mage, she can't be brought to the K'mintar without being drained first," Kellica says, waving at the spike. As if in answer, blue dust starts emanating from the end of the spike, filling the air before fading away. Almost instantly, Petra stops struggling against the shackles I've been using to hold her in place.

"You failed to mention that you needed to drive the mana-spike into her chest when we were going over the plan," I grouse, but hold off any further objections. She had mentioned that she might need to use the mana-spike if the venom mage wasn't cooperative, but still...

"I... may have been feeling a little spiteful," Kellica admits, looking at Petra. "She always insisted that being isolated from the others was a good thing. And that we deserved the insults."

Oh. I never even thought about... of course Kellica would know the venom mage trainer personally. "Not a great mentor, then."

"No, Tel’thoni. Not great," Kellica says, shaking her head before turning away from Petra. "The K'mintar has declared our Vigil a success. And as a reward has made me team leader. We’re to report to Aethire as soon as possible. She has warned me that you Outlanders and Rufka are tagged, however. There have been... riots. And the ministers are placing the blame on your shoulders."

"I'm going with you," Tipan says from the doorway, where Rufka is standing just behind her. "The ministers won't be able to declare me a criminal without invoking my father's wrath. And if Pogell still has my book..."

"I take it that means you didn't find it," I state more than ask, turning towards Petra. "How about you? Did you see Pogell with a book?"

Petra's eyes light up, though not in a magical way. No, it's far creepier than that. Those are the eyes of a believer. "Yes. Pogell was here with the sacred text. The work of the Weavers was open to her, though it remained concealed to my unworthy eyes."

"Don't suppose she left it behind?" I ask, not expecting her to answer.

"Why would the prophet leave behind her most sacred tool?" Petra asks, twisting to stare at me as if I was the crazy one here. Which, fair.

"Yeah, didn't think so," I reply, shrugging at Tipan.

She and Kellica start talking about where to go.

"I'm coming too," I decide, "Might need to keep..."

Rufka is shaking her head, a sad smile on her face. "Mum set up those defences. If we're tagged users, we'll be caught in seconds. Unless we want to fight our way through, we're not going to be able to return."

"I... that's stupid," I grumble crossing my arms. Smoulder, who was contemplating the floating Petra notices my grouching and gives up on her task to comfort me instead. "Well, at least I can teleport you to Betheryne. Save you travel time."

"Oh. That'll work out great. Mum's there, and you can take her to the K'mintar," Rufka adds, nodding.

"How are we on the no-go list but your mum isn't?" I grumble.

"She left herself a backdoor so she can ignore it," Rufka replies, as if it's obvious.

"And... couldn't she do the same for us?" I ask, staring at my thiani while pulling her away from the others.

"Uh? Probably? But I know she didn't include me cause..." as Rufka trails off, she turns to the side, her ears laying back.

"Cause?" I press, squeezing her shoulder to let her know she doesn't have to answer despite my curiosity.

"Cause I wandered off when I was a cub, and she used the network to track me down. And decided it would be best if it always worked," Rufka admits with a low grumble.

I can't help but blink a couple times before I start laughing. The others look over at us, but I wave them off.

"Okay then. We can't go into Aethire until your mum fixes the network or they rescind our crime-lord status," I squint upwards at the plain stone roof. "Guess that means we're back to building the tracking array. If it points to Aethire... well, I guess we'll need you guys to deal with it."

"Mum'll help," Rufka says, squeezing my shoulder. "She's very anti-slavery."

"You do remember that we found her working in shackles, right?" I ask, amused despite myself.

"Bah, those were decorative," Rufka disagrees, scrunching up her face. "She wasn't any more held than I was last-"

Clamping a hand over Rufka's mouth, I nod. "I get it."

She smiles through my hand, but otherwise remains silent.

"Tel'thoni, if you're ready?" Kellica says, stepping forward with the other Taken and Tipan behind her.

"Don't do anything too crazy. I know Genitha is powerful, but she gets distracted," I say even as I wave everyone in. Including Petra, who Kellica keeps held in one hand.

Then we teleport to the Nexus point in the Builder's city of Betheryne. I'm half expecting the mini-minotaur to be waiting for us, but instead we arrive in an empty courtyard beneath the silver control spire. I feel an irrational burst of annoyance that there's a fully functional tower right here but press it down. Besides... maybe I can scan it and we can copy it in Burnesq. Though it would probably require large amounts of enchanting.

Bah.

Genitha is having drinks with the mini-taur when we arrive. And dancing. There's ghostly music playing, and the Geral's feet rest on Genitha's thighs as they move about in a dance that reminds me somehow of that time mom got us both ballet lessons. Except they have the grace that me and mom utterly lacked. Same amount of stepping on each other though.

We all wait in silence until they finish, at which point there's a light round of applause from us earthlings. And Rufka.

Then we're updating Genitha and she's saying goodbye to Geral.

As I'm giving hugs to Tipan and Kellica, Genitha steps forward. "What no hug for your thiani's mother?"

I glance at Rufka, and she gives me a small nod. So I step forward and give Genitha a hug. Which she turns into a tight squeeze, while whispering, "You take care of my kitten, understand?"

I find myself nodding as Genitha moves on, giving Rufka a tight hug. Something about the way she said that has me frowning. As Rufka comes up next to me, throwing her arm over my shoulder, she asks, "What's wrong?"

Before I can answer, Genitha calls out, waving goodbye to us before teleporting away with Tipan and the Taken.

I stare at the empty spot for a moment before turning to Rufka to answer. Which is when Josh asks, "So, back to Glimmering Sands? Or do we go to Raz's? Beth kept waffling between them as respawn points."

Oh. I forgot. Looking at my notification, I confirm that Beth's cooldown has been reset.

Beth is back.

After a minute of discussion, we decide to return to Glimmering Sands. If Beth revived in Raz's, she can always return here. When we arrive in Glimmering Sands and there's no sign of her near the Nexus point, I check access to Raz's. But it's not available, a countdown saying it'll be back in range in twelve hours. And there’s no messages yet.

Even more reason to think Beth is at Raz's.

Still, Josh and Rose aren't arguing about TV. Or anything else. We're all quiet as we move to the inn. Peme greets us with a giant smile, and soon has a warm meal ready. My mind returns to Genitha's strange request before teleporting away.

"Rufka, is there any reason your mum might be worried about meeting the K'mintar?" I ask, pulling her back from joining the game of Astra's Stride Roberts suggests after dinner. An attempt to distract Josh and Rose, I think.

"No, why?" Rufka asks, her eyes drifting towards where they're pulling out the board and placing the pieces.

A small smile tugs at my lips for a moment before a frown replaces it. "She asked me to take care of you before she left."

This manages to get Rufka's attention, and she turns to look at me with just her lower eyes. "What did she say, exactly?"

I repeat Genitha's words for her and Rufka half-jumps out of her chair as she spits out, "Ukila above, mum. You promised!"

"What did she promise?" I ask, suddenly worried. And not just for Genitha. Tipan and Kellica are with her.

"That she wouldn't..." Rufka trails off, her eyes closing as she settles back into the chair. "Vaus take me. This is my fault."

"I still don't know what you're talking about," I point out, starting to feel a little annoyed.

"We're going after the Aetherium. Maybe not directly, but this Fallen thing? That's being controlled by one of the ministers, no doubt about it," Rufka says, leaning back in the chair as she stares upward. "And we're enemies of the state. Mum's gonna confront them. Maybe the K'mintar. Maybe the council. And she's planning to spend her life to do so. At least twice."

"You're sure?" I ask, suddenly feeling much more worried. I can still feel the tether connecting me to Genitha and the others. I could Focus on them and see what they're doing. Maybe even teleport into the city in time to get Tipan out.

"No," Rufka admits, taking a lot of the wind out of my sails. "I don't know what she's doing. Because she didn't tell me. Again."

"I can check," I say, though I hesitate. It's been a while since I last looked through someone's eyes. Maybe it'd be better to send a message to Tipan through the Nexus.

"Please," Rufka says, squeezing my hand.

I nod, discarding my previous train of thought when I see her worry. When I attempt to Focus on Genitha, there's resistance. My Focus starts draining rapidly, but I can't seem to stabilize a connection. So, I take a breath, then switch to Tipan. This time, I'm able to connect almost instantly.

When I make the connection, Tipan stumbles, but she looks around, then whispers, "Lexi?"

I nod, then realizing how silly that is, I say, "Yes."

Back in my real body, I can barely feel Rufka squeeze my hand. Which surprises me. I didn't have any sense of my body when I did this last.

Instead of speaking, Tipan gives a subtle nod as she walks behind Genitha and Kellica down an ornate marble hall. The walls have bright tapestries hung along the walls, with detailed busts carved out of gold. Wherever they are, it's as ostentatious as any mansion I've seen on TV.

When they get to the end of the hall, they're stopped by a pair of guards who are more shadow than visible form. Their crossed swords are visible enough though.

"I'm here to see the K'mintar," Genitha says, her voice flat and cold. "Liz is expecting me."

The guards hesitate, but after a second, they pull their swords back, one of them pushing the door open with a shadow-dappled arm. Pretty sure they could've just used magic, but I'm starting to suspect a lot of people do things physically for the ceremony of it.

"You're meeting the K'mintar already?" I ask, and I can feel Rufka squeezing my hand again. I must be speaking in my real body as well.

Tipan nods again but remains silent as they step into a room that looks half-office and half-armory. At the desk set against one wall, is one of the shortest K'tharn I've ever seen. She's almost as small as a pu'shaha. Her brilliant orange and red fur purge any hope of her going unnoticed though. At least, not without magic.

When Genitha enters, the small K'tharn turns towards her, the beads woven in her brace of short braids clattering.

"Of course, you choose to visit now," the K'mintar grunts, pushing her chair back. "And did you really have to put little Kellica through two weeks with your daughter?"

I feel Tipan suppress a snort, and I can't help but share her amusement at this diminutive K'tharn referring to Kellica as little when she's at least two heads shorter.

"You know that those weeks were good for her," Genitha replies, crossing her arms and glaring at the K'mintar. "And my visit wouldn't be as ill-timed if not for the traitor in your midst."

"Yes, yes, unpleasantness for all of us. Did you bring it?" the K'mintar asks.

"Bring what?" I can't help but ask, and Tipan gives a small shrug. Not that I expected her to know.

"Of course. I promised, didn't I?" Genitha replies, handing over an ornate box of white wood and gold filigree. The K'mintar opens the box, takes a deep breath, then smiles before closing it and putting it on the crowded desk behind her. Despite Tipan tilting her head and closing her upper eyes to focus better, she's unable to catch what's in the box.

"Now that, that's dealt with, we just have the matter of the-"

The door slams open, making Tipan jump slightly. Not enough I would've seen it, but enough I definitely felt it. Doesn't help that her boobs are apparently very bouncy. Does she use magic to keep them from visibly bouncing? Smart.

"K'mintar," one of the guards interrupts my thoughts about Tipan's breasts. "Someone has breached the cells."

The short K'tharn, doesn't hesitate. Faster than Tipan can track, she disappears. When Tipan turns to Genitha, it turns out she's gone too. Kellica is standing there with her mouth open, and Tipan steps forward, grabbing her by the shoulder. "What's going on? What cells?"

Tipan's question shakes Kellica out of her stupor. "The stasis cells. Where we keep the prisoners the council declares too dangerous to be allowed free."

"What? You keep prisoners here?" Tipan asks, following as Kellica finally starts moving.

"No. Not here, they're in a complex-"

Whatever Kellica was going to say is lost as something washes over them, shattering the connection. The last thing I see is a blue tinge.

4.43, There's Always Another Bug

A note from Draith

Tiny edit:

Added tattoo description. Chapter 4.37

"Didn't expect it to hurt," I shrug, tracing my hand over the simple braided chain that now encircles my leg. "And it only kind of tingles now."

July 29, 2023, 11:03 am. Two weeks earlier.

Tipan watched as Alexis and Rufka cuddled together, unbothered by the rolling waves while looking out over the rolling ocean. She fought down a surge of envy but reminded herself that it was only for another few days. Then she wouldn't be stuck on this horrible deathtrap that threatened to upend her lunch at every unexpected swell.

Shit, shit, shit. Do not want to be going through her memory at a time like this.

Kellica came onto deck, and as if planned, Rufka split off from Alexis, moving to join her. Tipan felt a wave of relief when Lexi waved at her. They'd be able to read soon. Even now, Tipan didn't trust herself to read alone. Without Lexi's steadying presence, she was worried she'd get drawn in, and forget that the voice wasn't actually Ivicka.

As Alexis came over, Tipan constrained herself, giving a polite nod instead of grabbing the girl's arm and dragging her downstairs.

"You want to take another crack at the book?" Lexi asked.

Wait, do I really sound like that? Oh my god.

"If you'd be so inclined," Tipan replied, instead of screaming out 'of course, you lovely fool'.

"Cool, I think I've figured out how to constrain my aura," Lexi said, leading the way as Tipan fought down the urge to shake her head, though she wasn't able to suppress her smile.

Huh. Yeah, can't believe I was so cheerful about that. Boyza was I wrong.

Tipan joined Alexis in the room that Beth had sequestered for this purpose. Once she put up the mana-blocking stand, Tipan took a breath of relief. The motion of the boat wasn't as bad when she couldn't feel the sudden changes in mana that clashed with the boat's actual movements.

Lexi was already seated in the corner, slouched against the wall instead of the crossed legs she sometimes preferred. A soft smile tugged at Tipan's lips, and she suppressed the urge to reach over and ruffle her friend's hair.

Then she drew out The Book. It had been getting harder to go without reading it. Without hearing her sister's voice. With Sel'dast in one ear, and Ivicka in the other... it almost felt like they were a family again.

As Tipan opened it to the first locked passage, running her finger along the text, the low rumble that was Ivicka sounded in her ears, "Welcome back sister. Where were we? Ah, yes."

A tear threatened to form, but Tipan whisked it away with a small burst of fire. She'd heard the words before; it wasn't her sister. Not really. Not like Sel’dast. But it felt so similar…

"My mistake was in thinking that Folthka could be trusted to know what she was doing. Merging two cores. The next stage of K'tharn development, she promised. It was... I was… less confused those days. More myself."

Tipan took a deep breath. Similar pauses happened at times. Sometimes Ivicka would shift tone suddenly. After discussing it with Sel’dast, they were sure these were interruptions to whatever recording process Ivicka had used.

This pause wasn't like that though. This was just their sister being lost in thought.

"I was more myself, but I was more a fool too. Do not be like me, sister. Don't let them use you," Ivicka said, her conviction sending a thrill up Tipan's spine. "The merging of our cores seemed to work perfectly, at first. I had access to a second Resource. With Storm and Swagger, I felt like twice the K'tharn."

A long sigh, and Tipan moved to the next section of the book. Running her finger down it, ignoring the revealed text as their sister's voice continued. "It turned out, I really was twice the K'tharn. I first realized something was wrong when I was going to spend an afternoon with you, then the next thing I knew, I was on the southside of Aethire, holding some K'tharn I didn't even know by the throat. I almost miss those days. At least then..."

"It took her three months before her voice started influencing my waking thoughts. And when she took control... I saw everything. And now… my moments of clarity are fading. More and more, I am a passenger. This... this is the only time she doesn't fight me, a recording I’ll never give you. And she only allows it because she knows it's pointless. After all, this is her most prized possession. You'd have to kill us to get this book."

Well, that... kinda happened.

Tipan squeezed her eyes shut and glanced over at Lexi. Tipan had been there when it happened. She’d seen the horror in Lexi's eyes when she'd realized what she'd done to Ivicka. Tipan hadn't been able to hold it against her friend. Sel’dast had been harder to convince, but Tipan had won her over.

Wow. Uhm, thanks Tipan.

Tipan held her hand away from the text. The next passage would be hard to hear. But the way the records worked, she had to listen through them in order. Either that or they'd restart. Tipan considered restarting again. Some of the earlier messages were Ivicka reminiscing about memories from their childhood. They were special moments.

"Ah, the sister," the voice that wasn't Ivicka said, making Tipan's spine shiver.

She once more glanced to the side where Lexi sat, her face scrunched up in concentration. A small smile tugged at Tipan's lips as she firmed her resolve and continued running her finger down the text. "I've decided these messages should serve a purpose. If, for some reason, this book does pass into your hands, who better to ensure my mission continues. After all, your sister has been so useful."

Twice, Tipan had closed the book at this point, restarting the messages. But she owed it to Ivicka to find out everything she could. So, Tipan moved to the next section, running her finger down the text.

"Good. A good student. Now, I believe proper introductions are in order. My name is Jethico. Though you likely know me as the great Empress."

Tipan shuddered as the voice continued to speak, extolling her own virtues. Because she did know who Jethico was. She was Uthica's aunt, the one who remained to rule the Aetherium after Uthica left. She was the start of the lies Tipan had held close all her life.

With one last glance at Lexi, Tipan straightened her shoulders and returned her attention to the book. She'd get everything she could out of it. And then she'd tell Lexi everything. But first... first she had to know.

She had to know the truth.

8:33 pm, local time. (August 14, 2023, 2:33 am.)

I snap back to my body, and I know that less than a second has passed since I was in the K'mintar's office, viewing everything through Tipan's eyes. The playback hasn't cost me any time.

"Your mum was visiting the K'mintar, just like planned. But something happened in... the cells? And my tethers..." I attempt to find the tethers leading to the others, but they're gone. "I can't feel them!"

"The cells?" Rufka asks, squinting while pulling back. "I feel like mum's mentioned something about Taken cells but..."

"They're stasis chambers, for storing dangerous prisoners," I say, looking towards the other table. Raising my voice, I call, "We need to get that tracking array online. Come on."

The others look over at me, but I'm already moving. Vethel said the rest of the parts would be coming in tomorrow. But there's another source of parts, and they should be done using them.

With a plan in mind, I set off through town, jogging as I grumble about the stronghold's restriction on flight and all-out running. On the plus side, it makes it easy for Rufka and Smoulder to catch up to me.

"Uhm, the array is that way," Rufka notes, pointing south towards the house where we're building the array.

"Yep. But we need the rest of the parts first," I say, my eyes locking on the spire in the distance.

"Oh... oh, yeah, that could work," Rufka agrees, nodding as we run up to the former Fallen's compound.

There are groups of K'tharn around, slightly scruffy but leagues better than they were before.

As I scan for Trellani or Thetilda, a K'tharn ducks into a hut. Which I notice is already looking a lot better than it was, with a few artistic flourishes over the entrance. A moment later, Trellani emerges from the same hut. She turns towards us with a smile as we approach, and I nod my head in the direction of the Cleansing chamber. "Any chance I could borrow some parts?"

Trellani frowns, but as I explain the situation, her eyes light up. "Of course, we'll help." Then, before I can explain we just need a few parts, Trellani starts calling orders.

I share the actual list with her before she tears the whole spire apart. But she tells me it'll have to be rebuilt from scratch anyway. Which means I get to watch in bemusement as several K'tharn come over and help Trellani break the spire down.

Less than five minutes after we walked into camp, Trellani is nodding in satisfaction. "Lead the way."

Turning, I start off at a jog back towards the house, a trail of K’tharn behind us. Roberts is waiting on the steps when I arrive, his chin resting on interwoven fingers as he surverys the entourage following us. "You think this will be enough?"

"I do," I reply as we make our way up the steps.

"Very well," Roberts says, holding the door open for the following K'tharn.

I share the schematic with Trellani, and she directs the accompanying K'tharn to drop off the needed parts, then shoos them away. I note Roberts stopping one of them, Cristha, and taking her to the side.

The next hour is spent with Rufka and Trellani calling back and forth while I help where I can. Josh and Rose are standing nearby, watching, but no longer underfoot since they almost set off a cascading failure.

Do not mix tea, or any mana-infused liquids, with high-yield enchanting tools. Not unless you’re doing it on purpose.

Finally, the array is complete. However, the only focus we have for it is the quest one.

"It's fine. We can use that to test it, then Rufka can put in something personal that's tied to her mum," Trellani reassures us as she settles the focus in place.

"I... just what level enchanter are you?" Rufka asks, squinting at Trellani.

"Didn't your mum ever tell you it's not polite to ask an Enchanter her tier?" Trellani laughs as she makes another adjustment.

"I didn't ask... you're copper?" Rufka sounds shocked. And I don't blame her. Trellani's not copper ranked according to her status. Or... at least, I don't think she is. It's not like my analysis tells me anyone's tier. But her stats are all lower than ours.

"Hmm. Could be," Trellani replies before asking for another tool, adjusting the focus until it starts glowing. "Okay, let's try it out."

When she activates the controls, there's no fancy effect like with the cleansing chamber. Instead, the interface just lists off a few numbers.

"Oh... it's going to take a few minutes to calibrate," Trellani says, frowning at the display. Then she turns around, looking over everyone. After a second, she steps forward, holding her hand out to Roberts, who has just returned from his visit with Cristha. "I don't think we've been introduced."

Roberts chuckles as he takes the time to introduce not just himself, but Josh and Rose as well. When she shakes Rose's hand, her grip lingers as she looks him up and down, her eyes narrowing.

Then there's a ping from the console and we all return to the tracking array.

"Okay. So... this is... hmm, that's weird. It's across the river?" Trellani says, squinting at the readout. I look at the coordinates and recognize them from when we crossed the river earlier. They're in the empty Builder's City. "Hold on, I'll go make sure the antenna's adjusted correctly."

As she leaves, I trade a look with Roberts and Rufka. I don't know why the control module might be there, but I suspect Trellani isn't going to find anything wrong.

Still, we let her run a diagnostic, then we run it again and the results come up the same. We put that discovery off for the moment, as Rufka places her mother's locket in the machine.

Trellani explains the adjustments she's making, and how it relies on the intrinsic System link between a mother and daughter. Rufka gets excited as they continue, yet all I'm able to confirm is that this will probably work. And it'll probably destroy Rufka's locket in the process.

"Okay, only gonna get one... maybe two chances at this," Trellani says once they have the locket in place. There's an entire second set of enchantments holding it in position, all forged from metal summoned by Rufka.

"My mum would love to talk to you," Rufka says, as she double checks the enchantments.

"Sure. I love talking about enchanting," Trellani replies, her hands hovering over the controls. "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's find her," Rufka replies.

Again, there's almost no noticeable result. Other than the small string of coordinates.

"That's not in Aethire," I say, and I realize that my Explorer subclass is helping me pinpoint the location. "It's... in Betheryne?"

Rufka is nodding as Roberts claps his hands. "Makes sense. Free security and close to the Aetherium."

"Kay, gather round. Thanks for the help Trellani," I say. Technically, I'm supposed to use the Nexus for teleporting out of the city. But since we have Vethel's support, I'm sure she'll forgive us this little indiscretion.

"Yeah, no prob-" I don't catch the last of her words as I whisk everyone away to Betheryne.

Turning, I place the rough location of the coordinates in comparison to my mental map of Betheryne. They're on the opposite side of the city from where Folthka's lab was. I lead the way, flying over the city’s neat stone buildings. Our destination appears to be a low domed structure, with several tiered gardens along the sides.

When I get closer, I see the entrance has been blown in.

"Looks like the right place," Roberts observes, his barrier armor shimmering into place as we land.

"Me and Roberts first," Josh says, as Petals fold into place over his head. "Assault formation JR."

Rose and I move to the middle while Rufka takes the rear. Then we move inside. I'm throwing out thin webs of Facet, hoping to catch the edge of anyone hidden within. Immediately inside the door, I get a response. Buried under a collapsed wall is the battered form of Lik'tik.

"Alive," Roberts says, energy flowing out of him as Lik'tik's wounds heal beneath his touch. "And they're stable. They’ll be unconscious for a few minutes."

Nodding, I motion us forward. We make it another two halls, following the destruction before we find Ael'thani and Kellica flanking a staircase. Neither of them appear injured, and I retether to both.

"What's happening?" I ask, startling Kellica enough she bounces against the wall.

When she sees us, she sags for a second then straightens out. "Unknown forces have breached the lower cells. The K'mintar ordered us to remain here. Tipan..."

Her eyes drift down the stairs, and the meaning is clear enough. Tipan followed them. Or worse.

"Got it. I'm going to get her. Alone," I say, turning to Rufka to stop her from objecting. But she just nods. Then she points to Smoulder's pocket with a smile. I smile back, adding, "Okay, not totally alone."

"You know it's dangerous down there, right? The K'mintar doesn't think she'll be safe," Ael'thani asks, looking at me like I'm... well, like I'm me.

"Yeah, and Tipan's down there. Be right back," I say, channelling Pause as I throw myself down the stairs.

As I come around the bottom step, I dodge an errant spike of metal, a twisting silver-grey shard the size of my arm. It impales the wall and keeps going. Flicking my attention back to the hall, I spot a flash of red fur as it crosses a distant hall. Then I see a flash of white.

I tag them both with tethers before moving forward. Another shard of metal emerges, and I realize there's some sort of wolfadillo in the hall, nearly perfectly blended with the collapsed stone. But it's twisted, the face half the size it should be compared to the oversized body. A quick analysis reveals that it's an immortal mana-warped wolfadillo. Its physical resistance is listed as infinite.

And it’s standing over Tipan.

So, I do what any totally rational person who isn't terrified for their friend would do. I teleport next to it, then wrap half of it in my aura and teleport blindly ten kilometers up.

It slices cleanly, and I teleport upward again, carrying my half of the wolfadillo with me.

This time, the air is too thin. Even the mana is thin.

I'm not even sure how high I am. But it's high enough Akilo doesn't seem to be getting closer. And the air in my lungs is fighting against my increased Strength to try and escape.

I don't wait for it to get worse, locking onto Tipan's tether and using it to return to the action. Since I’m diving straight in, I activate Anchor the second I reappear.

My first loop, I get smashed to the side by something I don't even see.

The second time, I duck, and discover the wolfadillo had a friend. The chitinous form of Pogell is standing in front of me, bereft of his fur. Except... analysis says it's not him. It's another Malkog. This one wields a pair of thick blades of dark blood.

I don't use the third loop of my Anchor, ending the ability early. Ducking again, I lash out at the unknown Malkog with a combination Torrent of metal and fire.

It's more effective than I expected, the molten metal trapping him in place as he screams.

His scream is cut short a second later as the K'mintar removes his head from his shoulders. She nods in my direction as I blanche. A quick turn reveals an uninjured Tipan next to me. She pulls me into a brief hug, which I return before pushing her away. "Tipan, we should-"

Tipan nods, then dashes after the K'mintar.

"Not what I was going to say," I hiss as I teleport after her. As she takes her third step, she transforms into a being of wind. Then two of them, as Sel’dast manifests. Between that and the rate they’re moving, I don't feel comfortable teleporting her.

I follow, making sure Smoulder is awake and ready to move. We round another corner, and I immediately Pause before I've finished flying out.

Which is great, cause it lets me blast Tipan to the side, preventing both of us from being bisected by a.... razor sharp cog?

Down the corridor is another of the Malkog, this one wearing a suit of gears. A quick scan reveals this guy's a cog-knight. I'm reluctant to trap him in place after what the K'mintar did to the last one. But then he shoots another blade in our direction. Two, while we're in Pause. And those things look sharp.

I return fire with a full set of Piercing arrows while pulling Tipan down with me. Then the Pause ends, and she gusts forward, slamming the cog-knight into the ceiling. The K'mintar ends this one's life as fast as the first, beheading him while he's still plastered to the ceiling.

"Tipan!" I yell, my frustration mounting. I don't even know what's happening here, other than the obvious fight for our lives. "What's going on?"

"They're trying to break out a Reaper!" Tipan yells back and my blood goes cold. Why hasn't the System gone off?

Instead of questioning, I inform the others of the stakes. And I override the K'mintar's orders. I want my friends here. Hopefully we can stop them without more...

But neither Tipan nor the K'mintar are waiting around, already moving deeper into the compound. "Where's Genitha?"

"Dead," Tipan snarls, and the answer almost causes me to stop in shock.

"I... what?" I can't help but ask but Tipan is already around the corner. The next corner is another set of stairs, and when I reach the bottom, I see collapsed rubble filling the entire hall. There are several dead corpses and another of the Malkog. This one is already missing both arms but hasn't collapsed yet. It hisses at the K'mintar, but that's its last action, the K'mintar driving one of its lost arms through its head. "What do you mean Genitha's dead?"

"Pogell was waiting for us. He knocked us all out, they killed Genitha before..." Tipan trails off as she and the K’mintar start moving again. "Anyway, Pogell extracted the location from the K'mintar's mind. But then a pulse of energy hit Genitha’s body and triggered some sort of failsafe, which included an explosion. Which disrupted the paralysis."

"And now we need to stop them before they destroy Akilo," The K'mintar adds, slowing before dashing across a ruined section of hall. She stops a second later, looking into a side alcove like dozens we've already passed. She nods at us, spinning around the corner.

Before she's finished stepping out, I've Paused time, and am moving across the opening. Pogell is at the far end, a web of thin strands blocking the entrance. He's working at a console. I see sparks from it even as I teleport past his hallway of webs.

But then... time passes. I watch it as though I'm stuck outside, my time sense telling me that 7.32 seconds will pass before I'm able to return to the flow.

In that time, the K'mintar comes around the corner, slashing down at the webs. They oblige her, snapping. And triggering an explosion that knocks her and Tipan away.

Rufka and Roberts appear atop the rubble, Roberts already moving to Tipan. Rufka is a blazing ball of plasma, and suddenly the hallway is filled with burning light. Then she reaches Pogell, and her form is sucked into a cube at his feet.

I can see singe marks on his chitin.

A shudder passes through the tunnel, and Rose throws up earthen pillars, keeping the roof from coming down. Josh joins him, a thin layer of roots wrapping the earth and reinforcing it.

Then Pogell makes a high-pitched cry, and the blank wall in front of him shimmers and reveals a creature of black chitin. While it could be said to resemble the Malkog, that would be like saying a killer whale resembles a guppy.

It is four meters of pure lethality, glistening arms ending in claws that look like they can pierce steel, a maw of equally nasty looking teeth and dark ridges in place of its eyes. I can practically feel the malice rolling off it in waves.

And it’s not even standing up.

Then I'm back in the flow of time, right as this horror wakes up.

I Pause as its arm reaches out, grabbing Pogell.

And snaps his neck.

A note from Draith

Thanks LostAncilla for the amazing review!

4.44, Not Ugly Enough to Save

11:10 pm, local time. (August 14, 2023, 2:10 am.) Too late to save Pogell. Too early to care.

The beast, the Reaper, draws Pogell towards its jagged mouth as I push myself away while I consider my next course of action.

I don't want to scan it, since that could bring the System down on us. Instead, I release a series of pierce arrows, just to test if it has any obvious weaknesses. The way my arrows leave only the tiniest of blemishes on its shell makes me want to frown.

That's not System resistance.

Even as my spells hit it, it lifts Pogell to its mouth, and three lashing tongues emerge. They tear apart his shell like he's made of paper. Even as Pogell is serving as this thing's first meal, I reach the hallway. I can't just run.

I note Roberts helping the K'mintar up. That's good. We're probably going to-

The effect keeping Rufka in the cube ends, and a brilliant ball of plasma erupts in the Reaper's face. It stuns it for a second, and chars one of the tongues, causing it to fall out. Then Rufka flashes away as the Reaper swipes at where she emerged. Right as my Pause ends, she appears in a flash at my side. "Ugly one, isn't he?" Rufka asks with entirely too much smile in her voice.

I curse my own traitorous smile as I reply, "But is he ugly enough to save him?"

We both laugh as I channel Pause and she disappears in another flash. The fact she was able to char his tongue so easily proves he's not protected by Health. Rufka knocks him to the side as he takes a step towards us.

Then I attach a tether. It meets the same sort of resistance I had when I first attached one to Pogell. If it was the first time I'd encountered it, it would've fooled me. But thanks to Pogell's treachery, I'm able to bypass the secondary mana signature to lock onto the Reaper itself.

I cast Lesser Cataclysm.

The air around the Reaper ripples. I get half a dozen System notifications, most of them intangible and cut off.

"Warning: Reaper detect-"

"Warning: System-"

"Warning: Setting count-"

"Update: Presence Lost. Initiating-"

"Secondary-"

"Hidden Objective Completed. Purge the Reapers. 1/1 Reaper Warform destroyed. Rewards: Processing."

I barely glance at them, but the death confirmation is worth the distraction.

"What?" The K'mintar asks as the Reaper collapses, its body sloughing apart into twelve different pieces.

Now that it's dead, I scan it.

The analysis is completely different, hundreds of different lines of data. None of it matches up to the System's normal stats. Even as I'm scanning it, my System pings me:

"Rewards: 20 Iron-Rank integration points, 1 Iron-Rank Progression Mark."

"Damn Lexi, that's messy," Rufka says as she flashes back to my side.

"My book," Tipan says, pulling the book from beneath Pogell's corpse, completely ignoring the dead Reaper other than wiping its remains off the book. "Thank you, Lexi."

"How about we get out of here?" Josh asks, "This building doesn't feel very stable. Also, I thought this city was a Sanctuary. How did we even get in a fight down here?"

"We're not in the city anymore," the K'mintar answers, frowning at the dead Reaper before turning towards me. "Can you do... whatever that was… again?"

I narrow my eyes at the K'mintar, not liking the implication of her question. To my surprise, she flinches away.

"Right. Of course, you can. Well, if you'd like to earn some easy shards, there are more mana-warped beasts in the upper levels that are nigh impossible to kill. If you're able to do that to them, then we can reduce our overhead," The K'mintar says, completely misunderstanding my displeasure.

She starts walking away, and the rest of us follow. I consider teleporting up, but when I hear the K'mintar grumble about making sure nothing is still loose, I decide to follow her.

We spend half an hour working through the facility. I end up killing two more immortal mana-warped, a suicidal, if it wasn't immortal, mana-hare and a beast that looks like a mix of a loading ramp and a wolf.

The warping effect was not kind to that one.

Neither requires Lesser Cataclysm. Simply bisecting them with regular teleports is enough, though it does take several teleports for each of them. There is something about my teleport that disrupts mana-flows in addition to its physical displacement.

Which I put into my notebook as another subject to study.

Once we're finished, we emerge to find Geral the mini-taur waiting for us. Next to him is Genitha, who looks a little annoyed but otherwise fine.

Seriously, I'm starting to worry that I'm getting too used to people dying and coming back. I barely blink at her return. Her hug on the other hand takes my breath away.

"You kids did great, Geral showed me the feeds," Genitha says, squeezing us tight enough I'm able to see my Health dropping rapidly.

"Mum, Health," Rufka objects as Smoulder jumps up and joins the hug.

"Oh, sorry kitten. I'm just so proud of you. Taking on a Reaper! And a warform at that," Genitha doesn't release us, keeping her arms over our shoulders. "Now, what say we celebrate your first world-killer kill?"

Then Genitha's eyes fall on the rest of our party. "Well? You're all invited too! Let's get our dance on."

"Uhm. We're actually..." I was going to say we're busy. But then I realize... we're waiting for Beth to get out of Raz’s. And the Aetherium's controller isn't going anywhere. Neither is the puzzle dungeon. And more importantly… we need something like this after today. "Actually, dancing sounds great."

Tipan agrees, putting the book in her inventory for the first time since she got it, with a giant smile. Which gives me hope for that conversation.

The others shrug, not entirely on board, but with only a little cajoling, and explaining my thoughts, Roberts and the Taken agree.

Josh and Rose remain adamant about returning to Glimmering Sands, wanting to be there when Beth shows up. I teleport them over myself, only staying long enough to promise that I'll be back in the morning. Then it's back to Betheryne and Garel's dance hall. Which is packed with K'tharn from the Aetherium.

Part of me is amused that they're able to lock me out of the capital but here we are, celebrating in its shadow.

The night goes long, and Roberts ends up teaching us all new moves on the dance floor. The salsa is amazingly fun now that I have an Agility of a hundred.

When the morning arrives, we don't notice.

It's not until the next afternoon that we make it back to Glimmering Sands. We bid farewell to Kellica, and she promises to stay in touch.

I offer to let her join us, but she's needed in the Taken, now that their numbers are so greatly diminished. She was rather flustered when Ael'thani recommended that she should teach the new trainees. The K'mintar shot that down, saying it wouldn't be fair to inflict that sort of punishment on someone who'd served so well. Not yet.

We're still in a good mood as we make our way to the inn, where I can feel Rose's tether. Josh's is... distorted, leading into the Nexus point then disappearing. Which is what I'm used to when someone is at Raz's. Usually, it's pointed at Nexus point 392, but the feeling is the same.

As we come inside, Rose gets up off one of the giant couches in the lobby, almost knocking over one of Peme's art displays as he stands. A selection of wolf-like figurines running on their hind legs.

"Morning," I greet him, reaching out to pull him into a hug.

I'm definitely still riding last night's good mood.

Rose's next words send it crashing down. "Beth won't come out of Raz's."

Walking into Raz's, I turn towards where Josh is sitting alone at a table. He raises his drink towards us as I walk over.

"Where's Beth?" I ask, glancing towards the stairs leading up to the private rooms. Instead, Josh motions over his shoulder towards the park. I nod, then start walking away, pausing at his shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask, squeezing his shoulder.

He gives me a small smile and an equally small shrug. "Woman I love doesn't want to talk to me. Hurts. I understand, but ya know…"

I nod, giving his shoulder one last squeeze before walking towards the park while the others join Josh at the table. Even Smoulder stays behind.

When I step inside the park, I take a deep breath. There's something different about the garden air here. It reminds me of earth in a way that nature on Akilo doesn't. I wonder if it's because it's all cultivated.

It doesn't take me long to find Beth, though she’s parked on a bench that's off any of the walking paths, staring out at the fake sky that stretches into the distance.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" I ask as I stop next to her bench.

Beth looks up, staring blankly at me for several seconds before she blinks. "Oh. Hey kid. No, you can sit."

I accept her offer, and instead of saying anything I stare out into the fake distance with her for a while.

Despite everything, I can't understand what she's going through. I'm still in my first body... probably. Part of me thinks I might've died when I first got the Restoration ability and I've just been walking around in a shell since then. Which... doesn't really bother me.

Just one more reason why I remain quiet. Sab and I used to talk about how our minds were the only part of us that were really us. I hadn't been convinced at first. It was when she pointed out that our bodies do shape our experiences that I almost squawked in triumph. And then she continued.

Closing my eyes, I can almost hear her.

"It's not just what we experience ourselves, Lex. The human experience is about stories. Our minds are shaped by what we watch, and what we read. Is that less real? I don't think it is. I think that anything that can change us is real. But our bodies? They're just the first experience. The one we all start with. I don't believe for a second it's the one we'll end with."

I take a deep breath, as the wave of nostalgia washes through me.

"I miss Sab," I say, wiping tears from my eyes.

Beth doesn't say anything for a while, and I go back to staring. Then she says, "I miss barbeque sauce. They just can't get it right without tomatoes."

I can't stop the laugh as Beth turns towards me slightly. "You okay, kid?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good, actually. Like, real good. How're you?"

"I... Josh loves me. You know that? And I..."

"You don't love him?" I ask, feeling a sad weight settle in my chest.

"No, that's not it. I do. Every one of us, of me, has. I just... I was just... gone. For almost a week this time. Like I didn't exist. It takes some adjustment."

"Yeah... kinda like a really long nap," I reply, a small smile creeping onto my face. I create a small rock, then throw it towards the fake horizon. Just before it strikes, I teleport it back into my hand.

"I... yeah, kinda like a really long nap," Beth chuckles. "Did I tell you about how our talk went?"

"You, in fact, did not," I inform her with a smile, tossing and teleporting the rock again. "I figured it went well though."

"It did. And... it went in unexpected directions. It was a very vigorous night. I'm sure I don't have to tell you about all the benefits of Stamina in the bedroom."

"Beth!" I protest, hitting her shoulder as a blush climbs my cheeks, the rock smacking into the fake horizon with a thud.

"Mhm. A woman can get used to that sort of... staying power," Beth says, a dreamy look in her eye as I decide to abandon the rock. And almost the bench too.

"So... if you have that waiting for you out there... why are you in here. Alone?" I ask, waving in the direction of the entrance.

"Ah. Well, I fucked up again. I'm just glad I'm the only one that paid for it," Beth says, shrugging as she looks back at the wall. "I don't deserve him."

I stare at Beth for several seconds before I start cackling.

It's a good proper cackle, equal parts hysterical and condescending amusement. I throw in some swirling balls of elemental energy for effect in the background. As is only natural.

By the time I've finished, Beth is staring at me with her eyebrows raised. In awe, as she should be.

"Man, I knew you were arrogant," I say as I get to my feet. "Just didn't think you were that arrogant. Vaus-damn, I was worried about you."

"I... what?" Beth asks, clearly not following.

"Arrogant. Rufka and I talked about not deserving someone. And I’ve been thinking about it. It was arrogant of me to think I didn't deserve my friend Sab. It was arrogant of me to think my opinion of myself was more important than Sab's opinion of me."

"Kid... you sure I was only gone for a week?" Beth chuckles as she pushes to her feet.

"Why?" I ask, crossing my arms. letting the elemental energies disappear.

"Because Alexis, it seems like I blinked and you grew into yourself. Looks good on you," Beth says, pulling me into a hug. "I really am proud of you."

"Oh," I reply.

As she holds me, I start crying again. For absolutely no good reason. She joins me.

Stupid feelings.

A few minutes later, I use a conjured mirror of polished chrome as I wash myself down.

Luckily, it doesn't take much. I was always pretty low maintenance and being on Akilo only emphasizes that. Besides, I have illusions if I want to adjust my appearance.

Beth and I walk back into the main room together, and she moves over to Josh, apologizing to him in front of everyone. Then she pulls him into a rather passionate kiss.

We end up leaving Raz's not much later, making our way to the rough coordinates of the Aetherium's control matrix. We bring Trellani, who had just finished rebuilding the Fallen Cleansing chamber.

Which is pretty much perfect, cause we're going to need it if this works.

"You're sure I'm not crazy?" I ask Wyonna.

[Wyonna] "We'll need to inspect the matrix first. But the idea is sound."

I nod as Rufka and I poke through the half-collapsed building, searching for anything that might hint at a hidden control matrix.

We search for half an hour before Tipan messages me, letting us know she and Roberts have found something.

It takes a couple minutes to find the mostly missing building where they're hiding, despite the tether leading to them. The entrance they went through is barely wider than my shoulders and is little more than a hole in the ground. I drop nearly ten meters, my flight allowing me to nail a perfect superhero landing without damaging anything. The stairs that once led down into this section lie in a twisted heap nearby.

On the other side of the room is something that very much doesn't match the ruined decor that dominates the rest of the ravaged city.

A pulsing network of thin tubes covers half the wall, with a pair of much larger ones going directly into the floor. In the center is a cluster of semi-organic parts mixed with mechanical components. Due to the level of care put into it, it only looks half as horrifying as I'm sure it would otherwise.

I begin scanning the entire device with Facet, building a full model that I can share with the others. I've been working on it for a few minutes when Trellani and Rose show up in a small avalanche of falling dust. They're followed by Beth and Josh, who don't make even a quarter of the mess.

"So, what do you guys think?" I ask, as the diagram is filled in. The matrix is connected to the Builder City’s network, which explains why they put it here. They’re piggybacking on the network to maintain wide-area control.

"You're sure you can hijack these?" Trellani asks, gesturing to the links I detected leading away from the matrix. Links similar to the connections I traced through my party interface when we first arrived on Akilo.

"Wyonna?" I ask, waiting for her to finish her own analysis.

[Wyonna] "Should be easier than giving a cat a bath."

"That's... okay, Wyonna says building the components we'll need is challenging, but not impossible." As if she was waiting for me to finish, Wyonna overlays her designs on my vision, allowing me to copy them for the others. Actually... she was totally waiting for me to finish, wasn't she?

"Hmm. It'll take a few hours, but I'd say this is doable. Disabling the traps is gonna be the fun bit," Trellani says, rubbing her upper hands together, while her lower hands continue to trace patterns along the enchantment. "Still not sure how you're going to do the last stage, but the secondary overlay is gonna work."

I nod, accepting that I still can't explain being able to see the inner workings of the System. And not wanting to share just how much of the System Wyonna can hack.

"How much Essence you think this is going to take?" Rufka asks as she steps over, her eyes still locked on the enchanting design.

"How many Awakened Fallen do you think the Aetherium has?" I reply with a giant grin.

"You know, if this works, we're going to have earned our place as enemies of the Aetherium, right?"

"It'll be worth it," I reply, watching as Trellani brings out a bunch of the components Wyonna figured we'd need.

And a whole bunch more that Trellani brought along, 'just in case'.

Then we get to work.

It's mostly Tipan, Rufka and Trellani doing said work, though I'm there to hand over tools. By the time they're done, almost every part of the matrix has extra tubes, little organelles or glowing lights attached to it. I'm pretty sure the lights are just for Trellani's satisfaction, but I can't say that with certainty.

"So, no test runs on this thing. Not unless you wanna spend hundreds of mana shards twice," Trellani says as we stare at the matrix. "And I'm sure that once we activate it, whoever built it is going to come running. No matter how much they're trying to sneak under the M'tari's noses. Oh, is that part of the plan?"

"I... it wasn't, but maybe it should be," I say, looking towards Beth, who nods. "We know it's someone on the council. The K'mintar was able to confirm that much."

"Typical council arrogance," Trellani says as she flips open a very physical chute. A chute I'm pretty sure we didn't need. "So, just dump in... I can't tell how many strands there are. At least a hundred."

[Wyonna] "There's, oh, 142 strands there. Which means we're gonna need a minimum of 156 Iron Rank Mana-Essence. Preferably a few extra unless you want to chance overbooking tickets like everyone’s favorite airlines."

"Got it," I say, relaying the total needed. Rufka and I pitch in most of it, primarily from our recent windfall we scored off Vethel. After all, she did want us to use it to cripple the Aetherium's new Fallen contingent.

[Wyonna] "Okay. Concentrate on the connection while I show you how to hack the planet."

Nodding, I link into the bypass we've created with the enchantment.

A vague awareness of over a hundred other minds blossoms on the other end.

Expending Focus, I keep the awareness vague while struggling to keep the connection strong. There are hundreds of ghost images flashing by, and I try to relay any important ones I spot to Wyonna, to let her know how she's doing. But my attention mostly remains on the matrix's tethers.

It takes Wyonna nearly five minutes, but then she chimes out a simple, "And done."

I get one last set of ghost messages, these ones fully formed and easy to read, though they're not for me.

They're for all the Awakened Fallen connected to the matrix.

"Quest received: A Real Choice. You have been given the option of remaining with the Aetherium in exchange for staying alive. Another option is available to you. Return to your life as a K'tharn, resetting your System status. Accept Teleport: 0/1. Rewards: A clear Status, allowing you to reset your class and complete quests again, including a second chance at the More Than One quest line. Freedom from the Aetherium's control. A second chance to be alive. Time remaining: 72 hours."

"Would you like to know more? Y/N?"

"Teleport Pending. Accept? Y/N?"

We've given them the choice... now all we can do is wait.

4.45, A Hundred and One Fallen

8:59 pm, local time. (August 15, 2023, 2:59 am.) Just your typical Tuesday.

We don't wait at the transmitter, cause that's not where the cleansing chamber is set up.

To my surprise, not even five minutes after the quest is sent out, I have more than twenty Fallen who've accepted the teleport.

They arrive in the former Fallen's compound, one in each of the huts with a former Fallen waiting for them. For safety, I only bring in one at a time. It slows things down, but seriously, I wasn't expecting this much of a rush.

Smoulder helps simply by being present, pressing her head against my cheek whenever I'm starting to worry or lose concentration. And I have to keep an active focus on the connection to the matrix to teleport them in. A process I can’t augment with Focus if I want to have enough to teleport everyone.

By the time we're done processing the initial respondents, nearly forty Fallen are in the compound.

Trellani is running checks on the Cleansing chamber and there's some amount of nervous chatter from the current Fallen as they wait.

When Trellani asks for a volunteer, it takes a minute before a smaller Fallen steps forward. Their body is in worse shape than most Fallen, their left leg showing clear bone and both of their right arms just... missing.

Trellani takes her time escorting the Fallen inside the chamber, having to adjust the stabilizing straps to make up for the Fallen's missing arms.

Then she climbs out and throws the switch. When the mana-dust clears, and the former Fallen emerges completely restored, with all four arms and a healthy leg, the reticence of the crowd is replaced by several Fallen trying to rush forward at once.

Which is when I step in. "Alright," my voice booms, thanks to a slight amplification using Twilight and Wind magic. "We're doing this based on your remaining ambient mana. I'll be pointing you out, and then you'll go in order. This is to make sure you're all as healthy as possible when we finish. Understand?"

There's some grumbling, and one Fallen looks like they're about to object, so... I crack the sky.

Only a little.

I teleport a small patch of space above me away, not making it neat. Which leaves an effect similar to a mana-storm strike, if a fair bit weaker.

In a level voice, I ask again, "Understand?"

This time, everyone lines up as directed, a few glances thrown my way, but no more objections. Smoulder nods in smug satisfaction as they get cleansed. I'm only paying partial attention, as another few requests for teleportation come through. When they emerge to see Fallen being actively cleansed, it makes things go a lot smoother.

The next twelve hours go by without much incident. I am starting to feel a little tired, but I've stayed up for seventy-two hours before I was superhuman, so I know I can manage it. Especially with Rufka bringing me tea that'll keep me awake. Too bad it doesn't function as a full replacement for sleep.

Once I reach twenty-four hours from the time I woke up, the condition sleep-deprived is added, halving all my base pool regenerations, and requiring seven hours of sleep to clear. Doesn't affect Facet, at least.

When Roberts attempts to heal it, he reduces the time required to clear it down to four hours but can’t get rid of the condition itself.

It's around hour thirty-five that we get our first real problem.

The Fallen arrives simply enough, but they demand to be shown to our leader. Thankfully, Beth takes on the role, since I'm kinda tired, and still distracted. When he tries to attack her, I barely notice. It isn’t until he's slumping down at her feet, that I realize what happened.

A couple hours later, Vethel shows up, and demands to know what exactly we're doing in her Stronghold.

Again, someone else answers her.

Rufka this time, though I’m standing nearby and nodding when appropriate. There's a moment of stunned silence followed by harsh laughter. Then a sad shake of her head as she walks away.

After she leaves, I return to playing with my aura, testing my ability to expand and contract it. Two hours of practice later, Tipan reports that someone visited the control matrix. But they can’t disable our modifications.

Which makes sense, they'd have to be willing to shut it down or replace it to get rid of everything we've done. And it wouldn't even matter. We have the connections already.

Tipan was able to confirm it was an agent of the council, and we've passed the information to the K'mintar, but I learn nothing more.

When I hit hour forty-eight, my condition worsens to sleep exhaustion. Which reduces my regeneration of my main resources by ninety percent. Amusingly, it boosts my Facet regeneration by ten percent for some reason.

When I mention it to Tipan, she asks for specific details. Then she says she needs to check some books.

I've forgotten about it, playing a simple game of Astra's stride with Smoulder, pretty much at the limit of my processing ability, when Tipan comes back.

"There are a few similar records of sleep exhaustion increasing resource regeneration. The Dream, Sleep and Wisdom resources are all confirmed to increased regeneration from exhaustion."

"That's funny," I slur out. "Being exhausted makes Sleep."

"I... Lexi, how many more are there?" Tipan asks, and it takes me a second to realize she's asking how many Fallen haven't accepted the teleport yet.

"Uhm... forty-two? No, forty-one," I say, as I realize there's a pending teleport waiting. As they appear in the designated shack, I turn my attention back to Tipan.

She said something, but I missed it.

"What was that?" I ask. I could replay the memory, but that would require Focus. And that's not regenerating so fast at the moment.

"You only need to last another twelve hours Lexi. Then you can sleep," Tipan says, squeezing my shoulder before getting up.

I nod at her, closing my eyes for a second, before forcing them back open. Going without sleep is hard without caffeine. The teas Rufka was supplying me stopped working after forty-eight hours.

The System doesn't like people going without sleep, it seems. When I reach seventy-two hours without sleep, my primary resources stop regenerating. And my Facet's regeneration rate is doubled. Tipan seems fascinated by this, taking notes as I gaze into the distance.

The remaining hours are mostly spent on my feet, with Rufka at my side. Or Roberts. Josh and Beth too.

Tipan... I still need to talk to her about the book, and while we're pacing, I attempt to do exactly that. But somehow, she misunderstands my question, and I end up learning about how Ivicka taught her to read when she was a cub.

It’s very adorable.

Then Rufka is back, and I get another couple dozen acceptances.

One of whom attacks the former Fallen who greets them. But after the attack on Beth, we're prepared, and Roberts' barrier stops them in their tracks. They're detained, using one of the K'mintar's mana-spikes to drain them before attaching mana-blocking shackles.

They'll receive just enough mana to keep them alive... I think. It's hard to remember Trellani's explanation.

She was pretty excited; I do remember that.

Less than ten minutes after the one who attacked, we get another desperate Fallen. But this one wants us to return with her to save her sister. She's been providing her sister her own mana.

I recognize her, even through the fog of memory. She was one of the original three Fallen we saved. The ones who didn't bend under Ivicka's rule. Sad to see she wasn’t able to stay free.

Is that our fault?

Unfortunately, she was stationed in Aethire, so I can't teleport her sister out. I'm still apologizing to her when Rufka pulls me away and Beth explains that her sister is being extracted. It makes me realize there are other Fallen who might not know.

"We failed," I say, staring out at the ocean. There are still no waves. It feels like there should be waves.

"No," Rufka says, squeezing my hand. "We just haven't finished succeeding yet."

"Oh," I reply, nodding into her shoulder. "That makes sense."

At ten minutes, there are less than twice that in Fallen who didn't accept the teleport. There are few enough of them, that if I was still well-rested, I could Focus on them, and determine how they're doing.

But I don't have the spare Focus for that. I barely have enough Focus to teleport all the Fallen, should they choose to accept at the last minute.

Somehow, the last ten minutes stretch out to feel like they're longer than the six hours before. It probably doesn't help that instead of walking the perimeter, I'm sitting and staring at the cleansing chamber.

But I can't shake the feeling that there's one more emergency I need to be ready for.

It never comes. My self-imposed countdown passes, and I release the strands.

The moment I let go, my mind snaps back to clarity. Rufka and Smoulder are with me. Tipan is sitting nearby, talking quietly with a far less quiet Trellani.

"Hey, you did it," Rufka says, squeezing my hand.

I nod, accepting a long thin container full of a red juice. Taking a long pull of the too-sweet drink, I finish it in one pull. At some point, I stopped eating. That was foolish of me.

"I should sleep," I say, looking around the compound. "But not here."

I don't wait for anyone to say anything. I've spent the last three days pulling people closer to me from across the continent.

The effort it takes to bring my friends closer then teleport us all to Nexus point 392 is negligible in comparison.

Then I open the door to Raz's. It says it's still another three hours before it'll be in proper alignment. But I follow the tether that still exists. And I push through it, teleporting us into Raz's lobby. Then I order one of Raz's ready meals, taking large bites out of some fresh stew while pulling Rufka after me up the stairs. I barely finish the large bowl before pushing into my personal room.

When I see the bed, I forget everything else, moving over and collapsing.

At the last second, I realize I've committed a horrible sin.

For the second time in a year, I've gone to sleep without cleaning my teeth.

The morning comes earlier than I expected, and it greets me alongside Rufka's fur covered... leg? Looking down, I find Rufka reading a book, her leg sprawled across my chest. Smoulder is parked in her lap as she leans her head back over the side, tilted at an angle she's going to regret. Right as soon as I figure out how to-

My plans are derailed when Rufka sticks her foot in my face, causing me to panic and flip them both off the bed.

"Sorry Smoulder," I apologize as she hops free of my thiani, who is struggling to free herself from the bedsheet without tearing it.

Which is when I strike.

After a good morning wrestle, we take a long bath together. Once I feel properly relaxed and clean, we join the others for... lunch. Wow, that really was a long bath. Yep, it was all the bath.

"Morning, didn't expect to see you up so soon," Beth says as we join them. "We've been talking about what to do next. Now that we're all level ten, we're going to need Ascension Crests if we want to hit Copper. But we're not certain that's required. You took out a Sentinel without me. Congrats on that, by the way. And from what Wyonna's said, we don't need to be Copper to fly the Sanctuaries."

I blink at her, then hold up a finger, opening the menu and ordering food. I close it, then think again, and add another two meals to my order. And a drink with some kick.

"Sorry, you were saying?" I say once my breakfast that is totally not brunch is on the way.

"She was saying, we're ready to focus on going home," Josh says, smiling over the table at me. "There's some other stuff we can do while working towards it. But it's time to get off Akilo."

"Won't be that simple," Roberts says as he sets down his fork. "We've interfered with the Aetherium. They won't forget about it."

"Which means we have reason to get stronger," Rose says, elbowing Josh. "If only to make sure everyone survives long enough to get off Akilo."

"Mhm. Mum's not great at protecting people either. No attention span," Rufka notes stealing bacon off my plate before Raz is even able to place it on my table.

As I'm attempting to steal some of her green fruit in a pale imitation of revenge, Raz adds. "Copper-rank means your subclasses will be stronger too. Which will help if you need to make repairs."

This last is directed at Tipan and Rufka, who're the only ones who've had time to become competent Enchanters.

That's the only reason I can think of as to why the subclass isn't offered to me. Maybe I should try to level one of the engineering subclasses? Might be useful for repairs.

Leaving the others to the meeting, I wander into the bathroom, my plate with bacon in hand to prevent idle theft. Inside, I double check and I still don't have any enchanting subclasses available, so I search through the engineering ones instead.

When I see Voidtech Engineer, I have to double back.

That can't be... it's under the engineering category. There's no way... hmm. It's not like I can't equip each of the subclasses to see what they do.

"Subclass Equipped: Voidtech Engineer."

"Partial Credit for Banked Engineer Experience has advanced the subclass to Level 11. Partial Credit for Banked Enchanting Experience has advanced the subclass to Level 12."

"Voidtech Engineer Subclass Abilities Unlocked: 'Basic Enchantment Guide', 'Voidcraft, Rippledrives and You', 'Never in the Dark', 'The Wrong Tool for the Job is Better than No Tool', 'There and Back Again', "Fake it Till you Make it'."

I just stare at the second line. Then down to the first ability, blinking rapidly. It really is... I had an enchanting subclass all this time.

Instead of screaming in frustration, I Focus on what it gives me.

The first ability is pretty much what it says. It gives me guidance when I'm doing basic enchanting. Little nudges, similar to the [Melee Weapon] skill when I'm using my chakrams, sans warrior princess.

Voidcraft, Rippledrives and you, is similar providing a lot more insight but it only applies to anything related to interstellar ships. Or stations. And it's tied directly to the codices I've had rattling around in my brain forever.

Never in the Dark is...

I snap my fingers, and my forehead lights up, flooding the bathroom with a warm blue light. Guess they can't all be winners.

The Wrong Tool lets me create enchanting and engineering tools out of mana. They're temporary, and incredibly expensive.

Just creating a basic scrivener, the tool Trellani uses for the most basic tracing, costs nearly a thousand mana. And only lasts for, okay, twelve hours isn't bad. But still, that's more mana than I'd regenerate in that amount of time. And using it reduces the amount of time it stays effective for. Pretty much a last-ditch ability.

There and Back Again... I collapse, laughing.

It lets me build devices to grant me short range teleports. Theoretically, if I could get my hands on enough Copper-rank essence, it would allow longer range teleportation too. Up to a kilometre away. And they're only good for my personal use. I can't even make them for others. Though... I can share the design, so maybe not a complete loss.

Fake It is... it lets me create permanent Voidcraft enchanting components out of mana. Which is basically... everything. Every part we used in the chamber and the scanning array can be used in Voidcraft too.

When I check the cost, I almost faint. Creating a simple, single direction mana-flow tube would cost ten-thousand mana. The ability isn't totally useless though. I can invest mana in chunks, slowly building up the parts. Also, I could create the parts to build a permanent scrivener. Only sixty-five thousand mana, total. With my current regen rate that's... only like, fifty-three days.

So, longer than I've been on Akilo.

Still, it should get cheaper as the subclass gains levels. And if we advance to copper-rank, my mana should shoot up. This could be very useful for getting the Sanctuaries repaired. Especially for rare parts.

Deciding to explore my other options while I’m here, I switch over to the regular engineering class. Which doesn't benefit from the banked experience bonus and begins at level 1.

Glad I chose the Voidcraft Engineer as my first option. I go through the rest of my subclasses, paying closer attention to special sounding subclass names.

I have one for Zanbia Friend, which gets boosted to level three and is a wilderness survival subclass. It also increases my ability to communicate with Zanbia, which is pretty niche, but also pretty cool.

Then there's a subclass called Vigil's Shadow, which I can only assume is related to the Taken. When I select it, I get banked experience for being covert, which gets the subclass to level two. Its only ability is guidance on how to craft better magical and mundane disguises. Which for a basic level ability seems useful.

The final special subclass is Desh'mersa jockey. Which I decide not to unlock. Tipan's explained it to me before, and it's mostly focused on improved flight and toughness. But only inside a Desh'mersa ring. Probably could've used it back in the arena, but I'm pretty sure I didn't have it unlocked yet.

Smiling at myself, I switch my class back to Voidcraft Engineer. As I get to my feet, I glance over to the mirror and freeze.

Then I take a few steps closer. I haven't taken a close look at myself in... weeks. Since the last time I stood in front of this mirror without Rufka to distract me.

I'm... sturdy. There's a weight to my stance I would normally associate with someone like Beth. Flexing my hands, I note the wraps look... good. Right in a way they wouldn't have a month ago. Like... I know how to hit someone and make them stay down.

But... that's just arrogance talking, I'm pretty sure.

I'm still no warrior princess.

...

Then again... I do have my own castle.

4.46, Down Where it's Wetter

11:17 am, local time. (August 18, 2023, 5:17 pm.) The reign of the rabbit princess continues!

When I rejoin the party in Raz’s common room, there's a flurry of motion. We're clearly getting ready to head out, and I catch the words, 'moving out of alignment', and realize what the hurry is about. Not wanting to be trapped here anymore than the rest, I jog over to the lobby. I'm there before Roberts and Tipan, both of whom are still conducting business with Raz.

When they arrive, we dial our exit directly to Glimmering Sands instead of using Nexus point 392. No point in teleporting twice.

The next hour is spent checking in on the former Fallen and meeting up with Vethel. While I was off experimenting with my new subclass, the others decided on some short- and long-term goals, which I agreed to after Wyonna filled me in.

Top of the list for our short-term goals? Head into the mana-beetle puzzle-dungeon and clear it for the easy rewards. Tipan will be sitting it out, something about visiting her mother.

Which reminds me I need to talk with her.

Taking her aside, I let Rufka know we'll be back in half an hour or so then guide Tipan up the beach. Which is still lacking the amazing waves from the festival.

"Hey. So... remember when you were in the crazy place with the K'mintar, trying to throw your life away to get a book back?" I ask, nice and subtle-like as I link my arm with hers to prevent her from escaping.

"I... that place was rather mind-wrenching, wasn't it? The ghastly monsters? And the spider-beings," Tipan shudders, shaking her head.

"Ha. Nice try," I reply, pointing at where the book is again strapped to her waist. "I'm talking about that. And the crazy place was where your head was, not your body."

"I... you wouldn't... you can’t…" Tipan looks away, staring at a particularly interesting patch of smooth stone wall.

"Can’t what? Understand why you've been keeping it from everyone that you're hearing Ivicka's voice when you read the book?" I ask, pulling Tipan to a stop as a wave laps gently at our feet. "Or are you more worried about whatever you learned once Jethico took over?"

Tipan stares at me, her mouth hanging open.

So, I tap her forehead. "My mind to your mind, my thoughts to your thoughts." When she doesn't get it, I sigh. "Even Beth would've got that one, such a wasted opportunity. Look, I connected to you when you were visiting the K'mintar, and the connection broke, remember? Some of your memories came with. Remember how I mentioned that happening with Beth? Same thing."

"I... it's one thing to hear about, another to... you heard her voice? I haven't lost my mind?" Tipan grabs me, and stares into my eyes, squeezing my arms as if seeking reassurance I’m real.

"Uhm. Well, you did charge into the K'mintar's secret complex of impossible-to-kill beasts. So, we're not ruling crazy out quite yet. But that's more Rufka style crazy than... I'm not helping, am I?"

Tipan smiles, releasing my arms before breaking into a laugh. She returns to my side, shoving against my hip. "Actually, that was rather refreshing. Rufka style crazy?"

"Mhm. Jumping off a cliff without a flight spell. Fighting a ten-story dinosaur with nothing but an unenchanted bow and her arrows. Sleeping next to a firebomb that could explode at any second," I say, pulling her further north and away from a group of K'tharn who are coming down the beach with what looks like a Desh’mersa setup.

I'm good on that game for a long time.

"Smoulder's not that unstable," Tipan replies as her eyes dart towards the K'tharn who are setting up their goal posts. But she continues walking without mentioning them.

"Wasn't talking about Smoulder," I chuckle. "Rufka just... accepting that I might explode like it's no big deal has been huge."

"Ah. It must be... nice. To have a thiani you're so close to," Tipan says, her eyes looking towards the tower where her former thiani still works. The one who carves figurines of us… Hmm.

"She did say sorry," I remind Tipan, thinking back to the brief conversation we had about her ex.

"Through you," Tipan replies. "I've thought about going to talk to her... it's just. Never felt like the right time. I'm not who I was back then."

"Fair. I'm not who you were back then either."

"I... what?" Tipan asks, staring at me for a second before chuckling.

We make our way back to the main road, and I turn us south. "Nothing. But we got off-topic again. The book. Are you... okay? Did you learn what Jethico wanted?"

"Oh... yes. She was rather eloquent about it, very dramatic. But her goals… Well, what she wanted is rather obvious, isn't it?" Tipan says with a heavy sigh.

"Hmm... to protect the Aetherium?" I guess, with a small shrug.

"No. She wanted to purge all males from the Aetherium."

"I... wait, so that weird hangup... That was all her, huh?"

"I think... I don't expect that Ivicka was herself for years. I'm not certain there was anything left... except for what she left in here,” Tipan says, tapping the book on her waist.

"Damn. Well, if you ever want to talk about it..." I leave it open, and Tipan smiles, giving me a small nod.

"That's why I needed to recover it. I couldn't let her be taken away again."

"Memories of those we love are important," I agree, tugging at the replica of my Aunt Sharon's jacket I'm still wearing.

“It’s not just… After what we’ve done with the Fallen… And our ability to come back to life. Look at how much I can do with Sel’dast already. If I can use the book to get the System to restore Ivicka…”

“Huh,” I say, staring into the sky as my feet carry me forward.

We lapse into silence for a few minutes, only a little ways away from the inn when Tipan asks, "The... memory thing. Are you able to do it... on purpose?"

"You know... I mean, I can share codices... but I'm not sure," I reply as we come to a stop.

"Well, if you want to experiment. I wouldn't... there aren't any memories I'd be too embarrassed if you saw. And then you could learn more about the real Ivicka."

"You know, you could just tell me," I point out with a gentle shove, but it only gets a small smile out of her. "I... sure, we'll try."

"Good."

"Hey Tipan."

"Yes Lexi?"

"Are you gonna tell Rose?"

"I... I don't know how."

"Hmm. Pretty sure you just use words. Even the wrong ones can get you to the right place. Least, that's mostly what I do."

Tipan's laugh is deep and long, and I can't tell if I'm being laughed at or with. Finally, she recovers, straightening her mohawk with one hand. "I shall take your suggestion under advisement."

"You do that," I grump back, but am unable to maintain it when she giggles again.

Giggling back, we join the others inside, where Peme has somehow managed to replace most of the available knickknacks yet again. I pick up one that's suspiciously similar to me and Smoulder riding...

It is me and Smoulder riding a surfboard.

There's one of Rufka too. Maybe Tipan isn’t the only one who should talk to her ex.

Then again…

Despite my displeasure at being carved without permission, I end up buying both from Peme. Then I promptly gift the statuette of myself to Rufka. And she gives me a copy of the one I just bought of her.

Not that I mention that of course.

Tipan leaves for Aethire shortly after, but not before I give her a quick hug and a reminder not to get too caught up with the book. Once she's gone, the rest of us spend the next few hours relaxing, having to wait for Vethel to have time to escort us to the dungeon personally.

Smoulder has refused to come to the underwater dungeon, choosing to wait for me in the inn. Trying to make it up to her, we take her through a small obstacle course on the beach as we wait, only taking up half a kilometer.

Finally, I get a message that Vethel is ready, and we make our way into the tower.

Instead of going up, Vethel takes us down the central shaft of shimmering water. While it's the same in feel and function as the smaller water-elevators that run along the sides, the sheer scale of the central shaft is impressive. And somehow feels bigger on the inside. It's not, but it certainly feels that way.

The central elevator takes us deep beneath the surface. Far deeper than I realized the bay inside the tower was.

As we go down, an entire second city is revealed. As is the fact that most of the surface city sits atop a giant empty arch. Around us are thousands of horizontal elevators similar to the one we ride, weaving through ten times as many buildings. Most are lit with gentle purple or blue light, making the entire city seem like something out of a fairy-tale.

Zooming in with my Twilight-enhanced vision, I notice that only half of the residents seem to be K'tharn. The rest are a mix of dozens of Outworlder species. All of them are traversing the underwater city with no regard for the need to breathe. At least, no regard I can see. I suspect there's a brisk market for water-breathing enchantments.

When we reach a floating platform that seems to connect our elevator to a far larger one leading out to sea, Vethel leads us to the side. The elevator's protection continues to provide a breathable atmosphere as we move to a much smaller horizontal shaft. Not stopping to make sure we're following, Vethel dives into the shaft, leaving us to follow in her literal wake.

It only takes a minute before she pushes her way out of the shaft in front of the single most dungeon-like entrance I've seen on Akilo. It's a marble arch set into a rough stone wall with a pair of heavy wooden doors set in the middle.

There are a couple differences, likely due to its underwater location. For one, the arch is technically more of a complete circle. Also, the 'apparent' wood, is in fact mana-infused coral. A fact I only discover after analyzing it.

Once we're all floating in front of the door, I push the water back from our heads, giving us a bubble of fresh air to speak in.

"Convenient," Vethel says, then immediately leaves the bubble. Which reminds me how useful it isn't when we need to be moving. While our party activates the collection of water breathing enchantments Rufka and Tipan put together, the bracelets wrapped tightly around our wrists, Vethel floats down to the center of the door.

Pressing on a squid-shaped object that runs along the seam, she floats back. The doors shudder, then slowly swing open, revealing a smooth tunnel sloping downward.

Along the side, just barely visible in the glow from the city are shining runes. These don't feel like magical runes. In fact, the knowledge I downloaded from Uthica informs me that these are probably a version of M'tari. As my eyes play across them, my System pings, asking me if I'd like to download a codex for the Abyssean language. Deciding not to risk it just yet, I ignore the prompt, floating forward with the others.

Vethel waves us in. Then, once we're through the doors, she pushes them closed. Just as they seal, I see her give us a short bow.

"Iron rank training challenge The Hidden Depths joined."

"Teleportation abilities have been locked to The Hidden Depths combat zone."

"Zone Quest received: Reach the Hidden Depths. Rewards: Variable. 1 Armor Upgrade. Time: 24 hours."

Nothing surprising there.

Activating my new Voidcraft Engineer ability, I'm unable to keep the smile off my face as I look around. Rufka silently chuckles as we move into formation Exploration B, which leaves Roberts and I in the centre with everyone else spread out. It's weird having Rose at the back instead of Tipan, but not as weird as having to talk through group chat.

With our preparations complete, we dive into the Hidden Depths.

Would be a lot cooler if I didn't know about the bugs.

4.47, You Know that It's Better

4:21 pm, local time. (August 18, 2023, 10:21 pm.)

The first mana-beetle is encountered before we've even made it to the first junction.

According to analyze, it's actually called a Cricken. Barely the size of my thumbnail, it crawls across the ceiling towards us in the bright light of my new Voidcraft Engineer ability. A test of several Piercing Arrows confirms it's mostly immune to magic. I say mostly, because just like with Atun, if I create a metal shard with no mana inside, it can still be hit by it. Its Health shrugs that off like nothing though.

A single shot from Beth kills it.

Even as the first one crumbles, floating near the ceiling, more follow. They arrive in small packs as we move deeper, the others testing their abilities. Only Beth can kill them at range, the rest of us have to smash them up close. Even my chakrams don't work. When I hit one with a wind chakram, created just for the dungeon, the beetle still absorbs it.

They even absorb Roberts' barriers. Or maybe devour is a better word. Cause every time we hit them with something, or they crawl on it, the little bastards get faster.

Thankfully, they're easy to kill with my staff.

Unfortunately, smashing them apart leaves their remains clogging up the tunnel. Even their remains don't like to play nice with water manipulation. Nor do they have the good grace to disintegrate into blue dust. When we reach the first puzzle room, I'm relieved that Beth is taking over beetle duty.

The entire room appears to be part of the puzzle. There are several clunky looking weights scattered about the room, in the center is a giant lever that might act as a bridge if we couldn't just swim over it.

In theory, this should be the easiest version of a puzzle door, relying on basic arithmetic and placing the weights correctly to trigger the door. As my eyes roam over the words along the walls, I pause. Vethel didn't mention anything about the possible hidden objectives here. But if there were any, I wouldn't be surprised if they're hinted at in the writing on the walls.

When I message the party, suggesting I take the codex, the others agree it's worth the risk.

"We're basically carrying you through either way," Rufka says in the chat, her arm around my shoulder as she gives me a peck on the cheek.

Giving her a proper Smoulder-level glare for all of two seconds, I accept the prompt. The knowledge of the language blossoms in my mind, and with it, a memory of Uthica negotiating with a M'tari large enough that four Uthica stacked on top of each other would've barely crossed its eye.

Its hide is riddled with tapestries worth of tattoos, showing more history than some museums I've visited.

This, my new memory informs me, is a true Lord of the Deep. One so old, it predates human civilization. Yet Uthica stands before it, arguing terms as though they're equals.

One of her terms is to maintain a library on an island not far from Glimmering Sands. Another is in establishing caches of knowledge and history. After her interactions with the Lord of the Deep, it takes a few more minutes to play through several memories of Uthica interacting with other, lesser, Lords of the Deep before I'm returned to myself.

That was one helluva squid.

Reading the text around me, I realize it's a story.

And part of the story is at the top of the ramp.

Informing the others, I ask if we want to head back. With the dungeon offering such good base rewards, it's quickly agreed we should at least attempt to find any hidden objectives.

There's some grumbling from Josh, who swears he's solved the door, but then we move back up the hall. The beetles are back. And the swarms seem to keep getting larger. That's not my concern though. I'm just keeping the light on and reading the story. As I read, I realize there are outlines of the scenes carved beneath the runes, a second set of lines that are so faint they're almost invisible.

"This is a story of a young M'tari," I start, waving some beetle parts out of my face. "He doesn't yet have his first tattoo. The young one hasn't yet proven himself worthy. Most of his fellow M'tari sought out known prey, such as the great Bluhga, working in packs to bring them down."

"But this young M'tari has no interest in that. Instead, he heads to where few M'tari dare roam. Near the edge. The boundary between their watery domain and the great nothing above. While the water feels thin here, it doesn't affect the young M'tari as it would if he were older.”

“He spends weeks just exploring the strange colours and creatures near the edge. There's a great deal more variety than he's used to in the depths. Many interesting new tastes, sights and sounds. Then one day, he comes across a death-beast of steel and pain, though he didn’t know it as such. Not yet.”

“As had become his habit, he studied it for a time, unaware of its dark nature. Though he suspected it might be dangerous. For why else would it so loudly declare its presence, thrashing through the water with all the elegance of a dead Bluhga? No, even a dead Bluhga wouldn't have disrupted the water as much."

"He'd extended a tentacle in curiosity, wondering how the death-beast might react. And it reacted with pain. In a battle of desperation, it managed to rip off the death-beast's antennas, which blinded the beast, as the pain-stopped."

I pause as I inspect the image engraved into the wall here. The death-beast is a long smooth cylinder, and the antenna is a thin rod poking off the front like a horn with multiple spikes to either side. Kinda like a submarine, but not quite right.

"The M'tari continued thrashing with the death-beast until it smashed the shell on a great rock he normally used to lie and rest upon while watching his edge pond. As the death-beast cracked in half, several smaller beasts were released. He ignored them, only crushing one when it stung him. When he returned the shell of the beast to the depths a few days later, his triumph earned him the name, Shell-smasher."

I stop reading, having relayed everything there is on this side of the door. Josh and Roberts wrestle the weights into place, according to Josh's solution, but the door doesn't open. It takes us a few minutes to figure out that the weights need to be put in on opposite sides from the way Josh had solved it. For no reason that any of us can discern.

When the door opens, the story continues.

"The young M'tari, now named Shell-smasher, returned to life among his people for a time. But despite his great deed and the accolades he received, he missed exploring near the edge. Thus, he returned near where he met the death-beast. His explorations carried him far, and he saw even more of the resplendent life that dwelled close to the edge.”

“He marveled that they flourished here, so close to disaster. Though he supposed he was not so different, for he found he too flourished here, near the edge. A few great swells of the tides later, he came across another of the death-beasts, patrolling near where he defeated the first.”

“Again, he studied it. And when they came closer, he attempted to communicate, flexing his mantle to send the deep waves that allowed his kind to communicate across great distances. Something he tried with most of the deep life, which he suspected might be a sign he needed to return to talk with his people more. Normal M'tari didn't attempt to talk to animals. In response, a thin metal shell, like the ones the great Forgers produced for use in the depths, shot forward, scouring his left eye."

"In his pain, Shell-smasher crushed another of the death-beasts. Again, in his benevolence, he allowed the smaller death-beasts to flee, not bothering to respond when one tried to sting him."

Chuckling, I stop for a second. Yep. Definitely not cause of anything else.

"This time, when he returned, and brought the much more intact death-beast shell with him, he was summoned before the Lords of the Deep. They questioned Shell-smasher for hours before letting him go. And they insisted that if he found another of these 'death-beasts' as he called them, he was to bring it to them alive. As Shell-smasher left the meeting with the Lords of the Deep, he was greeted by an old friend."

The story again ends at a puzzle room.

"You know, story time is nice and all. But I'm starting to wish you could just zap all these bugs, Lex," Josh says, stabbing forward with a blunt ended staff of thorns to crush a few dozen beetles. Even as it makes contact, it starts wilting away.

"Indeed. They are rather-" Roberts stops, stomping a small cluster that made it past Josh. "Persistent."

"They're slowing down," Beth says, firing rapid shots into the swarms crawling in from the tunnel we just left. I shudder at the sheer mass of them. Pulling out my staff, I lay into a nearby swarm, helping clear Cricken until only a few remain in the room.

I pick one out of my hair, glaring at the little beetle that managed to reduce my health by eleven points with a single bite before crushing it between my fingers. Then I flick its body away.

Once we're certain we've gotten all of them, we turn our attention towards the room. This one is such an obvious one, that I don't even have to think. Stepping forward, I rearrange the different structural elements scattered throughout the room before dropping the keystone into the top of the newly formed arch. Then I take the pieces that were serving as temporary scaffolding and lay them across the top, finishing the puzzle.

"Huh. It's an actual bridge," Rose says as the door swings open. "Didn't expect that here."

As we step through, I help clear the initial wave of Cricken before I continue reading.

"After his meeting with the Lords of the Deep, Shell-smasher found his status greatly elevated. He'd been sworn to secrecy, but just the fact he'd met one of the famous Lords behind closed doors implied he was destined for great things. For a few months, Shell-smasher simply enjoyed his increased status. He even ventured out with several other young but promising M'tari and hunted one of the great Bluhga, though more to see if he'd been missing out on anything."

I stop to inspect the picture that looks suspiciously like a whale.

Then I help clear out the Cricken again. At least that's my intent. Getting fed up, I try hiding from them using invisibility, and to my surprise it works. They stop targeting me. Which just means the others have to fight off more.

Dropping my invisibility, we finally beat them back. Which is when I discover Roberts has gone through half his Reprieve already. They've really been doing a good job keeping them off me, since none of that healing has been coming to me.

"Vethel did this on her own? In one day?" Josh says, huffing despite the lack of air to carry the sound. His condition makes me glance at the rest of the party's Resources and I'm shocked to see they're all running low on Stamina except Beth. And Josh is completely out.

"We know the dungeons can scale for party size," Beth reminds us. "Though I feel like we need a better solution. If they keep getting thicker..."

"I have half of an idea," I say, activating my invisibility. Then I push it outwards, building a framework that covers just inside the limits of my aura. It collapses a few times before I increase the mana going into the framework.

I'm granted a new spell, sphere of invisibility and pull everyone closer. When we descend through the hall, the beetles mostly let us pass unaccosted. Until one wanders inside and dies part-way through the shield, disrupting the entire spell. That leads to a mad scramble as we kill off the beetles encroaching from every direction.

Half an hour later, with Roberts' Reprieve completely bottomed out, alongside most of our Health and Mana, used mostly to restore our Health, we sit in the centre of a new and improved sphere of invisibility. One that lets Beth shoot out of it without giving away our position.

This time, we test it thoroughly before moving forward. Beth sweeps the area free of Cricken, and our progress is slow but safe. Which allows me to start reading again.

"After several successful whale hunts, Shell-smasher spots one of the strange death-beasts. He once more greets it in the way of his people, warbling his upper dome to transmit signals through the depths, though this time he does it from much further away.”

“It doesn't attack, and he's contemplating how to haul it back without breaking it when it responds, repeating his words. Which he would have taken as an insult if another M'tari had ignored tradition so blatantly. It was just rude. Yet the Lord had warned him this might happen. And if so, to continue talking while leading it back towards the enclave."

"Which is what Shell-smasher did. At first, the death-beast didn't want to follow him, but eventually, after he fought off a Bluhga that tried to swallow the death-beast, he succeeded. He hoped the elder appreciated how much work Shell-smasher had put into bringing the death-beast back alive and allowed him to be part of whatever plan they had for it. The elder was very pleased when Shell-smasher returned, and even met him at the outer edge of the enclave. But then Shell-smasher was dismissed."

The scene of Shell-smasher's dismissal takes up the entire ceiling of the chamber with the third door. Inside, a pyramid dominates the chamber, barely leaving room to walk around its sides. In the center is a pole, twice as tall as the pyramid, and at the base are several tabs, labeled with numbers, which I translate for the others. Each of the tabs seems to allow a different one of the layers of the pyramid to rotate.

Roberts quickly figures out the trick to the puzzle, and we decide to rest before solving it. Once everyone's matrix resources are full, we work together to shift the layers upward. There's a pattern that has to be followed, and it ends up taking us nearly an hour to shift all the pieces into the correct position.

When we're done, the door opens, a flood of Cricken pouring in as the story in the chamber shifts.

While Beth methodically picks off the new wave of Cricken, hidden safely inside my sphere of invisibility, I study the new writing.

"While Shell-smasher was sent away, Lord Bridge-Forger of Third Deep learned the language of the surfacers. While they'd known of the strange creatures for ages, it had long been thought they were too frail to traverse the depths, even near the edge. Shell-smasher's discovery had shaken the Greatest Council.”

“Young M'tari were sent searching for more of the surfacers, though none had found them. Except Shell-smasher. Lord Bridge-Forger discovered that these surfacers were not the ones from the sphere they knew. They came from a distant sphere, far beyond the surface, what Shell-smasher had always known as the edge of the world. At the time, many of these concepts were new to not just Shell-smasher, but the entire M'tari civilization."

The story ends there, and we sit waiting for Beth to clear the way.

Finally, we move on. The Cricken are getting thinner, and we're able to pick up our pace as I resume sharing Shell-smasher's tale.

"Shell-smasher was summoned once more by the Lord of the Deep. The Lord informed him that the name Shell-smasher no longer suited him. Instead, he shall be known as Edge-Treader. A great tattoo was commissioned, one superior to any a M'tari of Edge-Treader's age had received before. He was introduced to the surfacers, as the Lord called them, taught their language, and then sent to the edge.”

“In the shallow waters, Edge-Treader spent years learning from the surfacers. And they learned from him, as he shared the secrets the Lords had gifted him for just such a purpose. The forging methods possible only in the deepest depths, where the vents would sear any who approached without proper woven mats for their tentacles."

"One day, the surfacers offered to take him beyond the edge, to their sphere. When he conferred with his elders, they approved of this journey. He was even given a chance to spread his seed in case he never returned."

"The M'tari known as Edge-Treader truly earned that name when the surfacers took him above the edge that had limited him all his life. While he'd seen pictures, when the great skyship the surfacers had created breached the surface, he knew it was a moment he'd remember for the rest of his existence.”

“They travelled then, far beyond the surface, to the other sphere. One with far more land and shallower oceans. He was taken to a palace under the waves, where an entire civilization of surfacers greeted him. There he learned that a great disaster was coming but that they were doing all they could to help. Such was their way."

We arrive at the fourth room to find the door already open. I almost continue reading before I realize why we've stopped. The puzzle that sits in the centre of this room is a model of two spheres, orbiting around each other. Both of which I'm familiar with at this point.

Beneath them are hundreds of figures of K'tharn, with several M'tari standing amongst them as well. Rufka steps closer, squinting at the spheres. "This is... wrong, most of Akilo is shaped weird. But Ukila looks almost exactly the same."

"It's pre-integration," Rose says, somehow managing to convey his disbelief through the chat.

"Is this even a puzzle?" Beth asks, sweeping her rifle around the room, searching for more Cricken.

Roberts reaches down and plucks a figurine from beneath the globes. Holding up the carved M'tari figurine, I notice that its eye is scarred, just like Edge-Treader. Then he places it in the only sizeable body of water on Ukila. The figurine sinks beneath the surface, creating tiny ripples.

The door in front of us shifts, the ramp that was leading further down, moving to slope upwards instead.

"I think it might have been," Roberts says, smiling as he steeples his fingers.

"Let's see how this story ends, shall we?" Beth says, leading the way up the stairs.

"Edge-Treader travelled between the spheres many times over the following years. He added many deeds of honour to his skin, great battles, and discoveries both. Then one day, he grew too large, and the Ukilans (the surfacers' name for themselves,) were no longer able to carry him to their world. Not without poisoning the oceans.”

“He took solace in their aid as they strove to protect both worlds from the incoming disaster. And the M'tari helped, using the great depths to create parts that were challenging for the Ukilans to create on their own. Great spheres and shields were put into orbit. Shelters were created in the depths. The Ukilans even helped the Lords of the Deep create a buried vault where they could store records of their achievements."

"When the sky split, Edge-Treader wasn't aware. Not for several days, when one of the young returned to the now elder M'tari, though not a Lord, bringing news of great fires beyond the edge. Edge-Treader prayed for his old friends’ safety, even as new and true death-beasts emerged beneath the waves.”

“Even perversions of the great M'tari themselves. Edge-Treader fought hundreds of these great beasts, his skin no longer had room for his valiant deeds. Nor did they have time to etch them. Then the System had arrived, and for the first time, the M'tari were able to move beyond the edge without the assistance of the Ukilans.”

“But Edge-Treader was occupied with keeping his people safe, and could not explore. Finally, the seas and skies grew calm again, and Edge-Treader was able to ascend to the distant sphere, using nothing but the newly granted magic of the System. But when he returned to the great underwater city where he'd learned from his friends, he found it destroyed. He searched the entire sphere, knowing the Ukilans had many cities spread across it. But his search was fruitless."

Having read the last of the runes in the hall, I step into the fifth chamber. On the walls are pictures of the entire story. But unlike the simple engravings we saw below, here the images are crisp and complete. K'tharn stand next to a giant M'tari, showing him physics, chemistry, and ship-design. On the far wall, a video plays, scrolling runes running beneath it, which I read as we file in.

"Finally, Edge-Treader returned home. When he arrived, he went to the Lords of the Deep, and he proposed an idea. One inspired by the Ukilans who had saved them. They would create a society to replace the lost Ukilans. And they would shelter the scattered surfacers he'd found as the Ukilans sheltered them. They would create the M'tari Ascendancy."

As I speak the last words, a set of notifications appear.

"Zone Quest completed: Reach the Hidden Depths. Rewards: 1 Unique Armor. 1 Armor Upgrade. 1 Armor Customization Module."

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective completed: Requirements 1/1 Story of Edge-Treader uncovered. Rewards: +1 current Attributes, 10 Iron-Rank Integration points, 5 Iron-Rank Mana Essence."

"Teleportation abilities have been unlocked."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

We all remain silent, looking around the room for a few moments before my attention drifts back to the video on the far wall.

"You know what this means?" Rufka asks,

"The K'tharn are originally from Ukila?" I reply, walking around the room, staring at the pictures and comparing the K'tharn I see with the ones I've come to know. There's no noticeable difference.

"No. It means my grandmum Melcia really did cross the boundary to Ukila!" Rufka says, spinning around. "Mum was right. We really did touch the stars. They really did exist."

"And the mana-storm destroyed them," I add, staring at what they'd built. "They were clearly beyond what earth is capable of. They had spaceships capable of carrying a giant squid, and they were still erased."

"Maybe they ran," Rose says, getting closer. "From the story, it sounds like they knew it was coming hundreds of years before it got here. Maybe they built a bunch of spaceships and just... flew away."

"I... huh. And they just left people behind?"

"You think there wouldn't be people on earth who would stay behind, no matter what someone told them about an incoming apocalypse?" Roberts asks, his chin shaking with a soft chuckle, which the channel fails to transmit.

"More than half, I'd wager," Beth says, studying the walls. "But you know what else this means?"

"Hmm?" I ask, looking at the same picture as her. A wall that shows a massive spaceport, full of spaceships.

"Maybe there's more to salvage than just a handful of Sanctuaries."

Looking back at the wall, my jaw hangs open. If it's still there. And usable...

Well, it would almost make all the bug bites I got today worth it.

Almost.

When we leave the dungeon, we don't immediately return to the surface. Instead, we attempt to explore the underwater city. But we're stopped by a pair of waiting K'tharn, who politely request we speak to Vethel before exploring.

So, we head to the surface, where we find Tipan and Smoulder waiting. I barely make it out of the water elevator when Smoulder slams into my shoulder. With Tipan greeting us, and telling us about her visit with her mom and Smoulder snuggling into my chin, we make a quick stop by the Nexus to pick up our rewards.

The first is a thin push-tube that serves as an armour upgrade.

"Breath of the Depths: When used on existing armour, adds the Never Breathless modifier. Grants a bonus of 10.0 Stamina Edge, doubles existing bonuses and you will absorb oxygen through your skin, so long as there is any in your environment."

"Note. Armour upgrades will become a permanent part of armour once used. Applying a new armour upgrade will replace the old upgrade."

[Wyonna] "Congrats. You're now as cool as Aquaman. Nah, scratch that. I can't even pretend to insult you like that. Though the 2018 version was pretty badass. Jason Momoa, much yum."

"Thanks Wyonna. Love you too," I mutter before turning to the delicate looking set of string that came in a small bag.

"Armor Customization Module. This rare item allows one piece of armour to be customized to have additional forms. Note, each additional form will consume a mundane version of the new form and increased Integration Point Costs."

"Cost to attach to armor. 1 Iron-Rank Integration Point."

That's... well, that's awesome. I don't even hesitate to bind it to my Aunt Sharon's jacket. Much as I love her jacket, being able to keep the protection while also having other stuff to wear? Yeah, pretty killer.

Then I move on to the piece of cloth that the tube and bag were folded inside.

"Edge-Treader's Private Protectors. Having empathized with the pain Edge-Treader endured in his youth, you have received protection to help ensure such a thing will never happen to you."

"Protects your crotch. Comfortable. Silky. Smooth. Improves Health and Stamina Edge by 5.0 when equipped. Doubles the effect of Edge when applied to your crotch region."

"Current Bond: Citizen Pandora, pending acceptance."

"Note. Additional item bonding option available: Engrained Tattoo."

I... they're magical panties. Quickly looking around, I confirm that no one else seems to have gotten magical panties. I store them in my inventory before anyone can ask.

And then realize how stupid I'm being. I can just turn them into a tattoo. Not sure how that works with the protection bit, but I figure I probably shouldn't risk putting it elsewhere if I want the benefit. Only problem is... I do not want to go through the sort of pain I went through the first time with these.

When Rufka asks what I got, I simply redirect by saying I'll show her later and ask what she received. She shows off her new cloak that can split apart into tentacles to grasp things. It's funny watching her fail to pick up Smoulder, who just steps slightly to the side, tilting her head at Rufka.

We head back to the inn, and the attitude is positive as we discuss our next steps. Slipping away with Rufka, I add another tattoo, which thankfully stings less than a beetle bite now that I'm not trying to focus on it. Good thing too, considering where it's located. Thankfully, it's nice and subtle, little more than light pink lines against my skin.

When we emerge, the others have set up a tour of the sunken side of Glimmering Sands.

Vethal herself is there to guide us, explaining that most parts of the city are off-limits to non-residents.

She takes us into a giant market, with stalls stacked above each other and people of all forms flitting up and down. There's an equipment shop, where I manage to acquire some sturdy clothes, adding some proper diversity to my wardrobe. It's kinda sad that the first place we find with a wide assortment of clothing for an 'elvenoid' shape is hundreds of meters under the ocean. In between modeling outfits for Rufka, I use my armour upgrade on panties-turned tattoo, having used the former one on the edge increasing tattoo from Atun. Because… duh?

Looking over my improved Status, I nod to myself, pretending that I held off on increasing my Agility and Endurance on purpose. Totally didn't forget my class increased the cap on those until Rufka reminded me.

Nope.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-10

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 60 > 90

Constitution: 65 > 90

Agility: 100 > 105

Endurance: 60 > 105

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 110 > 125

Resolve: 110 > 125

Storage: 8.55 > 9.9 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 3/7 > 6/8

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 637

Progression Marks: 3

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 535/535 > 535/686, Edge: [36.2] > [103.3], Regen: (403/day) > (592/day)

Stamina

Pool: 520/529 > 520/702, Edge: [40.5] > [110.6], Regen: (429/day) > (627/day)

Mana

Pool: 922/1173 > 922/1277, Edge: [105.3] > [141.7], Regen: (1096/day) > (1216/day)

Focus

Pool: 888/1176 > 888/1277, Edge: [83.8] > [126], Regen: (1068/day) > (1216/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 397/402 > 397/434, Edge: [27.5] > [59.6], Regen: (334/hour) > (372/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 3/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 1/2

Limits of Mortality: 1/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1

Anchor: 1/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1

Seed: 1/1

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 0/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 3/3

I've really grown a lot from the day I landed here with negative twenty Strength. I'm pulled out of my Status by Rufka coming out in a sundress. I blink several times before pouncing on her and making sure she buys it.

Then we spend time in a stall that's selling extra equipment left over from the recent tidal festival. In addition to the dozen surfboards I buy, there's a commemorative statue of the great tide. It's little more than several vaguely K'tharn shapes body-surfing down the wave, but it gets added to my collection too.

Tipan and Josh end up in a friendly competition of fish scuttling, which involves shooting a barrel with enchanted fish and making it sink. By unanimous consent, I'm prohibited from playing, since it's not against the rules to use manipulation to shoot the fish. I don't even mind.

We end up having dinner at a restaurant set inside a living reef, colourful fish flitting by. Despite the location, the local delicacy is an aquatic bird, which leads to us ordering a delicious feast that has more bird than I know what to do with.

Hmm. Not true.

After a ravenous devouring of much good food, we head back to the inn.

Even as we're heading to bed, I can't help but smile. Starting tomorrow, we're going to split up. Beth wants to take Trellani to Burnesq to see if she can help with the repairs. And assess if repairs are even possible.

While they're doing that, I'm headed north. During Tipan's visit with her mother, she mentioned our interest in the Sanctuaries. According to Tithan, Sanctuary Pelwerd is completely intact. Rufka, Rose and I are going to visit the last Builder's City on the continent.

And with a little luck, bring it online.

A note from Draith

Thanks for the awesome review, Mike.S30

4.48, Important Studies

The stars returned to normal as Pelsiar dropped his capsule out of Ripple-space. As the Primary System Research Agent for Sector MWVAE, he was responsible for investigating oddities. As his display flashed with a notification about a space-time matrix being detected within an isolated System, he paused in the contraction of his lesser grasping tentacles to look over. He considered the notification for several seconds before initiating a call with his 'partner' Trokk Elnite.

"What do you want, Pelsiar?" The male voice on the other end of the connection said coolly as his image snapped into place.

"I've found something," Pelsiar replied, glad that he no longer struggled to repress his revulsion at the flapping lips of the elvenoid. He'd truly become a more tolerant being.

"Wonderful," Trokk replied, his bulbous eyes rolling as he crinkled his soft face at Pelsiar. "What is it?"

Pelsiar undulated his grasping tentacles for a second before shaking his abdomen. "The System has flagged a possible Black in system MWVAE-22. A space-time matrix," he reported while sending the relevant files to his partner.

"That's a Dark system, and the residents are classified as mortal tier. How did they develop a Black level space-time matrix?" Trokk asked, though Pelsiar was familiar enough with the fool to know he wasn't actually talking to him.

"Shall I track them down?" Pelsiar asked, knowing that Trokk preferred to handle trouble like this himself. Even if he had to come across the sector.

"That... that might be best," Trokk replied, setting Pelsiar momentarily off balance.

"Shame. I was about to stop by MWVAE-20. I was hoping to recruit some of the locals," Pelsiar said. While he really had been planning to stop by MWVAE-20, it had been because his personal scans had revealed the presence of Phothens in the system. That Trokk had a biological preference for the natives was simply a fact he hoped to exploit.

"I... it's probably not an emergency," Trokk said, his eyes lighting up as he looked at something Pelsiar couldn't see.

"Still, a space-time matrix might well escape. It is best that I go immediately," Pelsiar said with a vibration of his body that he knew Trokk would interpret as one of the elvenoid's sighs.

"Hold on a second," Trokk interrupted, holding one hand towards the screen while tapping away with the other. If Pelsiar had the same bulbous eyes instead of his faceted perfection, he would have rolled them at Trokk's predictable response. "Okay, I've instructed the System to initiate procedure Spatial VEX-332. That should give you some time. Hate for you to waste the trip."

"Hmm. Excellent idea," Pelsiar said, playing to the elvenoid's ego. "I'm sure my new assistants will be most useful."

"Don't take too long, getting those assistants," Trokk said, his eyes narrowing in that way he did when he suspected Pelsiar of being less than truthful.

"Of course not. The System will have already prepared a proper selection of assistants. Though if you have any recommendations, I'm sure I could accommodate you," Pelsiar said, keeping his upper graspers moving in the way he had trained Trokk to think meant he was nervous.

Trokk just nodded before ending the call. But a few seconds later, a few... less than scientifically relevant preferences populated Pelsiar's data for the assistants.

As he rubbed his graspers together, Pelsiar extended his eyestalk, and read over the non-System alert he'd received that caused him to drop out of ripple-space in the first place.

It seemed the Phothen were letting their Worldships get awfully close to System space.

He couldn't wait to 'recruit' one for study.

A note from Draith

And that's the end of book 4. Book 5 will publish just a tad slower, starting in about 12 hours at only 4 chapters per day instead of six. And once we get to book 6 we'll be dropping to one chapter/day until we get to the end of the initial 'master arc' of TFI, which is finished in book 7 (assuming I don't write a whole other book to fit everything I want in)

Thanks Kristoff for the awesome review!

Also, it's time to ask for those ratings/reviews and shiny, shiny comments. All the comments!

*Edit (Right, and doot reviews you agree with while you're there. Always editing this in)

Thanks for reading!

5.00, A Light Second Away

3:55 pm, local time. (August 19, 2023, 5:55 pm.) Nearly a month after Ivicka's defeat.

Talkith's fur ruffled in the ever-present wind of the Great Abyss as she waited on a terraced balcony on the north side of the World’s End Palace. The way she stood, with her four arms crossed and the casual turn of her hand as she inspected her claw with a single lower eye, would understandably lead most to believe she was distracted.

They'd be mistaken. And any who attempted to take advantage of her apparent state of rest would meet a quick and violent end. It wouldn't be the first time.

Even in her ease, Talkith was monitoring her surroundings. She could place all six of the ministers arguing with each other in the meeting, though only two of them were familiar to her. Most of the ministers were new, having replaced their predecessors after what was being called the 'Vothborean Incident'.

Talkith had been absent, scouring through the copper-rank dungeon of Astra's Tears, searching for a supposed hidden objective. But she understood there'd been discord. Some great message that hadn’t reached her inside the dungeon. Not that she paid the meeting much attention. The ministers were always fighting with each other over something.

Which is why she usually stayed as far from Aethire as possible.

However, her friend, Minister Yelthen, had invited her once it became clear the war with the squids was getting worse. Normally, Talkith wouldn't come at a minister's request, not even with war on the horizon. But Yelthen was her adopted daughter's Tel'thoni. They had a long history together, and she had earned Talkith's trust. Which was not easily done.

Most of the ministers were alone, with the exception of the invisible Taken standing at the shoulder of Minister Jothin.

Other than the ministers inside the room, there was a young rune-tech doing maintenance work two floors down whose ears were twitching. That wasn't unusual. Most who visited the World's End palace felt uneasy while they were inside. It had been designed to instill reverence.

All were pure K'tharn, of course. The Fallen may serve the Aetherium now, but none were allowed in these hallowed halls.

As her thoughts did so often of late, she wondered how her daughter was doing. She'd likely completed her training by now. It would be nice to see her more often, but Talkith's position didn't leave much time to check on her.

Perhaps she should get her friend in recruitment to update her on her daughter. Talkith was aware minister Yelthen could find out in minutes. But she'd never dream of asking the minister to intervene on her behalf. It would be dishonourable to use her professional advantages for personal interests. Any concerned parent could inquire with the recruitment division.

Talkith knew her beliefs were unusual, adhering to her clan's historic code of honour despite the changes the System had brought. But they were the same tenets her mother had taught her. She'd tried to pass them on, but her Thiani, Tithan, had insisted on raising their daughters under the new ways. That had only been one of the disagreements she’d had with her partner about their daughters.

However, it had also been the last. Talkith was now forced to observe her daughter through intermediaries or while lurking in the shadows like a thief.

Talkith was drawn out of her musings when a dark object fell from the sky above. Even as she prepared to dodge the incoming strike, it smashed into the neighbouring room, the explosion resounding through the walls of the council chamber.

Not waiting, Talkith activated one of her oldest abilities, Star's Path, turning into a beam of light. Using the faceted surface of the lights embedded in the ceiling of the hallway, she reached the chamber while the rumble was still spreading through the palace.

The room was mostly intact, only a few clouds of dust drifting from small cracks between the web of rune-work glowing brightly on the ceiling. The occupants hadn't fared as well.

Minister Yelthen was sprawled next to the minister of Essence. Talkith couldn't remember her name. Something that reminded her of tulliberry.

Yelthen had been injured, all but her lower left eye damaged. And of her four arms, only one wasn't bent at an unnatural angle. At least she seemed able to stand.

Talkith imagined that if this were pre-integration, minister Yelthen would be doomed. But her current injuries would be an inconvenience at most. The thuds and professional whispers of the emergency response team were already echoing from the nearby stairs.

The team's healers would take care of the injured.

Which meant she could focus her attention on discovering what had managed to cause such havoc in one of the most heavily enchanted locations in the entire Aetherium.

As Talkith investigated the room, she realized minister Yelthen had been lucky. Three of the other ministers had perished in the explosion. There'd be some angry howling when their System Restoration completed in thirty-six hours. She didn't envy the attendants who'd be filling them in on their missed time.

It didn't take long for Talkith to find the source of the explosion, a large orb with a pock-marked surface. The orb was resting partially embedded in the remains of the large stone table that once dominated the centre of the room. The surface of the orb was a dark stone that reminded her of obsidian, with essence etchings providing a barely visible golden contrast.

The giant hole in the outer wall was still choked with cloying dust as Talkith kneeled next to the expended Essence construct. There were only the faintest traces of runework remaining, but she could feel the Twilight mana as it faded.

Which meant this wasn't made by a regular dissident. Twilight magic wasn't obscure by any means, but few understood how to turn it to offensive ends. It also explained how the projectile made it past the enchantments.

Talkith was inspecting the impact damage where the strange bomb had blasted its way through the wall when she heard the emergency response team arrive. Glancing over, she was mildly surprised to see the dust still obscuring her vision. Assuming the dust in the air was an intentional aftereffect of the bomb, she started directing it out of the room.

Or at least she attempted to direct it out of the room. Even as Talkith attempted to exert control over the cloying dust, it expanded in a wave of force that threw her through the hole in the wall, slamming her about as though she was still a kitten.

She hurtled away for an entire second before she realized what had happened. Exerting her will to provide a lifting gust to carry her back to the palace, she glanced up. The dust wasn't done. Even now, it remained fastened to her fur, preventing her from directing her mana. She wasn't even able to transform.

Talkith felt a genuine spike of panic before she calmed herself, the wind whistling in her ears. It was an almost novel experience, being in freefall without so much as a wind-barrier protecting her. Not novel enough to stop her from picking the dust off using a careful application of Twilight. Still, it was a reminder that she didn't know every magic available within the System.

The air was starting to get uncomfortably warm by the time she'd picked enough of the dust off to halt her fall. Considering the incredible toughness of her Copper-rank existence, that meant the ambient temperature was hot enough to flash-boil a mortal's flesh.

“Best I leave before I get closer to the core,” she mumbled to herself as she flicked another fleck of infused dust from her fur. Despite her partial success, gaining altitude proved to be impossible until she completely eliminated the remaining flecks. As she was removing the last of them, she brought it closer for inspection.

It was a small hexagon, barely discernible to her copper-rank vision. Its structure reminded her of a snowflake, though it was a dusky yellow.

Dropping it into the abyss, Talkith flew back to the gaping hole in the side of the palace. It had expanded since she left.

As she approached, she secured several flakes for study, using drained stone nets to ensure she didn't accidentally bog herself down again. However, it seemed the threat had passed, most of the dust cleared away.

Inside, the remains hadn't yet turned into the blue powder that would precede their Restoration but the injured ministers had been vacated. With one exception.

"Talkith, you're alive," A remarkably improved minister Yelthen greeted her, waving one of her upper arms to indicate Talkith should come closer. Which caused a weary sounding healer to remind the minister she was still recovering.

"So it would appear. We need to talk. In private," Talkith stated, staring at the healer with all four eyes.

The healer's ears drooped and not one of her four eyes dared meet Talkith's, but it was only after Yelthen assured the healer she'd be out shortly, that the healer took her leave.

Talkith marked the healer's dark brown fur and grey streaks for later investigation. Perhaps she was related to this incident. And if she wasn’t, such dedication to the craft was commendable.

"Well?" the minister asked while shifting in her chair, a hiss of pain escaping her lips.

"This was meant to serve as a reminder. War with the squids will be more than an inconvenience," Talkith stated. They were the only ones with a mastery to rival the Aetherium’s own.

"We knew that. But what can we do? They refuse to believe the attack on their tower was a rogue element."

"Then we prove it. The Outlanders responsible should be apprehended."

Ylethen drummed her fingers on the broken table before responding, "We've tried. But they're like Phlan-gossamer, rarely visible before fading. And after the incident with the Taken, we’re half-blind. The K’mintar refuses to cooperate."

"She has always been a scheming witch. It does not surprise me she’d turn her back on the Aetherium when it needs her. Send me. There are none who can escape my reach."

"Ah, I would my friend. But there is… an issue."

"One that will prevent us from restoring our honour?"

"No. It's just that…" Ylethen paused as she inspected Talkith, her eyes lingering on the jagged scar that marred Talkith's fur.

"I have reports stating your daughter is with them. Not only that, I believe they were responsible for her half-sister's death. I've commissioned a statue for Ivicka, by the way."

The words caused Talkith to freeze in place as she stared at Ylethen. Surely, she'd misheard. There was no way her daughter could have done something so dishonourable. It was only with some difficulty that Talkith realized Ylethen was still speaking.

"Of course, there's no question of your honour. But I'd never force a friend to apprehend her only daughter."

At the word ‘only’ Talkith felt a pang in her heart. One she thought she’d grown used to after Sel’dast passed. Talkith knew she had to respond before it could affect her, "No. It is best I do this. Perhaps she has been misled by the Outlanders."

"Perhaps," Ylethen conceded, her eyes playing over the room. "But if the squids demand we hand her over, what then? Should we surrender your daughter to appease them?"

Talkith didn't immediately respond as she stared out through the cracked facade of the palace. Even now, she could see a stone lifting from the floor, the walls repairing themselves as the runes restored the damage.

As Talkith watched the wall reclaim its strength with a fresh infusion of mana, she wished her own dilemma could be fixed so simply.

But then, it could, couldn't it?

"Of course. It is the least owed to their people."

Ylethen's eyes drew together, as she forced herself to her feet, placing a hand on Talkith's shoulder. "You're sure?"

"It is our duty. Tipan will pay the price for peace."

"Well, in that case, you should talk to Jethia, she's been handling the search. And Talkith…" She shuffled sideways until she was looking directly in Talkith's eyes, her hand clasped around Talkith's snow-white paw. "Thank you."

Talkith only nodded, pulling her hand free of Ylethen’s golden fur before turning to leave. In a flash, she beamed up the stairs to where Jethia of the Stormguard waited.

Talkith hated talking. She was bad at it. Her thiani had once said the reflection rock she kept in the garden was better at communicating. Talkith had thought it had awakened, running several probing tests before realizing Tithan had been…

Yes, Talkith was bad at talking.

But listening? Watching? Those were skills all Stormguard cultivated. One could not rescue those they couldn’t find. Observing she understood.

And there was much to see and hear in the capital. Especially in the wake of the attack upon her friend. And the rest of the ministers, she supposed. She was surprised they hadn’t returned screaming at the top of their lungs, demanding that all K’tharn with white patches on their left cheek be punished for the attack. Despite being two days since the incident, they hadn’t returned to the public eye.

Perhaps they were afraid.

Ylethan and the minister of relations seemed to be the only ones willing to show their faces. She suspected the minister of Relations was just enjoying the attention that being a survivor of such an attack was bringing her. She’d always been a vain K’tharn.

Talkith narrowed her eyes at a squad of Fallen being directed by a weary K’tharn in the market below. It was disconcerting how alive they seemed. She wasn’t used to System constructs being so… dynamic.

Ylethan hadn’t gone into detail on the specifics of the new enchantments required to create them, and Talkith hadn’t asked. She wouldn’t have understood anyway.

That K’tharn were upset was apparent though. Some were complaining that the Fallen looked like their lost loved ones. Considering how mangled most were, Talkith suspected half the city could claim lost loved ones among the new servants, and it’d be hard to prove otherwise. Especially since the System only identified the new servants by number.

Normally, Talkith would’ve remained in the countryside, searching for her daughter. But then she’d read the full report given to her by Jethia. It had been odd enough for her to return, to try to find some answers. One of the Outlanders was the very same who’d scanned the pu’shaha, and raised the population limit.

A move that hadn’t been as universally loved as one might’ve expected.

Even now, Talkith could hear a couple arguing about their future. One was arguing that they owed it to this Alexis to have a pu’shaha. The other was adamant they’d had enough children.

It seemed pointless to Talkith. Children only died or disappointed.

The outlander who had caused this chaos was noticeably only listed as a ‘person of interest’ with no capture order. Not that Talkith would go by the Aetherium’s orders. She would assess the situation herself.

With a heavy breath, she pushed off the roof, thankful she didn’t need the Aetherium’s teleportation network. There was nothing more for her here. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t even ask the Taken. They had declared some sort of religious sanction on the council. And she and the K’mintar had never been on speaking terms.

She’d have to find her daughter, the hard way. Only then would she discover the truth. If her daughter was innocent, then perhaps they could talk to the M’tari directly.

And if not… well, Yelthen had helped guide Ivicka. And Ivicka had gone on to become one of the greatest K’tharn in a generation. She would be able to provide the guidance Talkith couldn’t.

And if her daughter had not changed, and was as stubborn as she’d been as a child, well…

Death before dishonour.

That was Talkith's way.

A note from Draith

Gonna quickly shout a few of my fav stories (they're legit on my fav list) over the next few chapters, though you've probably already seen them.

Memoirs of Your Local Small-time Villainess

Reincarnated into a villainess with a System. The system itself is pretty minor, but the story's a lot of fun, with interesting worldbuilding and good use of the 'game knowledge' of the previous version. It's characters other than Scarlett are a little weak, but it's still fun. Love it.

5.01, To Steal a City

9:32 am, local time. (August 20, 2023, 11:32 am.) A bit more than a month after the defeat of Ivicka and her army of enslaved Fallen.

“Steal a city. Easy,” I mumble, easing my flight as Smoulder and I settle on the edge of one of the few intact outer buildings which afford a view of the abandoned Builder city of Pelwerd.

Smoulder bounds forth from her pocket, stretching her legs after our long flight. I give her a quick headscritch as she bursts into flames for a moment.

Just another form of stretching, really.

Something we both need after the last couple days. After a quick trip to the Builder's busted Sanctuary of Burnesq to drop off and help set up the others, our small group spent our time dodging Aetherium patrols on our way north from Betheryne. Which have increased since our flight towards Elementalist’s Peak.

“Are you trying to jinx it?” Rose chuckles as he folds his Rose-petal wings into a cape while landing beside me, his upper eyes closing as he takes a deep breath.

“Beth already jinxed us,” Rufka says from my other side as she surveys the rubble. Most of the outer buildings are damaged, but all six engines are still in their proper location.

That’s promising, but it's the central spire of twisting silver that draws my eye. An even better sign. Nothing appears damaged, the silver surface dim beneath the evening clouds common this far north of the Aetherium.

“Just cause she said, ‘third time’s the charm,’ doesn’t mean she jinxed us. You’ve been listening to Josh too much,” I object as we return to the air preparing to inspect each engine, Smoulder prepared to dash below us. She’s been a saint.

“So, you’re saying you are trying to jinx us?” Rose asks, his tiger-orange fur slicked back as we soar forwards.

“She’s not trying.” Rufka throws an arm over my shoulder as she laughs. “She’s just lucky like that.”

“Thanks.” I can’t help but grin at Rufka. Hard to believe we’ve been dating for over a month now.

“Anytime.”

We continue our banter as we do a quick visual inspection of the engines, checking for obvious damage. Pelwerd is the third Sanctuary we’ve visited, but it’s the first that might actually meet our requirements.

It still upsets me that the first was destroyed. At least the second city was only missing the central control spire. If the others are successful, they might find a way to fix it. Which’d be a few million more saved. Too bad we’re scouting the last of the abandoned Sanctuaries on the Eastern continent.

No more easy pickings after this.

Once we’re certain none of the engines are deformed, we gather in the plaza next to the only entrance to the central spire, Smoulder landing on my shoulder with a thump.

A three storey-tall dull-grey statue dominates the plaza, the only direct representation of the Creators in the entire city. The statue resembles a human carrying a backpack while leaning on a staff, except its features are sharper. The point of its nose and ears could easily draw blood if they pierced a pre-integrated life form.

Instead of idly meandering towards it, I Focus on the statue, bringing up its System information.

“Creature analyzed: Menas Sentinel. Mana seed: 1.

“A Sentinel Construct deployed by the followers of the Creator Menas to prevent non-authorized Users from accessing the core functions of a Sanctuary. These Sentinels are incredibly durable and will destroy a Sanctuary rather than allow outside forces to capture one.”

[Wyonna] “Hmm. Seems grumpy and stompy. He’s gonna show his displeasure the second you get too close. Probably by trying to make toe-jam.”

“Name: Orthas the Elkendler-MWVAE-22 (Elkendler roughly translates to ‘Explorer’)

Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; High, Magic; High, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Earthquake, Slam, Menas’ Gaze, High Earth manipulation.

Defences: Extreme physical resistance, Extreme magic resistance. Immunity to Earth."

“Figures,” I mutter as I finish reading. “This one’s not gonna let us past.”

Rose is nodding as he forms a pair of throwing stars with explosive Rose-pods in their centre. “Didn’t think it would.”

“It’s never just a statue,” Rufka agrees while drawing her bow, small arcs of lightning plasma already crackling along its length.

“Technically, it’s a guardian-sentinel kind of thing.”

“And?” Rose asks, glancing at me as he hefts a pair of throwing stars, a brand new addition to his arsenal. The core weapon of his new class, Fractured Vexthera. It focuses on being able to create clones of his weapons and himself. And they all have a tendency to explode. The clones exploding tends to be uncomfortable, so he mostly avoids those.

“Nothing. Just thought I’d mention that we’re technically attacking it.” Which doesn’t bother me. From what we’ve seen in the other Sanctuaries, the Creators’ idea of non-lethal force is enough to render me half-dead, even now that I’m peak-Iron.

“About Vaus-damn time,” Rufka grins, unleashing an arrow into its chest. Her arrow has no obvious effect, the lightning arcing across the Sentinel’s surface as I playfully curse at her. Despite her enthusiasm, neither Rose nor I are caught unaware, already flying to the sides while Smoulder charges in.

The Sentinel doesn’t stand around waiting for another attack. It doesn’t dodge to the side, but it does start shaking, a burgundy light emanating from the previously dark crystals adorning its limbs.

A second later, it stumbles as several of Rose’s new shuriken explode, dark-blue thorns forcing it back. There's a high-pitched warbling in the wake of the explosion, but I'm focused on its tottering form.

If it stumbles, then it’s not strong enough to ignore our attacks.

As if Rose wants to really prove his superiority over stone, he sends a pair of clones forward, twisting brambles shooting into the ground while wrapping around it to hold it in place.

In the meantime, Rufka and I continue to blast it from afar. It starts retaliating with blasts of energy from the burgundy crystals. I can feel air rushing to fill a sudden vacuum where the beam passes beneath me.

“It’s got a vacuum-beam of some kind,” I inform the others as everything the beam struck goes flying towards the Sentinel. This one is in way better shape than either of the others. I’m tempted to use Lesser Cataclysm, but our fight isn’t desperate.

Heck, I’m only using hasted time.

“On it!” Rufka acknowledges, her voice crackling from inside her plasma armor as she runs across the top of a broken wall on the far side of the plaza. She does a twist, sliding down the collapsing corner and distracting the Sentinel with an overpowered shot at the same time. The sentinel doesn’t dodge, and her arrow cracks one of the burgundy crystals.

I’m about to call out encouragement when I notice everything near the crystal is now being drawn towards the Sentinel. Including Rose’s restrictive bramble.

But instead of breaking free, the gathered debris seems to constrict its movements further.

After I inform the others of the flaw in its design, we focus on cracking another of the crystals. We're able to rain spells on it until it falls forward, revealing that its backpack is full of colourful and beautiful birds. Living birds that are chirping in distress.

Well, I guess that explains the warbling sound.

"Lots of health but didn't stand a chance," Rufka remarks, even as we continue wearing down the annoyingly still active sentinel.

Rose laughs, "We're lucky. Imagine if we'd run into a jacked-up Cricken swarm in one of the nearby buildings. I swear I'm still picking pieces of them out of my fur."

I can't help but shudder at the thought. The thumb-tack sized beetles fed on most types of mana. That dungeon was horrid. Even using invisibility and Beth’s void energy to sweep them clear, it had been unpleasant.

When we did a debrief after, it was brought to my attention how close we were to being sent to respawn.

Smoulder had done her best to reassure me, going so far as to offer to cleanse me with fire. Not wanting to have to reincorporate my clothes, I’d declined her generous offer. She’d been rather disappointed at not being able to help.

Speaking of which, she's trying to make up for it with the collapsed Sentinel, another section slumping away from her repeated blasts. Before she can attack the flightless avians on the sentinel's back, I call her over, giving her well-deserved head-scritches now that the Sentinel lays completely idle.

There’s a mother bird watching over the little ones, and she seems a bit worried. So I move her nest to the top of a nearby building, shaping an enclosure around it shaped like the sentinel’s pack.

While I’m securing the avians, Rufka extracts the Sentinel’s core, shutting it down for good. With that done, I gesture to the tower, eager to get started. "Well, shall we?"

"Hellz ya!" Rose races past me, aiming for the entrance at the bottom of the tower. "Last one there has to brief Beth!"

"Oh no, you don't!" I'm barely a second behind him. Not that I mind updating Beth.

It's the principle of it.

We're nearly at the tower when a flash of lightning strikes the base. When the flash clears, Rufka's standing where it struck, reaching out to touch the door before Rose and I reach her. I barely manage to tag the door before him.

"Cheater," Rose mutters good-naturedly, elbowing Rufka as she opens the door.

"As often as possible," she replies while pulling her bow taut before laying her hand on the smooth surface of the door. It swishes quietly to the side, granting us entry.

Rufka leads the way, twirling to face us while stepping backwards as she asks, "Think we'll run into any more guards?"

"I hope so." Rose follows behind her, staying between us so the door doesn't accidentally close on him.

He might be a user now, but his interactions still glitch on occasion. Which is the only reason he can get into Citizen areas, we think.

It’s weird.

The mana-barren emptiness causes me to shudder the second I step inside. It's better than when we still had the command centre, but any area lacking ambient mana sends a chill down my spine these days. I'd forgotten working Builder structures are mana-dead zones.

The layout of the tower is familiar enough, sharing some basic features with the engines. Which isn’t perfectly aligned, since this is clearly for a different purpose.

Moving directly to the open space at the centre of the tower, we find an empty shaft. There's a broken disc lying at the bottom. A quick analysis confirms it's the remains of the elevator. Luckily, we don't need it.

We fly up the empty shaft, forcing our way through the jammed doors at the top.

Once we pop it free, the door slides open quietly, none of the grinding or crunching that we encountered in some of Burnesq’s silver engines. "A good sign," I note.

"Yep. Mum's going to be thrilled when we tell her about this." It's rough, but all we can do is tell her mum.

Even though we probably wouldn't have survived our assault on Ivicka's Sanctum without her, Genitha wasn't awarded Citizen status. Which means she can't even enter the core structures. It's especially frustrating because Genitha is the best artificer on Akilo. Not being able to have her access the systems directly makes repairs extra complicated.

"Wow. That's not… how are we supposed to pilot that?" Rose is staring at a sphere floating in the middle of the room. It's composed of over a dozen rings, all spinning in different directions.

"I don't know why you’re surprised. It matches the schematic Wyonna found." Though it is prettier than I expected, each ring a slightly different variation of silver or gold.

"Well, yeah. But I thought it would be less impressive. Or that there would be a frame."

Rufka reaches a tentative hand towards the spinning rings but doesn't touch them. "Seems fragile. Guess that's why we never found remnants in the remains of the other spires."

"Pretty too. Probably taken as salvage." Rose is checking the rest of the control room, but there's not much else here other than a robust terminal.

The terminal is just as important as the fancy sphere floating in the middle of the room. At least according to Theglia. With a little help from Wyonna, we should be able to adjust the permissions for the entire city from this oversized hunk of processing power.

Everything in these damn cities is sized for Yrken. Well, the important stuff anyway.

Concentrating, I contact Wyonna through chat, letting her know we're ready for her. I don't technically need to contact her, since she's always watching, but it makes her feel more included if I don’t just expect her to do things.

Besides, even though she's technically a voice in my head, she can chat with the others whenever she wants. She and Rose have been getting along particularly well.

[Wyonna] "Congrats on finding a non-busted ass city. Third time's the charm, as they say."

"Yep, literally what Beth said. You able to help with the console?"

[Wyonna] "Already on it. For some reason I’m an excellent multi-tasker. Would you believe that some people think that being able to think at the speed of light makes me seem like a hyper-anime girl?"

I can't help but chuckle at that.

“Rose,” I ask, but in response I just get a flashing set of dots. Still haven’t figured out how to get my own chat to do that. Advantages of being an artificial integrated, I suppose.

The console blinks several times, the screen going dark as Wyonna does her thing.

Rufka pulls me close as we wait, Rose giving us a knowing smile. Then she spins me around before allowing me to rest in her arms, drawing out a laugh from both of us. I'm amazed that neither of us has gotten tired of spending time together. Even after everything in the last month, we're still going strong.

My longest relationship yet.

Which is why that night was so terrifying.

But I've been stable since the System took the command centre, so at least she hasn't needed to heal again. I dreamt about the smell of her burnt fur again last-

As if knowing what I'm thinking, Rufka gives me a peck on my cheek, drawing my thoughts back to the present.

The screen flickers again, this time lighting up with Vausian text. Rose rushes over to it before I have a chance, so Rufka and I look over his shoulder as he taps through the menus.

"Josh would be so jealous. Here I am, operating a real alien spaceship!"

"That's just the city-oof!" Rufka pretends to be impacted by my gentle elbow, slumping away.

"Let him have his fun," I insist while holding Rufka as she dangles limply from my arms. She's going full bore, fluttering eyes and everything. But she forgets I can feel her breathing and see her status. This particular ploy stopped working on me a week ago.

It's still fun to watch.

"Ha. Found it," Rose exclaims, drawing my attention back to him. Peering over his shoulder, I see settings for each sector of the city. The permission settings are extensive. They can be tuned to rank, species and gene- or mana-seed type. There are even settings for individuals.

However, the spire itself remains constrained to Citizens and Builders, as do the engines.

Switching it so K'tharn and humans can enter without paying an integration point or surrendering their class is as simple as unsubscribing from an email list. One that isn't maliciously trying to prevent you from unsubscribing.

We also make sure to exclude Ivicka, we've come back to life, so could she, Folthka, despite Rose's disgruntled protests, the four Malkog, stupid fanatic bugs, and a particularly annoying Zephite from Raz's.

I swear, that beetle-person must have an issue with me, cause he’s never bumped into anyone else.

"Well, that was easy." Rose practically hops up once he's finished, turning to look at me. "Are you going to take it for a spin?"

"Uhm…" This is the part of the plan I'm kind of leery of. To fly the city, one of us needs to get inside the spinning sphere. The one that never stops spinning, according to Theglia. Though she admits she's never seen one, never mind tried to interact with them. It’s a very Builder type design.

Rufka doesn't stop dangling, even as she asks, "What's the worst that could happen? You get diced into thousands of little pieces, painfully scattered to the corners of the room and leave me grieving and alone..."

"For thirty-six minutes," we say in sync. It's not the first time she's extrapolated my gruesome death since we returned from the underwater dungeon. In fact, it's kind of become a whole thing. I'm not certain why her describing all the different ways I could die is endearing, but it is.

Still, she has a point. I'd rather not be diced into thousands of pieces.

While it's true we can be resurrected from nothing, Beth hasn't been the same since her respawns. Although she won't talk about the details, she's made it clear. Dying was extremely unpleasant. Even our not-quite deaths at the hands of Atun proved that.

On the other hand, Josh said when he faded away, it was like slipping into a warm bath. I’ve yet to experience that version.

Somehow, I don't imagine getting torn to bits would be on the warm bath end of the spectrum.

"You don't have to," Rufka reminds me. "We still have time to figure out how to get inside."

"True," I admit, giving her a half-smile.

Rose throws his arms in the air. "Of course, you have the opportunity to fly a spaceship the size of a city… scratch that, let's just call it a city-ship. You could fly a city-ship, but you don't want to because…"

When he trails off, he lowers his ears in shame. He knows exactly why I don't want to do it.

"Because we shouldn’t just act like we can come back to life," I repeat for what must be the millionth time.

Still, I need to do this.

Getting the cities flying won't just give us a way home, each city will enable us to save tens of millions. It's funny. I can't really comprehend that many people. It’s more people than used to live on Akilo before we raised their population limit...

And it's not enough to save Earth.

But it's a start.

A note from Draith

This chapter's shout.

WIAFTTTA is the acronym.

And that's just a sign of what's to come, in the best way, in my friend's amazing story. It was supposed to be a series of short parody stories. Instead... it's just great MC inserted into a cheesy Xainxia fun with great world building and characters.

5.02, Some Assembly Required

9:59 am, local time. (August 20, 2023, 11:59 am.) One minute before taking one small step.

Earth.

It's so far away, but there's something about the reflection of the spinning rings, the way light dances across their surface that reminds me of home.

Which isn't going to be easy to get to. Even if we're able to get the city-ship flying, we still need to get it out of the barrier surrounding Akilo. The information Theglia gave Wyonna has a solution, a way to… skip past the shield. But she indicated we need to get everything working first because we're only going to get one attempt.

At least, if we want the city-ships to be in working order after we leave.

As I draw closer, I focus on the odd silence of the rings. There isn't so much as a whisper to betray their motion. No swishing, swashing or whirring.

Instead of teleporting, I decide to poke around first. I mean, maybe the Builders who flew these city-ships to Akilo didn't have teleportation. In that case, they probably had another way to get inside the pilot's sphere.

The fact I have zero desire to teleport myself into the midst of hundreds of rings spinning at speeds that could reduce me to itsy-bitsy pieces might, possibly, maybe, be contributing to my decision to inspect the sphere carefully.

Totally not procrastinating further, I look over my status.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-10

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 90

Constitution: 90

Agility: 105

Endurance: 105

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 125

Resolve: 125

Storage: 11.9 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 6/8

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 637

Progression Marks: 3

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 633/686, Edge: [103.3], Regen: (592/day)

Stamina

Pool: 536/702, Edge: [110.6], Regen: (627/day)

Mana

Pool: 1192/1277, Edge: [141.7], Regen: (1216/day)

Focus

Pool: 902/1277, Edge: [126], Regen: (1216/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 352/434, Edge: [59.6], Regen: (372/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 3/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 1/2

Limits of Mortality: 1/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1

Anchor: 1/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1

Seed: 1/1

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 1/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 3/3

Nope. No new changes.

But I do have three points to spend. And… yeah, gotta have Lightning Warp. It might even help with improving my existing teleports.

As the ability settles in, I inspect it. It’s… very different feeling than my existing teleport. It feels crude. And… less accurate too. I’ll end up wherever the bolt ends up landing, not where I’m aiming. And I know how that ended for Bel’ther. Still, it’s another option. Not one that solves my current worry, but handy for other uses… probably.

I’ll be able to extract more teleporty secrets, at the very least.

Closing out, I weigh the risk of approaching the sphere again. I may be level ten with maxed out attributes, but it still hurts if I run out of Health.

Instead, I send thousands of strands of Facet into the sphere, each one tracing part of the device as I perform an advanced scan.

"Object analyzed: Odeon Sanctuary Node-Sphere V2.031”

“Originally designed by the Creator Odeon, these serve as the central node of control for many Creator devices that would otherwise overwhelm users. This Node is currently connected to Sanctuary Pelwerd.”

Even as I read the description, I glean a deeper understanding of the sphere. It's supposed to be governed by its own central intelligence. But the intelligence seems to be missing or dormant.

Theglia neglected to mention that part. I'll have to bring it up at our next monthly business meeting that has never before been suggested, but I’m sure we’ll totally have.

My analysis confirms the glimmering rings are as sharp as I thought they'd be. A single touch would leave an offending digit considerably shorter. Or at least tear out a significant amount of Health.

However, the knowledge my scan jammed into my brain indicates a safer path forward. There's a trigger at the base of the sphere that'll allow me to halt the spinning.

When I flip the trigger with a small exertion of earth magic, the rings slow before converging into a single upright circle. Within the sphere-turned-circle, there are a collection of free-standing shelves floating in the air. Most of them are roughly the size of my forearm, except for a larger section that floats in the middle. Their drab appearance contrasts sharply with the shining rings, each 'shelf' a different shade of dull grey.

"Whoa. A command chair," Rose says, stepping forwards beside me.

"Ha. Looks more like target practice," Rufka opines from the opposite side.

"You think everything looks like target practice," I point out, doing my best 'Rufka's aiming face' while shooting a finger gun at the floating shelf-chair.

"Only the things that are."

"So, do you think…." I cut myself off as Rose steps forward, placing himself where the rings were spinning half a minute earlier.

I panic, hauling him back with an excessive gust of wind. But other than sending him flying, nothing happens.

Right. I probably shouldn't be surprised. It's not like Citizen Tech responds to Rose's presence. Well, unless it's shooting at him.

"Damn," Rose grumbles as he picks himself up from near the console. "Having powers is cool and all, but this whole, 'not a Citizen' thing is annoying."

"Ha. Demo's still jealous," Rufka takes his arm, helping him up before turning to look at me expectantly.

Nodding, I swallow the lump in my throat before floating forward. The moment I'm inside the rings, the shelves start moving, stretching, and contorting themselves as they reorient themselves around me. Then they clamp down around my arms and legs, locking me in place as the rings spin back into place blocking the others from view.

I don't even have time to panic before I'm greeted with several screens flashing to life. The text filling the screens isn't in a language I recognize. Before I can attempt to decipher them, the screens flicker, then go dark. A second later the screens light up with the word, "Processing" clearly displayed in English.

After a few more seconds, there's a loud grumbling that shakes the entire room as the screens display:

"Citizen Status verified. Connection established."

As if in response, alerts start popping up, filling my interface as half the screens go dark once more.

"Wow. You've taken quite the beating," I note as I look over the compromised systems and performance values.

"Uh, Lexi? You okay?" Rufka asks.

Strange. Despite not being able to see them, I can hear her clearly. "Yeah. I'm fine. The interface is weird."

"Weird how?"

"Kind of aggressive. Not as intuitive as it usually is?"

"You don't sound sure."

"Like I said, it's weird."

Rose interjects, "That's cool and all, but you're forgetting the most important question."

Rufka chuckles as she asks, "Oh, and what's that?"

"Does it fly?!" Rose's enthusiasm is infectious, causing a smile to creep across my face as I try to decipher the status of the city-ship.

I make a list in my journal, as I relay my findings to the others. "Apparently, two of the engines are completely offline, and there's a warning about the atmospheric shields. The other engines are mostly functional. If we really want to, I think I could manage to get it in the air. Not sure how long it'd stay there though."

"Damn."

"Yeah. Theglia was right that it was designed for a one-way trip. But that's why we’re recruiting help. And why we ran all those dungeons."

Rufka laughs, "And here I thought it was ‘cause you loved getting stomped at Desh’mersa."

"That was not my favorite," I admit.

"You know, if not for how that first tournament went, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Tipan had tried to get us to stay longer," Rose adds while making a mock throwing motion.

"Anyway, with all the extra essence and spare parts, we should be able to finish the repairs fairly easily," I say, ignoring them as I flip the trigger on the floor, prompting the sphere to shut down and release me.

Once free, I create a table to the side of the room as I create physical notes about the city's problems, sorting them based on guidance from my Voidtech Engineer subclass. Even with the interface, I appreciate the tactile feeling the metal sheets give me.

"Staying? Can’t believe mum even let me go to Atun’s dungeon so soon after meeting you. Kept me home for years," Rufka grouses as she plucks the first page out of my hand.

"Wish I could find my mom. I bet she'd be able to get us into the World dungeon," Rose sighs while I try to grab the page back from Rufka so I can put it in its proper spot.

Rufka finally surrenders the page after I tug it gently in accelerated time. "Yeah, cause that's going to happen. Mum needs to take the defences offline or we need another way in. Love how we’re responsible for taking out the ‘great hero’ now too. She blew herself up!"

"To be fair, Beth was going to kill Ivicka if that explosion hadn't beaten her to it. And I certainly didn’t help with the whole teleport-slice thing," I point out as I set the page down, holding it in place with tabs of shaped stone to keep her from yoinking it again.

"Yeah, but she's the one that started the war. We just happened to be there. They should be thanking us. Least the M’tari know better," Rufka grumbles, crossing all four arms while glaring at the table.

"We agree," Rose sighs. "But if they're not willing to listen to your mum or the K’mintar, how are we going to convince them? Doubt they’d listen to a pu’shaha or a reacher."

"Still think we should get Demo to 'turn us in' for the bounty. A couple thousand more essence would be- Hey, does that say, 'requires artificial intelligence'?" Rufka asks, pointing at the centre of the drawings.

"Yeah. Apparently, the AI was removed."

Before I can continue, Rose has already sent a group message to Wyonna, informing her of our not so pressing need.

[Wyonna] "Does a goof like apple pie? Of course, I’ll help!"

[Alexis] "Yeah. Wasn't sure you should jump right in. What if you get stuck or something?"

[Rufka] "Like getting changed by the System."

[Rose] "Or being deleted!"

[Wyonna] "Hmm. Your arguments are annoying, but worth considering. Really ruining the whole, ‘I can be a city!’ vibe."

[Rose] "Being a city would be cool!"

I chuckle as Rose and Wyonna keep chatting about what they'd do if they were flying cities. Not sure how they intend to do the transforming, but at least they’re having fun.

"There's a lot of stuff here that essence isn't going to solve on its own. Pretty sure some of these components are rarer than the mana de-condenser," Rufka says, bringing my attention back to the table.

"I was afraid of that,” I sigh, studying the parts. Most are kind of familiar, my class and codex hinting at how I could build them. It’d only take me a few dozen years.

"You're lucky mum is one of the best artificers on Akilo."

"Demo can probably help too."

"Soon as he finds his ship. He's still pissed the Saratesa's not where he left it. Think he said the dolls were giving him a ride somewhere nearby."

I shake my head as I start packing up the pages. It'll be better if we go over them together. Maybe rope Trellani into helping. Raz too. "At least Demo’s agreed to start doing dungeons."

"Not anymore. Now that we're all level ten, he changed his mind again. He's going to be focusing on searching for Saratesa until he finds him."

"Damn. He never mentioned."

Rufka shrugs as I finish putting the papers in my backpack. I can store almost twelve cubic metres now, which is both crazy huge and never enough. I tap Rose on the shoulder, getting him to follow along as we descend through the broken elevator.

Once we’re outside, I stretch out, taking a deep breath before flying towards one of the broken engines. All the alert said about this one was that the ripple drive was 'not-responding', so I want to take a look to see if there's anything obvious.

It's nice that we don't have to dig down a couple hundred feet to find the entrance this time. Not that it’d take long if we did.

When the door slides open, I flinch at the sight of a skeleton. Surprisingly, it's not one of the giant Yrken, but a K'tharn.

"By Vaus's left tit!" Rufka exclaims beside me.

"Wha-Oh… Explorer?" Rose asks.

"I didn't think K'tharn could get inside these engines," I note while analyzing the skeleton as I step closer, kneeling next to it. My analysis confirms its origin. It also tells me how it died. "Looks like they got in but weren't able to get out. They starved."

"Damn," Rose says before muttering a quick prayer to Astra.

As I'm standing, ready to head down to the engine compartment, I notice Rufka's still standing in the doorway.

She's just standing there staring. She doesn't move until I take her hand.

As she follows me inside, I feel a shudder run through her. "I… I've never seen a user's skeleton before. Not a real…"

Rose nods, looking back at it. "Yeah. I remember mom had some. She got real angry when my little sister Celthi broke the emitter where they were being stored. They disappeared before mom could get it running again. Celthi was banned from using magic for a month."

"Think we should move them outside?" I ask. There aren't any funeral rites amongst the K'tharn. Not anymore. Not much to mourn when your body turns into a bunch of blue dust then fades away.

Rose nods while Rufka stares blankly. I wait for half a minute before I realize neither of them are going to touch the bones. So, I reach out with a barrier of water, carefully maneuvering their remains out of the entrance.

The second they pass through the barrier; the bones begin turning to manadust.

Once the remains are gone, I turn to Rufka. "Hey, you okay?"

She nods, all four eyes closed. Then she opens her lower eyes, offering me a rueful smile. "I haven't been that uncomfortable since mum took me to the Wilved Festival in Aethire when I was ten."

"A festival made you uncomfortable?" I ask as we continue down to where the Ripple-drive is housed in engineering.

"It was the dolls. Mum used to tell us stories about the Daughters when we camped at Theria's. Every-user else was running around with these dolls, but all I could think about was how they were going to take me away and turn me into one of them."

"Wait, what? I thought their attacks just transmuted part of your body?" Rose asks as we pass through the first of the massive doors sealing the engineering section off from the rest of the 'silver bullet'.

"Well, yeah. But I was a kid. I assumed the worst."

"You know. Now that I think about it, mom never talked about the Daughters. If it wasn't for Bem, I probably never would’ve heard of them."

I'm about to ask how Rose's last visit with his father went when a loud screech emanates from the second door leading to engineering as it sticks in place. After a shove, I confirm the door’s gotten stuck in place, only half-open. Which is fine. It's more than enough for us to fit through, considering the entrance is designed for the giant Yrken, who're at least twice our size.

"Not a good sign," I say instead, as I look past the stuck door to he scaffold beyond. That at least looks clear.

"Better the door than the drive." Rose crosses his fingers while peaking around the edge. He’s not wrong.

We move past the door, emerging on the scaffold that runs around the upper level of the Ripple drive. It's a monster that takes up the entirety of the bottom eight levels. There's a central chamber only ten metres across, but the support infrastructure is a convoluted mess of pipes, wiring and rune-scripted beams. There's no guard rails on the scaffold, but it'd be tough to find room to fall more than three metres with how tightly packed the chamber is.

"Anyone see anything that might be broken?" I ask as we start exploring.

Rose leans slightly over the edge, staring down. "Nope. But I'm not an enchanter or fancy engineer."

“Not yet,” I remind him, earning a flash of a smile back.

"There's active mana running through that conduit. Might connect to a console," Rufka suggests, pointing to the left. I can’t tell at a glance what she's pointing to, so I nod and let her lead the way. The mana is well insulated here, despite there being a veritable thrum of it throughout the engine.

Following Rufka, my gaze drifts as I admire her from behind. I'm not sure why, but the more time I spend with her, the more I appreciate the subtle lines of her body. The tightness of her calves and the way that her legs meet her back, I kind of want to…. Right. Not the time. That's for later, Lexi.

Still, I do 'accidentally' bump into her when she stops at the console, running my hand along her leg as I 'catch' myself. Rufka responds by giving me a retaliatory squeeze, causing me to yip. A self-satisfied smirk creeps across her face as she accesses the console. The smirk falls a second later, replaced by a frown.

The console is blinking with red light, highlighting a dozen different locations. Honestly, it doesn't seem that bad. They're all located on the outer ring and should be easily accessible. "What's the problem?"

Rufka points to the corner, at a message I hadn't read yet, since it wasn't blinking like the rest of them.

"Ripple Drive Locked by Citizen Uthica of Clan Halterin."

Rose beats me to the punch. "Astra's Great Temple! Uthica? Like, founder of the Aetherium, Uthica?"

"Looks like," Rufka nods.

"What do you think the odds are we'll be able to fly if the Drive is locked down?" I ask.

Rose chuckles as he says, "Hopefully, it's approximately 3,720 to 1."

Rufka and I exchange a glance before looking at him blankly.

"Seriously, Lex?"

"What?"

"You know what, nevermind. Let's see if we can bypass this lockout."

We spend the next half hour trying to find a work around, even getting Wyonna to try hacking it, with no luck.

Looks like if we want this engine online, we need Uthica's approval. Either that, or we replace the entire control system for the Ripple Drive.

Like I said, stealing a city. Easy.

Getting it running again? That's the hard part.

A note from Draith

Thanks for the great review GalacticTNT

Shoutie shout

12 Miles Below

If Frostpunk met Fallout and had a Lore-baby, this would be it. Power-armor clans in a world dominated by killer machines, the surface of Earth completely frosted over. Great characters, world-building and fun plot for the first 3 books (There was a stretch in the 4th that was kinda harsh). Still an amazing read though. Highly recommend.

5.03, Inhibiting Progress

11:22 am, local time. (August 20, 2023, 1:22 pm.) Shortly after discovering we’re locked out of the engine by good ol’ Uthica.

Considering we're not likely to find a way past Uthica's lockout, we continue inspecting the Ripple-drive but only perform a cursory check before heading outside.

As I start making the preparations to return us to Nexus point 392, I message Beth to let her know what we've found. After receiving confirmation they're going to stay at Burnesq for the night, I let her know we're headed back to Raz's for dinner. I may keep a literal ton of food in my inventory after running short with the Fallen, but fresh is fun.

Besides, now that we’ve found a mostly working ship, we deserve a proper bath.

Rose floats by on his back, his enchanted wings flapping lazily with Smoulder perched on his stomach. "Welp, that was disappointing."

"Worst part is, I can't tell anyone that Uthica was a Citizen," Rufka complains while sliding an arm over my shoulder and taking her position in the circle.

"It wouldn't mean anything to them anyway," I say, grabbing Rose's arm, guiding him to his proper place while Smoulder hops onto Rufka's arm, nuzzling against me. Rose doesn't fight me, though he does roll his eyes as I release a test pulse to ensure he's inside my aura and not testing the limits.

"Where do we go from here?" Rose asks while carefully watching my magic as it forms. He's been trying to study my teleport since we left Glimmering Sands, with zero success despite my efforts to explain it. We’re both hoping he just needs more time.

"Raz's," I answer, blowing him a raspberry as my spell whisks us away.

Even though everyone has Return unlocked, most travel is still handled by me or Genitha. Because no one wants to wait on their cooldown if they need it. Especially when we're split up.

Besides, now that I've refined the spell, it doesn't leave anyone nauseous. Well, as long as we’re touching.

Magic is weird.

Rufka spins about when we appear, as if to prove my point. Thankfully, there's no furniture to obstruct her. The tables that used to dominate Nexus point 392 are gone, removed before we even went sailing to Atun’s.

Given that we've been using it as our main link to Raz's, we've talked about cleaning up and fortifying the node. It's not as secure as a System recognized stronghold, but as an interim measure, Josh has grown thick brambles throughout the area, hiding the Nexus from the outside. Then, because that's hardly enough, beneath the brambles we erected barriers of stone reinforced with steel.

All of which encases the root of the enormous tree. It’s more hardened than a fallout bunker and it only took us an hour.

Rufka taps her foot as she waits for the door to Raz's to open. "Why did he have to move back to Velthin. Now that he's in the Nine Worlds it takes forever for the door to sync."

"You're just spoiled," I tease. "It's only half a minute. And you know most of his customers are based out of the Nine. At least it’s not completely cut off, now that he’s upgraded the connection."

A few seconds later, the door appears. Rufka starts forward but before she makes it through, the door blips out of existence with a 'pop' that makes me flinch in pain.

"Uh, what happened?" Rose asks.

No one responds. We all stare at the spot where the door was a second ago. The door's never turned off before. Not connected, sure. But never turned off while running. While I’m scanning the space where the door used to be, Rufka spins around.

"It ate my hand!" Rufka exclaims, grasping at the stump of the same arm she had over my shoulder a minute earlier.

I feel my eyebrows try to climb my forehead as I stare. It takes me another three seconds before I start moving, and by then Rose is already using one of his healing talismans, a scarf that needs to be wrapped around the wound.

"Are you okay?" I ask, finally breaking out of my shock.

"Yeah. Mostly surprised. Used to this being a safe spot. Mum warned me."

"She warned you that you might lose your hand?" Rose asks as he finishes wrapping her hand.

"What? No. She told me that this location could be compromised, so I needed to be careful."

With a gentle head bob, I try to access the System menu for the door but the option for Raz's is greyed out, a small icon next to it. The icon is little more than the letters TP within the middle of a circle with a slash. It reminds me of a no-parking sign.

When I focus on it, I discover what's happened.

"Teleportation and Portals have been inhibited using System override VEX-332 on the authority of Agent of Menas, Trokk Elnite."

"Uh guys." I nearly start swearing. I just spent a point on Lightning Warp and it’s totally inactive. Putting that to the side, I go to the more important part of the message. Theglia warned us there was a Creator's Agent on the way. But we weren't particularly worried because she told me we'd have almost a year before they got here. "It's the Creator's Agent. They've shut down more than Raz's. They're 'inhibiting' Teleportation and Portals."

Even as I'm speaking, I check my connections to the others. The connections are still there, but even my links to Rose and Rufka feel staticky. I send a message to Beth, letting her know what's happened but there's no response. "Can either of you reach Beth?"

"No response. Mum's not answering either."

"Same." Rose shakes his head as we fall silent.

[Alexis] "Wyonna? Are you there at least?"

[Wyonna] "Yeah. I'm here, I’m queer, and shit just got weird."

I agree, asking her what she thinks while throwing in a couple extra curse words about Creators, Citizen lockouts and even celery while I'm at it.

Celery doesn’t belong in salad, and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise.

[Wyonna] "I can't reach them either. In fact, I have to reconstruct the messages I'm receiving from Rose. Whatever's causing this interference, it’s pervasive."

"So, Wyonna says she has problems too," I inform them.

"Yeah, she told us." Rose paces on the far side of the tree, as far from Raz's empty door as possible.

"What do we do now?" Rufka asks, cradling her arm close as she leans against me. It’s already beginning to regrow.

"Maybe we should join the others?" I offer tentatively.

Rose stops his pacing, leaning against the wall as he slumps to the ground. "How? They're half a continent away?"

"We fly?"

Rose looks at me blankly for a couple seconds before he facepalms. "I actually forgot that was an option." Then he starts shaking, his shoulders rubbing the wall as the laughter rolls out of him.

I crack a smile, though I don't find it quite as funny. It's going to take us days to get to them. And without Raz's, the others don't have access to his wide range of tools and gear. At least, we're all well equipped at this point.

I will miss his food.

Unfortunately, without teleportation, figuring out how to deal with the lockout… will…

"Damnit!"

"What?" Rufka asks as she focuses on me, Rose’s laughter diminishing in the background.

"We're not just split up. How're we going to track down everything we need to get the city-ships flying again? Theglia said we'd need half a year just to fly them to Earth."

"We'll just have to be smart. Less running around aimlessly. Maybe steal a skybarge. Or get e’Tell to help."

Rose pushes himself up, striding over to us. "She's right, we have options. But first…" He waves a hand at the south entrance, still blocked by stone.

Right. I need to do something about that. Neither Rose nor Rufka have great stone affinity, though Rose could probably blast his way through given enough time.

But why do it the hard way?

The stone ripples, responding to my thoughts as it reshapes itself into a smooth tunnel leading outside. Smoulder hops over to the entrance, posing with her large ears standing straight up as though she's about to explode into action.

Obliging her, I add a pair of statues matching her pose. Which I place near the exit.

"Is it just me, or is she like a kid posing for pictures?" Rose asks as Smoulder inspects the statues before giving them a satisfied nod.

"Definitely," I agree with a proud smile, Smoulder returning to my shoulder. Then we ascend through the leafy canopy, the toxic barbs of Josh’s brambles peeling away for Rose as easily as the stone did for me. He might not share the explosive growth Josh gets from his class, but he still shares the same Matrix resources.

As the greenery moves from around us to below us, I concentrate on the link leading toward the others. It might not be perfect, but it still gives me a general direction, and the direction is south. The others follow silently, each of us keeping our eyes peeled for any sign of the Aetherium.

They don't show in the lower forest but Tipan has mentioned she’s been part of patrols flying through the region before she basically abandoned the K’tharn military to join us.

However, there's no one else in the sky. We continue for several hours before stopping for the day at a rocky outcropping near the Theslian sea, a massive body of water I’ve seen on maps but haven’t visited yet. I can't see the far side, and I know from tracking distance on my maps that it'll take us a long time to cross it.

As I create a hidden camp in the lee of the outcropping, Rose and Rufka pull out a few of the beds we picked up for impromptu camping trips. Not having immediate access to Atun’s beds was a good reminder.

While not as nice as Raz's or the System's beds, they're a lot better than anything I can make. And setting them up is good practice for Rose's Wood manipulation, or so he claims. Another new skill now that he finally chose his class. Which he won’t tell anyone the name of.

After I've completed our rather modest dwelling for the evening, a single room with an adjoined bathroom and only one Smoulder tribute, I join them where they're sitting with their legs dangling thirty metres over the waters of the Theslian Sea. As I sit between them with a 'humph,' Rufka hands me a smooth stone, hefting one of her own before chucking it as far as she can.

Accepting her challenge, I send my own stone flying. With the magnification granted by my Twilight-imbued vision, I watch as my stone soars into the distance before skipping twice. At the same time, Rufka tosses her stone, not making it as far with the throw, but skipping five times, outdistancing mine.

Then another stone lands with a splash, not skipping once before sinking beneath the waves. Rose sighs as he picks another stone up. "I know we need to regroup with the others, but I feel like we're going the wrong direction."

"Oh?" I ask as I wrest another stone from Rufka's hand. I propel it with my magic, causing it to skip in circles around Rufka's next stone.

Even as Rufka elbows me hard enough I have to grab onto Rose for support, he answers my not quite a question, "It's Celthi and Qern. I can't message them tonight, like I usually do. They're going to be worried."

Rufka stops trying to shove me off as we both give Rose our attention. Then she says, "It'll be okay. I'm sure we'll find some way to send them a message. Probably not tonight though."

"I know. It just feels like I'm not there for them enough since mom disappeared. And now that we can't teleport to them…" He cuts off as Smoulder starts pushing into his side hard enough he windmills his arms to keep from falling. Leading him to smack me in the face while he’s at it.

"I didn't even think… Sorry for dragging you with us," I apologize, while extracting his hand from my hair.

"It's fine. It was my decision. I'm only going to have a few more months before you leave. And that's only if we're successful," he smiles at me, his teeth proudly displayed. But the smile doesn't reach his eyes or ears.

"By Vaus above, you'd better miss us once we're gone," Rufka reaches around me to bop him on the shoulder.

I almost don't register Rose's, "I will," as I stare at Rufka, who meets my gaze with both her right eyebrows raised. "What?"

"You're coming with us?"

"Of course."

"But…"

"What, you're not ashamed of me are you?"

"No… it's just…"

"Just what?"

"This is your home."

Rufka's laughter has me worried until she takes my hand, bringing it to her lips. "Can't stay forever, right?"

Rose shakes his head, "If Qern and Celthi were ten years older, I'd be right there with you."

Rufka pokes him, causing Smoulder to flick a small flame at her for disturbing her resting spot. "You could always bring your family with us. Not like there's much for them here."

"If I knew what happened to mom… maybe."

I nod as I entice Smoulder into my lap with a bribe of fruit. Which is charred before she even finishes taking it. "I'm surprised we never found a sign of her. Even the former Awakened didn't know what happened to Folthka, other than Ivicka 'took her away' as part of some deal for services rendered."

Rose shrugs as we continue talking, drifting between subjects. We occasionally talk about the interference, but we just go in circles, suggesting more and more outlandish ways to bypass it. The sun is setting and we've circled back to the topic yet again when Rose asks, "Have you tried to teleport since the inhibition came into effect? Maybe it won't affect you."

"Uhm. I'd rather not risk it," I admit, ducking my head.

"Couldn't you use your Anchor ability to test it? At short range at least?"

Right. For some reason, I didn’t even think of using Anchor to test teleport. It's the perfect tool, since I won’t keep any damage I take when using Anchor. I blame the fact I can still feel the pain. Anchor is not a perfect tool.

Still, sometimes it's worth the pain.

So, I stand up, circling our little camp to the far side of the outcropping. Once I'm sure the others are out of range, I use Anchor. The second I do it feels as though the interference has dropped away. Which causes me to realize it's been pressing against me ever since Raz's door went pop. It's mild enough, I didn't notice it. The lack of interference might invalidate testing, yet I make the attempt anyway.

It's as easy as it's ever been, I emerge unscathed halfway to the edge of my anchored space. With the interference gone, I even attempt to message Beth, but there's no response. Unfortunately, I don't know if it's because of Beth not checking her messages or they're still not getting through. Ending the effect after a single loop, I feel the pressure again, like I've descended on an airplane too quickly. Gnashing my jaw, I try to get my ears to pop, just in case.

It doesn't help, nor does trying to push the static back with my aura. So I return to the others, informing them of the lack of interference within the loop.

Rose scratches his chin while passing me a bottle of something he got from Raz called Mylp. It's cheap, tastes like apple pie and leaves a warm feeling in the belly. Josh and Rose got incredibly drunk when they discovered it and now Rose keeps a stock on hand. It's a lot better than Rufka's moonshine, even if the buff is basically non-existent. Half a point to fire resistance for half an hour is barely worth noting. "Strange. Kinda sucks that it doesn't copy the interference."

"I guess. But there's got to be a way to use that, right?" I ask before taking a small sip, letting the aftertaste linger on my tongue.

"Probably," Rose mumbles, "More testing required! You going to try teleporting without using Anchor?"

I'm shaking my head before he's even finished asking. There's no way I want to teleport through the static.

"Good." Rufka pulls me in close. "Then you can keep me cozy," she slurs while resting her head on my chest.

I start running my hand through her hair when I notice Rose is staring at us with his ears drooping. "You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah. I'm fine," he answers before pushing himself to his feet. "I think I'm going to turn in."

"It's kind of early, isn't it?"

"I just… I'm tired. I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Okay. Goodnight," I say to his back, with Rufka rumbling out her own without lifting her head.

Rufka and I stay up for a couple more hours. Once Rose is gone, she starts asking me questions about Earth. It's a topic she hasn't shown much interest in before. Not that she's ignored it, but she's more likely to talk about magic, Astra's stride or a dozen other topics that are rooted in Akilo.

Combined with her earlier statement about coming with us, I'm feeling good about the future as we settle in for the night. Really good. Even if there is an Agent of the System nearby and I'm unable to teleport.

My thiani is coming home with me.

A note from Draith

Might've already shouted this one... if I did let me know and I'll delete the old shout.

I hate vampires. Very much hate them.

I love A Journey of Black and Red.

If that's not enough for you to give it a chance, I raise you squealing flaming pigs, a vampire with a penchant for explosives and guns and amazing world-building. Plus tons of content to binge, that's a lot more than the chapter count makes it seem.

5.04, Random Encounters

A note from Draith

Edited April 30, 2023

5:23 am, local time. (August 21, 2023, 9:23 am.) And then, like magic, morning returns.

It's still dark outside as I carefully ease myself free of Rufka and Smoulder, dodging Rufka's unconscious attempt to draw me back. Swatting her hand away, I make my way outside as the clouds drift apart revealing that Ukila is full. It's low enough that it appears to be touching its reflection on the water below.

I spend half an hour simply sitting on the edge, watching Ukila rise higher into the sky while contemplating what we're going to do once we've reconnected with the others.

Somehow, I thought all the real challenges were behind us. After Ivicka everything's been… Well, not easy, exactly.

Atun did a number on us, and what Pogell did to Beth was... But nothing’s had me afraid we might die forever. If this interference is preventing us from something as simple as sending a message…

Will it stop us from resurrecting?

My musings are interrupted when Rose makes a quiet "ahem," offering me a cup of tea. Freshly brewed.

"Thanks," I mumble while accepting the cup from him, gesturing for him to take a seat beside me.

Rose uses two hands to slowly lower himself beside me, before taking a long sip of his own tea. "Ahhh. So much better."

Taking a tentative sip, I'm surprised to discover I don't recognize the flavour. "What's this?"

"I got it from Bem last time I visited. Munea tea. We used to drink it when I was younger. This is the same set he used for years. He wanted me to have something to remind me of home."

"That's sweet. Wait... Munea… doesn't that just mean tea in Eastern Vausian? So, it's tea tea?"

"Ahaha. Yeah. It's like Chai tea, isn't it?" Rose shakes his head before taking another sip of his tea before tilting his head back, looking up at Ukila. "It's crazy to think there could be a whole other civilization right above us, just waiting."

"Could be? You think the Hidden Depths lied? Genitha thinks it’s there."

"Yeah, but she’s never been, right?"

"Well, no."

"So, how does she know?" he asks with a shrug. "Besides, you know what Rufka says…”

"My mum lies a lot!" we exclaim together before chuckling.

"I like this," Rose admits.

"Yeah. It's an amazing view," I agree, nodding along.

"Not quite what I meant, but yeah."

"What did you mean?"

"Just that… it's nice being able to talk to you, one on one, you know."

"Uh, really?" I can't help but feel a little flustered. Is he like… interested in me? I know he knows I'm with Rufka, so… how do I let him know I'm not interested in him? Damnit…

"No one else really gets the whole Akilo and Earth all mixed together thing. I mean, you have… well, you and Uthica rattling around up there."

"While you have Kallim and Josh," I add quickly with a small sigh of relief.

"Exactly." Rose nods emphatically. "Add on that part of us has known the other for years… it's nice."

"Achievement unlocked: Messy backstory," I say, with a quick bop to his shoulder.

"Do you ever miss your mom?" Rose asks, his head still tilted back.

"Honestly? Not even a little," I pause as I lean back beside him, staring up at the sky. Whatever stars might have been there once are now hidden by the invisible barrier that's cutting Akilo off from the universe, leaving an empty scene other than a few distant planets. "I think… No. I know... Whatever happens, even if I don't make it home, I'm glad I'm here."

Before Rose can respond, a familiar tawny face pops into my view, looking down at me and cutting off the sky. "I am pretty great, aren't I!" Rufka states as she strikes a pose, both right arms held up into the sky. The effect is slightly ruined by the still partially missing upper right hand.

"Eh, I guess you're a plus. Barely," I say, earning myself a tickle attack from Rufka as she pounces on me. Which knocks us off the edge of the outcropping we were just laying on. I almost drop my cup but struggle to hold onto it as our direction changes and we're arcing over the water.

Rufka is laughing like a maniac as I arrest our fall before hauling us back up to where Rose is packing away his tea set. When I land, he plucks the tea cup out of my hand with enough force that the handle snaps off.

"Rose, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's fine," he snaps. It's pretty clear it's not fine, but I don't know how to… what to… Ugh.

"Now that we're all up, let's just go," Rose adds, refusing to face us.

Nodding, we pack our beds while I slip Smoulder into my pocket. She remains none the wiser as we set off across the sea in silence.

Even Rufka realizes that Rose is upset and holds off on her usual banter. It makes the first hour more tedious than our excursions usually are. I mean, there's a reason the three of us went off together. We’ve been getting along well.

At least we were.

Eventually, Rose starts asking Rufka what she knows about the mountains we're going to be crossing on our way to the others. There's still some awkwardness, but it's put to the side as Rufka describes the different mana-borne we might encounter. Her mum might not have taken her inside many dungeons, but there are few regions of the eastern continent Rufka hasn't travelled.

I only half listen, Rufka having told me several of these stories already. Still, it helps pass the time.

"...And, of course, there's Aethop's Daughters. But we shouldn't encounter them unless we end up in the deep South."

Rose twitches at the mention, but otherwise just nods. I'm pretty sure he's heard all this before too. Rufka enjoys sharing her stories.

The crazy thing isn't how outlandish her childhood stories sound. It's that the details are always the same. She never changes anything.

Somehow, it makes them more real.

As we fly through a low-hanging cloud, Rufka gets Rose to start telling his own story of when he was younger and Celthi first came along. Normally we'd take the opportunity of passing through such a cloud for a quick game of sky-tag, Smoulder's favourite since she chose her class.

But between the interference and Rose's demeanour… not really the time.

"I was really excited at first. A new sister? But then mom was always busy, and Celthi was… well, you know how cubs are."

Rufka raises her eyebrows, "Not really. How are cubs?"

"Needy. And messy. And rude. It was a chore. I was jealous of her for the first year," Rose says, grabbing a handful of cloud-stuff then turning it to dew on his paw.

"And then?" Rufka prompts him.

Rose smiles before disappearing into a cloud bank, his voice echoing from within, "Then mom left her with me for a few days. Stuff happened and I realized how hard it must be for mom to handle it all on her own all the time. Stopped being jealous and helped more. Well, I tried to. Looking back, I probably got in the way more often than not. But mom appreciated it."

Even though he's out of sight, I can hear the pride in his voice. It'd be hard not to agree with it. I tried babysitting once. Was not able to handle it. At all. Nice clean, boring, paperwork, thank you.

The next couple hours are spent listening to Rose tell stories about his younger siblings… which gets kind of confusing when he starts talking about his and Josh's sister Ariane. He stops talking at the end of a story where she hid his guitar as revenge, his voice trailing off for a few seconds before he adds, "I might not see her again."

"Or maybe you will. Reality is flexible once mana's involved," Rufka points ahead at a wondrous display of water shooting up in vast arcs.

These aren't giant waves, but small bursts of scintillating beauty dotting the air with splashes of rainbow-hued colour dancing in the air. Even on closer inspection with my Twilight-enhanced vision, I don't see anything within or below.

But I've seen something similar before. "Elementals?" I ask while creating small arcs over my hand, mimicking their actions.

Rufka shields her eyes as she focuses. "Probably. Might be a mana-borne hiding beneath the surface."

Rose gestures away from them. "Either way, we should go around. Best not to disturb them."

We fly around, but the arcs of water accompany us for the next half hour until the far shore comes into view. They continue their display behind us but are soon lost in the distance.

We set down for a late lunch, my eyes fixed on the horizon as we eat. I'm pretty sure it's an illusion, but I swear I can make out the mountains to the East.

Then I see the 'mountains' move.

"Uhh peeps? You seeing this?"

"Whatsat?" Rose asks around his mouthful of sausage.

Rufka's eyes narrow, an almost invisible spark the only sign of her ability. Similar to my twilight 'binoculars' but quicker and easier to use. "Dragon. Big one too. Chasing something."

"Is it getting closer?"

"Yeah. It's flying almost straight at us. I'd guess… twenty minutes at their current speed?"

Rose squints, but he doesn't even have the basic enhancement of my twilight-enhanced vision built yet, so I doubt he can make much out. "Go around?"

"Hmmm. I think it's mana-warped. And it appears to be chasing K'tharn."

"Nevermind. Standard behemoth-flier tactics?" Rose asks as his armor 'fwips' into place, the much darker petals more of a deep-sea blue-green than Josh’s rosey-pink, but otherwise fairly similar. Other than him being a four-armed cat-boy, of course.

Rufka and I nod as we move to intercept the mana-warped dragon.

As we get closer, I make out the familiar shape of the gliders used by the Aetherium's Desh’ila, but they're getting close to the ground. Considering the area is nothing but gentle hills with sparse trees, there's not much for them to use for cover, so unless they have some incredible earth-shapers, something must be wrong.

Then again, they are fighting a mana-warped dragon, so that's not exactly a great starting point.

I'm able to count four gliders. Normally there are twelve soldiers and one officer in each Desh’ila, though those numbers might’ve changed since they started enslaving Fallen. But that should’ve been an increase in numbers.

Maybe some of them were Fallen and accepted the quest to come to Glimmering Sands to be Cleansed? That there are only four still flying implies they've already lost two-thirds of their squad.

I almost don't bother scanning the dragon, but their decimated squad has me worried. A quick scan doesn't reveal anything that surprises me, though I skip over its description going straight for its stats. It's definitely mana-warped, but its tattered wings and the fang sticking out of where it's right eye should be hinted at that anyway.

The scan does inform me the dragon is weak against metal attacks, specifically copper, so at least scanning it was slightly useful. I don't think we've fought anything weak against metals before. Too bad Rufka is basically a one-element girl, so far as her class is concerned.

Even if that element is lightning.

Still, I pass the information along, combined with the fact it's immune to fire. Luckily, that won't stop Smoulder. She's been working on using her flames to turn her into a flaming bullet. After Atun, she’s started figuring out how to apply her heat more creatively. So, I give her a copper helmet, and send her on her way.

While the others start engaging the dragon, drawing its attention, I begin creating several reusable copper discuses… disci? Multiple round disks that I can tear it apart with. Similar to my chakrams, but much quicker to form.

I'm expecting another drawn-out fight, but as the disks pierce its hide, its flesh sloughs away like soft butter left out in the sun. We all stare in shock for a second until the dragon roars in pain, turning towards me, its mouth open to breathe elemental fury on me.

It never gets the chance.

Smoulder smashes straight through its head. The shower of viscera is so large I can't pick her out of the mess until she smashes against one of her flaming platforms before leaping towards me.

"Wow. When you said it was weak to copper…" Rose trails off as we watch the body fall towards the ground.

"Vaus-above, that was great," Rufka adds drifting closer.

"Easier than… oof," Smoulder lands on my shoulder at full speed. Once I've recovered, I continue, "Easier than I expected, that's for sure."

"Should we check on them?" Rose waves at the gliders below, who are congregating on a nearby hill now that the dragon has been defeated.

When I glance at Rufka, she just shrugs. Now that they're out of danger, I'm not certain I want to talk to them. I’d rather not be put in a position where the Aetherium is trying to arrest me again. But since Rose has clearly been feeling left out, I decide to put it to him. "I don't know. Do you think we should?"

Rose only glances at them for a second before nodding, "For sure. They could be hurt."

"Okay then. Lead the way." I wave him forward, not sure if this is helping. At least I'm trying, right? "We're right behind you."

Even as we land, three of the four K'tharn draw themselves up, hands straying to weapons. Two step forwards, the other staying behind them. Of the two who came forward, one with grey fur spattered with occasional black patches whispers, "Mothey, it's her. It’s the-."

"Shut up, Curthy," the one in the lead snarls back. Her fur is similar to Rose's golden colour. But instead of his tiger-like stripes, her golden fur is covered in small black dots. She's also holding a staff, like the one Tipan uses. While Curthy is ducking her head, her ears laid flat, the one referred to as Mothey yells, "That's close enough strangers."

Rose holds his upper two hands up with his lower arms crossed in the Eastern Vausian sign for surrender. "We're just here to see if you need help. We can provide limited healing. Maybe fix up your gliders so you can get home."

Curthy grabs at Mothey's arm, "We can't trust them Mothey! I think that one's male! They'll turn Cinther into a doll and eat her."

"I told you to shut it, Curthy. Don’t you recognize her," she hisses, shaking her arm free of Curthy's grip, then points in my direction, much to my embarassment. "Apologies strangers, Curthy doesn't get out of Aethire much. She hasn’t taken the recent… changes well."

"That's fine," Rose reassures her, not changing his posture.

I consider copying him, but should I go for crossed arms or arms while floating in the air? Despite having the occasional Outlander cross her path, this surrender etiquette didn't come up that often in Uthica’s memories.

Glancing to the side, I notice Rufka's not taking the stance, her hands behind her instead. I'll just copy her then and hope they don’t make too big a deal of me being here.

"Look, I appreciate the assistance with our poor Obelix, but…" Her eyes wander over Rufka and I, "I'm not sure accepting help from the daughter of Crimson Death or the Voidborne would go over well."

Uhh, Voidborne?

Wait, is she talking about me?

"You don't have to tell anyone. We're not looking for credit. We just want to help," Rose offers, his voice pitched higher than usual.

Mothey shuffles in place, glancing over her shoulder, "Look, like I said. We appreciate the offer, but I don't-"

Suddenly, the third K'tharn who'd been standing next to the collapsed K’tharn storms up, grabbing Mothey's arm, "What in Vaus' name are you saying? You'd let Cinther die rather than let these people help her? She’s a freaking hero, for crying out loud!"

"It's not that simple, Lathry. We have to-"

"Vaus's left testicle. We can't let her die. We've already lost… And she's our thiani. Or does that mean nothing to you?"

"Of course it does!" Mothey shouts in Lathry's face. "It's just… just…"

In a gentler voice, barely at the edge of my hearing, Lathry says, "Let's just see if they can help Cinther first. We can worry about the rest after, okay?"

"Okay," Mothey concedes, her voice cracking a bit. Then she nods again, stating clearly, "Okay. Please heal our… heal Cinther."

"Are you crazy Mothey, what if-" Curthy starts.

But she flinches back when Mothey whirls on her, roaring out, "I SAID SHUT IT CURTHY!"

"Good lungs on that one," Rufka notes as Rose flags me forward. For a moment I wonder why he's flagging me up, but then I realize I'm the only one with a healing item that doesn't have charges. Instead, out comes the wooden circle, symbols of Vaus and Astra etched into its ring. It has a much steeper mana cost coupled with a less pleasant experience.

As I step past the cowering Curthy, I take in the busted body of their fourth member.

She looks up at me with one good lower eye, her upper eyes squeezed shut and her other eye missing. Her beautiful tawny fur is matted with enough blood that if we were on Earth, I'd never imagine we'd be able to save her.

Luckily, we're not on Earth.

And I may not be a healer, but thanks to artifacts like this one, I can do amazing things.

So I lay the circle on her chest then begin to channel as I take her hand and whisper, "This will hurt. Probably a lot. I'm sorry."

She just nods, giving me a weary smile. Even her teeth are cracked and coated in blood, "It’s fine, my Lady. All the best healing does."

"Ain't that the truth," I mutter in English.

Then the artifact reaches its saturation point and the screaming begins.

I should probably have given her something to bite down on.

5.05, That Which Binds

A note from Draith

Edited April 30, 2023

5.05

3:47 pm, local time. (August 21, 2023, 7:47 pm.) Between two nerve-racking screams.

Even as the poor K'tharn screams, I can see the broken bones in her arms shifting, each one moving under the circle's power. There's an audible snap as one returns to its proper position. It's at that point when her screams cut off.

Not because the pain is gone, but because Cinther's passed out.

When we acquired the circle from the old healer, we'd been told the pain could be alleviated. More accurately, she said, 'It's possible to use without causing pain, but that requires training. If you serve as my apprentice, that's only one of the things I'll teach you.'

Considering everything else we have to do, there was no way I could accept her offer. We did agree to help where we could, though. And Tipan told me she's considering taking the healer's offer, now that she can’t return to the Desh’ila.

But only after the rest of us are safely on our way home.

"What've you done to her, Voidbrat!?" Curthy demands, tearing my attention away from my crude healing. But she's held back by the other two while Smoulder stands guard on my shoulder, staring her down. I can see the doubt in their eyes as Cinther writhes on the ground, even unconscious.

There's no time to reassure them, I need to focus on Cinther. If I don't maintain the transfer, the healing won't finish properly. I'd rather not leave her with anything in the wrong place.

Once most of her injuries have been addressed, I sigh in relief as I check my mana. Almost half of my roughly twelve-hundred mana expended in little over a minute.

I've gone days without letting my mana get this low.

"Okay. She should be fine," I say, inclining my head to the three K'tharn behind me.

Despite the fact they were the ones holding Curthey back, she stays once they release her, and they’re the ones who move to squat at my side.

Which is my cue to step away as they check her over. "It might be a few minutes before she wakes up. It's a stressful experience."

"Thank you, my Lady. Without Zetha, we didn't have any-" Mothey's words are cut off when Cinther's eyes flutter open. With a ragged cough, she rolls to her side, only to heave silently.

"We're glad we could help," Rose says from somewhere over my shoulder as I’m putting the healing circle away. Only to discover it’s cracked. Damn. I must’ve channelled my mana through too quickly.

"Okay. They healed Cinther. Now what? We're supposed to arrest them, Mothey!" Curthey yells, pointing at Rufka and Rose. Then she starts pulling at her fur with all four arms while pacing back and forth with long strides.

Mothey answers without bothering to look away from where she's holding Cinther's shoulders, "The Lady healed Cinther, Curthey. You want us to arrest her companions? Besides, you saw them against Obelix. They destroyed him in seconds. What chance do you think we have?"

Curthey sputters as she spins back and forth, "There's no way the council will forgive us if we let them go! You know what they’ve been doing to those that displease them. I don’t want to be a Fallen…"

I shuffle away from them, taking Rufka's hand, Smoulder still in place. I hope they don't try to fight, but if it comes to it, we can easily escape. As Rose takes my other hand, Mothey steps away from where she was checking on Cinther, grabbing Curthey, forcing her to meet her eyes. "The council won't need to forgive us, because we never saw them."

"What are you talking about? They're right there."

"Are they? Those look like helpful travelers. They certainly don't look like Voidborne terrorists kidnapping the Lady, do they?"

"But… they..."

"They what?"

"They didn't…" Curthey stares at Mothey for a second then looks at where Obelix's body fell. Finally, she directs her gaze to where Cinther is hugging Lathry. Something seems to go out of her as she slumps slightly before bobbing her head slightly. "They… they're travellers. Just helpful people we happened upon. We never saw the Lady and her kidnappers."

Part of me wants to object at them referring to me as Lady. I can’t really argue with the kidnapping though. At least, not in Rufka’s case. She’s stolen me away more than once.

"Good. Now, what say we gather up our gliders, see if we can't figure out what went wrong, and allow the good Lady to go?" Mothey follows this up by clasping Curthey on the shoulder, before starting down the nearby slope, pulling Curthey along with her.

"Huh. Kinda didn't expect them to be reasonable," Rufka admits as they move away.

I don't make out Rose's response, as my attention is elsewhere, watching Lathry help Cinther to her feet. Cinther wavers slightly. Once she recovers, she takes several steps towards us before stopping directly in front of me. She takes a deep breath, then says, "I wanted to thank you, my Lady. You're probably not Astrean, but I wanted to say a prayer… If that's okay?"

"Uhm sure?" Despite Astra's dominant role in their culture, I haven't met a single practicing worshiper since I've arrived on Akilo.

Cinther starts reciting a short but unfamiliar prayer, asking that all our families remain safe and that those we deal with treat us with honour. To my surprise, Rufka joins her in the prayer. Is Rufka an Astrean? It occurs to me that I never asked. Honestly, I thought that if she worshiped a god, it would be Vaus. She certainly uses her name often enough.

When they finish, I thank Cinther politely while observing Rufka out of the corner of my eye. She seemed to take the prayer with a seriousness I've only seen her display when she feels the need for a 'real talk'. Her words.

As we wait for their companions, Lathry and Cinther properly introduce themselves as well as their erstwhile companions, throwing out ‘my Lady’s the entire time.

I probably don’t help that impression when, during the introductions, I create ornate temporary furniture, startling them slightly. Despite being briefed on our abilities, apparently there's some gaps in their intel. Which I find reassuring.

Once we’re settled in, Cinther discloses the whole reason they're in the area in the first place is because they were searching for us. "There are only two kinds of orders coming out of command these days, my Lady. Find the Voidborne Outlanders who kidnapped the Lady and evacuate civilians to Aethire. There hasn't been a single mention of striking back at the Lords, even though they've killed hundreds."

"What do you mean killed hundreds? The M’tari are attacking? And what does Voidborne even mean?" I ask, the news ruining my attempt to lounge in one of our chairs right as I’d thought everything was kosher. Other than them still calling me, my Lady, of course.

Rufka is inspecting one of their gliders, already setting out her tools so they can get home at a reasonable speed. I want to watch, maybe even take a crack at helping her, but my attention remains on Cinther.

"I'm not entirely certain, my Lady. Curthey could probably explain it better. She was always closer to Zetha than the rest of us. Zetha is...was our Desh’ila’s Captain."

"Oh. I take it she didn't…"

Lathry grits her teeth before answering, "She was on Obelix's back when he… changed. I've heard of it happening to those who descend into the rifts. But I've never heard of a bonded dragon becoming warped on the surface. It caught us all off guard. He's been serving longer than I've been alive."

I pat her hand, not sure what to say.

Cinther shifts in her chair, clearly uncomfortable. "We should’ve expected something when the System blocked our messages. But Zetha insisted we had our duty."

"She was worried about what the council would do if we returned against orders. Especially without the Lady or word of her kidnappers," Curthey interjects, dropping her end of the makeshift stretcher she'd been carrying behind her, causing several of the gliders to bounce out messily across the dark blue-green grass of the hill.

"Why're you so afraid of the council?" Rose asks as Mothey cries out before chasing one of the loose gliders that caught the wind. It flips and nearly escapes her as she chases after it. But she leaps a dozen feet in the air, successfully wrestling it around before guiding it down.

Curthey doesn't even glance in her direction, all four hands pressed against the table as she meets each of our eyes in turn. "There have been changes in the council. Dark and terrible changes. They’re taking innocent K’tharn and turning them into Fallen. If they find out we let you go, they’ll convert us. Then, not only will we have no choice but to tell them everything we know, we'll be forced to serve forever, walking in Aethire’s shadow until they’ve decided we've fulfilled our duty. And even then, once they’re satisfied we've done our part, they won’t free us. They’ll just allow us to die for the good of all K’tharn.”

"Harsh," Rose says, leaning away as Curthey deflates.

“Those are just rumours, Curthey,” Cinther interjects. “There’s no proof that it’s true.”

“Uhm…” I say, looking over at Rose who’s squinting. “There… might be some truth to it.”

“I… I’m sorry, what?” Cinther says, turning to stare at me. Then as if she realizes she’s made some grave error, her ears fold back as she adds, “My lady.”

Lathry hits the table, "Doesn't matter what the council wants. Not anymore. Now that we've lost our dragon, our captain and more than half our squad… Command's not going to question us. We've already lost too many sisters."

“Should we go home, my Lady?” Cinther asks, the other following her gaze to look at me.

“That’s… I don’t know. It probably won’t be safe. But honestly… that’s not going to stop me from returning to my home. So I don’t know if it should stop you either. But keep your eyes open. And maybe find out where Curthey’s getting these rumours from. There might be someone who can help,” I say, wondering what the K’mintar is doing. She’s close enough to the Aetherium, she has to have some influence. Even if she is recovering from Pogell’s attack.

"At least we don't have to fly home with any Fallen," Cinther offers with a weak smile reaching out to Curthey.

"Heh, yeah," Curthey agrees, taking the offered hand while I squint at them.

“Not all Fallen are bad,” I say, getting them to turn back to me. “They’ve just been dealt a crap hand. And… it doesn’t have to be permanent.”

“You thinking Taken?” Rose asks, leaning forward for the first time since we started talking.

“I think… yeah. If you go back, you need to find the Taken. They’ll help,” I say, reaching forward and grasping Cinther’s hand.

“I… we will. Thank you, my Lady. Wise Father,” Cinther says, nodding first to me, then to Rose, whose ears lay back at the moniker.

Not sure if he’s embarrassed or pleased.

Either way, I notice that Rufka is just about ready to start enchanting. So I make my excuses and move to join her, letting Rose provide them with one of our dead drop contact methods. Never thought we’d need to use those when the K’mintar had Kellica set them up.

I suspect they don’t want me to leave, but at the same time, they don’t want to refuse me. Guess there are some small perks to being ‘my Lady’.

As I kneel down next to Rufka, I’m eager to get started.

Well, I'm eager to hand her tools while watching her work. While I do have an enchanting class now, the skills don’t allow me to do the sort of fine work she’s performing here.

Mostly.

She does get me to do a couple simple enchantments. Which she has to touch up, but she assures me it’s faster than doing them entirely herself.

Even as I ponder the usefulness of my subclass, I hand Rufka a small tool that's like a flathead screwdriver but with three sharp bends in it. Somehow, each bend restricts her personal mana, allowing her to redirect the flow of the enchantment without contaminating its core structure.

I watch her work, listening as she describes what she's doing, taking notes in my Journal tab the entire time. Unfortunately, I already know most of this. What I really need is to spend time practicing.

Rufka's final touch is creating a cradle where anyone can set a mana essence to power the glider. She doesn't say it, but she obviously doesn't want them to be able to charge it with their own mana. I know enough to know she could have set it up that way.

"All finished. You're probably going to want to get rid of these once you get back to the Aetherium. They've got my pawmarks all over them," Rufka advises Mothey as she hands the last of the modified gliders over.

Cinther gives Rufka a half-hug in thanks, provoking a surprised squeak.

Smiling in their direction, Mothey extends her hand towards me in a less intimate gesture. "Thank you again, my Lady, for all your help. I'm starting to think that what command's been saying about your companions kidnapping you was a bit of an exaggeration. Either way, if the rumours are to be believed, it’s not just the Desh’ila that are after you. The Nightstar is hunting you, my Lady. I hope she fails."

“Who’s the Nightstar?” I ask, grasping Mothey’s hand in my own.

“I… she’s one of the Stormguard, I believe. One of their best. All I know is she doesn’t seem restricted by the teleportation lockout, she was a mentor of Ivicka and she takes her duty to the citizens of Akilo very seriously.”

“Ivicka, huh. That’s rough,” I say, imagining losing Kellica to the sort of madness that took Ivicka. Yeah. Rough.

“Mhm. After the… voidborne… started the…” Mothey trails off as she furrows her brows.

"Let me guess. They’re saying my companions, the so called ‘voidborne’ started the war with the Lords of the Deep? No mention of Ivicka and her Fallen attacking Lord Thansome?" I ask while pulling Smoulder close, preventing her from leaping onto Curthey.

"Uh. No mention of that at all, my Lady" Mothey says, looking towards Cinther.

"Ivicka's a hero. Everyone knows that," Curthey states, not noticing the way Rose shifts. Rufka and I both tense, prepared to stop him. It wouldn't be the first time he acted out in response to that statement. He and Tipan got into an argument about it just before we left. She still hasn’t told him about what she’s read in the book, though she was planning to before this whole teleportation lockdown.

Rose draws himself up but releases a slow hiss before saying, "Maybe she used to be. I doubt it. But those Fallen serving with the Flights? They're no better off than a Daughter’s hopper. They used to be normal people, like you and me. Then Ivicka stole another's research, turning it to evil. She turned them into those monsters to serve her."

"What? Ivicka would never do that. Look, you might not be as bad as command says, but you're wrong about Ivicka," Curthey declares before stomping away.

Mothey crinkles her whiskers, glancing after Curthey, "Forgive her. She was saved by Ivicka as a cub. Ivicka's the one who inspired her to sign up."

"Me too," Cinther says, with a helpless smile. "She was so cool. Everything I ever wanted to be. Patient. Smart. Kind. Strong. The whole package."

"I'm sorry, I can't… listen to this. What she’s… I can’t forgive her,” he holds up a hand, forestalling Cinther’s response. “But it doesn't matter. We'll be gone soon," Rose pauses as he sits, before adding, "You know, she was like a sister to me. Ivicka, I mean. She used to take me into Aethire during the Wilved festival. She'd bring Asterix, and we'd enter the races as a team. She'd even let me guide Asterix. Not that I was any good. The last festival, right before Celthi was born, we even won first place. I remember her swearing she'd never let anything hurt me… And then she betrayed my family."

"Oh. I'm so sorry," Cinther exclaims, reaching over to take two of Rose's hands in her own which causes him to go still. "It's hard enough when you lose family. But to have them turn on you. That's the worst."

"Uh... yeah," Rose tilts his head in a barely perceptible nod. Is he scared of Cinther?

"We should be going. Places to be. Users to avoid," Rufka says, grabbing mine and Rose's shoulders.

"Totally. We, uh, need to go," Rose agrees.

"It was nice to meet you, Rose." I hear Cinther say as Rufka and I pack away our luxuries.

"It was nice to meet you too, Cinther." Rose blinks several times.

"I'd say the same, but we never met. Take care, my Lady." Mothey winks then sticks her hand out to me again. Distracted, I take it while trying to figure out what's going on with Rose. Which leaves me extra startled when Mothey pulls me in for a half hug. "Thank you again for saving Cinther. She'd never admit it, but she really is the best of us."

"Uhm. Best is best," I respond while slowly patting her on the back. I guess it's my turn to be tongue-tied.

Then, in a whirl of fur and mana, we're in the air, waving goodbye to an Aetherium Desh’ila. Or at least the remains of one.

"Oh. Almost forgot." Rufka says, pulling me towards the defeated dragon.

Nodding, I loot the dragon, netting us a handful of mana Essence while cleaning up any sign of our involvement. As the dragon turns into blue dust, several small lizards run away, their long hind legs chewing through the churned earth, chunks of dragon flesh clutched possessively in their foreclaws. They disappear into the surrounding terrain quickly, their dark hides blending easily amongst the low scrub and rock of the foothills.

I shiver at the idea of eating raw warped dragon.

Just… no.

After our encounter with the Aetherium Flight, conversation is light. Rose and Rufka are both joking again. Maybe we needed a break from each other, if only for a bit.

A few minutes later, Rose looks back, then turns to us. "So, I didn't want to mention it while we were with the Aetherium. But the Nightstar, she's not some random K'tharn."

"Yeah. Mum says she's dangerous, even to her. Hard to defend against."

"Well, yeah. There's that. But that's not what I meant. I'm pretty sure she's Tipan's father."

It takes my brain a second to wrap around that sentence until I remember that when K'tharn use the word father, it's to mean the other parent who might have also been their teacher. It's not a word that fits neatly in their language.

"Mum never told me the Nightstar had children."

"It's not widely known. She was forbidden from interacting with them," Rose informs us.

"Figures. People never get that powerful without going crazy in some way or other."

"Are you calling your mum crazy?"

"Have you met her?" Rufka asks.

"Yes," Rose and I answer together.

"There's your answer," Rufka laughs, deep and full. It probably echoes for kilometres. Even as I join in, it occurs to me that now that we can't escape via teleport, perhaps we should be using more caution.

So, as the conversation continues, both of them speculating on what sort of powers the Nightstar has, I wrap us in a bubble of invisibility. It's less perfect than turning each person invisible, but it allows us to see and hear each other without any other spells.

As they discuss the Nightstar, one thing becomes clear. The only things they know are that the Nightstar is fast, she uses light, and, not counting any Light-bound, she always works alone.

The discussion peters out as we fly higher into the mountains. As the sun is starting to set, Rufka calls for a halt. "Do you feel that?"

Rose is nodding at the same time I ask, "Feel what?"

"The cold. It's stronger here. I'm taking health damage."

"Well, I can fix that," I say as I extend a gentle flame, infusing my aura with warmth inside the stealth sphere.

"Thanks, Lex," Rose rubs his hands together before holding them out towards me even though he's inside the sphere.

"No problem. Let's stay close together though, keep the mana cost down."

"Sounds good," Rufka exclaims, throwing her arms over each of our shoulders then sagging as she weakens her flight, forcing us to hold her up.

I roll my eyes, but don't let her pull us down as we continue through the broken peaks of the Southern Upheaval. Most of the mountains here were never named. At least, not by anyone with the Explorer subclass.

It might be a good opportunity.

We're here anyway.

Why not do a little exploring?

5.06, Beyond the Rise

5:13 pm, local time. (August 21, 2023, 8:13 pm.) The end of a long day's flight.

While I'm keen to explore, and thus level my Explorer subclass, it can wait until tomorrow.

I mean, I'm still going to keep my eyes open for anything interesting. And if the sheltered valley we're descending into happens to be unnamed, what's going to stop me from naming it after Papa?

Not much.

Especially since Rufka doesn't use the Explorer subclass and Rose's new integration status means he doesn’t have a subclass yet. Neither of them are certain exactly how Explorer works.

To be fair, that's true for every subclass.

While Tipan's explained that investigating areas new to me will slowly level Explorer and Raz insists that preparing meals can level any number of hospitality subclasses, there's no consensus on how much any action contributes. It doesn't help that there's no clear tracking mechanism such as Skill levels or Integration points.

As we enter the sheltering walls of the valley, the flame I've been using to keep them warm flares, a sudden burst of fire that fills our invisible sphere.

I panic as I cut off all my magic, letting our invisibility drop. And my flight.

Rufka catches me before I've fallen more than a couple of metres, but I'm barely moving.

"Wow. You okay Lex?" Rose asks as he follows us.

They're not hurt. Well, not badly. Only a couple points of Health… but I know how much worse it could have been. If not for the contingencies when I burned Rufka…

Smoulder boops me in the cheek from her spot on my shoulder, breaking me free of my thoughts. Rufka's also still holding me, not saying anything, simply being there.

Thanking them, I take a deep breath before answering Rose, "I think so. Just had an unexpected change."

"What happened?" he asks.

"I don't know. I think…" I take a moment, thinking about it. What did happen? Replaying the event in my mind using Facet, I'm able to accurately break down what happened. The cold I was negating suddenly disappeared. The flare was my flame operating at the same strength but without the opposing force. "I think the cold disappeared. It was like pushing against a door that was suddenly flung open."

"Huh. You're right. The cold's gone. Well, it's still cold. But it's not causing Health damage. It's normal cold."

We pass into silence as we approach a pool at the bottom of a small cascading waterfall, both of which are frozen over. Even the rock I shape our shelter for the night out of is frozen, requiring me to use Ice manipulation in addition to Stone and Earth.

As I stack the extra ice I've separated from the building behind the house, I reflect on the fact that my power’s never created an explosion of ice when it's flared up. In fact, it's almost always been fire. Is it the nature of fire that's causing the problem?

The evening is less animated, each of us feeling the weight of being cut off from the others. Being able to message people anytime I want has really been spoiling me.

And somehow, it's worse than when we were brought from Earth. I hardly missed my cellphone. It's probably because this time, I don't have a whole new world, full of mystery and magic to distract me. Or maybe it's cause Sab was the only one I interacted with and missing her is different than my cell.

Rose and Rufka start playing a game of cards inside the shelter as I go outside to stretch my magical legs. My power hasn't been growing in crazy strides lately despite the fact I haven't stopped using it. Revelling in it even. If not for my practice with my aura, I’d be worried I’m stagnating.

As I start sculpting a literal ice-castle, similar to the one I can form with my spell, from the frozen pond, I continue to think about how I could’ve avoided the flare. Was there a way to detect the sudden drop in external pressure?

Looking up, I can see a veritable sheet of snow being blown sideways over our sheltered valley. Huh. Yeah, I'm going to say I probably should have predicted leaving a snowstorm would reduce how much power I needed to keep them warm. It didn't seem that strong when we were in it.

I settle in, watching the snowstorm overhead with Smoulder curled in my lap. Then I see a flash, lightning splitting the air as I feel the mana-pressure intensify.

Damn. Looks like it's not just a regular snowstorm.

Running inside, I start delving deeper as I tell the others we have a mana-storm coming. They both jump up, running outside, as much to get out of my way as to verify my claim. Discussion about creating effective mana-shelters with Tipan leads me to create a chamber a hundred metres below the surface connected by a zigzagging shaft.

I run back out to the others to tell them I'm done but they're staring up.

Following their gaze, I discover the mana-storm is passing over us. Other than a smattering of snow drifting over the edge of the valley, we're completely untouched. "What the…"

Rufka shrugs.

Rose offers me a broad grin, "My guess is the valley's a lost Stronghold. Claimed by someone who wasn't interested in building a city. Or didn't want to stay."

"Shouldn't there be a notice or something?"

Rose shakes his head, "Not if it's completely open. Don't know why they'd leave it open without charging a fee though. Maybe they didn't expect visitors this far out."

"Huh. I've never seen an Ice-themed mana-storm before."

"Should be interesting. It's a lot closer than it was back in Lescado, isn't it?"

I'm about to answer when I feel a thud followed by slush and liquid dribbling down my back. Rose is wiping the remains of a snowball off his back as well. I can feel Rufka behind me in the direction the snowballs came from.

Turning around, I find Rufka hefting a new set of snowballs, already in the process of unleashing them on us. The snowstorm above is temporarily forgotten as we engage in my first snowball fight on Akilo.

We spend half an hour chasing Rufka down before I decide to cheat. Imprisoning her in a cage of Ice, Rose and I take our revenge before settling down to stare at the storm again.

"Mum said she created a few shelters like this when she was young. Places for people to recover, far from home." Rufka tests the strength of her cage, cracking one of the walls with a well-placed kick.

"Oh. Do you think this is one of hers?" I ask, reinforcing the wall without getting rid of the crack.

"Nope. We would’ve got a notification that said something like, 'You owe this respite to Genitha, the Crimson Archmage,' or 'This shelter provided by the Crimson Death.' She's not exactly humble." Rufka winds up, repeating her kick. Now that I've reinforced the wall, the crack only expands slightly. But with the amount of force she put into it, Rufka sends herself flying into the wall behind her, cracking it as well. It didn't even damage her Health.

Rose and I exchange a knowing glance at Rufka's last comment before I say, "Noooo. Really?"

She just rolls her lower eyes before returning to her escape attempt.

By the time she's broken through, Rose and I are back in the temporary shelter. I'm chatting with him, ready to turn in for the night, when she pushes through the inner door.

I can't help but laugh when I notice her fur is frozen around her feet. I take pity on her, thawing her out before she can track all that ice into bed with me. Instead of seeking revenge, she draws me down next to her before passing out.

Huh. Guess that took more out of her than I expected.

With a helpless shrug and a quick goodnight to Rose, I follow her into dreamland.

When we wake in the morning, we try to find the Nexus point that should be located somewhere in the valley to add it to our destination list for when teleportation is working again. Unfortunately, after half an hour of searching, we haven't found it. And my map of Nexus points doesn't help much either. There's one in the valley, but the map doesn't pinpoint where.

Deciding to mark it on our map, we ascend to survey the aftermath of the mana-storm. Not much has changed, though there are a few trees missing. And a new bush.

The rest of the morning is uneventful. Even as I try to name the mountains, I keep getting informed they've already been named. I guess this isn't as 'middle of nowhere' as I'd been hoping.

It's nearly sunset when I spot something that stands out in the mountains. "Is that… a skyscraper?"

"What? Where?!" Rose turns in place, following my arm. But, of course, he can't see it.

"Looks like it's scraping the sky, alright." Rufka immediately changes course, taking Rose's hand and spinning about in a circle with him twice before releasing his hand and flying off toward the tower.

"She's on target, at least," I mumble to myself.

"Right behind you," Rose says while straightening himself out.

As we get closer, it becomes apparent that the towering object I saw wasn't a skyscraper. At least, not as I'd imagined it. Instead, it's a massive slab of stone that stretches a couple hundred meters from the top of the mountain where it rests.

Still, it's the most interesting thing we've seen since this morning, so we decide it's worth checking out.

Once we're a hundred meters out, Rufka notes, "It's covered in writing. Names, I think."

Upon closer inspection, we confirm Rufka's first observation. Analyzing it only indicates that it's a stone with writing. Physical inspection reveals a plaque on the face which explains exactly what we're looking at.

"Our lives forever changed when Vaus' judgement struck Akilo. This monument stands as testament to those who did not survive the change. May their loss not break us but be the fire in which we forge our future. Gone, but never forgotten."

"A memorial. I didn't think K'tharn made memorials."

"We… don't. Not public ones. Not like you described." Rufka runs her paw over the surface, walking around the corner of the memorial.

"Who do you think made it?" Rose asks, staring toward the peak.

"Someone who couldn't do more." Even if we're successful at bringing the Builder's abandoned Sanctuaries home, this will be nothing compared to the lives lost on earth.

"They created a monument with millions of names on it. How'd they even know them all?" Rose wonders.

"No clue. The System, maybe? You think-"

"Hey Lexi, Rose. You need to see this!" Rufka calls from somewhere on the far side of the memorial.

Neither of us delay, racing around the memorial, ready to fight. Though Rufka probably would’ve led with a thundering attack instead of revealing her position to get our attention if there was that kind of trouble.

She's standing a short distance from the memorial peering off the edge of the mountain.

Joining her, it only takes me a second to see what got her attention. There are a few buildings in the furthest depths of the valley. They're not the current style of Aetherium buildings, built of monster skin and bone, but a dull white stone with pink veins running throughout, each standing a dozen stories over the empty streets.

Most of the compound is overgrown, but there's a solid city block that looks to have been scoured clean. Then I discern the shape of more buildings, stretching along the valley. They even stretch halfway up the mountain on the far slope. There are a couple other places where the foliage has been stripped away, but only grey stone buildings lay beneath.

As I take in the scope of the city below us, Rose mutters, "Could it be K'letta?"

"No way. Mum says K'letta was destroyed."

I point at the memorial behind us. "It was."

Rufka looks back then nods. "We have to look closer. Mum's going to be so jealous if it is K'letta."

"So, what's K'letta?" I ask as we descend. Slowly.

Rufka tries to answer, starting several times before Rose says, "It's like Rome back during the Roman Empire on Earth. The centre of civilization before the barbarians destroyed it. Or mana-swarm in this case."

"Close enough," Rufka agrees, her bow pulled taut as we fly over the exposed buildings.

We're passing by a building that reminds me of a town hall with a statue out front when I do a double take. Is that?

"Hold on. I think that's Uthica!" I don't wait for them to acknowledge me, already moving to inspect the statue.

Uthica's crouched, one hand reaching down, two holding a spear and the last a shield. I feel like I'm staring at a statue of a sister I've never known. Analyze only says 'Statue of a K'tharn' and there's no plaque to tell me why there's a statue of Uthica in a city that fell before she became powerful.

I can't help but grip her hand, pausing time to give myself an extra moment before the others intrude. Suddenly, I wish she were here.

Uthica is the kind of person we need. Someone who faced the end of her world before building a new one from the ashes.

Who am I compared to her? I've barely had to struggle for my strength. I've just been lucky.

Rufka arrives right as my Pause ends.

I'm still holding Uthica's hand but suddenly I feel like a massive dork. I'm holding the hand of a statue!

I tear my hand away, causing the statue's hand to move.

At first, I expect the statue to shift into a combat stance before attacking us. But the statue doesn't go Creator Sentinel on us. It remains still.

"Did you see that?" I ask, not sure if I was imagining it. It was only a couple millimetres.

"Yeah. You didn't do that on purpose?" Rufka asks.

"Not exactly," I don't want to admit I was holding the statue's hand for comfort. That's supposed to be Rufka's job.

"Maybe it's a hidden door!" Rose exclaims, his hand reaching for the statue’s. I feel oddly jealous when he takes its hand. Then he starts twisting and pushing it, but it doesn't move. He even hangs off it, his feet dangling gracelessly.

I can't help but snicker as he kicks his feet.

"Maybe it's a Citizen thing," He grouses, letting go.

There was no notification. But maybe he's right?

I grab hold of the hand, pulling with far less force than he was using. But it moves immediately. A few more millimetres are all it takes to trigger a clicking sound from the base where Rose is staring up at me.

"What the-" Rose stumbles back as the stone disappears from beneath his feet, revealing a staircase leading directly between the legs of the statue.

"Looks like you were right," Rufka congratulates Rose with a pat on the back before stepping forward.

"Maybe we should…" I start but she's already ducked out of sight.

"Guess we're going in." Rose shrugs, following right behind her.

Damn. I rub Smoulder's sleepy head, waking her enough she knows we're going into potential danger as I charge after the others. If this is related to Uthica, there's no way I'm getting left behind.

However, they've halted at the bottom of the stairs, inspecting a familiar door.

It's not exactly the same as the door in the basement of the church, but the message is: “This node has been claimed and sealed by Uthica of clan Halterin in accordance with directive 24.1 of the Lathian Conclave.”

Even as I read the first notification, I'm met by an unexpected follow-up.

"Explorer Subclass has received enough experience to level. Equip subclass to check its progress."

As excited as I am that I've managed to level my Subclass without even having it equipped, the System doesn't stop there.

"Hidden quest completed. Discover 3/3 of Citizen Uthica's hidden contingencies, have proficiency in Eastern Vausian, Lower Methian and Astreum."

Uhm. Okay. So, no reward? That seems weird. Also, I've never needed Lower Methian. I'm pretty sure no-one in the Aetherium speaks it these days.

"Hey Rufka, you ever have a quest complete that doesn't give a reward?"

"I've had a couple where they just gave useless unlocks or other quests. Like that?"

"No. I mean that there's no reward. Wyonna, do you know what's going on?"

[Wyonna] "Not sure. Maybe the interference is getting in the way? Or maybe the subclass levelling was the reward?"

"Huh. So, Wyonna doesn't…" I waver as my vision gets blurry.

"Lexi. Are you-" Rufka's voice fades as my vision goes dark, nearly invisible words flash past as I lose consciousness.

"Quest Reward: Loaded. Would you like to know-"

“System Override executed: Priority: Odean.”

"Confirmation received. Citizen Uthica's Legacy Primer Downloading."

A note from Draith

Thank you wandererv for the amazing review.

5.07, Testing, Testing, 1,2,3

June 12, 1489, a hundred years after Akilo was first integrated.

Uthica watched from dragonback, squinting against the evening sun as the last of the Thenite Cruisers crashed into the Isle of Kyosis, its long thin frame twisting under the stress. The quest update confirmed the war was almost over. The latest wave of invaders had been brought down.

Where am I? Wow, that's a big ship.

She relished in the sight of the Droneship burning as her advisor Pelthin reported on the status of the other teams. She flinched internally when Pelthin mentioned that Thalis had been lost. Young, with a rare class and bright future ahead of her. Even after nearly a century of fighting, it still weighed on Uthica that she couldn't keep the young away from danger.

"Not that young, my queen," her advisor reminded her when Uthica commented on it. "She was fifty-three with two grown daughters."

Uthica couldn't help but laugh even as her eyes grew moist. Had it been so long? She still remembered Thalis when she'd been a cub, playing in the great gardens. "I'm getting old, Pelthin."

"It only happens to the best of us, my queen."

Uthica sighed at Pelthin's continued use of her title. Trying to convince her otherwise was a lost cause.

Well, she's not wrong, Uthica.

Uthica glanced around for a second. She'd heard something. Something familiar. "Did you hear that?"

Pelthin nodded, "The new riders are rather excited, aren't they, my queen?"

Uthica turned her head to the dragonriders to the south. Three full Flights of Desh’ila riders and their dragons flew with whoops, cheers and the occasional burst of dragonfire. A full thirty-nine dragons flying in formation was always an inspiring sight.

Uthica was tempted to let them celebrate, and once they were finished with the cleanup, she might even join them. But for the moment, they had a job to do. Turning to her other companion, her aunt Jethico, she instructed her to get the Desh’ila ready. "Hopefully, the drives aren't completely ruined. There's still much to learn."

Wait, you're studying the drives?

Uthica led her people in, personally dealing with the Thenite Freedom Fighter, disintegrating the walking insect, a species she hadn't seen before, with a prepared void rune.

The rune was expensive and represented over a month of work, but actually fighting the idiot would’ve damaged the ship more than knocking it out of the sky had. Thenite Freedom Fighters were notoriously hard to defeat without collateral damage. Which is why the other teams had brought their ships down over deep ocean where the Lords of the Deep could deal with them. It was an uneasy alliance, but Uthica found their Deepest Lord Helthome easier to get along with than some of the members of her own court.

Such as her Aunt Jethico.

"Do we really have to do this? You've already established a Stronghold. This flying city idea of yours defies belief," her aunt asked as they made their way through the now-defunct hangar bays for the Thenite Skyscreamers.

That’s the crazy woman who took over Ivicka! Her voice is practically identical.

Uthica was impressed she'd waited this long to complain. Jethico had never been one for understanding how magic worked, her focus was on the fights themselves. And she was an exceptional warrior, Uthica admitted that. It was why she still served as Uthica's strong upper hands despite their frequent disagreements. Besides, it was important to have someone who offered a different point of view. Or so her father liked to remind her.

"You don't have to be here," Uthica reminded her aunt.

Jethico grimaced as she wiped off an unknown slime from her armour. It was probably what had compelled her to complain, Uthica realized.

Jethico shook her head. "I'm not leaving you alone in the heart of a Thenite Droneship. Who knows what sort of traps they have waiting. And since your pu… father isn't here, you need someone to watch your back as you work."

Uthica nodded, not slowing. She'd expected as much. Her aunt might be cranky and disagreeable, but she was loyal.

However, they didn't encounter any further resistance. The engineers in the Drive chamber practically threw themselves on her mercy. It was a unique experience for Uthica. They'd never managed to bring a Droneship down with the crew alive before. And Thenite soldiers tended to choose death before surrender. As she understood it, they even had suicide upgrades in their interface.

It was remarkably annoying.

The next few hours were an astounding lesson on the principles of the mana-navigating mechanics of Ripple drives.

Apparently, mana-infused space was lumpy and the Ripple-drive took advantage of that?

Uthica had a general understanding of space, and their solar system, but it was all academic. She needed specific knowledge.

At this rate Uthica, we're both going to be able to build a Ripple drive from scratch.

Once more Uthica looked around, searching. She swore she'd heard it again. She spent several seconds searching for the sound.

Wait. Can you hear me Uthica?

One of the engineers came running up to Uthica, a pad filled with information held out to her. Already, they were proving that they were willing to teach her in exchange for their lives.

Wait, no! Don't fade to black!

Uthica was starting to like engineers.

Uthica hated engineers.

Oh, they were all very useful if she needed to understand anything related to Ripple-drives or how to build deep space mines, which had indeed made repelling invasions simpler. But they were worse than a dragon in its hoarding phase when it came to collecting useful materials, 'just in case' or because they 'wanted to see what would happen.'

A habit she allowed in reasonable doses, but this time they'd gone too far.

What? What did they do? Can you hear me Uthica?

Uthica stomped into the engineer's quarters, headed straight for Fethix. Fethix had been their unofficial representative when Uthica had met them aboard the crashed Droneship. Uthica had liked Fethix enough that she'd appointed her as the head engineer once they'd worked out terms.

Fethix was a slender elvenoid that stood at slightly less than a metre tall with bright pink hair instead of a mane. The rest of her body was completely furless, a fact that was readily apparent given her adoption of K'tharn clothing practices. Uthica had found the sight disturbing at first but had grown used to it over the years. Outlanders had all sorts of strange forms.

Holy crap, it's a Christmas elf. Except those are not PG-rated overalls.

"Uthica, sweetums. To what do we owe- urck," Fethix's question was cut short by Uthica lifting the elvenoid by the straps of her overalls as Uthica locked the other engineers in place with nothing but a grin.

"Where's my locket?"

"What? I don't know- glurk."

"Small object. About this big around. Has a power output equivalent to the sun. And is in this room!" Uthica snarled the last part, carefully watching each of the other engineers with her upper eyes while not letting her lower eyes leave Fethix's face.

Seems like a dangerous locket to leave lying around.

"Oh, that locket!" Fethix chuckled nervously, waving one of her engineers forward. An elvenoid with green hair that Uthica thought might be male. It was hard to tell under the thick brown work robes he was wearing.

He looked nervous as he stepped forward, but Uthica didn't see her locket.

"Get me my chest. No, not the gold one. The other one," Fethix squirmed as Uthica relaxed her grip slightly.

The green-haired elvenoid approached with a small black box, inlaid with silver runes. He handed it to Fethix who proffered it to Uthica.

Uthica snorted, "Open it."

Fethix nodded quickly, shifting in her harness uncomfortably. She retrieved the locket from within, the glowing blue seashell a perfect replica of the one Uthica's mother gave her when she was a cub.

Uthica almost grabbed it but thought better of it. She'd been burned by these engineers' 'practical jokes' before. She pointed at the green-haired elvenoid who was trying to slink away. "You. Take it from her."

Fethix's eyes widened in shock, snatching the locket away as she clamored, "Are you trying to kill- I mean, I put a ward on it. One moment."

Uthica almost sighed as she finally took the locket from Fethix, not receiving so much as a shock. With the locket back in her possession, Uthica could admit this was partially her own fault. She shouldn't have left it on her bedside instead of storing it in her inventory.

But in her defence, she'd been up for five days straight, and it'd slipped her mind. She'd also been too lenient with the engineers, not punishing them for the many other objects they appropriated.

But then, they'd never stolen anything from her private quarters before.

You didn't sleep for five days? You need to take better care of yourself.

"You didn't know better, so I'm going to tell you this once. Next time one of your engineers steals something from my bedchamber, one of you dies. Understood?" Uthica informed them, her tone pleasant now that her locket was secure. A simple promise they'd be able to remember.

Fethix nodded, sweat dripping from her forehead as she clumsily tossed the box at her companion. "Understood, my queen."

Uthica nodded as she turned away, then paused and turned back causing Fethix to straighten herself. "Oh, and Fethix."

"Yes, my queen?"

"Good work on the Stabilizers. Exactly what we needed. You'll have the mana-essence and infused uranium you asked for in a couple days." Uthica watched as Fethix's face went from sweating to blank to a small smile.

"Thank you, my queen."

"With a deduction to cover the inconvenience of having to retrieve my locket of course," Uthica finished before leaving Fethix behind.

She could practically see the steam rising from Fethix's ears as Uthica chuckled happily while stroking the locket that was once more around her neck.

Nice moves Uthica. Totally had me convinced.

Uthica paused halfway to her quarters. "Are you there?"

Holy crap. You can hear me!

"Damn. I was certain…"

Wait, no… not…

Uthica took a deep breath as she stared up at her statue.

She hated it. It was a prime example of useless vanity. She was tempted to smash it.

But she'd made a promise.

And the Stranger had earned more than a statue. Still, Uthica couldn't help but wonder what the Stranger's real motives were. It would be easier if Uthica could just talk to them.

Hey, again Uthica. Please hear me?!

Uthica felt the presence. She glanced around the empty square, nodding as her long-time companion and advisor Pelthin joined her.

"It's a striking pose, my Queen. It captures your essence," Pelthin offered with only the barest twitch of her lip. Uthica stared at her for a second, trying to discern whether Pelthin was teasing her or trying to suppress her satisfaction. She'd wanted to erect dozens of the horrendous things.

Thankfully, Uthica hadn't needed to indulge her. This statue was the only one she'd promised to build. She didn't understand why this was so important to the Stranger, especially with the powers they'd lent her during the Thenite Incursion. "I suppose we should all have one. I'm sure father wouldn't mind."

Pelthin’s eyes flared open, as she shook her head. "I could never. It would be inappropriate, my queen."

Uthica, why can't you hear me!? Gah, this is so annoying.

Uthica slapped Pelthin's shoulder, chuckling as she turned away, searching for the presence. But it looked like there wasn't a physical manifestation this time either.

This time? Wait, are you saying there was a time when I appeared?

"My queen?"

"Nothing." Uthica hadn't revealed the Stranger who visited her occasionally. The visits were… personal. As if spending time with an old friend. She didn't allow herself many indulgences, but she spent several seconds basking in the Stranger's silent presence before returning to the moment.

Wait. So, you can feel me.

Once she was certain this wasn't one of those passing visits where the Stranger only brushed against her mind for a second or three, Uthica tugged on the hand of the statue. The hand moved only a fraction of a degree, but it triggered hidden Runework to capture the Stranger's mana-signature.

She was hoping it would allow her to establish a clearer connection. The hand also opened the stairway to the Node they'd been preparing to Seal. This was the fifth such cache of information and equipment they'd produced, though it had a great deal of extra preparations.

The Stranger’s visit confirmed this location was important.

"Wait here," Uthica instructed Pelthin as she descended to the room below, sealing the entrance behind her.

The room wasn't large, a dozen paces deep and half that across. But it was filled with books and scrolls. Physical copies of the old histories, records of the Integration, maps of the world before and after. And everything they'd been able to learn about the System.

It was inspired by a discussion with an Outlander who hadn't known they were talking to the Queen of Akilo. He'd been cute and Uthica hadn't wanted to spoil it. He'd been proudly proclaiming the benefits of having everything recorded by the System, talking about how his family's history went back for thousands of years. How the System ensured nothing was lost.

Except as Uthica's curiosity got the better of her, she'd pressed him for more details. He'd admitted they had no knowledge of the time before Integration. And even the records that came after implied they'd always been integrated. It was as if their culture had been systematically replaced with the System's. When Uthica had her followers surreptitiously question other Outlanders, it was discovered that none had records of their pre-System origins.

Uthica couldn't allow such a thing to happen to her people. While many of her people had once scorned the written word, they'd still kept records.

"Now this is a Legacy worth leaving behind," Uthica said as she set the final runework on the door, completing the Seal. It would keep the contents in stasis until opened. Even then, the contents would be locked to the chamber. Unless her Runework was destroyed, the contents would be preserved for thousands of years.

That's a lot of books.

"Well, I think it's working. Hello Stranger."

Uthica, you can hear me?

"So it would seem. I'm not certain if it's the location, or if capturing your mana signature and imprinting it on my locket was the key. Either way, it's best to be as prepared as possible."

Uhm. Totally.

"If it wouldn't inconvenience you, I was wondering if I might know your name. You clearly know mine, and I feel as though I've known you for years. It's rather off-putting, simply thinking of you as the Stranger."

Right. My name is Alexis. But you can call me Lex. Or Lexi.

"As you wish, Lexi. With that addressed, I believe we have time. And I have many questions for you."

Oh, cool. I have questions for you too!

"We'll get to them, but first I have one that has been haunting me since I was a cub."

Go for it.

Uthica paused as she considered her words. Eventually she decided to ask as simply as possible, "What is ice-cream? And how do I make it?"

Uhm, that's your first question?

"Yes. I sincerely hope you can help. I've had a craving for as long as I can remember. I've questioned hundreds of Outlanders, but no one knows what it is. It's rather maddening."

Uthica sat calmly as she started noting down what the Stran- Lexi knew about ice-cream. Even as they talked, Uthica knew something had changed. The craving she'd been feeling receded.

Perhaps it hadn't been the ice-cream she'd desired.

5.08, Where Have You Been

December 22, 1502. Divulging the secrets of ice-cream.

Being in Uthica's head changed the moment she activated the runes in the hidden chamber beneath the stairs. I went from being a helpless passenger to being a guest. I can still see through her eyes and hear through her ears, but her thoughts no longer overlay my own.

And more importantly, she can hear me!

Once Uthica informs me that we should be able to visit for a couple days, I can't stop telling her everything I know about making ice-cream, which turns out to be more than I expected. When I concentrate on it, I'm able to recall everything I've ever watched online or read on a wiki. Am I using Facet or Focus to enhance my memory, like I would when I'm trying to recall a memory clearly?

When I attempt to access my Status to check, nothing happens. Not that I expected it to. Seeing my Status while I'm a voice in Uthica's head would be weirder than being in her head.

As Uthica finishes her notes, we end up chatting. Just chatting. About nothing more important than rain and how it feels when it drenches hair, or fur whichever the case may be.

And it's natural. As natural as shooting the breeze with Sab or roughhousing with Rufka.

A couple days later, we’re discussing the required energy phase of a quantum Ripple generator, a topic I knew about only in the abstract from some of my codices when we started, when a bong emanates from the closed door.

Uthica keeps explaining the importance of the seventh parallel’s linkage while I try to shake my non-existent head. Another bong shakes the room, but Uthica still doesn't notice, asking me if she needs to break the concept down. Interrupting her, I ask, "Do you not hear that?"

In response, I feel her ears perk up, as she looks around before asking, "Hear what?"

"That bonging sound?" I'm not even finished asking my question when it happens again.

Uthica shakes her head. "I hear nothing. Perhaps we're experiencing-"

BONG!

Okay, it's getting louder. I don't know what Uthica said, and I'm literally in her head.

I'm trying to figure out if there's something happening that only I can see when I feel my insides twist. A second later and it's gone but everything seems hazy.

"Uh, something's happening to…" Uthica stands up and wrenches at the door as the next bong hits. There's a moment of confusion as the door remains shut. I lose track of what's happening after that until Uthica is back in front of the statue.

Uthica was unsure of what happened. She only knew that Lexi had started talking in nonsense words before starting to scream. She'd exited the room as quickly as possible, afraid the field had broken something important.

Even as she turned, searching for any sign of her missing companions, she heard a scraping sound behind her.

Turning, Uthica's eyes went wide as her advisor Pelthin drove a spear sparkling with purple and black sparks through her chest. Uthica stared blankly at Pelthin who stood with tears in her eyes as she mumbled, “I’m sorry my queen. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Uthica wasn’t sure if it was Pelthin’s betrayal or the spear in her chest that hurt more as she lost consciousness.

I gasp awake, the feeling of the spear in Uthica’s chest causing me to clutch my chest, trying fruitlessly to pull it out. The pain doesn’t fade as I realize Rufka and Rose are both hovering over me.

I feel Rufka pull me into a rough hug and I can’t help but flinch at the pain.

“Where have you been?” Rufka demands, tears in her eyes as she pulls back to look in my eyes.

“Uh? Right here?” I try, rubbing awkwardly at my breast to try to get the pain to diminish with no luck.

“Nope.” Rose shakes his head. “You kind of… cracked?”

“And floated away in pieces.” Rufka pulls me back into her arms.

“I have no recollection of the event in question?” I manage to squeeze out before I cringe as the pain spikes. “Uh. How long was I gone?”

Even as I ask the question, I realize my time sense is messed up. I don’t even know what day it is. After having such an innate sense of time for the last couple months, the loss is almost as disorienting as the pain.

“Three days, give or take,” Rose supplies. “Rufka refused to leave. Even to get the others.”

“What if we hadn’t been here when she came back?” Rufka demands, glaring at Rose who holds his hands up in surrender.

“Hey, I agreed. Just thought she’d like to know.”

I nod my head which turns out to be a mistake, as it causes the pain in my chest to spike again. Which also causes me to hiss through clenched teeth.

“Lexi? What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” Rufka asks in a half-scream while scrambling away from me in a panicked flailing of limbs.

If I couldn’t see how worried she was, it’d almost be funny.

“I visited Uthica. Like, actually met her and talked to her. Then something went wrong. I’m not entirely sure of everything that happened, but she was stabbed. Right here?” I wince as I poke myself in the chest, but this time it doesn’t make it worse.

“That doesn’t make sense. You’re at full Health? You’re not able to be hurt when you’re at full Health,” Rufka states while closing all her eyes and scrunching her forehead together in thought. She’s so adorable I just want to ruffle her ears.

Speaking of ruffling ears. “Where’s Smoulder?”

“She disappeared when you did,” Rose answers, his eyes narrowed as he stares at my chest. Then he realizes where he’s staring and quickly turns away.

Reaching for my bond with Smoulder, I find it… weak. Incredibly weak, as though she’s on the other side of the world.

“The hell is going on!” I swear as I attempt to stand. Only my legs don’t support me, turning to jelly as another spike of pain stabs out of my chest.

Even as Rose suggests I check my status, I grab my chest in pain again.

When I do check my status, none of my resources are low except Facet, but that makes sense. Maybe I have a condition?

Current Conditions: Temporal Resonance

"Temporal Resonance: A strong Resonance linking you to another object or entity. May have additional side effects."

Wait, so does that mean I’m still connected to Uthica?

[Alexis] “Wyonna? You.. Ugh… You there?”

[Wyonna] “Yes, Alexis, I’m here.”

[Alexis] “Any clue what’s going on here?”

[Wyonna] “Not yet. All I’m able to determine is that there’s a rupture that seems to be leaking Facet almost as fast as you’re regenerating it.”

[Alexis] “Seriously? I’m leaking Facet?”

[Wyonna] “I think so. Or perhaps you’re just using it to maintain the bond? I suggest you explore the connection.”

Taking a deep breath, I almost nod at Wyonna before thinking better of it.

“Okay. I’m going to try to figure out what’s going on,” I tell the others before closing my eyes then Focusing on the status condition.

Once more, I cheat by using my Status as a guide to the actual bond. Which surprisingly isn’t centered on my chest. It’s attached directly to my soul in a similar fashion as my interface itself, pervading every aspect of my being.

When I attempt to follow the link, there’s a constriction in my chest. I’m back with Uthica, the spear still protruding from her chest. The pain causes me to lose focus, snapping my eyes open with a scream. I’m with the others, yet I can almost make out the outline of Pelthin moving in the background.

The vision wanes, and the pain fades slightly. I’m about to try closing the connection when I see Pelthin smashed backwards by a tiny ball of furious fire. Then I see Smoulder’s face, looking into Uthica’s eyes.

I can feel her worry and satisfaction for a moment but then the vision fades entirely.

“Wha… Smoulder?”

“Where?” Rufka asks, her voice gentle beside me. When did she get there?

“With Uthica… in the past.”

“Ho boy. Here’s hoping that we don’t blink out of existence.” Rose frowns as he starts pacing.

I nod, and this time there’s no spike of pain. The pain is even receding. I don’t have enough Facet to attempt to reinforce the connection again, so I don’t know what’s going on. But at least I know Smoulder’s okay. For now… for then? Ugh.

The pain keeps diminishing and I sigh in relief until I realize that the bond has almost closed. Which would be good, except the already weak connection to Smoulder is likewise almost gone. If I let the bond close, am I going to lose Smoulder?

I attempt to reinforce the connection. But I don’t have the Facet.

After a few seconds, the pain is completely gone.

And so is Smoulder.

5.09, Smo No Mo

3:17 pm, local time. (August 24, 2023, 7:17 pm.) Emptiness.

I scramble to re-establish my connection to Smoulder, but there’s nothing to connect to. Nothing but emptiness. I can’t sense the link, and the Temporal Resonance condition has disappeared from my Status.

Screaming doesn’t help but it does express my frustration.

The echo also reminds me that we’re in a small room under the statue of Uthica. I take a deep breath, getting to my feet. There's no sense of weakness this time, though Rufka’s arms which are fastened to me securely do hamper the effort slightly. She’s helping as much as hindering, so it’s not so bad.

“I need… I need…” I’m not sure what I need. I just want Smoulder back.

Rufka soothes me as we stand there for a minute, until I notice Rose standing awkwardly by himself. I gesture him closer and pull him into the hug, Rufka shifting to accommodate him. I lean my head against them as I mutter, “I think I just left Smoulder in the past with Uthica.”

Rose stiffens, not breathing for a couple seconds until he says, “Well… if you created an alternate universe… I call dibs on the goatee. Besides we haven't gone full McFly and been deleted from the timeline yet… so at least there’s that.”

I give a choked half-laugh as I finally pull away. “Yeah. At least there’s that.”

Rufka stares at Rose, clearly unimpressed, “Not funny. I just got her back.”

“I think you mean ‘we’ just got her back.”

Rufka huffs, but she does nod.

“So… did you guys check inside the door?” I ask, desperately trying to change the subject.

At this, Rose walks to the door and holds his hand against it, flashing the same message we saw before. I totally should have asked Uthica about the door. It was on the list, but there was just so much I wanted to ask her about. I probably didn’t need to know about her favourite books, but she was so eager to talk without being judged, I could hardly resist.

“It doesn’t seem to want to open. No matter what we try…” Even as he's talking, I lay my hands on it, and it opens minutely, a small creak filling the room.

Surprised, I look through the dark crack, wrapping my eyes in twilight.

“What the?” I wonder as I push the door further, revealing an empty room. Everything Uthica gathered is gone. There are no maps of old Akilo, no tombs of clan warfare. Not even the trade invoices of the pu’shaha tea commune remain.

Are all her caches empty?

“Huh. All this for one measly crystal?” Rose remarks as he reaches for something I missed. I look closely at the dark crystal as he plucks it from the floor. It’s unremarkable. It almost reminds me of a mana essence crystal, or even a soulstone, but there’s no energy inside. Then Rose turns it and I see a marking on its side that makes me realize it’s a recording crystal. Like the ones Uthica used.

“Guess someone beat us to it.” Rufka scoots past me, tapping her fingers on the wall as she inspects the empty room. “Unless there’s another hidden passage.”

“Could try to stone-shape the walls. See if anything happens,” Rose suggests, handing me the crystal before moving to the opposite side of the room from Rufka and knocking on the wall.

“Hmm. Might need my mum for that. These are solid.” Rufka leans against the wall, closing her eyes as she searches with her mana-sense.

Since they’ve already got the room covered, I Focus on the crystal.

"Object analyzed - Resonance Crystal - *&#@. This crystal is a recording of the period *&#@

….

…

Error. Date not found.“

I stare at the burgundy surface of the crystal while wondering if I should try to access it. Doesn’t seem like a great idea. But it’s a possible link to Smoulder.

“I don’t think there’s anything else,” Rose notes as he returns from his inspection of the room, Rufka close behind him.

Rufka nods as she looks at the crystal I’m still turning in my hand, “We should get my mum to look at that. Looks like a damaged recording crystal.”

“I’m just gonna, ya know,” I say, motioning at the room as my throat tightens. I move inside, brushing past Rufka with a squeeze of her shoulder. Then I turn my own mana-sight on the walls. I’m not expecting to find anything. At this point, I’ve come to accept that Rufka’s mana-sense is as good as mine. But there are times when I catch things she misses, especially if it’s related to temporal magic.

And just the chance they might’ve missed something… Some clue as to what happened with Uthica or how I can get Smoulder home…

I resolutely search the room, grasping at every minor oddity. And ask Wyonna if she's seen anything. But after half an hour, the only thing I’ve discovered is that the stonework is incredibly strong, Wyonna has a million ideas about what might have happened, and that there's just... nothing here. At least when I open the pet interface, I gain some small reassurance. Because Smoulder is still listed as bonded. But everything is grayed out, because she's out of range. Which... understatement.

And attempting to cheat my way through the System's panels leads nowhere. Nor does attempting to Pause at the threshold of the room, or sending lots of love an affection or...

The crystal's in my hand again, and I’m thinking about accessing it when Rufka pulls me into a hug, forcing me to stop. After a minute of dampening her shoulder, I’m forced to admit that there’s nothing to find.

So we make our way back to the surface, where I turn to stare at the statue. The statue! That’s what started all this. If I remember correctly Uthica took her own hand, and pulsed it with magic, then…

Infusing the statue with a combination of Twilight and Facet, I wait, hoping to re-establish the resonance.

But nothing.

Standing there, I can’t help but ask, “Do you think Uthica is going to be okay? I mean, Smoulder’s there to help but… How did that even happen?”

“We should… go to the others,” Rufka suggests, pulling me away.

“Yeah. We should. I just… Ya know?” I respond with a helpless wave at Uthica’s statue.

Rufka only nods as she lifts off the ground, prompting me to follow her. As we ascend from between the buildings, Ukila dominates the horizon, the green and blue, a brilliant contrast against the dark mountains ahead.

Which means we're flying directly east. We adjust course, rising in the proper south-easterly direction, as directed by my tether.

The next couple days are quiet and uneventful other than the number of mana-storms we have to avoid. Which is unfortunate because it gives me time to think. Too much time.

While secured within our latest underground bunker, I sit, staring at the damaged recording crystal. Rufka’s leaning against my back, playing a game of Astra’s Stride with Rose. As she shifts, I feel my mana begin to surge. Again.

Ever since I lost Smoulder, it’s been doing that more. So far, I’ve mostly been able to keep it in check, but at our last stop I lost control. It was only a small spark, and the others didn’t even notice, what with how often I’m playing with my magic. But I hadn’t been doing anything. It’d just happened.

Sighing, I turn the crystal in my hand, studying it. There are layers upon layers of runes inside, all interacting with each other. And several are broken. My studies aren’t particularly useful. It’s not like I can figure out how to fix it. I have a basic understanding of runecraft now, even expanded it somewhat, thanks to Rufka and Tipan’s efforts, but that’s like saying a person who knows how to change their oil knows how to… I don’t know, fix a broken engine?

Bad analogy since I know less about cars than I do runecraft. Also, I think runecraft might be closer to quantum mechanics in terms of complexity. At least on the challenging end.

Even as I’m gazing into the crystal, I relax, passing into sleep.

I wake with a start, my mana churning within me and the smell of burnt fur and roasted meat in the air. Spinning around, I find Rufka and Rose are eating some seasoned vhethal. But they’re both fine.

“You okay Lex?” Rufka asks, patting the bench beside her.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” I answer, slipping in next to her while calming my mana.

With a satisfied grunt, Rose finishes his portion before looking at me. “You sure? You’ve been distracted the last couple days. More distracted than usual, I mean.”

“Yeah, it’s fine I’ve just been worr… wait, what do you mean more distracted than usual?” I glare at Rose.

Rufka laughs, slipping both her left arms around me. “You know how you get.” She tempers her words with a kiss on my cheek. While she has earned a reprieve with her sweetness, I maintain my glare upon Rose. Which has zero effect.

“If you’re feeling good enough to glare, then you’re finally feeling better. And I think the storm’s passed.” Rose punctuates his sentence by standing then placing his hand on the stone wall above us.

At this, we continue.

Since we’ve spent so much time resting during the mana-storms, we’ve been trying to make up time by flying at night, which means that even as we emerge it’s still dark. It's just before dawn when we finally come into view of Burnesq. The Builder’s city remains mostly as we left it, the towering silver engines the only easily visible landmarks from this far out. Rufka and I are holding hands as we approach when I notice something seems to be off.

There are waves of movement beneath the towers. Giant undulations, swelling and waning.

At first, I think Josh has been playing with his powers, causing the local vegetation to grow out of proportion.

But as I watch, part of the wave separates, soaring into the air. Thin translucent horns trace back from the nose of a sinuous creature that glitters under the effects of my twilight-sight. It has no legs, instead propelled forward by fluffy white fins. Flying above the others, it emits a keening wail as it crests one of the dull grey buildings.

The wail is answered by a warbling crackle as the entire herd filters through the city. The wail and warbling resonate with each other, achieving a counterpoint, as though there’s a message I can’t quite understand beneath the surface. “It’s beautiful.”

“A Ralshid occurrence,” Rufka mutters, barely audible. For once, my understanding of Vausian fails me. When I turn to the System, the creature identifies as an Elswyrm. I still have no idea what Ralshid means.

“Are you sure?” Rose asks, “I thought that only happened in the north.”

Even as we fly over the undulating herd, Rufka answers, “Mum says it can happen anywhere. There are just more users living in the North.”

“Uh. ‘Scuse me. What’s a Ralshid?”

“Ralshid occurrence,” Rose clarifies, “is when a bunch of mana-mutations occur at once.”

Rufka shakes her head, denying his explanation before he’s even finished. “They’re nothing like a mana-mutation. Mana-mutations are dangerous.”

“Okay, so not dangerous. That’s good.”

Rose flips about, flying directly in front of us as he objects, “Not dangerous? Strongholds have been destroyed in the wake of a Ralshid occurrence.”

“Well, they can be dangerous. If a user disturbs the affected creatures,” Rufka admits as she pulls to the side, my hand firmly in hers as she flies us around Rose, closer to the herd.

“Didn’t you just say it can be dangerous if we disturb them?” I don’t fight her, instead watching as the herd continues their journey through the city, swimming through the air together.

Rufka gives me a wink and a quick squeeze of my hand but doesn’t change course. Rose attempts to interpose himself again, but Rufka just grabs him with another hand, tugging him about instead. “Best we don’t get separated.”

When we’re only a few metres above the herd, Rufka sparks lightning over her upper hands. But she doesn’t attack or discharge the magic. Instead, she causes it to crackle in time to their warbling. In response, several members of the herd spread apart, leaving a small gap. Rufka guides us into place, maintaining her crackling warble. We drift further into the city, surrounded on all sides by the sky-snakes. The air tastes metallic, a tang of power in every breath.

The nearest Elswyrm drifts closer, a dull grey sky-snake, large enough it could swallow me with a single bite. It turns a single eye on me as blue lightning sparks beneath its grey skin, running up and down its body in time with its warbling.

Despite myself, I reach out to it. It’s so magnificent.

It floats just a little closer, and I watch as a spark leaps from its skin, running up my arm. It’s barely a tingle, not enough to hurt, but it seems to scare the Elswyrm away.

As it draws back, I turn my attention ahead, where we’re flying over the edge of the building. The rest of the herd…flock? Group of Elswyrms is splitting around the center of the city. The ruined tower lies there, and at its base is a familiar transparent barrier. Roberts is standing calmly, observing the Elswyrms as they flow around his shield. I can tell when he notices us because he starts waving enthusiastically.

I wave back, but then I realize the only person with him is Trellani. It’s not surprising to see her here, since we did recruit her after we helped cleanse her mother, but the fact the others aren’t with them is worrying.

With Rufka still flashing at the surrounding Elswyrms, we land just outside his glowing dome.

“Isn’t this amazing?” I ask him, the light flickering as he reshapes his barriers to bring us inside. Despite standing next to them, my IFF is still pointing to the centre of the city. In fact, even my bond to Roberts remains fixed toward the city centre. When I focus on this fact, I realize I can’t feel a bond to Roberts where he’s standing.

If it weren’t for the barriers, I’d be worried this wasn’t the real Roberts. Also, the fact that his name is no longer greyed out in the party interface lends some credence to him being real. Almost as much as his steepled hands.

“I’m glad you’re safe too, Lex.” Roberts quirks his bushy eyebrow as the last of the barriers separating us dissipates into nothing.

“Oh, right. Hi. Good to see you. Where’s, uhm, everyone?” I don’t need a mirror to know that my cheeks are super red.

“Your friends have gone to find Demo. They think his ship’ll be helpful now that the System’s busted teleportation and messaging,” Trellani’s voice is low, her eyes scanning the surrounding Elswyrms even as she answers. Can’t really blame her.

“Really?” Rose asks, squinting all four eyes at her even as she continues to ignore us.

Roberts nods as he starts preparing tea on a table hidden behind his barriers. “They’ve been gone for a couple days now. I was starting to get worried you weren’t coming.”

“Only starting?” Rufka asks, giving Roberts a playful push.

Roberts raises a single eyebrow. “Starting. None of you are known for your punctuality.”

“Ouch,” Rose mutters, and I find myself nodding alongside.

We spend a few minutes in quiet conversation, mostly me starting on catching him up while complaining about the loss of Smoulder. Roberts just nods, letting me talk. Then there's a pause as we all sip at our tea. Roberts turns to me, tapping his cup with a single finger as he says, “Well, I believe I have something to take your mind off that. At least for the moment. There’s something I believe you and Rufka can help with.”

“Oh?”

Roberts smirks at me, his bushy eyebrows rising and falling as his grin widens. “We think we’ve found the remnants of a control console.”

A note from Draith

Thank you esotericist for the amazing review.

5.10, Throwing Down

A note from Draith

Minor edit to 5.09

I resolutely search the room, grasping at every minor oddity. And ask Wyonna if she's seen anything. But after half an hour, the only thing I’ve discovered is that the stonework is incredibly strong, Wyonna has a million ideas about what might have happened, and that there's just... nothing here. At least when I open the pet interface, I gain some small reassurance. Because Smoulder is still listed as bonded. But everything is grayed out, because she's out of range. Which... understatement.

And attempting to cheat my way through the System's panels leads nowhere. Nor does attempting to Pause at the threshold of the room, or sending lots of love an affection or...

The crystal's in my hand again, and I’m thinking about accessing it when Rufka pulls me into a hug, forcing me to stop. After a minute of dampening her shoulder, I’m forced to admit that there’s nothing to find.

4:20 am, local time. (August 27, 2023, 5:20 am.)

“Control console?” I ask, staring at Roberts for a second. Then I remember where we are and what we were doing before the whole no teleportation and trip into the past. “Right. The city. Sorry, it’s been a crazy few days.”

“Oh? Something to share?”

“Definitely, but I’m kinda enjoying the view,” I gesture outward, still entranced by the surrounding Elswyrms. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that they were… Wait, they are coming around again. “How long have they been here?”

“The Elswyrms’ve been basking the area in their beauty for the last three nights,” Trellani informs us, finally looking away to join us.

“But they’re leaving us alone, so that’s not a big deal, right?” Rose asks.

“Not for us,” Rufka agrees.

“So, where is this console?” I eventually ask Roberts after watching the Elswyrms dance for a few minutes.

“Not far. But I was hoping the Elswyrms would ease off. They leave my barriers alone when we’re sitting still, but the second I move, they treat it like a game, smashing into them with tremendous force. I’ve already healed Trellani twice.”

“Hey, I was just investigating. And if I’d listened to you, we’d still be trapped beneath the surface.”

Roberts nods, smoothing his brown suit, though there are no visible wrinkles. “And then we wouldn’t have gotten caught out in this in the middle of the night, would we?”

“Nope. But I’ve spent too much time underground the last couple years. It was… uncomfortable.”

“Which is why I don’t blame you. I’m just informing them that these Elswyrms are dangerous.”

“Yeah, we kinda figured they would be,” Rose interjects, drawing Roberts’ attention. “I mean, they’re literally throwing off sparks.”

“Yes. Regardless, it would be less of a hassle to wait for dawn.”

“Which means, we have time for a game of Astra’s Stride,” Rufka exclaims, pulling out her board before anyone has time to object. It's as good a thought as any, so we settle in to play while I continue to fill in Roberts on everything that's happened since we last spoke.

After being beaten by Roberts twice in a row, Rufka puts her board away with a surprisingly upbeat smile. Probably because she did better than me both games. I did even worse than usual, unable to focus.

Even while talking to Roberts, I kept brushing my hand over the recording crystal, thinking about the fact we have only the vaguest sense of where the others are. And my connection still tells me they’re nearby despite having left the area days ago. Another glitch due to the System's interference.

“Lex?” Rose is standing in front of me, his eyes drawn together. It takes a second before my brain clues me in to the fact that he was talking to me. Unfortunately, it rather unhelpfully doesn't tell me what he said.

“Sorry. Was thinking. What’d you say?”

“Oh, nothing," Rose starts, then at my raised eyebrow, he adds, "I just asked if you wanted Trellani to look at the crystal. But Rufka already shot the idea down.”

“Oh,” I mumble, getting to my feet, whisking dust off my pants with a swirl of earth-manipulation. Without thinking, I start shaping it into a small figurine of Smoulder, only realizing what I’ve done when it’s sitting there in front of me.

“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure-”

Rose is cut off by a sudden swell in the Elswyrms’ song.

The rising pitch draws our attention to where they’re moving out of the city, their strange swimming motions carrying them east, lost amidst the glare of the rising sun.

As my eyes adjust, I try to follow their path. Instead, I notice a figure emerging where they passed over the rise. With several thin blades reflecting the growing light, details are difficult to discern.

Then, as if they timed it, the sun breaks over the horizon at their back as they approach. It’s only once she’s within a dozen metres that I’m able to distinguish the colour of her fur. At first, I’d thought it was red. But now I realize that was a trick of the morning light. If not for seeing the same effect with Tipan, I might not have realized that the approaching K’tharn’s fur is white.

Have to say, if she’s trying to impress, it’s working.

She stops five metres away, her eyes playing over each of us, the tattoos etched over her eyes emphasizing an otherwise slight narrowing of her upper eyes. She has a short, rigid mohawk, reminding me more of a military cut than Tipan’s. After several seconds of silence, she asks, “Do any of you know the one named Tipan?”

“What do you want with Tipan?” I ask, before I can help myself.

She shifts her stance, turning toward me. Something in her gaze makes me feel as though she’s not impressed with what she sees. “So, you do know her. One of the Outlanders, I suppose.”

I can’t help but squirm under her attention, taking a step back. My step is interrupted by Rufka, who isn’t smiling as she keeps me from stumbling over her with a firm grip. “And what does a Stormguard want with Tipan of clan Lithania?” Rufka demands, her voice in the low growl she only uses when someone’s made her angry.

“She’s not here. Do you know where she went?” the Stormguard asks, ignoring Rufka, remaining focused on me at the same time as I analyze her.

“User analyzed: K'tharn. Female. Gene seed D.”

“Name: Restricted.”

“Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Restricted.

Defences: Restricted."

I’m not entirely shocked to see her attributes are so high.

It’s worrying though. The only other person I’ve met that still registers as Extreme is Genitha. This Stormguard could probably crush me into a crumpled ball.

Even as I'm reviewing her status, my mouth decides to work on its own. I release a brilliant, “Uhhh?”

Starting to worry this constant static is getting to me.

“No? Was she well the last time you saw her?”

I nod, thinking about the last time I saw Tipan. She was worried about her mother, and the Aetherium but otherwise okay.

“And?”

“Uh. She was fine. Totally healthy.” I respond, trying to figure out what exactly she expects me to say.

“Has she maintained her training?” The Stormguard flicks her blades slightly at this question. As if she’s expecting me to attack her. Is she worried I’ll say no, or is she worried about something else?

“I think so?” I answer, trying to be as vague as possible. It’s not entirely honest. Tipan did slack off for a day, but she was visiting her mom. But we all advanced a lot while in Atun’s dungeon. And she’s been kind of distracted by the Reaper guide turned journal.

She stares at me for a second, her upper eyes blazing with emerald light before she relaxes her grip slightly, sheathing her swords.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Roberts asks as her swords slide into place.

Once more, she focuses on me while not answering his question, "What do you know of Glimmering Sands?"

I glance at the others, but they look as confused at the non-sequitar as I am. Which is when I realize Roberts and Rufka are the only ones in plain sight.

"It's a resort town?" I ask, having less and less understanding about where this conversation is going.

She stares at me for a few more seconds, then says, "And?"

"And it was massively wrecked by Ivicka a month ago? Oh, and it has a killer Tidal festival," I try.

She doesn't quite drop her jaw at my statement, but I can see the tight control of her face go slack for a second as she spares Rufka and Roberts their first glance. Then she focuses on me again, her eyes once more flashing emerald.

"Say that again."

"Uhh. Glimmering Sands has a killer Tidal festival?”

She shakes her head, “No, the other part.”

“Glimmering Sands was massively wrecked by Ivicka?"

"You believe it. Strange."

Okay, what the heck. Is she reading my mind? Crap, is she like the dolls? I focus inward, trying to detect any intrusions while mentally screaming ‘Get out of my head!’ I don’t notice anything, and by the time I’m done, I realize Roberts is speaking.

“As you can see, Tipan’s not here. If you have a message you’d like to pass on to her, you can leave it with us and we’ll make sure she gets it.” He crosses his arms, the smooth lines of his dark suit lending strength to his pose.

Her eyes flick back and forth across us, until resting on me again. “Yes. Tell her that her father, Talkith of clan Lithania needs to talk to her. Urgently."

"And you… you should be more careful of who you analyze," she adds, pointing at me with one hand.

Then she snaps her fingers and a blinding flash fills the air, collapsing Roberts’ shields and causing several hundred points of damage. I blink at the unexpected spots, shaking my head. I haven’t had that sort of feedback in months. I almost forgot I could get spots in my eyes. When my vision clears, the Stormguard is gone.

“Well, that could have been worse,” Rose says, poking his head up from behind a large boulder.

“Why would Tipan’s father want to talk to her now?” I ask, staring at the spot the Stormguard was just standing. Did she teleport, or just run away really fast? Maybe I should be testing my teleportation more.

“Not sure. But I think that might have been the aforementioned father,” Rose answers, while blinking rapidly.

Wait… White fur. Obvious first clue. Mohawk, different, but rare among K’tharn, like Tipan’s. On the other hand, the swords and… well, lack of manners.

“Yeah, I guess I could see it,” I admit as Roberts’ barrier springs back into place above us.

“She gave up too easily. Like she didn’t even want to talk to us,” Rufka comments.

“Then why come strolling in like that? If she didn’t want to talk to us, why bother?” Rose wonders.

And why did she only show up when we were getting ready to leave? Was she afraid of the Elswyrms? Or was it something else?

“Stormguards do all sorts of strange things.” Rufka suggests with a shrug. “It’s all that time in the clouds. Makes them loopy.”

“Doesn’t most of the Aetherium live in the clouds?” I ask, arching an eyebrow at Rufka.

“Perhaps we should continue this discussion on the way,” Roberts interjects, gesturing for us to follow him as Rufka grins at us. Trellani pops out from beneath the table, and I blink at the way she was just… gone.

“Right. We should look at the console,” I acknowledge, giving Trellani a proper inspection as we make our way further into the city, towards where the silver spire once stood. Still nothing weird there. Maybe she used an enchantment?

There’s a lot of twisted wreckage as we move deeper. There are entire lengths of twisted silver longer than a city bus lying around us. When we mentioned the city to Kellica, she’d checked the Taken’s records. The Taken tried to take control of this city at some point hundreds of years ago. They’d almost succeeded, but then the spire exploded, killing every agent involved. And none of them came back.

To be fair, resurrection is normally a Silver-rank ability. If we weren’t Citizens, there’s a lot of things that would be much harder to purchase.

We’re making our way down a partially collapsed staircase when everything seems to blur.

For a second, I think the Stormguard’s come back, but then I see the tower as it was before it exploded. There’s a scaffold of glowing bone and hide encircling it with several vague shapes making their way along it. For a second everything becomes clear, the K’tharn bursting into incredible detail. But I hardly notice, because Smoulder is there, hopping towards the twisted tower. There’s a short moment where I feel her usual smugness as she turns toward me.

Then the moment is lost, and I’m back with the others.

For the second time in less than five minutes I stumble. You’d think that with an Agility over a hundred I’d be less clumsy. But even with my vision of the past gone, I’m still disoriented. It was good to see Smoulder again, but the experience has taken something out of me.

The others don’t mention it, though Rufka takes my hand as we continue to walk to the excavation site where Roberts found the console. The hole is nearly fifteen metres down, located in what was once the bowels of the control tower. Now it’s just a simple hole in the ground, with a set of crude steps stone-shaped into the side.

When we reach the console, I attempt to bring up the screen, but it gives a different message than the one in Pelwerd.

“Error. Connection to Network unavailable. Local operations only.”

“Holy crap,” I mutter.

“What? Can you read it?” Roberts asks, stepping next to me.

“Yeah. Says it’s disconnected from the network. But it’s not locked like the last one. One sec,” I answer, tapping the screen. The interface is similar to the control room, but it kind of feels like an old version. Like, this is what I would’ve had if it didn’t update to version 1.0.

The screen fills with new commands. Engines, shields, communications. Obviously, the communications are offline. Shields too. But when I hit the engines, it fills with a long list of functions, most of which are in the green. However, the one important item, the Ripple drive, is listed in red. Offline.

“So, good news and bad,” I tell the others. “Good news is that the engines are mostly functional.”

“Really? That’s amazing Alexis!” Roberts proclaims, holding up his hand for a fist bump. I giggle a little as I return it. It is kind of amazing.

“Bad news, everything else is offline. And without the shields, we’re not going to be able to take this thing into space. Never mind get it back to Earth.”

“One thing at a time Lex,” Roberts replies, still smiling. “Do you think we can get it in the air? Can we take the city to the others?”

I stare at him for a second, blinking my eyes as I think before turning back to the console. Energy levels are good. Stability is nominal. There’s even a subsystem called Momentum Inclusion. It indicates that it keeps everyone in ‘sync’ with the platform while it’s in motion.

“I… think we can do it. We can actually fly the city after the others.” I turn back to Roberts, a grin pushing itself across my face, “At least, I think so.”

Rufka grabs me and shakes me excitedly, “We’re going to fly one of the Builder’s Sanctuaries! Mum is gonna be so jealous.”

“Hold on. Shouldn’t we-” Rose starts but I’m already working the controls, shifting power to the engines. It’s a good thing I spent time with Uthica. Manipulating the engines is practically child’s play now that she’s filled in all the gaps in my Voidtech Engineer subclass’ knowledge. Which I realize has also shot up in levels. Need to check that later.

A second later a loud thrum fills the air, followed by cracking and popping from the distance. Then the whole city lurches, and we’re airborne. I grab hold of the console to steady myself before remembering I can fly without it.

Guess that Momentum Inclusion feature isn’t perfect.

Even as we’re rising, I hear the keening wail of the Elswyrms in the background. For the moment, I don’t pay them any attention. It’s surprisingly annoying to set the course for the city. It’s not really meant to be operated from a console. It takes me five minutes before I’m able to coax it forward. And by forward, I mean south, which is only ninety degrees off course of where we want to go. Roughly.

“Uh Lexi, you’re going-” Rufka starts but I cut her off.

“I know, I know.” I keep messing with the settings, attempting to route the thrusters. But half the thrusters are offline, a status that only updated after we launched. Meaning it isn’t a simple matter to change the city’s direction.

I’m experimenting with varying their thrust when Roberts calls from above, “Lex, you might want to put on the brakes. I think we’re about to run into a hill.”

That’s not what I want to hear. I’m not even sure this city has brakes. The decision to launch the city may have been a little rash. It just felt like we were finally moving forward.

I disable all the thrusters, killing our acceleration, but it doesn’t help with slowing us down. It just stops it from getting worse. The keening of the Elswyrms seems to pick up in volume, causing me to look up. But I can’t see anything cause I’m in the bottom of the pit. Which is when I realize, I’m the only one in the pit. Everybody else is on the rim. They’re not just standing there either. Roberts is throwing up shields and Rufka is using the same thunder-crackle method she was using when we were swimming with the Elswyrms. I can’t tell what the others are doing, but it would seem I’ve upset the locals.

I don’t want to imagine how they’d feel if I crashed the city.

So, I look over the console again, trying to figure out what I’m missing. My eyes lock on the power controls for the First through Sixth Levitation Engines. It’s so obvious. If we’re going to run into something, just go over it.

But of course, it isn’t that easy. When I attempt to increase the power, the console informs me going so high would be over safety limits while the shield is offline. I end up spending half a minute finding the override, which is in the communications menu of all places. Once I enter the new energy input, confirming the override, I’m slammed into the ground, knocking another hundred points off my health.

I’ve lost as much Health today as in our trip through the Cricken.

It only takes a second for the city to stabilize at its new height. Even as it does, the Elswyrms go silent.

Well, one minor crisis averted. Now, let’s see if I can figure out how to steer this thing.

“Lex. Hey Lex,” Rose calls, forcing me to glare up at him.

“Yeah?”

“I think we have a problem.”

“Another one?” I ask, turning back to the console.

“Uh yeah. I think we’re running out of air.”

What? That’s never been a problem before. I mean, we’d have to be like, what was it, six kilometres up, before air became an issue. Flying up beside Rose, I looked around the city. I could barely see the tip of a single mountain to the North and on every other side there was only sky.

Okay, yeah. I might have overdone it a little.

Flying back to the control console, I attempt to lower the power to the Levitation Engines. But instead of decreasing in power levels, it indicates I need to wait. Reading through all the text I skipped earlier, I find out that to prevent damage to the Levitation Engines, they need time to adjust to their new setting before I can change them. Because some sort of venting mechanism is busted. Of course.

After five minutes of searching, I find a table that indicates I need to wait for about five hours before I can adjust them again.

Okay, that’s annoying, but not so bad. We can just fly away then come back. Or create our own air.

As I fly up to relay the annoying -it’s not really that bad- news to the others, I discover them gathered around a nearby collapsed building. Getting closer to them, I hear them talking in urgent tones before Roberts turns to me.

“Ah. Alexis. Are we able to lower the city?”

“Uh, yeah. About that. It looks like we need to wait a few hours. But hey, we’re fine, right?” I demonstrate by creating a bubble of air over us.

Roberts and Rose trade a glance while Rufka just comes over to me, pulling me to the hole in the wall. Inside I see why the Elswyrms were so loud earlier.

There’s a small clutch of eggs, three to be precise. And atop the eggs are two Elswyrms that seem to be gasping for breath.

…

Oops.

5.11, Elswyrms to Elsewhere

6:11 am, local time. (August 27, 2023, 7:11 am.) Holding our breath at the top of the world.

I didn’t want to add ‘endanger the local wildlife’ to my list of things I did today. I really didn’t. In fact, this is something I absolutely refuse to let stand.

Even as Rufka is pulling me into a side hug, I start pushing away. There must be something we can do. The first thing I do is spin up fresh air next to them. It seems to help, but they’re still wheezing.

Asking Rose to maintain the effect, I fly directly to the console, opening up the menu. I push through the options but I’m unable to find anything. Several minutes later, I feel Rufka’s hand on my shoulder. When I look over, I see Rufka and Roberts behind me. Above, Trellani sits at the edge of the pit, looking in the direction of the Elswyrms.

“Maybe you should let someone else have a look? Or at least explain what you’re doing,” Roberts suggests, pulling me away from the console.

As I sit, I realize I’m still creating a sphere of air to maintain the comfortable atmosphere despite the lower pressure. I didn’t even have to think to set it on autopilot, using my Channelling ability on reflex.

Taking his advice, I tell the others what I’ve done so far. But I can tell none of them understand. Rufka is an amazing rune-crafter, but the design of the System built city-ships is so divergent, it’s like… the difference between properly removing blood from a carpet without ruining it and cleaning your chin with a paper napkin. They're both technically cleaning, but they're not remotely similar.

Still, I do show them what I’ve figured out.

"So, why don't you bleed the excess mana to another System?" Rufka asks, "Then maybe these engines'll stop spitting us into the air so hard."

Face-palming, I turn back to the console, opening the thrusters back up. But when I try to adjust their power levels, the same warning message pops up. Looks like the whole console is locked.

“No good,” I respond, shaking my head.

“It was worth the attempt,” Roberts notes while pacing back and forth.

“Yeah. I guess we’re going to have to try something else.” I squint upward, staring at the empty sky. It’s weird being so high up that there are no clouds.

“Well, if we’re done down here, what say we bring this discussion to somewhere more interesting,” Rufka suggests, tugging me with her.

I give her a half-smile, as she pulls me toward the edge of the city. She stops a few metres from where the edge disappears.

There are several Elswyrms below us, following at a much lower altitude. I can see their sparks, but we’re far enough away that I can’t hear them. We spend a minute peering over the edge as I try to discern if there’s a way we can use the Elswyrms to fix this.

Unsurprisingly, nothing pops out.

Wondering if my levels in Voidtech Engineer might help, I turn there next.

"Engineer Experience has advanced the subclass to Level 16. Enchanting Experience has advanced the subclass to Level 17."

"Voidtech Engineer Subclass Abilities Unlocked: 'Artificial Stars'.”

I want to laugh as I open the ability. It allows me to build mana-fusion powered cores safely. Assuming I have the parts. Not particularly useful at the moment, but if I ever get access to Gold-rank enchanted parts, I’ll never have to worry about mana-again. Even if I leave the System and the mana-swarm behind.

A scuffing sound behind me, causes me to turn.

Everyone’s followed us, except Trellani. Roberts is pacing back and forth, his fingers steepled as he frowns at the ground. “I don’t understand how the engines work, but couldn’t you access them directly instead of using the console?”

I’m about to object, but… maybe he’s right. I mean, they didn’t have a proper readout before, but now that the city is flying, maybe things will be different. Nodding in his direction, I start flying toward the nearest engine.

Approaching the engine, I set down on a thin layer of frost which melts in a large radius the second I land. It’s a clear visualization of how large an area my aura is passively affecting at this point. Definitely recording the details once we’ve staved off the disaster I accidentally inflicted on the Elswyrm family.

We make our way inside, working our way down to the engine room. Even after the initial work the others put in to get this city properly repaired and operational, the corridors are still choked with debris. With the limits on our magic when we’re inside, we have to cart everything out by hand. Or take long breaks for our mana to regenerate after using it inside. It’s simpler to leave everything where it is. Well, most of it.

I pocket a reflective shard that's broken off the inside of the tower, to play with later. Maybe I’ll use it in Smoulder’s next training course. Once I figure out how to get her back.

Crackling energy greets us when we get to the door to the Ripple drive.

The door itself is jammed half-closed, forcing us to squeeze through sideways. I find myself watching Rufka pull herself through before turning back to consider the Drive itself. I realize there must still be some form of shielding in place, because inside the room is louder than outside. And there’s more than enough air to breathe easily.

The core of the drive remains dormant, but there are housings along the outer edges that thrum with power. Housings I’ve barely paid attention to before. They’d seemed like part of the support structure. “Huh, I didn’t know these did anything.”

“It’d explain why mum couldn’t figure anything out.” Rufka holds her hand near it, sending my heart to my throat as the thought of her being zapped fills my mind. But before I can pull her away, she stops. “The mana feels off. Empty almost.”

Standing beside her, I extend my own mana senses, though I don’t bring my hand any closer to the housing. She’s right. The mana feels as though it’s been stripped of any elemental properties. It’s the opposite of an essence shard. Almost… more like mana-dust?

Still, I’m not sure if we can use this. So I move toward the console where Roberts and Rose are already tapping away. “Anything?”

Roberts shakes his head, “There’s a new message, but it’s not responding to our input.”

“Not that being ignored is new to me,” Rose mumbles under his breath. I almost question him about it, but now’s not the time.

Reading over Rose’s shoulder, the message says, “Ripple drive - Levitation Engines engaged. Corrupted mana detected. Purging mana storage. 4:12.”

Well, at least there’s a timer.

We spend another few minutes taking turns at the console, but we’re still unable to make any progress. I’m sitting on the catwalk, kicking my feet while staring down at the inactive Ripple Drive when Rufka sits beside me. I’ve spent almost a half an hour of real time thinking in Pause, but I haven’t come up with anything.

“Given up?”

“No!” I deny, “But… I can’t think of anything we can do. I mean, I could try to pull the entire island down, but I don’t think I’ve got that much power. Or we could move them manually, but I know how dangerous that can be.”

“Well, I was thinking. I might be able to create runescript that would bleed power. But I’ll need your help.”

I jump to my feet, nearly banging my knees as I clamber up. I know that would’ve been a solid thwack before I raised my Agility. Luckily, instead of losing Health, I turn it into a slight bow. Rufka doesn’t even chuckle, instead leading me outside where we start gathering materials. She has me focus on retrieving several meter long sections from the collapsed spire. We also get Rose to send Trellani to help. He grumbles but agrees, taking over ‘keep the Elswyrms breathing’ duty.

Once we have the sections of the spire laid out, Rufka begins inscribing runework that’s so crude I could probably have done it myself. Once she’s finished inscribing basic power channels, she adds several offshoots that don’t have any obvious effect. She gets me and Trellani to copy her pattern, inlaying hundreds of pieces all with the same effect.

It takes us nearly half an hour to finish getting the plates in place. Each one is leaned against the thrumming housings. No housing has less than ten of these crude fins secured to them. With the fins in place, Rufka places a small black block at their base then directs us to the surface with a giant grin on her face.

“Come on, faster,” She urges while pushing me from behind as we leave.

“Uh... Rufka? What’d you do?” I ask, glancing in the direction of the… magicky thingie she’s created where I can hear it buzzing.

“Something fun!” Trellani declares, grinning madly as she races toward the nearest engine’s door.

“Well, you know how essence stones can be formed from raw mana?” As I nod, Rufka continues pulling me to the same engine. “I figured we could try to create some from all the extra mana that’s going to-” She doesn’t have time to finish, as the city shifts beneath our feet. It stops a second later, with the street now leaning at a slight angle. I look to the North, past the edge of the city. I can see the mountains now. It’s hard to tell from our elevation, but I think we’re moving toward them.

Even as I’m considering how this might be exactly what we need for steering, we make it to the entrance. Rufka pauses, scratching at her chin. “Uh, Lexi. I might’ve messed up.”

“What do you… Oh.” When I poke my head past her, I note the chaotic mess of twisted metal inside. None of the catwalks or access ladders appear to be intact. Instead, they’ve been sucked against the walls. In fact, they match up with each spot she placed one of her black bricks.

It’s funny. If she’d done this outside of the engines, I’d be able to just twist the metal back into shape in a minute.

“We’re descending,” Roberts informs us through the open door while I’m staring at the twisted metal. I can still hear the thrumming from the engines, but part of me can’t help but worry. What if we don’t stop? What if we keep descending, crashing the city and ruining it? Before I’m able to go too far, Roberts adds, “I think we’ve stabilized.”

When I hear that, I plop down on the spot, rubbing my forehead. Well, at least that’s kind of solved. Now we just need to aim ourselves toward the others. After carefully divesting ourselves of the Elswyrms.

Rufka lets me sit for a couple minutes; time I wisely invest in staring at the mess. Then she grabs my arm and leads me outside, at which point we go check on the nest of Elswyrms. The majestic creatures' scales almost keep me from entering the building, having shifted to block most of the entrance. But they’ve grown quiet. I’m worried for a minute, but I’m able to confirm they’re breathing. Besides, if they’d been dead, they would’ve just blown away in the wind.

Even as I’m trying to spy on the eggs, the Elswyrm shifts again, slithering until one of its eyes is staring directly at me. It sits there, inspecting me, the lid blinking slowly. I step away from it, the eye dilating as it tracks me. Then with a sigh, it closes the eye, settling in place.

Swallowing, I float away from the stone building they’re using as a nest. I keep floating until I’m sure I won’t disturb them again. Turning to Rufka, I ask “Think we can do that again? But with less explosions?”

“Sure. We can do less explosions,” Rufka elbows me, pulling me toward another engine where the others are waiting. Just outside is a building that’s in considerably better shape than most of the city. It’s easy to recognize my own work, the pair of Smoulder statues flanking the entrance are only the most obvious clue. Inside what I had intended to serve as an entrance hall when I designed it, someone has stacked silver scrap.

“Why is all this scrap here? I made storage rooms!” I cry, focusing on Roberts, definitely not overreacting because of the reminder of Smoulder out front.

He smiles, with a shrug. “I don’t have very good metal manipulation. Moving all this to your storage rooms would’ve taken me another day or two. You didn’t exactly make them easy to get to.”

I raise a finger, but then reflect on my design. He’s right. I didn’t think they were important because personal inventory. And everything else. Honestly, I hadn’t really planned on using them, but the design didn’t feel complete without them. Which is why they were below the basement. A basement with a swimming pool that had probably spilled over its edges, possibly filling those very storage rooms. “Uh. Right,” I half-cough, “Anyway, Rufka had an idea.”

Rufka nods taking over as she explains the details of how to create the panels to steer. We’ve only started on the first set of panels when Rufka asks, “Why don’t we make it interesting?”

“What did you have in mind?” Roberts asks, inspecting the first panel that Rufka created, running his fingers over it.

“A race. See who can inscribe the most panels in the next thirty minutes.”

“Nope,” I interject, with similar replies from the others. “You and Trellani would probably each finish more by yourselves than the rest of us combined.”

“You know,” Roberts says, setting a panel he’s just finished next to him. His first panel where Rufka’s already finished four. “That might be a fair race.”

“What? All three of us as a team, against Rufka and Trellani on their own? Sounds like fun,” Rose agrees.

Rufka looks around at us, her eyes squinting, “Wait, how… you know what, fine. It’s on.”

“Totally,” Trellani agrees, pumping two fists in the air even as she spins her scrivener.

We don’t wait for a starting signal. Everyone focuses on their task. After five minutes, I realize we might have a chance. Not a good chance, cause it’s taking me far too long to inscribe properly. Meanwhile, Trellani is a freaking inscription wizard. By herself, she’s doing nearly as many as Rufka.

Which I guess makes Rufka the inscription Arch-wizard? Even as I’m chuckling to myself, I mess up the inscription I’m working on. I really should be better at inscription, but for some reason, I still haven’t unlocked the skill. Everyone else has it, but even with Rufka’s guidance and my Voidtech Engineer subclass, mine remains locked. Which means little gaps in concentration ruin my attempts. Like the slab of silver scrap that I’m currently reshaping so I can start over.

Even as I’m finishing my first piece, Roberts lays down his fourth. And while I improve slightly, even between the three of us, I don’t think we’re as fast as Rufka or Trellani. But still, the plates are piling up faster and faster.

Eventually, the half-hour passes, and we gather the plates together, counting them out.

“Okay, it looks like Rufka managed to inscribe… 33. Trellani has… 32,” Roberts says, carefully setting theirs on either side of the door outside. “And we managed…” he stops as he double checks his count again, walking his fingers up the stacks. “34.”

We start hi-fiving each other, and I'm giving Roberts a fist bump when Rufka speaks up. "Ahem."

Turning we all look at where Rufka is pointing towards my pile of inscribed fins. She holds one up, channelling mana through it only for it to spark and warp. I feel a growing sense of dread growing in my belly when she takes the next fin out of my pile with the same result. She then demonstrates that neither her fins, nor any of the ones worked by the others have the same flaw.

"Well. It looks like Rufka wins with 33 to Trellani’s 32 and our 30," Roberts accedes with a polite bow.

The moment the words are out of his mouth, Rufka plucks two of her fins off a pile then starts strutting back and forth as she yells out, “I am the champ-lion! I am the champ-lion!” Rose tries to correct her, but Rufka just doubles down. “No time for losers! I am the champ-lion!”

Even as Rufka continues her victory dance, we return to work. We’re going to need a lot more plates to properly rig the engine in place.

Hours later, we’re ready to install the fins in a second engine. With fins of better quality, the reaction is much smoother, though it’s still weird to have an entire city dozens of kilometres across shift under your feet.

An awesome weird that makes me glad I wasn’t flying under my own power when it happened.

And after all the work we’ve put in, we’ll be able to replicate this whenever we want.

Despite only being partially responsible, it still feels like a win.

I’ll take it.

A note from Draith

Thank you Eldarrin for the kind review, and though you probably won't make it this far, thank you Cianna for the critical review and giving the story a second try.

5.12, Into The Mire

6:11 am, local time. (August 27, 2023, 9:05 am.)

Rufka and I float over the city as we try to gauge its speed. It’s great that we got it flying, but we still need to link up with the others, and a floating city nearly a hundred kilometres across isn’t precisely subtle. Not sure what I was thinking when I activated it.

Actually, that’s not true. I was thinking having a floating city to fly around on would be awesome.

Flying cities. Better in theory than practice.

“So, we’re agreed? We should leave the city behind?” Rufka asks.

I sigh, putting extra emphasis into it. “Yeah. I guess I should just be happy that we got one flying.”

“You’re Vaus-damn right. This is a Silver-tier accomplishment.”

“Well, it looks cool.”

“And it’ll help get the others running. Being able to use it to get supplies around will save tons of time now that we don’t have teleportation. Back to the others?” Rufka asks, glancing down at the glow that emanates from the campfire set near our warehouse. It’s amazing how often we still build campfires considering we don’t technically need them. But there’s comfort in it. Besides, it’s not like a small fire is going to give us away. Not when the city is once more swimming with Elswyrms.

“Nah. Let’s stay here for a while,” I decide while pulling her close for a mid-air snuggle. I haven’t been giving her enough attention lately. So, for the rest of the evening, I don’t do anything but spend time with her. It’s probably not as much as she deserves, but we do have a fun night. And without Smoulder around, we end up getting a lot less sleep than usual. Because… reasons.

In the morning we join the others for breakfast, who’re chatting about our plan to leave the city behind. While they’re talking, I pluck a skewer from my inventory. Hmm, teriyaki-ish.

“I wish we could set the city back down. It’s going to stand out like this,” Roberts observes, changed from his casual brown suit to his more robust set of dark leathers.

Crafted from the hide of a mana-beast called a Peither, they provide him with a significant Health edge at the cost of Stamina. Even better, it stacks with his self-armor ability, allowing him to achieve the fully-leathered biker with batwings look. Well, except he doesn’t have the long hair or tattoos I’m used to seeing on bikers.

“Yeah, but we’d lose half a day just turning it back. We’ve got everything set up to stop it. Let’s just park it here. It’s not like Burnesq is even in the best condition. There are tons of better choices,” Rose points out.

“True, but we’ll need every ship we can get. Especially ones this size. We can’t be leaving-,” Roberts counters.

“We’ve been over this,” I interject, bobbing my hand in the water-blob I’m using for cleanup. “We’re focusing on the cities in better condition. Now that we’ve got one up and running, it should be easier to do the same with the rest. We’ve got it parked well enough it’s not going to crash into anything, the Elswyrms aren’t having a problem boarding and we need to find the others. Hopefully, they’ll have found Demo and he can carry us to the Western continent where the rest of the Sanctuaries should be more intact.”

“Didn’t Beth still want to visit the Pernian academy?” Rufka asks, plunging her hands into the ball of water after me.

“It’s on the way. Plus, there’s supposed to be a closed builder city nearby,” Roberts answers, snuffing the fire.

“Huh. Must have missed that part,” Rufka says, winking at me while Roberts isn’t looking.

“I wonder if there’s a better way? Like, do you really need the Sanctuaries to save Earth?” Rose ponders, barely loud enough for me to hear him.

“If we haven’t thought of one after two months, why would we find one now?” Rufka chides gently.

“If we’re going to find Beth and the others, we’d best get started,” Roberts says even as Rufka and Rose start talking about different apocalypses they’ve each read about.

None that have a solution to an incoming mana-swarm.

We only spend a few more minutes in the city, double-checking the adjustments to the levitation engines. With the controls unlocked and Rufka’s modifications in place, it’s a relatively simple matter to lower the city over a nearby valley. It’s still floating nearly a kilometre off the ground, but it’s not nearly as big of a mess as it was. And it barely sticks over the nearby ridgelines.

With the city secured, I seal the console in a solid stone building. Then for good measure, I scatter a bunch of debris across the surface, obscuring it from a casual inspection. If someone wants to steal the city from us, they’re going to have to find the controls first.

The flight after that is mostly quiet. For me at least. Roberts and Rose are discussing the variety of flora here, comparing it to earth and Rufka and Trellani are trying to outbrag each other on most annoying enchantment. Trellani's winning with the self-messaging enchantment that takes any message she puts into it and spams her at random intervals for the next three weeks.

I mostly zone out, concentrating on my issues with my tethers. Even now, with four people who I have strong tethers to within several metres distance, I find the connection grow faded. My other tethers are completely gone.

The second I approached the remains of the connections in Pelwerd, they’d disappeared. It was like they’d been frozen in place and once I got close enough they ‘refreshed’ but were unable to find their target’s new location.

I keep experimenting with the tethers, Anchor and teleporting. I can’t help but feel like there’s something about the static. Some way I can use my aura to counteract it.

The next couple days pass quickly, most of our time spent trying to figure out the specifics of where the others have gone or dodging mana-storms. Thankfully, most are preceded by brilliant flashes of light as they make their way across the sky.

“I’ve never seen so many mana-storms in a season before,” Rufka comments as we wait in the latest bunker. It’s barely decorated. Between the number of bunkers I’ve been creating to avoid the storms and the fact that Smoulder isn’t around, I’m feeling less inclined than ever to create anything original. There’s still a table for playing Astra’s stride of course. We’re not savages.

“I’d never seen a mana-storm before mom became… you know,” Trellani says, breaking what had been nearly fifteen minutes of silence as she stared outward, only now coming to join the game.

“Mum told me Aethire was protected from them.”

“I’d heard we were protected from the worst weather, but I had no idea just… They’re so... Terrifying… But beautiful.”

“Indeed,” Roberts agrees.

“They’ve always made my skin crawl,” Rose notes.

“Mine too,” Rufka nods.

“Pretty sure they make everyone’s skin crawl,” I say, moving my piece to capture a large portion of Rose’s territory.

Rufka chuckles, “Not mum. She says they’re invigorating. All that raw mana, just waiting to be shaped. Course, she doesn’t spend time in them unless she has a good reason. No desire to be blipped outta existence, after all.”

“See, I never understood that. Where do people go? From what I understand, the System doesn’t have anything to do with mana-storms. So where are the people the storms take?” Rose asks, making distressing progress into my territory.

“The storms never die. No new ones either. Least, that’s what mum says.”

“Wait, does that mean we’re being hit by the same storms?” I ask, staring uselessly up at the sky, my vision blocked by metres of rock.

“Uh? Don’t know. Maybe?” Rufka shrugs.

“Does it matter?” Rose asks.

“I guess not,” I reply, taking my next turn. “Wait, I didn’t mean to-”

But my words are cut off as Rufka cackles, using my mistake to make it across most of the board.

The rest of the game passes quickly after that with the storm passing just as quickly. As we re-emerge, I ask, “Is it just me, or are these storms getting shorter?”

Rufka’s already shaking her head, “It's not you. They’re definitely shorter. Guess they’re not just coming more frequently.”

We continue discussing the details of the mana-storms as we travel, yet there are no new revelations. We have six more storms pass over us in the next day before we arrive in the general area the others were headed.

There aren’t many landmarks in the area. Mostly it’s a vast tepid swamp, filled with gnarled trees and twisted vines. However, far in the distance an atoll stands, protruding from the mess below. It reminds me of the promontory I first saw when I was journeying to find the others back when they’d been kidnapped. The same promontory where we later met Theria.

This one has the same inaccessible walls, thrusting it above the swamp. If Demo hadn’t already told Roberts it was unclaimed by the System, I’d have thought it was a Stronghold.

Even though it isn’t a Stronghold, it’s where the others should be conducting their search from. And even if they’re not, they should’ve left an indication of where they went.

Luckily, we don’t have to set foot in the swamp. Just floating over it leaves me feeling defiled. I end up spending more attention than usual keeping the stench from filling my nose.

Even so, by the time we reach the atoll, I’m practically ready to soak in a tub.

There’s nobody on the island to greet us, but there are signs they’ve been here recently. There are several stone structures arranged in a circle around a central clearing.

The buildings are different than I’m used to. Even though they’re made of stone, they’re carved with such intricate detail, I could mistake them for Bone and Hide. Each entrance is marked by a column with a name. There’s one for each of us, even though we weren’t even here.

Typical Tipan thoughtfulness.

Searching around, we find one of the buildings is clearly serving as their command. In addition to the clearly marked entrance, there are several stone maps scattered throughout the room. Most of the maps are covered with stone markers in the shape of an X. Only one map hasn’t been completely covered. From what I can tell, it’s just another expanse of swamp, though there are markings along the edge that align with another nearby map.

“It looks like they’re systematically searching the swamp. That’s not a good sign,” Roberts notes.

“Guess they haven’t found it yet,” Rufka grunts, picking up one of the stone markers, spinning it by the stand as she stares at the map.

“There’s a lot of swamp out there. What if his ship sank and only the force will get it out?” Rose asks.

I raise an eyebrow at him, then glance around the chamber where literally everything was crafted with magic.

“Okay, I know. It’s not that impressive compared to what we can do.”

Roberts steeples his fingers, tapping them against his chin as he thinks. “I think we should wait for them to return. They clearly have a system, but I can’t make sense of it. There doesn’t seem to be a point of reference.”

Looking over the stone maps, I have to agree with him. Maybe if one of the maps had the atoll on it, we’d be able to figure out the rest. But none do. Besides, it’s getting late in the day, and I want to explore what Tipan built for us.

“Let’s go see our rooms,” I say, snagging Rufka’s hand before running back outside to our building.

Just the vestibule is enough to make me gasp. Tipan formed dozens of thin stone flaps, creating a literal curtain of stone. Despite the weight of the material, it’s easy to push aside when I need to make my way inside.

But I don’t because I’m inspecting the mural she’s incorporated above the entrance bench. Not only does the bench look perfectly sized for my height, Tipan’s worked images of everyone into the mural above it. In one image, Smoulder is sitting on my shoulder, with Rufka close at my side. Another has Rose, Josh and I all standing over a pool table yelling at each other. I only realize I’m crying when Rufka touches my cheek, wiping a tear away.

“Sorry. It’s just that-”

“Shhh. It’s fine,” Rufka says, giving me a light peck on the cheek.

Nodding, I turn away from the mural, pushing through the curtain into the rest of the home Tipan’s crafted. And it is a home. I don’t know why she put this much effort into something that should be temporary, but I’m unable to speak as we make our way inside.

Immediately, we find an incredibly steep set of steps leading underground. Other than the entryway, the entirety of the building is underground. Yet there’s an abundance of light, massive skylights of quartz filtering the evening sun’s light down while providing ample protection from mana-storms.

With the ability to fly, Rufka and I could avoid using the steps, but I find myself trying them out. Each handhold is a different creature. Most are forms of mana-beast I’ve heard about, but have never seen, though I recognize the dragon easily enough.

I have to turn around to use the steps properly, but I find they’re cleverly shaped, holding my foot in place with little effort while enabling me to descend quickly. Despite the fact the climb is almost vertical, I never once feel the need to steady myself with any of the many handholds. I still end up running my hands over them, however.

I barely notice when we reach the chamber at the bottom of the stairs, lost in inspecting each of the beasts Tipan has carved. So, it’s with some surprise when my foot reaches the floor. Turning about, I inspect the next room, a dining area with such elegance I choke. Each chair is distinct yet shares a common curved arches theme with the table. And I can tell that there are enough chairs for everyone. There are also more murals, more images of our shared memories.

At this point, I almost can’t wait to see what else she’s done. So I charge through, gasping and gaping at everything. It’s all so beautiful. The rooms follow a curved design, spiralling around the outside until finally reaching a room that sits in the centre. Given the lack of sleeping spaces, this is most likely the bedroom.

Unlike all the rooms that came before, the bedroom is almost disappointing. There’s an obvious place for a bed, a beautiful wardrobe, and a surprisingly perfect dresser but the walls are blank.

I huff slightly, looking around. I’m glad Tipan’s not here to see my disappointment. And then I slap my cheeks. She wasn’t here to see my excitement either. She went through all this work, and she didn’t get to see my reaction.

“So, uh… Wow,” Rufka notes from behind me.

“Ha! No kidding,” I agree, turning to her.

She’s not looking at the room, she’s grinning at me. She runs a single finger down from my eye, along my cheek as she pulls closer. “What say we throw our bedrolls down, and make ourselves at home?”

Looking around the room one last time, I’m suddenly glad there are no murals watching as I pull Rufka in for a kiss. I barely remember to pull my bedroll from my inventory before we fall to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

After spending time breaking in our new home, followed by a luxurious bath in the just as fancy as everything else bathroom, I’m feeling pretty good about life. Sure, my magic’s wonky, Smoulder is stuck in another time and none of us can communicate or teleport anywhere, but we’re still alive and together. And the others are clearly nearby.

I could worry about everything I can’t control, or I can put my head down and start fixing it.

I mean, we’ve been through worse. Now, how does one bypass System implemented static.

Hmm.

When Rufka and I decide to join the others for dinner, I haven't made any progress. We find them gathered around a large open grill in the centre of the clearing. One I’m pretty sure wasn’t there when we went inside. Sometimes it’s crazy how quickly things can change when using magic. I know if anyone should be used to it, it should be me, but sometimes I’m still surprised.

Unfortunately, there’s still no sign of Tipan or Beth, nevermind Demo.

“Oh, hey you two. I wasn’t sure if we were going to see you again tonight,” Roberts comments from where he’s frying up some of the cow-like mana-beast we hunted a couple of days ago. I know that once he's finished, even with only a little bit of seasoning, the taste is going to be decadent and the meat's going to melt in my mouth. At least, when Roberts is the one cooking anyway.

Despite the smell of the meat causing me to drool, I still find myself blushing at Roberts' offhand remark. I mean, I know there’s nothing to be ashamed of, but still.

“Much as I love Lexi, there’s no way I’m missing any of that,” Rufka says, pointing at a slab that Roberts is plating.

“Hey,” I object, elbowing her in the belly, “I’m totally getting mine first.”

“Oh yeah? I’ll race you for it.”

“You’re on.”

Immediately the racing interface pops into view, asking me to confirm the stakes: Winner receives first access to the steak. Nevermind that we'd both get our steak sooner if we didn't race.

The second the countdown completes; we blast off over the swamp. Our race is close. There’s not much difference between us with all our attributes maxed, but I have a slight edge in speed. Yet not enough to matter. Most of the race comes down to who can nudge the other person into making a mistake.

Given how much we ‘nudge’ each other, it’s not surprising that we end up plunging into the swamp on the first major turn.

As I pull myself from the swamp, we’re attacked by the vines themselves. It doesn’t take us long to put them down, but it does mean the race is over. I’m laughing at Rufka’s swamp-cat appearance as we fly back into the complex. She's wrapping a large vine around her shoulders as a scarf when we’re greeted by a familiar voice from the west.

Turning, I see Tipan and Beth flying toward us, Demo a short distance behind. I raise my hand, waving at them when there’s a loud plop, a piece of vine that had been firmly stuck to the back of my hand landing on my face.

I’m still gagging at the offending taste when the others land nearby.

“Hey kid, good to see you,” Beth greets, her laughter masked by a tight smile. I appreciate the effort.

Beside her, Tipan is having slightly less success, small hiccups of laughter ruining her dignified facade.

Demo however, lets me know exactly where we stand, “Yer about as fragrant as a Celix’s rear on Treller’s Eve.”

I’m about to respond, holding up a single finger. Then I lower my finger, stepping forward and wrapping him in a hug. A crusty, still covered in swamp-gunk hug.

Now he knows where he stands too.

5.13, Talmaskan Tea

5:24 pm, local time. (August 30, 2023, 10:24 pm.)

Roberts had plenty of steaks ready by the time we were done greeting the others, but Rufka and I were firmly informed that we needed to take a bath before we’d be allowed to partake. Which meant we were the last ones to eat. Thanks to my heroic level hug, Demo had to take a bath too, but he hadn’t been as distracted as we were.

Worth.

Rufka’s still dripping water everywhere when we emerge, having lost the waterwar and therefore denied drying magic, as per our terms of engagement. Settling in around the campfire, she keeps trying to press her wet fur up against me, but I hold her off by simply scooting to the side.

Even as Rufka and I play keep-a-dry, we catch up on what’s happened since the teleportation network went offline.

“You actually showed up at the perfect time,” Beth notes after we’ve finished swapping stories, Rufka and I having called a truce.

“Oh?” I mumble around a mouthful of steaming meat, Rufka’s head in my lap, serving as a table while she snuggles.

“Yeah. We found Demo’s ship today, but we don’t have the ‘oomph’ to get it out of the swamp ourselves.”

“Can’t you just, you know, get inside and fly it out?” I ask, feeding a bite to Rufka, who carefully chews so as not to disturb the plate.

Demo trills in what I’m pretty sure is his native tongue. I don’t know what it means, but he’s used it before. It’s a rather beautiful sound.

When I told him it was beautiful, the first time I heard it, he explained it’s one of the greatest insults a Phothean can use. Which is why it can’t be translated.

Despite his explanation, I still think it's pretty. “Sara’s engines aren’t functional. And something in the swamp's draining his shields. If we don’t get him out quick, he’s going to get gummed up bad.”

“How quick are we talking here?” I ask, wondering if we should be heading out right away.

“Well, since yeh’re here, I think-” Demo starts.

“I think it’ll be fine if we go in the morning,” Beth interrupts. “Demo said it’d be fine for another few days.”

“But wouldn’t it be better if we did it right away?” I ask, and I notice that Trellani is watching our conversation, her food hanging in front of her mouth.

“Aye. Much better. It’ll mean less stress on the shields,” Demo confirms, nodding enthusiastically, his multitude of tails bobbing in rhythm with his head.

"I need to see this ship," Trellani says, leaning forward and jabbing her bit of meat at Demo, causing it to fall loose. "Especially if it has shields that can hold back a murder-swamp."

Beth looks at me, Trellani, then at Demo. She sits silently for a few seconds before sighing. “If you think it’s the right call, kid. There’s not much harm in it. But we’re going as a group. I don’t want us getting split up again so soon after getting back together.”

Demo lets out a small yip, pumping his hand in the air as the rest of us finish our dinner.

Fifteen minutes later, we’re flying almost directly west over the swamp, on our mission to rescue the ship-in-distress. As we go, we tell the others about our encounter with the super fast white K'tharn. We fly right past the buried ship as we talk and plan, until Tipan points out a gnarled tree ahead of us that’s in a grid too far.

It takes several minutes of searching the swampy terrain before we find the ship. Despite the others clearing the vines from the surface of the swamp over an hour ago, they’ve already regrown, almost completely obscuring where Saratesa sank. But the tip of a dish protrudes from a mess of vines, marking its location.

Clearing the vines again only takes us a minute with our combined firepower. With the vines clear, I work with Tipan and Roberts to clear the area of water, revealing the ship below. It’s bigger than I expected, over twenty metres wide, and at least five times as long.

Once we’ve discovered its boundaries, I decide there’s an easier way to secure it than by creating a massive platform. Instead, we just go around the outside, creating a wall to keep the water and vines away.

Unfortunately, I have to reinforce the wall to make it sturdy enough to hold back the aggressive vines. Keeping the vines away ends up being even more challenging, requiring us to make the wall protrude five metres above the water line before they’re no longer able to maintain a proper grip.

Seriously, talk about an invasive species.

With the vines cleared away, we're finally able to take a good look at the ship. It's a surprisingly boxy design. And not nearly as smooth as I'd expected. Every other surface has a tube or antennae sticking off it. Several of which appear to be bent or outright snapped.

“Well, the Saratesa’s secure. Should we head back?” I ask, watching as Demo inspects the outside of his ship.

“What? Head back? Now?” Demo exclaims, spinning toward me, his eyes and jaw hanging open. Trellani's expression is similar, though her hand is almost reverently hovering over the barely visible shield.

“Or we could stay,” I shrug. I would prefer to spend the night in Tipan’s quarters, but I don’t mention that. Yet.

Beth rubs her forehead, before asking, “Are you able to get inside Demo?”

Demo shakes his head, before turning back to the ship, nodding. “Yeah, I should be able to. Course it’ll be easier once it dries…”

We all stare at him as he cuts out, his tails rising to hide his face from our view.

“I’m sorry, what was that? I seem to have missed the last part?” Beth asks, leaning forward.

“I said, it’ll be easier if we come back in the morning. Are yeh happy?”

Beth folds her hands behind her head, her grin as wide as her face. “Now, why would you ask that?”

Demo doesn’t say anything further, but he does join us atop the wall.

But I’m confused about something. “Why can’t I just use magic to dry it out? Actually, now that I think about it, why wasn’t it dry in the first place? We moved all the water away.”

“Cause the shields are still interfering with magic. She’ll take care of the water inside the shields by morning, but if I shut them down now, it could damage something. Like I said. Better to wait,” Demo grumbles, snapping his toothpick.

Nodding as though I understand, I float away as we make ready to return to camp.

Demo insists on staying with his ship, Rose and Trellani staying behind to keep him company. And to protect him if anything happens.

When we get back, I settle into conversation with Tipan while Rufka joins Roberts and Josh for a game of Astra's Stride.

“I really did want to thank you for the amazing house,” I say, pointing at my dwelling.

“Oh, it was nothing. I was inspired by you, actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You’re always making every shelter we stay in unique, with its own flair. Sadly, mine are all the same.”

I stare at Tipan for a second before walking over to her house. Even in the entryway, I can see that she’s used a completely different set of murals. Clearly, I need to explain how impressive they are. Even as I’m pointing at the one in the centre, a picture with five K’tharn standing together, I pause. Because I recognize all five of the K’tharn in the picture. Tipan is obvious, as are her sister and mother, who actually looks more like the fourth K’tharn, Ivicka. But it’s the fifth K’tharn, that made me pause. It’s the warrior who showed up in Burnesq a few days ago.

“Who’s that?” I ask. I’d almost forgotten Rose’s theory that it had been Tipan’s father who’d visited us.

Tipan fiddles with the book at her waist, causing the enchantment to glow slightly as she draws a deep breath. “That’s my father. And I know Ivicka was corrupted in the end, but she…”

Tipan stops as I pull her into a hug. “Hey, it’s okay. I didn’t forget that she was… Besides, even if she wasn’t, you can’t choose your family. Believe me. I know.”

Tipan nods, slouching slightly as she hugs me back.

“Sorry. I just know how it was with you and… I don’t know, I thought it would bring back bad memories.”

Looking at the mural again, I nod. "I definitely don’t have any happy memories where Ivicka’s concerned, but I never hated her. She was just a dangerous person. And from what we’ve learned, that wasn’t entirely her. So, what say you show me around? Maybe we can take a break together. I could help you relax a little.”

Tipan giggles, “Like you help Rufka relax?”

“Hey now,” I reply, elbowing her gently, “You know I’m a one-woman kind of gal.”

Tipan’s ears lay flat in embarrassment, “I know. I was just trying to make a joke.”

Realizing she thinks I’m serious, I pat her hand. “I know. I was kidding too.”

“Oh! I’m sorry,” Tipan’s ears manage to go even flatter, matching the contour of her head, which is impressive.

“It’s fine. It’s fine,” I reassure her. “Why don’t you tell me about your father?”

“Oh. Uhm. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned the Stormguard before?”

“Not often. I think Rufka's mentioned them. Some sort of elite force in the Aetherium’s military, right?”

“Kind of? They’re a prestigious order. Founded separately from the Aetherium. They work for the good of all K’tharn.”

“And your father’s a Stormguard?” I ask, guessing where she’s going.

“Yes. But she’s not a regular Stormguard. She’s… well, she’s like Genitha. Independent. Powerful. When I was a child, she took Ivicka, Sel’dast and I on an expedition to the Depths, to a K’mari enclave.”

“Uhh. K’mari?”

“Oh, sorry. They’re one of the M’tari Houses of the Deep. I think they’re focused on reinforcement magic? Strong Earth and Water affinities.”

“Wait, the Lords of the Deep have houses?” I ask pointing a thumb over my shoulder at the houses behind us. The word she used was definitely Vausian for house.

Tipan giggles in response, “Not like that Lex. Like a clan, I suppose. Though they’re not bound by family.”

“Oh, right. That kind of house,” I reply, taking my turn at blushing. English isn't the only language where words have more than one meaning.

“Yes. That kind of house. As I was saying, my father took us to a K’mari enclave. The K’mari are big on fighting. All sorts of rules around duelling, gladiator combat, mana-beast hunting. They have titles and honours for each category. They also normally have a separate ranking for non-K’mari.”

“Okay, big on fighting.”

“Yes. More than any other Lords of the Deep, they focus on combat. They’re the first to go to war. They’re horrible administrators though,” Tipan rolls her eyes at the last part. “They tried running one of the port cities once, only to literally give the city away to an ally after three months. All their representatives kept getting bored and wandering off for days at a time.”

“Hehehe. Guess you could say their attention swam away.”

Tipan levels her gaze on me, not one of her four eyes looking impressed.

“Not my best work,” I admit, “So, they’re bad administrators?”

“Yes. But that’s not important. What is important is my father took us there, to this place where most K’tharn are looked down upon. And she was treated with respect. More respect than if we’d been walking down the streets of Aethire.”

Tipan pauses, resting her chin on her staff while gazing up at the night sky. “I didn’t understand why at the time. I just thought they were nice umsquids.”

“Umsquids?”

“Yes. Umsquids. Ivicka kept talking about going to see the ‘dumb squids’, and I copied her. To be fair, I was young.”

“That didn’t get you in trouble?”

Tipan, looks away, but then sighs. “Not that I remember. But when I think back on it? It probably made problems for my father.”

“Anyway, father fought in a tournament. I didn’t get to watch the fights, but father brought home a prize. That was the first time Ivicka told me she was going to be like Talkith when she got older.”

“Talkith? Oh, you mean your dad?”

“Yeah. Ivicka has a different father, but Mother never told us who they were. That was the last trip we went on together. After mother found out Ivicka was planning to join the Stormguard to follow in father’s footsteps, she kicked Ivicka out. I later found out there was more to it, but that’s how it seemed at the time. Ivicka was super angry at me, saying it was my fault that she didn’t get to be a Stormguard. A year later she started working with Folthka.”

“She was right, in a way,” a new voice comments. Tipan and I both spin toward the source, finding the K’tharn from several mornings ago perched on the roof of Tipan’s house. “Your sister was forbidden from joining the Stormguard because your mother feared you’d follow in her steps. You followed her everywhere those days.”

“Father!” Tipan exclaims, bowing with both her left arms against her chest while holding her staff parallel to her body with her right.

“Tipan,” her father, Talkith responds, stepping from the rooftop to land in front of us, mirroring her bow, holding her swords in a similar position.

“I’d heard you wanted to see me?” Tipan doesn’t break her bow, but I notice her flicking her ears nervously.

Talkith rises from her bow, nodding once, at which point Tipan rises as well. Wait, should I have been bowing too?

Welp, too late now. Still, I remain quiet as Tipan’s father assesses her. At least, that’s what it feels like she’s doing. After several seconds, her father speaks, “You’ve been diligent. Not relying solely on the System. Good.”

“Thank you, father.”

“I have some unpleasant questions for you daughter. Perhaps I should ask them in private?”

I see Tipan’s ears twitch, and her lower eyes lock on me.

“Uh. I’ll stay or go. You just say the word Tipan,” I inform her, while glancing at Talkith.

Tipan nods, then realizing that I have no idea how to interpret that, she says, “Stay please. Father would you like to come inside? I have Talmaskan tea.”

At this, Talkith raises a single eyebrow, “Talmaskan? I was certain it was no longer available?”

“I uhh… I have a source. An Outlander.”

“Ah, of course. A rift-torn would have access to such treasures.”

Treasures? How come Tipan’s never offered us this tea before? In fact, I don’t think I remember her even mentioning it.

Tipan gestures down the narrow shaft leading to her dining room. They descend before me, Tipan and I flying while Talkith simply drops.

“I’m sorry for the mess. I would have cleaned had I known you were coming.” Even as Tipan apologizes, I stare at her immaculate dining room. There isn’t even a dirty dish. The only thing I could think she’s possibly referring to is that the chairs aren’t perfectly aligned with the table.

“It is fine. I did not give you warning of my arrival. Please, let us sit and perhaps you can prepare us a cup of Talmaskan tea?” I swear there’s a note of longing in Talkith’s voice.

“Of course, father. Right away,” Tipan almost trips over her staff, as she fiddles with a symbol on what I thought was a side counter. Setting a kettle on the surface, it quickly heats up. She built enchantments into the furniture? I really need to step up my temporary house building game.

We remain silent as Tipan pours her father a cup of tea, the liquid practically gliding into the cup. I note she does so without a hint of manipulation. That’s an impressive feat even with an Agility of a hundred. She hesitates for a second when she looks at me before pouring me a cup with the same fluid grace.

She mouths ‘sorry’ as she leans over.

I take my tea with some confusion. I told her I was fine supporting her, drinking a cup of tea is the least I can do. It’s not her fault the situation is awkward.

Tipan pours her own cup of tea, setting the kettle back on the counter instead of returning it to her inventory. That done she joins us at the table, sitting next to me, both of us facing her father.

“It’s been… seven years since I last had Talmaskan,” Talkith muses, holding the cup delicately in a single hand. “Ylethan gave me a single portion as a gift in exchange for… nevermind, it doesn’t matter.”

Talkith lifts her cup toward Tipan.

Tipan raises her own cup to meet her father, waiting.

As their cups hover a millimeter apart, Talkith says, “May those who value peace...”

“Study war, that peace may prevail," Tipan answers, clinking gently against her father's cup.

At this, they both drink, Talkith’s face relaxing, a hint of a smile forming on her lips for the first time. I follow their example, lifting the cup to my lips. It has a pleasant aroma, a hint of something fruity.

I notice Tipan glancing at me out of the corner of her eye, so I give her a small smile to reassure her everything is fine, taking a sip.

And then the taste hits my tongue.

…

I should’ve gone with swamp water.

5.14, Nightstar Rising

A note from Draith

Edited April 30, 2023

8:02 pm, local time. (August 31, 2023, 1:02 am.) Too late to pass on the tea.

Bitter. So, incredibly bitter. This tea is perhaps the single most vile concoction to have ever crossed my tongue. And that includes calamari.

I shudder as I attempt to down the single mouthful. It’s a full body effort to not just spit it out. But eventually I manage to finish. When I look up, my vision is blurry.

There are tears in my eyes.

Glancing back down at my cup, I analyze it. Something I should have done in the first place. As I’m about to read the description, the taste changes. Suddenly, instead of… whatever that was, my mouth is filled with something that reminds me of maple cookies, but with a hint of apple and vanilla. It’s not enough I’d say it was worth the torment that came before. But it is pleasant.

“Hmm. Thank you, daughter. This is a wonderful treat.” I watch Talkith closely as she takes another sip. I don’t see her so much as wince. Does being a higher rank make you more resistant to bad taste? That would be useful.

“You’re welcome father. I wasn’t sure when I’d see you again, but I acquired a full measure. I hope you’ll allow me to give it to you.”

For a second, her father pauses, and since I’m watching so closely, I see her ears flick minutely. “That… that would be most appreciated.”

Talkith and Tipan sit quietly as they sip their tea, and I take my cue from Tipan. Though I don’t drink any more of the horrendous tea. It doesn’t even give bonuses. It’s literally just an aftertaste tea.

Once Talkith has finished her tea, Tipan stands, collecting all our cups, placing them in a neat pyramid next to the kettle before returning to her seat. Then she places her upper arms on the table in a neat triangle, her father matching the gesture.

“Would you like to begin?” Talkith whispers, her upper eyes closed and her bottom focused on Tipan.

“Very well. Why are you here father? Why now?”

“Ah. Straight to it then. I’d hoped for more time, but perhaps it is best this way. Your sister is dead and won’t be returning.”

I don’t say anything, watching Talkith. But she’s schooled her expression, keeping her inner thoughts guarded while waiting for Tipan’s response.

After several measured breaths, Tipan says, “I know.”

“I thought you might. I’ve also been informed you were involved in an uprising with Lord Thansome of Glimmering Sands.”

Tipan is almost as surprised by this claim as I am. Is everyone blaming us for everything Ivicka did? Or is she referring to us helping free the Fallen?

“Father. I wish I’d been more involved in Glimmering Sands during the attack, then perhaps I could've stopped… her. As it was, I was forced to flee from those who attacked Lord Thansome.”

“So, you do know more about what happened there?”

Tipan, pulls back from the table, closing all her eyes and tucking her head against her chest as she keeps her hands perfectly locked in place on the table. I can’t help but note how she keeps her hands away from the book on her waist. She takes a deep breath, her fur rustling softly. Then she unleashes her gaze on her father. “Ivicka was driven crazy. She destroyed the tower, attacking Lord Thansome in his throne room.”

Talkith studies Tipan for several long seconds before saying, “I believe it is once more your turn.”

“Have you spoken to mother?”

At this, Talkith flinches, as if Tipan had struck her. “You know that I… that she… It’s not so simple.”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the Outlanders, father, it’s that it really is that simple. It’s just not comfortable.”

Talkith shifts in her seat, but even as she almost stands, she keeps her arms locked into the triangle before settling back into place. I’m so going to get Tipan to explain what that’s all about later.

“Do you have any proof… about Ivicka?” Talkith asks.

Tipan is shaking her head before her father’s even half finished, “That she went mad? I… yes. Yes, I do. And I’ll show you.”

“Truly? I… Tipan, I want to believe you. But there are reports of you sabotaging gliders, breaking free Outlanders who slated to be sent to the M’tari. That you broke into Bethyrne to destroy a research lab. Not to mention your assault on the Taken training facility.”

I almost interject at this point, but a quick glance from Tipan wards me off.

“All of that is true, but lacking context," Tipan says. "And will require a great deal of explanation. And I believe it is my turn.”

Her father breathes deep, but then nods.

“Who reigns in Aethire?”

“I… what?” Talkith replies, squinting at Tipan. “The council rules, daughter. Just as they always have.”

Tempted to say, ‘not always’. I stop myself by reaching for my tea. Which I, thankfully, remember not to drink.

“Thank you, father. Your turn.”

“I… will you tell me… everything? From the beginning?”

And thus, Tipan begins her long retelling to her father, a process that proceeds without interruption until Tipan says, “And so we came here, looking for tools to help my friends save their home.”

“That is… you have been vigilant, this last month. You are on the verge of copper, truly?”

“It is not your turn, father. But yes, I am.”

Talkith grins at this, turning to smile at the tea kettle, and only then seems to remember herself, schooling her face.

"And why have you been summoned father? Am I truly a threat to our people?" Tipan asks, causing Talkith to frown.

"I came, because you betrayed your sister. Long before this madness with the M'tari, if I understand correctly. Why would you do this?"

"Ivicka was going to kill them. As prisoners. Just to have a chance to steal their powers. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. As for-”

“My apologies, yes, I remember your story. It is hard to believe,” Talkith says, her brow furrowed as her fingers twitch along the top of the triangle. “Tipan. I didn’t… it’s not…” Talkith stops, glancing at me for the first time since they started. She sighs once before knocking on the table.

In response, both of them lift their arms from the table, staring at each other as they stand.

“And so the tribes part in peace,” Tipan says, her father repeating it after.

“I can’t just leave Tipan. I… there’s a war on the horizon. I need you to return with me. The K'mintar has sworn in your favor. And with some luck, we will find a way to appease the M'tari.”

"Fine. I'll go. But you don't need them. They have no responsibility to the Aetherium," Tipan growls back, her hands flexing as she glares at her father.

"The Lady can choose to stay, if she wishes. But your Outlander friends… they caused this mess. You admitted yourself that they weakened the Aetherium at the M'tari's direction."

"Which is just another reason we should work with my friends. We have contacts inside the M'tari. They'll listen!"

"Then we will go to them first," Talkith shouts back. "The deep Elders have called for the end of the Aetherium!”

“I… we will?” Tipan replies, sounding as confused as I am by Talkith’s statement, and subsequent yelling.

Talkith pauses, clearing her throat. “We will. If the M’tari attack… we can’t allow that to happen. As you know, there are only two things worse than war with the M’tari.”

At this, Tipan gets a small smile on her face. “The void-callers.”

“And your mother’s wrath,” Talkith finishes with the same small grin.

“Now, I don’t want to rush you, but there is a war on the horizon,” Talkith says, gesturing towards the steep stairs. “And you can show me this proof you have along the way. Ivicka…”

“Of course, father. I actually have it right here,” Tipan says, pulling the journal up, and holding it towards her father.

Talkith begins reaching for it, a frown on her face. But then she freezes. Her eyes move towards me, then back to Tipan.

“Tipan… how long have you had that book?”

“I… for a few weeks, why?” Tipan asks, pulling the book back towards herself.

“What… what was worse than a war with the M’tari?” Talkith asks, her voice deep, and her eyes on Tipan’s.

At this, Tipan smiles again, “Mother’s wrath.”

But Talkith is already shaking her head. “Void-callers, Tipan. The Reapers. And you carry their book.”

“But… Ivicka…”

“I… this changes things Tipan. We can’t risk this falling into the Ascendancy’s hands. Or the Taken’s.”

“The K’mintar’s seen it, father. And the Ascendancy could’ve taken it at any time. The only users I’m worried about are the council.”

“Have you read it?” Talkith asks, taking a deep breath while her eyes swing towards the exit. “Have you shared it’s contents?”

“Of course I read it. It was Ivicka’s journal. And I’ve only shared it with my friends.”

“I… Oh, Tipan. My dearest daughter,” Talkith says, pulling Tipan into a hug. “It’s… it’s okay. We’ll figure this out. Everything will be okay.”

Tipan’s eyes go wide, but then she leans into her father’s arms as tears form. I turn away, so as to not stare awkwardly as they hug it out.

“I’m sorry Tipan. We need to get you to Ylethen. All of you. She’ll… she’ll be able to help.”

“What? What are you talking about father? Help with what?”

“The book, Tipan. If you don’t get rid of it… I don’t want to see you erased.”

“Father, I’m not going to be erased,” Tipan replies, with a small huff.

Uhm. Erasing. Erasing sounds bad. It’s not terribly hard to imagine the System having that sort of protocol in place for dealing with Reaper tech though. But it didn’t even react when I… oh, right, I didn’t use the System scan.

“Of course not. I’ll take you to the palace. Ylethan will ensure you’re okay.”

“You should read it, father.” Tipan finally says, holding the book towards Talkith.

Talkith takes a step back, her eyes narrowing. “Oh. You…” then she looks to me, blinking twice, before grinning at Tipan. “Of course. I’ll read it. After we’re on our way.”

There’s something about the way Talkith’s eyes flick around the room after that feels… different. Wrong. And I realize I’ve been slacking.

[Alexis] “Wyonna, can you let the others know that Tipan’s father is here and she wants us to go talk to the M’tari. But… I don’t know, something seems off. Might be trouble.”

[Wyonna] “Already on it. Demo’s still hiding at his ship. Rose is staying with him, just in case. But Beth says to go with plan C-3. With contingency WD-3 if things go sideways.”

Right. Of course, they’re already on it. We've been here a while.

[Wyonna] “Okay. Beth says she just needs another minute. Keep her talking.”

Talking. Okay, we can do… When I look back to them, I realize they’re just staring at each other, though Tipan’s slid back into her seat. Her eyes are wet as she rubs at them, but there’s a hint of a smile there.

She… probably doesn’t suspect her father of… anything.

Ugh. Why can’t bad parents just… not.

This would be a perfect opportunity to freeze Talkith in place. Just freeze her in time, and have a quick conversation with Tipan. Maybe find out what we can expect.

But I still haven’t gotten that working. And regular elemental magic would be even less effective. Like… ‘I’m sorry I sent your father flying on the tip of my Ice Castle, Tipan.’ Yeah, bad idea. Not that it’s actually useful against anyone who can move anyway.

I wrack my brain for a way to delay Talkith, but then I realize she’s still just standing there staring at her daughter. Maybe I won’t even have to do anything.

Placing my hand on Tipan’s shoulder, I continue to watch Talkith for any sign of movement. I even hold ready to Pause at the slightest twitch, prepared to give myself as much reaction time as possible. But she doesn’t do anything other than stand there awkwardly.

It’s almost embarrassing.

Maybe I misread the situation?

[Wyonna] “Okay. Beth thinks they’re ready. You can come out whenever.”

I almost nod at Wyonna, but catch myself. Instead, I send her a text to let her know I might’ve been wrong while kneeling slightly to whisper in Tipan’s ear.

I’m certain with Talkith’s Extreme Awareness, she hears every word, “Come on, let’s go get the others. I’m sure they’ll be okay helping stop a war. And then we can deal with…”

Shrugging, I wave at the book.

Doubt I sold it, but at least I made the effort.

At the very least, Tipan gives me a weak nod before standing up. With a small smile towards her father, she turns away, returning all the tea-ware to her storage space before leading the way to the surface. I follow right behind her, trying to think of what we can do.

And wondering if we’re really going with WD-3.

Without the ability to Return, it’s unlikely the others will be able to run away if Talkith turns on us. So getting caught might be the best call. Especially since she seems to care about Tipan.

When we get to the surface, Beth and Roberts are waiting, fully armored. There’s no sign of Rufka or Josh, but I can feel them hidden behind Tipan’s buildings.

“So, you want us to talk to the M’tari?” Beth asks the moment Talkith clears the narrow stairs.

Talkith stands at the top, her eyes shifting between Beth and Roberts before coming to rest on me. Then she gives a smile that’s far too wide. “Yes. The M’tari. That’s… oh, Vaus take the saints. You all need to return to the Aetherium.”

“Yeah. I don’t think so,” Beth says, her eyes narrowing as she tightens her grip on her rifle.

“I’m sorry. Refusal isn’t an option,” Talkith growls.

I’m already pausing time when I’m shoved out of Tipan’s house.

I slam into Tipan, and we catch ourselves before we go sprawling in the dirt. I attempt to throw up defences, but I realize my mana’s being hindered. It’s a similar technique to Atun’s aura, except not as pervasive. I freeze time, prepared to spin and strike Talkith with my metal chakram when a black bolt passes over my shoulder.

Even with time frozen, Beth’s attacks travel at a ridiculous speed.

Crap. Did she just kill Tipan’s father? I mean, her father’s powerful, so she probably has Restoration, right? Pretty sure killing her would ruin every version of our plans.

Also, did Talkith think she was shoving us out of the way?

While still frozen in time, I manage to get myself half-turned, expecting to see a partially destroyed K’tharn. But Talkith isn’t there. Even as I keep spinning, I’m unable to find her. I see Josh moving toward us, his Rose petal armour fully deployed with Beth flickering out of sight and Roberts bunkered down behind the grill, but still no sign of Talkith. I wait for the full duration of my Pause, but she doesn’t show up.

As it ends, I hear a splat from beside me where Tipan failed to keep herself standing. That’s not like her. I spare her a quick glance, finding her sprawled in the mud with her head down, but I keep searching for her father. We might want to get caught, but the show's the thing. And can't put on a good show if we don't fight back. She must be around somewhere. Teleportation isn’t working, so it’s not like she would just leave.

“Anyone see her?” Beth calls out.

“Nothing!” Josh calls as he grows a barrier around me and Tipan, shielding us from view, at the very least.

“Nothing!” I join in after expending an entire second Pause searching for Talkith.

“Two O’clock, Med-High!” Rufka calls out as she shoots a lightning arrow from inside one of the houses. The arrow acts as a beacon, but I can barely make out the distorted blur as Talkith dodges out of the way.

I’ve entered my third Pause in as many seconds, the time dilation's effect diminishing even as I throw a veritable hurricane of elemental energy in her general direction. Whirling whips of fire and bolts of lightning, all backed by spikes of metal and boulders the size of a VW, with my chakrams in the middle for extra chaos. I’m not even trying to hurt her; I’m just hoping I’ll be able to pick her out when she blasts through.

But none of my attacks make noticeable contact.

I’m still searching the sky when cold metal clasps around my throat, constricting not only my ability to breath, but my mana as well. Suddenly, it’s as if my connection to the world around me has been stripped away. Despite myself, I panic. And in so doing, attempt to fling spells from my hands. But there’s nothing. The runes refuse to form, sputtering into unaspected mana. I’m still able to Pause, but I can’t do anything else. I have no maneuverability without my magic, and my System-granted flight is suppressed.

I’m not even able to send messages to Wyonna.

Trapped within my own Pause, I watch Talkith disappear in a flash of light, reappearing instantly behind Rufka.

With my eyes wide, I remain locked in place as she secures an identical collar around Rufka’s throat. She doesn’t wait, flashing around the compound, sneaking collars onto each of us, one at a time. Josh falls next, not even able to track her. Beth tries to fight back, even scoring a hit with her automatic void rifle, but then she’s unconscious. At which point, Roberts holds his hands up in surrender.

Despite this being the plan, part of me is stunned. Even if we'd tried to fight for real, how well could we have done? Is this what it's like to fight me, when I can teleport?

I’m not entirely surprised to see Talkith approaching Tipan last.

Tipan’s still sitting in the mud where she fell when her father pushed us, the brown mud marring her normally pristine white fur.

“Tipan. It’s time,” Talkith says, a collar in hand. Part of me wants to grab her and try to throw her away, despite the act. But she hasn’t even drawn her swords. I haven’t felt this weak since we first faced Ivicka. Even Atun’s brutal combat wasn’t this bad.

Even then, I was at least able to dodge.

Tipan shakes herself off, pushing herself to her feet, meeting Talkith’s gaze. She doesn’t say anything as her father snaps the collar into place.

“This… these will keep you safe until…” Talkith trails off when Tipan turns away from her, but then her face goes flat. With the last of us secured, I’m expecting orders or to be forced to follow Talkith, but instead, she whistles.

She waits for several seconds, her ears tilted toward the sky before returning her attention to us. Josh was about to bring both of his hands down on her head when she stops him with a glance. Then she snaps a pair of cuffs around his wrists before he has time to pull back. She moves to Beth and Roberts next.

Rufka comes up next to me, taking my hand. “You could still run,” she whispers. Doing my part, I let my jaw hang loose as I stare at her. Then I flick a meaningful glance at the swamp surrounding us, and the not inconsiderable drop off the top of the atoll.

“Did you not see how fast she is?” I whisper back.

“You’re faster. If you let yourself.”

“Impossible,” I reply. And it’s not just that I’m afraid of teleporting through the interference. I don’t want to leave Rufka behind. I don’t want to leave any of them behind. Besides, that's not part of plan WD-3.

“We’d have a better chance if you're free to rescue us.”

“I’m not leaving you!” My grip tightens on her hand, and a half-smile pulls at her lips. Then it turns into a full grin.

Even as I get a horrible premonition and try to pull my hand back from hers, Rufka kisses me on the cheek and then chucks me like a piece of rolled up paper off the edge of the atoll, toward the swamp below.

My initial reaction is to scream at Rufka. Just like I would when she normally throws me. But this time, I don’t have any magic coming to my aid. And the swamp comes up fast, cutting my scream off with another mouthful of swamp water.

Seriously, my mouth is going to kill me if I keep getting crap in it. If I don’t drown first.

Luckily, even with my mana cut off, I’m still superhuman at this point. It’s easy to figure out the way to the surface. I’ve taken a handful of breaths when I realize Talkith still hasn’t come for me. Looking up, I see a pair of dragons landing at the edge of the compound.

For a second, I think they’re going to leave me, but then I see several K’tharn making their way off the top of the atoll in my general direction.

I make a half-honest attempt at trying to escape, scrambling through the swamp, using Pause, even through the collar, managing to teleport a rock in their direction, which causes it to explode and just generally being as annoying as possible. Eventually, they chase me onto a small hill that’s barely visible from the atoll. The K’tharn pursuing me are almost disappointing after Talkith. I feel like I could really escape, even without my magic.

But then, to my relief, she finally appears. In a flash of white light, Talkith is standing before me, a set of manacles in hand. Except unlike the ones she clapped on everyone else, these include extras for my legs.

Sorry Rufka. Looks like I’m not getting away this time.

Would've ruined the plan.

A note from Draith

Hmm. Shoutie shout.

Today's shoutout is for a story that's... amazing but also a little painful to read.

The complete ignorance of the main character in regards to her own power is... well, painful. At least for me. It's also the source of a lot of humor. Even without it, the story is a lot of fun, and if that doesn't bother you, I think you should check out The Villainess Is An SS+ Rank Adventurer

(She does eventually figure it out, or so I've been told by a friend who's made it farther than I have)

5.15, Economy Class

A note from Draith

Minor edits to chapter 5.12, 5.13 to mention Trellani

5.12

The flight after that is mostly quiet. For me at least. Roberts and Rose are discussing the variety of flora here, comparing it to earth and Rufka and Trellani are trying to outbrag each other on most annoying enchantment. Trellani's winning with the self-messaging enchantment that takes any message she puts into it and spams her at random intervals for the next three weeks.

5.13

“But wouldn’t it be better if we did it right away?” I ask, and I notice that Trellani is watching our conversation, her food hanging in front of her mouth.

“Aye. Much better. It’ll mean less stress on the shields,” Demo confirms, nodding enthusiastically, his multitude of tails bobbing in rhythm with his head.

"I need to see this ship," Trellani says, leaning forward and jabbing her bit of meat at Demo, causing it to fall loose. "Especially if it has shields that can hold back a murder-swamp."

Beth looks at me, Trellani, then at Demo. She sits silently for a few seconds before sighing. “If you think it’s the right call, kid. There’s not much harm in it. But we’re going as a group. I don’t want us getting split up again so soon after getting back together.”

“Well, the Saratesa’s secure. Should we head back?” I ask, watching as Demo inspects the outside of his ship.

“What? Head back? Now?” Demo exclaims, spinning toward me, his eyes and jaw hanging open. Trellani's expression is similar, though her hand is almost reverently hovering over the barely visible shield.

“Or we could stay,” I shrug. I would prefer to spend the night in Tipan’s quarters, but I don’t mention that. Yet.

“Cause the shields are still interfering with magic. She’ll take care of the water inside the shields by morning, but if I shut them down now, it could damage something. Like I said. Better to wait,” Demo grumbles, snapping his toothpick.

Nodding as though I understand, we return to camp. Demo insists on staying with his ship, Rose and Trellani staying behind to keep him company. And to protect him if anything happens.

When we get back, I settle into conversation with Tipan while Rufka joins Roberts and Josh for a game of Astra's Stride.

12:35 am, local time. (August 31, 2023, 5:35 am.) Recently captured by a living beam of light.

I’m brought back to the dragons and loaded in a cage beneath them. As I’m packed in with Rufka and Tipan, each of us with our backs to each other, the cage begins to tighten, binding us so close that we’re left with our arms and legs sticking out the sides.

In the other cage, Beth’s unconscious body is placed behind Josh. Then they load Roberts in the same fashion, to my surprise.

“What happened?” I ask as the dragons lift into the sky.

“Roberts tried to buy you time. I guess it wasn’t enough,” Rufka informs me, her voice cold.

I swallow, hard.

I mean, I know it’s an act, but it still hurts. Maybe she’s upset I got caught so quickly. I tried running further. I just couldn’t bring myself to teleport. Not after the rock exploded. Besides, getting away wasn’t required for the plan. Sure, I’m captured, but how much worse would it be if I died? Or if Talkith had given up, taken the others away and I couldn’t follow?

I don’t try explaining myself to Rufka as the wind picks up around us. Not with Tipan’s father nearby. And with our chat suppressed, all I can do is shoulder her slightly. When she doesn’t respond for a few seconds, I start to worry she’s really upset. Then I feel her shoulder pressing against mine. It’s not much, but it's... enough. With a sigh, I look outwards with nothing to do but stew in our cage.

It’s the first time I’ve flown for an extended period without my magic to make it cozy. It’s not enough to decrease my Health, but the chill is bad enough I worry about the others.

Sitting in the same position for hours is uncomfortable. Not on a physical level, but mentally. There are a couple small respites though. My Facet is unaffected, from what I can tell. And even my natural magic... well, I can work against the manacles with my aura from within, even if it’s disrupted outside my body.

When a mana storm appears on the horizon, the squad lands, and Talkith keeps us locked in our cages. Instead of the bunkers we'd utilize, one of the K’tharn has a rod they deploy, reaching high above us. Once the tip is finished unfolding, a small ring of metal forms a small shield overhead. With nothing but the shield between us, we get first hand experience with a wild mana-storm. As lightning and small cracks in reality appear all around us, I’m able to appreciate how terrifying a mana-storm can be up close.

And how awesome.

Even as the storm is breaking, Talkith orders us onward, though she doesn't speak to us directly. In fact, she seems to be avoiding us. As the dragon we're riding beneath ascends, a few sputtering bolts of lightning draw my attention. There’s a single floating rip, winking as it floats past our cage, the inside swirling with a chaotic mix of reds and blues.

I try to peer inside it, but the cage lurches violently as the dragon carrying us veers away and I smack my face against the cage. When I recover, the rip is gone and we’re clear of the storm.

Rufka hasn’t been sitting idle. The entire time we’ve been flying, she’s been shifting against my back. Unfortunately, the cage doesn’t leave enough room for me to turn around to face her and she’s only given me grunts in response to any of my attempts to talk.

And Tipan hasn't been any more chatty. Understandable.

A few hours later, Rufka freezes for a second, her shuffling finally coming to an end. Then I hear a click.

“Rufka did-” I bite my tongue to prevent myself from asking the rest of my question. I’d be willing to bet Rufka managed to get out of her collar. Or at least her manacles. A little early, but it should be fine.

However, we don’t get time to celebrate as there’s a sudden thunk from behind me, followed by Rufka going completely slack.

“Rufka? Rufka?!”

I try to turn, but all I can see is the side of her head laying listlessly against my shoulder and one of her enchanting scriveners tumbling through the air below.

It takes me nearly a minute to calm down before I’m able to feel her breathing. Still breathing.

This… could be bad. We were counting on being able to disable the manacles.

As I sag forward, Tipan speaks for the first time, “I’m sorry Alexis. My father would never have gotten involved personally if it wasn’t for me.”

“Not your fault. We just weren’t ready. She’s too strong. If Genitha had been there…”

What would Genitha have done? Probably thrown insults around while distracting Talkith until everyone got away. Could I have done that? If I wasn't so crippled by the System's lockdown?

We sit there in silence for several minutes before Tipan says, “I missed her, you know.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. She wasn’t always around. But when she was, she’d give us her undivided attention.”

“Well, I mean, she’s kind of doing that now,” I point out, doing my best to indicate where her father is standing on the back of the other dragon with my bound hands. Even as I look over, her eyes pass over us. Just like they do every few seconds.

Tipan snorts, before falling into a deep laugh that shakes the cage and elicits a call from the guards riding on the dragon above.

When her laughter finally calms, Tipan says, “You’re right. Still, I didn’t expect for her to apprehend us for crimes against the Aetherium. It just feels… wrong.”

“It is wrong. And it’s not like we had anything to do with Ivicka blowing up the tower.”

For a few seconds, Tipan doesn't respond, nothing but the wind in our ears until she says, “I wish I’d gone back.”

“What?”

“When we fled. I wish I’d gone back to check… To help people.”

“Oh.”

“I know what we were doing was important. But I just felt so… small. Like what I was doing barely mattered. The rest of you were vital. I felt like I was just following along.”

“But you weren’t. You know you were important, right?”

“Was I? I doubt a single thing would’ve changed if I’d returned directly to Glimmering Sands. And I could’ve helped people.”

I want to reach out to pat her hand, but unless I find a way to create a portal, that's impossible. So, I end up simply bumping my head against hers. “But we did go back.”

“Yeah. After we… After Ivicka. And after they'd recovered on their own.”

I don’t respond, nodding, and trusting that she understands the gesture.

We continue chatting for the rest of the day, and though I check on her a few times, Rufka doesn’t wake. I’m starting to suspect these are the same collars that kept Josh and Roberts unconscious the first time they were captured.

Of course, they weren’t hauled around in cages for over a day while being restrained.

Even when the dragons set down to rest for the evening, Talkith keeps us locked in our cage. Her eyes barely make contact as she stands at the far side of the camp. Her troops do seem to be in awe of her, more than one mentioning serving directly under 'the' Nightstar.

Not long after landing, the guards bring us a thin soup, possibly the blandest food I’ve had since coming to Akilo. Including my self-made jerky. As I’m drinking my soup, two guards rouse Rufka. She doesn’t say anything, audibly slurping her soup in a manner I know would embarrass her if she were aware.

But she doesn’t say anything, slumping against me the second they're done. Then they repeat the process with Beth and Roberts. Them not being conscious is going to make things complicated.

Maybe I can figure out a way to wake them once we've been carried into Aethire. Having to wake up Beth, Roberts and Rufka wasn’t in any version of the WD contingencies.

Of course, I’m pretty sure Rufka throwing me into the swamp wasn’t part of any of our plans either.

Our guards erect the storm-rod again before settling down to sleep in deployable yurts. They don’t bother moving us inside, leaving us confined to our cages. I don’t remember when I lose consciousness, but before I know it, the early morning sun is shining in my eyes and our guards are moving around, feeding us again.

Throughout it all, Talkith doesn’t approach, watching from a distance. It’s as though she’s afraid to get close to Tipan.

Which, fair.

I’d be pretty upset if my father arrested me for something I didn’t do. Though if it was mom, I'd be more surprised she'd figured out how.

And with that pleasant thought front and foremost in my mind, we set off, spending another day and night eating their thin soup, being tossed around in the tailwinds of mana-storms, and just generally having a grand time.

I spend a lot of time staring off into space, cycling Anchor to test its limits more thoroughly. But I stop, when I realize practicing with it is just making the trip even longer. I'd been hoping to test ways to escape, and I even managed to remove my manacles inside of a loop. But... I don't know if I can do it outside the ability. Instead, I try to chat with Tipan. We're able to talk occasionally, but with the wind stealing our words, it's mostly an exercise in frustration. We can't even chat with Wyonna, it’s the most alone I’ve been since we came to Akilo. Even with Tipan and Rufka literally pressed up against me the entire time.

Which is probably why I start thinking about what I’m going to do when we get home. And that I’m going to have to face mom. I… really don’t want to do that. If not for all my stuff being in the apartment, I probably wouldn’t even go home. Maybe that’s an option? Just teleport all my stuff out?

Wonder if Sab misses me?

Oh, who am I kidding. Of course she does. Wish I’d had a chance to talk to her before we left. I’m going to give her the biggest hug when I get back. And papa too. After Roberts heals him.

And isn’t that just going to be the most amazing thing. Bringing real magic back to earth is going to be great.

Reinvigorated, I spend the rest of the day working on the tedious task of wrestling my aura against the shackles, with only the occasional thought of what life will be like on earth with my magic under control. I’m drawn out of my efforts when I see floating buildings in the distance. We’ve crossed back into the Aetherium. There are K’tharn out in fields of green pasture as we fly over, herding their large, shaggy beasts towards new lands. Several call out, pointing at us as we fly by. I guess the Stormguard don’t haul prisoners in every day.

Or maybe it’s the two distinctive dragons flying in formation with over two dozen gliders escorting them.

After that, we fly slower, and closer to the ground, turning to follow the river Lathiac toward Aethire. There are several large river-barges visible, even from our reduced height, the water around them bending away as they travel upriver.

Funny how much of the settled lands outside the capital we haven’t seen. One downside to teleporting everywhere, I guess. There are a lot of the floating farmhouses bobbing in the wind as we move upriver. More than I expected. Our early travels really were on the outskirts of the Aetherium.

There are even several buildings I’d be inclined to call mansions built along the river, their expansive estates clearly a statement. Not sure of what, but it can’t be easy to keep a place that big intact outside of a Stronghold or their capital. Especially with mana-storms and mana-swells wrecking the local infrastructure.

Seems kind of wasteful.

Then I see a pair of K’tharn smashing through walls of one. There's a flash of lightning, then another K'tharn appears. They continue skirmishing even as we pass over an empty plot of land, where another pair of K'tharn are flattening the ground and stacking rubble into cubes. In the next plot over another group of K’tharn are building an entirely new estate.

They’re… using them for practice?

Huh.

As we continue up the river, I pick out the pattern. For every twenty farmhouses or so, there’s a short stretch of land packed with estates. And each set of estates has people within putting on a no-holds-bared combat match, destroying the manor. And right behind them is another team, restoring them to their former glory. Well, not former. It's pretty obvious they're changing the styles of building while they're at it.

“Hey, Tipan?” I prompt her, realizing the wind that's been overpowering is much lower now. I lose my train of thought when I notice a K’tharn destroying a beautiful garden, full of blooming white and blue flowers, all reduced to cinders as they throw fireballs hot enough to melt stone at their opponent.

“Yeah?”

“What’re they doing?” I ask, trying to point at the duelling K’tharn.

“Huh. Oh, I’m not certain. But I think they’re being trained to join the Aegis.” As if discerning my curiosity from the way I shift to look in her direction, Tipan continues, “Civilians who step up when the Aetherium is at war. I haven’t seen them in action before. It's been centuries since the Aetherium had truly hostile neighbours.”

“So, they’re like a militia?” I ask, staring down at the fighting K’tharn throwing magic powerful enough to knock over solid stone walls. Not like any militia I’ve ever heard of, but then, magic.

“I don’t think so. I think a militia is more… organized yet weaker. Those who join the Aegis aren’t people you’d see following orders. In fact, I’d be willing to bet Genitha is registered with the Aegis.”

“You think Genitha did paperwork?”

“Ha. Well, despite her antagonism with the council, she’s a well-known figure to most of the Aetherium.”

“Like your father?” I can’t help but ask, glancing up at where the silent K’tharn stands even now, watching over us from the back of the other dragon.

“Actually, people don’t really know about my father. Most people in the Aetherium never see the Stormguard in person. Like, I said. They don’t normally get involved in politics.”

“Yeah, except to haul us in to the Aetherium apparently.”

“I… yeah. Guess that’s yet another lie. Do you ever feel as if everything you’ve ever known was… wrong?” Tipan asks, a long slow sigh slipping out as she looks back.

Pressing my shoulder against hers, I shake my head. “Not really. Sorry. I mean, unless you count discovering magic is real, but I don’t think that counts.”

“Yeah. Your world is still hard to imagine. No magic, but everyone carries around powerful artifacts and you use them for gossip and entertainment.”

“Hey now, more than half of the subclasses I’ve heard about are for entertainment,” I object.

“Well yes, but-” Tipan’s giggling objection is drowned out by a sudden shift in our momentum as the dragon veers upward without warning. The next moment, the dragon veers again. It’s only as we level out that I’m able to make out dark shapes darting through the sky around us. I’m unable to discern more than vague triangle shapes, the actual forms obscured by shadows.

“Dusk Athama!” One of our guards calls out, throwing a spear of lightning. The cry has barely reached my ears when the sky explodes, bolts of lightning and disks of tightly packed wind energy fly everywhere. As we spin, I count several strikes that should've hit us. But there’s an invisible shield keeping us safe. Probably trapped too. Good to know.

The assault continues for nearly a minute before silence returns. More than half our escort are missing, though I notice Talkith is fine. The attack probably would’ve been a great distraction, but we’re still not close enough to Aethire to execute contingency WD-3.

So, I twiddle my thumbs as our guards hiss and whisper back and forth for a bit, listening for any useful information they might let slip.

It sounds like some of them were stolen by the shadow creatures. Apparently, the Dusk Athama have a tendency to explode on contact. And now our guards are waiting for a follow-up attack. Because half the time ‘the squids’ send the Dusk Athama just to shake people up. But just as often they’re used prior to a full-scale assault. But it sounds like they're basing everything on rumours from over a hundred years ago.

Interesting.

Given how teleportation isn’t working, I’d wager on the former. Not that it matters since we’re safely tucked away inside of a surprisingly sturdy shield. I guess if our dragon goes down, our situation will get... problematic. I rub my finger over the rough outline of my manacles, sending Facet into them.

When they don't reject it, and I'm able to saturate them completely, I almost give a deep sigh. Wasn’t sure it'd work, and didn’t want to risk it until we were inside Aethire. Not after what happened to Rufka.

Guess the Athama shook me up more than I thought.

The vigilance of our guards proves warranted as another wave of darkness descends. It’s tempting to break free, to fight back, but… the Athama aren’t targeting us.

They’re targeting Tipan’s father.

"Get the prisoners to safety!" I hear Talkith command from above. The darkness keeps me from tracking her with my eyes, but I've had a tether on her since she showed up.

Even as the cage shakes, I wait, though I’m not left in suspense long. The darkness is torn away with a thunderous clap, revealing Talkith plummeting toward a ranch-house while wrestling with a squid twenty times her size.

Did the M’tari send one of their children into combat?

Despite her bright white fur, it’s hard to track Talkith as the dragons fly away, zooming straight to Aethire at more than twice the speed they've flown at any other point so far. Another few minutes and we lose Talkith to the distance. My last sighting is a giant mushroom cloud where several of the practice estates once rested. Too bad my tethers are so unreliable. Would be nice to know if that took her out of action.

Getting my bearings, I notice we’re crossing the rim of the endless pit over which Aethire hovers.

There’s a short delay as the guards verify with a flying patrol that we’re supposed to be moved inside the city. There's some grumbling from one of the patrols before they mention we've been cleared for entry, but that if we're not in the palace in twelve hours we'll be flagged as… something that sounds like violated? The wind makes it hard to tell, and it's not like they're talking to me.

Still, with confirmed access, and us being on the outer edges of the capital while the strongest of our captors is occupied… we’re not going to have a better opportunity.

Well, unless the others wake up. But I can't count on that.

Hoping it works, I stretch my Facet out, soaking everyone’s manacles and collars. Once I’m certain I have them all completely wrapped, I test with my own manacles. I’m able to teleport a small slice out of the cuffs, causing them to malfunction. Pausing time, I set up the process on every one of our bindings. Then I trigger it on everyone simultaneously, breaking my Pause and showering me in manacle slivers. Almost as good as a real shower.

A second later, the manacles and collar drop away as my control of the elements reasserts itself.

Our guards begin to cry out as the remnants of our cage burn away, but they’re already too late.

In my reflections over the last couple days, it occurred to me that most users don’t have defence against their breath being literally stolen. Just like Ivicka showed me. And as they’re all close enough, I’m able to subdue all but one of them in seconds.

Wish I’d thought of that while we were assaulting the Taken.

Still, this wouldn't have worked if our guards were past Iron, or had thought to contest me in time.

The sole conscious member flees in jerky motions with uneven flight which is uncharacteristic of our guards. Making sure I have an IFF tether on them, I check on Rufka. While her status indicates she’s at full Health, she refuses to wake even after I’ve removed her bindings.

Well, waking can wait.

Floating her behind me, I join Josh and Tipan who’re already carrying Beth and Roberts. Nodding, I wrest the air from the last guard, pulling them close then injecting them with Kellica's paralytic. With the prisoner secure, I float her beside Rufka before descending into the city.

It was kind of the Nightstar to bring us inside Aethire’s security network.

5.16, Security Bypass

A note from Draith

Edits

4.27

"It's how the conversation started. Josh was asking about Pogell, and Lik'tik here said he was something of a retrieval expert," he pauses and wags all four of his eyebrows.

"Yes, yes, very clever," I say, a small smile tugging at my lips.

"Mhm. So after we stopped laughing, and explained how we have dogs who look like Pogell and like to play fetch, he added that it was amusing how similar the word sausage in Vausian was to idiot. There may have been an implication that Ael'thani was occasionally sausage-like," he informs me with the smallest trace of a smile.

5.13

Fifteen minutes later, we’re flying almost directly west over the swamp, on our mission to rescue the ship-in-distress. As we go, we tell the others about our encounter with the super fast white K'tharn. We fly right past the buried ship as we talk and plan, until Tipan points out a gnarled tree ahead of us that’s in a grid too far.

10:14 am, local time. (September 3, 2023, 12:14 pm.) Freefalling into Aethire.

The descent into the city is rapid, none of us wanting to give the Nightstar time to easily find us.

After racing down several of the labyrinthine corridors under the cover of my invisibility sphere, we stop in an abandoned home. There are hundreds of similar dwellings along the outer edge of Aethire, the powerful materials preventing decay even after decades of neglect. The insides are full of furniture too heavy to easily transport, but little else. It’s enough for our immediate needs.

Restoring the guard is much easier than waking Rufka, as my attempt to shake the guard awake proves. “What’s wrong with my friends? Why aren’t they waking up?”

The guard doesn’t answer, instead launching into a hacking fit. Right, probably should've expected that. I’d heal them, but that would be more like torture.

As if reading my mind, Tipan kneels next to them, her talisman glowing with a gentle orange light. It’s not even that her talisman - a collection of small stones embedded in a thin sheet of bark - is better than mine. Tipan just has a much better affinity for using the healing talismans.

Her bedside manners are probably better too.

But bedside manner isn’t my job.

As the guard stops hacking, Josh forms a chair beneath them, putting them in what’s probably the comfiest interrogation chair in the history of Akilo, rose-petals the size of her head propping her up. I ask her again, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t our friends awake?”

The guard stares at each of us, then at our necks and wrists where our bindings are conspicuously absent. She gulps, leaning back. “Uh. I don’t know. The collars knock them out until we use the feed signal.”

Crap. I really hope we don’t have to go back for one of the collars.

“And you have the feed signal?” Tipan asks, prompting the Stormguard while I’m still mentally berating myself for not cluing in that they had a secondary system in place.

The Stormguard nods, perhaps a bit overenthusiastic, as she wrestles with a clasped pouch on her bandoleer. She stops when I constrict the air around her. A silent warning, to remind her that she’s not in control here.

Unfortunately, an unpleasant smell informs me I probably overdid it. I cringe internally, as I realize how much I must have scared her. I just wanted to keep her from hurting us, not terrify the poor woman.

Tipan retrieves a whistle from the poor guard’s hand, casting me a reproving glare. I remain mostly stiff, giving her a tiny nod.

While Tipan sees to the others, I make sure the guard overhears me whispering to Josh at the same time as I message everyone through Wyonna. While Wyonna’s range is limited, she’s there again, which is better than the regular message function.

Out loud, I mention that we’re going to need proper disguises before we’re able to escape the city, to which he makes a joke about nothing being in his size. Meanwhile, we discuss the route we’ll actually take to sneak to one of Rufka’s caches closer to the World Dungeon. With the guard escorting us past the security network, this is our best chance to hit the World Dungeon. Especially with teleportation offline.

The guard is rendered unconscious again, this time by Tipan using the very bindings they used on us. It’s gentler than forcing her to pass out. And it leaves her bound in the same way we’ve spent the last couple days. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t explode the second the collar came off.

Maybe all that aura practice is helping.

With the guard unconscious and everyone on their feet, we slip into the city, travelling in two groups. With Rufka and Tipan as company, Rufka and I adjust our appearances, becoming just another K’tharn in the crowd. Tipan’s own disguise is even simpler, activating a common charm that makes her fur shine with a bright neon-pink and green combination. It’s not common, but the fake pattern is a common one for fans of the South Tribunes, the Desh'mersa team.

Tipan didn’t even buy the glamour as a disguise. She bought it at the same game where I got the rabbit queen tiara. As has been established, she’s a pretty big fan. Since we’re headed for Rufka’s friend near the Desh’mersa arena, it works well.

We make our way quickly, passing beneath several squads of Desh’ila patrolling the skies. I can’t know, but I don’t think they look at us twice. Unlike several of the citizens who comment on Tipan’s outlandish style. But she’s so genuinely excited to talk to them about the latest game that most leave quickly.

It’s as adorable as it is effective.

Despite being stopped a dozen times by friendly passersby, we arrive at our destination swiftly. This close to the centre of the city, the patrols are normally thicker, but the Desh’ila are thin. Only a single squad circles overhead.

Rufka’s friend is waiting, her arms crossed as we walk up. She squints at Tipan’s brilliant form, then waves us in.

The smell of fresh cheese fills the room. I catch a whiff of something especially pungent, and it makes me realize I haven’t eaten anything except the thin soup over the last couple days.

Munching on a wheel of cheddar while Rufka whispers to her friend, we slip into the back, waiting for the others to arrive. But it turns out we took longer than I thought, because the second I try to lean against one side of the small chamber, Josh lets out a grunt. I spin around to see all three of them standing there with smiles.

“Okay. We’re in Aethire. They should be expecting us to go to ground. Do we know if the World Dungeon is occupied?” Beth asks Tipan.

“It doesn’t matter. The World Dungeon always lets parties in. The real challenge is going to be making it past the Queen’s Knights.”

“Right. You’ve mentioned them. They’re like the guards of the dungeon?”

“Yes. They’ll stop anyone without a blessing from entering. Ostensibly it’s to keep people safe, but the ministers have been using it to control people for over a century,” Tipan says.

“Mum got past them.”

“Which means it can be done,” Beth nods, pushing off from her spot on the wall, pacing back and forth in the cramped room. It’s a good thing we’re not going to be here long.

“Well, mum had friends in the guard.”

“Your aunt Paltha, right?” I ask.

“Palthia,” Rufka corrects me, “Yes. She’s one of mum’s friends. But she’s not in the Queen’s Knights anymore. They didn’t appreciate her letting mum in.”

“Why are they even called that?” Josh asks, “I mean, there’s no queen, right?”

“They used to serve the last queen, Uthica,” Tipan answers offhandedly, she keeps talking, but I can’t understand her words. They’re coming as though through thick water.

The entire room feels as though it’s underwater for a moment as my eyes grow incredibly heavy.

Then the sensation fades.

I blink furiously, but I’m not in the room any longer. I’m sitting on the back of a furious panther the size of a semi-truck as it bounds across an open field chasing a herd of vhethal. On the panther’s head sits Smoulder, her flames blazing brightly. She looks back to me and I’m hit with a wave of affection as she bounds over, scooting up Uthica’s chest to land on her shoulder, nuzzling against our cheek.

Wait. Our cheek?

“Uthica?” I ask, surprised when I speak with her voice.

Lexi? I’m surprised it worked.

“Uh, what worked?”

We flexed the bond between you and the little one. It brought you to my aid.

“Uh, her name’s Smoulder.” I mention, “Wait, you’re able to summon me?”

So it seems. It has been some time but I’m afraid this is the first time we’ve-

Even as I feel Smoulder’s smug approval at me coming when called passing to me through the link, I feel the connection weakening, Uthica’s voice lost as I return to the present. Tipan is still giving her explanation of the Queen’s Knights to Josh. Gone for no more than three seconds that time.

I instinctively reach for Rufka’s hand only to realize she’s not next to me, leaning against the door-frame chatting with her friend, with her eyes locked on the hallway outside. Right, probably a good idea. We’re in the middle of hostile territory.

Doesn’t stop me from moving over to her, causing her to shift out the door slightly.

“While that’s interesting, it’s not important,” Beth interjects when Josh asks about the change in their armour. A detail I’d completely missed.

“We just need to contact the Taken. They've got a way in, right?” Rufka says, “I’ll be back in less than half an hour. If I’m not, I’d appreciate if you came to find me.”

“I’m going with you,” I say, reaching to squeeze her hand.

But she steps away, shaking her head. “I should go alone. We’re lucky no one saw through your glamour. I’m the only one who can go out without one.”

“But I-” I begin to object but Roberts lays a hand on my arm, shaking his head.

“See you soon.” Rufka says without so much as a glance in my direction. Is she still upset about me not teleporting? But…

I plop down on a pack of unfolded boxes, rubbing my head, only to have to stand back up again to settle properly. My leg isn’t meant to fold like that, even with my Agility.

Approximately the longest fifteen minutes later, Rufka pokes her head back in. After a quick glance around the room, she gestures us to follow her. I’m about to apologize when she holds a finger up to indicate we should remain quiet.

Obliging her, we head out, though this time, Tipan is under the cover of Beth’s invisibility sphere. It makes it feel like it’s just me and Rufka walking along the grand streets of World’s End district. Towering over most of the district, the edifice of chiseled stone, the World’s End palace looms.

Like the Queen’s Guard, the name is a holdover from Uthica’s time. It’s still the seat of their government though. It makes a great landmark, seeing as it sits directly on top of the World Dungeon.

We make it almost all the way to the World Dungeon before we come across a scene that makes me freeze in my tracks. On the steps of the palace is a veritable army of protesters all waving signs. There are signs saying things such as, “Vaus has had her destruction! No more!” and “Leave them in the Deeps.” Along with signs that would fit in at home, like “No more war!” or “Give me back my messages!”

It’s the last one that makes me realize that they don’t know about the incoming System Agent. They think the interference is caused by the Lords of the Deep. And if the Lords think the same thing, this war just got a whole lot more complicated.

Which feels weird, cause we’re trying to not get caught in the middle of it. Even Tipan. Like, Tipan obviously doesn’t want her family dying, but after everything she’s learned about the Aetherium, she’s having a hard time defending their actions. Just before we went to Pelwerd, she suggested we try to sneak in and convince the ministers to apologize.

Which Beth promptly shot down, and the rest of us reluctantly agreed that it’d be better if the K’mintar handled that. And Genitha… well, we’d also agreed it was best if maybe Genitha stayed away.

A gentle shove from one of my invisible companions reminds me this isn’t the main attraction. I jog to catch up with Rufka, winding through the crowd. When I get close, I almost reach out for her hand again, but stop myself. She clearly wants some distance. Maybe I should just-

My thoughts are shattered when I feel a hand take mine, and my heart jumps probably two times higher than it should. “Come on,” Rufka whispers, “we should stick together.”

I nod dumbly, clearing the edge of the crowd and moving toward an elaborate stone door near the edge of the stairs leading up to the palace. The door is set with several different rules, each engraved in Vausian, illustrated with pictograms. I quickly scan over the ‘rules’ as Rufka knocks on the door, adding a new message to the System overlay. I read over them, inspecting their matching images as we wait for Rufka’s knock to be answered.

- If you enter, you cannot exit without completing the Dungeon successfully.

Is that a K’tharn getting sucked into a black hole?

- Beware the Calthonra.

Huh, a centaur with only one eye and a pair of scything claws.

- Traps are not standardized. Do not rely on maps for trap locations.

Hmm, several squares, each with the Vausian equivalent of a question mark, a kind of U shape, engraved into the surface.

- You have twelve days to complete the Dungeon. Unlike Standard dungeons, you won’t be allowed to exit if you go over the time limit.

An engraved Vausian symbol for time, basically a skinnier eight.

- Several items will not function within the World Dungeon.

Just a flaming crossbow with a cross through it.

- Quality of Life Abilities and the changing of subclasses can only be accessed from within the designated safe zone within the World Dungeon.

A picture of a K’tharn separated from their bag that has a sword inside it that they can’t get to, next to another image where they’re inside a house and can get to it. I guess that means inventory counts as a Quality of Life ability. Makes sense.

Some of these are really clear, but that warning about the Calthonra seems strange. It doesn’t tell us why we should worry about it.

I don’t have much time to dwell on it, the door grinding open slowly, as a familiar K’tharn emerges. Her dark fur makes her hard to pick out from the passageway, but I’m pretty sure she’s waving us in.

When Rufka steps forward, I wait several seconds until I feel an invisible tug at my hand indicating everyone should be inside.

With one last glance around the plaza, I weave twilight into night vision, following them inside.

As my foot leaves the plaza, the door starts closing. I swear as I skip forward, staring back at the closed door. If I’d tarried any longer, I would’ve been locked out. Turning back, I realize Rufka’s talking with Kellica in hushed tones.

Finally, Kellica nods and Rufka hands over a small satchel.

The satchel disappears, presumably into Kellica’s inventory, then she turns to address us, a small smile on her face. “Good to see you, Tel’thoni. Beth, I’ll need you to drop the invisibility. Then we’ll get Ael’thani to give you your blessings. Once you have your blessings, I’ll need you to stay invisible until we make it to the System entrance.”

The others reappear, Josh in the middle of a question that he snaps off once he realizes they’re visible. Ael’thani appears just behind Kellica, and I realize her personal stealth has really improved in the last few days.

She moves about, a grimace fixed on her face as she presses her hand to each of us for a few seconds while muttering under her breath. When she gets to me, she lays her hand on my shoulder, her Vausian crisp and precise as she says, “By my eyes, this one is worthy.”

Her proclamation is followed by a System notification indicating I’ve been granted access to the Upper Preparation area.

Even before she’s finished bestowing her ‘blessing’, the others have disappeared once more.

I jog next to Rufka, who stares at my illusionary form as I approach. “It’s still weird when you do that. Doesn’t look right.” She flicks at my illusory ear, which twitches at her contact as I pull back at the sensation. There are strands of twilight connecting my cat ears to my real ones, which improves the illusion, but also provides weird feedback.

“Anyway, ready to delve into the darkest part of Akilo?” She asks, giving me a small smile.

“Well, when you put it like that…” I pause, before taking her hand then following after Kellica who’s already walking away.

“Absolutely.”

5.17, The World Dungeon

2:22 pm, local time. (September 3, 2023, 4:22 pm.) Sneaky, sneak, into the dark.

The remaining section of our trip is surprisingly boring. There’s no guards or fellow delvers in the stone passage as it winds back and forth, leading us beneath the palace.

It takes a full fifteen minutes before we emerge into the Upper Preparation area. Unlike the plain passage we followed to get here, the Upper Preparation area itself is ornate to the point it feels gaudy. There is an overabundance of fancy benches, each inlaid with enough gold, silver, and gems to ruin any sense of grandeur.

“What’s with all the bling?” I ask, gesturing around.

Rufka tries to hide her snicker behind her hand as Ael’thani turns to us, her brows drawn tight. “I don’t know that word. But if you’re referring to the glorious Preparation Chamber, the trial is the most important event in a K’tharn’s life. It is only appropriate our final preparation area is as grand as in their dreams.”

I blink as I process her words, my cheeks warming at my unintentional insult to their traditions. She waves toward an even fancier staircase at the far end of the room leading upward under golden light. Each step is as overdone as the benches. “Since the council banned use of the main entrance… not even honest K’tharn are able to get inside.”

Ael’thani pauses, staring at us. “But you’re not here to listen to me whine like a kitten. You’re here for your own trials, as is the right of every user. Follow me.”

When I glance towards Kellica, she just shoots us an awkward smile, before motioning us to follow Ael’thani.

Amazingly, the decor becomes more decadent as she leads us toward the downward stairway. Yet despite the décor, the stairs are simple stone, with only a minimal stripe of white lights hanging above. Ael’thani stops just outside the stairway, her eyes flicking over us. “This is where we leave you. The K’mintar… I hope you have a good trial.”

Kellica steps forward, giving me a hug. “Good luck, tel’thoni.”

Then she pulls Rufka into a hug, “Best of luck, Rukie.”

Rufka’s clearly startled, as it takes ‘Rukie’ a couple of seconds to return the embrace. When they finally pull away, Rufka coughs lightly, but can’t stop from smiling at Kellica.

No one comments on it, passing beneath the plain stone arch into the dungeon below instead.

I glance back, but Kellica and Ael’thani have already disappeared. The second I cross the threshold, a message pops up, confirming several of the warnings were correct. It also shows the standard dungeon quest screen, though with a minor upgrade. The whole reason we’re here.

"Copper Rank Ascension Challenge: The World Dungeon joined."

"Teleportation abilities have been locked to The World Dungeon. Flight spells and abilities have been restricted."

"Zone Quest received: Rewards: Variable. 1 Iron-Rank Ascension Crest. Time: 12 days."

We file down a couple of landings until the entrance is out of site before Beth drops the invisibility covering the others. “Okay, that went smoothly. Let’s get to the real preparation area, then we can make plans about how we’re going to approach this.”

Even at Beth’s directive to wait, we all start chatting about the dungeon, wondering how different it’ll be from the others we’ve visited so far.

“We’re not going to have access to Raz’s.” Josh points out while running his hand on the less flashy walls inside the actual dungeon.

“We were already planning for that. Most of them haven’t allowed easy access,” Roberts says as I test to see how flight is restricted, floating a foot into the air and not meeting any resistance.

Beth nods, as I float back down, “It’s unfortunate, but it’s less disruptive here than for any of our other objectives.”

“Wait? We have objectives other than getting the cities flying again?” I ask, watching my arm disappear as I test my invisibility.

“Kid, you know that’s just part of our overarching objective. We’re trying to save the world. All the rest is to get that done.”

“Oh. Oh, right. My bad,” I apologize as we pass another landing. “Wait, we’re in the dungeon now, aren’t we? Shouldn’t we be checking for traps?”

Beth doesn’t so much as pause as she replies, “I’ve been searching. I haven’t seen any yet.”

I nod, letting myself drift to my normalish position in the middle.

Eventually, after far too many stairs, we emerge into a small chamber filled with crisscrossing streams and tiny waterfalls. In the streams float a plant that reminds me of a lily-pad crossed with a four-leaf clover, their petals rotating slowly in the current.

Beth leads us through the room, stopping at a circle at the far end, a small area free of the abundant waterways. Whole room, and not a single monster. Not even a water spout to try to knock us to the side.

“Safe Zone: Amongst the Lilies. This safe zone will expire twelve hours after activation. May only be activated once.”

“Okay, no one activate the zone. We’ve had a few days sitting around already. If we need to, we have at least one to fall back to,” Beth instructs us. No one objects, but then we’ve been through stranger.

Beth continues taking us through the same plan she laid out for us when we first discussed coming here. It’s slightly modified since we don’t have access to Raz’s or unrestricted flight, but for the most part it’s simply a refresher on party order and fall-back points. After a few minutes, she finishes with, “All right, people. Anything I missed?”

Shaking my head, along with the others, we start into what should be the real challenge of the dungeon. The labyrinth.

The dungeon’s first area is the most typical video game dungeon we’ve encountered on Akilo. Trapped rooms where we disable the traps without them triggering. Monster rooms that we take turns killing solo. There’s even a single puzzle room that involves rings and poles that’s so simple that we get the bonus prize for solving it in the minimum number of steps.

Five iron-rank integration points for the whole party, for putting rings on a stick.

While some of the monsters are interesting, like the crying frog that filled the room with its tears, nothing dangerous has shown up, so we decide to pick up the pace.

After several hours, hundreds of monster and trap rooms, and twelve combination puzzle-treasure rooms, we’ve searched the entire floor. But we haven’t found the way forward. Picked up over a hundred integration points each though, plus nearly as much in shards.

“Tipan, I thought you said there was an obvious staircase leading to the next level?” Beth sighs as we come back to the entrance again.

“That’s what I was told. I’ve never been here myself.”

“Mum said the same thing. She would’ve mentioned if it was hidden.”

“Then how did we miss it?” Roberts wonders, leaning against the entrance to the lily room.

“It’s probably in here,” Josh shrugs, gesturing past Roberts back at the peaceful entrance room.

Beth runs a hand through her fiery red hair before nodding. “Only place we haven’t searched. Lex, you and Rufka wanna take the right? Roberts, you and Tipan take the left? Josh and I will support. Try not to disturb the natives.”

We all move to comply. I use my magic to lift entire streams of water to glance beneath them. It’s kind of fun, and if Smoulder were here, she’d be crashing through the streams, making all kinds of a mess. The thought makes me frown, ruining the moment.

Rufka and I make it halfway across our side of the room when Tipan calls out, “We found… something.”

Setting the dozen cubic metres of water and startled fish I was levitating back into their place, I float over to see what they’ve discovered. It’s not an exit, instead there’s a mural with each of the puzzle rooms represented hidden beneath the stream. It shows a specific path leading between each of the puzzle rooms before finally approaching a room in the centre.

“Looks like we did it out of order,” Josh notes, “You’d think there’d be better directions. This is like exploring the entire fairgrounds only to find out the bathrooms were setup behind the main stage.”

“I’m sensing a story there,” Roberts says, drawing Josh into a retelling of his first time at an SCA festival.

I only half listen, having heard Rose tell the story before. Though Rose focused on how lively the festival was, how enthusiastic the participants were. Josh takes a more humorous approach. Less wonder, but a lot more self-deprecation.

It makes for amusing listening as we return to each of the puzzle rooms resetting the puzzles, then solving them in order. The first time we went through, I thought the puzzles were just random difficulties. Now it’s obvious that the ‘correct’ path would’ve had us solving them in ascending difficulty. Still easy though. And no rewards the second time.

With the last puzzle once again solved, the rapid wave of water pushes to the side instead of washing over our legs and we make our way to the centre of the labyrinth.

Contrary to my expectations, the exit isn’t on the floor. Or the wall. It’s in the ceiling of the chamber, a set of handholds set into a shaft that wasn’t there when we first explored the room hours ago. The handholds have several different colours to them, and I realize that the dark green ones follow a route similar to the one we took through the labyrinth. It’s tough to tell if they complete the pattern because the shaft curves out of sight.

Tipan beats me to mentioning the pattern, having started relaying the discovery to the others while I’m still investigating. I fly up, confirming my suspicion that flight is suppressed within the shaft as my spell is dispelled, dropping me to the floor where I roll to my feet.

Not too surprising. A dungeon putting an obvious climb zone like this and having restricted flight practically guaranteed I’d be coming down. Good thing I can fall with style these days.

“Kid, thoughts?”

“Anti-flight zone. Probably some sort of monster disguised as a handhold. Maybe just knockdown traps?” I supply, still inspecting the handholds. None of them are lighting up when I Focus on them, but it’s not perfect. “Unless there’s a drastic increase in difficulty, it shouldn’t be too dangerous.”

“Good. Josh, if you would,” Beth waves upward and Josh forms a small set of thorn-stairs leading to the lowest handholds before springing upward. We watch him climb for several metres before he stops, staring down the bend.

“Opens up like Niagara Falls,” he calls, then continues out of sight.

Rufka goes next, not needing to be asked. I follow shortly behind her, the green handholds a disgusting mix of slimy and sticky. I wait until I join Josh and Rufka at the top of the shaft before I scour my hands clean. I’m about to lay into Josh for not warning us about the slime when I gaze up. And up, and up.

“No one mentioned this,” I mutter, staring at the kilometers tall complex protruding from the valley below. A valley which was obviously mined at some point, clear lines cut in the sides of the nearby mountains. Each cut seems to correlate with one of the massive cubes forming the monstrosity that dominates the centre of the apparently open-air dungeon.

“Vaus-damn,” Rufka mumbles while I marvel at the size of the behemoth before us. How long would it take me to make something that big? I start inspecting our other surroundings as everyone emerges from the tunnel.

Off to each side are four valleys, for a total of eight. Each has obvious elemental leanings. Just to our left, what I’m assuming is the fire valley, trees bathed in flame stand silent vigil over the narrow path leading inward.

Standard operating procedure would have us exploring each of the valleys, looking for hidden training zones. But then, we haven’t followed standard operating procedure before, so, I ask, “What do you guys think? Training or quick completion?”

Beth leans forward, squinting at the far valleys. “If we can afford to, training. We should investigate the entrances of each valley. See if we can find additional safe zones.”

“New produce too,” Josh notes, inspecting a flowering vine along the edge of the bluff, holding a single white blossom towards his face before sniffing it.

“Yep. Mum’s droned on about her Five Seasons Tea that she brewed from the Fire-Blossoms more times than I can count. If we can find a bunch, she’d be grateful.”

“Okay. Securing a good stock of Fire-Blossoms is on the list. Having a way to entice Genitha to help more often would be great,” Beth says, nodding with a smile at Rufka. “Especially if it means she’s not…”

The last is lost as Beth mumbles to herself, the sounds too distorted to count as words.

“There’s other stuff too. I’ll write you a list,” Rufka offers, causing Beth’s smile to return, then grow into a giant grin.

While Rufka and Beth sort through their bribe-my-mum list, Tipan and I scout the western valleys as Josh and Roberts head east.

“You think we’ll start with fire?” Tipan asks as we float in front of the burning valley, labelled helpfully by the System as Fireside. Even my elemental resistance is going to be tested if the heat I can feel from here is any indication. And is that a pack of flaming elk chasing down a hyena made of smoldering coal?

“Hard to say. If Smoulder were here, definitely,” I answer, shooting toward an outcropping of rock overlooking the valley entrance. Atop the outcropping, I find a circle carved into the stone, the runes flashing with a dull red glow. “Think I found a safe-zone.”

As I set foot inside the familiar circle, a notification appears, confirming my suspicion.

“Safe Zone: Fireside’s Respite. Requires Champion’s Trophy to activate. This safe zone will expire twelve hours after activation. May only be activated once.”

“It appears it is indeed. You know, this is the first time you’ve mentioned Smoulder since you returned. Did you want to talk about what happened?”

“Rose didn’t tell you?”

“He didn’t exactly have time. Besides, I’d rather hear it from you,” Tipan squeezes my shoulder.

I don’t respond immediately, drifting upward before flying toward the next valley entrance, a pair of thick stone pillars leaning against each other, as I think about my response. “Well, I gave you guys the short version, mentioned that we contacted Uthica directly?”

“Yes. I remember. I’ve never had such an amazing experience described with such little wonder.”

Her response kills my next words as I remember just who Uthica is to Tipan. Me meeting her is probably like if Tipan got to meet Cleopatra. I shake my head, refocusing, “Uh. I guess it’s cause she feels like a sister. It absolutely was amazing.”

“Okay,” Tipan responds, blinking rapidly before adding, “And Smoulder?”

“She got stuck in the past, with Uthica. And I keep having… visions…” I pause for a second, waiting for one to take me, but I remain grounded in the present. “Seeing her doing stuff with Uthica.”

“Wait. Smoulder? Smoulder is with Uthica? She’s…” Tipan trails off, spinning in the air, just short of the leaning pillars. Then she shakes her head, staring at me. “As in, she’s Uthica’s famous companion of fire? Smoulder is the Paragon of Flame?”

I shrug at her, “Probably. Wait, do you guys have statues of her? Once she comes back, I bet she’d love to see them.”

Tipan closes all four eyes, rubbing the ridge of her nose, “Alexis, I… this is weird. I remember her… I hate to be the one to tell you this. Smoulder’s not coming back. She sacrificed herself in the battle of Burning Skies. The Paragon’s ashes are interred within the World’s End palace.”

I’m stunned for a second until I realize something Tipan said doesn’t make sense. “Ashes? How can she have ashes? Everybody turns to blue dust when we die?”

“I read that it was from the amount of magic she used that day. She infused her body with such intense fire that it didn’t return to mana.”

…

Part of me wants to collapse to the dungeon floor, weeping.

But I don’t. Instead, I nod curtly at Tipan and check my interface. Our bond is still there. So what does this mean?

It’s possible Smoulder really did die. Or will? But, so what? She was sent back in time, so, clearly, she can be brought forward. And it’s not like death is permanent.

Not for us.

Either way, I know I won't believe it until I see her ashes for myself.

A note from Draith

Thank you Kra for the kind review.

5.18, Around the Rim

6:22 pm, local time. (September 3, 2023, 8:22 pm.) After the ashes.

Tipan and I finish scouting our side of the dungeon a few minutes later, confirming all the side-valleys have similar safe-zones and each one requires a matching Champion’s Trophy to activate.

I’m still lost in thought, trying to figure out how we'll get Smoulder home, when we bump into Josh and Roberts. After grouping up with them, we’re attacked on our way back to the entrance just outside the wind valley. Tipan’s almost struck by a wind enhanced bird of prey dropping from above. Even as I’m turning to help, she dispatches it with a flick of her staff. We continue on our way, hardly having broken stride.

Now that we’re done scouting, I’m feeling more collected. Tipan’s relying on information four-hundred years out of date. There probably won’t even be any ashes in this urn of the Paragon. Another symbolic lie to bolster the Aetherium’s image.

Even as I tell myself this, there’s a twinge of doubt.

Shaking my head, I refocus. I can’t do anything about Smoulder… yet. Completing the World Dungeon takes priority. Maybe there’ll be an upgrade in Copper that’ll help. I mean… Anchor already lets me rewind time. And my Pause isn’t even a class ability.

There’s got to be more.

Tipan conveys our findings to Beth while my attention shifts to the structure dominating the center of the dungeon. There’s an obvious lack of windows and our flight around the perimeter didn’t reveal any doors or other entrances either. And the entire thing seems… weirdly familiar. Like I’ve seen it somewhere before.

Shaking that off, I consider it as an obstacle. It’s clearly the end point of the dungeon, but with no obvious entrances, I suspect we need to complete at least one of the side valleys to gain access. Or something down in the main valley.

“Okay. No obvious door to the main dungeon. Thoughts?” I ask, turning to the others.

“Side quests,” Josh says, “We need to recover keys to use the safe-zones, so we’ll probably need something similar to get inside.”

“Might be able to enter without them, but if it’s like the Pescal puzzle dungeon, once we activate the core, we won’t be able to explore the side valleys,” Tipan observes, causing Beth to frown.

“Well, we know how keen the System is to punish completionists. Doing all the side valleys is guaranteed to kick a hidden boss into motion or make the current one harder. That said, we should do one, at least. Get a feel for how dangerous it’s going to be. I think we should start with-”

“Fire!” Josh, Rufka and I all say in unison, with Tipan only a half-second behind.

Beth blinks a couple times, looking at each of us.

“Not fire?” She tries with a tentative smile, prompting us to burst out laughing.

I rub my cheek, wiping away the grin as Roberts says, “I believe the vote is for fire. I’m sorry Beth.”

This time even Beth lets out a little chuckle, though it’s restrained. “Fire it is then. Shall we?”

The next few minutes are busy as we prepare a fire-resistance tea Tipan picked up while visiting her mom. She’s added a whole smorgasbord of teas to her collection lately, it seems. Luckily, this one tastes way better than the one she gave her father. May that devil’s brew never cross my lips again.

Once we’ve all taken our share of the Firespitter’s blend, Josh leads the way into Fireside Valley. We don’t shy away from any of the encounters, though we pace ourselves, doing our best to conserve resources. But nothing in the valley even gets close enough for Josh or Roberts to attack, nevermind defend against. Two hours later and we’ve cleared out the entire valley, the only thing remaining is a giant tortoise sleeping in a ring of burning trees.

The tortoise is easily the size of a house, but I’m getting used to big monsters. Size isn’t nearly as important as special abilities. The tortoise’s shell appears to be a black basalt, though there are cracks through which dark glowing embers glisten. Over each of its eyes are giant spikes, forming a rough ridge of stone that resembles a heavily mascaraed eyebrow.

It’s a giant, goth fire-turtle. Or a fire-goth giant turtle?

I don’t know how it didn’t wake at our rampage through the valley, but I suspect System shenanigans.

“Creature analyzed: Ashen-Shelled Tortoise. Female. Gene seed D.”

“Name: Lebethin.”

“Attributes: Physical; Moderate, Mobility; Moderate, Magic; Moderate, Awareness; Low.

Attacks: Flame Breath. Wrecking Ball. Rending Snap.

Defences: High physical resistance. Low magic resistance. Fire immunity"

(Wyonna) ”Just your standard desert tortoise taken to extremes. She doesn’t get visitors often, so don’t take her grumpiness personally.”

Wyonna fills the others in as we fall back to gather a nearby patch of Flame Blossom Josh noticed while I was inspecting the tortoise. The ash and orange pattern almost completely blends in with the rest of the flora, so it hasn’t been as easy to find as we’d been hoping. Even so, we’ve still got several cubic metres of it at this point, since once we do find it, there tends to be a lot of it.

“This is going faster than expected,” Roberts notes, his fingers steepled as he paces outside the treeline once we’ve finished gathering the Flame Blossom. “Is anyone else concerned?”

“A little,” I agree, with nods from the others.

“Hmm. Good. Just so long as we’re agreed. Shall we?”

Josh again leads the way, stepping inside the trees. Nothing happens until Roberts, who was trailing behind the rest of us, enters the clearing. The second he crosses the threshold, the trees flare, encasing us in a dome of fire. Which is the signal for the tortoise to wake, its eyes snapping open to reveal whirling molten pools beneath.

Even as I’m entering Pause, it sprays a wave of flame from its mouth, coating Josh in burning goop.

He simply sheds the outer layer of his armour, stepping out of the flaming debris while only taking a few dozen points of Petal damage before charging.

I don’t let him act alone, unloading on its giant head with a spear of ice as he rolls beneath the snapping of its jaw. It hardly notices my attack, but I’ve already started switching elements as we engage it in full, building Elemental Cascade’s increased damage effect while studying it more closely.

After a minute, it’s starting to look like that opening attack was the most dangerous part of the fight. It is tough though, having endured a lot of spells, despite not being strong against magic. Since its opening salvo, it’s been easy to avoid its breath attacks, and even when it rolls into a ball and rampages around the arena, we’re not in any danger, thanks to Roberts’ shields.

It finally shudders to a halt when it drives itself onto a massive thorn Josh wove while waiting out its latest rampage. When the System message appears, it doesn’t grant us integration points or drop any shards. Instead, we each receive a single spike, as though taken from its eyebrow, the tortoise bursting into blue dust in the background.

“Lebethin’s Eyespike: A trophy taken from the Ashen-Shelled Tortoise Lebethin. This item:

- can be used to activate the Fireside’s Respite Safe-zone.

- does not take up inventory space while within the World Dungeon.

- may not be discarded while within the World Dungeon.

- provides increased fire-resistance to all remaining World Dungeon Denizens while the bearer remains within the World Dungeon.

- has additional effects when carried with other trophies.”

Wait, increased fire-resistance to our enemies?

Rufka bumps my shoulder as she waves her spike around. “Guess we know that each of these side-valleys is gonna make things harder. How… what’s the word… awesome? How awesome is that?”

Beth nods, inspecting her own spike. “Rufka’s right. If the System is making things harder based on how many of these valleys we clear, it’ll give us extra rewards to match. It also means we can probably head to the centre now.”

“But we’re not going to,” Josh says, smiling at the rest of us.

She smiles back at him, and I can’t help but feel warm inside. “Nope. Not when it’s this easy. It’ll get harder, but we’re not stopping now.”

Beth is right. It does get harder.

When we defeat the second boss, a bronze bull that shoots thin lines of bronze that serve as nearly indestructible hazards, we gain several of its scales. Not only do they have a new line in the description, Lebethin’s Eyespike's description updates as well.

“Update to Lebethin’s Eyespike: This item’s new effects:

- provides increased Strength to all remaining World Dungeon Denizens while the bearer remains within the World Dungeon.

“Xanthica’s BronzeScale: A trophy taken from the Steel-Scaled Bull Xanthica. This item’s unique effects:

- can be used to activate the Foundry’s Respite Safe-zone.

- provides increased metal-resistance to all remaining World Dungeon Denizens while the bearer remains within the World Dungeon.

- provides increased Constitution to all remaining World Dungeon Denizens while the bearer remains within the World Dungeon.

And that’s just the beginning, cause the last line about having additional effects with more is still listed on both trophies.

Still, we've hardly used any of our resources, so we keep going. After a surprisingly fun but not particularly dangerous match with a wind-enhanced paper doll, the dungeon denizens’ Agility increases. Even with the enhanced Agility, the Earth crab is slow, but easy, its defeat increasing the remaining dwellers' Endurance.

At this point, we finally call a break, returning to Fireside’s Respite. The break is as much to sort through and store all the resources we’ve been gathering as for our need to rest. The inability to immediately store everything of use reminds me just how convenient the inventory system is.

I sit with Rufka, watching Josh as he coils several lengths of silver vines around the earth infused tree trunks. “It’s weird to me that those count as plants,” I comment, indicating the rock-hard vines.

“I don’t make the rules,” Josh shrugs, cinching the entire bulk tight before storing it in his inventory while we have access.

“Yep. You just follow em,” Rufka notes, shifting about, making it hard to use her lap as a pillow. “Such a good boy.”

Josh scowls but doesn’t rise to Rufka’s bait, moving off to help Roberts with dinner instead.

“Why’d you do that?” I ask.

“Do what?” Rufka replies.

“Taunt him like that?”

“Cause that’s what he does? He follows the rules.”

“Sure. But he’s nice.”

“Yep. Nice. But he doesn’t do anything unless Beth asks him to.”

“So?”

“Lexi, I don’t know. It bugs me.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

“Did you know that Uthica wasn’t the first K’tharn to complete the World Dungeon?” Rufka asks, causing me to blink in confusion at her sudden subject change.

“Uh, no?”

“Yep. Mum said it was actually a K’tharn named Alethan. Her entire clan entered around the same time. But she was the only one who survived. She never told anyone what happened inside but warned those who came after to only enter if they were prepared to risk everything.”

“Really?”

“Seems silly to me. Why warn people to be careful but not tell ‘em anything?”

“Maybe it was hard for her to… you know, talk about?” I suggest.

“Maybe.” Rufka grumbles, “Anyway, point is, here she is. This powerful K’tharn, reaching Copper-rank less than a year after integration. Could've saved a lot of lives by going out to help people. Left a sign to indicate the entrance with a warning. Would’ve done as much as she did. But instead, she just sat outside. Eventually Uthica came along. And she listens to Alethan, leaving only to come back a couple months later. The second time, she barely stopped to talk to Alethan before going inside. When Uthica emerged with all her companions, Alethan broke down.”

“Turned out her queen died in the fight with the last boss and Alethan hadn’t known what to do after that. So, she’d followed her queen’s last orders. Warn people not to venture inside.”

“So, she did her job?”

“Yeah. But she could’ve hung a sign and been just as effective. But Uthica, she wouldn’t let her stand around wasting her strength. She put her to work. And Alethan obeyed. She did whatever Uthica told her to. Eventually she joined the Queen’s Knights. No one really knows what happened to her after that.”

“Huh.”

“So, do you understand?” Rufka asks, leaning forward and staring down at me.

“Uh? Yes?”

“Oh? What do you understand?” Rufka teases.

“That following orders is bad?” I try.

Rufka snorts. “Not what I meant. It’s that it was all she did. And even as one of the strongest K’tharn on Akilo, she faded away. I don’t want that.”

“Okay. But why bug Josh?”

“Cause… I guess I don’t want him to be like that either.”

“Maybe try talking to him about it?” I suggest, bopping her on the nose.

Apparently, that was the wrong move, because instead of responding, Rufka goes on the attack, attempting to tickle me into submission.

As we roll around, I eventually gain the upper hand, though she forces me to cheat. Rufka’s got two arms on me. I’m at a serious disadvantage in tickle wars. Or I would be, if I ever played fair. With Rufka held in place by two unbending arms of stone, I bop her nose again.

“Alright. I’ll try talking to him. Later,” Rufka grumbles, rolling her eyes as I let the hands drop away.

“Good,” I say, fighting to keep the smirk off my face. And, as usual, failing.

We end up slipping away for a bath before dinner. When we emerge, I find we’ve started a trend, the others taking their own baths. I may have forgotten we’ve all gone without a bath for the last few days in captivity. The overwhelming smells of the dungeon combined with the others remaining under Beth’s invisibility spell are leading contributors.

It’s definitely not that I just didn’t notice. Nope.

Making dinner while we wait for the others, we discuss what other changes we might expect the dungeon to undergo, but there’s no real sense of worry as we settle in for the night.

The dungeon’s been kinda boring so far.

At least I’ve learned my lesson, and this time I don’t tell it that.

Morning finds us retrieving most of our healing talismans and resistance brews from our inventory. Just in case. If the pattern holds, the next monster we defeat will raise the remaining dwellers’ intelligence. Which means they’re going to be tossing around stronger spells. At the very least.

Despite our worries, when we defeat the horde of Drill-Stone Mice that serves as the Endless Quarry’s champion, the increase to damage is barely noticeable. They don’t seem to get any smarter either.

The next two champions fall quickly, an Ice Bear that resembles a grizzly with ice-skates, who Beth takes down with a series of quick shots through its crystal eyes. And a Water-Swan that tries to drown the entire valley. But flight isn’t restricted, and we pick it off from above, not even getting our feet wet.

Thanks to our rapid pace, we’re able to store away our new loot, of which there is a lot, before our first safe zone even expires. After storing the last of our spoils from the water drenched valley, we find the trophies have changed again.

Apparently, when we defeated the Swan, it gave the remaining dwellers not one, but two attribute and resistance increases. Every one of the trophies now also has the word moderate in front of the increase.

As we prepare to face the lightning valley, the Crackling Den, I can’t help but feel this was probably the worst valley to save for last. But I was outvoted. Rufka thought it’d be more fun, changing her vote with a cackling laugh at the last second.

Low clouds crowd the bottom of the valley, as if tethered to the ground, each one crackling with electricity. The bolts above weren’t very threatening before we completed the last valley, but now they’re intense enough that the rock of the valley floor splits with every strike.

They’re also the only source of light within the valley. By some trick of the dungeon, the light illuminating the rest of the World Dungeon no longer reaches here.

And so, with a still chuckling Rufka at my side, we descend into crackling darkness.

A note from Draith

Oh... so I post all the covers, ads and other arts over on the discord.

Someone asked about it, so figured I might as well, linkie link.

5.19, Grounded

A note from Draith

Edit to chapters 2.00, 2.01, 2.25, 3.12, 3.27, 3.33, 3.34, 4.16 and 4.25. There are quick one line descriptions so you don't have to read the entire change.

2.00, Kythee contemplates the Aetherium's teleport network.

There was definitely something wrong with them. And when all three froze in place when she told them to wait, she started to suspect what it was.

Yes. It seemed she would have the ability to interfere. A few quick commands, then use her sub-commander's access on the mountain Nexus to whisk her away. Ivicka would be able to follow, but only if she was fast enough. Once she gained access to the Aetherium's master teleport grid, Kythee would only need half an hour to reach sanctuary.

With one last look at the three silent forms, Kythee set off up the hill, waving for them to follow.

She only hoped it’d be enough.

2.01, Lexi asks Raz about class upgrades.

Which is banished when my class' rarity stays unique when I Focus on it under my class description. It's surprising how heavy 1% worth of doubt can feel.

I don't let it stop me from asking Raz if he knows any methods, but he just shakes his head and tells me he'll let me know if that changes. So I lean back, staring up at the ceiling with a smile.

Before I'm done basking in my relief, Josh calls out, "Hey Lex, ready to roll?"

2.25, Added a note that Tipan's class change was a transformation, not an upgrade

“I… believe you can contribute, much like you did with Rufka’s cleansing,” Tipan pauses, glancing at Roberts. “Also, if you could be ready to heal me. The System warned that this may… well, it said a class transformation can be dangerous.”

3.12, Ivicka followed Tipan, cause white fur stands out

While I'm worrying about the guys, Ivicka and Tipan are staring at each other as though they're the only ones here.

"I'm glad to see you're well, sister," Ivicka drawls out after a couple seconds, placing a hand on where the damaged micro-Core rests on her waist. "When I found out a skyborne had landed, I just had to stop in."

While they’re talking, I circumspectly scan the K'tharn around us, ready to pause and steal the others away using wind magic, flying us all away the moment Ivicka attacks, rules be damned. None of the other K'tharn seem ready to attack though, standing at ease. Ivicka’s comment provokes a choked cough from Tipan, ruining her attempt to stoically stare back.

3.27 Bem called Ivicka

"Ivicka captured her," I supply while connecting to Beth, letting her know we found him.

He nods, still staring into the room. "She was supposed to help. That was why I called her... Agatha didn't want to see it, but Ivicka's always despised our work. Still, I thought she cared about the little ones..."

His eyes move across the room, as if able to pierce the stone.

There's a moment when Rufka and I glance at each other, unsure of what to say, but then he continues, "I suppose this means it's just me now. Hundreds of years to birth a pu'shaha like Kalim. When Pern started, I doubt he imagined we'd use his descendants in such a way," Bem sighs out as he finally turns to us. "So, what are you going to do with me? I suppose I'm to be executed for my crimes?"

"Uhh, what?" Even as I stutter out my response, I pause time to give myself time to process what he just asked. Is executing people a thing we're doing?

"I hope not," I answer. Beth's on her way here. But she wouldn't kill him for just being a part of this, would she? But for calling Ivicka... She didn't seem to be on the warpath when we were searching for him, so it'll probably be alright. And maybe we can use him to get ahold of her.

Letting the Pause end, I connect to Roberts making sure he's coming with Beth. Just in case.

It only takes them a minute to arrive, but it feels longer as we all stand around awkwardly until I hear the laughter of children behind us. They stumble into the far end of the hall at the same time as Beth and Roberts emerge behind us. Celthi, the female cub, pulls Qern to a stop when she spots us.

"Celthi dear, can you take Qern and fetch Kalim's drafting pencils. He's looking better and I think he'd like to have them on hand when he wakes up," Bem calls out, preempting any questions. Celthi stares at each of us for a second as if daring us to hurt Bem. Then she nods as if satisfied before leading Qern away.

"I have some questions for you," Beth starts once the cubs are around the corner.

"We have questions. If you don't mind," Roberts amends, smiling at Bem. Rufka and I step back, letting them take over, but only after letting Roberts know that Bem summoned Ivicka. I didn't really want to handle the interrogation anyway.

Bem glances inside the room, pulling the door closed before addressing Beth and Roberts. Bem hands over a cracked artifact, explaining how he triggered it when we broke into the lab.

3.33 Added Lore on Traxla

"Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 7.

Name: Minister Traxla of clan Lithania.

Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Restricted.

Defences: Restricted."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the complete analysis of Traxla for 7.9 Focus and 10.0 Facet."

Well, that's a big old yes.

"Citizen status confirmed: Updating..."

"Attacks: Elementalist Mastery, Mana form, Superior Spell forms.

Defences: Elemental Resistance - Extreme(Weak), Superior Mana Regeneration(Crippled).

Conditions: Fallen, Corrupted Soulstone, High Mana Degradation."

"Born in the M'tari ascendancy, Minister Traxla became a citizen of the Aetherium to honour her father. Since joining, she dedicated her life to improving the Aetherium's connections to the Lords of the Deep. The last days of her life were dedicated to an exchange program between the Aetherium and the Ascendancy to build lasting peace. This deal came to an end with her sudden disappearance."

She's at least as powerful as Ivicka. And her past efforts don't matter now. Looks like she's not even fighting us at her peak. That's... depressing.

3.34, Mention that the announcement about the Reaper wasn't broadcast to everyone

A fact Beth appreciates now that we're taking the time to 'upgrade' before assaulting Ivicka's stronghold. She and Roberts fly off to pump them for information while Tipan continues releasing the prisoners, also getting information in the process. The only tidbit that catches my attention is the fact that none of them know about the world's impending doom. Guess the update wasn't world-wide like I thought.

Even while watching over Tipan, I create a temporary underground bunker. We considered evacuating everyone but decided there are too many to get everything sorted in a reasonable timeframe.

4.16, Added Quest Update for Lexi's class rarity when Rufka got her class upgrade.

She spends the next few minutes fielding questions from the rest of the party while I help Kellica. Though I do listen in. Turns out that completing ten hidden objectives was the main requirement. But one of the others was completing a specific dungeon that doesn’t exist anymore. As she does, a notification appears.

"Quest: Not so Unique. Objective complete: 2/2 rare class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveal the rarity of any unique rare class.

“Quest updated: Not so Unique. Description: The pinnacle has been spotted, but has not been reached. Requirements: discover two methods for upgrading any uncommon class to any rare variant. 0/2 epic class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveals the rarity of any epic, rare or uncommon unique class. Time: unlimited."

I... kinda forgot about that quest. I almost flub my instructions to Kellica as I read it, then laugh when I check my class and it's not revealed. So, it's a rare, at least. She looks at me in surprise, and I wave her off with a smile.

"Does that happen often? Dungeons disappearing, I mean?" I ask, returning to the conversation when there's a lull. At the same time, I hold Kellica's hand, trying to guide her as she squeezes her eyes closed for the seventh time, trying to get a feel for Twilight.

4.25, Interaction in Glimmering Sands after the fame upgrade/scanning (inspiration, courtesy of SensibleMalarkey)

We make our way back to our camp, with the crowd having thinned out around the tower.

There are a pair of K'tharn near the entrance, and they both stop when they see me walk past. I give them a small wave, and when we're walking away, I hear one whisper. "Isn't that the Outlander who brought the baby boon?"

"Yeah. Ugh, what happened to the poor thing's fur?" The other responds, getting me to tug on Rufka's arm to block their vision.

"Some outlanders are like that. Think we should talk to her?"

"With the Ascendancy's rules on celebrity privacy? Do you want to get evicted for the festival?"

The last line makes me sag slightly in relief. Then I look towards the beach, and it's easy to see where most of the other festival-goers went. There are thousands of K'tharn in and above the water, with colourful flags and rings floating out for over a kilometre. Some of them are playing Desh'mersa, or at least a version of it, using flags like we used to when the teacher made us play touch football. Which was always a lot more physical than it was supposed to be. Like to see Brie try that crap with her elbows now.

11:49 am, local time. (September 4, 2023, 1:49 pm.) Ready to rumble in the valley of thunder.

As I fly into the valley, thunder booming around us, I glance back at the fading light of what should be a noonday sun. It’s already barely visible. Even wrapping my eyes in Twilight doesn’t allow me to pierce the darkness. The only thing that works is creating balls of lightning.

For the first time since we entered the World dungeon, I find myself worried. The darkness isn’t even the worst of it. Before we defeated the Water-Swan, the valley was full of small, weak lightning beetles. They were everywhere.

Now, there’s not a single bug to be seen.

We continue forward, silent as the wind, not one of us indulging in our usual banter. I’m tempted to just use Lesser Cataclysm to kill everything. But the valley is bigger than my total range, and I don’t want to be running on empty.

A particularly bright flash is the only warning I get before I’m struck, an enormous pressure tossing me to the ground. It takes several Paused seconds for me to determine what happened. Roberts and Tipan are near me, also recovering from the massive lightning strike that knocked us out of the sky. Even as I watch, another strike hits Josh as he holds his thorn-shield over Beth and Rufka.

They’re forced to the ground as we adopt our own defensive shell, prepared for further assault. But the strikes stop. We’ve barely been injured, Roberts able to restore the hundred health lost between the entire party in seconds.

“Guess they don’t like us flying,” Josh whispers.

“Guess not,” Beth’s head pivots to the sides, before motioning us forward.

The next fifteen minutes are spent scrambling over broken rock while avoiding the largest of the clouds. When we come across a small bank of low-hanging mist blocking our way, instead of going around, Beth signals me to attack it.

Uncertain as to her reasoning, I nonetheless prepare several area attack spells, thinking about the beetles that disappeared. If there are any hiding inside, they’re going to be subjected to every element I can throw.

I don’t bother pausing time, simply smiling as I release a chaotic storm of explosive spells.

The cloud dissipates, and amongst the cloud are hundreds of beetle corpses. I shiver, glad I decided to go for overkill as even now half of the beetles are struggling toward us. But the others step in, flattening them with spells they were holding in preparation for something worse to emerge.

Still, after realizing what’s hiding in the clouds, Beth puts us to work cutting them down. It’s slow and methodical work, and we have to work under the sole light of Rufka’s glowing ball of lightning plasma. Which prompts me to start building a spell that lets me make one of my own without using manipulation.

Several hours, far too many bug parts and multiple failed attempts at a permanent ball of lightning later and we’ve only cleared half the valley. No matter how many of the swarms we kill, if we jump too high, enormous bolts of lightning appear, smashing us down with increasing force. The most recent mis-step resulted in Josh taking more than nine-hundred points of damage, completely blowing through his Health, and leaving him bruised and sore. If Roberts hadn’t been here, Josh would’ve been unconscious.

It's simple to decide to walk slowly after that.

I’ve finally succeeded in building a proper sphere of lightning when there are only a few swarms of the lightning beetles left. As we blast a distant cloud, they start congregating around a dark bubble, their flickering lightning disappearing as they escape inside.

While staring at the bubble, Beth looks at us, looks back at the bubble, then back to us. “Nope. Just nope. Absolutely not.”

Even as she turns around and starts marching away, the rest of us stand there, watching her go. I clap my mouth shut with a loud smack as she disappears over a small ridge.

“Uhm,” I offer, before running after her. I almost can’t see her when I come over the rise, her dark armour blending with the rock. She’s not walking anymore, instead sitting with her head in her hands just out of sight of the others. I wave them back as I sit next to her.

“Hey.”

“Hey kid.”

We sit in silence for a few minutes, not saying anything. I can barely hear the voices of the others from over the ridge, occasionally punctuated by the boom of thunder.

Beth shifts slightly, kicking a loose rock down the side of the ridge. As it bounces, she finally lifts her head, staring at the ball of lightning I have floating over us.

“I miss Molly.”

“Uh. Molly?” I ask, completely off-guard. “Who’s Molly?”

“Molly was my cat when I was your age. Hadn’t thought of her in years before Akilo.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Smoulder reminds me of her. Just as stubborn. And as likely to show up when you need some nonjudgmental love.” Beth laughs, but there’s no smile. She presses the heels of her palms against her eyes before continuing. “Molly used to sneak into my hoodie before I went to class. Then when I tried to take her out, she’d dig in her claws. It was easier to bring her with me than it was to dislodge her.”

“Wait, so you took your cat to class?”

“Yep. She’d snuggle for hours. Made calculus much less stressful. Had to leave my hoodie at home when I took the exam though.”

“Hehe. Sounds like Molly was a great support cat.”

“Yeah. And I bet if she was here now, I wouldn’t be acting so stupid.”

“Stupid? Beth, you’re the smartest person I know.”

“Thanks kid. But this whole head in the hands thing, just from staring at a ball of darkness? That’s stupid.”

“It has to do with… dying, doesn’t it?” I ask, pulling my jacket closed against a sudden chill that has nothing to do with the cold.

Beth doesn’t answer me, staring down the edge of the ridge to where the shadows dance under the erratic rhythm of my lightning ball.

I squeeze Beth’s shoulder, pulling her into a side-hug while waiting for her.

After a few seconds Beth glances at me then chuckles.

“What?” I ask, flipping my hair so it shields my face from her laughter.

“Sorry kid. It’s just. If someone had asked me back when we came to Akilo if I’d ever feel comforted by your presence. Well, I’d have probably kicked them in the crotch.”

I stare at Beth. “You’re saying you don’t find me reassuring?”

“Kid, you’re the scariest damn thing I’ve seen. Ever.”

I open my mouth, I’m not sure if I want to object or complain, but nothing comes out. I’m still trying to figure out what to say when Beth beats me to it. “But you’re one of us. We’re on Team Scary. So, that makes you comforting. You know?”

I nod. That makes sense to me. Not the part about me being scary. But I remember how reassuring it was… how reassuring it is, to know that Beth’s on my side. “Same.”

“Same?” Beth chuckles.

“Yep. You’re the most bad-ass person I’ve ever known.”

“Damn kid. Now I have to stand up and go back down there, don’t I?”

Grinning, I offer her my hand, “You do. No choice.”

“Fine. On one condition.”

“Oh?”

“When we get out of here, we have to make time for you to teach me how to do that,” Beth states, pointing at the ball of lightning hovering over my shoulder.

“Deal.”

We rejoin the others without further comment, Beth leading the way down the jagged terrain. The dark sphere at the centre of the grove hasn’t changed, an unyielding darkness that swallows even the light from mine and Rufka’s lightning orbs.

“Well, let’s get to it, shall we people!” Beth calls out, hauling Josh to his feet with a big grin. She’s able to maintain her grin until we get to the edge of the sphere, at which point I can see it falter for a second. But only a second. Then she starts signaling and we slip into battle mode.

Pressing through the shadow reveals several trees, shrouded in a fog of lightning beetles. The second we’re all inside, thunder echoes across the sphere as several lightning bolts descend on our position. But now that we’re used to the way the Champion battles start, I’m able to relocate everyone during my first Pause. It’s not as effective as teleporting, but dragging them along the ground allows everyone to easily avoid the opening salvo.

I return fire, rotating through my spells to see which are most effective only to discover the trees, labeled by the System as Crakthorns, are immune to elemental damage. All elemental damage.

That’s a new problem.

Still, the bugs aren’t immune. They’re surprisingly vulnerable to fire. They’re more vulnerable than when we fought them in the valley. While their weakness seems like a good thing, it’s only after I’ve scorched most of the beetles that I notice the Crakthorns have been draining the corpses. With the beetles and their mist gone, I’m finally able to get a good look.

Each of the Crakthorns has a different twisted face, etched into a perpetual scream. The last of the beetles flitting about are suddenly snagged by the limbs of the nearest Crakthorns, crushed even as we redouble our offensive, focusing on the closest of the tree-creatures as it begins to rip its roots free.

Crap.

Its companions don’t stop pelting us with lightning bolts as it charges forward, only to be met by Josh who throws it back with a heave of his thorn-woven shield. It only stumbles half a step before it wails. The force of the wail shudders through me, causing my ears to ring even as my health drops by a sixth. Its wail is interrupted by an explosive blast of void energy. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Beth has switched to a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. It’s the first time I’ve seen her use it in combat.

It’s super effective.

The first of the Crakthorns has already collapsed, but a quick glance at her resources tells me Beth doesn’t have enough Umbra to take all of them out with her newest toy.

But that’s okay. She’s bought the rest of us time. And as I consider unleashing Lesser Cataclysm, I scan the second Crakthorn as it struggles free, making a new discovery. “They’re only immune to fire damage while they remain rooted.” I call out, hoping everyone heard me.

I start creating an overpowered flame-lance, directing it at the second Crakthorn as it stumbles toward Josh when the world… stutters. One second, Josh is about to block its blow, the next he’s gone, thrown away and the tree-creature is reaching for Roberts. I readjust my aim, releasing my flame-lance when the world stutters again.

This time, when the stutter ends, the tree-creature is on the ground, a massive hole burning where my fire-lance must have passed through it.

I attempt to redirect my attention to the fight, but the world stutters again. I’m standing on the far side of the sphere, surrounded by three separate Crakthorn. They’re all half-incinerated, their remains already burning to ash. I attempt to turn to the others, but once more, everything stops. But this time, time doesn’t start again.

Instead, I feel a pull.

Everything goes dark.

Smoulder is on my chest, her wet nose nuzzling against my furry cheek as I look about the entirely too bright leather tent. Above me is Uthica’s adviser, Pelthin. She’s dabbing at my head with a cloth. I can hear Uthica’s father, Pern whispering angrily in the background, but I can’t understand what’s being said.

“Pern. Pern, she’s awake!” I hear Pelthin cry out.

The angry whispering cuts out as Pern pushes through a leather curtain I’d thought was just part of the tent.

“Uthica?” he asks, dropping to his knees while taking both of my left hands.

I pause, about to deny his question. But then I see the hands he’s holding. They’re my hands. But they’re definitely Uthica’s hands. I’m in her body again. But where is she?

Uthica?

I wait several seconds, but there’s no response. And the whole time, her father is staring at me.

“Uhm. Not quite?” I try.

He hisses, drawing in a deep breathe as he glares at Pelthin. Which seems fair. Uthica’s chest is killing me. I’m guessing this must be after Pelthin stabbed her. Which reminds me…

“Why in Vaus’ name did you stab her?”

Between the two of us glaring at her Pelthin slumps down, crying.

Okay. Well, that’s not useful.

Pern disregards Pelthin turning back to me. “So, if you’re not Uthica, then you must be the visitor.”

“You know about me?” I ask. His upper eyes are flickering rapidly, a sign he’s been worried. Something only Uthica and I know. I have to keep myself from pulling him into a hug to reassure him that she’s fine.

Cause it’d be a lie. I’m worried about Uthica too.

“Yes. Uthica never mentioned you directly. But I know my daughter. And she’d let it slip on occasion. Which is what prompted this foolishness apparently.” His glare returns, focusing on Pelthin again.

“I didn’t… I thought it would help her,” Pelthin bawls, curling in on herself.

Pern closes his eyes, rubbing his central eye-ridge vigorously as he says, “I’m aware of that Pelthin. That, and the fact you brought her straight to me are the only reason I haven’t told the others what you did.”

“It was supposed to make her better. Jethico said it would make her better,” Pelthin repeats to herself as she rocks back and forth to the side. I almost feel bad for her. The ache in Uthica’s chest makes that hard though.

“So, I don’t know who you are. But can you tell me why you’re inhabiting my daughter’s body?”

I glance down at where Smoulder is resting on my chest, then over at where Pelthin is curled into a ball on the floor, before finally meeting Pern’s commanding gaze. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Uthica set up some fancy ritual that let us talk to each other. Then when we were talking, that one stabbed us in the chest.”

Pelthin flinches when I mention her stabbing us, but Pern just sighs.

“And I can’t even analyze the weapon because it was destroyed. Likely a feedback loop.” He looks up at the ceiling for several seconds before adjusting his stance. “Well, nothing to do about that now. What’s your name?”

“Uh, my name’s Alexis.”

“Well, Alexis. I think Uthica and I need your help.”

“Sure. Though I was kind of in the middle of something when I was… brought here.”

“Are you able to leave? No foul intent, but if I could have my daughter back, that would be wonderful.”

Uhm. Hmm. That’s a good question. Can I leave? When I search for the familiar feeling of my Facet, it’s weak. Very weak. And there’s nothing to pull on. I don’t feel a connection to my body. I spend a few minutes after that panicking, holding Smoulder tight.

It’s when she nibbles my ear that I finally relax. I can feel her concern radiating through our bond, but when I look at her and laugh, it returns to her usual smugness.

And a demand to feed her.

Realizing Pern’s been sitting by my side this whole time, I apologize, “Sorry.”

“I imagine that means you’re not able to return my daughter to me.”

“Sorry,” I repeat, “I don’t know why, but my power is… restricted. Maybe with more practice.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the time. There are those who have taken my daughter’s moment of weakness and seek to turn the Aetherium on its head. We need her. Now.” Pern extends an arm toward me.

I grasp it, letting him pull me up. “I told you. I can’t get her back.”

“True. But you can help me buy more time. Now, I need you to…”

I close my eyes as I listen to Pern’s instructions. “Okay. I’m not sure if I’ll be very good. But I’ll give it a try.”

“That’s all I ask. I’ll be right behind you.” Turning, he addresses Pelthin, “Pelthin. It’s time for you to make a choice.”

She stops rocking, looking up at where I’m standing next to Pern. Her voice cracks as she asks, “What choice?”

“Do you want to amend for what you’ve done to Uthica?”

Pelthin scrambles to her feet so quickly, that part of me is afraid she’s going to stab me again. But she instead clasps both of her left arms to her chest, performing a small bow as she says, “Anything. I’ll do anything to redeem myself.”

“Good. Cause my daughter’s rather heavy. Take her other side,” Pern says, shifting so I can put more of my weight on Pelthin. Smoulder glares at her as she carefully accepts my arm over her shoulder.

Pern guides us out of the tent. Even with them supporting most of my weight, the pain in Uthica’s chest makes walking difficult. Outside the tent is a closed-in compound, leather skins stretched out to form a second layer of privacy curtain. Actually, considering the strength of infused leather, they might be fully functional walls now that I think about it.

“Don’t you have healers?” I find myself asking as a particularly bad spasm almost causes me to collapse halfway across the small space.

“Healers stay within Aethire or Betheryne. None would venture this far south.”

“No healing talismans?”

“We had several. None seemed to work except the one that brought you here.”

“Wait, you’re saying I feel like this after you used healing on her?” I ask, as we reach a leather flap that’s been secured by several thin strips of leather with bone buckles.

Pern pauses with his hand on the first of the buckles. “There was a hole in your chest. If Pelthin hadn’t expended every single healing talisman she had available, you wouldn’t be standing there now. And even now, I don’t… It’s amazing you’re even capable of limping.”

He takes a breath, closing all four eyes, his hand clenching the buckle. “Now remember. Once these straps are undone, you are Uthica. Only Pelthin and I can know otherwise. Understood?”

“Understood,” I nod, doing my best to remain standing through the pain, Smoulder perched on my shoulder.

“Good.” Pern finishes unbuckling the flap, then pulls it back, revealing a short hallway leading to a set of steps. At the top of those steps is a platform. And on that platform, waiting, are Uthica’s aunt Jethico with more than a thousand K’tharn in the crowd beyond.

No big deal, Alexis. Easy peasy.

You can do this.

Time to be a Queen.

A note from Draith

Thank you Darius Sanguna and HallMally for the kind and critical reviews. Especially Darius, as he provided lots of feedback for the changes seen above.

Thanks for reading!

5.20, Stepping Up

December 22, 1502 AD. The most horrifying moment of all. The one before stepping on stage.

Climbing the steps up the platform under the late day sun is one of the most painful experiences of my existence. And that’s with Pern helping me most of the way. Pelthin stands back and to my side, the very appearance of the loyal adviser she once claimed to be.

While having Pern help Uthica is a concession she would’ve made, she’s never visibly relied on anyone else. Every step sends pain lancing through my left side, forcing me to stop and recenter myself.

It’s funny, if it was me, I’d probably have given up by now. But somehow, since I’m doing this for Uthica, it’s easier to endure.

Easier to take that next step that- Vaus-dammit!

Breathe.

Several more repetitions and we’re finally at the landing. There’s only a thin piece of leather between me and a thousand K’tharn waiting to see their glorious leader.

And if Uthica was here, I bet that’s what she’d give them.

Despite the pain, I almost turn away.

I’m not their queen.

But Pern insists once Uthica comes back, she’ll need the Aetherium behind her.

So, I mutter my lines to myself once more.

This elicits a chuckle from Pern. When I glance at him, he explains, “Uth-you always do the same thing before addressing a crowd. Every single time you have to give a speech, you tell me that addressing a crowd is the worst part of being the Queen.”

I grin at Pern. “That’s because the worst part of being a queen is having to address a crowd.”

“I know,” he grins back, and I find myself chuckling.

A sob from Pelthin reminds me that we’re not alone. And that Pern isn’t really my father, no matter how many memories I have of him.

Reining in my grin, I push through the leather flap. It couldn’t weigh more than a few kilos, but the weight is almost too much for me.

Luckily, Pern steps up, clearing the flap the rest of the way. I step onto the stage, doing my best to keep the pain from showing on Uthica’s face.

Her aunt Jethico is standing to one side, her eyebrows drawn together in… shock? Relief? It’s hard to say. Uthica never trusted anyone but her father. But her aunt had always been hard for her to read. Too bad I didn’t think to warn Uthica about how treacherous Jethico would become. At least I mentioned it while he was giving me instructions. Combined with Pelthin apparently having been convinced by Jethico to stab Uthica...

Well, it's unlikely Jethico will try anything in front of a thousand of Uthica’s loyal soldiers. So, I get up on the podium, ready to give the speech Pern has prepared for me.

Then I make the mistake of looking out across the crowd of K’tharn as their voices quiet. They’re staring at Uthica expectantly. At me. Panicking, I try to Pause time, to give myself a moment to think.

To my surprise, it works. Only for a few seconds, but it’s enough. When it ends, I take a deep breath, then I start Pern’s speech, “My warriors. As you can see, the rumours of my demise were greatly exaggerated.”

A nervous chuckle from several in the crowd.

“As you know, I have what some may call, an unhealthy habit of experimenting with things that explode.”

This time the laughter is less nervous, feels more genuine. Pern really knows them. Really knows Uthica.

“And as a natural consequence of this habit, sometimes my experiments do exactly that. Now, I’m not saying it didn’t hurt. Because believe me, you would not want to be on the receiving end of that explosion.” Probably my easiest line since I can still feel the gnawing ache in my chest as I rub at it to show that it’s intact.

“But as you can see, I’ve recovered. In just a couple days we’ll be receiving our first guests from off-world. Guests who aren’t planning to wave guns in our face. What say-” I pause as the pain suddenly spikes, causing my vision to blur. “What say-” I try again, only for the floor to suddenly greet me.

As I fight to keep my eyes open, I feel Smoulder rubbing her wet nose up against me. Pern is standing over me, his concern written in the wrinkles of his face.

And as my vision fails, I see Jethico behind him, a small smile tracing her lips.

I stumble, in the middle of one step and the next as I return to myself.

“Alexis?” Roberts asks, my arm already around his shoulder.

“Yes?” I ask back, looking around. We’re walking through the lightning valley, picking our way across broken terrain.

“We were worried about you. You haven’t spoken since we defeated the Crakthorns.”

“I… Uhh… had a bit of an out-of-body experience.”

“Oh? Is that what you call that? I’ve never seen you stab something with a spear before.”

Uh… what?

“She was just trying to emulate me,” Josh grins, bumping my shoulder. “I was surprised when you threw up that armour around yourself though. I thought you didn’t like wearing armour.”

Wait…

If I was in Uthica’s body… was she in mine?

“Like I said, out of body,” I shrug. "I think I might've... swapped places with Uthica?"

What was it like for Uthica to wake in my body in the middle of combat after having been stabbed through the chest? Kinda seems unfair.

Would’ve rather woken to getting stabbed when I was her. Less painful than public speaking.

"Whoa, seriously? That's full on Freaky Friday right there," Josh says, drawing the other's attention. After a quick series of questions about what might've triggered it, and how I'm feeling, it's decided to put it on hold until we're out of the valley. It’s only after another fifteen minutes I notice I can’t tell where we are. Or where we're going.

“Uh. What happened after the fight. I’m having a hard time remembering.”

Josh practically bounces as he answers, “Beth grabbed us and started marching us straight back to the entrance the second we had the trophy. We’re not going to try to harvest anything that’s not in our path.”

“Yeah, but how does she know where the entrance is?” I ask, gesturing at the darkness all around us.

Roberts points to where Tipan is consulting with Beth at the top of a nearby ridge, Rufka waiting just below. A three-dimensional map of the valley is projected over Tipan’s hand for a moment as they study it. Then they slide down the hill before waving us forward on a slightly adjusted course.

“Still no flying?” I ask.

“We decided it wasn’t worth the risk. We’ve only been inside for a day. We can afford to smell the roses,” Josh says, plucking a rose from his own armour as he does exactly that.

I nod, rubbing at an ache in my chest.

…

Wait.

I rub at my chest again and the ache is still there. Right beneath my left boob. Realizing what rubbing my boob might look like, I cross my arms to keep my hands locked in place.

Which makes it harder to walk. I quickly uncross my arms when some of the rubble we’re crossing tries to slide out from under my feet.

After that, I stop trying to figure out what the pain in my chest means, focusing on keeping my footing while maintaining several orbs of lightning to keep my mind off it.

An hour later, with only a few minor detours, we emerge into the filtered white light of the dungeon. The too-solid, pale blue sky high above is far more comforting than I expected. By this point, the pain in my chest has receded to the point I can barely feel it.

Josh is skipping down the slope, in surprisingly good spirits while the rest of us are more demure. But he stops a short ways ahead. The central valley is no longer peaceful, the cubes shifting slowly back and forth, their grinding motions creating a continuous echo. The movement of the cubes isn’t the only change. There are now packs of roaming creatures wandering the plains beneath it.

Centauric insectoids with a single eye and scything blades in place of arms. Pretty sure those are the Calthonra on the big ol' warning signs. Considering they’re the only aspect of the dungeon so far that matches any of our intel, it’s almost a relief to see them. Sure, they’re incredibly resistant to magic and physical damage, but we also know their weaknesses.

Now I just have to hope I don’t end up swapping places with Uthica in the middle of the next fight, and we’ll be Silver.

The dungeon light is dimming as I sit with my legs dangling over the edge of the entrance platform watching Beth snipe yet another Calthonra. She’s at 253 out of 342.

We tried fighting them head on, but with all the increases to their resistances, it took the rest of us working together half an hour to take down a single bug-taur. The fight began with me sitting out, just in case I had another trigger. But when nothing happened for the first ten minutes, I was flagged in. Beth hadn’t been able to get a proper shot through the entire fight, one of their abilities allowing them to dodge all projectiles while in close proximity to any of them. And I'd been called in to finish it off.

When I blasted it with Lesser Cataclysm, it wasn’t enough to stop it.

And the ripped space drew in three more.

Once we finished the disaster that was that fight, we retreated so Josh could use his chemical manipulation to create armour cracking explosives, which is a thing he can do now.

This is what I get for not asking about his new class abilities. While he was working on that, Beth decided to thin the herd, and it was effective enough we decided to stockpile Josh’s work for inside. So, now we’re waiting for Beth to clear out the horde before we attempt to enter the door at the base of the towering cubes.

Assuming it’s still there once she’s finished.

There’s a game of Astra’s Stride being played just behind us. After winning three games in a row, I decided to make a tactical withdrawal to maintain my winning streak. It’s the first time I’ve played so well. I could practically see everyone’s moves before they made them.

Which is also part of why I stopped playing to watch Beth instead.

When I successfully guess her 256th target correctly, I’m almost certain. I’ve gotten the last thirty targets. Some of which could be luck or reasoned guesswork as she moves to the next in her sights. But getting the exact order? Every time? When there were up to five standing close together. No.

The fact that I only knew a few seconds before she took the shot adds more supporting evidence for my thesis. I’m receiving hints from the future. Not far, and not obvious.

But this is huge. It’s a completely new aspect to my temporal manipulation. And it doesn’t seem to cost me anything. It’s like a free Anchor.

As I mentally cross out number 257, I lay back, staring up at the dungeon ceiling. It’s not as high as I’d originally thought. Clever use of colouring made it seem like it was kilometres up. But I flew up and discovered it was only five hundred metres or so. Still impressive. And it does extend higher in the centre where the cubes are stacked. But the dungeon could easily fit inside World’s End mountain.

I don’t really think of much as I lay there. Not that I don’t have a lot I should think about.

Honestly, I have too much to think about.

But I’m taking a break. Letting my mind wander. Unwind as it were. The sound of Beth’s void-rifle ending Calthonra after Calthonra is cathartic.

Once Beth only has twelve left, I lift myself, flying over to the others while letting my body lounge on a wave of air. I’m flopped to the side with my eyes barely open as I say, “Beth’s almost done.”

“Lexi, you okay?” Rufka asks, trying to grab my hand. But I dodge it easily.

“Yep. Just trying a new look. Zombie-Lex. Do you like it?” I ask, floating toward Rufka while remaining completely at ease.

“Nope. Very creepy.”

“Dang. What bout you guys?” I ask, rotating toward everyone else. I receive two shrugs and a raised eyebrow from Roberts. Yes! Raised eyebrow. Calling that a win.

Speaking of winning. “Congrats Tipan,” I say as she picks up her piece. She then proceeds to complete her invasion of Josh’s territory. Oops. This time sense thing’s going to take some getting used to.

She grins at me as the others finish their game, Beth coming to join us when it’s down to just Rufka and Roberts.

“All done?” I ask, more out of habit than doubt.

“Yep. I could use a bit of a break though. Another game?”

I agree, along with the others, sitting down to see if my future sense can allow me to keep my winning streak. I quickly learn that while it’s useful, it’s not all powerful. A single person waiting to make their move throws my sense out of whack.

Still, I win the game easily.

“You’re really kicking ass tonight, Lex,” Josh says, holding his fist towards me for a fist bump.

Returning the bump, I decide to reveal my advantage. After all, it’s not like I’m using it on purpose. “Thanks. But I was cheating. I think. I unlocked a new ability during the fight with the tree-thingies.”

“Ha. And here I thought you’d been Pausing between turns to think things through.”

I shrug. I’ve done that before. And I still didn’t win as often as I have tonight.

“What is it kid?” Beth asks as we pack up the board.

“Limited future-sight. I can sort of tell what moves people are going to make. Or what targets you’re going to shoot.”

Beth stares at me for five seconds before asking, “Can you tell what I’m going to say?”

“I don’t think so,” I answer, furrowing my brows. I haven’t had that happen once.

“Interesting,” Roberts says.

“It is. Useful too. Especially if it works as a danger-sense,” Beth agrees.

“Almost as useful as common sense,” Josh says, elbowing me with a grin.

“Which I’ve got,” I respond, my chin held at an angle that would be difficult to achieve if I was walking instead of flying.

Josh’s only response is a chuckle.

Then our time for fooling around is over, Josh armouring up while Beth scans the valley for any strays she may have missed.

We descend less than a minute later, each of us vigilant.

The door we were planning to go through closed at some point. But flying around the base to the far side we find another. This one isn’t just a hole in the base either. It has a black door that gleams as we approach.

“I’d rather not touch that,” Josh says, waving at the door.

“Got it,” I answer, pulling rock from the valley floor, fashioning it into a three-metre pole then letting it land in Josh’s hands.

“Thanks, I guess.”

“No problem,” I respond, backing away as he pokes the door with the stone rod. The door swings inward, revealing a black corridor illuminated in the same pinks and orange as run across the surface of the cubes.

“No sign of enemies,” Josh informs us after putting his armored head through the door.

“Well people. Any bets on how high we need to go to finish this dungeon?” Beth asks while holding up three Iron-rank mana essence.

We all glance at each other. None of us need the shards. In fact, we mostly pool our resources. Still…

“All the way to the top. Hundred shards,” Roberts answers, causing the rest of us to groan.

“No other bets?” Beth asks to a round of shaking heads.

“Oh well, I tried. Let’s move people,” she says, directing Josh forward.

When I step inside, I notice the air is clean. The mana feels as though it’s given purpose. And that purpose is clean. Kinda like mana infused by a Roomba.

Interesting.

At first we remain paranoid about traps and ambushes. But the first floor is entirely clear of enemies. It’s also completely lacking in anything resembling loot or even rooms. It’s two perpendicular hallways that have a pair of stairwells leading up where they meet.

Ascending the stairs takes longer than I anticipated. There aren’t any hallways leading off for several hundred metres. If we weren’t flying, I’d imagine the stairs would get monotonous real quick.

We cross a line that changes the hue of the blank wall slightly. Which I think means we’ve moved to the next cube. Twenty metres later, we finally come across a hallway. But the stairs don’t stop here. Instead, they continue, reaching upward to infinity. Or the top of the cube-tower. Whichever comes first.

“Should we keep going?” Josh asks, his foot already on the next step.

“Check out the first floor at least?” Beth asks.

We all nod at that, and Josh leads us down the hallway. After a good fifty metres, the hall splits to either side. As Josh takes us to the right, I can’t help but glance behind us. But nothing dangerous pops out and the passage doesn’t close.

Weirdest dungeon ever.

When we go around the next corner, I finally understand why.

“That’s a Ripple-drive,” I mutter. The coils, tubes and trans-phasic inducers are in an unfamiliar configuration, but the principles remain consistent. In fact, I think I understand how this ship works better than the Sanctuaries.

“Lex?” Beth asks as I step toward a ladder that leads inside the giant assembly.

Inspecting several of the parts, I’m able to confirm it. This isn’t just for show.

“This is a fully functional ship,” I call out from within one of the central pylons. As I inspect the configuration, I start to question my earlier statement. It is functional, but it doesn’t seem to be setup to run between planets. Why?

“Damn rights, it’s functional!” A voice yells, echoing around the chamber. The voice sounds familiar.

When I fly out from within the pylon, I find my party readying themselves for battle, facing down Fethix, the elf that Uthica once choked for stealing her necklace.

“What is this?” I ask, waving my hand at the drive.

“This is Aethire,” Fethix declares, hands tucked into her pockets, pulling her coveralls down, revealing...

I keep my eyes locked firmly on her face as I ask, “What do you mean?"

“Aethire. The city that floats on clouds? This here’s the engine that keeps it running. What, a single decade goes by, and everyone forgets how the city stays up?” She stares at me for a second, pulling her hands out of her pockets. “Cept you ain’t a local, are ya? And unless there’s been a new integration wave I ain’t heard of, you’re not a System-bound race either.”

I don’t respond, though I notice my friends are still on alert, ready to act if this becomes a fight. Because we’re still in a dungeon.

Which reminds me, “This is part of the World Dungeon, right?”

“World Dung…? Oh, fuck me sideways.” Fethix spins about, running toward a console where she starts tapping furiously.

The others look to me, and I just shrug, floating closer to Fethix. Looking over her shoulder, I see her pulling up what appear to be news articles. She only glances at them for a couple seconds before moving to the next.

Finally, she comes to a stop on one that has a title about an incoming System integration. On the page is a picture of several humans next to an image of Earth from space.

She glances over her shoulder at me. “This is over twenty years ago. It says here you shouldn’t be integrated yet. So clearly something went wrong. The System hasn’t gotten an integration date wrong in millennia. But what do I flogging know. Apparently, a primitive, barely-integrated user can trick me into maintaining their floating city in the sky for centuries by associating me with their world dungeon. How did I not get any other visitors?”

The last doesn’t actually seem directed at us, but I answer anyway. “Uh. Well, it sounds like there’s another version of the World Dungeon. Most people go through that one.”

“Another? Well, I’ll be a K’tharn’s uncle. That means she must’ve arranged a parallel split. Likely running off the same mana vents that are powering this whole shebang.”

“From what I understand you can have as many parties in separate instances of the World Dungeon as you need,” I inform Fethix.

“What? No, that’s not possible. I mean, a few dozen is feasible with the size of the mana-vent we’re parked on top of, but they wouldn’t be unlimited.”

“I’m guessing the Aetherium doesn’t let that many parties in at one time,” I say, my attention moving back to the article about Earth.

Fethix catches me staring at the article and says, “So, you’re an Earther, are ya?” She eyes me up and down in a way that makes me feel uncomfortable. “Nice to see a nice healthy Elvenoid race joining the ranks. Been too long since we’ve encountered a seed world. If you know what I mean.”

“Um. Nope,” I answer before quickly asking, “Why do you think Uthica locked you in here anyway?”

“Oh, it was probably cause of… hey, how did you know it was Uthica?” her eyes narrow, causing her ears to flop as she leans forward in a move that is clearly designed to get me to look down her coveralls. But I keep my attention on the screen behind her, using a gust of wind magic to flip the page.

“Well, you worked for Uthica after you were taken from the Thenite Consortium, right?”

“How the buggins do you know I worked for Uthica, but you don’t know about… no, nevermind. Who are you people?”

“Oh, right. My name’s Alexis. What does this number represent?” I ask, staring at a number that reminds me of the way System price tags are labelled. Except this one seems to be in millions of Gold-rank mana essence shards.

“That’s the opening bid for System invasion rights. It’s pretty high, but then your planet’s looking to be a class 5 world. Not many of those in the System. Nine last time I had a look. Though clearly I’m a couple centuries out of date. Least my bonds will have matured.” Fethix abandons her efforts to distract me, turning back to the console to flip through a couple more pages.

“Bonds?”

“None of your business. Sheesh, some users. There,” Fethix points at the screen with a smug smile plastered on her face. On the screen is a much higher number than the one on the previous page.

“What’s that?”

“That’s the current bid for your Earth.”

I blink at her then look back at the number.

97,000,000,000,000 Gold-rank mana-shards.

That’s a lot of zeroes.

5.21, Bountiful Bounties

6:15 pm, local time. (September 4, 2023, 8:15 pm.) Drowning in disbelief.

97,000,000,000,000.

Ninety-Seven Trillion Gold-rank mana essence. That’s what the current bid for first rights to invade earth is worth. More than enough to protect earth from the incoming mana-storm. Far more.

Pushing Fethix to the side with a hip check, I start paging through to check what Akilo was worth. It takes me a while to figure out the search function, Fethix grousing the whole time about ‘stupid over-powered Earthers’.

Akilo’s first invasion commenced ten years after Integration. Their highest bid was Five-hundred thousand Gold-rank mana essence. Further checking reveals they were three waves ago.

By this point, the others have filtered over, so when I turn to ask Fethix another question, Beth beats me to it. “What does this mean for Earth?”

Fethix pulls at one of her droopy ears while staring at the ceiling. “It means… it means you’re pretty much right fucked in the pooper. The System’ll impose limits, but you’re gonna have the most powerful factions in the System bearing down on ya.”

As my papa once said, Beth’s response is about as elegant as a trucker who was just kicked in the nuts, with twice the volume.

When Papa said it, he’d been describing the homeless man I’d run into, to his friend Mr Edwards. The homeless man, who had told me his name was Roger, Chris, Frank and Charmin in the space of five minutes, and normally hung around the strip club I wasn’t supposed to know about.

When he saw me there, he’d waved me away before walking me home. Even as he knocked on our door, hollering for papa, he regaled me with a lot of profanity I’d never heard before. Come to think of it, that was a very educational day.

After Beth has calmed down, she commandeers the console from Fethix. Fethix doesn’t put up much of a fight, sauntering over to another display attached directly to the Ripple-drive.

“I shoulda known. That’s why we had to build it all from scratch. It’s so obvious now.”

“What’s obvious?”

Fethix jumps as though she didn’t expect company. “The whole design. It’s durable. Efficient. Powerful. This design would be envied on any of the Nine. I thought I’d had it figured out, but she co-opted the World Dungeon.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that earlier. Big deal?”

Fethix snorts. “Yeah, it’s a big deal. Damn kitten was smarter than I gave her credit for. Way smarter.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. See, she didn’t just co-opt the dungeon. She did it while not revealing to those of us building it what we were really doing. And look,” Fethix taps the screen. It shows what appears to be Fethix’s party status, but nothing else.

“So?”

“So? So, I’m the only one she locked in here. My sub-engineers? Her hundreds of workers. They’re all gone.” Fethix waves her arms around in excitement, her grin stretching so wide it makes my face ache in sympathy.

“Well, I’m glad Uthica didn’t enslave anyone else,” I nod. Honestly, I feel kind of bad for Fethix.

“What? Uthica didn’t enslave me. She tricked the System. Big difference.”

I stare at Fethix.

“A deceitful implementation of a bound System contract is an honoured tradition in the Thenite Consortium. Means you’ve outsmarted the System. I’m gonna get a huge bonus when I return alive.” Fethix is dancing in place, rubbing her hands together and I turn away before something spills out of her loose clothing. Again.

I find Rufka standing right behind me, her grin almost as big as Fethix’s. “That sounds good,” she says, throwing her arm over my shoulder and turning me back to Fethix.

“It is. We just have to get out of this dungeon, and then I can take the Portal home in… Let’s see. Oh, that’s good luck, it’s scheduled to open soon. Just a few weeks. Hmm, it goes to a backwater, but I’m sure I can arrange transport.”

“Uh. Actually, the Aetherium sealed the portal. Apparently, no one’s gone through in over a hundred years.”

“What? Why would Uthica do that? Makes no sense.” Fethix rubs at her jaw, considering us.

“Uthica didn’t do anything. She left shortly before Akilo became a Sanctuary world.”

“Oh. Idiot locals. That makes way more sense. Well, if Uthica didn’t have anything to do with sealing the portal, it should be simple to open again.”

I can feel Rufka tilt her head to the side as she stares at Fethix. “You do know those locals could be anywhere. Even standing right in front of you.”

“What? Oh, right. Sorry. Or whatever you locals say. May your dog eat a bone,” Fethix responds as she digs through a nearby locker.

I can’t help but giggle at Rufka’s blinking face as she stares at where Fethix has half disappeared inside her locker.

“Alexis,” Beth calls out, walking over. “Does she know anything about the rest of the dungeon?”

It’s Rufka’s turn to laugh at me as I blink at Beth. It's not that I forgot we were in a dungeon or anything...

But yeah, for a moment, I forgot we were in a dungeon.

“Ya know. I’m right here. You coulda just asked me,” Fethix’s voice echoes from within her locker.

“Right. My apologies. Do you know anything about the remaining challenges in this dungeon?”

“Nope. Hey, have any of you seen my pink… Oh, nevermind. Found it.” Fethix pauses, poking her head out of her locker. “I don’t know what they left behind. But it’ll be thematic. Something that suits being in a spaceship. Won’t be too hard long as ya didn’t clear the wings.”

As we silently trade glances, Fethix pauses before putting her head in her hands. “Of course. The first blooming users to come along in centuries just haveta be jumped-up, overachieving, dungeon delvers.” She waves a thin pink object in Beth’s face as she chides us, “You know, you could’ve just run the damn thing again.”

Beth looks at the elf who barely comes up to Beth’s waist then shrugs. “I don’t see the problem. It’s not like we have the luxury of spare time.”

“Oh? And what’re you doing that’s so important you gotta do a full-clear o' the world dungeon on your first go round?”

“We’re stealing the Builder’s Sanctuaries, retrofitting them and taking them to Earth,” I answer, with a small smile.

“That’s stu…” Fethix starts waving a purple wrench at me with her other hand but stops. Then her grin returns, “Say, don’t suppose you’re looking for help? I’ll work cheap? Just need a ride on one of them cities. And full access of course.”

“I mean, we would. But you’re clearly in a hurry to get home. We’d never want to tear you away from your glorious return,” I reply, gesturing at her bag.

“Bah. They’ve gone without me for a few hundred years. What’s another decade or two,” Fethix is practically drooling at this point, her packing forgotten.

“Well, once we’re safely out of the dungeon, I’m sure we can come up with a nice reasonable System contract,” Beth says, sticking her hand out to Fethix. Fethix stares at Beth’s hand for a second before slapping it, bumping it, slapping it back and only then shaking it.

As she’s shaking Beth’s hand, Fethix says, “I really hope you don’t die. You kids aren’t half bad.”

Beth pulls her hand back, giving it a quick flick as she says, “Not planning to die. But again, if you’re able to give us any information, I’m sure it would improve our odds.”

“Like I said, I don’t know anything about the dungeon. There might be information on a console on another level. But it’d be behind a puzzle room. So, unless you’ve got a puzzle expert with you, you probably won’t be able to find anything.”

“Puzzle room huh?” Beth says with a smile.

We leave Fethix with a cordial goodbye as she lets us know she’ll be waiting to hear from us once we defeat the dungeon guardian.

As we leave and continue our climb, we find several additional Ripple-drives, each the same as the one we found Fethix in. We search through each of the consoles in case they’re different but by the fifth, I’m starting to wonder if there even is a dungeon guardian.

And then we reach the sixth cube.

The second we cross the invisible threshold, the mana changes. No longer does it carry the ‘clean’ energy it had on the previous floors. Instead, it carries distinct metallic tinge, almost thick enough I can taste it.

I inform the others, and we proceed cautiously. Sure enough, there are several puzzle rooms on this floor. Eight to be precise, each room elementally themed, with the metal one next to the stairs.

Once we’ve confirmed there are only puzzle rooms, we split up, each of us taking a different room. I choose the fire room, the walls made of charred ash and the puzzle itself glowing red stones.

It’s a simple logic puzzle that requires me to sort the five stones based on their heat, size and density. My testing apparatus consists of several pools of ash-tainted water, a cracked bucket, a pair of warped tongs, a charred and unbalanced log and a series of different-sized jagged cracks in the side of the crackling podium the stones rest atop.

It’d be nice if I could cheat my way through, conjuring my own tools, but the quest states it will eliminate rewards for puzzles solved that way. Wonder if that has anything to do with Fethix. So instead, I submerge the stones in a pool of water one at a time, catching the steam from each in a bucket, while noting in my journal how quickly the bucket fills.

Then I spend a few minutes shifting the stones back and forth on the sea-saw log before finally rolling the stones through the jagged obstacle course on the side of the podium.

Once I’m finished, I arrange the stones on the grid on top of the podium, adjusting dials on the side to raise or lower each stone based on its density.

When I place the last stone, I wait for several seconds but the puzzle room doesn’t confirm my placement. Swearing softly under my breath, I run through all the tests again, only to realize I mixed up two of the stones after my very first steam test.

With the stones properly placed on my second attempt, the podium splits open, revealing a charred pad. Retrieving the pad delicately from the podium, I receive a single integration point and a System update on a creature named Qelthonra. My pad indicates several physical features, and notes that one of its improved aspects is the ability to superheat its metal spikes.

When I regroup with Beth, Roberts and Rukfa at the stairwell, they inform me Tipan’s nearly finished a second puzzle room and Josh just started on the water room. When we combine the information rewards from each room together, we’re able to piece together a general idea of the boss we’re going to be facing.

It’s a six-legged tauric insect, much like the Calthonra. But it’s super-powered with the ability to launch sapient-seeking metal spikes that explode and a teleportation with two-second decoys and invisibility. We hope its teleportation will be restricted like ours, but none of us expects the System to be fair like that.

When Tipan and Josh return, we get to add explosive caltrops and adhesive-acidic netting. Funzies.

“Damn. I’m glad we got intel on this thing before going face to face with it,” I mutter, looking up the stairwell.

Beth nods, flipping through the pads again. “Yep. I’d be surprised if it didn’t have at least one more surprise tucked away.”

“Like a food truck that doesn’t list their ‘Death wings’ on the menu,” Roberts agrees.

“Right… Anyway, standard Nutcracker battle plan to start. If flight’s restricted, then…” Beth begins. At this point, I think she likes taking us through the plan more than the actual planning itself. Our plans are more sets of tactics than full battle plans anyway. Better for adapting that way.

Even so, Beth continues talking as the rest of us manifest our gear or in my case, floating shields.

Once she’s done, we ascend through the last length of stairs until we emerge from a cave opening at the bottom of a grassy hill. A draft from my right carries the irritating smell of ash from flowing magma pools at the base of an active volcano.

To our left, stands a frozen cliff, dark forms frozen beneath its surface.

A splash from the far side of the room reveals a shape swimming in the lake that dominates the far half of the cube. The shape disappears amongst the pillars of stone jutting out of the lake when a bolt of lighting strikes a metal spire along the edge of the lake. Beneath the spire sits a plain log cabin. One that wouldn’t be out of place in the hills of my home province, British Columbia, back on Earth.

It’s a surprisingly idyllic setting for a final battle. I was expecting more doom and gloom. Also, it’s not very spaceship themed.

When we’re not immediately attacked, we start sweeping the area, starting with the hill.

The higher vantage point reveals we’re on a strip of land sandwiched between two lakes. There’s another cabin on the far side of the hill, but it’s in worse shape, the lightning spire having collapsed on it.

We’re not given much time before the Qelthonra appears, pushing its way out of the broken cabin. It’s scythes gleam as it rubs them against each other.

Then it charges.

We split, Josh launching a handful of explosive charges protected by Rose-petal shielding as I dip behind the hill. The explosion ruffles the grass, the wind tousling my hair as Josh calls out, “It’s down.”

Which has me spinning about. It has teleportation and decoy as powers according to our tablets, so I’m waiting for it to appear out of nowhere to stab us in the back.

What I’m not prepared for is for it to step out of the magma at the foot of the volcano while also having one break free from the ice cliff and for a third striking my shield, riding a bolt of lightning.

“Add-ons!” I scream as I freeze time, barely dodging a follow-up swipe by the lightning-infused Qelthonra. I almost attempt to teleport to escape but force myself to blast it away with a Wind Torrent instead.

I start reforming my shield, this time with a solid steel core as I fly up to take in the new battlefield. There are seven Qelthonra visible, in addition to the one that lies collapsed where Josh first wounded it.

A feeling of danger warns me of an incoming strike, and I move to the side just in time for a barely visible scythe to cut through the air where I was flying a half-second earlier. Even with time Paused that nearly skewered me.

I attempt to crack its shell, but I’m unable to do more than knock it away. And then the resistance is gone, and I’m dodging a bolt of lightning.

The next few seconds are a chaotic series of aerial manoeuvres as I continue to dodge ranged projectiles that shave off Health even on a near miss. It’s only as I regroup with the others that I gain a moment of respite, Roberts’ shields deflecting most of the incoming attacks with a degree of skill I can’t manage with my own cruder elemental shields. Helps that his don't decay under every hit.

Still, I start layering my shields with Roberts’, reducing his load while trying to figure out a way to help with offence. Lesser Cataclysm would leave me empty, and after the weak effectiveness against the Calthonra… yeah. Even my piercing arrows hardly scratch their carapace, when they land. Eventually I move my barriers lower as I realize I’m obscuring Roberts’ vision.

With a few additional explosions from Josh, they manage to reduce one of the Qelthonras to a single wobbling form. Its steel and gold inlaid carapace is cracked and two of its legs on its left side are missing. A single shot from Beth is enough to send it to its knees. One more and it lies still.

With a smile, Beth turns towards me.

“You’re right. We are dangerous.”

5.22, Cabin in the Dungeon

9:37 pm, local time. (September 4, 2023, 11:37 pm.)

Despite our victory, we spend a few minutes waiting for Beth to fly about, eliminating most of the remaining Qelthonra. Because, despite our combined ability to cripple them, she’s the only one who can confirm a kill.

She holds off on the last, which was actually the first to attack. It’s still lying near the cabin, its glistening shell coated in a dark green blood that slowly leaks out as Tipan and Roberts retrieve Fethix.

“Well, that’s a right mess, isn’t it?” Fethix states as she joins us, staring at the no longer idyllic valley. Not even the volcano was spared, its side partially frozen from when I locked one of the Qelthonra in place.

For less than a second, but that’s plenty considering how quickly the fight was over.

“Now that you’re here,” Beth says, sighting her pistol at the remaining Qelthonra, before blowing its head open. “We can leave.”

“Zone Quest completed: Centre of the World. Requirements 9/9 Qelthonra defeated. Rewards: 1 Iron Rank Ascension Crest. 1 Copper-Rank Armour Ascension Inlay. Speed-run Bonus: 20 Copper Rank integration points. All Sub-dungeons completed Bonus: 1 Iron Rank Ascension Crest. 1 Copper-Rank Armour Ascension Inlay.”

"Rest areas have been disabled. Instance completed. Teleportation has been unlocked. Any users who remain within the training area in ten minutes will be sent to the exit.”

The Ascension Crests glow as they get added to my System interface, an icon that I’m guessing is supposed to be a seed next to the text. Despite its nature, the crest almost feels underwhelming. Almost as underwhelming as my performance in that fight. Guess it’s a good thing I’ve got this Crest to make up for it.

Much as I want to upgrade my class this second, we need to get to a Nexus first. Which means leaving the dungeon. Considering how far we are from the exit, it’ll be faster to wait out the timer. Unless… hmm, it’d take me more than the ten minutes to summon my castle.

Which means I totally have time to explore the cabin, which somehow remains completely intact. Its quaint round windows have bright white curtains drawn, preventing me from peeking inside, so I move directly to the door.

“Lex, wait up!” Rufka calls as she runs over. “I want to see too.”

I wait with my hand on my hip as not just Rufka, but everyone comes over to the cabin, a smile tugging at my lips. Guess I’m not the only one struck by the oddity of the cabin.

Glancing back, I receive a nod from Beth before turning the handle.

There’s a soft tug on my insides, not unlike when I’m drawn into Uthica, but my hand remains on the door handle, and I step forward. Inside is a simple home, a single table with two matching chairs, a small kitchenette and a kettle set to boil. In the chair on the left is a russet-brown, furry creature with a puffed-up tail. It turns its large, brown eyes toward me, a white stripe that splits its face wrinkling as it twitches its nose.

“Visitors. Already. I suppose it is that time. Amber, get the tea. Amber! AMBER!” the squirrel-person calls as I stare at it. It’s the least humanoid sapient I’ve encountered. Not counting the M’tari, of course.

Despite sharing the vague similarities, it feels nothing like Smoulder.

I try to fire off an analysis, only for it to fail completely.

“What? What’s this? Keep your greedy eyes away! Or out you’ll go!” The squirrel-person shrieks at me, waving a wooden spoon in my direction that’s as long as they are tall.

“Sorry,” I apologize, glancing to Rufka for support. But Rufka isn’t there. None of them are. And time’s slowed down to the point it’s nearly frozen. “Where’d-”

“Not here. Not here. They’re not you. So, not here.”

“Uh. Where is here?” I ask, as I try to feel the connection to the others. It feels like they’re close. Practically standing on top of me in fact. Is this another instanced space like at Raz’s?

“Cabin on the Shore. Obvious. Amber, where’s our- Ah, good boy. Good boy.” The squirrel-person settles back in their seat as the kettle lifts off its spot on the kitchenette then floats toward them. Two cups appear from some invisible storage space and the squirrel-person waves to the seat across from them as the kettle fills both cups. “Well? Sit down.”

“Sure,” I reply dumbly, squinting at the surroundings. As I look around the cabin, I realize it looks familiar. Very familiar. In fact, it’s almost an identical copy to the one I met Rufka in. Just with less clutter. “I think I’ve been in this cabin before. Or one just like it.”

“Hmm. Probably. Good design. Practical. Portable.”

“I’m sorry. But who are you? And what are you doing in the middle of a boss room in the deepest part of the World Dungeon?” I ask, my bemusement with the situation finally fading as she pushes one of the cups in front of me with a flourish.

“Roric. Name’s Roric. Thought you’d be quicker,” Roric says, tapping her head. “Theglia likes you. Doesn’t like many.”

“You know Theglia? How is she doing? Has she figured out a way around the teleportation restrictions? Or how to talk more frequently?” I lean forward, trying to read Roric’s face and ignoring the cup. But her foreign features prove as impervious to understanding as my attempt to analyze her.

“She’s good. Has her System back. Strange times.” Roric pushes my cup toward me again, and I take it in my hands. Just holding it is pleasant, a calming balm.

“Kids. Theglia needs kids,” Roric says, shaking her head. “Too much ‘saving the world’. Not enough family.”

“Uh, sure,” I politely agree, turning the steaming cup about as I inhale the chocolate scent. Wait. Chocolate? Akilo doesn’t have chocolate.

Looking at my cup again, then back up at Roric, I realize her comically large eyes are focusing on me, flicking back and forth to the cup.

It’s a struggle, but I set the cup down, though I can’t help but take another whiff. Which is a mistake because it only makes me want to drink it more. But I know nothing about this Roric who suddenly appeared in the middle of a dungeon, so I hold off.

“Oh. Quick but stupid. So stupid.” Roric shakes her fluffy head, taking another sip from her own cup.

“Hey!” I object, bumping the table as I shift back and cross my arms. “I’m not stupid.”

“Course not. Never said you’re stupid.” I raise a finger to object, but she keeps talking. “Just rude. Break into home. Sit at table. But refuse drink. Yes. Rude, not stupid.”

I blink at her, glancing at the cup again. I attempt to analyze it, but just like with Roric, it fails. In an attempt to be thorough, I scan the table, the chair and the door. Not a single one gives me a reading.

“Done rude-looking?” Roric asks, as she sets her empty cup to the side.

I nod, considering for the first time if I should just leave. But she knows Theglia. Or at least knows of Theglia. Tapping my finger on the edge of the cup, I consider.

To drink, or not to drink?

It’s obvious. Don’t drink. It could be poison. And that would be bad.

Picking up the cup, I slow time, watching the liquid quiver in slow motion. Okay, my time powers are working. And my danger-sense isn’t detecting anything. Not that it’s reliable.

If it was anything other than chocolate, I’d probably already be at the door. But it’s been so long. And hot chocolate was always my favourite. Especially after spending the day in the snow.

Besides, Health should help if there’s poison. Or if it’s too potent. But it’s the frozen moment, something I’ve only seen the System and Theglia do that decides me. Anything strong enough to freeze time like this, doesn’t need to poison me.

I run my finger along the rim before gently lifting the cup to my lips.

I take a sip, just a little sip.

Oh, that’s smooth.

“Huh. Thought I’d failed,” Roric says, leaning back as I’m in the middle of taking a bigger sip. At her words, I spit it out, checking my Conditions. Even as I’m spitting on the floor to Roric tch’ing at me, my System buzzes with a notification.

“Quest received: None. Requirements: Say the phrase “Failure State,” while crossing the fingers on your left hand. Reward: Delete Your System.”

“What the hell?” I mutter. Okay, there’s nothing under conditions anyway, so not poisoned. But that’s a weird update. Especially the reward. Re-centering my attention on Roric, I ask, “What just happened? Why-"

“Good chocolate. Very good. Very rare. Does exactly what it needs. No more,” Roric interrupts, pulling her fluffy tail into her paws, hiding behind it so I can only see her ears bobbing as she nods to herself.

“Okay, but-”

“No more. Done all it can. Waste not to finish.”

At this point, I shrug before taking another sip. The sweet flavor on my tongue is delightful. Wonderful even. And it doesn’t trigger another update, so I take my time, slowly sipping it.

Still, before I know it, my cup is empty, and Roric is peering at me over her tail. The moment I set my cup down, Roric hops out of her chair and starts tugging at my hand. “All done. Out. Out.”

“Sheesh, I’m going. I’m going,” I say, wincing at her rough treatment. She’s surprisingly strong, moving me as though I’m no more than a crumpled-up piece of paper.

“Thanks for visiting. Come back soon. Ten years? Yes. Would be good. Ten years! Introduce properly,” she declares as she shoves me out the door.

I don’t emerge back in the field, but instead find myself in a room similar to the beginning of the dungeon, waterways dotted with lilies all around me. Already sitting on a tasteful stone bench looking over the pond is Rufka. She checks over her shoulder at my abrupt entrance, rising when she sees my entry velocity.

Which is impressive, sending me tumbling into a collection of random vegetation.

“There you are. I was wondering what happened to you.”

“I take it that means you didn’t talk to Roric too?” I ask, kicking my leg to free it of a vine I managed to snag upon exiting.

“No. One second you were stepping into the cabin, the next you were gone. I went outside in case there’d been some sort of teleportation shenanigans, but I was kicked to the end of the dungeon. I think the others were going to wait for you.”

“Huh,” I reply, bumping her over so I can sit beside her. “Figures.”

“So, who’s Roric?”

“Super-cute squirrel lady. Had the best eyes for making sad puppy faces I’ve ever seen.”

“You know I don’t know what that means.”

“I know.”

We sit quietly together, holding hands until the others appear in a gentle pop.

“Oh good. What happened kid?”

“You know, the usual. Alien entity kidnapped me for no apparent reason then sent me back more confused than before.”

“You’ll give us your notes later?”

“Yep.”

“Great. Okay people, that was officially our best run through a dungeon so far. Excellent work. Now, let’s get the hell out of this city.” Beth doesn’t waver, immediately striding down the single path through the waterways.

I follow still holding hands with Rufka while ruminating on my encounter with Roric. Why would Theglia arrange for someone to give me a quest that deletes my System. I can’t help but imagine it’s important, but it makes no sense to me. Especially now that we’re ready to ascend to Copper.

As we’re about to leave, a cry from behind makes me turn. Fethix, in a pair of skintight overalls that are at least two sizes two-small for her is charging after us, her backpack teetering on her back as she runs up between Beth and the exit.

“What? Did y’all forget about me?” Fethix asks between wheezing breathes.

Beth just shakes her head and keeps walking.

I can't help but smile as Fethix huffs after her.

5.23, Thunderstruck

7:22 pm, local time. (September 4, 2023, 9:22 pm.)

With Uthica’s former head engineer, Fethix, joining us, I end up levitating her, so she doesn’t slow us down as we ascend. Despite her demands for a throne, I create something more akin to a motorcycle, lacking any functional parts such as wheels or an engine.

The trek upward seems shorter than our descent. When I mention wanting to see Smoulder's supposed ashes, Tipan mentions that it's on the way, so Beth agrees. We find ourselves back in the ornate chamber, and Tipan directs us to a shrine near the entrance.

There's a statue of Smoulder holding her urn, glaring at anyone who might approach. I step closer, my hand hovering before I press it against the urn, searching for a connection. And I feel a twinge. But not from the urn. From within my chest. A faint sense of... amusement?

Is... Is Smoulder laughing at me from beyond space and time?

The thought makes me smile. And when I do a full Facet scan of the ashes, my smile gets even wider. There's no trace of mana-hare in there. Just dragon and some insectoid species. They're not Smoulder's ashes.

At least she'll be happy to hear about the shrine.

Having visited Smoulder's not-remains, we leave.

The halls are empty as we make our way out. There’s no sign of the Queen’s Knights who are supposed to keep the halls secure. There’s no sign of Ael’thani or Kellica either. Or any other other K’tharn for that matter. Honestly, considering what we went through to get inside, leaving is almost disappointing. We don’t even get a little commemorative plaque for finishing the dungeon.

Then again, it is the middle of the night.

Except… it isn’t. My time sense tells me it should be in the evening. The sun should be setting, not completely blacked out.

“Uh, guys,” I say, looking up at the overwhelming shadows. “It’s not nighttime.”

Beth follows my gaze, then looks around at the empty streets. “Meet at rendezvous point banana-12. Josh, Roberts… Fethix, with me.” And just like that, it’s me Rufka and Tipan again. And to my slight disgruntlement, Fethix reveals she's perfectly capable of propelling the frame I built for her on her own as she follows them.

While they disappear down a nearby back alley, we adopt our disguises then head down the main thoroughfare on high alert. I can’t even see the patrols I’m certain are flying overhead. Rufka is even more on edge than I am, her head snapping back and forth at the slightest sound. But everyone is behind closed doors. There’s nothing out here with us.

We’ve only gone half a block when I pull the others close and activate invisibility. There’s no sense making ourselves obvious targets. And with no-one else on the street, that’s exactly what I feel like, even in disguise.

Three city bridges later and we finally get our first clue as to what’s happening, a shadowy form streaking across the sky. It looks like the Dusk Athama are back. And this time it’s a full-scale assault.

As we’re scrambling toward the next bridge, a Dusk Athama the size of a dragon appears. It slams into the bridge, shattering it into a thousand pieces. An entire section of the city bobs and shakes for a second, some of the individual homes breaking loose. I can hear a child crying for help.

Turning to Rufka and Tipan, we reach a silent agreement with a single glance.

Not yet dropping my invisibility, we fly directly toward the rogue homes as a Desh’ila responds, most of their members made up of Fallen. Did the Aetherium get more? They don’t appear to be helping the civilians but are instead attacking other dark shapes. Though they’re not faring well.

An entire squad is sent hurtling into the pit below when a single Athama explodes in their midst. Only their dragon-rider support seems unhindered, though they dash after their comrades.

We reach one of the spinning houses, only to find that the door is barricaded. The crying from within is hushed by another voice. Instead of bothering them, I fasten their home to a nearby market with robust metal supports.

After another bridge is destroyed, I realize the city is drifting around in separate pieces. There’s no way of finding our way to the rendezvous.

“Well, this is cool,” Tipan says, though the word cool is in English.

“I don’t think you’re using ‘cool’ right,” I inform her.

“We should head to Betheryne. It’ll be easier to contact the others,” Rufka suggests. Neither Tipan nor I have a better idea, so we drift to the southwest, avoiding battle as much as possible. It’s impossible to know how long the assault has been underway, but it seems like only the infrastructure is being targeted.

Well, and the Fallen.

Another patrol with Fallen is blown out of the air in front of us as we reach the outer city, making me wince.

Surprisingly, the bridges here are more intact. It seems the M’tari have been prioritizing the inner city.

“Damn,” Tipan mutters. I follow her gaze to where a broken sphere is hanging listlessly, slowly slipping lower. It’s the same arena where we watched Desh’mersa, the familiar logo of Tipan’s favourite team, the Southern Tribunes, emblazoned on its sides. Except now it has a large jagged crack nearly splitting the dome in half, with several more scattered across the surface.

A cry from inside causes Tipan to twist in the air, zooming towards the building. We follow as she pushes herself through a partially open door, jamming the normally automatic mechanism to get through.

Inside the lights are flickering, the once steady enchantments disrupted by the damage. It only takes a moment for me to summon a ball of fire, but Tipan’s already nearly out of sight, flying down the corridor towards the cry for help. When Rufka pushes in behind me, I follow Tipan, attempting to reinforce the walls as we descend. I can’t repair the enchantments, but I can at least create steel reinforcements for the hallway.

Tipan is leaned over a dark-furred K’tharn when we enter the room, a group of other K’tharn standing nearby, two of them whispering to each other when we enter. Several of them are familiar. Tipan’s running her hand over her patient’s head, careful not to jostle them. The K’tharn has no obvious injuries, but Tipan remains still as the glowing circle pulses.

“Okay, I think she’ll be alright. Might take her a while to wake,” Tipan says, turning to one of the K’tharn hovering over her.

The K’tharn nods, her larger than average arms crossed, squeezing herself as she keeps her attention focused on the injured K’tharn. Another of the K’tharn steps forward, flanking the first. She’s shorter than an average K’tharn, the top of her head not even coming up to my chin. Despite that, she radiates an ‘I’m in charge here’ sort of energy. Not unlike Beth. She places a hand on the burly K’tharn’s shoulders as she looks at Rufka and I. “Tipan tells us you’re all fans. Nice to meet you. I’m Advitha.”

She offers her hand, and I carefully take it, worried she might see through my new K’tharn facade. I’m still pretty infamous.

“Alexis,” I respond automatically, almost clapping myself on the forehead when I realize I forgot to give out my ‘K’tharn’ name. “What happened here?” I ask, trying to divert her attention using my most powerful weapon.

Concern for something else. Their team seems mostly intact despite the structural damage, and there isn’t any debris in the room, so I’m a little surprised any of them are hurt.

“Same thing that’s happening everywhere. The depths-cursed squids have gone mad. We were fine until a couple minutes ago. Then a swarm of little shades showed up chasing one of those matted furs. We managed to barricade ourselves in here, but not before Kythee was hit,” she says, indicating the K’tharn Tipan is still balanced over. “And I still don’t know what happened to Jetho.”

“There’s someone else out there?” Rufka asks, turning back to the narrow opening.

“It was… It was the shadows,” the K’tharn Tipan’s been attending coughs out. “They took her. The shadows took Jetho.”

“Ukila above, that’s horrible,” the burly K’tharn groans. “Who’re we gonna get to play lower defence without Jetho?”

I stare at the burly K’tharn, but Advitha just sighs, “Baska, we’ve got more important problems. Like what’re the squids gonna do to Jetho.”

“Oh? You think they’re gonna hurt her?” Baska asks. “They’re always so nice when we visit.”

“Yesterday I would’ve agreed with you. But they’re destroying our home, Baska. And they hurt Kythee.” I’m feeling a little out of place, so while they continue talking, I pull Rufka into the hall. We check the rest of the building, but it looks like the people in the locker room are the only ones here.

Once we return, Kythee is back on her feet, talking in low tones with Tipan and her teammates. When we enter, I see Tipan glance up, before her ears fold back as she tucks away a Desh’mersa theet.

Despite her embarrassment, Tipan offers us a half-smile as she says, “Oh good, you’re back. Advitha was just telling me about the initial attack.”

“I was? Oh right, before we got side-tracked with the autographs,” Advitha nods, causing Tipan’s ears to practically hug her head. I choose to store that away for a more appropriate time to tease Tipan with while focusing on Advitha as she continues, “Well, it started a few hours ago with a small explosion at the south end of town. Didn’t seem important. Not even as much of a lightshow as when a mana-storm rolls up against the shield.”

“It was very pretty,” Kythee notes.

“Sure, the way the shadows crawled up the shield was definitely pretty. Not a sight you see everyday. But then the shadows disappeared and I thought it was the end of it.”

“But it wasn’t,” Rufka states, leaning against the narrow door while keeping watch outside.

Advitha shakes her head. “No. About an hour ago, the shield winked out and the city started shaking. Then the explosions hit. Thought it’d be safer to stay inside.”

Kythee nods. “Would’ve been fine if we could’ve gotten the doors to close. But the enchantments aren’t working right.”

Rufka taps my shoulder, indicating the hallway. I switch places with her as she studies the runework inside, retrieving a narrow tool before tracing it along a flickering rune. Even as I take her place, I hear Tipan ask, “What about the emplacements? They should’ve been firing.”

Baska shrugs. “Hard to tell. Defence department made a big announcement about upgrades a few years back, about how the emplacements were going to be quieter now. They’re probably working, but you’d need to be near one to find out. And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not be next to a two-hundred-tonne ball of death-enchantment.”

Rufka scoffs, “I doubt there are any death enchantments built into the emplacements. Too narrow a focus. More likely lightning and fire.”

“I don’t think she meant literal… nevermind,” Advitha says as light flashes across the sky outside.

I speak through the doorway, my eyes still watching for moving shadows, “Looks like lightning.”

Any response is drowned out by a crack of thunder. That had to be close.

“Uh, Rufka, you might want to hurry,” I suggest as I float closer to the exterior, another bolt of lightning splitting the sky. But it’s not coming from within the city. The most turbulent mana-storm I’ve ever seen is descending on us.

“Almost…” Rufka mumbles. I’m barely able to discern her words as the next wave of thunder rolls over us, shaking loose the far side of the hall. So much for my attempt to keep it together.

As the hide and bone wall floats away, it loses any semblance of rigidity, floating into the abyss like a loose plastic bag.

“Got it!” With a thunk, the door slides shut behind me. A second later it slides open, revealing Rufka with a smile that stretches to her ears. Her smile falters when she sees the open sky and the mana-storm above us. “Well, that’s not good. It’s going to get rough.”

“Think we should stay?” I ask. The nearby buildings are enduring the storm, but the infrastructure connecting them is already obliterated.

“What’s the issue?” Tipan asks, staring over Rufka’s shoulder. “Oh. That could be a problem.”

I glance at the team who’re standing at the far end of the room, talking in hushed whispers then back at Tipan’s ‘disguise’. “Yeah. We should probably wait out the storm. It’s-“

There’s a cry from outside, and I barely think before jutting forward to look. There’s a falling K’tharn, their leg trapped inside a piece of bridge that’s definitely not floating.

The storm dominates the sky, flashes of lightning in every direction. “There’s someone out there,” I say, floating out as I Pause time.

Then I dart forward, pulling the K’tharn free. She’s barely breathing as I bring her up to the shelter. Rufka tries to wave me in, but I push the K’tharn in first, turning back to take one last look, searching for anyone else.

I’m turning back to the door-

Everything goes white.

There’s a ringing in my ears as my vision starts to clear. The first thing I see is more white, tinged with black. Tipan has me in her arms. I watch Tipan’s lips moving and I can’t hear her. Which prompts me to shake with laughter. It shouldn’t be funny, but it’s just so… silly.

She glances down at me, her eyes wide. Probably at my inane laughter. I try to wave it off, but my arm ends just below my elbow. When I see the stump of my arm, I only laugh harder.

I spend minutes laughing before I’m jerked out of it by a wave of pain.

Blurry vision but I can briefly hear Tipan muttering above me. “I can’t do anything else, something’s-” Emptiness then, “-more mana.”

“We need to get her inside.” Rufka’s voice sounds rough.

Like she’s been eating too many sugared meats again. I try to reach out to her, to chastise her. But my arm’s still missing, so I miss her completely. Then her voice again. “Keep her still. She’s going to hurt herself.”

Tipan’s response is lost as I’m wrapped in a cocoon of warmth.

When I next open my eyes, my view is filled with Rufka’s tawny-brown fur. So pretty.

“Thanks,” Rufka responds, running a hand over my face. Her cheeks are matted. I’ve only seen her fur like that a couple times after she loses our water wars. Rufka doesn’t cry.

“You’ve been crying.” I’m not actually sure I say it. I can’t really hear my own voice. Which is weird. Should I be… Oh shiny.

Flailing around, I try to snatch a flashing light that’s passing between mine and Rufka’s face. It’s a shiny little snowflake. A gleaming remnant of beauty. It’s just like Rufka, but not as perfect.

“She’s really sweet when she’s…” I hear a voice. Tipan? Sounded like Tipan. Tipan’s nice. I should tell her. But I can’t concentrate. On the voice. Or anything. The world’s getting dark again.

Pressure pulls on my chest as the world goes black.

A note from Draith

Thanks to BlankReader123 for the critical review and to Zoro50 for your kind review.

5.24, Static

Unknown time.

Uthica opened her eyes.

She was in her tent, fading light filtering in through the clear-silk. That meant it was either morning or evening. Last she remembered she’d been fighting in her sister spirit’s body. The power had been intoxicating. Different. More pure. Uthica pet the rumbling furball on her chest idly as she tried to understand what had happened.

Uthica? I can’t… I can’t concentrate.

Wait. Furball? Glancing down, Uthica discovered a powerful mana-hare. She knew its name was Smoulder, knowledge shared by Lex when she last visited. Smoulder nestled on Uthica’s chest in a manner that indicated a great deal of familiarity and comfort.

“Uthica?” Pern asked, rushing forward, dropping to his knees next to Uthica’s bed as he rested his hand against her head.

“Father? What happened? One second, I was visiting with the... I mean, Alexis, the next… Pelthin!” Uthica sat up with a start as her eyes sought out the traitor. Uthica’d grind her up and feed her to her dragon. No, that was too good for her. She’d have her stripped of her System, then fed to the plants the herd beasts fed upon.

“Do not be too harsh with her. She saved your life as much as she endangered it,” Pern informed her, his frown clearly portraying his own displeasure at his own words.

Uthica stared at him. “She stabbed me, Father.”

“I know.”

“She stabbed her queen. She must be punished.”

“I know.” His frown deepened, but he didn’t add anything else. Still, Uthica knew him.

“But you would advise against it? How long have I been recovering?” Uthica asked, looking for her tablet. Her chambers were empty of the usual clutter, her maps and artifact designs conspicuously absent.

“Nearly a week.”

“A week? Jethico?” Uthica asked, her fur ruffling with worry.

“Forestalled. Your friend Alexis helped convince them you were recovering.” Pern sat on her bed as Uthica paced the room, Smoulder jumping onto his lap.

I… Fuzzy bunny!

“Good. And the Beltain Clan? And the Kalpese?”

“They’re moving. Your aunt… she’s made motions to replace you.”

Uthica hung her head. It’d been a risk to contact Alexis, but she’d thought she’d mitigated them. Clearly, she’d been worried about the wrong person. She’d been certain Pelthin was loyal. At this point, Uthica was used to betrayal, but she’d hoped. She’d truly hoped that this time would be different.

Hugs Uthica. Hugs!

Uthica stopped pacing, an unfamiliar warmth washing over her as her eyes locked on the empty table. She paused, thrown off by the strange… security, before looking to her father.

“Stored away.” Pern pulled open one of the large pockets at his hip, withdrawing a book with careful motions.

It bore a unique enchantment, one Uthica had developed after nearly a decade of work with spatial enchantments. With special runes to bind the space to only the book, it was a secret only her father knew of. A storage space untouched by the System.

Taking the book from her father, she set it on the table, pulling forth a single sheet at a time. A necessary compromise to maintain the spatial field without the System’s influence. And yet… just a taste of her sister's power had given her… ideas.

Before she could start going through the reports stored on top, Pern cleared his throat, causing her to look up.

“About Pelthin…” He started, pausing when Uthica clenched her fists, crumpling the reports in her hand. When she’d released her hands, smoothing the paper on the table, he continued, “She’s the only one we can trust.”

Uthica stared at her father, wondering if her latest near-death experience had been the pebble to send his mind into an avalanche of madness.

“She thought she was helping,” Pern noted as Uthica was inspecting him. “Your aunt had convinced her you were possessed, and the spear would free you.”

Uthica rubbed between her eyes, before shaking her head. “Why? Why would she believe that?”

“I… it’s my fault. She believed the facade I established that Jethico is to be trusted.”

Uthica couldn’t help but laugh at that. Despite the fact Uthica had pushed for the ruse, her father wanted to claim the guilt. “You know better than that. She’s the one who stabbed me through the chest!”

Chest. Hurts. Still hurts.

“Yes. Well, she wasn’t the only one concerned about your ‘secret stashes’ and the resources you were putting into them. I underestimated the concern.”

Uthica sighed as she turned to the reports. Pelthin was a problem for later. She’d have to deal with her, but if her father was certain she could be trusted.

Well, Uthica would be increasing Pelthin’s training regimen. And it would be less than pleasant. Still, her father trusted less often than Uthica did herself…

Uthica started questioning him about other less personal, but potentially far more disastrous issues. They were discussing clan Beltain’s sudden change in meat pricing when Pelthin stepped into the tent with a tray loaded with steaming bowls.

“My-my queen,” Pelthin stuttered, nearly dropping the tray as Uthica turned towards her. Pelthin used a short burst of wind-manipulation to right the bowls before bowing all the way to the floor.

In that moment it occurred to Uthica that Pelthin was going to be even more obsequious. Which seemed eminently unfair. Why did getting stabbed result in greater suffering for her. If anything, Pelthin should have to stand and face her without the ‘my queen’s’. In fact…

“Pelthin.” Uthica schooled her face, not allowing a single flick of her ear to show.

“Yes, my queen?” Pelthin asked, still bowed low, the tray held parallel to the floor in front of her.

“I’ve decided on your punishment.”

“Anything you command, my queen.” Pelthin gushed, her shoulders sagging in relief, the tray dipping perilously close to the floor. Pelthin’s reaction helped convince Uthica that her father was correct.

“You are hereforth forbidden to refer to me as ‘my queen’ while in private counsel. Furthermore, you are forbidden to bow or avert your eyes unless directed to do so.”

“My- I- but…” Pelthin rasped out, dropping the tray the short distance to the floor as she attempted to keep her head bowed and meet Uthica’s gaze at the same time. Spotting the spilled stew, Pelthin immediately gasped, “Oh no. I’ll get refills.”

With a wave of her hand, she cleansed the stew from the floor and raced out of the room.

When Uthica turned back to the reports, her father was staring at her, only a single eyebrow raised. He didn’t say anything, but his reaction still caused her to chuckle as she returned to their work.

When Pelthin returned several minutes later, Uthica couldn’t hold in her laughter at Pelthin’s attempts to say her name instead of the traditional ‘my queen’. It almost made getting stabbed in the gut worth it.

Almost?

Almost. Stabbing was not pleasant.

The night passed in relative peace, the only sound the buzz-like snoring of the camp’s lone mud-thorpe. And the gentle rumble of Smoulder’s purring where she was nestled on Uthica’s chest.

Despite her father technically being a pet under the System, Uthica hadn’t had a pet in decades. There was never time for one. But her father assured her that the little mana-hare was entirely self-sufficient. Which had caused a couple incidents with the camp’s quartermaster until her father had stepped in.

Uthica found herself rubbing the little hare between the ears as she drifted off to sleep.

Night night!

When I wake, pain asserts itself along my arm, the blinding flash almost causing me to pass out again.

What…

Uthica’s memories of waking are still fresh in my mind, but I can barely remember what happened before I joined her. We were talking with the Desh’mersa team. There was a mana-storm and then…

Sitting up slowly, I stare down at the stump of my arm. It’s not even the cause of the searing pain. It takes me far too long to realize I’m only looking out of one eye. Closing my eyes dulls the pain, so I leave them closed as I open my status to check my conditions. Instead of activating instantly, my status flickers several times before finally listing my conditions.

That’s not a good sign.

In addition to the flickering System which isn’t listed, I have over a dozen conditions. Missing right hand, three months. Melted right eye, six months. Collapsed right lung, two months. Intermittent deafness, only one. Then there are several conditions related to burns on the right side of my body all with over a week.

All together, my conditions decrease my maximum health by over half and my stamina by two-thirds. Then my system glitches and half the durations change, some increasing and others decreasing.

And it does it again.

A bitter laugh leaves my lips as I realize the healing items we carry won’t be able to handle these injuries. Which means I’m a cripple until we find Roberts. I certainly don’t want to attempt a Restoration while the System is glitching, even if it says I haven’t used a charge.

Even if it worked, I doubt I’d be able to return to Akilo with the teleportation lockdown. Shouldn’t have left my respawn tied to Raz’s. Besides, after Beth’s reaction, I’m not certain I want to experience dying. Guess I should’ve thought of that before flying around in a mana-storm. All the storms we’ve endured lately made me complacent.

At least I completed the quest to immerse myself in a mana-storm. No reward, but I now have a quest to enter five more.

‘I’ll get right on that, System,’ I chuckle to myself.

My laugh turns into a coughing fit, the wheezing of my single lung struggling for air aided when I force more air through with wind-manipulation. Inspired, I attempt to restore my collapsed lung in a similar manner, but it leads to another coughing and wheezing session.

Does inflate it though.

It’s at this point that I realize I must be alone. I’ve made more noise than Rufka when she’s launching a ‘sneak’ attack on Tipan at three in the morning. Either of them would normally have at least greeted me. Oh, right. Maybe they did and I just didn’t hear them. Stupid deafness.

[Alexis] “Hey Wyonna, what’d I miss?”

[Alexis] “Wyonna?”

Okay, that’s weird.

Checking my throat with my intact hand, I don’t feel a collar, so I don’t think I was arrested in the middle of the battle. I double check my conditions, but there’s no clue there. Next, I focus on my connections, but there’s nothing but static. I can’t even tell what time it is.

Vaus’s judgment. One little lightning bolt and I swear everything is broken.

Pushing myself up, I crack my single working eye open, inspecting my surroundings.

I’m not in the stadium anymore. In fact, I don’t appear to be in any of the familiar buildings of Aethire. My current residence consists of wood-slat flooring, walls I can’t see, knick-knacks along the side hiding them away. I haven’t been here in nearly a month. I can’t begin to guess what we’re doing at Genitha’s cabin, but at least it means I’m safe.

I shuffle across the room, glancing out the small window. No sign of anyone on the lawn. When I reach the door, I glare at the wooden bar holding the door closed. Enchanted against elemental disruption. Not normally a problem when I have two hands. If I was a better enchanter, it would be a simple matter of using a keyed item to open it. But nope.

I wrestle the bar up with my single cramping hand, stopping to curse and let my vision clear each time I bump a burn. For the first time, I’m grateful for the experience of enduring the intense conditions of the first dungeon’s hidden training scenarios. Despite my grotesque injuries, I’m somewhat familiar with using my body when it's partially mangled. Which I’m not certain is a good thing, but it is what it is.

Eventually I work the bar free. Instead of putting it to the side in its normal resting place, I let it fall to the floor with a thud. As it hits the floor, my stomach rumbles, informing me I should've stopped for a meal before going exploring. But I can eat whenever. I’ve only been awake for a few minutes but not having anyone around is starting to get to me. There’s a far greater pit than my empty stomach threatening to swallow me.

I pull the door open with a pained grunt.

With the door open, I float around the cabin, practically bumping against it. It takes me less than a minute to confirm my suspicion. I’ve been left here, alone.

Okay, Alexis. Clearly someone brought you here. You weren’t abandoned. They’re coming back… they’re coming back. I barely register the flash of pain as I collapse on the porch, my skin surprisingly loud as it cracks. Of all the sounds to make it past my deafness.

I spend long enough on the porch rocking back and forth that the sun peeks into the clearing from overhead.

But still, no one shows up.

And despite telling myself otherwise, I can’t help but have the same thought run through my mind on repeat.

I’m alone.

5.25, Not Home Alone

September???

I don’t know when the tears started, but I’ve discovered my ruined eye still sheds the salty fluid, the sting as it runs in my cracked cheek just one more source of pain as I sit on Genitha’s porch under the midday sun waiting for someone to appear. I remain there until the sun disappears behind the canopy.

The change finally shaking me out of my stupor.

Swearing as I drag myself to my feet, I roughly brush at my face with my remaining hand as I instinctively try to clear my vision. Which only results in more pain. But the pain is pleasantly bracing against the emptiness swirling inside. There must be something more going on here. I… it was never this bad when I was alone before Akilo.

Still alone, I move inside. It should only take a few minutes to get the wood bar back in place.

It takes longer.

Accessing my inventory is the only thing that’s easy with a sole hand. At least I have plenty of food. And it’s not like I’m going to run out of water.

Sitting at the table, I make my way through a lasagna-esque dish, the taste not registering. My eyes remain focused on the locked door, only leaving it to glance out the windows. It’s only as I bite at my empty fork that I realize I’ve finished.

I know I should wait for the others. Especially in my condition. They’re probably only a minute away. But I’ve been here all day. All day alone.

Which is fine. I was alone all the time back home. I was happy when I was alone.

Yeah, happy. I was… happy…

I can’t even pretend to believe it. I was miserable. I lived for the weekends with Sab and my visits with papa.

Oh god, papa.

I’ve barely thought of papa for the last month.

I guess its kinda hard to worry about him. Knowing Roberts could cure him in minutes has relieved me of my guilt but knowing that rushing home would only doom everyone else…

There’s a scraping sound from outside, and I hop to my feet, rushing to the window, glad for the company.

But it’s not any of my companions. Instead, a familiar giant feathered dinosaur is stripping the tops of the nearby trees of their leaves. The red and white feathers have the same distinctive crest of the first Zanbia I met when I arrived. And the same scars. Either it’s the same one or they're very closely related and those scars are some sort of marking.

Even though it’s not one of my friends, the familiar creature is reassuring. I watch as it tears another chunk of leaves from the next tree, the chaotic feeling in my gut settling. Then there’s another crack. But this crack has nothing to do with the Zanbia. Instead, there are swarming shadows. Dusk Athama. Just like the ones from the attack on Aethire. Even as I’m struggling with the wood bar, I hear an explosion from outside.

I scream as I drop the bar on my foot. But it doesn’t matter, as I fly around the cabin as quickly as possible, pausing time the second the door is open. At least that works.

The Zanbia is still standing. It’s leaking a thick blue liquid from above its left eye, but is otherwise uninjured, its mouth open in the middle of snapping at one of the darting shapes. On its back is a Fallen, their glider broken.

It’s a simple matter to send lightning torrent forth to dispatch the dozen or so Athama that are swarming above them. But there are another three hiding amongst the forest that take longer to draw out without leaving the clearing. Much as I want to help, I know I’m far from peak condition. It won’t do any of us any good if I collapse.

Another few shots, and I down the last of them.

With the Athama gone, I pull free my healing talismans from my inventory. Then I stare at it. How did I forget my backup talismans?

Doesn’t matter. Taking a deep breath, I float towards the Zanbia. The Fallen has already turned into blue dust, leaving nothing but a glimmering soulstone.

So my attention returns to my sole company. The blue liquid has already gone stiff. Maybe it doesn’t need healing? Which is probably better. Healing it with my mediocre healing skill would only cause it pain. But… I have three single use talismans.

Normally, I wouldn’t even consider using one of my single use healing talismans. But the swirling pit of emptiness that’s been making it impossible to think is gone. If I heal her, maybe she’ll stick around. But first I should check to see if any of my talismans will work on my existing conditions.

Pulling them out, I look at my small collection. A feather with beads rests next to a bone notched with emerald slivers and a jar of healing salve. Amusingly, the salve which feels the most thematically appropriate for burns, is nearly useless. I don’t understand why, but it’s best for mending broken bones.

But the beaded feather should do something. I place the other talismans back in my pack before holding the beaded feather to my missing arm. As much as depth perception would be handy, it’s not as useful as an actual hand. Especially if I need to keep messing around with the cabin door.

I channel mana into the talisman, but… nothing seems to happen. Staring at the talisman, I can see that it’s absorbing mana. But it doesn’t heal my arm.

Maybe it has a higher mana-threshold? It’s not like I can experiment with it. I only get one shot with each of these. Maybe I should’ve used the salve first?

With a snap, the feather explodes, the beads sinking into my arm. The charred flesh becomes slightly healthier before the beads flare and disappear. That’s it? Six hundred mana and all it does is make a few patchs of my skin pink. Is it just a weak talisman? If I ever make it back to Glimmering Sands, I’m going to have words for the healer. She promised a lot more out of her single use talismans.

A rustle of leaves shifting from the direction of the Zanbia causes me to glance over. It’s nestling in place, one giant eye locked on me. I give it a tentative wave with my uninjured arm before pulling my other talismans from my pack again. I don’t want to use the notched bone unless I have to. It’s the most expensive healing item I have, ten of Vethal’s essence went towards it. It should heal me completely without any mana used if I understand its description correctly.

“What do you think?” I ask the Zanbia, whose blue scab is already cracking and breaking free. She doesn’t offer advice, not so much as flicking her eye. She just sits there breathing.

I nod, creating a soft chair formed of earth on the porch, facing the Zanbia. Even using my magic to assist me, it’s painful setting myself in place. “You’re right. It hasn’t been that long. I should wait for the others.”

With the sound of the Zanbia’s heavy breathing in my ears, I let myself slip off into sleep.

Ukila is high in the night sky when I wake, its surface obscured by the silhouette of the forest canopy. The Zanbia’s breathing fills the clearing with small gusts of wind, each gentle breathe causing the grass to sway. I scan my surroundings, searching for what caused me to wake.

There’s nothing obvious. Maybe I’ve just had enough sleep. My stomach grumbles and I’m forced to reassess. Probably should’ve eaten after using all that mana earlier. I pick myself up, glancing at the Zanbia before making my way inside. This time I leave the door open, not bothering to wrestle the damn bar back into place.

A plate of noodles and green sauce disappears as I consider my situation. Someone brought me here. There’s no note, so they either weren’t expecting to be gone long or… they weren’t expecting me to wake. No. If it’d been anyone in the party, we would’ve left a note. So, Genitha then? Except… she’d have left an obvious clue.

Going through the cabin, I search for a sign of what might’ve happened. But it’s only as I’m checking through my own inventory that I realize that there’s something missing that might explain what happened. Stroking my hair, my hand doesn’t find the hairpin Genitha gave me.

She mentioned it could provide emergency protection. But does that mean it teleported me here?

If so, I didn’t get left here. Her contingency activated, whisking me away. And if that’s the case then teleportation might be working despite the System’s lockdown. I've known I can move tiny slivers. And the Qelthrona were teleporting too.

Simple test. Teleport an object. It’s a test I should’ve done earlier… though after the exploding rock…

Shaking my head, I look around the clearing. I don’t have any of the old lunchboxes I used in my first tests, but I make a similar facsimile. As I look at the imitation lunchbox, I smile to myself. Despite the physical crippling of my body, my magic’s strong as ever.

Wrapping the box in Facet, I Focus, sliding it sideways through space within my aura. The box arrives unharmed a metre from its starting position before dropping a few centimetres before I catch it. Promising.

I repeat the test several times. Despite the static, teleportation appears to work. I’m able to send the box from one side of my aura to the other without an issue. But when I attempt to send it outside, the static overcomes my protection. The lunchbox’s battered form zooms away from me, ripping a gouge in the short grass surrounding the cabin.

The ground starts re-knitting itself as I approach the box. The lunchbox is in worse shape than any of my earliest tests. It’s not recognizable, a rough lump of metal with jagged points in a sagging U-shape.

When I poke it with a pole formed of metal, the tip of my pole melts, instantly bonding to the lump. The lumpen U resists metal-manipulation as I attempt to reform the box shape, the merged portion requiring far more mana than usual to tease apart.

Once I have the lunchbox reformed in front of me, I stare at it. It’s impossible to tell that I just twisted it into a metal monstrosity. A deep breath. Two. Then I send it sliding through space again. This time it tears apart right as it crosses the boundary of my aura. My next few tests are stable, and I’m even able to flex my aura slightly to get it to go an extra meter.

After a hundred tests, I increase the size of my test dummy to a full-size boxy robot. Lacking all the parts that make a robot do their robo thing, of course.

Another hundred tests and I’ve confirmed that size doesn’t matter. At least, not in stability. Teleporting safely within the static field does have a much higher Facet cost than normal for larger objects, even with my aura helping out.

But it's possible.

With my testing completed, I sit down to consider whether to test the next logical step. If something goes wrong during teleportation, I’ll be in even worse shape than I am now. I don’t really need to teleport. This was all just a distraction anyway. At least I’ve confirmed it’s still possible to teleport, even if the range is limited.

Yeah, I’ll save testing teleportation on myself for an emergency. Or after I'm healed.

With my tests completed I end up on the lawn, crafting an obstacle course for Smoulder.

Even though she’s not here to use it, it’s still calming. I’m building the third sub-castle for the Holy-Roman Bishop of Suds when I realize I might have overdone it. Most of the clearing is occupied by miniature structures that wouldn’t even serve as much of an obstacle to Smoulder. Unless she’s trying to avoid breaking them. Even the stream that runs along the edge of the clearing has been included, providing the water the Bishop needs to produce his suds.

It makes for an impressive ‘I was here’ gesture though. Still gonna leave a note, but this’ll play its part too.

I’ll need to leave soon. Ergo the note, because no one knows where I am. I’ve been here for at least a day, and Aethire’s not that far away by air. Another twelve hours and I’ll be certain. And well rested.

Waving to the Zanbia who’s still napping away, I return to the cabin, climbing into the lower bunk. I’m not expecting to fall asleep, yet somehow, I do.

When I wake, the sun is intruding through the open door, the light a near solid triangle. It’s easier to float myself out of bed without accidentally jarring anything this time, and I have breakfast without issue. Emerging after breakfast, I find the Zanbia has left, and I feel some of the cloying emptiness pull at me. I almost fly away that second, but I remind myself that I only have to wait until midday. Which should be…?

Looking at the sun, I estimate I have several hours still. But… I’m not exactly sure. Not having my time-sense is leaving me doubting myself.

The remainder of the morning feels like it takes forever. I can’t even distract myself by playing with my magic.

That’s not to say I don’t release the occasional burst of flame or lightning. It’s just not very distracting.

Not until I start reflecting on my class abilities. My chakram feels… weird to use with my busted arm. So, instead I keep thinking through them. Which brings me to my Seed. While the link to the rest of my interface is still suffering, somehow, the feeling of the Seed remains mostly the same. In fact, it might even be stronger.

Further investigation reveals it has… impressions in it? I think? Vague shapes and glimpses of my memories since arriving on Akilo.

It’s curious enough, I continue teasing it until I estimate midday has finally arrived. I lift into the sky, scanning to make sure I haven’t missed anyone’s approach, my letter neatly folded on Rufka’s table, and the door firmly closed but not barred. When I look to the east, I curse as I see a mana-storm on the horizon. Looks like I’m not going anywhere yet.

But as soon as it’s gone, I’m going to Theria’s.

5.26, Tel-e-phone

September???

An hour later as the last of the mana-storm passes overhead, I fly to the North-east, directly to Theria’s home atop the rocky promontory. There’s a good chance Theria will have some method of contacting either Rufka or Genitha that doesn’t operate through the System’s regular methods. Or a way to track them down, at least. Honestly, there’s probably something in the cabin that would work too. Just not one I could find.

Theria is in one of her terraced gardens when I arrive, tending to a vine with large melons growing on it. She carefully shifts one of the vines to the side, changing its path so it stretches into an open field instead of crossing paths with its neighbour. Once she’s done, she turns to me, brushing her hands together as she looks me up and down. “Alexis.”

Landing next to her, I feel a sense of relief. Was kinda afraid she wasn’t going to be here. “Hurgh,” I cough out, having to clear my throat. Right, damaged lungs and throat followed by disuse. After a bit of coughing, I try again. “Hi Theria. Sorry for flying in but had a rough day. Uh, I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Rufka or Genitha in the last day or two?”

As she shakes her head, I can feel my stomach drop slightly. “Fraid not.” She frowns at whatever she sees on my face. “Though, if you truly need to speak to Genitha, I believe I have some of our old arrays tucked away somewhere.”

“Yes please. There was a… I’m not exactly sure what happened.”

“You okay? Looks like you lost a fight with Vaus herself.” Theria reaches towards me, but I pull away.

“Uh. It looks worse than it is,” I lie. If she knew how bad it was, she’d probably keep me here until Genitha came for me.

Theria stares at me for a couple seconds before shrugging. “Come along then, let’s see if I can’t find something.”

Theria’s already turned away, stomping down the carefully placed stonework ramp by the time I process her words.

As I get closer, I’m reminded that none of Theria’s home has been built with magic - except the runes that shield her from mana-storms of course - but has instead been built by either her or her wards. The rough-hewn bricks remind me of the old church near papa’s care home.

As we approach the large brick and mortar house, one of those very wards emerges, his arms buried beneath a stack of dirty laundry.

Ckichik’s dark carapace would be enough to mark him as an outlander, but his four splayed legs are what really sets him apart. Good for stability, those. Even though most of Theria’s wards have low attributes, he has no problem carrying the awkward bundle down to the nearby stream to do their laundry.

I wave at him as Theria leads me inside, quickly pushing through the crowded central room to a small room beneath the stairs. She pulls a rug off the floor, revealing a hidden trapdoor. Hoisting the trapdoor open, she climbs down, calling up, “Well, come on. Get down here.”

Looking at the narrow opening, I edge my way down, but I still bump my charred arm against the edge. The lancing pain is momentary, but enough I end up bumping into Theria which sends another spike through my side. I bite down on it, trying not let it show on my face. But Theria’s not paying me any attention anyway, sorting through a stack of boxes off to the side.

The room is large but has the lowest ceiling of any place I’ve been to. And not just on Akilo. The entire space is packed with crates, rolled up rugs, bags full of unknown objects and the occasional stone pillar supporting the floor above. Even the pillars seem like they were placed haphazardly. Part of me wants to reach out and reposition them, to create symmetry. But I know better. Theria’s anti-magic stance is a big part of why she lives out here.

It’s also the most common reason her wards leave, according to Rufka.

“Aha. Found… Nope, nevermind,” Theria says, slamming the crate she was sifting through closed, pushing it back into place with her hip and setting the crate above her to rocking. She casually stops it with one hand while moving deeper into the room. “Ah. Here. Come help me with this one.” Theria directs me behind a crate to a trunk with thick metal straps that’s underneath another crate.

“Okay, now pull it out while I hold this one,” she says.

I grab one of the rough leather handles with my left hand before nodding at her.

“On three. One, two, three…” I pull on the trunk which turns out to be lighter than I expected, forcing me to retreat rapidly to avoid clocking myself with it.

Once it’s free, Theria sets the crate down, stepping over to release the clasps on the trunk. There’s a soft hiss and the smell of dust left too long in the dark as she pushes the chest open.

“Hmm, yep. That’s it.” She hands me a plain wooden stick from within the chest. I take the stick, glancing back at her as she struggles with the lid. Even when I analyze it, it doesn’t display any stats. What am I supposed to do with a stick? Hmm, Genitha is paranoid about using the System’s messages to communicate. Did she find a way to hide her enchantments from the System entirely? Is that why it’s so plain?

I hold the stick out in front of me, squinting at it, trying to find the hidden runes or any sign of Genitha’s hidden work.

As I’m rotating the stick, Theria plucks it from my hand, wedging it into the trunk to keep the lid from closing.

Oh.

After a few moments of searching, Theria grunts, pulling a board covered in the Vausian alphabet from the trunk. She sets the board to the side while muttering under her breath and digging for something else. Soon a pair of cups with a bit of string join the board. Then a small folded piece of wool, that she flips open, then closed.

Finally, she pulls out a small octagon with a hole in its center. The octagon seems to be made of pure mana essence, sparks of each element swirling beneath its surface. Analyze identifies it only as a mana essence, but I’m certain it’s more than that. Setting the octagon on the top of her little pile, she turns to me, gesturing me away. “Let’s get out of here. One of these should work. Probably.”

“Don’t you need to contact Genitha frequently? These all seem… old,” I note as I half-float, half-climb out of the storage space, not willing to put myself through more pain just to avoid flying.

“Sure. She’s got a fancy transmitter in Aethire she normally uses. But something happened to it a couple days ago. Got all sparkly then went poof.”

“Don’t you mean sparky?” I ask, looking for this transmitter.

“Nope. It started shimmering like a rainbow after a mana-storm. Then a couple seconds later, it disappeared.”

“Disappeared.”

“Yep.”

“Like, it’s gone, disappeared?”

“Yep.”

“And that doesn’t concern you.”

“Nope.”

My mouth drops open as I try to respond, my hand going to my forehead. But I don’t reach cause I was trying to do it with my right hand.

Staring at the space where my hand should be, I remind myself I have more important things to do than worry about what happened to Genitha’s communication device. Theria never stopped moving, already pushing some half-finished wood carvings on a low table to the side, clearing space to set her pile down. Then she plops down on one of the cushions scattered around the table.

Joining her, I take a closer look at the collection of communication tools.

“If it works, this would be the best one.” Theria holds up the piece of folded wool, flipping it open again. She fiddles with it for a few seconds, holding it to her chin, the top flap covering her mouth before pulling it away. She repeats the process three times before tossing it onto a pillow beside her.

“Didn’t work?” I ask, watching as she picks up the cups with string.

She places the cups upside down on the table, stretching the string taut as she answers, “Wouldn’t be playing with this garbage if it had. Summon some water, would you?”

I nod, creating a small ball of water over one of the cups. She dips her finger in the ball then runs it along the string, coating it with a thin layer. Once she’s satisfied, she starts tapping on the cups, her hands a blur despite my maxed Iron-Rank Perception. Even channelling Pause, I’m hardly able to track as she alternates between the two in a pattern I can’t decipher.

After several minutes, she stops. She doesn’t throw the cups to the side however, instead clearing more space on the table and placing the board beside them. She places the octagon on top of the board, frowning.

“How much of a hurry are you in?” Theria asks, flipping the octagon across the back of her hand as though it were an oversized coin.

Pausing to consider my answer, I shrug. “Not urgent, I guess. Still, I’d like to get this patched up,” I answer, waving my left hand at the right side of my body.

“Right. Looks uncomfortable. Sorry I don’t have anything for that.”

“It is kind of painful,” I admit.

Stopping the coin, Theria scrunches her face before turning to the side and yelling, “Thistle? Can you spare any of your tea, sweetie?”

There’s a crackling sound from the other room, before Thistle walks in, her leaf-woven hands holding a cup with steam wafting over it. She places it on the table with a few more cracking sounds from the bundle of vibrating branches on her chest to which I respond with a simple, “thank you,” in Vausian.

I can’t understand Thistle, but I know it’s not mutual. Thistle inclines her leafy canopy in my direction before retreating into her inner garden.

I still don’t know how Roberts managed to talk with her.

Picking up the cup, I take a single sip and my body relaxes. Even the pit in my stomach seems less tight. “Good tea.”

“It won’t fix anything, but I’ve found it tends to relieve pain when an elvenoid drinks it.” Theria taps the edge of the octagon on the alphabet board as she speaks, glancing at the cups, then tapping the board again.

“What’s that do?” I ask, motioning at where she’s tapping the board again.

“Huh? Oh, it doesn’t do anything. I’m just waiting,” Theria answers, smiling at me as she leans back.

“Ah. Is there some reason you aren’t trying the board? Can Genitha only respond to one method at a time?”

“No, nothing like that. Astra’s starboard is just tedious to use. Always works, but it’s tedious.”

“It always works?” I ask, leaning forward to give the board a closer inspection. The letters are spread between four curving rows, each row with different sized letters, the largest at the bottom. Each letter has a circle inscribed in the character, interrupting the otherwise perfect characters. The circle is the same size for each letter. It’s also the same size as the opening in the octagon. Does she have to spell out the words? That does seem tedious, but I can’t imagine it’s worse than the cups.

“Yes. Genitha received it from a friend after… you know, I can't quite recall. But I remember she was very impressed.”

“Do you want me to use it? It looks pretty simple.”

Theria throws her head back, laughing so hard that she nearly bumps the table. Thistle pokes her fronds in, gesturing at Theria, but I just shrug in response.

When she finally stops laughing, Theria smiles at me as she says, “I suppose it would seem like it’s simple. But perhaps I can show you why just because something is simple doesn’t mean it’s easy.”

Twisting the octagon between two hands, the octagon reacts with a slurp before stretching upward. It continues flipping back and forth, Theria holding it firmly within her hands the entire time until it finally comes to a rest. It’s a perfect copy of Theria, down to her current posture and scrunched up face.

With a deep breathe, Theria slowly moves the figure over the first letter. It’s the same letter as my Vausian name equivalent, but that might just be coincidence. I wait for her to move to the next letter, but she just sits in that position for several seconds.

When I’m about to ask her what’s wrong, she moves to the next letter in my name. This time I start counting in my head, trying to determine how long she’s spending on each letter. I’ve reached forty-two when she finally shifts to the third of eight letters in my Vausian name. At this point I’m pretty sure she’s spelling it out.

And then I notice that the little sculpture is moving, tracing the characters out again and again with its tiny fingers. No wonder she doesn’t want to communicate with Genitha this way. Each letter takes longer than it took her to do the entire message when using the cups.

When she gets to the fifth letter the cups start vibrating. Theria lets go of the miniature model of herself, uttering, “Oh thank Vaus.” She starts watching the vibrating string carefully, the model reforming into a simple octagon coin.

I spend the next few minutes watching Theria tap the cups, stare at the string, write something down and then repeat the whole process over again. Finally, she pauses her frantic writing and I ask, “So? What did Genitha say?”

“Not much. Most of that was just the code making sure I’m me.”

I blink my only good eye, taking another sip of my tea as I try to retain my composure. As I’m sipping, Theria adds, “I did mention that you were injured, and she slipped in the fact that Rufka is safe.”

“Oh, well that’s good then,” I reply, my voice surprisingly level, the string starts to vibrate again as my heart sags in relief.

It takes another cup of tea and three more sessions to find out that Genitha is several days away, dealing with a situation in one of the M’tari coastal cities on the western continent, so she won’t be able to help me for almost a week. She’s sent a message informing Rufka of my situation, but she has to wait until Rufka’s able to respond to tell us more.

The entire process is painful, her message relayed to me one awkward sentence at a time. Still faster than the board would've been.

As Theria sets her pen to the side, she stretches before reading her latest notes. “Ah, Genitha mentions she should have something to address your wounds. A feather blanket you can wrap yourself in. However, she also said you'd need Rufka to get it. She also wanted me to reassure you that you’re welcome to stay in her home for as long as you need.”

She blinks, looking up from her notes before adding, “You’re quite welcome to stay here as well.”

I nod, but I don’t think I’ll be able to remain. Part of me wants to leave immediately, to try to find Rufka and the others. But the sensible thing will be to wait for her to find me, or for a response from Genitha as to her location.

To be told where she is.

That doesn’t mean I need to sit still in the meantime.

If only I knew what I should do.

5.27, Old Tricks

September 8, 2023.

As I’m trying to decide what exactly I should be doing, Theria shifts, pulling me back to the moment.

“I suspect you do not wish to stay,” Theria says, patting my hand.

“No. I mean, I’ll be in the area until Genitha can tell me where Rufka is…”

“But you need to be moving. I understand.”

I nod, then shake my head, “I’m worried about the others too. But if I find Rufka first, she’ll lead me to them.”

“Of course,” Theria says, climbing to her feet while packing up the unused tools. “It’ll be a couple hours until the next message, so if you want to go, now’s a good time.”

“Right. And Theria. Thank you.” I offer her a small bow.

She waves me off, grumbling, “It’s nothing.” She rolls the octagon across her knuckles again for a moment before stopping. Her lips curl downward as she glares at the token, before shifting her gaze to me, poking it directly at my chest. “You need to take better care of yourself. I’ll not see little Rukie go through such loss again. Too young. Far too young.”

With that, she turns away, shuffling to the trapdoor while I fight to keep my composure. I don’t say anything, retreating past a startled Thistle before blasting out of the sheltered valley.

I’ve crossed the river to the south before I stop my aimless flight.

Taking a deep breath, I look back towards the promontory. The sheltered nature of the valley hides Theria’s home, yet I feel pressure, pushing me to… do something, anything. I follow the river, heading east, toward the sea where this all started. As I travel, I almost don’t notice the mist hanging over the river in the evening sun, but a dark shadow within draws my attention.

Flitting closer to the surface of the river, I realize it’s the Water Elemental. It’s surrounded by hundreds of small blobs. They’re all shifting through shapes, copying the forest around it.

When I get closer, it retreats, its entire eight-meter body sinking beneath the surface without so much as a ripple.

I swallow hard, pulling away from it. I veer south, moving towards the church and standing stones. I haven’t been here for since shortly after Elementalist’s peak. The tower protruding from the top of the church guides me in.

The design is still painful to look at. It’s functional. Ugly. I reach out to reshape it, to turn it into a work of art. To wipe away the shame. Then the cloud cover breaks, the evening sun casting my shadow over the entire village, my single hand grasping like a monster from the dark.

I drop my hand, inspecting the tower again.

Yes, it’s not-pretty.

But it’s a reminder. A reminder of what I was capable of a mere day after arriving on Akilo. This time when I reach out, it’s not to change, but to reminisce. Even in my first moments here, I wasn't reliant on the System for my magic. I've seen enough to know how true that is now.

The static… it interferes with my System.

So… can I ignore it?

I settle on the roof, leaning against the tower while staring into the setting sun. Much like I did when I was first left alone.

Turning my attention inward, I scour my interface for the hidden connections. Greyed out names float in my head, brought forward in my consciousness. Focusing on Beth’s nameplate, I tease the layers beneath apart, catching the wisp of magic as it's freed from the System’s restrictions. Even with it’s interference, the strand is still there.

With the strand in my mental grasp, I smile as I reinforce the connection, shifting my Focus.

When I connect, Beth is talking with Roberts, something about the assault. I realize I didn’t use any of my improved techniques as a map of Akilo fills her view.

Before I have a chance to adjust, she stops, closing her eyes as she whispers. “Kid? That you?”

It takes me a few seconds to remember how to control the connection. Once I’m certain I’ve got it, I respond, “Yeah, can you hear me?”

“Oh, sweet Jesus. Kid, I’m glad to hear your voice. How are you guys doing? Are you alright?” Even as Beth is speaking, I hear Roberts say my name as he shakes Beth’s shoulder. She nods at him, and he sighs, a small smile appearing on his face.

“Uh. No. I could use some healing actually,” I answer. No need to let them know how bad it is. Wait… “You guys? Rufka and Tipan aren’t with you?”

“They’re not… Shit. What happened? Where are you?”

I attempt to shrug, realize she can’t see me and say, “Not sure. I think I was hit by a mana-strike? Then I… I think I remember Tipan and Rufka talking. I passed out, had another Uthica flashback then woke in Genitha’s cabin.”

“Understood. We’re outside Betheryne at the moment. No sign of Tipan or Rufka. Aethire’s… it’s not good kid. Roberts is helping out where he can, but there are refugees everywhere. Not all of them can afford to get into the Sanctuary.” She opens her eyes, and steps out of the tent she was sheltering in, Roberts beside her.

Her tent is set up near the edge of the last functional Builder Sanctuary, with a clear view of the open fields that stretch to the foot of the mountains surrounding Aethire. Where once there were neat rows of diverse produce, now the fields closest to the Sanctuary are crushed beneath a disorganized mess of the broken floating homes that once made up Aethire.

As Beth watches, another cluster of homes is towed toward the city by two dragons struggling against their harness. One of the dragons trips and stumbles as they land, causing the entire cluster to lurch and shudder until it’s guided to an empty area by a team of K’tharn.

When the cluster touches the ground, several doors snap open, and K’tharn spill out. There are cries of confusion and anger as neighbours call out to each other. I hear more than a few yelling at the tired K’tharn who are already flying off to help with the next cluster of homes.

Behind them, a flash of light appears, Talkith standing there for a moment as she lowers a K'tharn to the ground. And then she's gone.

Roberts waves to Beth, his leathery wings stretching wide as he flies towards the new arrivals.

“Don’t even know how lucky they are,” Beth mutters.

“Sorry, what?” I ask.

Beth sighs, before heading back inside her tent. “There have been hundreds of minor injuries, but from what I’ve gathered there haven’t been more than three fatalities. All of which were from confronting M’tari directly.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Sure. But I’m sick of them complaining about the damage to their homes. Ungrateful…” Beth stops. I’m certain she had several less than generous words ready but she chooses not to deploy them. “This is going to hurt our plans.”

“I can see…” I pause as a feeling of weakness shakes me. “Uh, I have to…”

My connection to Beth snaps, the pain surging through me as I pass out.

Beth cringed as she heard the sound of crashing glass on the street below. Looking outside, she saw Travis’ hands on the sill of their fourth-floor apartment’s balcony. In the street below was the remains of the third television her mother had bought since he’d moved in. She continued to replace them, never questioning him when he said it’d been an accident.

Beth disliked Travis.

He’d disrupted her life significantly when he’d started dating her mother six months ago. The only thing that had improved was the food. He was a better cook than Beth or her mom. Still, their days of bland rice or overcooked chicken were better than living with the man-shaped donkey.

Beth felt her hands closing over the aluminum bat again, wishing she could discard him as simply as he’d done with the tee-vee. The bat was a present from her father on one of his rare visits, back when he still came. She’d been glad when those visits ended. Trying to find words for such a useless man had been painful.

Not like her uncle, Samuel. How two men who were so different could come from the same parents, she'd never understand.

The bat had been buried in the back of her closet for years before Travis moved in.

But after the night Travis came home, settling in front of the television only to go into a rage when Manchester United lost their game, he’d decided to vent his frustration. On her.

He hit her while she was making a strawberry and cheddar sandwich, leaving the red jam streaked across the kitchen floor. It mixed with Beth’s blood as he grabbed another soda from the fridge.

She hadn’t even said anything about his stupid game.

With blood still clouding her vision, she’d dug the bat out. Only after having it in hand did she clean her face, return to the kitchen, and finish her sandwich.

He'd eyed her, but stayed away.

She knew she couldn’t trust him after that. He didn’t even have the excuse of drinking, though her mother insisted that alcohol was no excuse for violence either.

Beth thought it was ironic that her mother worked as a therapist but didn’t recognize the danger Travis represented. And of course, she thought her thirteen-year-old daughter was exaggerating.

Just because Beth happened to get in fights at school on occasion. Bullies were bullies, as her uncle said. And Beth was used to standing up to them, no matter how violent or big they were.

But Travis wouldn’t be a danger for long. Not because of the bat. No, the bat was reassuring. But it wasn’t important. Not unless he tried something.

He didn’t drink. That was a point of pride to Travis. Real men don’t need alcohol. He’d said it so often, Beth had wondered who he was trying to convince. After all, he also said real men didn’t use violence. Just like her mom.

Lies.

He didn’t drink, but he did use protein powder, claiming it was the next big thing. It was practically his religion. He sold it to everyone he could. And it wasn’t just lip service. Every day, after her mom left for work, he’d prepare a giant portion in his blender. Then he’d crash around in the den, disrupting her last hour before school with his workout.

It’d taken her a long time to figure out how to use that. She’d wanted it to be untraceable. Not all bullies backed down if you hit them. And being caught was… not ideal. The anarchist’s cookbook had been the key. So many useful bits of knowledge. Dangerous household chemicals and mixtures. The trick was to add it when his powder was low enough, he’d clean the evidence himself.

There was the sound of boots on glass outside her window as Travis emerged on the street below, lifting the tee-vee and carrying it to the dumpster.

Two more days, Beth told herself, her hands clenched on the bat when Travis turned to stare up at her through her open window.

Two more days and Travis would be dead.

What… the… actual…

I throw up, my mind refusing to process Beth’s following memories for several seconds. While not as clear, I can remember moments from the next few days. The moment she left early for school, having added something to his blender and something else to the powder. Leaving early was a habit she’d established over the prior month.

Her mother’s tears when she got home from school. Her mother lamenting that if only she’d been home and gotten to him sooner, she might have been able to save him.

Beth’s surprise when her mother received life-insurance. Her regret that her mother didn’t return to normal, instead throwing herself into her work to make up for her ‘failure’ with Travis.

Her disappointment when instead of ruling Travis’ death a suicide, the investigator concluded it was accidental. Beth hadn’t been aware Travis was seeing a counsellor for suicidal thoughts and that the counsellor had stated Travis was improving.

Underneath it all was the part that still had me fighting to control myself. Beth was smug.

She’d killed a man when she was thirteen and had never felt remorse, or even disgust. Just a deep pervading sense of satisfaction.

I slide down the far side of the temple, away from my mess, catching myself in the air before hiding inside the church.

Too much.

That had been too much. I’d known Beth could be ruthless. But this is worse. And unlike my early attempts, I don’t have the luxury of doubting the truth. Josh and Beth both verified that the previous memories I experienced were accurate. And the encounter with Tipan only reinforced it.

I’m sitting at the bottom of the stairs in the basement, slumped against the wall when I feel a pull in my chest. My connection to Smoulder.

But I have no interest in living through yet another crappy memory. So, I resist.

As I resist, I stare at the far wall, focusing on the shape of the stone. Time slows to a crawl and my time-sense returns. Then I lose my grip and my mind is flung back. But it’s less real. I get a vague sense of Uthica and Smoulder fighting against a horde of mana-borne Pothlin, the twisted version of a K’tharn being scorched the only clear image in the memory.

A quick flash of an argument with Uthica’s aunt.

But then I’m back to myself and I’m slumped against the far wall, right beneath the stone I’d been locked on.

Which gives me something to worry about other than Beth.

Did I… Did I just unintentionally teleport?

5.28, When I Stared into the Abyss, it Blinked First

September 8, 2023.

Slipping down the wall of the temple basement, I consider what just happened. Beth is… Nope, still not ready to think about that. So, instead I’m going to focus on the teleporting. Why did it happen when Smoulder’s bond pulled me? Is there a connection to… how did I never see it before.

Facet allows me to control space and time. Because they’re linked. I mean, that’s basic physics, right?

Next, I’ll find out I can control gravity too. I can’t help but smirk at that thought. But my smirk turns into a frown as Beth’s memories crowd in.

So, I try to find another distraction, only to focus on Uthica’s door. It’s been a long time. Last time I was here it was just an empty room with a piece of pottery. I wonder if she left me anything I missed.

Floating to my feet, I walk to the door. There’s no hesitation when I reach out, manipulating the hidden runes, compensating for both my missing right hand and lack of a K’tharn’s lower arms with metal manipulation. A click sounds, and the System flashes a message, but it disappears before I can read it. Then it reappears as a jumbled mess.

Yeah, that’s not worrying.

The door hisses as it opens, before spiralling outward. The entrance remains obscured, an energy field preserving its contents from everything, down to the stray photons in the air.

I press through the barrier, feeling it wrap against my skin like the world’s most encompassing hug. I take a moment to just let the feeling comfort me, as though Uthica is reaching through time to reassure me that everything’s okay.

For the first time since I was struck, I feel… content. As tears of happiness stream down my face, I stop and just… revel in the feeling.

When I finally open my eyes, I’m shocked at all the books and scrolls. This… wasn’t here last time. If I thought Uthica’s personal room had been packed, this is overfull. If I hadn’t stopped to enjoy the feeling of the barrier, I would've stumbled over the sprawling mess. Seriously, there’s barely enough room to stand.

I don’t even know where to start. Or if there’s anything useful in here. I wish I’d asked Uthica about what she was working on.

Then I see the letter with my name on it. The envelope is ornate, with a fancy seal. Right, that’s the obvious one to start with.

Gingerly, I lift the letter off the nearest pile. I break the seal with a blade of razor-sharp metal, sliding it along with a precision I couldn’t manage with my once mortal hands. Unfolding the envelope, I pull the letter free, the paper of a higher quality than any I’ve seen on Akilo. In fact, the last time I saw paper of this quality… was before I was brought to Akilo. The letter from the Forerunner Initiative.

Flipping the letter open, I brace myself.

Hello my dear Lexi.

I don’t know why your visits stopped, but I find myself missing you. It’s now been ten years since your last visit. I’ll be leaving Akilo soon. As you can see, I’ve gathered more records. Those with the attached seal have been written with the assistance of my engineers. Primers. Everything you need to not just repair but build a Ripple-drive. And not just Ripple-drives. Everything a person could need to build a functional starship. Or restore a Sanctuary.

Beneath the letter is a hammer crossed over an enchanter’s tool that looks similar to a flathead screwdriver. Glancing to the side, I note several stacks of books with the same symbol.

These are the least I could have left you. Especially after everything you’ve given to us. To me especially. In addition, if you travel to the World Dungeon, you’ll find my head Engineer. She’s quirky but useful. Hopefully she won’t give you too much trouble.

Still, it feels as though it isn’t enough.

So, I’ve left you another treasure. In the wood box beneath this letter is a collection of keys. Each is synced to a different ship. As of setting this ink to the page, each of these ships is a fully functional starship, ready to pierce the void.

I don’t know if this will be enough to save your home.

With this, I reach the hardest part of this letter. And here you will know why I find it is not enough. You know me better than any other. You lived my childhood beside me. Not even my father can say he knows me so intimately. And I know you. After our visit… I remember it all. Growing up on earth. The day you lost your father. When you kissed Zachary under the slide.

Your first step on my world.

I won’t say goodbye because I hope to see you again, amongst the stars.

But I… I love you, Alexis. You are the sister I never had.

...

P.S. Ice-cream is amazing. It’s worth every shard I spent to recreate it.

I have to blink several times before I set the letter on the stack. I end up holding the stack of books to steady myself. Whew. Too much, too fast.

These books are exactly what I need. Something not-emotionally packed to distract myself with. Setting the box of keys carefully to the side, I open the first book, labelled “A dummy’s guide to Ripple-drives. By Uthica, Lore-queen of clan Halterin.”

I can’t help but giggle as I make myself comfortable, Pausing each time I turn the page. Four real-time hours later, I’ve consumed a staggering amount of literature. It was surprisingly entertaining to read. Each book was like a personal instruction manual crafted specifically for me.

Like it was designed to fill in the gaps of my Voidtech Engineer Subclass.

Which, I suppose they were. And now that I’ve read them, I’ll be able to recall the details whenever I need to. I still need practice, but the manuals connected so much of the almost-useful knowledge I gained through the spaceship primers and the subclass. It’s still settling in, but I feel far calmer now. Only having one eye didn’t inhibit my reading as much as I thought it would.

Still don’t know how I feel about my latest discovery of Beth’s history. It’s a gross violation of her privacy, but it’s not like I wanted to know she started killing people when she was barely a teenager. I close the last of the books with a sigh, pushing myself to my feet.

A bridge to cross in the future. Maybe I misinterpreted her feelings. Or maybe not.

Either way, I should get moving.

I lift the box of keys, examining the case. The box is made of a rich red wood, every centimetre of its surface covered in ornate carvings. I distractedly step out of the cramped room while running my finger over the case’s surface. Then stop when the encompassing barrier dissipates, fading back into the entry. There’s a sense of loss. The temptation to slip back inside is strong.

But I resist, tapping the rune to the side of the entrance, the door sliding closed. With the chamber sealed off from the world once more, I decide to settle my stomach as a comfort compromise. However, when I open my belt pouch to pull a snack out, my inventory refuses to cooperate. And it’s not just my belt. Every one of my spatial pockets is on the fritz. Not even my backpack allows me access. It’s just an empty bag.

Even as I’m staring at my open backpack, it flickers, the regular void space replacing the leather sides. Wary of the bag malfunctioning again, I pluck out a few meals, setting them to the side. I was going to put the keys in my inventory, but that feels risky now.

Since I’m not putting them away, I may as well inspect the keys while I eat. The case is sealed with a pair of simple bronze latches. Flipping them open, the lid eases upward revealing nine silver keys. Each key is inscribed with a matching Sanctuary’s name. There’s also a basic map carved into the lid of the case, showing the location of each of the cities. Not information I need, but I appreciate Uthica’s thoroughness.

There are also several copper keys, linked to other ships, also indicated on a separate map. This one I memorize.

I pick up the key for the city of Burnesq. Technically, we don’t need the key now that we have the city flying. But maybe it’ll make it easier to get it repaired. Finishing my snack, I wrap the box in plain steel, disguising it inside a floating chair.

It’s not quite a proper high-backed throne. But with a few tweaks, it becomes one, almost matching Atun's. Until I perfect it.

A pair of large mana-hare ears over my shoulder, a pair of heads in Smoulder’s image carved in the arms and a padding of soft fur, snuck from my inventory before it fritzed again completes it. Then I look at the tiny entrance leading out, then back to my throne. I sigh, breaking my throne into pieces and ascending into the temple. The primitive smoker and bathroom are both as I left them. Reminders of a better time.

No. That’s not true.

Even missing an eye and a hand, I’m better now. Even separated from the others, I'm happier than I was then.

I wave my stub at the front entrance, opening the blocked off entrance to the village outside. When I step out, I’m met by the statue. The first impression of a K’tharn I ever had.

Its gaze is still locked on the horizon. Part of me thought I’d recognize it. But whoever this K’tharn is, they’re unknown to me. Given its prominence, they must've been important to someone. Considering Uthica’s hidden chamber below, maybe it’s someone that became close to her. It seems there’s a decade I’ll never see. The thought makes me surprisingly sad.

But I don’t dwell on it.

Instead, I take my place on my steel throne, before flying south to the standing stones. Also known as the Forerunner Transition Point. A surprisingly blatant declaration of ownership for an organization like the Forerunners. But then, I suppose it is in the middle of nowhere.

Despite the months since we’ve arrived, the grass in the centre remains exactly the same shade of green. The once brown vegetation outside the circle is covered with light frost, winter starting to exert itself in this part of Akilo.

I settle my throne in the centre of the circle as I attempt to bring up my System. It takes a solid minute to bring up my status. Nothing’s changed except the count of Ascension Crests and Copper-rank Integration Points. Oh, and a bunch of experience for my Voidtech Engineer subclass.

The line about my Ascension Crests stares at me.

If I was still the girl I’d been when I arrived on Akilo, I wouldn’t even be considering using one. Not until I was certain it was safe. Using it when my System is glitching, isn’t just a bad idea. It’s a terrible idea.

But…

It’s important. It could restore me. And there’s every chance we’ll need the power. That I’ll need it. I’ve been ignoring a simple question.

Can I trust Beth?

I want to. More than anything. She’s never been anything but good to me. But her plans are… weak. And small. I know she tried to stop me from noticing, moving her focus to the refugees when I connected. She’s looking to bring the cities to Earth. But her plans only focus on Europe and North America. And even then, she only intends to send them to the coasts of a handful of places.

She’s given up before we’ve even begun.

I suppose it’s practical.

Is that enough? I drum my fingers on my throne, basking in the setting sun as I consider my choices. It probably won’t come to violence. Beth’s always been willing to listen. I nod to myself. I didn’t come here because of anything Beth’s done recently. A person can change a lot in… I don’t actually know how old Beth is. But her latest memory was in the early nineties. So, it’s been a couple decades.

Shaking my head, I do what I came here for. I Focus on the Nexus, forcing the interface up long enough to confirm my advancement. There are several moments I think it’s going to fail, the interface fading. But each time, I infuse it with Facet and Focus, pushing my way through.

The System asks for confirmation, and for a second, I swear I can hear Wyonna’s voice in my ear. Then tingling sweeps through me. It’s similar to when I first purchased the Restoration ability, the System’s energy creeping from the tip of my toes upward.

As it works, time passes, and I start pondering… everything.

Beth’s history. Smoulder stuck in the past. A glitching System. Really, at this point my physical injuries feel like the least of my worries. There’s a bloody war between the M’tari and… well, the remnants of the Aetherium, apparently. Guess that's not much of a problem anymore. Not directly.

I remain there, my body locked in a perpetual cycle, much like my problems. I barely notice when the sun finally sets, a mana-storm crackling on the horizon. What should have been a simple infusion of mana into the southern stone, takes me until the storm is just overhead before I’m able to trigger its protection. The invisible barrier surges upward to include me and my throne. It’s the buzzing of the barrier snapping into place that snaps me out of my circling thoughts.

The System has finished whatever it was doing, but it hasn’t restored me. There’s a notification, that keeps blinking out.

Infusing it with Facet and Focus, I read it.

“Advancement to Copper Rank Complete.”

“Quest Received: Survive Copper. Survive for a hundred years. 0/100 years or Advance to Silver. Rewards: Variable.”

A quest that’s basically irrelevant and a message that feels underwhelming for such a major change. Opening my Status takes even more resources, leaving my Facet nearly depleted.

Forerunner Pandora’s Status

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-10 > Copper-1

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 90

Constitution: 90

Agility: 105

Endurance: 105

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 125

Resolve: 125

Storage: 11.9 > 119 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 6/8

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 627 > 769

Progression Marks: 0

Ascension Crests: 2 > 1

Copper Rank Points

Integration Points: 0 > 20

Progression Marks: 0

Ascension Crests: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 675/686 > 675/1355

Edge: [103.3] > [144.7]

Regen: (592/day) > (1177/day)

Stamina

Pool: 686/702 > 686/1388

Edge: [110.6] > [155.3]

Regen: (627/day) > (1246/day)

Mana

Pool: 1272/1277 > 1272/2358

Edge: [140.6] > [216.8]

Regen: (1216/day) > (2334/day)

Focus

Pool: 158/1277 > 158/2358

Edge: [126] > [202.2]

Regen: (1216/day) > (2334/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 221/434 > 23/671

Edge: [58.6] > [76.4]

Regen: (372/hour) > (646/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10, 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10, 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10, 0/10

Identify Friend or Foe: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1, 0/2

Elemental Chakram: 3/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 2/2

Limits of Mortality: 1/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1

Anchor: 1/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1

Seed: 1/1

Secondary Abilities

Lightning Warp: 1/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 0/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 3/3

Well, it looks like forcing the Ascension was worth it. And wow, that’s a massive upgrade to my inventory. Now… I… I just…

Rufka, I should check on Rufka.

But the mana-storm has me locked in place. I glare up into the mana-storm, my frustration prompting me upward. I begin grabbing the ambient mana, incorporating it into my aura, reshaping the storm around me, throwing its energy to the ground before it can strike.

I continue ascending, the storm growing closer. It’s fighting me now, the energy lashing out, forming chaotic energies beyond my reach. I’ve been too cautious, avoiding the mana-storms as they’ve wracked Akilo with greater and greater fury. Hiding from them is what led me here. The System knew I’d be safe, as long as I faced them head on. Had I taken control earlier, I’d still be with Tipan.

And Rufka.

I wouldn’t be a half-melted hunk of flesh with a System on the fritz.

And I wouldn’t know about Beth. The thought freezes me in place, my attention slipping for only a fraction of a second.

That’s enough.

The sky splits, but this is no bolt of lightning. Instead, it’s a yawning void. A complete lack of substance, a hole in reality reaching for me. But time stretches at my command, freezing the bolt in place. I vanish, reappearing above the rip. But avoiding the bolt isn’t enough for me.

So, I start forming runes. Overlapping circles, creating a binding shield. Triangles to link and flex. I continue, adding additional runes for control, stability and a gradual discharge. I stretch my moment to the limit, spending Focus and Facet to increase my time. I just need this one win.

Time resumes and the energy starts flowing into my new spell. The shield pops into place, the rip sealed within. The shield glows with power, drawing energy from the bolt it's containing. It’s working. Then I notice a rune crumple, simply disappearing. This causes a cascade effect, more and more runes crumbling before the shield collapses and the rip within tears its way across the sky, just another failure.

But the storm remains.

I don’t have another encounter with a reality tear, but I withstand it until the end, practicing my containment setup every chance I get. But the practice isn’t that useful. Without the void within, there isn’t anything to disrupt the shield.

Eventually the storm passes. I watch it recede for a few seconds before descending to my throne and the keys hidden within.

It’s time to return to Theria.

A note from Draith

Thanks for the critical, I think... review, Arensor.

5.29, Nice Chairs

September 8, 2023. Late. Really late.

Clouds have filled the sky, casting Theria’s valley in complete darkness as I fly above the terraced fields. To my surprise, it isn’t one of her wards, but Theria herself who is keeping watch. Her eyes track me as I approach, but she doesn’t rise.

“Nice chair,” she remarks, tilting back in her simple rocking chair.

“Thanks. You too,” I respond.

“Genitha called. Rufka’s okay. Trapped in one of those stupid Aethire bulbs.”

I nod. We knew she was okay. And it figures she’s trapped. Probably went inside to keep me safe and then I disappeared on her. Even so… it’s like a weight has vanished off my shoulders.

Theria stares at me, her eyes bobbing as she starts rocking. “She’s happy you’re okay. Said you gave her quite the scare, the way you disappeared.”

Swallowing, I nod again. “I didn’t mean to scare her. It was an accident.”

“Sure. It’s always an accident. You trust the System too much. No real control over your abilities.”

I can’t help but laugh at that. “You’re right. Wish you could’ve told me earlier.”

She stops her rocking, a small smile creeping back on her face. “Well. Long as you admit it, I might be able to help. I do have some experience with working outside the System, you know.”

“Oh?” I ask, leaning forward on my throne.

“Yep. Back when I was a Forerunner.”

“You were a Forerunner?” I ask, incredulous. She’s nothing like any of the Forerunner’s I’ve met. Or even heard of.

Theria chuckles as she rises from her chair, “I’ll take that as a compliment. Come on, let’s get some sleep. We can start in the morning. Leave the chair.”

“Wait,” I call after her, hesitating. I want to go to the others… but I really should sleep. Deciding another day won't hurt, I draw the box out of the chair, not wanting to let it out of my sight.

To my surprise, Theria is still waiting, watching me with narrowed eyes as I approach.

“That’s new.”

“Uhm. Yeah.”

“Hmm. Might have more to teach you than I thought.” With that, Theria retreats through the low arch leading inside her home, with me a single pace behind. She gestures to a room on the upper floor, then heads directly to her own. I go into the small room. The bed’s clean, the room small. Even roughing it in the wilds is more luxurious with the ease I’m able to create custom accommodations. But accepting her hospitality means sleeping with others nearby.

That alone is worth a great deal of discomfort. Compared to everything else that’s happened in the last few days, this doesn’t even qualify. When I drift off to sleep, I dream of Smoulder chasing other mana-hares through a field, Rufka and I laughing at her antics.

I wake at dawn to the sound of an explosion.

Rushing out of Theria’s cabin, I nearly crash into the mortared wall, distracted by conjuring overlapping shields while searching the shaded valley for the source of the explosions. My attention is drawn to a terrace near the top of the valley, where Ckichik is dodging about, the early morning light shining off his glossy black carapace. The explosions seem to be originating from the same terrace, so I fly towards him, prepared to help.

However, when I arrive, I discover he’s training with Theria. She’s lobbing melons toward him with deceptive speed.

Realizing that the valley isn’t under attack, I settle in place to watch Ckichik train. He’s not using any magic that I can see as he bounces around the field. Several minutes later they stop, Theria having run out of the explosive melons.

Theria turns to me, her furry face crinkling into a smile as I land.

I return the smile, waving to Chichik as he wipes scraps of Melon off before turning back to Theria. “So, when you said you’d help, I hope you didn’t plan on throwing exploding fruit at me.”

“I considered it,” Theria admits. “But you don’t need help training your reflexes. Not in your condition.”

I involuntarily try to squeeze my non-existent hand at her reminder. “Yeah. That’s a fair point.”

“So, we’ll see if we can’t work on your control over mana without the System holding your hand.”

“Should be pretty easy.” I mutter. With how sporadic the System’s been, I’ve barely used my preferred spells. Casting while using my own spellforms has been all I've been doing.

“We’ll see,” Theria says, waving at the wrecked terrace. “Let’s start by cleaning up.”

I nod, following her to an outcropping of torn rock.

“Now. You’ll be grabbing the mana like this,” she says, infusing her mana into the rock, then forcing it to merge with the ground. But I don’t see anything special about it.

“Uh. Can you do that again?” I ask.

Theria nods, moving to the next protruding spike. Again, she infuses the stone with her mana, smoothing it into the small crater it formed from. Despite watching while Pausing, it seems like she’s just doing what I always do.

“So,” I say, “Like this?”

I proceed to flatten a broken ring of spikes into the ground, expecting her to stop me and tell me what I’m doing wrong. But she doesn’t. Instead, she points to another spike. Then another. Soon I’ve restored the terrace to its former glory and Theria is pacing while rolling the octagon from yesterday across her fingers. Guess she didn’t put it back.

Letting her ponder, I look up into the sky, searching for Ukila. But it’s not visible. Now that I’ve had a night to process, I’m tempted to connect to Rufka through my interface like I did with Beth, just to talk to her.

But I’m hesitant. If I mess it up… I don’t want to violate her memories like that. Maybe… maybe I can find a way to send messages like the System? But without using its interface. Damn, I wish I’d studied the System when I had the chance. I Focus on the chat interface, hoping to connect-

[Wyonna] “-you see this! Please, let-”

“Wyonna?” I stop as the message obscures my vision completely. It’s far more obtrusive than messages normally are.

[Alexis] “Wyonna can you see this? I only got a couple words. But I saw something!”

There’s no response, and before I can attempt again, Theria speaks. “It would seem I overestimated how much you rely on the System. We’ll need to do other tests of course, but I won’t have much to offer if all your magic is this proficient.”

“Well, that’s good,” I respond distractedly.

“It is. I think I’m going to need proper tools. Wait here,” Theria states before strolling away.

“Okay. Sure…” I say, playing back what exactly happened when Wyonna contacted me.

I was thinking about studying the System. But I wasn’t just thinking about it I was Focusing on it when,

[Wyonna] “-don’t know what happened. This is so-”

Huh. I think I’m onto something. When I Focus on the system messages section of my interface, analyzing it, Wyonna’s messages pop into existence.

[Wyonna] “-sending you messages non-stop, hoping you’ll get them. Least I’m not talking about the chair I want with Ryan Gosling’s face on it.”

Her messages are disappearing as fast as I read them, but at least I can see them now. Ignoring that last message, I reach out to her.

[Alexis] “I think I’ve figured it out. Kind of.”

[Wyonna] “Oh thank goodness. I don’t know what happened, but your System is a mess.”

[Alexis] “Yeah. I figured. It’s not just my System. I got banged up pretty bad.”

[Wyonna] “Oh no. And I bet your healing items are as effective as a stormtrooper!”

[Alexis] “How’d you know?”

[Wyonna] “Most healing items use the System’s understanding of your body to direct their energy. If there’s no System, the energy just kind of goes everywhere. Even if a skilled healer is more efficient, they still rely on the System. Well, maybe not the best ones.”

Well, I’m glad I didn’t try to use my miracle recovery item.

[Alexis] “So, could I replicate what I’m doing right now to communicate with you to get healing working?”

[Wyonna] “Yes? Maybe. Probably not. I wouldn’t recommend it. I had to scrap some of your message System to get things working this much.”

[Alexis] “Wait, you’re breaking my System?”

[Wyonna] “It’s fine. It’ll restore itself once we can connect to the local Network.”

[Alexis] “So, you’re telling me my System will be fine as soon as I login to a Nexus? But I just upgraded to Copper, and it didn’t do anything.”

[Wyonna] “Err, you did? Well, the damage is surprisingly extensive. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re conscious.”

Blinking, I rub at my head with my left hand.

[Alexis] “Why does that sentence make me worried?”

[Wyonna] “Because you like to worry? Well, compared to me. You’re nothing compared to Beth. I mean… Nevermind, you shouldn’t worry. It’ll be fine. Even if the System can’t fix everything perfectly, I’ll… figure something out. And if I can’t, we’ll just contact Theglia. I’m sure she’ll have ideas!”

[Alexis] “Yeah, cause it’s super-easy to contact Theglia.”

[Wyonna] “Lex, seriously, we’ll figure it out.”

[Alexis] “I’d like to have my System working again. But you’re right. It’s not the end of the world.”

[Wyonna] “Ha. Good one. You know, since you're trying to stop the… yeah. Nevermind.”

I find myself smiling as Wyonna keeps rambling. It’s pretty clear she’s been feeling the effects of not being able to message anyone. Even more alone than I've been. Maybe I can figure out a way to remove her dependency on the System?

My forehead creases as I think about it. Can I even do that? She existed without the System before we came to Akilo, right? She must've. We didn’t have a System on Earth.

Responding politely to a comment Wyonna made about the glory of pickles, I ask her, “Wyonna, is there some way to free you from my System?”

[Wyonna] “Uh. Wow. Total non-sequitur there. What do pickles have to do with my situation. Oh, except I guess I’m kind of in a pickle.”

[Alexis] “Yep. That's totally it.”

[Wyonna] “Right. So, we could unlock the Citizen Training Room. But then you wouldn’t be able to advance your class, so that’s not really much of a solution.”

[Alexis] “Already advanced my class. And I still have a point left. Unlocking the room’s on the table. And we can always run the World Dungeon again, right?”

[Wyonna] “Yes. But now that I’m thinking about it, it’s not a very good solution. I mean, sure it gives me room to stretch my legs, but I’d still be bound to the System like Malcolm to the middle. It’s a shame we can’t access Pelwerd’s systems. It’d be cool to become a city-ship.”

Uh. Right. I’m so used to Wyonna just knowing everything I do I haven’t told her about what’s happened.

[Alexis] “Actually, I have the keys for that now.”

[Wyonna] “Seriously! What else have I missed? Wait, no, you can tell me later. We should go.”

[Alexis] “Soon. I have some other stuff I need to deal with first.”

I spend the next couple minutes filling Wyonna in on everything that’s happened since Aethire, only leaving out the details of Beth’s flashback since that's so… personal. Theria is making her way back up right as I’m finishing.

[Wyonna] “Dang. Okay, you should at least try to connect to a Nexus while I’m active. Worst that happens is it rejects the connection, and you stay the same.”

[Alexis] “Yeah. I’ll check it out. But Theria’s back. I’ll reach out to you again in about an hour, okay?”

[Wyonna] “Sure. Yeah. Uhm… Yeah. I’ll see you in an hour then.”

My heart feels heavy as I focus on Theria. Best to get through this quickly so I can visit the Nexus. If it works, at least Wyonna will have access to my senses again. I think? Not sure what she’ll do.

Theria opens a box pulling out several non-magical items. The first is a dull bronze lamp. It’s meant to burn charcoal, something that probably hasn’t been seen on Akilo since integration. Following the lamp is a series of bowls, each with a spout as long as the bowl is wide. Finally, she pulls out a metal tree, its thick silver trunk studded with hundreds of branching spokes. Each spoke is subtly different, composed of different alloys.

“Okay. So, I’ve already seen your skill with raw stone mana. Let’s test fire next. Keep this lit for five minutes without using a skill. Try not to damage it,” Theria says, setting the lantern in front of me.

Shrugging, I create a small flame within the lantern, letting it burn. As it burns, I find myself staring into the fire, making it dance and play. By the time the five minutes are up, I have a swarm of miniature Elswyrms darting about the lantern.

Theria doesn’t seem impressed, simply setting the lantern to the side while replacing it with the bowls with oversized spouts. “Fill these with water drawn from the air. Do not leave any mana-created water in the bowls.”

This is even easier, since I don’t have to wait. A few seconds later her bowls are full. I might have overdone it, my charred skin cracking in the suddenly too-dry air.

Nodding, Theria has a small smile tugging at her lips as she sets the bowls to the side. When she places the metal tree in front of me, her eyes narrow as her grin stretches. “Create a visible whirlwind with the rod at its centre without disturbing the sensors,” she instructs, indicating the varied metal branches.

My burned-off eyebrow tries to rise as I peer at the tree with new respect, causing me to wince. This is a challenge I haven’t considered before. Why would I need to make a visible whirlwind, nevermind have it avoid objects within its area of effect.

Starting with a gentle breeze, I attempt to send it around the metal tree. But several of the spokes immediately light up. Theria stands, collecting four of the bowls, her smile still in place. “You keep practicing. I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.”

I nod, already proceeding with my third attempt.

Theria returns half an hour later and I still haven’t succeeded. With all the failures, I've been taking a break the last couple minutes, letting Wyonna chat at me as I consider the tree.

I’ve lost count of how many attempts I’ve made.

Even when I direct the wind to blow at its gentlest, thinnest gust, the sensors still react. And blasting it full force just sets off every sensor. She doesn’t say anything, barely sparing me a glance before collecting the rest of her bowls.

Then she’s gone again, and I’m back to wrestling with the wind after I bid a short goodbye to Wyonna. At this point I start cheating, drawing on my mighty temporal power. But using Pause seems to make it even worse.

This time when Theria returns, she sits down across from me, holding up a hand indicating I should stop. I oblige her, my latest monstrosity having failed as quickly as every previous attempt.

She holds her lower hands out to the side and I feel the ambient mana in our area drop. Then she withdraws a pair of slated fans, splaying them wide. She uses the fans with her upper hands to physically fan the metal tree. With just the movement of the air, the tree shapes the incoming air into a whirlwind, not a single sensor lighting up.

“That’s cheating,” I complain, “Are they detecting mana? How does this help me?”

“They’re not detecting all mana. Just System-tinted mana.”

“Wait. That’s a thing?”

“Of course.”

“So, all my magic is being assisted by the System,” I say, frowning while staring at the little tree.

Theria chuckles softly, her ears flicking in amusement. “Hardly all. Have you noticed that you haven’t once lit up these branches.” She points to the darkest of the branches, sending a wave of mana over them. The flash is so bright, I’m startled. I haven’t had a reaction even half that bright, not once.

“What?” I sputter, blinking my eye to clear it.

“That was a fully System assisted use of wind-manipulation. Even your first attempts were good enough you didn’t trigger them.”

“So, you’re saying I’ve been focusing on the wrong thing? I thought they were detecting wind speed or something,” I sigh, leaning away from the tower.

“You were making progress. Or did you not notice that you were only triggering half as many sensors near the end?”

“Uh. No,” I admit, “I think I need to take a break.”

Taking a break is the last thing I want to do. But I did promise Wyonna.

So, once more, I talk to her while considering… how do I create fully System-less mana?

5.30, Shades of Twilight

September 9, 2023. Late morning.

My break begins with the promised conversation. I allow Wyonna five minutes of what is mostly idle chatter, regaling me with her new fascination of worms and their place in earth’s biome. Which has something to do with a Jim? When the five minutes are over, I give her an extra couple minutes since she’s really on a roll.

But once she’s finished, I drop my Focus, promising I’ll be back.

Theria isn’t watching me any longer, instead gazing out over the valley at where Thistle is tending to a field of wheat-like grain.

Instead of continuing with the metal tree and its impossible whirlwinds, I join Theria in watching Thistle work. Her fronds sway in the wind as she reaches between a pair of stalks, plucking something from between their roots. I wonder if there are worms on Akilo? Like, just regular worms, not mana-infused monstrosities like the Vothborean.

For five minutes, I watch Thistle work before returning my attention to the System-detecting metal tree. I should've suspected the sensors were tuned to the System in some way. That was the whole point of these exercises. But it’s the only tool that had such an obvious indication I was failing.

This time, when I direct wind towards the tower, I cheat, pushing wind I don’t control towards the tower. I overdo it, nearly knocking the tower over, but I only light up three sensors.

My relief is interrupted by Theria’s laughter.

When I glare at her, she continues laughing but says, “That’s exactly how Genitha first solved the System-tree.”

“Oh. Well, I want to do it properly. But it’s annoying.”

Theria nods, getting to her feet. “I’ll leave you to it. Leave it on the table when you’re done. I have other things to do today.”

“Wait. Do you have any advice on how to lower the amount of System mana I’m using?”

“Ha. You’re already better than I am, Alexis. Genitha warned me about you. But I didn’t listen. Don’t know why I thought I could help.” Theria smiles at me, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She reaches towards me, but her hand drops as she shakes her head. She looks up at the sky for a moment before drawing her hand to her chin. “Maybe…” As she trails off, she shakes her head again, giving me another small smile. “No… Good luck Alexis. Remember, take care of yourself. And Rukie!”

“You too,” I respond automatically as she marches down the stairs leading to her cabin, disappearing into the attached tool-shed.

Having been abandoned by Theria, I stare at the tree. The tree stares back as I bring my mana in close. How do I even identify mana as System-mana? I felt it when she lowered the mana around me. A technique I haven’t mastered. Should I start there?

I spend a few minutes trying to lower the ambient mana surrounding me, but… it feels wrong. Like I’m trying to hold water by throwing it against a sun-baked wall mid-summer. Instead, I start replacing the mana in my vicinity. It’s not that different from taking control of the mana-storm. Soon I’ve pushed back the ambient mana for several metres around the tree. When I create a metal fan and wave it at the tree, I’m able to replicate Theria’s feat.

Which means that she must have exerted her will over the ambient mana. But she admitted she can’t create the whirlwind directly.

A quick test confirms that while my mana is currently less-infused with System-mana, it’s still there, a dozen sensors lighting up. So, I turn inward for inspiration. If I’m able to use the System interface to subvert the System, that seems like the best route to bypassing it.

Within my soul-space, I inspect the interface. I know how to tease a System thread loose to follow to the others. Can I do the same thing from my own mana?

Several minutes later, I’m throwing gouts of flame into the sky, each one the size of a school bus. Trying to tease small strands of mana apart from System mana proved more frustrating than I anticipated.

But when I decided to de-stress by unleashing a blast of lightning, I noticed that System-mana was much easier to observe when used in larger workings. So now I’m attempting to cast a full-size fire torrent without System-mana. It’s not perfect, but I’ve managed to decrease the inherent System-mana by using more runes.

It seems counter-intuitive to me that more runes reduces the amount of System-mana, but my testing on the tree confirms it. I’m able to create a gentle gust that only lights up a pair of golden sensors.

Not quite perfect, but good progress for a single morning.

Deciding it’s enough for now, I return the tree to Theria’s table while letting Wyonna babble at me. Theria is nowhere to be seen, but Thistle and Ckichik both wave me off as I recombine the box of keys with my throne.

Watching the river carefully, I think I catch sight of the water Elemental, but it remains hidden beneath the surface, its form a dark blob moving against the current. Then I arrive at the standing stones, setting the throne down just outside the circle before approaching the southern stone.

I pause time, studying the runes scattered over its surface. Who created these runes? Was it Theglia? Are they unique? Or are they common in other parts of the System-integrated worlds?

Whatever their source, I’m able to tell most operate without System mana. The rune I use for charging the barrier absorbs System-mana easily enough. But it changes the mana as it passes through. By the time it enters the rest of the structure I can’t detect it.

I place my hand on the pillar, attempting to access the System interface by Focusing on it. It flashes in my sight for a second before disappearing. I’m not even able to bring up the menu.

Is this how Rose used to feel?

Trying again, I strain to establish a connection, using my Facet and Focus. There’s a pop, a connection forming for a second. But it isn’t to the System.

I can feel Smoulder’s confusion as she looks around, surrounded by thousands of K’tharn. Then the light disappears. Above, a fleet so large it blots out the sun is descending toward her. I have just enough time to make out the familiar shape of a Thenite droneship releasing its Skyfighters before I collapse back on the lawn, the connection to Smoulder gone.

That was… that was bad. Worse than Uthica had ever mentioned. But it was wrong too. Smoulder was… stronger? Much stronger.

Floating back to my feet, I reach out to connect to the Nexus, prepared to try again.

This time, my System comes up, but sputters out before I’m able to do anything. I continue my attempts for five minutes, but there’s no progress.

Somehow, it’s worse than before I contacted Wyonna. Eventually, I grow frustrated with my lack of progress, flopping down in my throne. I spend half an hour talking with Wyonna, attempting to check my status every five minutes just to see if it’s working. Wyonna’s just about convinced me that I should learn chess notation so we can play together when another mana-storm appears on the horizon.

[Alexis] “I kind of want to challenge the storm.”

[Wyonna] “Really? Do it. That’d be super cool.”

[Alexis] “Shouldn’t you be encouraging me to be careful? What if my System gets even worse?”

[Wyonna] “Are you kidding? Who cares? It’s already broken. This is gonna be awesome!”

The charred side of my face cracks as the smile on my face grows to match Wyonna’s enthusiastic tone. I ascend toward the storm, a metres-thick dome of earth encasing my throne below. Just in case.

Fire and shards of metal scream towards me as I enter the storm. They’re easily redirected, but I realize this particular storm is more chaotic than most I’ve seen. Not ideal, but workable. It ends up being easier than the last.

With my recent work with Theria’s metal tree, it’s obvious that the mana-storm is a chaotic blend of System-mana and unattuned mana. Wait… all the mana that’s attuned to the System contains traces of Twilight. And the unattuned mana is completely lacking twilight.

Is Twilight, System-mana?

I wrestle a swirling clump of metal shards, roaring wind and crackling lightning mana closer. Infusing it with Twilight, doesn’t do anything at first.

It’s like it doesn’t want to stick to the other elements. It takes me several attempts before I’m able to find the key. Each element requires a very specific aspect of Twilight. I’ve spent so long just using my personal defaults I’d almost forgotten how variable Twilight mana is.

Again, I infuse a clump of elemental chaos with Twilight, matching it to each element’s wavelength. Then I separate them into their component elements. But they remain linked, drawing back together when I release them. They’re still chaotic. But there’s an order to them now.

Theria’s tree! I have to try using Twilight magic on the tree. Why didn’t Theria mention this! Wait. Can she even manipulate Twilight? Does this mean I can use Twilight to fix my System interface?

Could’ve used this a couple hours ago.

Damp forest scents waft through the air as the storm recedes, its ferocity greatly diminished in the wake of my experiments. Despite its chaotic nature, this storm only had weak void energies. They weren’t even large enough to test my original containment designs. There definitely wasn’t enough to add Twilight to the mix.

The dome over my throne is partially shattered but remains mostly intact. It’s worrying that I didn’t notice when it took damage, considering I was trying to protect it during the storm. Clearly, I was more distracted than I realized.

Beth would be disappointed.

…

Okay, moving on. With the storm gone, and my new understanding of Twilight, I return to the Nexus. I sit, leaning my forehead against the standing stone as I direct my attention inward. It takes several minutes of tracing connections from Wyonna’s messages to find most of the components of my interface.

I patch them, slowly reinforcing the structure one at a time. It’s an improvement but the connection is weak. There’s more to the interface than the links, but all I can do is use mana to reinforce them. Despite my efforts, the actual structure is damaged, preventing me from calling forth my full status.

At least I’m able to bypass the primary interface, though I have to check each aspect of my Status one line at a time. It takes me five minutes to review everything. Nothing’s changed since my upgrade. And most important, the crest is still available. That’s a relief. Was half-worried it would be destroyed like my System.

But… even though I have the Ascension Crest, I can’t use it to grab the training room without accessing the System shop.

Which isn't working.

…

Fine. Genitha can probably help.

Returning to my throne, I fly north. I’m passing over the river when something catches my eye. Below me, the elemental is resting over a set of low rapids. The size is the most visually obvious clue that it's the same elemental, but there's another, more subtle clue. It's rotating through the English alphabet.

As if that isn’t enough, it’s displaying my name.

Redirecting is practically required as I float toward the elemental.

This time I land first, approaching the elemental on foot. When I get closer, it quivers, but doesn’t immediately retreat into the river. So I stop, waving at it. Then I create my name.

Its water sphere quivers as it sounds out, “Ah-lex-uhs.”

“Yeah. Alexis. That’s me,” I reply, in English.

“Alexis!” It proclaims at a volume that sends me back a step, sending waves lapping at the shore. For a second I’m worried I’ve made a mistake, but it stays where it is, still quivering.

I take a step forward and an orb next to it floats toward me. Another step, and the orb moves while expanding. With each step, the orb matches my pace while simultaneously stretching until it’s mimicking my shape. It doesn’t copy my regular appearance. Instead, it offers a disturbing mirror. My face is worse than I thought. It’s not just my eye.

There are small strings of hair on the right side of my face but everything else is… I gingerly reach up to touch the remnants of my nose, the elemental mirroring my actions. Most of my nose is just… gone. The nerves must be dead, cause I can’t feel anything when I attempt to wiggle the remaining piece.

It’s honestly ghastly. I’ve seen undead in horror films that looked healthier. Most of them, really. Luckily, I’m only seeing the shape. I’m not sure how I’d react if it was accurate down to the hue of my seared cheeks. Man, Theria has an iron will to not even twitch when she looks at me.

And also, obviously saw through my lie of being fine.

“Alexis,” the elemental says again, reminding me it’s not just a fancy mirror. I smile, and the mimic follows.

Oh god. The hole in my cheek is big enough to...

I immediately stop smiling, switching to creating letters out of water instead. I decide to start with my name and an arrow pointing to myself while saying my name. The elemental reacts immediately, bobbing up and down.

Then I turn the arrow toward it and create a question mark. I accompany the question mark with a shrug of my shoulders, a gesture shared by K’tharn. Hopefully it’s not as afraid of body language as it is of spoken Vausian.

It doesn’t respond, and after a few minutes of it copying my actions, I realize I don’t have time to teach it English. Not enough to communicate anyway. So, I decide to risk Vausian.

“Please don’t be scared,” I say, in as gentle a voice as I can manage.

The elemental quivers at my words. But it doesn’t run away, so I’m counting it as a win.

“Can you understand me?” I ask.

There’s no response from the elemental, but the mimic stops copying me. Instead, it starts bubbling, making soft popping noises. I’m not certain what’s happening until suddenly the mimic says, “Yuh-yes.”

The voice originates in my copy’s chest, but it’s still progress. “What’s your name?”

“No… no name,” the elemental quivers, the mimic shaking its head in sync.

“No? Do you want a name?”

“Alexis!” the mimic proclaims.

“That’s my name,” I agree.

“My name is Alexis!” the mimic says, pointing at the elemental.

“Uh. I mean, if you want, sure,” I say. It seems so excited; I don’t have the heart to explain that it could have its own name. Then again, on Akilo, Alexis is a rare name.

Without warning, the mimic collapses, the orb rocketing back to orbit the elemental. Nearly as quickly, Alexis the elemental slips into the river with a booming, “Bye!”

I’m left standing next to the rapids, wondering what just happened.

One second, it's taking my name. And the next it’s abandoning me? That’s some emotional whiplash right there.

A crack from behind me, prompts me to turn just in time for a stone to smack into my chest, not taking off so much as a point of Health. Probably. Standing in the tree line are several Pothlin, their twisted forms hoisting rocks then throwing them in my direction.

I could end them in less than a second. A simple chain lightning would leave nothing but smoking corpses, ready to return to mana. But I don’t. Because I have a better idea. Instead, I use them as practice, creating a flame arrow with my oldest rune, ensuring there isn’t so much as a trace of Twilight. I watch it incinerate one of the Pothlin, the energy devouring them wildly.

Even as they burn, I weave another arrow, this time reinforced with excess Twilight. It punches through the Pothlin, not so much setting it on fire as disintegrating its way through.

Less than a minute later and I’ve confirmed a few things. One, Pothlin are ridiculously weak. I ended up killing one by slapping it away after it got too close after stumbling down the bank. Two, more Twilight does not mean more damage. It just makes the spell stabler. Three, spells without Twilight require way more runes to create the same effect. It’s no wonder every spell the System uses is infused with Twilight.

As I’m pondering how changing the runes of my Flame-Arrow spell might allow me to cause it to alter its trajectory in flight, one last Pothlin steps out from behind a tree. One of its twisted arms is missing, but that doesn’t stop it from howling as it throws a rock at me before charging down the bank toward me. In curiosity, I send an unstructured blast of fire mana at it, sheathed in Twilight, not to give it structure, but to prevent System-mana from leaking in.

The shockwave picks me off my feet throwing me halfway across the river before I catch myself.

Well... That was more explosive than I expected.

When I go back to the body, it’s completely gone. The ground it was standing on is now molten slag. It’s warm enough to cause my burns to ache through my fire-resistance. Impressive. Haven't had a spell explode on me like that since the early days.

I launch another projectile, exactly the same, though the second I release it, I Pause time, moving across the river away from it. When it detonates, the explosion is underwhelming. Barely the size of a regular arrow. Three more arrows have the same effect. It’s only when I aim the fifth arrow at one of the Pothlin bodies that I discover what happened.

When the arrow hits the body, the explosion triggers a cascade, collapsing the entire riverbank. The river pours into the new crater, flash boiling as it meets the molten rock, obscuring the exact size. But it’s big. That was the opposite of a controlled reaction.

Note to self. Be very careful with these experiments.

Looking about, I realize Alexis the elemental has made itself scarce. Smart move. I retreat down the shore to where I left my throne. I reach it right as it’s falling, the ground crumbling beneath it as the river weaves its new path.

The throne itself didn’t escape the blast, one of the front legs melted away, one corner of the box within exposed. Need to stop experimenting while I have these keys. I’m far too used to being able to keep things safely stored in inventory. And to my magic no longer being so surprising.

With my new discoveries involving Twilight, I drift towards Theria’s. But then I remember my appearance. The idea of being around other people knowing the way I look drives me away.

Besides. I’ve spent too much time lazing about, waiting for others to come to me.

I smile as I remember who I wanted to be when we faced Ivicka. The taxi.

What sort of taxi waits for others to pick them up?

5.31, Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop

A note from Draith

Massive rewrite to Pogell's involvement/betrayal in arc 4

4.27

The first day of our journey is quiet, the captain's reminder hanging over everyone after we leave the navigation room. Later in the day, Tipan explains that she thinks the ship counts as the captain's stronghold, which means her rules are more than just guidelines. They're System enforced.

Which Beth is relieved by, if the way her shoulders slacken once Tipan informs us at dinner are any clue. I don't really share her relief, but then, I've been more concerned about the etiquette of how to ask to run my hands through Pogell's super fluffy fur.

Seriously, he would make the best pillow ever.

And when he comes over to talk to Tipan and I, I end up sticking my hands in my pocket so hard Smoulder grumps at me through our bond. Giving her consolation scritches keeps helps keep my hand busy.

“Hello, I thought I might join you. While we have a duty to observe Kellica, I find myself intrigued by… well, I’m something of a scholar among my people, and I’ve heard rumors of a species similar to your own,” Pogell says, standing next to us, his eyes on me.

I think.

It’s hard to tell through all the floof.

“Oh?” I reply, shifting to let Smoulder out of my pocket. Which unfortunately frees my hand.

“Yes. Our world had several visitors, and one of them looks quite similar, though their covering was darker,” Pogell says, then gestures to bench on the other side of the table. “May I?”

“Sure,” I chirp out, thankful when Tipan’s voice joins my own.

His questions are simple, asking what my home was like, and how I’ve adapted since being spit out on Akilo. Which is his story. It takes little prompting to get him to share more. He was ejected by a mana-storm after being snagged on another world. And while he misses his home, he admits coming here has been amazing. He even managed to break into Copper before joining the Taken.

It’s with soft huffing laughter that he admits that getting the resources to continue advancing had grown frustrating. And that’s what led to his recent apprenticeship with the Taken. They were so interested in his skills they offered him resources just to be a provisional member. Even as the conversation shifts away, he remains polite and soft spoken, asking Tipan about her family.

Which is a drastic contrast to when Ael'thani comes in and starts harassing him about being so close to the burner’s friends.

Shortly before dusk, Beth interrupts to bring Tipan and I below decks. She leads us to a private room she's acquired for our private use. It's only a little larger

4.27

The next few days pass quickly, as the Twice Scuttled cruises south along the coast. The Taken agents mostly keep to themselves, though Pogell is a bit of an exception, befriending Tipan and I. I even manage to pet him. His fur is as silky as it looks. I also find Ael'thani harassing Kellica on more than one occasion. Harassment that's quickly dropped when Rufka or I show up. It gets to the point that Rufka and I take turns keeping Kellica company.

4.37

It takes the others another day and a half to clear out their stores to their satisfaction. Roberts finally fought Atun solo and had no problem dismantling her. Helps that his barrier armor wasn't disruptable once he got it as a class ability.

Even after everyone has all their points, we still spend a couple hours getting ready to leave. And not just getting ready. Tipan holds us back before we can leave.

"I believe our success calls for some small celebration," Tipan says, pulling a shimmering blue bottle from her inventory.

"Wow. Is that seven-depths hoska?" Rose asks, stepping closer. "How did you get a bottle?"

"Mother gave it to me. She received a crate from minister Traxla after Mother resolved an incident with an Ascendancy delegate," Tipan replies even as she floats out several matching glasses.

When she hands me a glass, I take a second to Focus on it, out of curiosity.

"Substance analyzed: Seven-Depths Hoska.”

“Description: Brewed in the deepest caverns of the Ascendancy, this heavily diluted alcohol grants increased courage at the expense of caution while also bolstering the soul, increasing Iron rank Mana edge by ten. Both effects last for an hour. Reduced effectiveness on Copper rank or above. Toxic to mortals.”

"Good call, Tipan," Beth says, her eyes sweeping back through the chamber. She only shudders a little before looking forward again. Then, once we all have drinks in hand, she raises hers. "Excellent job, people."

"Once we get away from the spout, we need to have a race," Tipan says, as we stand just inside the entrance, waiting for Smoulder to burn away the jungle that did indeed reclaim the entrance. Beth goes to the back, her hand tracing the edges of the console while looking up at the schedule for the next Desh'mersa game. One no one will play.

"Oh, yeah. Now that everyone's got innate flight, that'll be awesome," I say, rubbing my hands together as I float out over the still molten sand, taking the lead with Tipan. It seems Smoulder went a little overboard, since it's warm enough it's causing my Health to tick down just flying over it, even through my enhanced resistances. "Actually, we could do that now, couldn't we?"

"Uh... the subsystem doesn't work in here," Tipan replies, her eyes looking up as the others come out of the chamber behind us, everyone floating up to get away from the molten ground. "I think there's too much interference."

"Yeah, the mana here is kinda-"

I don't get to finish my sentence, something striking from the bush. I've paused time and am already analyzing the giant lizard before I know what's happening. It’s jaw is stretched open, and I see more teeth than scales as it leans forward. The analysis reveals it's a young Ravnor, though it's not much of a threat.

However, its physical stat is still very high, so it's strong enough it could do some damage. Not at the level of Atun, thankfully.

Considering it's as much mouth as anything, and that mouth is currently stretching forward to snap closed over our party, letting it finish its attack seems like a bad idea. So I blast it away with a spinning torrent of molten rock and metal lifted from beneath us.

The combination smacks it backwards as my Pause ends, and its roar manages to announce our location to everything within a ten kilometer radius.

"Maybe holding off until we get back to the mainland is a good idea," I say as the beast collapses backward into the jungle with several other projectiles through its head. "According to my analysis, that was just a young one."

From the back, where she's scanning the jungle behind us, Beth calls, "You heard her people, let's-"

Again, we're interrupted, this time right as we're flying over the canopy. More Ravnors emerge, using the foilage and the thin grey web that seems to have spread over this section to launch them up into the air.

It’s a slaughter, though not in their favor.

The Ravnors are easy to stop, each of us reacting to the sudden surge of violence with violence of our own. In less than three seconds, over a dozen of the giant lizards lay trapped within the grey strands they used to assault us.

To her embarrassment, Rufka was snagged by some of the webbing attached to one of the Ravnors, and is tangled in the canopy. Which is surprisingly flame-resistant. While I respect my duty as her partner and move to help her, I almost can’t stop the snickering at Rufka being snared by a web of all things.

Even as we’re working to free her, there’s motion from a short distance below. Instead of another attack though, it’s just the Taken.

They all have weapons out. Ael’thani has a pair of swords not unlike Desh Atun’s and Lik’tik has a sort of rifle. Pogell has a pair of metal gauntlets.

When they see us floating safely above the Ravnor corpses, they lower or disappear their weapons.

“We heard…” Ael'thani starts, before shaking her head. “It’s about time you finished. We’ve been waiting for-“

“This can wait,” I counter, scanning the surrounding jungle, my amusement at Rufka’s situation having evaporated. This webbing adds a dangerous new dimension to the surrounding jungle.

Ael'thani looks like she wants to object, but she holds her tongue until we’re at the outskirts of camp. Then she moves toward Kellica. I move to support Kellica, our time inside the trial not enough for me to forget how Ael'thani was acting before.

As Tipan moves off with Pogell, talking excitedly, I almost sigh. Why couldn’t they have put him in charge instead of Ael'thani? When I see Beth following them, I turn back to Kellica. She’s squared her shoulders, and as Ael'thani approaches, it occurs to me that maybe Kellica doesn’t need my support anymore.

Well, not physically, anyway.

Ael'thani barely gets out the words, “Kellica your time-“ before we’re interrupted by a low thwip. As I squint, trying to identify the vaguely familiar sound, a much louder crash starts behind me. When I Pause time, I note a smooth hole through not just the collapsing tree that seems to be the source of the noise, but other parts of the underbrush as well.

I’m just barely able to make out the trajectory of whatever tore a hole into the underbrush by the time my Pause ends. Unfortunately, I’ve also found whatever they were shooting at. There are more Ravnors pushing out of the jungle, trailing ripped webbing. They almost look like t-rex’s in dresses.

Despite their adorableness, we don’t hesitate to stop them where they stand. Smoulder punches a hole straight through one as I go on overwatch, making sure no one is caught out.

Again, it only takes us a few seconds to take them down, though their web-dresses provide some bare resistance.

Even as captain e’Tell is approaching, my eyes are scanning the edge of the woods. Tipan and Beth are missing.

Their tethers lead inside the jungle, and when I attempt to contact Beth, there’s no response. I don’t wait for Tipan, Pausing time and shooting towards them. They’re close enough, blasting forward through a single Pause should be faster than teleporting while giving me time to react.

Activating Anchor lets me know the situation before I arrive. Beth and Tipan are both on the ground, collapsed, and there’s no sign of Pogell. There is a large collection of webs though. Whatever’s hunting in the jungle seems to have taken him. But when I check his tether, it points towards the stone castle that still stands on the shore.

My first concern is the safety of Beth and Tipan. Kneeling down, I find Tipan still breathing, though her motions are stiff.

Still, my party screen gives me further confirmation she’s alive, just out of Focus, and I can feel Roberts on his way.

Shifting to Beth, I turn her towards me only to be met with the ruins of her face. I hesitate, unprepared to see Beth like… this.

I can’t even close her eyelids. There’s not enough skin left to cover them.

Point two seconds later, as I'm scrambling to pull out my healing talisman, her tether snaps.

4.38

11:07:02:23 am, local time. (August 10, 2023, 6:07:02:23 pm.) Point two seconds too late.

I pull Beth close sealing her flesh with an earth compact.

Channeling healing through my artifact, I attempt to fly towards Roberts. But the webbing snags me for several long seconds. I swear, teleporting free even as my healing refuses to work. I’m bad, but it should be doing… something.

Then I'm next to him, and his hands are already reaching out to take her from me, not asking questions as he sends energy into her.

Her body is restored instantly, pristine. But she doesn't open her eyes.

Roberts doesn't stop, and I see her chest rise. Once. Twice.

Then it goes still.

"What's..."

"The System took her. I can't bring her back." There's an odd lilt to his voice I haven't heard before. A kind of raised pitch as he clenches and unclenches his hands over her chest. "I can restore her body to perfect condition, but I can't bring her back because the System decided..."

I stare at Beth's body for another second before my attention shifts to the webs. Whatever did this is still out there. And it could have Pogell. When I check my tether, I find it still stubbornly inside the castle. And when I attempt to connect, something shatters.

Rufka is already at the body, Smoulder next to her. Her eyes trail over the clearing, then leaps forward, telling me what she found over chat even as she moves. Something is triggering the web.

I teleport to her position,

Even as I appear, I almost immediately fall behind as Rufka teleports away amidst a lightning bolt. For a second, I consider just using Lesser Cataclysm. But we're moving kilometers in seconds, and I don’t have a proper tether to Pogell. He could be caught by accident.

So, I continue following Rufka, scanning the jungle for any sign of Pogell. It takes three hops before Rufka tells me she’s found a trail leading towards the mouth. She’s following small strings spread between the trees. With a clear destination in mind, I'm able to catch up to her. A second later, I leave her in the dust as the search grows more desperate. Pogell might be Copper, but he’s obviously not strong enough to fight back.

The strand continues all the way to the outer edge of the ring, leading us to a rocky promontory jutting out over the edge. I freeze as I look up at the chitinous figure moving next to an obviously enchanted contraption. They’re wearing Pogell’s robes, and have the same gauntlets. But that’s the only resemblance. The fluffy grey fur is gone.

There’s only a set of eight red eyes, that I catch only a glimpse of as they turn in our direction.

To say I’m confused is putting it mildly. So I Pause, to give myself time to understand what’s happening. Which is when I finally notice the book. He has Ivicka’s journal.

It hangs from his waist, and despite pause, he’s still climbing into a bubble strapped to a glider overhead. There are four thin strands of that same thread keeping it tethered at least a hundred meters past the edge of the ring, and getting further every second. He's reeling himself out. I attempt to create a new tether. And once more… I realize it feels wrong.

Rufka's hand lands on my shoulder as Pause ends, and she manages to get out the words, "The storm-" but then I'm gone.

The chitinous face of Pogell meets mine as I appear next to him, the storm flashing around us.

I detect several strands of web shooting out of him as I reach for the journal, my mouth screaming unintelligible words. Even as I block his threads, I attempt to rip the book away with wind manipulation. But my control is contested.

So I switch to offence, I blast Pogell with several piercing shots along the arm. And successfully sever it. But before I can retrieve the book, a strand of webbing I missed grabs me around the foot, fastening me to his glider.

Tugged downward by his glider, I teleport free.

Only to find Pogell diving into the storm after the book.

And I hesitate. Only for a fraction of a second, but long enough that his glider is blasted by a bolt of nothing from within the storm. As I stand on the lip, I can barely make out his frantic movements as he disappears into the maelstrom, his glider tumbling after him.

That doesn't stop me from throwing a storm of destructive energies in his wake. I should've just killed him and taken the book back. I feel a buzzing warmth as Rufka flashes beside me, then pulls me down before I can be swept away in the storm.

My vision is blurry when I turn into Rufka's shoulder. "Beth..."

"Hey. It'll be okay. She'll be okay. A couple weeks for her cooldown and she'll be back," Rufka says, pulling me into a hug as I'm reminded it's worse than Beth just needing to respawn. She's already used the ability once. A few seconds later, Smoulder arrives. She keeps back from us and the edge of the world where we're standing, but I can feel her concern through our bond.

Which is what gets me moving.

Returning to the clearing where Josh is crouched over Beth’s body only requires a single twist of space. Roberts has restored Tipan, and she’s leaning against a tree, her eyes focused in the distance, Sel’dast visible at her shoulder.

As I take in the clearing, I realize that if I'd just thought for a second about where the thread was leading, I could’ve beaten Pogell there. Just like if I'd gone to Beth first, who was obviously worse than-

"Hey, I don't know what you're thinking, but stop," Rufka says, shaking my shoulder.

I look up at her, and she nods, no trace of her usual smirk in sight. "Things like this happen. We all should've been waiting for a Taken trap. We got complacent."

"Wasn't..." Kellica trails off as she steps forward from the edge of the small clearing, where she and Rose are standing. When I nod in her direction, she clears her throat before continuing. "Wasn't the Taken. At least, not all of them… us. Lik'tik would never have been part of this, not while he's observing for my vigil. I'm sure of it."

"Doesn't matter. We need to get my book back," Tipan snarls, turning towards me. "How could you let her get away?"

"I..." I take a step back, caught off guard by Tipan's vicious snarl and narrowed eyes.

"Sorry," Tipan says, shaking her head as she closes all four eyes before turning towards where Roberts is once more leaning over Beth. "Sorry. I know we have more important problems. I just..."

"What even happened?" Josh asks, his eyes fixed on Beth's unmoving body. "One second we were talking, then blam, Jurassic fever and..."

"Pogell. Turns out he wasn't a friendly puppy," I reply, looking around. "We can't stay here. We should get back to the ship. And find out if this treachery extends to the captain. But keep your eyes open. And..."

My last words are lost as I realize everyone’s already in their battle-forms.

Looking around, I realize that with her new class, even Rufka has armor now, forged of hardened plasma. Which I'm pretty sure shouldn't be possible, even with mana, but what do I know. Then my eyes land on Rose, who is just as unarmored as I am. He shrugs at me with a small smile. "No good class yet."

I snort as I lift Beth's body on a wave of air behind us. Rose and I remain in the centre of the formation as we fly back to the ship. It's exactly where we left it, and only one of the crewmen is on deck. Everyone else is in the small basecamp they've built in the shadow of the castle, at the edge of the cove.

When we land, there's a litany of swear words from captain e'Tell as we smash into the nearby sand. A lot of them seem to have to do with my mother's breeding habits. If she's trying to offend me, she could've chosen a better target.

Without ending her litany of pointless cursing, she storms towards us, "What's with the..."

I stop paying attention to e'Tell, because as she started towards me, I felt the weight of Beth's body diminish.

"No. No, no, no," I say as I turn to where I'm supporting her body. I find it breaking apart, the blue dust of the deceased filling the air with an insultingly sweet odor even as I blast through it, trying to force it back together.

Despite my efforts, it continues to disappear. Just like that, even her body is gone.

A crack echoes through the camp, and it takes me a second to realize I caused it. A tree is knocked over, hanging from the webbed over canopy, the trunk where I punched it severed by the force of a blow I barely felt. I stare at the destruction and can't help but feel numb at how useless such destructive power feels.

"Alexis," Roberts says, drawing my attention back to the present. He's standing in front of the others, all of whom look as lost as I feel. Except Roberts. I can still rely on him. And they can rely on me.

"Right. We need to move," I say, shaking splinters off my undamaged skin. Instead of marveling at that, I turn towards e’Tell who is standing nearby, frowning at our group. Stepping forward, I ask, "How long until the Twice-Scuttled is ready?"

"She's ready now. Only need a few minutes to pack up camp. Though I have a few questions," the captain replies, turning around and signaling to her first mate. "They'll wait a few minutes, but once we're heading down-spout, I expect some answers."

"Fine," I agree, glancing at where the perpetual mana-storm whirls in the distance. There's a chance I could make it through, teleport myself to the bottom. But not a good one.

Focusing on Pogell's tether again, I realize it's not completely gone. With some effort, I trace it to a spot in camp.

Walking towards it, I find a small figurine in the sand. It's a perfect copy of how Pogell looked before he revealed himself. Other than the fracture down its middle. Turning it in my hand, I frown. My tether is definitely attached to the figurine. I almost crush it, but stop myself. I should study it instead. Figure out why it fooled my ability.

Turning, I spot Lik'tik and Ael'thani standing together near the shore, I start towards them. Only to realize Kellica and Rufka got to them first. Rufka and Ael'thani are in the middle of a yelling match when I arrive, neither of them so much speaking as hurling insults at each other.

Lik'tik and Kellica are both standing back, so I turn my attention to the unoccupied Taken, waving them away from my thiani and her venting. Much as I love her, I know sometimes the only thing that will help is a chance to scream expletives at someone.

"So, how much did you get before they started escalating?" I ask as Lik'tik follows me a few paces away from Rufka.

"That your friend died due to a... spider… or a weasel," Lik'tik replies with a glance towards Rufka. "Though I suspect that between your friend's anger, and our missing compatriot, Pogell had something to do with it."

"If by 'had something to do with', you mean ambushed Tipan and Beth, stole from them, then left Beth on the brink of death… Then yeah," I reply, my strands of Facet tightly wound around Lik'tik as I study them for their reaction. Unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with lizard-person biology, so their lack of external reaction doesn't really tell me anything. "Yeah, they had something to do with it."

"I... hmm. That certainly explains your friend's reaction upon seeing us. I doubt it will mean much, but I assure you, we had no part in this. I can only assume their mission was separate from our own," Lik'tik follows his statement by leaning forward, bowing deep enough that he exposes his neck to me. I feel like it's some form of sign of submission or request for forgiveness.

4.41

As Lik’tik avoids the sudden blast of fire and lightning, I teleport us a few hundred meters closer, bypassing the shimmer of the shield protecting the outpost. I'm thankful it's not a Stronghold, or my little trick might not have worked.

Soon as we're inside the shield, we shoot out dozens of small metal fragments. Small projectiles coated in Kellica's paralytic venom. The same venom Pogell used on Tipan and Beth. The shards are small enough they shouldn’t trigger Health’s protection. Which makes them harder to aim. So we’re making up for poor accuracy by using a lot more of them. A paralyzing shotgun.

TLDR:

Pogell is friendlier, reveals He's Copper-Rank and uses distraction and trickery to get away.

September 9, 2023. Mid day.

Flying with only Wyonna for company is different.

I hesitate to say boring because Wyonna is rather animated. It can be a bit much, but she seems to know when that happens cause she suggests taking a break. But still... different.

The flight itself is different when I’m alone too. I’m the only one deciding where to fly. I find myself tempted to explore a lot more than when flying with the others. It doesn’t help that there are waterfalls that plummet for hundreds of metres scattered throughout the mountains I’m flying over. And hidden mountain valleys with abandoned ruins.

After nearly twenty-four hours of nonstop flight, I’ve almost reached the eastern edge of the abyss. Despite the increasing frequency of mana-storms I was able to fly straight through. I’ve technically finished the second stage of the quest for being out in a mana-storm, but I can’t tell if the System has recognized my glorious achievement.

Probably not.

I’m starting to think my upgrade really did make things worse. I’ve noticed that the connections get more frayed every time I try to access any part of my Status other than Wyonna, so I’ve been leaving it alone with one exception.

I have the tether from Rufka’s nameplate held securely, sending pulses every minute or so. I’m getting closer. It feels like she’s still in the pit, but she could just be along the edge. I fly along the edge of the abyss, talking with Wyonna almost non-stop. According to her, it’s been thirty-three hours since I last slept.

But I don’t feel tired.

The air washing past me is suddenly full of the stench of unwashed bodies. Seconds later, I’m able to see a cluster of homes floating a short distance in from the rim. Rufka’s not in this cluster. But it seems like there are other occupants.

I float inside the rim, waiting for the defences to target me. But they remain offline. So, I soar across and attach a clump of stone to the cluster, towing it with me. Soon, I come across another cluster. I secure it to the first. Then the next, and the next.

When I attempt to move to the front of the formation to add another, my connections that were only held in place by the strength of my aura break. A gust from below sends them scattering. So I gather them again, though this time, I reforge the bonds, infusing them with Twilight to give them more structure.

By the time I’m approaching the cluster I’m certain Rufka’s sheltering in, I have over a dozen others daisy chained together. Even though I’ve added several more clusters since my little mishap, I’m reluctant to leave the centre.

Still, I’m not stopping until I have Rufka and Tipan, so I risk it. The flotilla mostly holds together this time. One of the smaller bundles of homes does break off, but I ignore it as I fly toward the tilted remains of the arena. They’re not drifting away, so I can retrieve them later. None of them seem to float too far or too low.

The arena looks worse than when I last saw it, drifting dozens of metres lower than it should. Another pulse confirms that Rufka is somewhere inside.

I descend, moving beneath a shattered beam. The entire structure is like a run through one of the bonus training scenarios inside the first dungeon. Except at the heart of this scenario are my friends. It’s surprising they’re still here. The building isn’t locked down like the other…

Pushing a beam out of the way, I reach the centre of the arena where several bulb-homes are gathered. None of these homes are part of a cluster, but they’re all trapped within the arena’s stone dome. If I’m not mistaken, they’re the only thing keeping the rest of the building afloat. That’s not good.

Following the pulse, I’m able to locate the bulb-home that Rufka’s inside. I suspect Tipan is too. As I’m inspecting the top of the arena, preparing to carefully open it, Baska walks in, stretching her arms to the side as if she were warming up for a game with the Southern Tribunes. We stare at each other until Baska cringes, turning to the side with an audible ‘hurk’.

Pleasant reminder of my appearance, right there.

“Hi,” I say, looking around for Baska’s teammates while she recovers.

“Sorry. It’s just that… damn, we heard it was bad but…” She shrugs all four arms, her lips twitching into a smile. “But hey. You’re okay. Well, standing at least. That’s great!”

“Thanks. Are there others here?” I ask, pointedly waving around the arena with my sole hand.

Baska nods, stepping closer. She slows when she gets near, but deftly squeezes past without asking me to move. Following her, we move into the visiting team’s preparation room. Inside are several K’tharn I don’t recognize as well as Baska’s teammates.

“Another one Baska?” Advitha asks, the team leader barely glancing in our direction from where she’s cooking over a small fire.

“Advitha! Look!” Kythee admonishes. She’s in much better condition than when I last saw her.

Advitha looks over, whistling when she sees me. “Saw you take that hit, but that’s just plain nasty. Guessing you haven’t gotten to a proper healer yet?”

“No. Do you know why Rufka’s locked inside?” I ask, gesturing behind me at the bulb-homes.

Advitha’s eyes go wide at my question, “Rufka’s inside one of those? Kythee’s training with Levincore was enough for her to determine there were people inside, but I didn’t think your friends would let themselves get trapped.”

“The bulbs don’t open unless you’ve got the override key. Or you land em,” Baska notes.

“Speaking of stuck, why are you still here? Couldn’t you have left?”

Baska huffs, saying, “We could. But then we’d be abandoning all the people sheltering in the stands. The Levincore turned us back already. They’re only allowing inner city communities out of the rift.”

“What? But…” There were hundreds of broken homes in my vision with Beth. Were those only from the inner city? How many more are being left behind?

“Yeah. It’s scummy. Real scummy. But that’s the new fa’thoni for you. First they stop edgers from getting to the heart of Aethire and now they won’t let us out,” Advitha spits.

It takes me a second to piece together that fa’thoni implies dragon masters. Not a term I’ve heard for the dragon riders before.

“They’re just trying to keep things in order,” Kythee mumbles. “The fa’thoni are struggling now that the Desh’ila are shattered.”

Baska raises a hand, as if she’s about to disagree, but Advitha silences her with a look. Baska’s hand drops, but she tenses, all her hands curling into fists as she turns away.

Into their silence, I speak, “They won’t keep me from leaving the rift. Even if I have to carve a path through the mountains themselves, I’m getting my friends out. No reason not to bring the rest of you with us.”

Kythee gasps as Baska sizes me up.

Advitha smirks, stirring the sizzling meats in her pan as she says, “I appreciate the sentiment. But the fa’thoni are peak iron-rank. Do you really think you can sneak a stadium this size past dozens of them?”

I smile back at Advitha. “I never said anything about sneaking.”

First thing I do is go to the globe that’s been enchanted to keep Rufka and Tipan locked away. Even with the System on the fritz, my enchanting lessons remain. And the most important part is knowing how to use the plates that Rufka designed to shunt extra mana from engines. Using the incredibly simple enchantment, I disable the wards sealing them inside by draining the mana.

When I punch through the much weaker wall, there are several screams to greet me. Probably not my best entrance.

“-it’s not Lexi, I’ll give my left paw,” Rufka says, her bow already crackling with electricity as the wall falls, the leather splitting now that its reinforcing mana is completely gone.

Tipan is right behind her, her arms crossed as she says, “I already agreed with you. Why do you believe I doubt her.”

Rufka glances back at a few other K’tharn, a family who I’m guessing are the source of the screams. “Never said you did. I just… Lex?”

“Alexis!” Tipan gasps, blasting through the gap so fast it’s like I’m having déjà vu of Atun attacking.

Which is why I attempt to bring up my chakram with my missing hand. A small part of my mind notes that the chakram responded to the instinct, even without my hand to wield it, floating in the perfect spot to block Tipan.

“Hey,” I greet them with a half smile, trying not to crack my face.

Rufka is only half-a-second behind Tipan, reaching out to hug me but stops herself, taking my intact hand instead. We all remain quiet for a few seconds until Rufka gets a giant grin on her face. “What took you so long?”

I stare at her.

Then I take my hand out of hers, punching her reflexively in that same arm. “You… you jerk. What took me so long? What took you so long? Why didn’t you break yourself out? Your enchanting skills stop working?”

“She’s right, you know. If you hadn’t left your enchanting tools in the Southern Tribune’s room, we could’ve been out days ago,” Tipan notes helpfully.

Rufka’s face scrunches up as she frowns. “I was busy trying to help Lex.”

“I believe I’d already caught her by the time you followed.” Tipan points out. “You could've easily brought your tools.”

“I panicked, okay? When someone you love is in danger, I’d like to see how calm you are!” Rufka’s ears are flat against her head, and the parts of my face that are healthy enough feel like they’re positively glowing. I almost reach out to kiss her, but…

“Are you implying that I don’t love Alexis, simply because I have no desire to have intercourse with her?” Tipan arches her eyebrows at Rufka.

“Well, no,” Rufka grumbles while grabbing my hand in a tight grip.

“Uh, Tipan, what about your tools?” I ask, unable to help myself. It’s not like Rufka’s the only enchanter.

Tipan turns to the side, coughing, as Rufka glares at her. “I… uh, I left my tools behind too.”

With a savage grin, Rufka turns back to me, then her eyes drift to my side. “This can wait. Can you, you know, heal her?”

Nodding, Tipan withdraws her healing talisman from her pack, the tightly bound wires over a bowl twang softly when she brushes her hand against them. She’s about to put her hand on me when I interject. “Sorry. But I’ve already tried using healing items. My System is broken, so they’re not working properly.”

“We can at least try,” Tipan suggests.

“Kinda broke mine trying. But I guess we could,” I concede.

Tipan lays one hand over mine and Rufka’s then strums the bowl. Closing my eye, I can feel the mana as it enters me. But just like before, it’s dissipating throughout my body, not really healing anything. Tipan frowns, and the mana starts moving toward my injuries. Most of it still dissipates, but I feel my nose tingling and my scalp starts to itch. I feel the faintest tingle in my eye but then the sensation stops.

“Sorry. I’m out of mana.” Tipan is pouting when I open my eye. That’s the only way to describe her expression. But it’s gone so fast, I almost doubt myself. “I’ll try to do more later, but I’ve never seen healing need this much mana before.”

“Well, we’ll just have to find mum. Or Roberts. He’s around somewhere, right?”

“Uh, not really. He’s with Beth and Josh, outside Betheryne. And I could use your help getting these people out,” I say, stepping back to wave at the Desh’mersa players who’ve been quietly watching our reunion.

The flotilla stretches hundreds of clusters deep by the time we reach the northern edge of the Abyss.

Hundreds more lie empty behind us, stripped of anything useful then discarded after Kythee confirmed they were empty. Several dragon-riders approach, with more fa’thoni scattered about for support, but the fa’thoni forces appear severely understaffed.

I also can’t help but note that they’re patrolling the rim, even this far north. It seems their evacuation efforts have come to an end. Our flotilla floats inexorably closer, my throne now a permanent fixture at the front. Tipan and Rufka are both farther out, running troubleshooting of distant enchantments, making sure the flotilla remains stable.

We considered breaking more people out, but any who might be able to help with enchanting have already broken themselves free. And most of those already left.

[Wyonna] “Not that I’m complaining, but I’m surprised you didn’t rest before attempting this.”

Wyonna kind of has a point. It’s been fifty-seven hours since I last slept and I’m still not tired. If anything, I feel more alive than ever. It’s the opposite of when I stayed awake to cleanse the Fallen.

[Alexis] “I’m fine. This isn’t even a real obstacle.”

[Wyonna] “Yeah. You’re like Davos Seaworthy! If he decided to smuggle an entire city past guards who could see him coming instead of onions.”

There’s an argument amongst the riders when they spot me on my throne. I can understand their hesitation.

My throne is larger than any of the individual homes surrounding it. It needs to be. To pass over any shattered homes on the far side of the rim we’re going to need to fly far beyond the rim.

Which means we needed a proper levitation engine, something the bulb-homes lack. So, with my improved understanding, a couple hundred mana essence shards and the assistance of every K’tharn capable of enchanting, we’ve assembled a prototype mana engine.

The core of which is hidden within my new throne. To maintain my throne’s theme, the exterior of the engine has been shaped in Smoulder’s likeness, my throne forming a crown atop her head and massive wings of flame shooting out behind me.

A convenient convergence of form and function.

Without the mana engine, the bulb-homes would drop faster than an anvil this close to the rim. The enchantment shielding and confining the occupants is more complex than the basic levitation enchantment.

The damn things are only in the air because the crude enchantments are able to feed on the insane levels of ambient wind mana emitted by the World Rift, though we've found not all the enchantments are equal, giving us some nodes of buoyancy.

Smoulder’s visage glares at the lone dragon rider as she approaches on the back of a dark burgundy dragon, its nose ridges trailing fire. It’s the largest of the dragons present. I’m a little surprised they’re sending a rep. Baska said they’d just been firing warning shots at them when they approached. Guess approaching with half of Aethire strapped to my back makes a difference.

“Halt.” She calls.

Her voice seems familiar, but it’s not Talkith or any of the guards who escorted her north. It’s hard to focus on her, my sole functioning eye refusing to cooperate until I overlay it with Twilight.

Ah. It’s Mothey. It seems she’s had it rough since we saved her from her warped-dragon. Her orange fur is matted, her dotted pattern blended into uneven blobs. Hasn’t even had time to run herself through a water spell lately.

I don’t stop the flotilla, of course. Instead, I urge it to go faster. Not by much, because it takes minutes to get the thing up to speed. But I can buy minutes.

“Hey Mothey,” I call out to her, “Don’t suppose we can do this the easy way? You just step to the side and let me pass?”

Mothey doesn’t respond at first, her and the dragon sitting in our path as we drift closer while she stares. “Outlander? I’d heard you were… but what are you doing here? What happened to you?”

“Long story. Listen. This thing isn’t as agile as your dragon. If you could get out of the way, that’d be great.” This time she responds right away, though not verbally. Instead, she coaxes her dragon around, flying back to join the still growing group of fa’thoni and their dragons.

Strangely they don’t have any Fallen among their numbers. Has something happened to the rest of them? I hope nothing happened to their matrix, and the M’tari didn’t just…

Pretty sure Thetilda is still running the cleansing array in Glimmering Sands, so hopefully they’re able to make their way to her now that the Aetherium’s…

Not the way Uthica would’ve wanted it to go out.

I can hear the fa’thoni continue to argue as we move closer. I use a wind-empowered shout to warn them, but I don't worry about any attempts they might make to stop us. The flotilla is sturdier that it looks at this point. If they decide to attack, the damage should only be superficial. Hopefully.

It’s not like we ran a stress test.

Glancing over my shoulder, I seek out the K’tharn who’ve been helping us for the last day. Baska’s giving me a thumbs up while Advitha stares at the gathered fa’thoni with a frown. No sign of Kythee. But that’s not too surprising. She’s probably with the other refugees in the shelter. Most of the arena is gone, salvaged to patch this monstrosity together or thrown into the abyss.

Directing my attention forward when the arguments die down, I see half of the fa’thoni forming into ranks. Mothey’s not among them. Instead, she’s flying away from us as fast as she can. Well, she did see what happened when we fought Obelix.

This won’t be as easy, but it shouldn’t be too hard either. The hardest part’s going to be keeping them from getting too hurt.

At this point we’re going at nearly twice the speed as when Mothey first approached me. And we’re not even close to the theoretical max. Again, that’s another thing I haven’t tested. Still, our speed continues to increase, the whistling of the wind rising in pitch before the anti-storm enchantments kick in. I never would’ve guessed that you could use anti-storm enchantments to counter wind resistance.

That had been Baska’s idea.

The first of the lightning-based riders finally attack, throwing a lightning bolt directly at me. I don’t even have to Pause to unweave the spell before it strikes, redirecting the mana into increasing our speed. It’s negligible compared to the mana from the World Rift, but if things go as planned, we won’t have that mana for much longer.

Huh. Them attacking might help.

Nearly a full second after the first lightning bolt is thrown my way, the true assault begins. Even with dozens of projectiles thrown my way, I still don’t need Pause. It’s frighteningly easy to unweave their spells now that I understand how Twilight works. And each spell they cast only further empowers the flotilla.

I start cackling.

It takes them nearly a minute before they begin targeting the other parts of the flotilla. I’m still able to deflect or defuse most of their spells, but it’s not perfect. Tipan and Rufka are catching some of the furthest attacks, but not everything. We tried to make the flotilla as narrow as we could. But we had to balance my ability to defend with keeping the levitation engine within range of the furthest sections.

Our speed at this point is fast enough that even with the anti-storm enchantments active, I can still hear the rushing of wind over the flotilla. The fa’thoni's ranks have grown thin as their attacks continue to fail and the pure mass of the flotilla approaching finally dawns on them. There are still a few who don’t seem to understand the danger, or perhaps they believe they’re strong enough to withstand it?

“Get out of the way you Vaus-bound idiots!” I scream, enhancing my shout with Wind and Twilight.

A couple flee, but three remain. I grit my teeth. If they won’t run, I’ll have to push them out of our path. Weaving a pair of blunted wind-torrents, I unleash them simultaneously.

My first torrent catches two of the remaining riders, thrusting them beneath us to safety. But the other rider dodges my second torrent bringing her directly into the path of Smoulder’s steel visage. The terror in her dark brown eyes sears itself into my eye as I lose sight of her, the sound of cracking bones carrying over the wind.

She might've survived, peak iron-rank is pretty superhuman. But I don’t believe it. The wail of her dragon makes me worried she's… gone. Part of me wants to check, to know if she’s… dead.

But I need to remain rooted to my throne or risk the flotilla’s makeshift magic failing. Swallowing the bile, I clench my sole hand on the arm of my Throne as we clear the ridge. I tried to save her. I never even attacked. And now I have to live with her blood on my hands.

It’d be easy to brush it off. To say it was her own fault for staying in front of what’s effectively a speeding train. But I made the choice to charge over the wall knowing this might happen.

Am I becoming like Beth?

The thought causes the entire flotilla to shake, and I refocus, smoothing out the strands of Twilight I pulled on in my moment of panic. I can figure that out later. First, I need to get these people to safety. Rufka and Tipan are doing their part, and I need to do mine.

There are no more attacks as we speed over a few broken buildings scattered amongst the peaks of the northern World’s Teeth.

Baska shouts up at me, barely audible over the wind. “Aren’t we going to Bethyrene? I don’t recognize anything here.”

Blocking the wind, I respond in a level voice. “Didn’t Advitha tell you? We’re not going back to the Aetherium. We wouldn’t be welcome.”

“No, she failed to mention that,” Baska says, flying up beside me under the shelter of my Wind-shield.

“Must have slipped her mind,” I say, watching the ground fly by beneath us. “You know, I can't help but realize… We’ve built up a lot of momentum. And we didn’t build in anything resembling functional brakes. Just wasn’t a priority.”

“If we’re not going to Betheryne - which I’m not complaining about, to be clear - where are we going?” Baska asks, staring southwest in the general direction of Betheryne. Even now, Roberts is probably wandering through the makeshift shelters, healing people while Josh is feeding them or making sure people are warm.

Focusing on the upcoming end to the mountains, I answer, “North. To the abandoned Builder’s city of Pelwerd.”

“Pelwerd? Never heard of it.”

I don’t reply, instead trying to gauge the distance to the far-off city properly. I wasn’t lying about not having a way to reduce our momentum. Which means that I have to do this very carefully.

It’s only a giant flying raft cobbled together from hundreds of barely buoyant bulb-homes with tens of thousands of K’tharn lives soaring through the skies at near-Mach one. It’s not like landing is the hardest part of flying or anything.

“Damn it, Wyonna. You were right.”

I really should've gotten sleep before trying this.

Maybe then I would’ve thought of brakes.

5.32, It’s Alive

September 11, 2023. Evening.

The wind rushes around my throne as I watch the city of Pelwerd grow larger on the horizon. We’re going too fast. I underestimated how much the anti-storm enchantments would reduce air-resistance. Every person with an iota of wind manipulation is attempting to slow us down, but it’s not going to be enough.

If I wasn’t stuck on my throne, I might be able to do something. But it’s taking more of my attention than ever, even with Tipan and Rufka dealing with the worst of it, every little shudder threatens to shake another home loose. Which, at the speeds we're going, would be a sure-fire death sentence for those inside without levitation to lower them slowly. Unforeseen downside to anti-storm enchantments.

Go figure.

Worst part is, I know the three of us will come out of this fine. We could fly away in a second, leaving these people to their fate. But I quash the thought the second it crosses my mind. These people would still be waiting safely inside the rift if I hadn’t decided to bring them with us.

Pausing time for the fifteenth time since I realized our dilemma, I desperately try to think of anything that could help. Reshaping the throne barely made a difference. The efforts of the others are negligible as well. We’d be hugely effective, if the anti-storm enchantments would just power down.

But it turns out they’re far more efficient than the levitation enchantments. Probably because they’ve been upgraded over the last few hundred years whereas the levitation enchantments were left alone. Another consequence of the Aetherium restricting knowledge.

My fifteenth Pause comes to an end as fruitlessly as the fourteen before it. I still don’t know what to do.

“We should prepare those who are willing to evacuate,” Baska calls up to me. I don’t know when it happened, but she seems to have been elected as the representative for dealing with me.

No one else will even come close.

I glare down at her, but I nod. Most of the K’tharn who aren’t working to keep the flotilla together aren’t doing much anyway. There’s no reason to put them at risk. I watch as a handful of K’tharn start making preparations, going so far as to lift others onto their shoulders. Every K’tharn who can fly is carrying at least one other K’tharn. There’s even one who has three others held tight.

They lift into the air, leaving the rest behind. There’s no complaining from the ones who stay, most not even watching them leave. Instead, most of them are staring at me.

Great. No pressure Alexis. They were already relying on you to not get them killed, them looking at you doesn’t make it worse.

It shouldn’t.

Gah!

“So? Any ideas?” Baska asks. Apparently, when she asked if people could leave, she didn’t include herself. In fact, all three members of the South Tribunes are still here. And I know they can all fly.

“Not that we haven’t tried. But I feel like there’s an obvious answer, something staring us in the face.”

Baska hoists herself up next to me, hanging off the throne as she stares ahead. “Could be. You know, I’ve never flown this fast before. Can you imagine flying like this forever?”

I stare at Baska as I consider her question in my sixteenth Pause. Could we just keep going until we run out of energy? There’s no reason we have to stop at the city. We could fly around. The bulbs will release so long as we’re going slow enough and we’re over a surface. It doesn’t have to be land either. We could be over the ocean.

“That’s a good idea,” I say, ending the pause. “We can just keep flying. Maybe I can even…”

Tilting the flotilla is so easy it’s insulting. All it takes is a light relaxation of Twilight on one side. The entire structure shakes a bit as we tilt, and I hear a curse from Rufka, but it stops as soon as I tighten the mana again.

I repeat the process another seven times to put us into a proper banking turn, and I’m pretty sure I’ll need to keep making adjustments throughout. But I think Baska just saved everyone.

“Baska. You are my new favourite person,” I tell her, leaning back in my throne and summoning a mixed ball of lighting-fire just to keep my right not-hand busy.

“Don’t know what I did, but that makes sense. I'm a lot of people's favourite.” Baska remains next to me for the next hour as we wait for the city to slow. There’s a lurch when the anti-storm enchantments finally disengage.

The sudden wind-resistance drags the flotilla to a stop a short distance outside Pelwerd. It’s not perfect since we’re still several hundred metres up. But now that we’re nearly stopped, the danger has passed. With only minor hiccups, we’re able to discharge the levitation engine over the course of the next fifteen minutes.

The impact with the ground isn’t worthy of the word, so soft I wouldn’t have been sure we’d landed if it wasn’t for all the bulb-homes opening in a flurry of popping enchantments. They start disgorging their captives a second later.

The crowd delays Rufka slightly, but then she appears above them, Tipan coming from the other side of the flotilla.

Once they get closer, Rufka slaps Tipan on the shoulder. “Now that was proper field-enchanting. Mum would be proud." Then she turns towards me, “Where’d we land?”

“Pelwerd. And that was rougher than I was hoping,” I answer. Raised voices from behind the throne cause me to turn and realize there are a very large number of K’tharn looking our direction. Or more accurately, they’re looking in my direction.

I can hear them talking in hushed tones now that I’m listening. Several are relieved, talking about Pelwerd being one of the Sanctuary cities. Most of the others are confused.

But the chatter that’s distressing to me is the boisterous pair of young K’tharn who are regaling their audience with the tale of how I rounded up their homes, built a skyship while fending off dragons and abyss fiends. It’s at the point that I transform into a dragon that I clear my throat, but Tipan puts her hand on my shoulder.

“You don’t need to correct them.”

“Correct them? There’s not a word I don’t believe,” Rufka exclaims her chest puffed out.

Tipan raises an eyebrow. “Despite the fact they’ve barely mentioned you?”

Rufka holds up a finger, and a second later, one of the pair mentions the blistering ball of plasma, that they affectionately refer to as the Wrath of Vaus. “See, totally worth letting them talk.”

“Uh. Sure,” I concede, standing from the throne. This elicits a surprising amount of murmuring from the assembled K’tharn. Baska is already making her way toward me through the crowd, her teammates behind her. In fact, it looks like they’ve picked up another pair of K’tharn. Damn.

“I was hoping to get into the city,” I murmur to Tipan and Rufka just before Baska flies up to meet us.

“Sneaking off, were you?” Baska asks, causing me to look away. She guffaws at my reaction. “Oh, you really were going to sneak off. Now I feel bad. Sometimes I forget not everyone likes to be in the spotlight.”

“Despite being told daily,” Advitha notes from behind her.

Baska grins at Advitha, shrugging as she says, “Wanted to thank you again for saving everyone. An outlander who did more for us than our government ever did. Not even counting what you did with the pu’shaha. Thanks.”

I accept her large hand, expecting to be rattled, but her grip is surprisingly gentle, her handshake measured. “You ever need the Southern Tribunes, you just let us know.”

“I will.”

“Right. Anyway, I should probably get back to… this,” Baska says with a wave of her paw. “Turns out everybody knowing who I am makes it easier to get things done. I bet we’ll have lodgings ready for everyone before nightfall.” Her volume increases for the last sentence as she turns away.

I nod, extracting the box of keys from within the throne and preparing to fly away.

“Wait. You’re not just gonna leave it there are you?” Baska asks, pointing at the throne.

“Yes?” I answer. It was really just to keep the box safe. And it was kinda fun to fly around on. But with the way everyone’s staring at me.

Not fun.

“Uh. Maybe you can take it with you. Do whatever you want with it once you’re out of sight, but people are kinda proud of it.”

I look past Baska at where people are still looking in our direction. Sighing, I disconnect the throne from the platform. Then I return to my seat with the box held in my lap as we fly into Pelwerd.

An actual cheer goes up as I leave.

I don’t look back, head against my only good hand where no one can see it. Except Rufka and Tipan who are both struggling to contain their laughter. “Traitors.”

“I’m sorry. What was that, my queen?” Rufka purrs, her tone low as she hops into my lap.

“Ahem.” Tipan says. Neither say anything else, but they’re both still chuckling as we move toward the heart of the city. Once we reach the central control spire in the heart of Pelwerd, I dismount my throne, the others following behind.

“You know. It is impressive,” Tipan notes, gesturing at the giant replica of Smoulder.

“I… might have gone overboard,” I admit. It wasn’t strictly necessary to etch every fold of her fur and tuft of her tail.

But I miss her, and this… helped.

Rufka throws her arm over Tipan’s shoulder while grabbing my hand. “I like it. It’s almost as big as her ego.”

“There’s a levitation engine inside," I mention, with a small smile and shrug.

Rufka just chuckles. “Oh, we were there.”

“So, why did we return to Pelwerd, Lexi? Not just to escape the crowds, I suspect?” Tipan asks.

“Oh. There’s so much to tell you,” I pull Rufka inside the spire, who drags Tipan with her. I fill them in on as much as I can as we make our way up to the control room.

“Okay. That’s it. Next time you disappear into the past, you need to take me with you,” Rufka declares, sitting on the edge of one of the oversized Yrken chairs in the central control chamber.

“You really want to meet Uthica that badly?”

“Nope. Just don’t want you leaving me behind.”

"I… don't want to leave you behind either." In fact, as I say it, I pull on my tether to her. And I go a step further, reinforcing it. Not just like I would if I want to communicate, but similar to my bond with Smoulder.

Tipan holds up her lower hands, reminding us to focus, though I continue working on the bond. “So, you know how to repair the engines and you have the keys?”

“Yeah. And once it’s unlocked, I should be able to transfer Wyonna into the command structure.”

“Except your System is still damaged,” Tipan reminds me. As if I’d forget.

“Uh. Yeah. But I can fix it. Kind of. For a bit.”

Tipan crosses both sets of arms, tapping her chin. “I imagine Wyonna’s okay with this plan?”

“It was her-”

“Hold on a second,” Rufka says, hopping off the chair to land in front of me, “the Thenite ships. You saw the battle of Burning Skies. It has to be her.”

“Uh. Okay?” I say as Rufka takes us back to something I mentioned five minutes ago.

“Sorry. It was bugging me. But that means Smoulder’s the Paragon of Flame!”

“Uh yeah. Tipan and I had this conversation,” I inform her with a smirk.

“Ukila above, that’s awesome. But… that’s not how it happened the first time.”

“Anyway, as I was saying, it was Wyonna’s idea-“ I stop myself, turning to look at Rufka. “What do you mean that’s not how it happened the first time.”

“Just… well, the first time, Smoulder wasn’t there. But then when you were telling me the story, it was like… a second memory showed up. Was like I’d just remembered something I always knew.”

“Okay… that’s…”

“That’s what happened with me too!” Tipan declares, striking her fist into her hand. “Knew it felt weird.”

“Huh,” I say, reaching up to scratch my chin with my missing hand as I ease off reinforcing my bond with Rufka. Frowning at their conclusion, I shake my head. “Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t change the fact she’s… we should focus on Wyonna.”

“Right,” Tipan agrees, but Rufka’s still smiling.

“Hopefully, getting Wyonna installed will give her more freedom. Plus, you know, not be stuck in my head. Maybe I’ll even be able to get the cooking skill.”

Tipan snorts, then covers her face, her ears going flat. Then she shuffles closer to the rainbow sphere at the fore of the room, the key for Pelwerd in her hand. “So, how do we do this?”

Deciding not to comment, I join her, taking the key. I hold the key in my hand as I approach the spinning sphere. “I should just need to…”

The sphere stops spinning when I get close, opening just like last time. This time when I step inside, the key flashes. A section of the sphere solidifies into a lock, a perfect match for the key. I place the key inside, immediately several of the warning lights go from red to green. Then a prompt appears on the primary display.

“No Artificial Intelligence detected. Upload Artificial Intelligence now?”

[Alexis] “Okay. It’s asking to upload you. Are you ready?”

[Wyonna] “Two days ago, probably not. But after so long with nothing to see or do except talk to you? Well, no offence, but I’m starting to go stir crazy.”

[Alexis] “That’s fair. So, any idea on how we do this?”

[Wyonna] “Concentrate on the connection to the sphere. I’ll take care of things from my end.”

Hitting the confirm button, I Focus on the connection, trying to link it to my interface.

At first, I don’t really have anything to attach it to. Then the most complex series of runes I’ve ever seen emerges. They’re a whirling mass of chaos that slowly grinds to a stop, collapsing on themselves into two words. Wyonna Everette.

Gingerly, I secure the sphere’s tether to Wyonna’s name. The moment the connection is made, there’s a painful twist, followed by a hollow ache.

I fall to my knees as the city’s display starts flashing, messages appearing and disappearing in a chaotic mess while the sphere spins around me at a worrying speed, my face only inches away.

“Alexis, are you okay?” Tipan asks, her voice distorted by the sphere.

Gaining my balance, I reply, “I’m fine. For the moment.”

Rufka snickers, saying, “We’re fine too. Oh, I think one of the engines just fired.”

“More than one,” I confirm, as the seat wraps around me and lifts me back into position allowing me to make that much sense of the flickering screens. “It doesn’t seem to be a smooth transition for Wyonna.”

“It’s her battle,” Tipan says right as all the screens go dark. The rings around me slow, settling back into their standing orientation, setting me free a second after picking me up.

The entire command chamber is dark, the multitudes of consoles having gone dark. One of the consoles' screens near the back flickers, a blue glow filling the empty room for a second before dropping the room back into darkness. Even the windows are dark.

Summoning a ball of fire, I step out of the sphere, looking around.

“Doubt this was the plan.” Rufka taps the screen of one of the consoles but there’s no response.

“Not exactly,” I admit.

“Perhaps Wyonna simply needs more time,” Tipan suggests.

We wait, only the sound of our breathing filling the silence. Considering the mana-barren inside of the tower, I feel surprisingly at ease.

Climbing onto the chair next to Rufka, I place my head in her lap. Right as my eyes close to contemplate my damaged System, I hear the whirring of the sphere starting up once more.

Then Wyonna’s voice is yelling, “It’s aliiiiivvvvvveeeeee!”

“She sounds like you,” Rufka murmurs, her hands working at a knot in my shoulder as I shift. “Kinda looks like you too.”

“You can barely tell me and Beth apart, how can you compare me to Wyonna?”

Rufka chuckles. “Sure. Because you’re so similar to Beth.”

“We could be,” I mutter, a flashback of the sound of grinding bones against my throne making me cringe.

“No. Absolutely not. Beth’s boring,” Rufka states.

“Boring? Beth’s boring? That’s the difference?” I ask, incredulous as I shift, attempting to stare at Rufka.

Rufka shifts beneath me, patting my head but not letting me up. “Yep. Boring.”

“Thanks.” I smile into her stomach, shifting my arm to reduce the stress on it.

“Plus, you’re way prettier.”

“Okay, now I know you’re exaggerating. I’m missing an eye.”

“Just gives you character. Also, you have brown hair.”

I snort, her fur tickling my nose. Then I make the difficult choice to sit up. This time Rufka doesn't try to stop me.

“Alexis! It worked. I’m a real girl!” Wyonna appears directly in front of me, striking a pose with one hand raised to the sky the other on her hip.

“Congrats. That’s awesome.”

“Yeah. And I’ve got control of the city," Wyonna adds with an enormous grin, as she changes her pose to both hands on her hips. "Most of it, still working out some minor kinks. Not the fun kind. Not only that, we’ll be able to network the other cities into my control too, if those keys let us gain the same level of access I've got here.”

“That could be useful,” I say as I hop off the chair. “How long did that take you?”

“Four minutes and seven seconds. Also, check it out!” Wyonna declares while splaying her arms wide and filling the room with displays showing images of me next to lists of statistics and graphs. It has all the Attributes from my status, but those are only the start. Wyonna’s main screen has my pulse, blood pressure, mana pressure, temporal stability and more.

And each screen is different.

“What... what is all this?” I ask, as I read over one screen trying to make sense of just the one in front of me. “System compatibility rating, ninety-seven?”

Wyonna highlights the text bringing up a whole different page, full of other numbers, “Your aggregated rating, yeah… it’s really high. Like, forget statistical outlier, you’ve got higher System compatibility than species that’ve been breeding for it for centuries. But we already knew that.”

“What’s Systemic torsional aptitude?” Rufka asks, pointing at a section under a subheading of Spatial Dynamics.

Wyonna shrugs, “Something to do with Facet. That part’s just me trying to make sense of her time abilities. Plus, I like the name.”

“So… this isn’t provided by the System? This is all your interpretation of Alexis’ being?” Tipan asks, tapping on the image of my burned body. I notice that my nose is more or less back in place and my scalp is a vibrant pink. My eye’s still an ugly mess though. Guess that healing session with Tipan was more effective than I realized.

As she taps it, the image splits into several different displays. There are displays that remind me of biology class, showing my musculature, skeletal structure, and circulatory system. There are also several other displays that I can only guess have something to do with magic or the System.

“Are you able to produce images like this for us as well?” Tipan requests, bowing slightly toward the image of Wyonna currently displayed in the control sphere.

“Eventually. Could do a crude mock-up. I’ve been studying Lexi for a decade now. Lots of data to work with.”

“Creepy,” Rufka says, scrolling through page after page of information.

“The System has this kind of information on each of its users. Maybe without the thorough analysis I’ve done, but it has all the raw data.”

Rufka shudders, staring at Wyonna.

I take her hand, settling in and reading Wyonna’s analysis of what I am, page by page. It’s not like with the System and its brief overview. Intellect is broken down into nineteen different sub-categories, each of which fluctuates even as I’m reading. I spend a while studying my magical biology while Wyonna does… city things? I’m not sure, but she mentioned needing time.

Wyonna disrupts my reading with a mad cackling.

“Uh, Wyonna?” I ask, standing up in concern.

“Yep, sounds just like you,” Rufka says, earning a gentle smack.

“My cackle is much more dignified.”

The windows become transparent; the room blasted with light. Outside, the city is glowing beneath a transparent dome. There’s a mana-storm raging above, its effect completely negated by the dome.

No, not negated. The storm is losing potency. She’s absorbing it.

“Look,” Wyonna says, pointing in the direction of the flotilla.

The dome isn’t just over the city. Wyonna’s managed to extend it over the refugees of the flotilla. And she’s moved my throne… It now sits in the central plaza where the Sentinel once stood, visible from half the major thoroughfares in the city.

I really hope no one's seen it yet.

…

Of course they have.

5.33, Heavy is the Head

9:02 pm, local time. (September 11, 2023, 11:02 pm.)

“Wyonna, can you not…” I start, then I notice it’s not just the throne. She’s placed Smoulder inspired gargoyles on the corners of buildings along each of the boulevards. “Okay, that’s kind of cool. She’d like that.”

“It’s not just for her. The people are talking of the rabbit-queen,” Wyonna says, playing audio from a group of K’tharn making their way into the city.

“-not making it up. The ministry arrested her for supporting the resistance.”

“-she was there when it started. They say she defeated a Lord single handed.”

“-heard she bathes in the blood of her enemies.”

Shaking my head, I hold up a hand for Wyonna to stop. “First of all. Eww. Second, why are they all talking about me?”

Rufka shrugs as Wyonna cuts the feeds, disappearing as Rufka says, “People like to gossip.”

“And with messaging offline, people are nervous,” Tipan says, staring at where a group of K’tharn have found their way to the southern boulevard. “Besides, it’s not every day a giant flying rabbit-skull smashes through the lines of the Aetherium's finest.”

“People talk about mum. It’s not so bad.”

“Your mother is the Crimson Death. People avoid bothering her because everyone knows she’ll draw the blood from their bodies and then beat them to death with it,” Tipan points out.

Rufka strokes her chin, a twinkle in her eyes. “Mum wouldn’t do anything so messy. Too much work.”

Tipan shakes her head. “Yes. But those rumors keep people away from her. These could be troublesome. Especially since we’ve essentially claimed ownership of the Sanctuary they’re taking refuge in.”

“Crap. This is going to be a whole thing, isn’t it?” I ask, furrowing my brow only to wince at the twinge from my missing eye.

Wyonna reappears, a new display of a meeting hall near the southern entrance to the city at her side. There’s an image of Smoulder over the entrance. Hundreds of K’tharn are already milling about the area. “This is an opportunity. They’re not going to disappear.”

“I just didn’t want them to die. Now you’re saying we’re responsible for them?” I ask, clasping my hand into a fist.

Wyonna smiles, her eyes sparkling. “No. I’m certain we could ignore them until they become a completely independent faction who resent the people who control their lives while ignoring them.”

For some reason, glaring at Wyonna isn’t particularly satisfying. So, I cross my arm, which is only partially successful in expressing my frustration since my arm is only partially intact. Feeling defeated by my body, I turn away in a huff instead.

“It needs to be you. They'd just think we're representing you and you're ignoring them,” Tipan notes, pulling up the statue at the centre that is a strangely beautiful version of my maimed form. Wish I'd looked that good before I'd been hit.

Wyonna makes a sound as though she’s clearing her throat. “I could project your image if you want.”

“Wait. That’s it! You can just pretend to be me and talk to them,” I spin about, excited until I see Wyonna’s sad smile.

“I’m mostly free. But I’m still not allowed to emulate a user. Sorry,” Wyonna apologizes, holding her hands out.

Rufka places a hand gently on my shoulder. “It’s okay. You don’t have to do anything. We can take them to one of the M’tari’s coastal cities and leave them there.”

“That’s a great idea. Let’s do that,” I exclaim, pulling her into a one-armed hug causing my entire side to flair in pain. But it’s worth it. Now that I’m not worried about being in charge, it’s easy to realize we’re not ready to just dump them yet. “But we need to contact Baska first. Get her to ensure the refugees are safe. Oh, are they organizing food?”

The next few minutes are a blur of activity as Wyonna contacts Baska. It’s a little weird watching her excitement at using voice chat, but she focuses, her voice getting steady. A few minutes later, she turns to me. “I’m having trouble getting people to listen to me. But if I can say I’m acting on behalf of the Rabbit-Queen, it’d go faster.”

“Tell them whatever you need to. We’ll get them to any M’tari city they want.”

Four hours later and most of the refugees are settled in a few small districts along the southern edge of the city. A single apartment houses over ten thousand K’tharn, and they’re not even crowded. It’s only as I’m looking at them settling in that the scale of the city really sinks in.

Beth’s plans don’t make any sense.

According to Wyonna’s data, we could pack a third of China into a single city. Well, a fourth. There are a lot of people in China. But the K’tharn are really spread out. If we allowed for cramped spaces, we could probably fit twice as many people. Not ideal for long term.

But with eight functional cities, we might have a chance to get everyone to temporary safety. More if we can extend the buildings upwards.

After a few more checks, Wyonna’s finally ready to take off. Rufka and Tipan somehow convinced me to give a speech from atop the throne. Still not sure how they did it, but there were a lot of words about responsibility, power and Uthica.

Looking out across the gathered K’tharn, the words we prepared catch in my throat.

Rufka’s hand is resting on my shoulder, with Tipan standing on my other, her staff and her ghostly sister both visible. At some point Wyonna started circulating both their heritages. So, now it’s not just me that the K’tharn are gossiping about. Which would be more comforting if it hadn’t somehow made me even more popular.

“Ahem. Citizens of the Aetherium,” I start, but stop at the surprising amount of booing.

Wyonna whispers in my ear. “Thought we decided not to use that part.”

She’s right. I forgot.

“Former citizens.” I correct myself, this time to a little grumbling but no outright booing. Small improvements.

“I won’t take much of your time. As you’ve been informed, we’ll be flying to the M’tari city of Pearlescent Summers. There we’ll stay until you’re able to find shelter.” More grumbling. Well, Wyonna warned me there would be.

“Now, the reason we’ve gathered you here,” I pause, gritting my teeth before following Wyonna’s instructions. This would be fun, if all these people weren’t watching us. “Is to bear witness.”

Sticking my left arm forward, I turn it palm upward. Then I raise my hand. In the background, the normally silent levitation engines hum loudly, Wyonna indulging in some extra atmosphere as the city lifts from the ground with a lurch.

Another effect added for maximum drama.

Or something.

Leaning into the role, I clench my fist once we’re a few hundred metres up and Wyonna brings the city to a stop.

Then I thrust my fist forward in the rough direction of Pearlescent Summers, splaying my fingers wide.

Wyonna obliges me, the city lurching before picking up speed. Wyonna takes us directly through a nearby mana-storm, not just passing through it, but splitting it apart without issue.

Now that we’re in the air and heading toward our destination, it’s time to take my leave. While I’m reluctant to use teleportation over any distance, Invisibility is still great for situations like this. And much safer. With a final, Twilight-enhanced, snap of my fingers, I cloak Rufka, Tipan and myself before flying toward the edge of the city.

Now that Wyonna is the city, she can reach us anywhere, so there’s no reason to remain in the central spire.. I choose a nice boring looking building to hide in. The only concession I make is a view over the edge at the passing landscape. The flying city could travel at supersonic speeds, but Wyonna says the energy costs are exorbitant. At least, until we install the improved storm-enchantments.

It’s more efficient to travel at ‘just’ 600 km/h. Depending on local weather conditions, of course.

Watching the mountains pass in the distance, I’m reminded of the time uncle John paid for the entire family to visit Mexico after receiving an unexpected bonus. Unsurprisingly, mom made full use of the resort’s open bar. The rest of us were so busy on the beaches, visiting the bazaar and going scuba-diving, I barely noticed.

Though I did end up sleeping in one of the resort’s hammocks instead of our room one night when mom brought some stranger back. When auntie Sharon found me, there was a long argument with mom. Last time they invited mom along. And since mom kiboshed any invites that didn’t include her, it was my last trip too.

“That was pretty amazing Lexi,” Rufka says, joining me at the window and drawing me out of the past.

“Indeed. It was a performance any Minister would be jealous of. Even more with the current state of the Aetherium, I imagine,” Tipan agrees, leaning against the far side of the window.

Smiling, I lean against the window edge between them. “It was pretty fun.”

Wyonna flickers into the room with a snap and crackle. At first, she was just appearing silently, but we held a mutiny, insisting she warn us. Last time it was a tinkling bell. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. Because uh… people are asking to stay.”

“How many?” Rufka asks.

“So far? 85,732 of the 122,312 refugees have requested permanent citizenship under the Rabbit-Queen. Another 3,273 have asked that they be allowed to stay but are not prepared to pledge to your cause. There is one individual who is demanding we let them off immediately.”

“What? Why did they even come with us?” I ask.

Rufka barks out a laugh. “Didn’t expect us to be so awesome. They bet we wouldn’t be able to get the city flying again. Easiest three Iron I ever made.”

“Can we slow down to drop them off?”

Wyonna flickers, as she shrugs. “We could. It’d cost us an extra couple hours. And we’d be dropping her in the middle of nowhere by herself.”

“Right. She can wait,” I decide, not wanting to leave anyone in the middle of nowhere. And if she really wants off, she can jump.

“Most of em want to stay though? What about Baska?” Rufka asks.

Wyonna's list scrolls to a picture of the Desh’mersa team, all with their hands held high. “Baska and the Pelwerd Fliers want to pledge themselves to Alexis.”

“Uh, Pelwerd Fliers? I thought they were the Southern Tribune... They’re changing their name,” I state, trying not to glower.

“Yep. I vetoed Queen’s Hares. Still, they’ve decided to keep the new name, as a tribute, even if you don’t let them stay.”

“Can we back up for a second? Why am I the one deciding if they go? Shouldn’t this be a group decision? I mean, you’re the city Wyonna.”

Rufka shrugs. “I don’t care either way.”

Smiling, Tipan pats my hand. “I’ll help, but they don’t worship me. For what it’s worth, I think we should let them stay. There are many skilled craftsmen. They could prove to be a great help with repairs to the other Sanctuaries.”

“Yeah, see, it’s the worship thing that bothers me,” I grumble while glaring at her.

Rufka leans forward grinning, “Did you know the rumours aren’t new? There’s been talk of a Rabbit-queen circulating for a month.”

“That makes no sense. Why would anyone…” Rufka’s laughter stops my question as I shift my eyes to her.

Under the weight of my glare, Rufka holds her stomach until she stops laughing. “Sorry. I started them before the thing with the Pu’shaha. Thought it’d be funny. I didn’t expect…” she waves her hand in the direction of the city centre.

“To be fair, the rumours were mostly harmless before the last few days,” Tipan reassures me.

“You knew?” I ask, grasping at my chest in feigned shock with my missing hand. Not sure if the lack of my hand enhances the effect, but Tipan rolling her eyes is satisfying either way.

“And what about you Wyonna?” I ask, a smile tugging at my lips.

Wyonna says, “They’d be useful. And it could be the start of something bigger. You could create your own faction within the Forerunners. Selected from the best, of course.”

“Uh. What? Why would I want to start my own faction?” I ask, trying to understand Wyonna’s logic.

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“Because I’m not really a Forerunner?” I point out.

Wyonna tilts her head to the side, squinting at me. “Yes, you are. I was there.”

“I mean. I barely know anything about them. I didn’t join them cause I believe in them. I’m just… a draftee. Why would I start my own faction?”

“Lexi’s right. She doesn’t need anybody. She’s already got us,” Rufka objects.

Wyonna flickers for a second before nodding. “I… well, like Tipan noted, it’s helpful to have people to help you out.”

At that a thought strikes me, and I can't help the grin that starts stretching across my face despite the minor cracking sounds. “You know what. I’ll do it. I’ll be queen, on one condition.”

“Really?” Rufka grunts. Wyonna looks almost as surprised.

I stand as tall as I can, floating slightly off the ground so I can look down at everyone.

“If my subjects can recover Smoulder alive, I’ll serve as their queen.”

5.34, That Doesn’t Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

A note from Draith

Edits to chapter 4.41, 5.00, 5.04, 5.05, 5.14

4.41, Tipan realizes she forgot she had her 'find me' feature left on.

Rufka and Tipan decide it’ll be better if we build the control centre of the tracking array in the living room, mostly to keep from being disrupted as we work. We'll need to put the actual antennas outside, but we're still waiting on most of the components for those, so for the moment we concentrate on the control centre.

As we're working on it, I sigh. "This would be so much easier if we'd just added Pogell as a friend. That's a thing, right? Tracking your friends through the System?"

"It can be. If you have the right equipment," Rufka laughs, gesturing at the array we're building.

"Ha. Right. Guess it wouldn't just work."

"Mum says any Copper could do it pretty easy. It's why she avoids adding anyone. Cept me. But that's cause I'm family."

Before I can respond, Tipan gasps.

When we turn to her, her ears are folded back and her eyes are so focused on the crumpled assembly in her hands, I'm half-expecting it to burst into flames. Or turn into stone.

"Tipan?" I say, not sure if I should reach over. "You okay?"

"Uh. Yeah. I just realized something. Uhm..." she trails off. Then she shakes her head, and looks up to meet our gaze. "I... might... maybe... have been on Ivicka's friend list."

Rufka and I both just stare at her as she continues, almost tripping over her words. "I totally forgot! She's been on my friend's list since I was a little kitten. And I just... we never use it for finding each other, not in my family. And I..."

"Hey, it's okay," I say, deciding that this does indeed call for a shoulder squeeze. "I... I did something similar. Just before I came here."

Tipan calms down as I tell her about my mistake with my mom's joint account. And what a joint account is. Which leads into a whole other discussion about banking and currencies on Earth as we return to work.

5.00, Talkith investigates before leaving.

Talkith only nodded, pulling her hand free of Ylethen’s golden fur before turning to leave. In a flash, she beamed up the stairs to where Jethia of the Stormguard waited.

Talkith hated talking. She was bad at it. Her thiani had once said the reflection rock she kept in the garden was better at communicating. Talkith had thought it had awakened, running several probing tests before realizing Tithan had been…

Yes, Talkith was bad at talking.

But listening? Watching? Those were skills all Stormguard cultivated. One could not rescue those they couldn’t find. Observing she understood.

And there was much to see and hear in the capital. Especially in the wake of the attack upon her friend. And the rest of the ministers, she supposed. She was surprised they hadn’t returned screaming at the top of their lungs, demanding that all K’tharn with white patches on their left cheek be punished for the attack. Despite being two days since the incident, they hadn’t returned to the public eye.

Perhaps they were afraid.

Ylethan and the minister of relations seemed to be the only ones willing to show their faces. She suspected the minister of Relations was just enjoying the attention that being a survivor of such an attack was bringing her. She’d always been a vain K’tharn.

Talkith narrowed her eyes at a squad of Fallen being directed by a weary K’tharn in the market below. It was disconcerting how alive they seemed. She wasn’t used to System constructs being so… dynamic.

Ylethan hadn’t gone into detail on the specifics of the new enchantments required to create them, and Talkith hadn’t asked. She wouldn’t have understood anyway.

That K’tharn were upset was apparent though. Some were complaining that the Fallen looked like their lost loved ones. Considering how mangled most were, Talkith suspected half the city could claim lost loved ones among the new servants, and it’d be hard to prove otherwise. Especially since the System only identified the new servants by number.

Normally, Talkith would’ve remained in the countryside, searching for her daughter. But then she’d read the full report given to her by Jethia. It had been odd enough for her to return, to try to find some answers. One of the Outlanders was the very same who’d scanned the pu’shaha, and raised the population limit.

A move that hadn’t been as universally loved as one might’ve expected.

Even now, Talkith could hear a couple arguing about their future. One was arguing that they owed it to this Alexis to have a pu’shaha. The other was adamant they’d had enough children.

It seemed pointless to Talkith. Children only died or disappointed.

The outlander who had caused this chaos was noticeably only listed as a ‘person of interest’ with no capture order. Not that Talkith would go by the Aetherium’s orders. She would assess the situation herself.

With a heavy breath, she pushed off the roof, thankful she didn’t need the Aetherium’s teleportation network. There was nothing more for her here. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t even ask the Taken. They had declared some sort of religious sanction on the council. And she and the K’mintar had never been on speaking terms.

She’d have to find her daughter, the hard way. Only then would she discover the truth. If her daughter was innocent, then perhaps they could talk to the M’tari directly.

And if not… well, Yelthen had helped guide Ivicka. And Ivicka had gone on to become one of the greatest K’tharn in a generation. She would be able to provide the guidance Talkith couldn’t.

And if her daughter had not changed, and was as stubborn as she’d been as a child, well…

Death before dishonour.

That was Talkith's way.

5.05, More talking with the Fallen patrol. They call Lexi 'My Lady'.

3:47 pm, local time. (August 21, 2023, 7:47 pm.) Between two nerve-racking screams.

Even as the poor K'tharn screams, I can see the broken bones in her arms shifting, each one moving under the circle's power. There's an audible snap as one returns to its proper position. It's at that point when her screams cut off.

Not because the pain is gone, but because Cinther's passed out.

When we acquired the circle from the old healer, we'd been told the pain could be alleviated. More accurately, she said, 'It's possible to use without causing pain, but that requires training. If you serve as my apprentice, that's only one of the things I'll teach you.'

Considering everything else we have to do, there was no way I could accept her offer. We did agree to help where we could, though. And Tipan told me she's considering taking the healer's offer, now that she can’t return to the Desh’ila.

But only after the rest of us are safely on our way home.

"What've you done to her, Voidbrat!?" Curthy demands, tearing my attention away from my crude healing. But she's held back by the other two while Smoulder stands guard on my shoulder, staring her down. I can see the doubt in their eyes as Cinther writhes on the ground, even unconscious.

There's no time to reassure them, I need to focus on Cinther. If I don't maintain the transfer, the healing won't finish properly. I'd rather not leave her with anything in the wrong place.

Once most of her injuries have been addressed, I sigh in relief as I check my mana. Almost half of my roughly twelve-hundred mana expended in little over a minute.

I've gone days without letting my mana get this low.

"Okay. She should be fine," I say, inclining my head to the three K'tharn behind me.

Despite the fact they were the ones holding Curthey back, she stays once they release her, and they’re the ones who move to squat at my side.

Which is my cue to step away as they check her over. "It might be a few minutes before she wakes up. It's a stressful experience."

"Thank you, my Lady. Without Zetha, we didn't have any-" Mothey's words are cut off when Cinther's eyes flutter open. With a ragged cough, she rolls to her side, only to heave silently.

"We're glad we could help," Rose says from somewhere over my shoulder as I’m putting the healing circle away. Only to discover it’s cracked. Damn. I must’ve channelled my mana through too quickly.

"Okay. They healed Cinther. Now what? We're supposed to arrest them, Mothey!" Curthey yells, pointing at Tipan and Rose. Then she starts pulling at her fur with all four arms while pacing back and forth with long strides.

Mothey answers without bothering to look away from where she's holding Cinther's shoulders, "The Lady healed Cinther, Curthey. You want us to arrest her companions? Besides, you saw them against Obelix. They destroyed him in seconds. What chance do you think we have?"

Curthey sputters as she spins back and forth, "There's no way the council will forgive us if we let them go! You know what they’ve been doing to those that displease them. I don’t want to be a Fallen…"

I shuffle away from them, taking Rufka's hand, Smoulder still in place. I hope they don't try to fight, but if it comes to it, we can easily escape. As Rose takes my other hand, Mothey steps away from where she was checking on Cinther, grabbing Curthey, forcing her to meet her eyes. "The council won't need to forgive us, because we never saw them."

"What are you talking about? They're right there."

"Are they? Those look like helpful travelers. They certainly don't look like Voidborne terrorists kidnapping the Lady, do they?"

"But… they..."

"They what?"

"They didn't…" Curthey stares at Mothey for a second then looks at where Obelix's body fell. Finally, she directs her gaze to where Cinther is hugging Lathry. Something seems to go out of her as she slumps slightly before bobbing her head slightly. "They… they're travellers. Just helpful people we happened upon. We never saw the Lady and her kidnappers."

Part of me wants to object at them referring to me as Lady. I can’t really argue with the kidnapping though. At least, not in Rufka’s case. She’s stolen me away more than once.

"Good. Now, what say we gather up our gliders, see if we can't figure out what went wrong, and allow the good Lady to go?" Mothey follows this up by clasping Curthey on the shoulder, before starting down the nearby slope, pulling Curthey along with her.

"Huh. Kinda didn't expect them to be reasonable," Rufka admits as they move away.

I don't make out Rose's response, as my attention is elsewhere, watching Lathry help Cinther to her feet. Cinther wavers slightly. Once she recovers, she takes several steps towards us before stopping directly in front of me. She takes a deep breath, then says, "I wanted to thank you, my Lady. You're probably not Astrean, but I wanted to say a prayer… If that's okay?"

"Uhm sure?" Despite Astra's dominant role in their culture, I haven't met a single practicing worshiper since I've arrived on Akilo.

Cinther starts reciting a short but unfamiliar prayer, asking that all our families remain safe and that those we deal with treat us with honour. To my surprise, Rufka joins her in the prayer. Is Rufka an Astrean? It occurs to me that I never asked. Honestly, I thought that if she worshiped a god, it would be Vaus. She certainly uses her name often enough.

When they finish, I thank Cinther politely while observing Rufka out of the corner of my eye. She seemed to take the prayer with a seriousness I've only seen her display when she feels the need for a 'real talk'. Her words.

As we wait for their companions, Lathry and Cinther properly introduce themselves as well as their erstwhile companions, throwing out ‘my Lady’s the entire time.

I probably don’t help that impression when, during the introductions, I create ornate temporary furniture, startling them slightly. Despite being briefed on our abilities, apparently there's some gaps in their intel. Which I find reassuring.

Once we’re settled in, Cinther discloses the whole reason they're in the area in the first place is because they were searching for us. "There are only two kinds of orders coming out of command these days, my Lady. Find the Voidborne Outlanders who kidnapped the Lady and evacuate civilians to Aethire. There hasn't been a single mention of striking back at the Lords, even though they've killed hundreds."

"What do you mean killed hundreds? The M’tari are attacking? And what does Voidborne even mean?" I ask, the news ruining my attempt to lounge in one of our chairs right as I’d thought everything was kosher. Other than them still calling me, my Lady, of course.

Rufka is inspecting one of their gliders, already setting out her tools so they can get home at a reasonable speed. I want to watch, maybe even take a crack at helping her, but my attention remains on Cinther.

"I'm not entirely certain, my Lady. Curthey could probably explain it better. She was always closer to Zetha than the rest of us. Zetha is...was our Desh’ila’s Captain."

"Oh. I take it she didn't…"

Lathry grits her teeth before answering, "She was on Obelix's back when he… changed. I've heard of it happening to those who descend into the rifts. But I've never heard of a bonded dragon becoming warped on the surface. It caught us all off guard. He's been serving longer than I've been alive."

I pat her hand, not sure what to say.

Cinther shifts in her chair, clearly uncomfortable. "We should’ve expected something when the System blocked our messages. But Zetha insisted we had our duty."

"She was worried about what the council would do if we returned against orders. Especially without the Lady or word of her kidnappers," Curthey interjects, dropping her end of the makeshift stretcher she'd been carrying behind her, causing several of the gliders to bounce out messily across the dark blue-green grass of the hill.

"Why're you so afraid of the council?" Rose asks as Mothey cries out before chasing one of the loose gliders that caught the wind. It flips and nearly escapes her as she chases after it. But she leaps a dozen feet in the air, successfully wrestling it around before guiding it down.

Curthey doesn't even glance in her direction, all four hands pressed against the table as she meets each of our eyes in turn. "There have been changes in the council. Dark and terrible changes. They’re taking innocent K’tharn and turning them into Fallen. If they find out we let you go, they’ll convert us. Then, not only will we have no choice but to tell them everything we know, we'll be forced to serve forever, walking in Aethire’s shadow until they’ve decided we've fulfilled our duty. And even then, once they’re satisfied we've done our part, they won’t free us. They’ll just allow us to die for the good of all K’tharn.”

"Harsh," Rose says, leaning away as Curthey deflates.

“Those are just rumours, Curthey,” Cinther interjects. “There’s no proof that it’s true.”

“Uhm…” I say, looking over at Rose who’s squinting. “There… might be some truth to it.”

“I… I’m sorry, what?” Cinther says, turning to stare at me. Then as if she realizes she’s made some grave error, her ears fold back as she adds, “My lady.”

Lathry hits the table, "Doesn't matter what the council wants. Not anymore. Now that we've lost our dragon, our captain and more than half our squad… Command's not going to question us. We've already lost too many sisters."

“Should we go home, my Lady?” Cinther asks, the other following her gaze to look at me.

“That’s… I don’t know. It probably won’t be safe. But honestly… that’s not going to stop me from returning to my home. So I don’t know if it should stop you either. But keep your eyes open. And maybe find out where Curthey’s getting these rumours from. There might be someone who can help,” I say, wondering what the K’mintar is doing. She’s close enough to the Aetherium, she has to have some influence. Even if she is recovering from Pogell’s attack.

"At least we don't have to fly home with any Fallen," Cinther offers with a weak smile reaching out to Curthey.

"Heh, yeah," Curthey agrees, taking the offered hand while I squint at them.

“Not all Fallen are bad,” I say, getting them to turn back to me. “They’ve just been dealt a crap hand. And… it doesn’t have to be permanent.”

“You thinking Taken?” Rose asks, leaning forward for the first time since we started talking.

“I think… yeah. If you go back, you need to find the Taken. They’ll help,” I say, reaching forward and grasping Cinther’s hand.

“I… we will. Thank you, my Lady. Wise Father,” Cinther says, nodding first to me, then to Rose, whose ears lay back at the moniker.

Not sure if he’s embarrassed or pleased.

Either way, I notice that Rufka is just about ready to start enchanting. So I make my excuses and move to join her, letting Rose provide them with one of our dead drop contact methods. Never thought we’d need to use those when the K’mintar had Kellica set them up.

I suspect they don’t want me to leave, but at the same time, they don’t want to refuse me. Guess there are some small perks to being ‘my Lady’.

As I kneel down next to Rufka, I’m eager to get started.

Well, I'm eager to hand her tools while watching her work. While I do have an enchanting class now, the skills don’t allow me to do the sort of fine work she’s performing here.

Mostly.

She does get me to do a couple simple enchantments. Which she has to touch up, but she assures me it’s faster than doing them entirely herself.

Even as I ponder the usefulness of my subclass, I hand Rufka a small tool that's like a flathead screwdriver but with three sharp bends in it. Somehow, each bend restricts her personal mana, allowing her to redirect the flow of the enchantment without contaminating its core structure.

I watch her work, listening as she describes what she's doing, taking notes in my Journal tab the entire time. Unfortunately, I already know most of this. What I really need is to spend time practicing.

Rufka's final touch is creating a cradle where anyone can set a mana essence to power the glider. She doesn't say it, but she obviously doesn't want them to be able to charge it with their own mana. I know enough to know she could have set it up that way.

"All finished. You're probably going to want to get rid of these once you get back to the Aetherium. They've got my pawmarks all over them," Rufka advises Mothey as she hands the last of the modified gliders over.

Cinther gives Rufka a half-hug in thanks, provoking a surprised squeak.

Smiling in their direction, Mothey extends her hand towards me in a less intimate gesture. "Thank you again, my Lady, for all your help. I'm starting to think that what command's been saying about your companions kidnapping you was a bit of an exaggeration. Either way, if the rumours are to be believed, it’s not just the Desh’ila that are after you. The Nightstar is hunting you, my Lady. I hope she fails."

“Who’s the Nightstar?” I ask, grasping Mothey’s hand in my own.

“I… she’s one of the Stormguard, I believe. One of their best. All I know is she doesn’t seem restricted by the teleportation lockout, she was a mentor of Ivicka and she takes her duty to the citizens of Akilo very seriously.”

“Ivicka, huh. That’s rough,” I say, imagining losing Kellica to the sort of madness that took Ivicka. Yeah. Rough.

“Mhm. After the… voidborne… started the…” Mothey trails off as she furrows her brows.

"Let me guess. They’re saying my companions, the so called ‘voidborne’ started the war with the Lords of the Deep? No mention of Ivicka and her Fallen attacking Lord Thansome?" I ask while pulling Smoulder close, preventing her from leaping onto Curthey.

"Uh. No mention of that at all, my Lady" Mothey says, looking towards Cinther.

"Ivicka's a hero. Everyone knows that," Curthey states, not noticing the way Rose shifts. Rufka and I both tense, prepared to stop him. It wouldn't be the first time he acted out in response to that statement. He and Tipan got into an argument about it just before we left. She still hasn’t told him about what she’s read in the book, though she was planning to before this whole teleportation lockdown.

Rose draws himself up but releases a slow hiss before saying, "Maybe she used to be. I doubt it. But those Fallen serving with the Flights? They're no better off than a Daughter’s hopper. They used to be normal people, like you and me. Then Ivicka stole another's research, turning it to evil. She turned them into those monsters to serve her."

"What? Ivicka would never do that. Look, you might not be as bad as command says, but you're wrong about Ivicka," Curthey declares before stomping away.

Mothey crinkles her whiskers, glancing after Curthey, "Forgive her. She was saved by Ivicka as a cub. Ivicka's the one who inspired her to sign up."

"Me too," Cinther says, with a helpless smile. "She was so cool. Everything I ever wanted to be. Patient. Smart. Kind. Strong. The whole package."

"I'm sorry, I can't… listen to this. What she’s… I can’t forgive her,” he holds up a hand, forestalling Cinther’s response. “But it doesn't matter. We'll be gone soon," Rose pauses as he sits, before adding, "You know, she was like a sister to me. Ivicka, I mean. She used to take me into Aethire during the Wilved festival. She'd bring Asterix, and we'd enter the races as a team. She'd even let me guide Asterix. Not that I was any good. The last festival, right before Celthi was born, we even won first place. I remember her swearing she'd never let anything hurt me… And then she betrayed my family."

"Oh. I'm so sorry," Cinther exclaims, reaching over to take two of Rose's hands in her own which causes him to go still. "It's hard enough when you lose family. But to have them turn on you. That's the worst."

"Uh... yeah," Rose tilts his head in a barely perceptible nod. Is he scared of Cinther?

"We should be going. Places to be. Users to avoid," Rufka says, grabbing mine and Rose's shoulders.

"Totally. We, uh, need to go," Rose agrees.

"It was nice to meet you, Rose." I hear Cinther say as Rufka and I pack away our luxuries.

"It was nice to meet you too, Cinther." Rose blinks several times.

"I'd say the same, but we never met. Take care, my Lady." Mothey winks then sticks her hand out to me again. Distracted, I take it while trying to figure out what's going on with Rose. Which leaves me extra startled when Mothey pulls me in for a half hug. "Thank you again for saving Cinther. She'd never admit it, but she really is the best of us."

"Uhm. Best is best," I respond while slowly patting her on the back. I guess it's my turn to be tongue-tied.

Then, in a whirl of fur and mana, we're in the air, waving goodbye to an Aetherium Desh’ila. Or at least the remains of one.

"Oh. Almost forgot." Rufka says, pulling me towards the defeated dragon.

5.14

“I thought you might. I’ve also been informed you were involved in an uprising with Lord Thansome of Glimmering Sands.”

Tipan is almost as surprised by this claim as I am. Is everyone blaming us for everything Ivicka did? Or is she referring to us helping free the Fallen?

“Father. I wish I’d been more involved in Glimmering Sands during the attack, then perhaps I could've stopped… her. As it was, I was forced to flee from those who attacked Lord Thansome.”

“So, you do know more about what happened there?”

Tipan, pulls back from the table, closing all her eyes and tucking her head against her chest as she keeps her hands perfectly locked in place on the table. I can’t help but note how she keeps her hands away from the book on her waist. She takes a deep breath, her fur rustling softly. Then she unleashes her gaze on her father. “Ivicka was driven crazy. She destroyed the tower, attacking Lord Thansome in his throne room.”

Talkith studies Tipan for several long seconds before saying, “I believe it is once more your turn.”

“Have you spoken to mother?”

At this, Talkith flinches, as if Tipan had struck her. “You know that I… that she… It’s not so simple.”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the Outlanders, father, it’s that it really is that simple. It’s just not comfortable.”

Talkith shifts in her seat, but even as she almost stands, she keeps her arms locked into the triangle before settling back into place. I’m so going to get Tipan to explain what that’s all about later.

“Do you have any proof… about Ivicka?” Talkith asks.

Tipan is shaking her head before her father’s even half finished, “That she went mad? I… yes. Yes, I do. And I’ll show you.”

“Truly? I… Tipan, I want to believe you. But there are reports of you sabotaging gliders, breaking free Outlanders who slated to be sent to the M’tari. That you broke into Bethyrne to destroy a research lab. Not to mention your assault on the Taken training facility.”

I almost interject at this point, but a quick glance from Tipan wards me off.

“All of that is true, but lacking context," Tipan says. "And will require a great deal of explanation. And I believe it is my turn.”

Her father breathes deep, but then nods.

“Who reigns in Aethire?”

“I… what?” Talkith replies, squinting at Tipan. “The council rules, daughter. Just as they always have.”

Tempted to say, ‘not always’. I stop myself by reaching for my tea. Which I, thankfully, remember not to drink.

“Thank you, father. Your turn.”

“I… will you tell me… everything? From the beginning?”

And thus, Tipan begins her long retelling to her father, a process that proceeds without interruption until Tipan says, “And so we came here, looking for tools to help my friends save their home.”

“That is… you have been vigilant, this last month. You are on the verge of copper, truly?”

“It is not your turn, father. But yes, I am.”

Talkith grins at this, turning to smile at the tea kettle, and only then seems to remember herself, schooling her face.

"And why have you been summoned father? Am I truly a threat to our people?" Tipan asks, causing Talkith to frown.

"I came, because you betrayed your sister. Long before this madness with the M'tari, if I understand correctly. Why would you do this?"

"Ivicka was going to kill them. As prisoners. Just to have a chance to steal their powers. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. As for-”

“My apologies, yes, I remember your story. It is hard to believe,” Talkith says, her brow furrowed as her fingers twitch along the top of the triangle. “Tipan. I didn’t… it’s not…” Talkith stops, glancing at me for the first time since they started. She sighs once before knocking on the table.

In response, both of them lift their arms from the table, staring at each other as they stand.

“And so the tribes part in peace,” Tipan says, her father repeating it after.

“I can’t just leave Tipan. I… there’s a war on the horizon. I need you to return with me. The K'mintar has sworn in your favor. And with some luck, we will find a way to appease the M'tari.”

"Fine. I'll go. But you don't need them. They have no responsibility to the Aetherium," Tipan growls back, her hands flexing as she glares at her father.

"The Lady can choose to stay, if she wishes. But your Outlander friends… they caused this mess. You admitted yourself that they weakened the Aetherium at the M'tari's direction."

"Which is just another reason we should work with my friends. We have contacts inside the M'tari. They'll listen!"

"Then we will go to them first," Talkith shouts back. "The deep Elders have called for the end of the Aetherium!”

“I… we will?” Tipan replies, sounding as confused as I am by Talkith’s statement, and subsequent yelling.

Talkith pauses, clearing her throat. “We will. If the M’tari attack… we can’t allow that to happen. As you know, there are only two things worse than war with the M’tari.”

At this, Tipan gets a small smile on her face. “The void-callers.”

“And your mother’s wrath,” Talkith finishes with the same small grin.

“Now, I don’t want to rush you, but there is a war on the horizon,” Talkith says, gesturing towards the steep stairs. “And you can show me this proof you have along the way. Ivicka…”

“Of course, father. I actually have it right here,” Tipan says, pulling the journal up, and holding it towards her father.

Talkith begins reaching for it, a frown on her face. But then she freezes. Her eyes move towards me, then back to Tipan.

“Tipan… how long have you had that book?”

“I… for a few weeks, why?” Tipan asks, pulling the book back towards herself.

“What… what was worse than a war with the M’tari?” Talkith asks, her voice deep, and her eyes on Tipan’s.

At this, Tipan smiles again, “Mother’s wrath.”

But Talkith is already shaking her head. “Void-callers, Tipan. The Reapers. And you carry their book.”

“But… Ivicka…”

“I… this changes things Tipan. We can’t risk this falling into the Ascendancy’s hands. Or the Taken’s.”

“The K’mintar’s seen it, father. And the Ascendancy could’ve taken it at any time. The only users I’m worried about are the council.”

“Have you read it?” Talkith asks, taking a deep breath while her eyes swing towards the exit. “Have you shared it’s contents?”

“Of course I read it. It was Ivicka’s journal. And I’ve only shared it with my friends.”

“I… Oh, Tipan. My dearest daughter,” Talkith says, pulling Tipan into a hug. “It’s… it’s okay. We’ll figure this out. Everything will be okay.”

Tipan’s eyes go wide, but then she leans into her father’s arms as tears form. I turn away, so as to not stare awkwardly as they hug it out.

“I’m sorry Tipan. We need to get you to Ylethen. All of you. She’ll… she’ll be able to help.”

“What? What are you talking about father? Help with what?”

“The book, Tipan. If you don’t get rid of it… I don’t want to see you erased.”

“Father, I’m not going to be erased,” Tipan replies, with a small huff.

Uhm. Erasing. Erasing sounds bad. It’s not terribly hard to imagine the System having that sort of protocol in place for dealing with Reaper tech though. But it didn’t even react when I… oh, right, I didn’t use the System scan.

“Of course not. I’ll take you to the palace. Ylethan will ensure you’re okay.”

“You should read it, father.” Tipan finally says, holding the book towards Talkith.

Talkith takes a step back, her eyes narrowing. “Oh. You…” then she looks to me, blinking twice, before grinning at Tipan. “Of course. I’ll read it. After we’re on our way.”

There’s something about the way Talkith’s eyes flick around the room after that feels… different. Wrong. And I realize I’ve been slacking.

[Alexis] “Wyonna, can you let the others know that Tipan’s father is here and she wants us to go talk to the M’tari. But… I don’t know, something seems off. Might be trouble.”

[Wyonna] “Already on it. Demo’s still hiding at his ship. Rose is staying with him, just in case. But Beth says to go with plan C-3. With contingency WD-3 if things go sideways.”

Right. Of course, they’re already on it. We've been here a while.

[Wyonna] “Okay. Beth says she just needs another minute. Keep her talking.”

Talking. Okay, we can do… When I look back to them, I realize they’re just staring at each other, though Tipan’s slid back into her seat. Her eyes are wet as she rubs at them, but there’s a hint of a smile there.

She… probably doesn’t suspect her father of… anything.

Ugh. Why can’t bad parents just… not.

This would be a perfect opportunity to freeze Talkith in place. Just freeze her in time, and have a quick conversation with Tipan. Maybe find out what we can expect.

But I still haven’t gotten that working. And regular elemental magic would be even less effective. Like… ‘I’m sorry I sent your father flying on the tip of my Ice Castle, Tipan.’ Yeah, bad idea. Not that it’s actually useful against anyone who can move anyway.

I wrack my brain for a way to delay Talkith, but then I realize she’s still just standing there staring at her daughter. Maybe I won’t even have to do anything.

Placing my hand on Tipan’s shoulder, I continue to watch Talkith for any sign of movement. I even hold ready to Pause at the slightest twitch, prepared to give myself as much reaction time as possible. But she doesn’t do anything other than stand there awkwardly.

It’s almost embarrassing.

Maybe I misread the situation?

[Wyonna] “Okay. Beth thinks they’re ready. You can come out whenever.”

I almost nod at Wyonna, but catch myself. Instead, I send her a text to let her know I might’ve been wrong while kneeling slightly to whisper in Tipan’s ear.

I’m certain with Talkith’s Extreme Awareness, she hears every word, “Come on, let’s go get the others. I’m sure they’ll be okay helping stop a war. And then we can deal with…”

Shrugging, I wave at the book.

Doubt I sold it, but at least I made the effort.

At the very least, Tipan gives me a weak nod before standing up. With a small smile towards her father, she turns away, returning all the tea-ware to her storage space before leading the way to the surface. I follow right behind her, trying to think of what we can do.

And wondering if we’re really going with WD-3.

Without the ability to Return, it’s unlikely the others will be able to run away if Talkith turns on us. So getting caught might be the best call. Especially since she seems to care about Tipan.

When we get to the surface, Beth and Roberts are waiting, fully armored. There’s no sign of Rufka or Josh, but I can feel them hidden behind Tipan’s buildings.

“So, you want us to talk to the M’tari?” Beth asks the moment Talkith clears the narrow stairs.

Talkith stands at the top, her eyes shifting between Beth and Roberts before coming to rest on me. Then she gives a smile that’s far too wide. “Yes. The M’tari. That’s… oh, Vaus take the saints. You all need to return to the Aetherium.”

“Yeah. I don’t think so,” Beth says, her eyes narrowing as she tightens her grip on her rifle.

“I’m sorry. Refusal isn’t an option,” Talkith growls.

I’m already pausing time when I’m shoved out of Tipan’s house.

I slam into Tipan, and we catch ourselves before we go sprawling in the dirt. I attempt to throw up defences, but I realize my mana’s being hindered. It’s a similar technique to Atun’s aura, except not as pervasive. I freeze time, prepared to spin and strike Talkith with my metal chakram when a black bolt passes over my shoulder.

Even with time frozen, Beth’s attacks travel at a ridiculous speed.

Crap. Did she just kill Tipan’s father? I mean, her father’s powerful, so she probably has Restoration, right? Pretty sure killing her would ruin every version of our plans.

Also, did Talkith think she was shoving us out of the way?

While still frozen in time, I manage to get myself half-turned, expecting to see a partially destroyed K’tharn. But Talkith isn’t there. Even as I keep spinning, I’m unable to find her. I see Josh moving toward us, his Rose petal armour fully deployed with Beth flickering out of sight and Roberts bunkered down behind the grill, but still no sign of Talkith. I wait for the full duration of my Pause, but she doesn’t show up.

As it ends, I hear a splat from beside me where Tipan failed to keep herself standing. That’s not like her. I spare her a quick glance, finding her sprawled in the mud with her head down, but I keep searching for her father. We might want to get caught, but the show's the thing. And can't put on a good show if we don't fight back. She must be around somewhere. Teleportation isn’t working, so it’s not like she would just leave.

“Anyone see her?” Beth calls out.

“Nothing!” Josh calls as he grows a barrier around me and Tipan, shielding us from view, at the very least.

“Nothing!” I join in after expending an entire second Pause searching for Talkith.

“Two O’clock, Med-High!” Rufka calls out as she shoots a lightning arrow from inside one of the houses. The arrow acts as a beacon, but I can barely make out the distorted blur as Talkith dodges out of the way.

I’ve entered my third Pause in as many seconds, the time dilation's effect diminishing even as I throw a veritable hurricane of elemental energy in her general direction. Whirling whips of fire and bolts of lightning, all backed by spikes of metal and boulders the size of a VW, with my chakrams in the middle for extra chaos. I’m not even trying to hurt her; I’m just hoping I’ll be able to pick her out when she blasts through.

But none of my attacks make noticeable contact.

I’m still searching the sky when cold metal clasps around my throat, constricting not only my ability to breath, but my mana as well. Suddenly, it’s as if my connection to the world around me has been stripped away. Despite myself, I panic. And in so doing, attempt to fling spells from my hands. But there’s nothing. The runes refuse to form, sputtering into unaspected mana. I’m still able to Pause, but I can’t do anything else. I have no maneuverability without my magic, and my System-granted flight is suppressed.

I’m not even able to send messages to Wyonna.

Trapped within my own Pause, I watch Talkith disappear in a flash of light, reappearing instantly behind Rufka.

With my eyes wide, I remain locked in place as she secures an identical collar around Rufka’s throat. She doesn’t wait, flashing around the compound, sneaking collars onto each of us, one at a time. Josh falls next, not even able to track her. Beth tries to fight back, even scoring a hit with her automatic void rifle, but then she’s unconscious. At which point, Roberts holds his hands up in surrender.

Despite this being the plan, part of me is stunned. Even if we'd tried to fight for real, how well could we have done? Is this what it's like to fight me, when I can teleport?

I’m not entirely surprised to see Talkith approaching Tipan last.

Tipan’s still sitting in the mud where she fell when her father pushed us, the brown mud marring her normally pristine white fur.

“Tipan. It’s time,” Talkith says, a collar in hand. Part of me wants to grab her and try to throw her away, despite the act. But she hasn’t even drawn her swords. I haven’t felt this weak since we first faced Ivicka. Even Atun’s brutal combat wasn’t this bad.

Even then, I was at least able to dodge.

Tipan shakes herself off, pushing herself to her feet, meeting Talkith’s gaze. She doesn’t say anything as her father snaps the collar into place.

“This… these will keep you safe until…” Talkith trails off when Tipan turns away from her, but then her face goes flat. With the last of us secured, I’m expecting orders or to be forced to follow Talkith, but instead, she whistles.

She waits for several seconds, her ears tilted toward the sky before returning her attention to us. Josh was about to bring both of his hands down on her head when she stops him with a glance. Then she snaps a pair of cuffs around his wrists before he has time to pull back. She moves to Beth and Roberts next.

Rufka comes up next to me, taking my hand. “You could still run,” she whispers. Doing my part, I let my jaw hang loose as I stare at her. Then I flick a meaningful glance at the swamp surrounding us, and the not inconsiderable drop off the top of the atoll.

“Did you not see how fast she is?” I whisper back.

“You’re faster. If you let yourself.”

“Impossible,” I reply. And it’s not just that I’m afraid of teleporting through the interference. I don’t want to leave Rufka behind. I don’t want to leave any of them behind. Besides, that's not part of plan WD-3.

“We’d have a better chance if you're free to rescue us.”

“I’m not leaving you!” My grip tightens on her hand, and a half-smile pulls at her lips. Then it turns into a full grin.

Even as I get a horrible premonition and try to pull my hand back from hers, Rufka kisses me on the cheek and then chucks me like a piece of rolled up paper off the edge of the atoll, toward the swamp below.

My initial reaction is to scream at Rufka. Just like I would when she normally throws me. But this time, I don’t have any magic coming to my aid. And the swamp comes up fast, cutting my scream off with another mouthful of swamp water.

Seriously, my mouth is going to kill me if I keep getting crap in it. If I don’t drown first.

Luckily, even with my mana cut off, I’m still superhuman at this point. It’s easy to figure out the way to the surface. I’ve taken a handful of breaths when I realize Talkith still hasn’t come for me. Looking up, I see a pair of dragons landing at the edge of the compound.

For a second, I think they’re going to leave me, but then I see several K’tharn making their way off the top of the atoll in my general direction.

I make a half-honest attempt at trying to escape, scrambling through the swamp, using Pause, even through the collar, managing to teleport a rock in their direction, which causes it to explode and just generally being as annoying as possible. Eventually, they chase me onto a small hill that’s barely visible from the atoll. The K’tharn pursuing me are almost disappointing after Talkith. I feel like I could really escape, even without my magic.

But then, to my relief, she finally appears. In a flash of white light, Talkith is standing before me, a set of manacles in hand. Except unlike the ones she clapped on everyone else, these include extras for my legs.

Sorry Rufka. Looks like I’m not getting away this time.

Would've ruined the plan.

11:13 pm, local time. (September 11, 2023, 1:13 am.)

Rufka pulls me out of the air with a laugh, asking, “Does it count if we’re the ones who rescue Smoulder?”

“Of course not. What’s the point of having subjects if they can’t do something as simple as return my companion from where she's trapped hundreds of years in the past?” I ask, keeping my nose in the air.

“It would certainly impress me,” Tipan agrees, her mohawk bobbing as she nods.

“Sure. I’ll let Baska know,” Wyonna practically chirps.

I start waving my hand at Wyonna, “I wasn’t actually serious.”

“Oh. So, no on the letting people stay here then?” Wyonna asks, her hand raised as though she were about to do something I'd regret. Pretty sure she doesn’t need to use her hands.

“They can stay, I just…” I shrug, not sure exactly what to say.

“Don’t want to be queen.” Tipan nods.

“I mean, how do you even queen? Is that a verb? It feels like it should be a verb.”

“You learn how to do operatic rock. Or you ask for help. And you let me do all the boring stuff,” Wyonna suggests, winking at me.

“Oh, you mean, like come up with a code of law, taxation, and all that stuff?” I ask. I’m getting a headache just thinking about it. There’s so much that would go into ruling people. Even if it’s ‘only’ a hundred thousand, I mean where would-

“Done,” this time Wyonna does chirp.

I stare blankly at her for a second before I remember who and what she is. “Can I see it?”

“Totally. I’ve highlighted a few sections you might want to provide feedback on. And I’ve created a couple sample contracts for government employees, including for your militia and special forces.”

Rufka’s laughter makes it hard for me to hear the last sentence, she’s wheezing so hard. Tipan on the other hand, joins me in looking through Wyonna’s prepared files. It’s… extensive. But mostly administered by the System.

Because of course it has default rules in place for governance. I send Wyonna a message, asking her to get Baska and any other important K’tharn to look over the proposed rules before returning to my review. And to shortlist candidates for taking on responsibility.

The rules I’m looking over sound nothing like what the Aetherium had.

“A tax on levelling up? That just seems cruel. There’s no way I’m doing that,” I note.

“That tax pays for the dedicated training that will go into ensuring each squad is properly prepared to enter a dungeon," Wyonna informs me.

Tipan nods. “We aren’t used to paying a tax on levelling and I’m certain many would object. Perhaps instead, we can have a fee for the training.”

Pacing back and forth, I point the copy of the dungeon laws I was reading at Tipan as I say, “Yeah. But we should ensure they receive training for one dungeon free. Maybe a choice of one of the four types of dungeon. We know of enough outside the Aetherium’s control, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

Rufka plops down beside us. “Wait, you’re really going to do this, Lexi?”

Looking at the luminescent screens, then over to Rufka, I nod. “I think so. This seems like it could help us get everything together for Earth. And with Wyonna performing most of the administration, we’ll be able to coordinate in a way most governments can only dream about. And she can analyze people to further delegate responsibility. Keep as many K'tharn in charge as possible. Though…”

I turn back to the screens, trying to find Wyonna’s proposal for the criminal code. I’ve gone through several pages when Wyonna asks, “are you looking for something in particular Lex?”

“Uh, yeah. Do you have the criminal code in here?”

A new screen appears, hovering above my existing screens. “Why are so many of the rules in red?”

“They’re set by the System. I’m unable to change them. Though you might be able to once you’re registered at a Nexus. Especially if we’re able to register Pelwerd as a System Stronghold.”

“We can do that?” I ask, looking up. Being able to turn a Sanctuary into a Stronghold… That’d be amazing. “Too bad my System access is crap right now.”

“I’ve heard of ships being made into Strongholds before. But this is Builder tech, so I don’t know. It might not work,” Wyonna answers, her mohawk changing from pink to blue then back again.

“Okay. Something to keep in mind,” I say, turning back to the criminal code. Most of it lines up with things I already know.

Don’t kill your fellow users or you’ll lose the ability to level.

Unless you’re at war with another System-state. Then you’re allowed to kill enemy users. But the System penalizes you based on the strength of the user. No wonder the M’tari were so careful about not killing people when they attacked. Except… that penalty wouldn't apply to their Dusk Athama. Huh.

Oh, you can also kill people if the System gives you a quest to do so. Because of course it wouldn't penalize itself.

There are also provisions for all sorts of other exceptions.

Unintentional death from self-defence. Any death outside of System-approved government controlled territory. Death by self-immolation? Hmm. Okay, technically that penalizes yourself if you have Restoration.

Going through the conditions, I determine simply establishing myself as a System-approved government will mean the System will enforce laws for me within my controlled territory. And most of the restricted rules can have harsher penalties imposed, but not lighter ones.

Between the System and Wyonna, I could create the ultimate surveillance state. “Hey, Wyonna.”

“Yes?”

“Are you watching these people all the time?”

“Not all the time. There’s a limit to my processing capabilities even with the city at my disposal. Besides, why would I want to?

“Good. I’d rather not become Big Sister.”

“Noted. I’ll be big sister, and you can be little sister.”

Rufka lays her head in my lap, disrupting my response as she mutters, “head scratches.”

“What, are you Smoulder now?” I ask.

“If it gets me head scratches, sure.”

Wyonna says, “Or I guess she can be the little sister."

Tipan laughs, “I think she might be our strange adopted pu’shaha.”

“Hey!” I object, while giving Rufka her head-scratches. “Rufka can’t be my child. Don’t make things weird.”

“Yeah, like Lexi sa- Oh, that’s nice, right there,” Rufka moans.

Tipan’s still chuckling as she says, “Yeah. I don’t believe I’m the one making things weird.”

“Whatever,” I grumble, turning back to Wyonna’s paperwork. There are a few more minor issues we address, but ultimately, I can’t help but feel like the proposed rules are well thought out. Almost as if Wyonna knows me and chose options I'd approve of. Go figure.

“Should we be getting everybody’s opinions?” I wonder as I finally finish reviewing the last page.

“Depends. You wanna listen to all their idiotic ideas?” Rufka asks me.

“Hey, those are my royal subjects you’re talking about,” I protest, tilting my chin upward.

“Yep. Idiots,” Rufka agrees.

Tipan throws a pillow at Rufka's head before addressing me, “We should at least contact Baska and any other leaders among the refugees. They may have worthwhile feedback.”

“Uh. Yeah, I actually asked Wyonna to do that when we started. Or… did I ask you to do that, Wyonna?” I look over to where her image is sitting at an illusory desk, flipping through a comic book I don’t recognize.

“Yep. You messaged me.”

“Right, I… I didn’t even have to focus to do that,” I say, squinting as I concentrate on the feel of the air. No static.

“While you’re in the city the restrictions aren’t in effect.”

“Huh. Useful.” I float to my feet, not bothering to warn Rufka, setting her to the side with a wave of air mana as I move to the roof. While she’s sputtering out a protest, I push a steel lunchbox through my teleport. It arrives completely unharmed twenty metres away.

For the first time since the lockdown, I consider teleporting myself outside my aura. Even if my System is still flickering, I realize… I miss it.

“Hey Lexi, what’re you-” the rest of Rufka’s words are lost as I reappear next to the distant lunchbox. I start dancing around the lunchbox, which causes my side to twinge in pain, but I don’t stop until Rufka reaches me.

“Sorry, I just had to,” I say, pulling her close for an enthusiastic kiss.

“Whoa,” Rufka whispers when we finally pull away. “I thought you weren’t able to port around.”

“I thought so too. But it seems the city’s protected,” I say, letting out a sigh of relief while leaning my head on her shoulder. “You know, I didn’t expect to miss it so much.”

“And now?” Rufka asks.

“It’s like I can breathe again.”

“That’s funny, cause you just took my breath away.”

“And I’m not done,” I say, pulling her close despite the pain.

Worth.

There’s something about having a warm bath while watching the land below pass at more than 600km/h that makes a morning dip invigorating. Maybe it’s the feeling of freedom.

Or the view.

I know the massage from Rufka is a contributing factor. “Hmmm, that’s nice,” I mumble as she works a knot on my unseared side.

The great thing about magic is I’m able to give Rufka a massage at the same time she’s massaging me, a pair of disembodied hands formed of water floating behind her. Combined with my mana sense and perfect understanding of K’tharn biology, I’m probably the best masseuse on the planet.

Unless there’s a masseuse subclass. There probably is.

Wonder if I could convince Rufka to take it.

“We should be arriving at Pearlescent Summers in less than an hour,” Wyonna informs me from where she’s sitting on the edge of the, frankly ridiculously large, hot tub. Maybe it's a small heated pool? Her legs flicker whenever she puts them into the water, the image not quite stable enough to withstand being immersed. But she does it anyway.

“Did the numbers change?” Tipan asks, from her separate bath nearby. I’d offered to share, but she declined, making her own that didn’t have a transparent wall looking over the edge.

“More have decided to become subjects of our esteemed Rabbit-Queen," Wyonna chuckles. "A lot more. The dungeon training was surprisingly popular.”

“Any chance we can go with something other than Rabbit-Queen?” I ask, bracing against the transparent wall as Rufka puts extra effort into her task.

“We can choose any official moniker you want,” Tipan says. “But they will likely continue referring to you as the Rabbit-Queen for some time.”

“Still can’t believe so many people want me as their leader.”

“They want a future,” Rufka states while relaxing her efforts.

“Don’t see how I’m better for that, but okay,” I lean back into Rufka, letting her wrap her arms around me. “Guess I should get dressed.”

Another issue with this whole System glitching means I leave my clothing lying around when I’m not wearing them, unlike every other user on the planet. Good thing I can create a clothes-rack out of thin air.

Pulling the clothes rack closer, I raise a stone privacy curtain around us before getting dressed. Wyonna spends a full minute trying to convince me to use more regal clothes. But as I pull aunt Sharon’s jacket into place, I can’t imagine anything more magnificent. Glad I was able to regenerate it using an integration point, even if the System access was weird about it.

Not sure why it took mana.

I do concede on the pants though. Kind of. Wyonna said I should at least stick to a theme. Don’t know where Wyonna managed to source a set of leather pants with pockets that fit me so well, but she did. And they match my jacket while being surprisingly comfy, so she wins this round.

Still not wearing the crown though.

“I think the elemental crown would look cool,” Rufka teases as I emerge.

“I’d do it if there weren’t thousands of K’tharn flying around the city,” I respond, pointing at a pair of familiar K’tharn a few buildings away. The same pair that were busy spreading tall tales of my feats earlier.

They audibly squeal when I point at them, jumping up and down while holding each other. “Dammit. Are they… Wyonna, are they squeeing at me?”

“Yep. How awesome is that?”

“Let’s just do the thing. Are you sure this is necessary?” I ask Tipan.

Tipan gives me a shy smile accompanied by a miniscule raising of her shoulders. “No? But most M’tari are big on ceremony.”

“So you people keep telling me. Starting to wish more were like Thansome,” I mumble as we fly toward the throne under the veil of invisibility.

The area around the throne is once more packed. Yet unlike before, many of these K’tharn are tentatively my subjects. Again, we can’t make it official in the eyes of the System until I reach a Nexus.

And I’m not summoning a giant ice-castle in the middle of the city. With how everyone is already treating me? Just… no. Especially since we now have a Nexus that’s a mere diplomatic courtesy away. Despite my System glitching, Wyonna is sure I’ll be able to register the new kingdom.

Long as I make enough attempts.

Within the plaza, the throne remains untouched, but there are a new pair of statues flanking the entrance. And of course, they’re both images of my current form, immortalizing my cyclopiness. The one on the left is holding her hand to the sky, a bolt of lighting grasped tightly. The statue on the right shows me… I’m not sure, kneeling down to bless my subjects or something. I’m just glad that the art our new citizens are making in the outer districts is a lot more diverse. I should set up a display for that instead of my…

[Alexis] “Wyonna. What’s with the statues?”

[Wyonna] “You said I could decorate so long as I didn’t touch the throne.”

Even though I’m invisible, now that I’m in front of over a thousand people, I don’t rub my forehead. But it’s a near thing. “I was thinking more Smoulder decorations. Or maybe more of our people’s art. No one wants to see my ugly mug. And speaking of which, why did you use my messed-up face?”

[Wyonna] “Because that’s how they recognize you.”

Figures.

If I’d realized this was going to be an issue, I would’ve figured out a basic illusion to cover my appearance instead of working beside them in the open.

Receiving nods of readiness from Rufka and Tipan, I use a Twilight-enhanced snap of my fingers to dispel our invisibility. The crowd’s murmurs quiet, but don’t go silent. Which is fine. This time I’m not on my throne for them.

Our Sanctuary is at the edge of Pearlescent Summer’s airspace. There are over a hundred Noon Athama flying about, their dazzling brightness mostly ornamental as the representative from Pearlescent Summer is escorted through the empty street.

This would all be completely unnecessary if I hadn’t elected to go with the path of being a sovereign. A fact Wyonna chose to hide from me until all the arrangements had been made.

Treachery of the highest order.

The approaching representative isn’t a K’tharn, though they could pass for one at a glance. Instead of the typical four arms, and four eyes, they only have two of each. It’s strangely unsettling.

I think I’ve been on Akilo too long.

As they get closer, I can see that their facial structure is different as well. They’re more like Demo than a K’tharn. Though again, they’re lacking his multitude of tails.

They land on a dais a hundred metres before my throne, set there by Wyonna for precisely this purpose.

“Queen Pandora,” The dignitary calls out, the first use of my official name. No way was I going to make Rabbit-Queen official. “My name is Atla M’thalinix. I come on behalf of Lady Thinnesq. She humbly invites you and your court to dine with her tonight.”

[Wyonna] “Looks like Lady Thinnesq is taking you seriously. Atla is one of her personal Depth'ree. The super special guards. His name showed up in more than one of the early skirmish reports the K’mintar sent Genitha.”

“In the name of future peace and prosperity between our people, Queen Pandora accepts Lady Thinnesq’s gracious offer. May her membrane remain ever moist,” Tipan says with a straight face. I can hear Rufka snickering, but I pretend not to notice. Mostly because I’m struggling not to laugh myself.

“And may your fur remain dry,” Atla responds.

[Alexis] “Wyonna, was that an insult?”

[Wyonna] “It’s hard to say. It’s a traditional saying when addressing one of the ministers of the Aetherium. But as you know, the M’tari don’t think highly of the Aetherium.”

Hmm. Treat it as a veiled insult then.

Tipan and Atla continue trading compliments that could be taken as insult for the next few minutes, as Rufka and I both struggle to remain serious throughout. Nothing of real note is said by either of them.

Finally, they reach the end of the ‘traditional’ invitation and Atla departs. The moment he’s out of sight of the crowd below, we vanish, flying upward. I teleport us to the edge of the city where Baska is waiting in an abandoned building with a view of Pearlescent Summers. With my abilities working within the city, it was a simple matter to connect a tether to her to serve as a beacon.

I watch Atla as he leaves the city, surrounded by the noon Athama the moment he clears the barrier.

Now that we’ve been invited, I don’t feel any need to keep Lady Thinnesq waiting. With a blink of my eyes, we teleport to the landing platform located next to the terraced tower at the center of their city. It’s somewhat gratifying to see the way the guard posted there stumbles when we appear. Too bad it’s a one-way trick. No more long-range teleportation unless I’m back in the Sanctuary.

Still, it places us inside the city before Atla can return. We could've waited, but Tipan suggested teleporting despite the System's restrictions would reinforce our image of strength. When Atla arrives well ahead of the noon Athama, I take it as a sign she was correct.

He doesn’t say anything important, bowing and muttering something about esteemed guests and to follow him. He leads us across the city, through the air, the rules requiring visitors to travel by foot suspended for dignitaries.

If only they knew I was the one the Aetherium were trying to arrest to placate them not so long ago. All part of the legend of the Rabbit-queen, I suppose.

Oh no. Now even I’m thinking it.

A note from Draith

Okay, that should be the last rewrite of existing chapters, I think. (Not even sure if they were worth the effort)

5.35, A Little Dignity with your Squid

3:01 pm, local time. (September 12, 2023, 9:01 pm.)

Lady Thinnesq’s fancy guard, Atla, leads us to a terraced garden set hundreds of meters above the rest of the small settlement. The garden extends all the way around the tower, with a winding waterway featuring prominently.

While the waterway is empty, it is easily large enough for a young M’tari, such as Lady Thinnesq to lounge within. As long as she's not twice the size of Thansome. Honestly, the entire tower seems better designed than Lord Thansome’s setup in Glimmering Sands. Even after the recent renovations.

Perhaps Lady Thinnesq just has better taste.

While we’re shown to an ornate dining table, Atla apologizes and informs us that Lady Thinnesq will still be a while. Tipan acknowledges him and he walks away.

We don’t wait idly however, strolling through the garden while keeping our eyes open for a Nexus access. There’s no guarantee we’ll find one here, but Wyonna suspected the M’tari would keep a personal access point nearby.

“I think I see it,” Tipan says, gently directing my vision to a shaded gazebo located next to the waterway. I can’t help but trail my hand in the crystal-clear water as we approach the gazebo. Clearly, our host has excellent filtration enchantments. That or a dedicated Aquamancer.

Inside the gazebo is a simple round table with four chairs set around it, all sized for a typical K’tharn. The chairs even have the extra-wide armrests K’tharn prefer. On the rare occasion they use chairs with armrests. The table is a solid piece of crystal that runs through one side of the gazebo to connect to the nearby waterway, and has small fish swimming inside it.

I take the chair facing the waterway, laying my hand on the table. Nothing.

“This is a Nexus access. Are you able to connect?” Tipan asks, her hands on the table to my right.

“Not yet,” I growl, as I attempt to Focus on the connection. I’ve mostly left my interface alone over the last day, only attempting to reinforce the weakening connections twice. But it’s still decaying. Hopefully, Rufka can get a message to Genitha now that we’re at a Nexus.

Because otherwise I’m probably going to lose all access to my System in the next two days.

Least Wyonna’s safe.

Even as I’m struggling with the connection, I feel a spark inside. Confused, I shift my Focus. It takes me a few seconds to realize there’s an empty spot where my Survival skill used to be. When I desperately try to think of the knowledge within my skill, it’s hazy. Everything I knew before I came to Akilo is intact, and everything I learned while here is fine, but everything else is gone.

Okay. That’s a problem.

I’m still trying to figure out what happened when a System notification fills my view.

“Would you like to register the Sovereign City-State of Pelwerd as your Stronghold?”

I’m almost afraid to click yes, but then I feel another spark. This time it’s my Throwing skill, but I catch and reinforce it with Twilight before it can disappear.

Confirming my choice, the notification is replaced by another.

“Congratulations Citizen Pandora. You are now the Queen of Sanctuary Pelwerd.”

“New Quest received: Escape! A System Agent has decided you’re worthy of their personal attention. Find a way to evade their notice 0/1. Reward: Citizen Pandora’s life.”

A twisting pain in my gut accompanies the last message as my Running and Swimming skills attempt to collapse, and I expend more than half my remaining Mana, Focus and Facet stabilizing them. Not ideal.

I pull my hand away from the table immediately but brace myself as I wait for another skill to start crumbling. After a minute, I’m tentatively hopeful it's stopped.

What the heck happened there?

“So… guess what?” Rufka asks, bumping me in the shoulder as a few small crackles of lightning jump between us.

Inclining my head in her direction, I raise my scorched brow, where I at least have my eyebrow and hair after Tipan’s ministrations.

Rufka meets my attempt to disgust her with a light chuckle. “I’m copper-rank now.”

“As am I. It feels… less than I’d expected. But also more,” Tipan says, staring upward as her mohawk sways in an invisible wind I don't feel from where I'm sitting.

“Yep. Like the limiters are off.”

I nod, sitting back in my chair. I don’t want to even check my status. Not if it’s going to gobble up my skills just for being connected.

“I… got a new quest,” I say as I review everything that happened.

“Really? Does that mean you're…” Rufka cuts off at my raised hand. We’d agreed Lady Thinnesq didn’t need to know about my… weakness. At the sight of my raised hand, Rufka’s smile turns into a frown.

We’ll need to discuss it when we’re not being watched. Though… I wonder if the static is disrupting the sort of surveillance Vethal had in Glimmering Sands.

“So, you have a new quest? Is it related to your new standing?” Tipan asks, her eyes playing out across the garden as she folds her hands in her lap.

“That’s… not quite. Not in the way you'd expect,” I hedge. Unless she's referring to my new standing as a person of interest to a System Agent, which I doubt. Why couldn’t this have come on the heels of some good news like getting a hint of how to save Smoulder?

Before I have further time to worry about my imminent demise at the hands of the godlike being known as a System Agent or my increasingly fragile System, a more immediate issue appears. Atla is levitating outside the gazebo.

“If the most esteemed Queen Pandora is finished, Lady Thinnesq is ready to see you now,” Atla says, speaking to me directly.

I raise my singed eyebrow at him before rising from my seat to follow, Rufka and Tipan flanking me, a step behind to either side.

We fly to another section of the garden that’s been designed for meetings between a M’tari and land-based visitors. Lady Thinnesq is seated amongst a collection of fountains that are aimed so that they collide just above her, coating her in a heavy mist. Yet only two metres away is a table with a single chair set across from her that remains completely dry.

Taking my seat at the table, I try not to show my nervousness.

Despite his silly manners, I remember Lord Thansome and the damage he caused even when Ivicka caught him off-guard. I have no doubt that if Lady Thinnesq wanted to, she could end our lives and not even have to pay a significant System price. Seeing Rufka and Tipan being escorted to a table that’s partially obscured by a thin hedge only heightens my case of nerves.

I feel more than hear her when Lady Thinnesq says, “This gentle-being welcomes the one named Pandora to her table.”

Trying not to stutter, I respond as Tipan instructed me, “This gentle-being accepts the hospitality in the spirit it is given and wishes cold currents and perpetual darkness to her host.”

As I finish my line, an unknown K’tharn approaches our table and sets a tray of snacks between us. The tray is split in two, with the much larger portion facing Thinnesq. There’s a variety of fish, though thankfully no calamari, and all the portions are sized appropriately to each of us.

This is the part of the meeting no one was able to advise me on. Ministers aren’t invited to dine. They’re shown to a private throne room where they’re expected to pay homage to the Lord or Lady for half an hour before being allowed to make their case.

To say Tipan was shocked when Atla suggested I'd be dining with Thinnesq… well, she hid it really well at the time, but she did spend a few minutes venting about it after.

I glance up at Thinnesq, but her alien features are impossible to read.

As I continue to deliberate how to approach dinner or conversation, Thinnesq rumbles out, “Ah. I forget myself. My apologies honoured Pandora. You have conducted yourself in accordance with the old traditions so well, I presumed you had access to a memory of a previous visit. Shall we dispense with formalities for the moment?”

Considering her great squidiness, I levitate a piece of white fish toward my mouth taking a small bite, using the time it takes to chew to decide on how to respond, only realizing it would've better to Pause when I say, “That would be agreeable.”

“Very good. I’ve heard of you, you know,” she says, almost making me gag on my second bite. “The Outlander who defied Lord Thansome only to return to his domain and cleanse these… twisted souls and returned them to honor.”

“My role in the first is greatly exaggerated,” I say, trying not to shake. We knew this was a risk. Dealing with Vethal was a step removed from the M’tari, but Lady Thinnesq is a true Lady.

“Yes. I’m quite aware. However, I’ve heard other ripples. Deep soundings that are far more interesting.”

“Oh?” I manage to get out, sounding much more relaxed than I feel.

Thinnesq curls a tentacle larger than my torso around a piece of fish, pulling it beneath the water as she says, “You have bestowed a blessing upon our K’tharn claimants. And as if that wasn’t enough, I’ve heard you’ve spoken to the warrior-queen Uthica. That you’ve witnessed her memories.”

Trying to figure out how she heard about the last, I don’t say anything, instead taking another bite of the surprisingly tasty white fish. I wish my inventory was working so I could stock up while we’re here. Guess I’ll just have to get Rufka to carry a bunch.

“She was a deep-friend, one of the few ruling K’tharn to ever treat the M’tari with the respect we deserve. Even the Tethil Trade Alliance fails to observe proper protocol.”

Nodding, I continue to watch Thinnesq. And she continues to complain. For the next hour, I listen to her bemoan the falling standards of her neighbours. How when Uthica was around, she never would’ve endured such indignities.

It’s only as she’s reaching for her last piece of fish that she pauses. I already finished mine half an hour ago.

“You know. For an Outlander, you’re surprisingly easy to talk to.”

“Thank you,” I reply, somewhat confused. All I’ve done is sit here and listen with an occasional question thrown in.

“Yes. Not at all like that horrible Charles fellow. He didn’t even have the decency to taste pleasant.”

“Err. Taste?” I ask, the nervousness that had mostly fled returning with a vengeance.

“Well, I could hardly allow his body to dissipate just to be reborn after the insults he impugned my dear Atla with.”

This time, I Pause, using the entirety of it just to phrase my next statement properly in my head. “Right. Not to sound presumptuous, but might I be given guidelines of what to avoid so I do not inadvertently give offence?”

A full pause, and I still start off weak.

“That is precisely the sort of insightful question I’ve come to expect of you. Atla will provide you with a full list. And don’t worry about tonight. You’ve demonstrated that you’re willing to put in the effort. In fact, if you’d like, I would be delighted to instruct you on the full extent of our decorum personally.”

“That would be wonderful,” I respond, with a slow nod. Having a M’tari as a friend… would help a lot. And she seems like a reasonable person.

Lady Thinnesq is visibly excited by my acknowledgment, her tentacles thrashing in a manner I imagine would be seen as unseemly to some.

Thinnesq is beyond thorough in her explanations, showing me the correct order to eat the fancy fish dinner we’ve already finished, explaining how each bite in certain orders heightens the taste for a M’tari. Even as more samples are brought out to show me the difference, I don’t really notice it. Still good though.

This is followed by fifteen different methods for meeting with foreign guests. She instructs me on the protocols for being the host, the guest, or a theoretically neutral arbitration party. As she goes, I continually spend Focus, ingraining her lessons in my mind as completely as I can. At least I can still use all my resources, even if my status is bunk.

Several hours later, when she’s testing me, she trills with what she explains is delight.

“You’re learning this so quickly. Do you have a diplomatic subclass?”

I shake my head, but I do pause time to check my interface in case I have a new skill forming. Or in case another of my existing skills is nearly gone. But there’ve been no changes to my skills.

Except… there’s a new network of connections, completely disconnected from the System interface.

Prodding at the network with Facet reveals a perfect recollection of everything Thinnesq’s taught me. A sort of crystallized memory fragment unbound by the System.

Before I can consider it further, Pause ends and Thinnesq takes me on a tour of her garden.

“It’s rare to have someone worth talking to. I have Atla of course. And Sherine is a delight.” Thinnesq waves her tentacle in the vague direction of the tower, but this Sherine doesn’t materialize. “But it’s always nice to meet another enlightened individual. I do hope you’ll make these visits a frequent occurrence.”

“Well, I’m actually trying to get home. Back to my planet,” I say while crossing a bridge of woven branches, a series of blooming blue flowers its only ornamentation.

“Oh, will you be ascending to the core-worlds then?”

“Ascending? You mean going through the portal? Pretty sure that’s sealed off. No, we have another idea.”

Thinnesq stops, the water around her slipping over the edge of the channel as she turns toward me. “You have another way beyond the void-shield?”

I laugh. “The barrier outside? No. That’s an issue we’re still working on.”

She trills, a tentacle as thick around as I am tapping me lightly on the shoulder, with less force than if Rufka were to give me a playful nudge. “If you do find a way, please tell me. After all. What are friends for?”

Nodding as we resume the tour, I take a moment to respond, “I imagine it’s worth a lot?”

“It would certainly be valuable. Especially for the M’tari who presents it before the Deepest Court.”

“Well, I’ll keep you in mind,” I reply honestly. It could be useful to be owed a favor by one of the M’tari. And Thinnesq seems pleasantly disposed toward me. Though, that might be an act. Either way, I think I’d rather deal with her than Thansome.

Our tour of the garden soon comes to an end with Thinnesq insisting we stay for the night.

“And about the refugees who wish to stay here?” I ask. Throughout all her explanations, she never once explained the proper time to address issues of governance or other practical matters.

I'm just glad it's not inconveniencing too many people. Less than a thousand people had decided to leave by the time we arrived.

“Oh, I’m certain our aides have handled the matter,” Thinnesq rumbles as she circles about a large pool that leads deep into the tower, luminescent light revealing a chamber full of statues, massive sculptures of aquatic life stranger than I’m used to seeing. She dodges deftly around them before alighting on a coiled sculpture of a serpent, her large eyes closed as the sun falls on her crest.

“So they have permission to enter?”

“Of course. A Lady must never turn away a Sapient willing to join the M’tari Ascendancy.”

“Uh, what if they’re just looking to stay here?”

“If they do not wish to join, Atla will arrange for their return to the Aetherium. Or whatever arises from its remains. I was not chosen to take part in the resettlement efforts.”

I incline my head a fraction to indicate my understanding. A motion Thinnesq instructed was appropriate for a recognized leader-of-state to defer to an acknowledged superior on a specific topic. “That makes sense. Can’t have people living here if they’re not bound by your rules.”

Thinnesq stretches a pair of her tentacles pressing them against her head in the sign indicating her knowledge was hard won. “Well, I would. But it causes problems. They start demanding their own System rights or what have you. This is without contributing to defence or upkeep. It’s all terribly bothersome. I had to involve myself personally once. It took me days to restore the magnificence of my membrane.”

“It is magnificent,” I demure, crossing the fingers of my left hand in what she's assured me is an acknowledgement of truth.

“Thank you,” she trills, flexing her tentacles in a way I’m pretty sure doesn’t have any deeper meaning than a desire to show off.

We continue to trade small compliments until Atla appears to inform me that my room is ready. Which is excellent timing. My System has decided to once more shake, one of the codices from the ships vanishing with little more than a sudden blip. I wasn't even using my interface.

More importantly though, I have no idea what the appropriate response is to being told that my missing eye, “Is an absolutely bold proclamation of your unbending will in the face of adversity.”

Not like I can tell her I’m planning to get my eye restored as soon as I get back to Roberts.

Or that my will isn’t nearly that unbending.

Better to bend than break, after all.

5.36, Do Fix What is Broken

9:27 pm, local time. (September 13, 2023, 3:27 am.)

“Can you escort me to my companions?” I ask Atla as Thinnesq slips below the water behind me, our meeting over after the shortest of formal goodbyes.

Only three sentences each. I can feel my System slipping a little more with each one.

He nods, leading me up a hidden staircase as I rapidly inject Twilight in a messy patch. Two stories later we emerge into a large vestibule with an amazing view of Pearlescent Summers. We’re housed at the peak of the tower, yet it’s still lower than where Pelwerd floats on the horizon.

The bottom of the massive silver engines aren’t the smooth surface I’d been expecting. Instead, they’re covered in complex etchings that are visibly glowing even from kilometers away. If I was closer, I might be able to piece together what they mean.

Wait.

Focusing on my memories of Uthica’s primers I discover that they’re interwoven with my System granted memories. And those are mixed with my subclass. That… seems like it could be trouble if my System keeps getting worse.

Before I have time to inspect the issue further, Rufka and Tipan greet me.

“Took you forever,” Rufka complains. “Never knew slugs could sing like that.”

“It was a rather singular dining experience,” Tipan agrees, her healing talisman in hand.

Grinning I start toward a couch that looks like it’s more cushion than seating. Hopefully restoring my body will help the System stay intact. “Time for another treatment doc?”

“Indeed. Though it is frustrating that it is working so poorly. I’ve never seen such stubborn resistance to healing magic. Unbonded mana-borne are easier to heal.”

“You’ve healed- Ow, Rufka, stop it,” I say, swatting Rufka’s hand playfully away from where she was messing with my hair.

“Sorry. It’s good to see you healthy.” Rufka kisses my head to accentuate her point before stepping back and letting Tipan work.

“Thanks. So, how do you want me?” I ask Tipan with a wink, emphasizing the movement to compensate for my missing eye.

Tipan just rolls all four eyes, not bothering to dignify my leading question with a response.

“Have to say, I’m feeling kinda excited. Enjoyed our visit a lot more than I expected to.” Rufka nods to the side, fur tickling my chin as she cuddles my left side.

Tipan takes the opportunity to place her hand on my burned right, her talisman sparkling. The tingling resumes and this time I try to Focus on it. If I can consolidate a skill without the System, maybe I can help with healing my wounds.

At first it doesn’t seem to do anything.

But then I infuse the healing with Twilight-tinted mana while using Focus. My Focus drops by over a hundred points as I concentrate on my skin healing and I feel the charred skin flaking off as an electric shock runs up my side.

Bolstered by my success, I replicate the process but this time focusing on my hand. I feel resistance, as though there isn’t enough energy, so I pull. I try to imagine my hand regrowing, starting with the bone, infusing the healing energy with Twilight. But my attention wavers when Rufka shifts in my lap, her elbow digging into my thigh. And then the healing stops.

“That was quick,” I say, turning to Tipan who’s swaying on her feet.

Tipan collapses next to me as though she were… well, Rufka.

“Uh, Tipan, are you okay?” I ask, pushing an apparently already sleeping Rufka to the side.

Tipan pushes herself to her left elbows with a nod. “I think so. That just took… a lot. Not just my Mana either. For some reason it siphoned off my Stamina and most of my Focus too.”

“Sorry. I was trying to fix it. Was hoping to get my hand back,” I chuckle holding up my stump. Except… I can see a faint outline of my hand. It’s little more than the vague shape, but it’s visible.

Tipan’s hand passes right through when she pokes at it.

“That’s new,” Tipan and I say practically in sync.

“I’m going to take it as a good sign,” I decide, holding it out in front of me and flexing my fingers, and watching the outline respond. It feels like they’re there. Out of curiosity, I create a ball of fire and pass my hand through it. Instead of just passing by, like it did with Tipan’s fingers, where my hand touches the fire, the flame is sucked from the sphere into my hand.

“Huh.”

“That… I’ve heard of elemental prosthetics. But it’s an emergency Ability for Protector classes in the copper rank. I’ve never heard of- Wow, that’s hot!” Tipan pulls her hand back from where she was poking my hand again.

“I wonder if I can…” I will the fire away and it flows back into me, replenishing my mana by an infinitesimal amount. This time I summon a sphere of metal, pushing my hand inside. When I pull it out, the metal is semi-fluid, as though it were molten.

Tipan uses a fork taken from her inventory to prod my hand. The fork bends with the force Tipan expends pushing against the fluid seeming surface.

“It’s interesting. But I’m not sure how useful it will be,” Tipan decides after we’ve cycled my hand through all the elements. Twilight is the only element that doesn’t work with my new hand. I suspect it’s because the underlying structure is formed of Twilight. We discover my hand isn’t just capable of claiming my own energy, as I was able to snag some of Tipan’s wind mana during the experiment too.

“It’s wicked,” I declare, flaring the lightning currently infused in my hand upward. “I mean, you’re right, it's not useful. It even costs me extra Mana to use it for things like this.”

Swinging my arm about I send a lightning whip across the luxurious penthouse suite, weaving it between a pair of crystal decanters and a potted cactus-like plant.

While I could have effectively done the same thing before, having it extend from the end of my arm makes the experience more visceral. I start cackling as I draw the energy back into my hand.

“Hmm, not so loud,” Rufka murmurs, wrapping herself around my leg and trying to topple me over. Or so I thought, but no, she’s just cuddling my leg.

“I’m not sure I want my hand back,” I admit, sitting roughly on Rufka as Tipan settles on a chair across from the couch.

“Understandable. If only for the intimidation effect,” Tipan nods.

“Intimidation?” Glancing at my hand, I look back to Tipan confused.

She nods, coating her hand in Wind-mana. “An elemental hand implies you have incredible control. And especially with whatever yours is doing. See how stable your mana is within the construct in comparison?”

Copying her, my hand becomes a solid barrier of air, with only the mana to indicate it’s there. Inspecting the flows, I find she’s right. It’s less chaotic. Which I’m certain is the Twilight-mana’s influence. Even so, I can feel that the Twilight is fading. The effect seems to be temporary.

“I’m not certain what you did. But if you can replicate it with your System, maybe you can repair it?”

“Hmm,” I hum noncommittally. It’s not a terrible idea, if I can make it permanent. And if I’m able to isolate my skills and abilities outside of the System… then I don’t have to worry about losing them if my System goes completely wonky.

“Anyway, it’s late. I’m going to retire to my room. Do you want my help getting her to-” Even as Tipan speaks, I hoist Rufka up in a wave of Wind-mana. “I’ll take that as a no. Good night, Lex.”

“Good night, Tipan. Thanks for the help,” I say, grabbing her in a hug before she sneaks away.

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you in the morning. Sleep well.”

“You too.”

I float Rufka onto our bed as I contemplate what I’m about to do. Sleep is off the table. I’m still not tired. And none of my regenerations seems to be affected. Rufka's soft snores fill the room as I turn my attention inward, prepared to save what I can.

As much as it’s painful to admit, consolidating my ability to repair and build Ripple-drives is critical. Even more important than my ability to control the elements.

So that’s where I'll start.

First, I look over the crystalized knowledge from Thinnesq’s instruction. It’s far simpler than Uthica’s primers, even discounting the connections to the System interface. But there are clues to how the information needs to be contained. And I realize I subconsciously infused it with Twilight-mana as I was originally forming it.

I start by taking a simpler ship, a Juniper. It’s a small ship, but the codex indicates its approximate worth is one Chaos infused Candle. I have no clue what that means. The important thing is that the ship is amazingly complicated. Which is why I feel okay using it here. There are too many systems that are redundant or non-functional.

It’s the perfect candidate.

Slowly, I disconnect the strands leading from the Juniper to the System. But I underestimate how deeply the System is rooted into the codex. With a crumbling flash of Twilight-mana, the codex dissolves, snuffed out before I’ve barely began.

The dissolving codex disrupts several of the codices forcing me to accelerate my plans. With careful manipulation off the table, I start hacking at the connection to the System itself. It proves effective, leaving the next codex floating in my mind, its only connection leading directly to Uthica’s primer.

When I attempt to Pause time, my entire System shakes, another codex disappearing and my skills leaking wisps of Twilight mana. So, I continue my hack job with increased urgency. For each primer I salvage, one is lost, disrupted by their proximity.

But when I open my eyes at two in the morning, I’ve been successful. In fact, it feels like the knowledge is more deeply ingrained, much like a System skill. The real success is in cutting my Voidtech Engineer off completely. I can’t access it, but it’s kept safe from the leaking parts of my interface.

When I attempt to stand to satiate my gnawing hunger, I’m stopped by Rufka shifting to trap me in place. She mumbles incoherently when I set her gently to the side. Strolling to the lounge, I search for anything resembling a kitchen but admit defeat. If I want food, I’ll need to risk taking if from my inventory. But that might cost me skills or knowledge.

So, with my hunger grumbling in the background, I return to Rufka, closing my eyes to delve within once more. The next skill I work with is Twilight-manipulation. Without it, I can’t even attempt these edits. Losing it would mean losing everything.

With a great deal more finesse, I study the skill. It’s almost completely linked into the System. So, instead of trying to break it free, I copy it. One memory and insight at a time, I copy the structure to a new node. But… it lacks permanence. How can I integrate it with myself more complete…

That… no, it would be too simple. Searching through my interface, I find the store of Integration Points. I still have hundreds of Iron-rank points from Atun’s Arena. And they’re… they’re similar to Twilight, but more… robust feeling. When I pull on them, I’m able to break one down and use it to infuse my new Twilight skill. It takes two hours and several points, but I’m left with a perfect copy.

Okay, not totally perfect. It takes up nearly ten times the space in my mental landscape. And… I don’t know if it worked. It seems to be integrated yet I feel the same. There’s no way to test if I succeeded without breaking my existing skill.

Which would be idiotic. I’ll test with something less important like Climbing or even Stone-Sculpting. But that can wait.

With a backup of Twilight, I repeat the process with Temporal and Spatial manipulation. Each one going slightly quicker. But once I’ve finished them, I realize I have a new issue. My mental landscape is getting full. Just these three skills and my knowledge of Ripple-drives takes up half my available space. The Seed from my class sits here as well, a surprisingly stable node, already detached from the System.

As I evaluate what I’m guessing is my soul, I acknowledge the truth. I won’t be able to keep all my skills, not unless I can compress them.

It's as I’m copying over Mana-manipulation that I realize there are large portions that are shared with Twilight. By using more of my Integration points, I’m able to build the two together.

Then I realize a similar pattern amongst my movement skills, and they end up as a sort of hydra-esque skill all centred around a single core. Which is when I’m able to confirm my copies are effective. At least, I’m pretty sure I’ve retained most of what I gained from having the flight skill after doing a quick lap around the bedroom despite the original collapsing.

My salvaging efforts are interrupted by Rufka in the morning, but I put her off, informing her that my System issues are acting up. An understatement but I’m assuming that Thinnesq is watching us. I know Wyonna would be watching her if she visited us. My statement is met by a grunt, and some sort of sweet meats that I eat without really tasting. And then more.

Tipan informs Alta I’m indisposed as I continue, which is for the best.

Things are holding, but I can still feel everything trying to fall apart. Lightning and Fire manipulation are saved together, the final touches on Fire tied off when suddenly the original Twilight Manipulation collapses. The implosion shakes my mental landscape, jostling the connections. When I reach for Twilight, I’m delighted to find my ability to wield it remains intact. I think.

And I have another problem. I’m out of room. I either need to start causing my skills to implode or wait for them to collapse on their own.

I can hear Tipan and Rufka talking in the living room as I hesitate, my hunger worse than I can ever remember. Didn’t I just eat? I call out asking for food, but don’t take the time to register their answer before focusing again.

Now, I could try to repackage the first skills I did. I’ve gotten better as I’ve been going. But I need room for that too.

Maybe I should try converting one of my low importance skills. I turn on Stone-sculpting. If there’s a skill I want to keep but don’t want taking up space, this is it.

It’s not the rational choice. It’s an emotional one. Smoulder and I have created so much with this skill. Hell, this skill is probably half the reason I’m referred to as the Rabbit-Queen.

…

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I lose it.

Chuckling to myself, I start picking at the System connections. After copying half-a-dozen skills, it’s possible to identify where the core of the skill lies. It takes twice as much effort as copying, but I finally disentangle the last of the System-mana from Stone-sculpting, as I do, I realize I’ve recovered a small amount of Integration energy. Not even enough for a point, but it’s there. Even as I feel relief surge through me, Lightning Manipulation implodes.

Realizing that I’ve saved Stone-sculpting without saving Stone Manipulation, I don’t even consider which skills to concentrate on next, binding Earth, Stone and Metal together. Unfortunately, I’m less than halfway done when the original Stone manipulation skill starts to wobble. This is the first time I’ve directly observed one of my skills as they implode.

As I’m wrestling with the System to keep as much of the skill as possible, I see a flash of Uthica bent over, her stomach heaving as knowledge is forcibly injected into her mind. Then I’m back. The new version of the skill is stabilized. Stone manipulation itself is greatly diminished, but I’ve retained some ability with it. And the others are intact.

My stomach practically screams at me as I turn toward my remaining skills.

I… might be able to merge Water, Wind and Ice without any further implosions. I seem to have the room. And they share a lot of System direction. None are critical. Not technically. While Wind provides my flight spell, I have several others now. And my innate flight, which doesn’t seem to be at risk of collapsing. My abilities seem to be more stable than my skills. But Ice… I have to try to save Ice. Because if I choose not to, I’d be running away from what I did to Papa.

As I begin merging them, I realize that Ice has almost no System instructions. Instead, it forces me to watch that day again, as I weave Wind and Water to rely on it. But the day is… it’s… different.

I watch as the ice follows our car. But it’s not just ice. There’s another car. Papa is constantly looking in the mirror. There’s a moment where I look into the mirror. Instead of focusing on papa’s friend, Mr Thompson, I see the person following papa in the mirror. The unfamiliar shock of wavey brown hair framed by a much more familiar face nearly causes me to disrupt the merged skills myself.

Spending half my Facet, I Pause time. I can feel something shatter in the background, but I hold my newly merged skills steady. I sever the link to the System, leaving the skills and the associated memories untouched.

I double check, and I confirm the face in the mirror. I know it well.

There was no sign of tampering on papa’s car. I remember the paperwork. Thompson explaining he’d checked it himself. Apology after apology.

How many times did he tell me it wasn’t my fault. And I didn’t believe him. Even as I blamed him, I didn’t believe him.

But for the first time in a decade, doubt creeps in.

When I open my eyes, I see a platter of meats, cheeses and fruit on a stand next to the bed. I reach for an apple to sate my hunger. But I don’t make it that far. Suddenly, the empty stomach and days without sleep demand their due.

The unfamiliar brown hair framing Beth’s face, still haunting me from that memory, is the last thing that I picture before falling to the floor, the apple rolling away.

5.37, User Error Detected

7:12 pm, local time. (September 14, 2023, 1:12 am.)

I wake twelve hours later, my throat so sore it’s tough to breathe. My pillow shifts and Rufka strokes my head. “Lexi, are you okay?”

My wheezing throat prevents me from articulating an answer. Which I’m pretty sure counts as a no.

Rufka makes hushing noises at me, holding a crystal bowl - that’s likely worth more than everything I owned back on earth - to my lips. A sweet, cool juice coats my throat and the pain eases slightly. Sitting up, I take the bowl from Rufka with a weary smile. My thanks are little more than another wheeze, followed by another sip of the juice. Rufka ruffles my hair, taking the now empty bowl with her as I reflect on what happened.

Memories of the night (day?) before are hazy. Even using Facet doesn’t restore the clarity. I remember something about a woman with brown hair. But the face is blank.

When I turn my attention inward, I’m reminded of what else happened. Amazingly one of my System skills remains intact. Somehow, I still have the full hundred ranks in Cleaning. The rest of my unconverted skills are gone, but everything feels stable. Working my way through my mentalscape, I discover that I still have some memories of my lost skills.

Experimentally, I lift my chakram while focusing on how to throw it. I remember everything I learned about holding it, but there’s no more guide to improve it. Which means I’m not bereft of the skill. When I test my control over lightning, I’m surprised to find it’s more responsive than it used to be, adapting to changes with little need to prompt it.

“Well, you’re feeling better,” Rufka says from the doorway where she stands with a pitcher of juice. Or maybe it’s just water. Either way, I feel foolish for not using water-manipulation to help my sore throat. Still, since Rufka’s back I accept another crystal bowl of juice.

When I move to get up, Rufka holds me in place with a single hand. It’s more effective than usual, which causes me to panic. Did I lose my strength in addition to my skills? Then I remember she’s Copper-rank now too. “You-” I choke out, taking another sip of the juice, “You spent points? Already?”

Rufka’s grin is almost as wide as the moment before she’s about to prank someone. “Nope. All those ‘lost’ dungeon bonuses.”

Huh. I lean against Rufka’s arm, testing the resistance. Which leads to Rufka pulling her hand out of the way while giving me a light push towards the bed. When I attempt to catch myself with wind-magic, I barely summon enough to send my hair fluttering before I crash into the soft cushions. So… that was damaged, apparently.

This time I don’t rise, deciding maybe I should finish my internal inspection. Seems my attempt to preserve the memories associated with Ice busted some of my innate ability with Wind. At least I retained some measure of wind-manipulation, even if it’s negligible.

Good for keeping my hair in place if nothing else. Instead of focusing on the section of my mentalscape that contains my skills, I shift my focus to the portion that reports my Attributes.

Thanks to Wyonna’s in-depth analysis, I know these have nothing to do with my Attributes themselves. They’re just the System’s way of interacting with entire subsets of my body. And thanks to my recent work with Twilight, I’m able to trace how the System organizes everything. Like, my Intellect includes my nervous system, mana-soul and most parts of my brain. Yet, Spirit is linked to all these in nearly identical locations, but using different connections. It’s an interconnected mess. But it’s a mess that hasn’t been changed by the recent implosion of my skills.

As I’m inspecting my mentalscape, teasing out my current Status, my attention turns to the remaining Class Ascension Crest.

If I’m able to create skills without using the System, could I have advanced my class without it? If I attempted to advance my class now, would the System even recognize my existing skills? Would it limit them? Or be upset that I didn’t meet the prerequisite skill levels?

“Hey, you’re not mad, are you?” Rufka asks, pulling me back from my mentalscape as she lays down beside me.

“What? No. Why would I be- gleh,” I sit up, reaching for the bowl she’s carefully cradling.

Rufka gives me a sad smile, her eyes turned down at the edges. “Feels like you’re keeping things to yourself. Not talking to me.”

“Oh. Oh, no. It’s not you. It’s… we should go back to the city. I’ll tell you everything.”

“You don’t have-”

“Doesn’t matter. I will,” I reassure her.

Rufka’s smile returns in full force. “Well then, what say we leave. I’m sure Thinnesq will understand given your ‘extremely adverse’ reaction to her hospitality.”

“Wait, did she say that? I need to apologize.” I sit up with a start. I hadn’t even considered how she might react to having me collapse in her home. Honestly, I haven’t been considering a lot of things since my Skills started going wonky.

“Nah. She doesn’t talk to us. It was that creepy guy. Atla. Tipan probably knows more, she’s been going out.”

Unintentionally elbowing her as I roll away, I attempt to get to my feet, but again I try to use wind-manipulation to help me, so end up further buried amongst the bedding instead.

I let Rufka pull me to my feet, working together to disentangle me from the bedspread. Then I step around her, slipping out of the room with her in my wake. The lounge is empty when we emerge, making me furrow my brow as my eyes turn to the door.

“We can ring the bell for service. One of the servants will find Tipan for us,” Rufka explains, indicating a brass bell on a counter next to the entrance. I try not to laugh as Rufka rings the bell, her back straight as a K’tharn servant enters from a hidden side entrance.

Managing to keep a straight face, Rufka says, “My queen requires the presence of Tipan of clan Pelwerd.”

“Of course, my lady,” the servant responds, rushing away. I watch the hidden door swing closed silently, inspecting the joints. It’s a clever design with minimal enchantments, relying on the excellent quality achievable with Stone-sculpting to create near-frictionless hinges and a seamless edge.

“I love that,” Rufka says, leading me to a table laden with food, causing my stomach to grumble ferociously.

“The door is pretty cool,” I agree as I select a leg of some unidentified bird. Hmm, tastes a bit like duck.

“Heh, knew you’d get a kick out of that. But no. I was talking about having a servant.”

“Oh. Feels weird to have servants.”

Rufka pauses as she’s picking up the matching drumstick to mine. “You’re kidding?”

“No?”

“You do realize you’re a queen now? Having servants is part of that.”

“But not a part I want. No servants for me.”

“What do you call Wyonna?”

“A friend. A friend who chooses to do things for me despite me telling her she doesn’t have to.” I chew viciously on my drumstick.

“Doesn’t that just mean she’s choosing to be a servant?” Rufka says, dipping her drumstick into a red sauce, her eyebrows raised at me.

Grumbling to myself, I lean against the table while staring out the window.

Rufka leans next to me as we each finish our drumsticks. “There’s nothing wrong with serving someone else you know. Or having people serve you.”

“I know. It just… feels archaic. For something as advanced as the System, you’d think it would have more advanced forms of government available.”

“Well, the M’tari use a different System. Maybe you could use theirs?” Rufka suggests.

“They still have servants,” I point out. “And their Lords and Ladies seem to be limited to the original M’tari.”

“Hmm. But it’s different. So, maybe there’s a better option. Just need to find it.” Rufka punctuates her sentence by tossing me a blue fruit the size of my hand. “Should go well with the bird.”

“Thanks. At least I know Wyonna’s being paid now. Wonder what she’ll spend it on.”

“Entertainment, probably.”

Nodding, I rinse the cloying juices of the blue fruit in an enchanted handsink. I’m playing with the auto-temperature enchantment when Tipan emerges from the main stairway. After a brief exchange, we walk down the stairs to the landing platform where Atla is waiting for us.

While Tipan exchanges a formal greeting with him, I address my inability to fly. Since I can’t use wind-manipulation and I don’t have enough metal on hand, I begin forming a throne out of ice.

By the time Tipan’s finished, I’m seated on what’s become my standard form for my throne. For some unfathomable reason, my ice-throne is more comfortable than my steel throne. Maybe cause it’s… nope, don’t know why. But it definitely is.

Feels more natural.

The thought is accompanied by a crack that resounds through my mentalscape. I manage to follow Tipan and Rufka toward Pelwerd as the memory I’d recovered the night before snaps into place. Beth was following my papa. Before the accident.

She’d said she was watching me for years. But was she there the day papa crashed? Did she see what happened?

There are no answer to my questions. At least, not in the memories I’m able to sift through before we return to the city.

Thankfully, there are no cheers or crowds as we cross the invisible boundary. Wyonna directs me to a temple that’s been raised near the central spire. In addition to the shrines to Vaus and Astra, there’s a shrine for Smoulder in a place of prominence set against the back wall. As we move inside, I discover it’s not to Smoulder.

It’s to the Rabbit-Queen. The temple is mostly empty, only the pair of K’tharn that insisted on spreading my ‘great feats’ are present when we arrive.

Thankfully, they’re not why Wyonna brought us here.

“Through here,” Wyonna says, gesturing at a staircase near the back. At the bottom of the stairs are the first recruits for Pelwerd’s new defence team. While Rufka will be handling their training, including distributing Quests for Integration points granted by the System, Wyonna insists I need to see them personally.

Honestly, I’m surprised we have recruits, never mind the eighteen K’tharn experimenting with enchanted staves below. When I mention this, Wyonna says, “These are only the best of the volunteers. Once their training is complete, we’re hoping to have each of them train their own squads.”

“Wait. How many people volunteered?”

“22,613. Though I disqualified seven since they refused to become subjects.”

“Yep. That was fun,” Rufka grins. Why do I get the feeling their disqualification wasn’t a simple no.

“Twenty-two- thousand and… That’s a fourth of our people?”

“Yep. They’re super-excited.” Wyonna displays eighteen sets of graphs, charts and profile pictures. It’s easy to match them up with the K’tharn below, iridescent lines leading from their profiles to the K’tharn. It’s weird seeing other people’s attributes quantified like this.

“Do they know they’re being tracked like this?” I ask, gesturing to the charts.

“Yep. It’s one of the perks.”

“Perk? We’re selling this as a perk?”

Wyonna sticks out her tongue at me before saying, “It is a perk. It allows for increased Attribute gains during the training program.”

“How does that work?”

“The System rewards thoroughness. We’re kind of exploiting it here. Normally an AI wouldn’t have the scanning fidelity of a Sanctuary at their disposal. The System’s assigned us resources as if we’re a Gold-rank civilization.”

Neither Rufka nor Tipan seems sufficiently shocked at this news, so clearly, I’m the last to know. “What does that mean for us, personally?”

At this Wyonna pouts, her neon pink mohawk flashing like a cheap pop-up ad. “Nothing unless we can convince Genitha or another Silver rank to become a citizen of Pelwerd. Our recruits are benefiting from having Rufka train them though.”

“Cause I’m copper-rank,” Rufka crows, completely oblivious to my eyeroll. Until I elbow her discretely.

“Yep. Now, the reason I wanted you to see this,” Wyonna states, bringing up my scan next to theirs. “When you came back, I noticed there'd been massive changes to your System. According to my readings, you’re in danger of losing your class.”

Wyonna has two sets of my vitals on display, showing the old version where I was still mostly intact next to the current mess. Next to it is an image of me. I'm looking a lot better than I realize. The hole in my cheek is gone, and my hair looks... I think it looks better than it used to. In fact, I realize that the statues I was so critical of would no longer be embellishments.

Though Wyonna does have a much more complex design in place of the stub where my arm was. Looking at the smooth stub, I realize that all Tipan's healing has been far more effective than I was giving it credit for. Other than the slight distortion of my eye, I... I almost look normal.

Vaus, forget normal. I almost look as badass as Beth.

With a small smile tugging at my lips, I turn back to Wyonna's displays. Still have that whole System breakdown to worry about. One part of the display highlights the connections with my class, each of which is severed. With a single exception.

“What’s that?” I ask, pointing to the connection apparently keeping me intact.

“Your cleaning skill.”

“Wait. What does my cleaning skill have to do with my class?”

“Honestly? No clue. But it’s keeping your System from collapsing.”

Tipan steps forward, tapping the screen with all the red connections. “This is what you were dealing with? I thought you were better?”

“I mean, I thought I’d stabilized things. But obviously I’ve only started.”

Wyonna creates an overlay of my damaged profile with several of the scans from the people below. She also introduces two new profiles. Tipan and Rufka’s. She keeps flipping between images until coming to a halt on an image of my mana-sphere that’s completely different.

“Uh. What’s that?” I ask.

“I can rebuild your System interface using theirs as an example. But I can’t guarantee it’ll be perfect.”

“So, I’ve actually been thinking…”

“Yes?” Wyonna asks, flipping through more screens.

“I’ve been thinking I might let the System go. Delete it even.”

“What?!” Tipan and Rufka say in near perfect synchronicity.

Wyonna flickers, appearing directly in front of me, her eyes the same brown I normally see in the mirror. She looks at me for less than second before blinking. “You’re serious.”

“Yeah.”

“Why?” she asks.

“I got a new quest.”

“You got a quest to get rid of the System?” Wyonna presses, her eyes flickering so fast I can’t tell where she’s looking.

“No, I got a quest warning me that there’s a System Agent on their way to erase me.”

Tipan gasps. “A System Agent. For you specifically? Why would they warn you?”

“I don’t know. But that’s not all. The teleportation lockdown? It’s System imposed. Without the System, I might be able to teleport freely.”

“But you’d lose… everything,” Rufka objects.

“I don’t think I will. I’ll lose most of the parts that are automatic. But… I’ve already managed to copy skills, removing them from the System. And… there’s something about my Seed… Deleting my System might make things harder… But if I keep the System as it is…”

“The Agent will know where you are as soon as it arrives,” Wyonna agrees, flashing the status screens away.

“I just… I don’t know what this means for being queen,” I admit, slumping my shoulders as I move over to sit on a leather and bone folding chair someone left in the room.

Rufka laughs, “Now there’s a reason to do it. Easy way for you to get out of ruling over people.”

Wyonna taps her chin, her hair flickering in time to the taps. “It might work. But you’d want to set up your succession first. Through the System.”

“Right. So, obviously, Tipan should be my successor.”

Tipan gasps, staring at me as Wyonna and Rufka nod in agreement. Wyonna’s visage goes blank for a second before popping back into normal motion as she brings up a screen and slides it in front of me. “Agreed. Focus on this. Hopefully this doesn’t prove too stressful for your System. But I suppose if it does, that’s what you want anyway.”

Concentrating, I imbue the screen with my Focus and two System prompts appear.

“Quest updated: Escape! A System Agent, one of the Seraph has decided you’re worthy of their personal attention. Find a way to evade their notice 1/1. Keep the process clean 0/1. Reward: Citizen Pandora’s existence. The Seed must grow.”

“Update your succession so that Citizen Tipan will maintain the role of Sovereign in the case of your inevitable demise. Y/N”

The first notice is a relief. It seems the System is confirming that getting rid of it is the best way to evade the Seraph. It almost doesn’t feel right to call the Seraph a System’s Agent at this point. Not with the System helping me avoid its attention.

Not letting myself drift for long, I confirm the succession details. Which causes the interface to shake. There are scattered words as the window disappears.

“Did it work?” I ask, trying to decipher what happened.

Tipan nods, her voice barely audible despite my enhanced perception, “I received a notification informing me I am now the successor to Pelwerd.”

“Good. That’s good,” I say, sitting back down in the leather seat hard enough to make the frame crack, my vision wavering.

“Lexi?” Rufka asks, kneeling next to me.

I grasp at her blindly, grabbing her hand. “Kinda took more out of me than it should’ve. I think. But I’m getting better.”

“We need to get you to Roberts,” Tipan declares. She says some more, but it’s directed at Wyonna, so I tune it out, rubbing the back of Rufka’s hand instead.

Hands are nice.

A note from Draith

Ack, so many good comments lately, not enough Rep to go around. Thanks for reading!

5.38, Very, Very, Un-dignitary

A note from Draith

Small edit to 4.01

4.01. They mention them becoming Citizens and getting Restoration.

Lunch is spent with Tipan and Rufka, the others coming in slowly.

"So, now that you're Citizens, what's the first thing you're doing?"

"Restoration, obviously," Rufka states. "Even mum's enchantments aren't as guaranteed as a System-powered rebirth."

"Agreed. It will be... strange, knowing we will return so easily. It will... Well, it's the sort of thing they said about Ivicka. Even death couldn't keep her down," Tipan says, poking a crisp on her plate with extra force.

"Yeah. That's not a fun thought," I say, pushing against the horrible pressure that's keeping me from manifesting mana to properly crisp a haunch for Smoulder. "Though, maybe if the System doesn't want the summoner to cause more trouble, it just won't revive her."

"Hmm. Mum says the System's not always that smart. But she's not a Citizen, so maybe it's different for us?" Rufka says as Rose comes in, giving a casual wave as he plops down across from us.

With Wyonna’s still chomping through Theglia’s download and Beth not emerging from her room, we continue chatting and avoiding an active discussion of our next steps to just relax and decompress.

5.35, Note about a codex disappearing.

We continue to trade small compliments until Atla appears to inform me that my room is ready. Which is excellent timing. My System has decided to once more shake, one of the codices from the ships vanishing with little more than a sudden blip. I wasn't even using my interface.

More importantly though, I have no idea what the appropriate response is to being told that my missing eye, “Is an absolutely bold proclamation of your unbending will in the face of adversity.”

5.36, More System wobbliness!

Only three sentences each. I can feel my System slipping a little more with each one.

He nods, leading me up a hidden staircase as I rapidly inject Twilight in a messy patch. Two stories later we emerge into a large vestibule with an amazing view of Pearlescent Summers. We’re housed at the peak of the tower, yet it’s still lower than where Pelwerd floats on the horizon.

Grinning I start toward a couch that looks like it’s more cushion than seating. Hopefully restoring my body will help the System stay intact. “Time for another treatment doc?”

8:59 pm, local time. (September 14, 2023, 2:59 am.)

When my vision clears, only Rufka and I remain in the room. Tipan must’ve snuck away while I was zoned out.

“Wyonna?” I ask, struggling to push myself out of the leather and bone chair that kept me from sprawling entirely on the floor.

“Yes Lexi?” She responds without appearing, her voice emanating from a spot near the door.

“How long till we reach Betheryne?”

“Between nine and ten hours depending on shifts in the currents. Sorry I can’t be more precise. The destruction of Aethire has upset the mana flow across the continent. It’s messing with all my data.”

“Thanks. This room’s private?”

“Yep. Only you two and Tipan have access.”

“Cool, taking a break. Don’t let Tipan in please,” I say. Then I pull Rufka to the side, creating a bath as I offer her a massage. Rufka sighs in satisfaction as I work over her shoulders, rebuilding my missing hand with a small infusion of Twilight before infusing it with water.

Rufka lets out a moan before saying, “I understand why you didn’t tell me about the System stuff. Bad idea to reveal your weakness in hostile territory.”

“Not just that. There’s more.”

Rufka shushes me, “Finish first. You can tell me after.”

I push her forward, working her lower back. “Wish it was as easy as giving a massage. I’m worried about… Well, I need to talk to Beth.”

“Long as it’s not too dangerous. Mum’d kill me if something happened to you now.”

“Oh, that’s what you’re worried about? Your mum.”

“Uh, yeah. She’s terrifying,” Rufka mumbles while pushing back against my hand.

“I don’t know, kitten, I like her,” I tease.

“Yep. See, just like her," Rufka pauses, and I'm expecting a rebuttal to calling her kitten. But instead, she smirks at me. "Cause you’re terrifying too.”

“Feels more like terrified. Don’t suppose you’ve got any of that moonshine you just happened to be holding out on?” I ask, feeling my throat close.

“Nope. Just my love and support.”

I sigh dramatically, “I guess that’ll have to be enough.”

Rufka and I spend most of the trip sleeping then chatting, just lounging around out of sight of ‘my people’ while I spend my attention keeping my System stable. Honestly, they feel more like Tipan’s people. Which… honestly makes sense. They are her fellow country-cats. And she’s the one taking care of them. But then, the true public servants are rarely given the credit they deserve.

I should get her a statue.

As we’re approaching Betheryne, Wyonna informs me the System has sent us a notice that we can’t proceed further without intruding on foreign soil. Even as we’re preparing to fly the rest of the way without the city, a delegation is spotted approaching from the east, near the sprawling refugee camp that now surrounds Betheryne.

Roberts isn’t among them, but I’m informed we can’t get closer without declaring war. And I’m not ready for that.

The delegation are all K’tharn. I recognize at least one symbol of the minister of Defence. There are others as well, but I don’t recognize who they represent.

Wyonna suggests I greet them on my throne, and I agree. The way these leaders abandoned their own people to rot inside the Abyss still bothers me. Only right that we should bother them back.

There are several rows of barely organized recruits standing at attention when the visiting party approaches.

I’m surprised to see I recognize one of the delegation members, though she seems to be taking a passive role. Tipan's father, Talkith, is standing at the back, surveying everyone. While she casts her gaze over Tipan and I once, her attention remains primarily on the surrounding K’tharn.

From the delegation, a K’tharn I don’t recognize calls out in a loud voice, “In the name of the Aetherium, I, Myltharia of clan Telhothing, stand before you, calling for your immediate surrender. You will relinquish this city to its rightful owners. A refusal of this request is a declaration of war. Further, all citizens of the Aetherium will be handed over for processing for their crime of raising arms against the Aetherium.”

Even as a disgruntled rumbling spreads through the surrounding K’tharn, I gauge her as she continues. She doesn’t seem keen on receiving a response as her diatribe continues. I make the mistake of allowing her to pass the five-minute mark, her monologue continuing the whole time without a single pause for breath. A definite disadvantage of everyone having superhuman Stamina.

She’s not even saying anything new, just repeating herself using fancier words. Which makes me wonder if she’s ever had to practice diplomacy before. The M’tari might be stuffy, but they seem to know how to interact with other powers without attempting to declare war when their entire society is camped outside the walls of a city they don’t even control.

There is a teensie possibility I might be a little bitter.

Finally exhausted by the K’tharn’s whining, I whisper to Tipan, my voice carried by my diminished wind-magic.

Tipan nods and the ambassador’s voice cuts out. She’s still talking, but thanks to the glorious power of Tipan’s wind aspect, her voice fails to penetrate the invisible barrier that now encloses her.

“I’m new to this whole ruling thing, but she seems rather rude. Strange tact,” I note, looking down at where the K’tharn is still speaking. “Has she even looked in our direction since she’s started?”

“The minister of Relations doesn’t often get the chance to speak to other nations,” Tipan explains, a small smile tugging her lips upward.

I stare down at the K’tharn who still hasn’t realized we’re not listening. “Wait. She’s the minister of Relations? How did that happen?”

Tipan shrugs, though the smile remains fixed in place, “From what mother says, it’s mostly a ceremonial role. The M’tari dictate terms, they don't negotiate with the Aetherium. And other than them, the Aetherium hasn't had contact with another nation in centuries. Except maybe the academy? The M’tari don’t exactly let the Aetherium cross to the western continent.”

Nodding, I look past the minister to Talkith who nods in my direction when our eyes meet, leaving me slightly unsettled. Glancing back at the minister, I decide I’ve had enough. I hold my hand out toward her, a matching hand of molten metal emerging from the throne below me, emphasizing the gesture in a way the minister would have to be blind to miss.

To her credit, the minister stops talking when the giant hand of metal appears. So at least she's not blind.

“So, let me get this straight. You want me to hand over my city? Disband my forces? And surrender myself and my people into your custody?” I ask, trying to keep from laughing. And failing as I quietly chuckle at the end. The crowd of K’tharn around us echo my laughter, my people joining in.

But there’s an edge to it.

The fool doesn’t even take a second to process their reaction, nodding as she says, “That is precisely what is required. I’m certain the minister of Defence will forgive you for this inconvenience.”

This time I don’t even try to hold back my laughter, letting it roll across the courtyard, infused with Twilight as I focus on the minister. “If you’d asked that I come with you, no problem. Or if you’d asked for our aid in caring for your people? I’d be tripping over myself to help. Instead you focus on what? Stripping me of the tools I’d use? Are you even aware that you’re squatting in the ruins of your own squandered nation?”

I take a deep breath, shaking my head as I respond with my best smile.

“No. I don’t think we’ll be doing that.”

The minister, looks about, her eyes narrowing when she spots Talkith. Talkith is no longer guarding her, instead engaged in a conversation with Baska and her squad.

Several of the delegate's own guards are also gathered around the former desh’mersa players, listening as Baska talks to Talkith. This seems to steal a great deal of the minister’s confidence, as her posture folds in on itself when she turns back toward me.

For the first time, she looks at me as though acknowledging I’m there. “I have delivered the terms as decided by the Aetherium’s council. That you have chosen not to cooperate will be conveyed to the council. Assuming you don’t intend to attack a diplomatic ambassador.”

Leaning forward, I focus on her, my voice thrumming with power. “Go. Tell your council that we came in peace. And we leave in peace.”

She nods, twirling in place. Several of her guards fall in around her, but more look toward Talkith who is still engaged in conversation. Even as the minister leaves, she stumbles when Talkith orders her squad to remain. Hopefully that means we’ll be able to get Roberts here soon. My System has been stable enough, but the sooner he looks at me, the better.

The minister is out of sight moments later. With her gone, I descend, approaching Talkith directly. “Talkith,” I greet her, my voice even. Given our history, I’m not certain how this is going to play out.

Talkith turns away from Baska, who is already bowing in my direction. Talkith’s eyes dance across our group, before settling on me.

“Alexis. Or I suppose it is Queen Pandora now.”

“For the moment.”

“It’s strange to see an Outlander leading K’tharn. It must happen offworld, but I never imagined the day I’d see it on Akilo.”

“The M’tari lead K’tharn,” I point out.

Talkith laughs, the sound so like Tipan’s I involuntarily glance to my companion. “The M’tari don’t lead anyone. They do as they will, allowing K’tharn to follow or not as they choose.”

“Hmm. I suppose.” I pause, tapping my thigh as I consider how to phrase my next question.

“What are you doing here, father?” Tipan asks, beating me to it.

“I…” Talkith pauses, looking around us again. Her eyes are narrowed as she looks over the K’tharn who even now keep a respectful distance. Then she lets out a load sigh. “I have come to do what I can for our people, Tipan. As always. No matter how much I have failed, I will not forsake my duty.”

“Yeah. Guess we all underestimated how quickly the M’tari would escalate,” I say,

“No. It… the council were the ones to make the war official. There is madness there. And were I a better K’tharn, I would cut it out,” Talkith says, her eyes lingering on Tipan. Then she places her hands on the hilts of her swords and turns to me. “Queen Pandora. The Stormguard stand ready to assist. While we answer to no government, we will work to see our people to safety. If you will grant it.”

Well. There’s the sort of response I was hoping for when the minister of Relations showed up.

“Still can’t believe you threw your own daughter in irons,” I say, shaking my head. “But I know I won’t hold that against the people of the Aetherium. I said we’d help however we could. And we will.” I pause, as a thought crosses my mind, and I don’t bother to hide my smirk. “Though you’ll need to listen to Tipan. I might wear the crown, but she’s just as important. And better at the logistics.”

“Of course she’ll listen,” Baska says, her respect for our privacy having apparently run out. “And if she doesn’t, I’ll remind her.”

I blink at Baska, but then look to Tipan, who gives me a small nod.

“This doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you, father,” Tipan says, the gems in her staff flaring for a second. “But as Alexis said, we will do this for our people.”

“Oh. One more thing,” I say, glancing in the direction of Betheryne. “Since we’re not exactly welcome, can you send a message to our companions. Wyonna will send you the details.”

“It can be arranged. I would like to visit more of… your people," Her gaze turns outward for a moment before snapping back to me. "But I’ll send a flier.”

“Thank you,” I say, as my vision suddenly blurs.

I bow slightly to Talkith, trying to disguise the unsteadiness that seems to have accompanied the blurring. I use a bow Uthica used to give to fellow queens who were of a similar standing as herself, which helpfully also keeps me rigid. Hopefully it’s still recognized as such.

I need to escape before my condition causes me to collapse in front of everyone. “Sorry, I cannot stay to introduce you. I have other matters that need to be addressed.”

“Of course. Rufka. Daughter,” Talkith nods to each of us in turn, a smile firmly in place when she acknowledges Tipan. I note Tipan’s frown as her father steps back. But I don’t have time to support her.

Striding away, I nearly stumble, prevented from doing so only by Rufka’s supporting arm. I shouldn’t have come down off the throne. But then, I had no desire to force Talkith to approach me. If I even could’ve. As Rufka escorts me inside the temple-palace that’s arisen beside the control spire, I can’t help but hope Roberts doesn’t take too long to get here.

Even if Beth is going to be with him.

5.39, Best Laid Plans

5:12 pm, local time. (September 14, 2023, 7:12 pm.)

It isn’t until the next evening that Beth and Roberts arrive, flying in with Josh and Fethix in tow.

I watch the four of them fly into the city from the second story of my temple-palace next to the control spire. A proper tribute to Smoulder, it stretches nearly as tall as the spire itself. She’d be pleased.

Unfortunately, according to Baska, people are considering a temple to me too. I’m just glad Wyonna took the statues down from the public square. More luck with that than Uthica had, it seems.

Then again, they’re not budging on the one in the temple.

Roberts and Beth’s late arrival can be partially attributed to where we’re moored, nearly a hundred kilometres Northwest of Betheryne.

Despite their initial warning, after Talkith’s extended visit, the Aetherium sent a second messenger stating we’d be ‘forgiven’ our transgressions if we pulled back. It makes me wonder what the point of their initial visit was. Posturing? Or is Talkith’s influence greater than it once was? Maybe something else?

I’m waiting in a side room off from Wyonna’s recently created audience chamber when Roberts and Beth enter the palace. I can hear Josh and Fethix arguing outside, Rufka and Tipan’s voices joining them as I get up to greet Roberts.

His eyes are unusually drawn, his shoulders slumped as he offers me a weak wave. I leap out of my chair and rush over to him, exclaiming, “Wes! What happened?”

Roberts’ smile is weak, but genuine. But Beth responds for him, her emerald-green eyes boring into me. “He’s been healing without rest for the last few days. He discovered he could keep healing after running out of Mana by drawing on his body. I knew those lessons with the old witch in Glimmering Sands were a mistake.”

“I’m fine,” Roberts objects, waving her concern away. “It’s all temporary. A good night’s sleep and some careful restoration of the flesh and I’ll be right as rain. I’m far more concerned about you. I wasn’t informed you were so heavily injured.”

“It’s why we asked you to come as soon as possible. But we didn’t want to let the Aetherium know about my near total System collapse,” I reply, thinking back to the ambassador’s speech. Then I lead them inside to the table where I was eating a late second dinner. A little extra to help my body recover from all the ignoring it I did.

“System collapse? What happened, Alexis?” Beth asks as she plucks a fruit from the table, tearing it open with a large bite, letting its lifeblood drip down her chin.

“I was hit by a mana-storm. It messed things up. But I think the System’s shown me a path forward. Thankfully, it’s not urgent,” I lie.

Even so, Roberts comes over and takes my elemental hand as I exchange reports with Beth. He doesn’t act immediately, taking time to examine the boundaries of the scarring. Thankfully, Beth’s been filled in on most of it by Wyonna already, which just leaves hearing what’s happened on their end.

There’s only been a single message that's made it north from Demo and Rose. They've made a deal with the Daughters. Who escorted Trellani north, where she helped them establish peaceful contact with the southernmost M’tari settlement.

And they even set up an embassy. Seems the Daughters are making themselves known on the world stage. There were even reparations for their part in the attack on Glimmering Sands.

Despite days of dealing with the Ministers of the Aetherium and healing the surviving refugees, their days have been far less eventful than mine.

At least in scale. Roberts doesn’t mention it, but Beth offhandedly implies he’s lost count of the number of people he was too late to save. Roberts winces, but otherwise doesn’t comment. Maybe the ministers leaving people behind was a good thing. It sounds like their bungling was responsible for more death than the M’tari’s attack itself.

Though I guess there’s plenty of blame to go around.

After Beth is finished, it’s clear there aren’t many minsters left. Just Ylethan and the windbag minister of Relations. The rest were killed at the start of the war and never Restored. Apparently, that was supposed to be a benefit of their status that was revoked using an emergency measure. There’s no proof, but the K’mintar suspects the minister of defence.

When we’re caught up, Beth stands, smiling over at me. “Glad you made it back, kid. Doc’ll get you fixed up and we can get this sorted proper.”

“Yeah,” I agree, giving her a half-smile as she leaves. The moment she passes out the door, I feel a tension seep out of my shoulders I hadn’t noticed building.

Roberts raises an eyebrow but doesn’t utter a word. Instead he looks at where I’m cracking a nut with my temporarily steel-titanium right hand. “It would seem that, despite appearances, your injuries haven’t inhibited you greatly.”

Sorting the tasty kernal from the far too sour shell of the unknown nut with a splash of water, I shrug. “Honestly, now that the pain’s gone, I hardly notice. It feels… natural.”

“And the eye?”

“The eye?” I respond, staring back at him.

He taps his eye causing me to reach up to touch my own. Sometime in the last couple days I’d managed to forget about my eye. It’s stopped hurting, so that helps. And with my sensitivity to the mana around me, it’s not like I’ve lost a great deal of awareness.

“It’s not bad. Doesn’t hurt,” I answer.

“Hmm. Have you perhaps decided to keep it? You’re not channelling the wisdom of Odin through a willing sacrifice, are you?” he teases, hiding his grin behind his steepled fingers.

I snort, giggling as I say, “No. Nothing like that. I’d like to keep the hand. But if you can fix my eye, that’d be good. Probably. I’m sure Rufka would appreciate it anyway.”

Roberts nods, bringing his hand toward my brow. I lean into his touch waiting for the relaxing flow of his Reprieve to flow through me. At first, I can feel a kind of shifting deep inside. A balmy feeling spreading across the deepest part of my soul-scape. But then the energy moves to my head. Instead of the all-encompassing warmth, there’s only a trickle. Just like when using healing items.

“Ukila below!” I mutter, trying to direct the energy toward my injuries. But then my vision gets blurry again. “Stop,” I croak out.

Roberts immediately pulls his hand away and my vision clears. But my eye remains blind.

“I’m sorry. You mentioned healing wasn’t as effective, but I thought that was because it was unguided. But… I believe you have made the structure permanent. It’s hard to be certain, but something is actively resisting the change.” With his diagnosis delivered, Roberts leans against the table, stroking his chin while staring at the ceiling.

“Should’ve known,” I say, with a casual roll of my shoulders. Then I flick my head, tossing my hair about while trying to shake off the uneasy feeling of empty healing. At least Tipan was able to restore my hair. And my nose. Really glad to have that back. “It’s fine,” I reassure Roberts, patting his hand. “At least it didn’t hurt my System.”

“It worries me,” Roberts admits, his gaze returning to mine.

I cock my head to the side slightly, and he continues, “Is this because your System is broken? Or is this what it’s like to heal someone without the System. Are we going to return to Earth and suddenly I’m going to be a regular Doctor again. Just with the cleanest hands in the field.” He creates a small ball of water over his right hand to emphasize his point, sticking both hands inside to scrub them clean.

“Considering your sample size of one, I’d say it’s too early to tell,” I counter, flicking some of the broken nut shells into his still floating sphere once he retracts his hands.

“Ha. Fair point. Still, I can’t help but wonder. Will I even be able to save Ethan,” he says, leaning forward across the table.

“Wait, Ethan needs saving? I mean, more than everyone else?” I clarify.

Roberts nods. “The neurodegenerative disease I mentioned I was studying. Ethan has it. His father passed away from it when he was forty-two. Ethan’s is more aggressive. Without a cure, he won’t survive until twenty.”

“Oh. You never said,” it sounds more accusing than I intended.

Before I can apologize, Roberts reaches over and squeezes my hand. The soft fleshy one. “Worrying doesn’t change things. Besides, even if I won't have my magic, I still know more about the nervous system than any doctor who came before. I'll find a way to help him. We’ve had more important matters to focus on. But now? We’re close. We’re so very close to going home. I can feel it in my bones.”

Looking out the window at the way the shield shimmers in the distance, a barely visible prism scattering the light in a rainbow pattern across the city, I can’t help but agree. Doesn’t stop me from smirking at him as I say, “You’re just getting old.”

Roberts laughs, patting my hand and we spend the next few minutes talking about what we’re going to do when we get back to Earth. We're talking about our favourite chicken places in Vancouver when the others make their way in.

Rufka and Fethix are arguing about which of them is a better enchanter, each pulling examples of their work from their packs. Eventually Rufka admits defeat, which leads her to ask Fethix for advice with a special project.

When I lean forward to listen in, Rufka glances in my direction then leads Fethix away, throwing me a crooked grin as they disappear.

The night passes so quickly I’m shocked when the sun pokes through the windows.

As everyone else heads off to sleep, I look out over the city, watching as more K’tharn arrive. Talkith’s doing.

Well, and the large amount of food Wyonna purchased in Pearlescent Summers. Turns out the council’s having trouble accessing the Aetherium’s massive food stores. The council itself is doing fine, but a lot of their people aren’t being fed.

Which is only one of the reasons Talkith’s bringing them to us.

“Wyonna. How are the new citizens settling in?” I ask, watching the latest group disappear into one of the outer districts.

Wyonna appears in a flash of light, looking out the window beside me. “They’re doing well. We’ve had a couple more cases of people not wanting to swear allegiance. Despite Talkith’s assurances they’re being informed. It’s reassuring that it’s not just humans that can be so silly.”

I nod, feeling kind of pleased by that as well. “Did Fethix have any ideas on your networking idea?”

Wyonna turns to me, her smile large enough it’s unsettling. A mouth should not be able to open that wide. “Actually, she has a plan…”

Fethix’s idea is simple in execution but complicated on the enchanting side. Or so I’ve been informed. She won’t let anyone other than Trellani help her, the two having formed an unusual bond while arguing over dinner the night Trellani got to Betheryne.

My part is going to be simple. All I have to do is use the keys at each of the cities and wait for Fethix to set up her devices. Each of which will contain stores of Facet to be used later.

So easy, anyone can do it.

And she’s even built them, I just need to charge them up.

The devices will create a strong enough connection that Wyonna should be able to maintain control between the cities even at distances of millions of kilometers. A nice side benefit is that I should be able to teleport between the cities with ease, even with the teleportation lock. Provided my broken System doesn’t get in the way.

Still, if it works, it should accelerate our work even further.

Even without it, in a matter of a week, we’ll be able to link all the Sanctuaries. With the obvious esceptions of Betheryne and Lescado. No ideas on how to wrest either of those from the System’s direct control. Well, and Burnesq.

Repairs to Burnesq aren’t going to be easy, the lack of a control spire proving to be more of an issue than we’d been hoping. At least for networking them. There’s some hope we can rebuild it and have it flown back to Earth under a separate command.

My smile grows with Wyonna’s as she continues. It’s not perfect, but it has a chance.

The rainbow over the control spire feels like a beacon of hope. We’re really doing it. We’re going home.

5.40, Of Women and Monsters

A note from Draith

So... this arc's been really tough on Lexi. Sorry bout that for all you looking for fun adventures.

5:12 pm, local time. (September 15, 2023, 5:03 pm.)

“Quest received: None. Requirements: Say the phrase “Failure State,” while crossing the fingers on your left hand. Reward: Delete Your System.”

The words haunt me even as I move to the audience chamber. I should be completing my last preparations, but there seems to be something that needs my attention every half hour.

Though this time, I’m smiling. Kellica’s arrived, and Wyonna’s already told me the good news. The Taken have gained full access to the Aetherium’s lost food stores.

Distributing food should be easy. Especially with Tipan and Wyonna working together to set up remote access nodes throughout the city. They won’t work as proper Nexus points, but they’ll let users access the city’s stores.

Which will be overflowing as soon as I finish conducting the official trade.

She’s waiting for me when I enter the room, and to my chagrin she start bowing the second I enter.

“Hey now, none of that,” I say, walking over to take her by the shoulders. She looks up and before she can say anything, I pull her into a hug. “Glad you’re okay.”

“Thank you, tel’thoni,” Kellica says, returning the hug with a weak hug. When we pull apart, her gaze only wanders to my hand for a second before her stance grows stiff. “Tel’thoni. I’m here in my official capacity, as a messenger from the K’mintar.”

“So Wyonna’s telling me. You’ve got food for us?” I reply, gesturing for her to follow me to a small room just outside the audience chamber. It’s just fancy enough to satisfy Wyonna and Tipan’s demands without being so over the top it hurts my eyes to look at. Unlike what they’ve done with the audience room.

Who needs that many rugs?

“Yes, the K’mintar has recovered access. We just need a few System confirmations to begin the transfer.”

“Uh…” I pause, not wanting to tell Kellica about my busted System.

“Tipan’s taking care of them with Ael’thani, I… may have wanted an excuse to talk to you in person,” Kellica says, taking a spot at the table. “I could use some advice.”

“Oh. Of course,” I say, taking a spot across from Kellica.

“I… the K’mintar’s been having the three of us doing things far beyond our training. But she’s had no choice. And now the K’mintar… the council weren’t the only ones hit. A twilight bomb crippled her. But she caught the K’tharn who planted it. It was an agent of minister Ylethen.”

“Uh,” I say, unsure of how to advise her, so I just squeeze her hand. If anything, I feel like I need to pass this information to the others. But Wyonna’s probably already compiled it into a report.

“You know, she spent almost half an hour laughing when she found out that Beth and Westley had so thoroughly ruined Ylethen’s plans to consolidate followers. She could’ve allowed our citizens access at any point,” Kellica snarls, still not looking at me. “She had almost started a riot, blaming them for their hunger. And then the great Lady shows up and just starts handing out food.”

At this, Kellica laughs. “How did you know, tel’thoni? How did you see her plans and dismantle them so perfectly?”

“I… didn’t. None of us did. We just… helped,” I reply, shrugging before giving her a small smile. “Guess that’s all it took.”

With a snort, Kellica leans back. “Sorry. I come asking for advice, then just start rambling.”

“I did note a lack of advice worthy questions,” I agree, nodding sagely.

There’s a moment of shared smiles, then Kellica shakes her head. “It wasn’t entirely silly. It gives context. The K’mintar. She wants to disband the Taken.”

“I… what?”

“The Aetherium is gone, in any meaningful capacity, anyway. And the Taken were created to serve it. So…” Kellica trails off, her upper eyes closed, and her breathing heavy.

“So?”

“So, tel’thoni. How do you think I should ask the Queen of this new nation to accept our broken order as her new vassals? Do you think she will have any use for a group of invisible spies secretly working to keep her people safe?” Kellica asks, her face finally breaking as a smile slips through.

It takes me a second, to fully process her request. And while I do smile, the first word out of my mouth is, “Nope.”

While it’s amusing watching the confusion flashing across Kellica’s face, I don’t let her suffer, continuing. “If you want to join our new kingdom, you are welcome. But have you met Wyonna? We really don’t need secret police. Still, I’m sure that if you’re keen to help, we can find something to keep you busy.”

Kellica smacks my hand, her own thudding off the metal it’s currently composed of. Then she laughs. After some unplanned negotiations, we end up in an unofficial alliance with the Taken.

A few hours later, and I receive word that Roberts has even succeeded in restoring the K’mintar.

I don’t have time to be there, as there’s an incident on the border of the city. Ylethen’s decided now’s a good time to demand entry.

When I appear on a nearby rooftop to take in the scene, I find Talkith’s waiting on the same roof.

“Queen Pandora,” Talkith says, nodding in my direction.

“Stormguard,” I reply, trying not to let my annoyance at her presence distract me. She’s been helping people, but she still decided to put us in shackles instead of working to stop all this. Not that I’m free of guilt. If I hadn’t chosen to go to the World Dungeon… but I didn’t expect it to get so bad.

Breaking free of my thoughts, I look down at where the minister is arguing with some poor K’tharn that Wyonna’s pressed into guard duty. I mean, they probably volunteered to help… but I doubt they imagined having to deal with the minister.

As I’m considering just teleporting Ylethen a few kilometers into space and leaving her there, Talkith blinks away in a flash of white light.

She appears next to Ylethen, and immediately the minister stops ranting at the guard, turning to Talkith instead.

“Ah, my friend. Please, you must talk some sense into these guards. They’re-“

“I have heard enough, Ylethen. This is a sovereign nation. Their rules are fair. If you wish passage to one of the lesser cities, you can join the others in the Northeast district,” Talkith says. Which prompts me to message Wyonna about the Northeast district. Which we’ve apparently designated for temporary sanctuary.

Huh.

I continue watching, but Ylethen is shut down so effectively, she has no choice but to fly away, returning to Betheryne. Minus most of her entourage, who end up getting recruited by Talkith’s promises of the Rabbit Queen’s grace.

Didn’t know I had that.

When word spreads, most of the remaining refugees end up making their way to us. It takes more than a few more days to get everyone safely settled, but we soon have most of Aethire housed within our walls, with only a token population remaining behind.

It’s… a lot. And there are fights between new powers under our lead and old K’tharn who believe they should be in charge just… because. But they failed Wyonna’s metrics, and have failed to prove they’re capable of actually leading.

So, instead of letting them continue shouting and possibly causing discord, we give them fancy sounding titles and aim them at each other. One of the western districts is dedicated to the art projects they’ve each been placed in charge of.

In the Rabbit Queen’s honor.

I’m not looking forward to having to judge their results every month.

Rufka’s friend opens a shop near my temple, as a favor to me. I was hoping her experiments would keep people away. Now she’s more popular than ever, and it would be hard for me to get any of her cheese if I wasn’t queen.

With the refugees secure, it’s almost time to snag the other cities.

Which means I’ve run out of excuses to put off deleting my System. Well. Except one. With everything in place, I’m working myself up to talk to Beth. I’ve been avoiding her for the last week, using my… everything as an excuse.

And I have been busy. Queening, isolating components of my interface — just in case — and doing my part for the other Sanctuaries. Fethix’s Facet cubes are all charged, and ready to be deployed, allowing us to split up to connect the cities even faster. I’ve even talked with Rufka… just in case things go wrong.

Still, I know I’ve been avoiding Beth. And I might have started without talking to her, but then Tipan asked me to speak to her.

Because she’s worried about her.

And now I feel like a complete jerk.

Beth’s been striving to help everyone since we arrived on Akilo. So what if she… if she killed some guy when she was a kid. That’s not who she is now. And so what if she was following me on… that day. That just means she saw my worst and was still there for me.

A knock on the door startles me out of my thoughts as I turn away from the window. With a thought, I reform the door so it’s no longer merged with the wall. I include an audible thunk to ensure Beth knows it's unlocked.

Beth pushes the door open, pausing in the doorway as I look at her carefully for the first time since… well since she first came back. Her posture is worse than Roberts’ was after he returned from the refugee camp.

“Hey kid. Wasn’t sure… didn’t think you were going to let me in,” Beth says, running a hand through her hair as she looks at the floor.

It’s like a stab to the gut. But I deserve it.

I try to apologize, yet I’m not sure what to say. ‘Sorry, I’ve been avoiding you, but I saw you kill a man when you were only a teenager. Oh, and I know you saw what I did to papa.’

Yeah…

“So, which one was it?” Beth asks, her voice barely audible, the light in the room nearly disappearing.

“Which what?” I ask, glancing at the clear sky outside as the light returns, squinting. Are the M’tari sending Dusk Athama?

Beth walks into the room, pushing the heavy stone door closed with a light thump. She sits on the edge of the table, looking up at me, her eyes sunken in a way that I didn’t think was possible with the System. “Which memory? Which one of my horrible decisions made it so you can no longer look me in the eye?”

At her direct callout, I force myself to meet her gaze. I can see water beading in the corner of her eyes. But her face is set, as blank as I’ve ever seen it.

“Travis,” I admit, my mouth getting tight.

Beth’s laugh is harsh and cutting, a single syllable of pain. Beth hangs her head, obscuring her features with her fiery hair.

I stand only a few metres away, waiting in silence, considering walking over and placing my hand on her shoulder.

Or pulling her into a hug.

“Figures.” Beth pulls her hair back, hard enough that several strands come out. “I can’t even explain that one away. It just… is. Well, at least you know.”

“Uh…”

“Do you remember that day, back in Lescado? When Josh went running? I remember you turning to Rufka, your heart in your throat. The panic in your voice rang so clear when you thought you were a monster. I didn’t understand that, you know? Still don’t. I was proud of you. Am proud of you. You’re better than I am. I can accept that. Makes me happy, really.”

“Just wish you didn’t know I was a monster. I don’t regret it. Any of it. But it was nice having you look up to me. Losing that… that’s what I regret.”

“It’s not like that-” I start.

Beth laughs that same laugh, and the room goes dark again, and I realize it’s not just the light, cause whatever’s happening is affecting my mana-sense too. Before I can think about it more, Beth continues, “Kid. I’d be shocked if you hadn’t lost your faith in me. Just… you know, I didn’t know I could still care about people. I wanted to blame it on the System. But I realized that’s not true. Went and let my walls down.”

“Uhm… okay?”

“Yep. Did I ever mention you’re the spitting image of my little sister?”

“You have a sister?” I ask, stepping closer to her.

“Molly,” Beth states, her eyes looking past me to the empty sky.

“I thought Molly was your cat.”

“Yeah. I lied. I do that.”

“So, how old is… Molly?”

“She was eight.” Beth says it flat, no emphasis or tears. Just a simple fact. One that feels like a blunt blade stabbing at my chest.

“Oh.”

“Yep. Best part? My fault. Three months before Travis showed up. He was my fault too.”

“Oh.”

“But why am I telling you. You can just peer into my mind and see all my worst secrets, can’t you? No need to change or become a better person. You can just see me for the monster I really am,” Beth gets off the table, marching toward me.

She grabs my lone hand.

For a fraction of a second, a tiny part of me is sure she’s going to lash out. But she just takes my hand and slaps it against her forehead.

“Go on then. Don’t take my word for it. See it for yourself. See how much of a monster I really am.”

“Beth, I don’t think-” I start but the room suddenly drops into complete darkness, causing me to jump.

“Do it!” she snarls, grinding my hand into her head. “See what I did to my own sister… See me!”

Gulping, I nod. I owe her this much. If she wants me to see a specific memory after all the memories that’ve been stolen… it’s the absolute least I can do.

But first I pull her into a hug. Then, embracing Twilight, I reinforce my tether enough to form the connection leading to Beth. One of the only things that hasn't been affected by my System's instability. I squeeze her tight, whispering in her ear. “I’m sorry. I was… scared. I shouldn’t have been. Sorry.”

There’s a flicker, as though Wyonna was walking through the room with her hair on full neon-sign mode. Except there’s nothing but darkness.

Light returns as I attempt to form the connection. But Beth’s not in front of me. She’s released me, and is staring down at me from above. I reach towards her with my left hand, but it’s sluggish.

I can hear her muttering to herself as my hand starts to dissolve into little blue sparks of mana, the words “No, no, no…” filling the otherwise silent room.

“Critical Failure. Connec- -oration program damaged. Unable- -nact Restoration. Pattern unab- -not stored in buffer."

Oh…

I forgot to cross my fingers.

5.41, The Darkest Update

5:11 pm, local time. (September 21, 2023, 11:11 pm.)

My body is slipping away, converting to base mana. Pretty sure you’re supposed to be dead before this happens. Even before the System came to Akilo this didn’t happen unless you were dead.

Which means this isn’t good. Reaching out with my mana-sense, I discover the problem. There’s nothing anchoring my mana to my body.

Minor inconvenience, that.

Pausing gives me time before my body is completely gone. At least my ability to stop time works.

Weird.

Huh. Both my arms are already gone. Looks like my left leg is following close behind.

Yeah. This is solidly in the ‘not good’ category.

When I slip into my soul-scape, I see that the System connections are steeped in black energy, literally tearing at my soul-scape. Am I being killed by the System?

Sheesh, impatient much? Okay, no big deal. Just separate myself from the System and I’ll be fine. Other than my missing limbs.

Survive first, Alexis. Figure out the rest later.

As I draw Facet together to begin my work, my mental space shakes, and I feel a tug from my bond. As much as I want to visit Smoulder and Uthica, now’s not the time, so I hold off. There’s a moment of confusion as I see Uthica ripping apart a Thenite with raw wind mana as she scrambles through bodies piled so deep the ground isn’t visible.

Then I’m back in the present.

I don’t know if I could’ve helped them, but it wouldn’t have been worth it if I’d died doing so. Instead, I return to my work, using Facet to make my first incision. I start by separating the fabric of my class from the System interface. Parts of the System end up shattering, little more than clutter within my mental space. But the spinning and tearing stops.

Several incisions later I’m forced to admit I'm not fast enough. I’m not going to have enough time. I need an anchor to keep my body from disappearing. I try to return to myself, but I’m blocked. There’s no way out of my soul-scape. Does that mean my body… no. I can still feel the mana around me. I just need to bind myself to... something. Something solid. The obvious choice is Smoulder.

Or more accurately, a statue of her. It’s practically zero effort to form one. And there’s tons of emotional resonance. Which… is probably important.

So, I create a web stretching across my soul-scape, anchored on the Seed which… was already disconnected from the System. That’s…

There’s a disruption when Beth leaves the room, the fact I can notice making me hesitate, but I feel my soul-scape crumbling. So, I ignore both Beth leaving and the Seed’s weirdness as I continue. Losing count of how many Smoulder statues I create, my soul-scape stabilizes. But now my mana-sense is blind.

Which is just another issue I don’t have time to address. So I push at my Facet to give myself more. And it responds, slowing the outside to a greater dilation than I've ever achieved before. Better than when the System first froze me in place.

While interesting, I have more urgent matters to address. It takes ages to work my way around each of the System connections, the dark energy tearing at me throughout. It seems familiar. Both like Beth's Umbra and the void of the mana-storms.

Maybe it is.

Hours of effort leave me with only a single connection to the System. Well, subjective hours. I’ve managed to bind my abilities to the seed. Or… I think I have. But the Seed isn’t the source of connection. A bond runs through my Cleaning skill. Cause unlike the rest of my interface, it’s completely free of the spinning void trying to destroy… everything?

Reaching toward my skill, the connection snaps, causing me to blink.

I… didn’t cut it.

But it did snap. The skill itself remains intact, yet the connection to the System is just… gone.

The moment I realize the connection is gone, my soul-scape heaves, contracting inward. I panic as my skills and abilities are compressed, everything rushing toward me. Then the Seed explodes, a wave of Twilight-tinged mana stretching out. It doesn’t stop the collapse, but instead of the initial chaos, everything starts folding inward neatly.

Seconds later and I’m left sitting in near darkness, the only light, a soft blue glow emanating from my not-body. My soul-scape is gone, and my attempt to return to reality elicits no response. It appears I’m trapped in my soul-scape. Or… maybe I’m in the Seed? The soft blue light is the only thing that lets me know I’m not lost in an infinite void.

Suddenly, a figure appears. It’s the Forerunner Theglia. But not like I last saw her. She’s transparent, her dark grey bark and blue eyes faded to only a fraction of their normal luster.

“Hello Forerunner. If you’re seeing this message, then something has gone wrong. You are suffering from mana poisoning but for some reason the System has abandoned you. I apologize. Without the System to regulate your mana, many unpleasant fates await you. There’s only one thing I can do for you. If you choose to end it, simply say the phrase, “From the End we Salute you.”

Ah. It’s a recording.

Damn. No help there.

Still, I don’t intend to give up. And I don’t feel like I’m in danger at the moment. In fact, I feel safe. Like I’m in a cocoon. Another point for being inside the Seed. Theglia’s image repeats her message three times before it disappears, leaving me alone to experiment. If she’s right, I’m going to need to manage my mana on my own now.

But everything feels stable.

So, I attempt to explore. Unfortunately, the inside of the Seed is empty, with nothing to be found. Which leaves me playing through my memories. Cuddling with Smoulder. Visiting aunt Sharon. Going swimming with mom when we played tag around the pool. Mom screaming at the lifeguard after I was reprimanded for running up the waterslide. Sab and I getting triple scoop icecream together, neither of us able to finish.

An afternoon on a hill outside of town with papa. Just the two of us, with a sled and the entire night to ourselves. With nothing else to do, I slip into the memory, enjoying an afternoon playing with my father. Near evening, as the sun began to set, a streak of light in the sky to the North. A shooting star.

A wish to be able to stay and sled with papa forever.

I didn’t get that wish.

I don’t know if that was the day I unlocked an ability to wield ice. But it was the night I discovered I could. It was such a simple thing too. Papa’s steps were too deep to follow as the snow continued falling, into the late evening. With a fit, I pushed and the snow answered, cleaving in two, leaving a clear path. Papa had been calm.

Or I hadn’t realized how nervous he was until now.

We had several months of training after that, though I considered it play time. Papa warned me not to tell mom. Which was easy. Even then, I knew better than to tell mom about anything fun. She’d already started to… deteriorate.

I continue watching the memories, working with papa until a month before the science fair. Then we receive a knock at the door. I was working on homework in the living room. Papa’s voice was hushed but I could make out the lady outside telling him she was here to see an Alexis.

Beth’s voice.

But papa told her that her paperwork wasn’t legitimate. That she wasn’t with the RCMP and she didn’t have jurisdiction here so she should go before he contacted the real police. Then once she was gone, he called Mr Thompson. Who actually was a detective with the Mounties. Not to report her though. Just to ask him over for game night.

She returned the next day when mom was home, papa gone out on an errand. I was watching TV, an old episode of a wacky bunny harassing a fumbling hunter.

Beth was promptly admitted to our home when she told mom that her daughter, little old me, had been seen causing a disturbance in the park. I was forced to apologize to Beth without even knowing what I’d been accused of. At the time I’d been focused on how unfair my mom was, but now I realize Beth was taking notes the entire time. And she had a large briefcase that she set next to me.

Beth’s words as she was saying goodbye to my mom float forward in this weird recollection I’m stuck in. “Thank you for your assistance. I’m sure she’ll be perfectly behaved in the future. Though I may have to take some precautions. You said your husband is rather involved in her life?”

“Yeah, spends more time with her than me these days. As if she’s worth it.”

Beth stares at mom, her hand clenching. “I imagine she has redeeming qualities.”

“She’s quiet, I guess.”

There's a long silence as Beth and my mom stare at each other. Then Beth gives me a nod, before saying, “Have a good night miss Everette. Thank you for your time.”

The next few days are a blur, papa and I working on my science project. Papa’s truck broke down the day before the science fair. So instead, we ended up taking mom’s car. I didn’t really think of it as mom’s car, but now I realize it had always been hers. Papa drove his old truck everywhere.

Even as the familiar cold descends, coating the road in ice, I watch with renewed interest. Beth is following us, but I can only catch glimpses of her in the side mirror. The back window is full of my science project. When I get out and throw my fit at the school, I see Beth’s car parked several blocks away, obscured by the other students and parents moving about. When papa drives away, I watch her car pull out and follow him as I complain to a nearby teacher.

I urge myself to turn around, to take one more look.

To my surprise, my view shifts.

Beth was furious. Her plans weren’t working as smoothly as normal. Something about the kid. That had to be why the truck the kid’s father normally drove broke down.

As they left the school behind, she glanced back. Yep, kid was glaring after them. Definitely wasn’t pleased about her father’s change in plans.

Not that Beth was either. This had been the day she was going to solve the kid’s problem. She needed him to stop so she could get the bomb out before it was discovered. She’d already sent the remote disable code, but it was better not to be sloppy.

She almost scoffed when she noticed him holding his phone up, texting as he drove.

A perfect excuse.

Speeding up, Beth prepared to give him the gentle nudge that would result in a fender-bender. Once he got out to argue over the insurance, she could-

His phone slipped, and he moved the wheel to catch it. Time seemed to slow down as Beth hit the brakes, bleeding speed quickly. The car in front of her didn’t.

It continued on its path, then as he recovered, she saw the wheels turn to the sides as he tried to adjust. But he was too late.

The little blue car slid along the icy road, smashing into the gnarled tree hanging over the intersection well above the posted limit of fifty kph. Beth pulled to a stop, watching as, of all people, the damn detective ran out of a nearby coffee shop towards the car.

Just what she needed. Beth got out of her car, running over. She was glad to see the detective on the phone. It meant she didn’t have to make the call. One less piece of data Mr Universe would need to clean up later. The man nodded to Beth when she approached.

He turned away from the cold wind as he talked into the phone, and that was when Beth kneeled down, reaching under the car’s running board.

The trigger detached. The little black box, a piece of tech so advanced she hardly understood it, dropped into her hand. She quickly stood, peering through the window. She was relieved to see the airbags had triggered. He even seemed to be breathing, so at least he hadn’t gotten himself killed.

“Don’t move him,” The detective warned her.

Beth nodded. She knew better. No fingerprints or DNA.

“Never seen a car crash before?” he asked.

Beth shook her head, faking a shiver and hiding her frustration.

“This isn’t… it could’ve been worse. At least Fred’s breathing,” the detective said.

“You know him?” Beth asked. Not that she needed the information. She’d been scouting the town long enough to know they shared a weekly game night. Darts and some sort of role-playing game. Seemed wasteful but she tried not to judge. She’d seen people with far more offensive ‘hobbies’.

Most of whom were dead now.

“Yeah. He’s a friend. Damn this weather, right?”

“Yeah,” Beth agreed with that. If not for the storm, maybe the truck would’ve been running and his wife would’ve taken the car. Or maybe he would’ve been able to recover from his fumble. Mr Universe had warned her there’d be strange activities around the kid. She still wasn’t sure if the storm had been the kid, but if it had…

Well, that’s why she was keeping the kid at arm's length. She was already too... invested.

Beth glanced down at the unconscious man, frustration flaring. She’d have to hold off on killing the mother now. She couldn’t take away both the kid’s parents. Not unless she wanted to step in.

And that would be worse for the kid.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t be long until he recovered.

I finally release the mental shift, and my memory continues through the rest of the lonely night. But I pull out of that as well.

Well, I guess I know the truth now. Beth’d been trying to kill mom. Pretty sure I should feel more upset about that but… I’m honestly more pissed Papa was on his phone while driving. And that she wasn't able to... magic him back or something. Or… I don’t know.

Emotions are stupid, and it’s not exactly easy to pick them apart.

I've never felt the need to blow something up as much as I do right this moment. But I’m still stuck inside the damn Seed with nothing but my memories and the faint blue light glowing from within.

Which means I need to find a way out. I don’t know how long I’ve been here. Maybe I’m not supposed to be here, and getting locked inside was an accident? Or maybe this is a side-effect of my attempt to keep everything?

Time to explore.

I don’t seem to have access to any of my mana-senses, and there are no tendrils to manipulate.

But I’m able to move my consciousness. You’d think I wouldn’t be able to tell if I was moving, but the blue glow doesn't follow me, allowing my consciousness to draw away from my body. Before I run out of light, I bump into something.

A wall of darkness stretches in every direction. Following it reveals that it curves gently. The wall doesn’t respond to any of my attempts to shift it, remaining unbending no matter how hard I throw myself at it. Nor do I bend in turn.

At least I can’t be injured.

The wall isn't smooth, numerous deep valleys and jagged ridges interrupting my journey. They’re enough to start mapping out the dark interior of the Seed.

An indeterminate amount of time later, I’ve travelled the entirety of the shell holding me in. It seems to be mostly spherical, with an elongated top. Not certain it’s the top given the lack of anything resembling gravity, but having a reference helps ground my explorations. It feels as though I’ve been here for… a long time.

Much longer than it would’ve taken to be Restored, even if that didn’t seem to be off the table with the loss of my System.

I’ve played through more memories. Nothing revolutionary, though it’s impressive how often Beth was there. A face in the distance, showing up once every few months, there for a week then gone again.

I’d even met her several more times, though she’d been in disguise. If not for my intimate familiarity with her now, and the ability to suddenly jump into her thoughts, I’d have had no idea it was her.

She didn’t even use magic. Just makeup, wigs and other props.

Creepy, but impressive.

As I start another tour of the shell, the valleys come more frequently. They’re in the same locations relative to before. But they’re closer together. Is the sphere shrinking? I complete a trip around the sphere twice, but this time it remains consistent.

What’s changed. Is it just my perception?

Trying to change how I look at things, I keep trying to picture things differently, but it’s about as effective as wishing that Smoulder was back. Deciding to take a break, I start going through my first memories on Akilo. My discovery of magic. Meeting Smoulder at the spring. Waking up alone outside the church after the others had been captured.

After playing through the last memory, I return to my glow-self to repeat my attempts. Only to discover the sphere’s shrunk again.

Wait. Does replaying memories cause the sphere to shrink. This time I skip back to shortly after Sab got her kitty Meow-meow and the subsequent search for her throughout Sab's basement.

Returning, I inspect everything around me carefully. No apparent change. Next, I replay a memory of my mom cooking pasta with green noodles and sauce because I was upset with the colour yellow. In my defence I was a toddler at the time. The memory is actually new to me. Mom’s patience when I make a face at the green pasta is amazing.

Still no change to the darkness though.

I’m not sure it’s helping, but I can’t help but go back into my deeper memories of mom again. There are times spent cuddling on the couch, watching TV together. Playing tag in the yard. Building pillow forts.

Where did this woman go?

But as I watch my memories, I realize when it started. When papa lost his old job. Her and papa are fighting more and more as he’s unable to find work that pays as well. Then mom gets a job. But something happens at work. Mom leaves the house for a week, going to her friend’s.

A phonecall to pick her up from the casino.

I stop watching, returning to the dark sphere.

For a minute I forget about leaving. I just sit there processing the change in my mom. Trying to understand how it all went so wrong. It just doesn’t seem right that she changed because of money. It’s so… basic.

But as I look over my memories again and again. It really does seem like… she just gave up.

Finally, I stop looking through my memories and look around. Even after all that, the Sphere hasn’t changed. Clearly, it’s not waiting on me to discover some hidden truth involving my mom.

Which means it’s something else. Moving through my memories, forward in time, it’s only when I play through the memory of opening the Forerunner Initiative’s letter that something changes. The sphere of darkness begins to crack. It’s so pronounced that I notice it even as I’m replaying the memory.

When I come out of my memory to throw myself at the cracks, they don’t shift. I’m still locked inside.

So, I return to the memory. As I get closer and closer to when I fell asleep, the cracks grow wider.

Then a memory I definitely don’t recall starts playing itself. A woman in white stands before me, in an empty grey sphere, her eyes an empty black as she looks at me. Why do I feel like I know this woman?

And why do I know her name is Odeon?

5.42, New Game Plus

A note from Draith

edits to 5.37, 5.38

5.37, Lexi sees how much she's improved after Tipan's healing in Wyonna's scans.

Wyonna has two sets of my vitals on display, showing the old version where I was still mostly intact next to the current mess. Next to it is an image of me. I'm looking a lot better than I realize. The hole in my cheek is gone, and my hair looks... I think it looks better than it used to. In fact, I realize that the statues I was so critical of would no longer be embellishments.

Though Wyonna does have a much more complex design in place of the stub where my arm was. Looking at the smooth stub, I realize that all Tipan's healing has been far more effective than I was giving it credit for. Other than the slight distortion of my eye, I... I almost look normal.

Vaus, forget normal. I almost look as badass as Beth.

With a small smile tugging at my lips, I turn back to Wyonna's displays. Still have that whole System breakdown to worry about. One part of the display highlights the connections with my class, each of which is severed. With a single exception.

5.38

“Hmm. I suppose.” I pause, tapping my thigh as I consider how to phrase my next question.

“What are you doing her, father?” Tipan asks, beating me to it.

“I…” Talkith pauses, looking around us again. Her eyes are narrowed as she looks over the K’tharn who even now keep a respectful distance. Then she lets out a load sigh. “I have come to do what I can for our people, Tipan. As always. No matter how much I have failed, I will not forsake my duty.”

“Yeah. Guess we all underestimated how quickly the M’tari would escalate,” I say,

“No. It… the council were the ones to make the war official. There is madness there. And were I a better K’tharn, I would cut it out,” Talkith says, her eyes lingering on Tipan. Then she places her hands on the hilts of her swords and turns to me. “Queen Pandora. The Stormguard stand ready to assist. While we answer to no government, we will work to see our people to safety. If you will grant it.”

Well. There’s the sort of response I was hoping for when the minister of Relations showed up.

“Still can’t believe you threw your own daughter in irons,” I say, shaking my head. “But I know I won’t hold that against the people of the Aetherium. I said we’d help however we could. And we will.” I pause, as a thought crosses my mind, and I don’t bother to hide my smirk. “Though you’ll need to listen to Tipan. I might wear the crown, but she’s just as important. And better at the logistics.”

“Of course she’ll listen,” Baska says, her respect for our privacy having apparently run out. “And if she doesn’t, I’ll remind her.”

I blink at Baska, but then look to Tipan, who gives me a small nod.

“This doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you, father,” Tipan says, the gems in her staff flaring for a second. “But as Alexis said, we will do this for our people.”

“Oh. One more thing,” I say, glancing in the direction of Betheryne. “Since we’re not exactly welcome, can you send a message to our companions. Wyonna will send you the details.”

“It can be arranged. I would like to visit more of… your people," Her gaze turns outward for a moment before snapping back to me. "But I’ll send a flier.”

Tuesday, June 27, 2023. The day I left Earth.

“Greetings Citizen Pandora.” A deep smooth voice says. It seems familiar, but at the same time I can’t place it. The empty room doesn’t give me many hints either.

“Uh hi?” I hear myself greet the voice, my past self blinking vigorously against the bright light shining in her face. She’s as confused as I am.

“I hope you will forgive me for this intrusion. It’s not often I need to act directly. But the System alerted me to the nature of your Matrix.”

“I don’t understand. Where'd the map go? Is this part of the game?” My other self asks, the blurry form making a motion with their hand and finally shifting into focus in front of her… me… whatever.

“No, I’m not part of a game. My name is Odeon.”

My past-self shields her eyes and squints. Odeon’s resemblance to the mad-elf I saw when I gained my class is striking. I know I’ve heard of Odeon before, but I can barely remember. In appearance, the only difference between her and the mad elf are her empty black eyes and a slightly rounder face. Her ears are just as sharp though.

“Are you an elf?” My past-self asks.

“No. But it’s a better comparison than god. Despite what my siblings may say.”

“Wait? You’re a god?” Rubbing my eyes, my past self squints at the ‘elf’.

The elf sighs, her wings heaving as she says, “That was my own fault, wasn’t it? No, I’m not a god. I’m just a mortal creature, like you.”

“Yeah. You don’t look like a god. More like an elf-angel hybrid, maybe.” My past self paces around the elf, inspecting her plumage.

“It’s not important,” Odeon says, turning to follow past-me as I walk around her.

“Can I choose elf-angel as my avatar? That’d be sweet. Also, why am I talking so much? I never talk this much.”

“No. I don't know. Listen… forget it. I don’t even know why I’m talking to you; you’re not going to remember anyway.”

“Wait, what?" my previous self asks, her mouth hanging open. "You’re going to wipe my mind? What sort of men in black game design is that?”

“No one's erasing anything. I’m just setting up a safety protocol. And part of ensuring it works means keeping this memory contained.”

“Wait. Why are you setting up a safety protocol?” There’s a quiver in my past self’s voice that makes me want to reach out and hug her. Even though I’m inside her.

“Because you are dangerous. Possibly too dangerous. But I’ve never been one to strip a user’s abilities away simply because of the threat they may pose. So, I’m setting something in place to keep you from destabilizing spacetime.”

“Uhh. Don’t suppose you could run that by me again. You’re going to keep me from doing what?”

“Limiters. On your powers.”

“Are you sure this isn’t part of the game? Feels like part of a game.”

Odeon doesn’t respond, her eyes flickering back and forth but otherwise remaining still.

“Right. I’m just going to… stand around doing nothing, I guess.” Feeling the hunching of my shoulders, and the way I’m curled in on myself, I again feel an instinctive need to give past me a hug.

“Oh. Oh, that’s… that’s interesting. You’ve been registered with the System for… over six-hundred years. That can’t be right. Oh, your matrix. Of course,” Odeon mumbles before looking up and seeing my past-self huddling. “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s been a long time since I’ve interacted with regular people.”

“It’s fine,” past-me says, shrugging it off and forcing a fake smile on her face I was far too familiar with before I came to Akilo. “But maybe you can explain what you mean?”

Odeon shifts, her black eyes glowing several different shades of blue before nodding. Her appearance in that moment is oddly reminiscent of Theglia.

I can't help but think neither would appreciate the comparison.

“Very well," Odeon says, explaining what I might encounter on the new world to past me as I struggle to remember… remember what?

As Odeon explains the System, Attributes and even Facet to past-me, I can’t help but feel frustrated it was all laid out for me then sealed away.

“Sab is going to be so jealous when I tell her about all this,” past-me exclaims as Odeon shows her how to channel mana.

Odeon raises an eyebrow but doesn’t deign to respond. It’s in this moment that I remember that Odeon’s a Creator. She’s the one that Demo’s always using in his curses.

Welp, that’s wonderful. Personal attention from a Creator. And she sealed my abilities in a box. Except… that means I’m supposed to be even more powerful? That can’t be right.

“Wait. I’m not going to be able to show this to anyone. You said I’m going to forget all about it.”

“Probably, yes.”

“Should’ve just stood around doing nothing. Knowing I’m going to lose...” Past me gestures with a ball of fire, then lets it flicker out. “Well, I guess that’s about on par for the day, really.”

“Oh, you’ll get your little ball of fire back soon enough. In fact, if the System’s correct, you’ll be one of the most talented mages to come out of your planet’s Integration.”

“Well, that’s cool. Am I going to be able to call lightning, like Storm?”

“Among other things, yes. Now, I should get back to work. The longer I’m here, the more of a delay before you wake up and discover your new powers.”

“Right, right. Sorry.” Past me floats the little ball of fire around, barely large enough to see. “So cool,” she whispers to herself as Odeon’s eyes continue to flash blue in the background.

Past-me doesn’t seem to notice, but when she whispers, Odeon’s eyes stop flashing for a second as she turns her gaze on past-me with a small smile. The first smile I’ve seen since she’s arrived.

“Oh. There’s another pesky little modification tucked away in here. Hmm. Best to just… yes, slowly allow her to be unshackled. My brother really needs to stop trying to steal people’s toys,” Odeon mutters in a voice low enough that I don’t know if my past self heard her. My past self certainly doesn’t respond. Odeon returns to her work for a few more seconds until her eyes stop flickering and she says, “well, that’s that. Take care of yourself, and good luck.”

Before my past self can respond, Odeon closes the box.

In response, the memory starts to tremble, my soul-scape in danger of collapse. I start scrambling to reinforce it, but whatever she did has destroyed the underlying structure.

There’s nothing left to reinforce.

So, I start trying to build a new framework. Of everything I've tried so far, the soul-scape seems to respond better using things that are important to me. So, I try to assemble a foundation from my magic. I spend several long minutes, trying to build it up. But it fails, my soul-scape continuing to crumble.

As it crumbles it gets harder to concentrate, memories flashing into my mind as though I were reliving them with no awareness of my present peril. It’s not until I come face to face with the Ugly tree that I’m able to concentrate again.

I lash myself to the Ugly tree, ordering my thoughts. Once I have the first of my thoughts in order, I secure more memories to the tree. But I can feel myself filling with guilt, dread and self-loathing.

The tree is solid, but it's a poisonous anchor. It’ll spell my doom as surely as having none.

So, I start searching for other memories. Places with strong visual and emotional connections.

The backyard behind our house — a frozen image of papa in his chair on the back porch — becomes my second image. It draws me out of the downward spiral, but I’m unable to attach any of my memories or skills.

It’s only once I move to Akilo I find a place that serves properly. The Smoulder-themed temple I crafted. Not the one they made for me. The first one I made with her back in our first dungeon. My fourth is Rufka’s cabin. Not Genitha’s. It’s the same but different. Not cluttered with Genitha’s debris, but Rufka’s instead.

Still a mess though.

Fastening my memories in place, I discover a problem. They’re floating disconnected. There’s nothing unifying them. This is emphasized when my thoughts jump around, disconnected until focus returns.

I try using Twilight, but it only connects memories by theme. It refuses to serve as the greater connection.

Thinking desperately, I attempt to Pause, needing to buy more time.

It works.

My crumbling soul-scape freezes in place, the disparate portions no longer careening toward each other. My thoughts become clear as well. They’re no longer scattered fragments.

And I understand what unifies everything.

It’s… my perspective and understanding. The very real way that my memories are connected to me, and I am to them.

Drawing my Facet from where it’s been pooling at the centre of my soul-scape, I begin weaving it through my soul-scape, creating a foundation of connections from memory to memory, thousands of lesser memories filling the space between the ones I’ve chosen as pillars. I imbue everything with a proper understanding of when as well as why. How and what are already provided. The where, just as much so.

As I shift my mental constructs, there’s a new problem. I don’t have enough major images to keep everything connected and stable. I need more. So, summercamp with Sab is incorporated. As is the village Uthica grew up in. Neither is enough on their own, but together they help create a balance.

It’s only as they’re all shifting into place that the shaking of my soul-scape starts to ease. What would’ve happened if I’d failed?

Luckily, I don’t know. If I’m truly lucky, I’ll never find out.

Attempting to open my eyes, I discover that while the darkness has cracked and sloughed away from the shell imprisoning me, I’m still stuck inside the Seed. And it would appear it’s a literal seed. I can make out forms moving beyond my now transparent and obviously egg-shaped prison.

I try to yell out, but I’m unable to form any words. I have no idea if slamming my body into the walls has any effect. Especially since I hardly have enough room to move, the Seed having shrunk again. Or maybe I’ve grown. Either way, I fill the Seed… or maybe egg? Whichever, I fill it completely at this point.

Since I don’t grow tired, I continue trying to escape. To get their attention. My tendrils of Facet are constrained, unable to pass through. As are my attempts to wield mana. Yet I continue to work, occasionally throwing myself against the egg-seed to test it as shapes come and go, the light growing dark then light again for over thirty cycles. I try to watch them, but there’s nothing but the barest of movement discernable.

So, I turn to runes. For once I’m thankful for my missing enchanting skill. Never once was it consolidated by the System. Every memory I have of it remains at my disposal. Can’t take away what it never gave me.

Eventually, I manage to link myself to the shell with an intricate working of Twilight, reinforced by several Integration points worth of Essence. Well, intricate for me. It's probably incredibly basic to Rufka, Fethix or… hundreds of other enchanters. Still, it's working. Mostly. With the limited ability to decipher stimuli, I get my first real observation of the outside world.

The room is empty, save for a large number of statues shaped like Smoulder. In fact, they look suspiciously similar to the anchors I used in my early attempt to save my soul-scape. I watch the room for a full day, based on the brightening and darkening of the entrance, but no one comes. It seems I’m going to need to get myself out of here.

Since I’ve figured out how to get sight working, it stands to reason there must be a way through the shell. I just need to adjust my methods to allow me to use Facet instead of light.

Another cycle passes as I work, barely aware of the outside, my attention focused on the runes. As the cycle changes once more, the fading light barely illuminating the chamber, I complete my adjustments.

I feed an infinitesimal amount of Facet through the shell, creating a connection to the outside. This seems to be a trigger. My Facet suddenly snaps against the shell, causing the transparent barrier to crack. Several repetitions later, I manage to break the shell completely.

Staggering forward, I collapse to the floor. I fail to catch myself, my magic sputtering from disuse, my right hand still missing and my left insufficient for the task on its own.

Pulling myself up, I crawl forward, following the stairs leading to the light above.

I reach the surface. Above, a starry sky greets me. For a moment I think I’ve returned to Earth. But then I spot Ukila.

It hangs there, surrounded by stars I shouldn’t be able to see. Stars that were locked away hundreds of years ago. There are voices in the distance. Unfamiliar voices of K’tharn in the distance.

And one familiar voice.

Allowing myself to sink down before rolling onto my back, I stare up into the starry sky taking a deep breath.

Still don’t know where I am. But I’m alive.

That’s a win.

There’s a growing sense of peace from within, and I realize I still have the Seed within me as a purring sound fills my ears with… not quite notifications.

“System Reconstruction Ready to commence.”

“Reconstruction templates unlocked: Void Cataclysm Lotus, Radiant Cataclysm Lotus, Cataclysm Yggdrasil Sapling, Gaia’s Cataclysm Oakling, Cataclysm Paradox.”

Then, with the warm voice still resonating in my ear, a soft nose pushes against my cheek. A feeling of smug satisfaction passes through mine and Smoulder's bond as she vibrates against my face.

Definitely a win.

A note from Draith

Imagine getting to this point, and then having to wait an entire month before the next chapter. What sort of monster would do that? Not me!

Well, whenever this goes to Kindle... they're probably gonna have to wait two months. So...

Okay, so maybe me.

But I'm not doing it to you! In fact, there will be free epubs on my discord well before that day comes.

As for the moment, there are two short epilogue chapters in the next six hours and then we're continuing at the reduced, but slightly more sane, rate of 1 chapter per day. Doesn't seem as bad now, right?

(This might increase to 2/day if editing/writing of the rest of the story proceeds apace, but I don't want to promise that yet)

Thanks for reading, commenting, rating, following, favoriting, reviewing and binging. We're officially like 62% of the way through TFI's first major arc.

...

I may have a werds problem.

Oh, also, thank you for the amazing review Celivalg

See you in the next one!

5.43, A Missing Thiani

A note from Draith

Minor edit to 5.23

5.23, Expanded the exit scene from the dungeon a smidge.

Having visited Smoulder's not-remains, we leave.

The halls are empty as we make our way out. There’s no sign of the Queen’s Knights who are supposed to keep the halls secure. There’s no sign of Ael’thani or Kellica either. Or any other other K’tharn for that matter. Honestly, considering what we went through to get inside, leaving is almost disappointing. We don’t even get a little commemorative plaque for finishing the dungeon.

Then again, it is the middle of the night.

5:12 pm, local time. (September 21, 2023, 11:12 pm.) A minute after Alexis’ body faded into glowing blue dust.

Rufka stormed into the room, able to feel something pulling her forward. Like one of her mum’s spells, that guided her to a buried trap. Except she knew this was Lexi.

And that Lexi needed her.

When she entered the same room she’d left Lexi to eat her second dinner in, she found it… shattered was the best word she could use. Looking at the cracks running through the stone, the window, and even the fruit, Rufka paused.

Had Lexi been experimenting again? No. She’d promised she’d tell her first. And she’d kept her word the last couple weeks, always making sure Rufka was near, even when she poked at her broken System.

So what?

Rufka turned as Beth charged in with Westley right behind her. Rufka’d always been amused how often Lexi would correct herself while they were in private, first saying Roberts, then Westley. Shaking her head with a smile, Rufka noticed Beth was pointing at the spot the pull was tugging Rufka towards.

“There, she was right there!” Beth screamed in a tone Rufka wasn’t familiar with. It seemed especially high-pitched for the human.

“Beth, I don’t see any…”

Rufka stepped closer to the pull, kneeling down and running her hand through the space. There was… a snag. Or hiccup, as her thiani might say. Rufka smiled for a second before turning to find Beth and Westley standing over her.

“I… I think it’s my fault,” Beth said, her eyes unfocused.

It had been amusing to Rufka when Lexi did that. Cause she’d usually come back with some sort of rant or babble after. But seeing Beth do it caused something in her gut to shift sideways.

“What is your fault?” Rufka asked slowly, feeling a gentle tug from the connection, which seemed to have gotten caught in her hand. And a sudden wave of affection, as if Lexi were trying to tell her everything was alright. Rufka returned the affection, pushing as best she could.

“I… I think I killed Lexi. With my…” Beth trailed off, her eyes shifted to take in the rest of the room. Avoiding the spot where the tug came from, Rufka noted.

“She’s not dead,” Rufka stated. Despite the emptiness that rose inside her at the thought of another dead thiani, Rufka knew it wasn’t what had happened this time. She didn’t understand how the pull told her that, but she knew it was telling her Lexi was alive.

“Listen. I was here. I watched it. My Umbra. I lost control, Rufka. It… it tore her apart,” Beth said, her pale green eyes finally meeting Rufka’s own lower eyes.

“Perhaps she will be Restored,” Westley suggested, though Rufka noticed how he stepped away from Beth and kneeled beside where Lexi had apparently been turned to blue.

Rufka didn’t respond.

She didn’t think she could trust herself to. Even though she could feel Lexi, Lexi felt… distant. And if Beth had destroyed her body, with the state Lexi’s System was in… and Lexi wasn’t able to Restore herself. Well, Rufka knew many methods of punishing people. Even people as dangerous as Beth.

But Lexi wouldn’t want that.

Instead, unable to help herself, Rufka growled out, “Vaus-tainted Zebian-fucker. When I get her back, you better stay away from her.”

Beth’s eyes seemed to narrow for a second as she met Rufka’s glare. But then she turned away as Westley stood up. “What did you do, Beth? Exactly?”

As Beth described her apparent loss of control, and the way that her Umbra was leaking out in an aura of thinly constrained destruction, Rufka returned her main focus to her hand. She flexed it, and concentrated on the feeling of her thiani. Another pulse of affection hit her.

“Where are you Lexi?” Rufka asked, running her hand through the snag. It seemed to stick to her hand, and once more she felt that burst of affection. And… maybe… something more?

As Rufka closed her eyes, she realized she could almost see Alexis, lying on the ground, Smoulder at her side as she stared up at Ukila.

And the stars that surrounded Akilo’s sister planet.

Rufka looked at where the snag had been again. A shudder went through her as a thought struck her.

“When are you?”

5.44, Exception Error

Pelsiar, in his duty as the Primary System Research Agent for Sector MWVAE, watched his interface update as a new notification from System Primary Nexus Outpost MWVAE-22009- Monocerotis Station came in. The priority target located within the Local Isolation Screen had been terminated.

Bringing up the report, Pelsiar frowned, his tendrils drooping as he read it.

A class-3 exception error. Deletion of the subject despite them having purchased the Restoration ability. The local System had sent a full analysis of the event. Inevitable deterioration after direct exposure to the core of a spatial rift during a mana-storm.

Pelsiar gurgled in frustration. If he hadn’t chosen to visit sector MWVAE-20 before coming to sector MWVAE-22 he’d have arrived in time to stabilize the anomaly. This was what the Spatial regulation improvements he’d advocated for were supposed to prevent.

Still, he couldn’t be blamed for a sapient throwing themselves into a mana-storm. Not even if it had been his idea to implement the Spatial VEX-332 procedure. It had been a space-time matrix. Not implementing such a restriction would’ve meant it could’ve been gone by the time he got there. And he’d convinced that fool, Trokk Elnite, to issue it, so his tendrils were clean.

Besides, the stop at MWVAE-20 had provided him with a truly rare specimen for his collection. More important than a mere matrix, he reminded himself.

It had also allowed him to enlist several of the locals for his research team. And now he wouldn’t give them to Trokk.

Slithering away from the deep-space Ripple-wave communicator, Pelsiar considered examining his latest specimen. He had the time now. And it was so rare to come across one that didn’t kill themselves on System contact.

A blaring alarm caused Pelsiar to turn back to the communication pod. He oozed his way over to the console, staring at the new notification. It appeared the System had designated the anomaly’s species as a soon to be integrated-elvenoid.

Pelsiar gurgled in excitement. The user’s home System was expected to reach a minimum of class 5. And while there were bids for the planet's future, he could pre-empt them if there was sufficient reason. And according to the information he was looking at, their species hadn’t just had the one anomaly. There were three other prime matrices all borne within the same species. Not as unique as the anomaly, but still worth studying.

Pelsiar’s excitement was dampened when he read the accompanying note from Trokk. The thlock-head wanted Pelsiar to travel to this… Earth and secure it in the name of Menas. Immediately.

Rolling his eyestalks in amusement, Pelsiar sent a confirmation to Trokk. Then he sent another message to his true patron, the Creator Doloth. Pelsiar had been elevated by Doloth directly. A fact that would’ve caused jealousy amongst the other agents if Doloth wasn’t a god who preferred his privacy.

Doloth responded in a matter of seconds. He’d approved Pelsiar’s request. Pelsiar gurgled in satisfaction as the System informed him the bidding had been suspended. Earth had been reclassified as a research sanctum. Until such time as Pelsiar was finished with it, it would be off-limits.

And Trokk wouldn’t even be able to complain. Once the research sanctum classification was lifted, the planet would be under Menas’ protection, just as Trokk wanted. As the ship adjusted course for this ‘Earth’ Pelsiar considered his options. He’d have plenty of time before they arrived. It was rather far out, and not encompassed in mana yet, which would slow down the final leg.

Shivering to himself, he decided to indulge. Pelsiar slithered down the hall, pulling himself into the test chamber where he’d left his specimen.

The Phothen stared at him, her crystal blue eyes tracking his movements as he retrieved his tools from his dimensional storage. He laid them out next to him as he prepared. He disliked accessing his storage while working. It was important to set things in order. To be clean.

He turned back to the Phothen, gauging the colour of her fur. “Hmm. Alsik-three. To preserve the coat.”

“Disable subject Phothen-two’s pain receptors.”

The Phothen started shaking and pulling at their bonds when he approached, ready to cut. Then she suddenly went slack. Pelsiar nodded in satisfaction as he reached out to cut.

Then the Phothen melted, her body turning to a brown sludge that stuck to everything.

Pelsiar cursed his luck. He should’ve started while she’d still been unconscious instead of giving her time to come to her senses. Ah well, it wasn’t his fault. Clearly, she’d been better prepared than he’d expected.

As Pelsiar scrubbed the annoying brown sludge on his fingers, he consoled himself with the fact that he had billions of new test subjects waiting. And they’d be much easier to deal with than a Phothen. He was sure of it. And Pelsiar was never wrong.

…

Well, not twice.

Then he noticed the brown sludge was eating into his deck platings. Despite all the enchantments that should have prevented such a thing.

As the liquid tore through the delicate mechanisms of his ripple-drive, Pelsiar drew a tentacle across his belly in frustration. A second before the drive went critical, erasing him from local space, he had one last thought.

He really hated Phothens.

A note from Draith

Okay. Official end of book 5.

If you've made it this far, and haven't dropped a rating yet, please do so. As of writing this author's note only 10.5% of followers have rated. That's... shockingly low. For reference, the original is closer to 30%.

Also, there's a discord.

Anyway,

Thanks for reading, see you in the next book. Which starts posting tomorrow.

6.00, Moment of Quiet

7:13 am, local time, only three days after Uthica left a letter beneath a certain old temple. (January 11, 1512)

The scent of Frostblossom tea filled the tent as Uthica looked over her latest designs, hoping to find inspiration buried within. But no matter how she shifted them, there was no solution. No way to deal with a weapon that ignored Copper-rank defenses.

She let out a sigh as she received her tea from her lieutenant. An eager young warrior who shared her soul-sister’s name. Lexica was smiling as Uthica took her tea. Uthica kept her nod professional as she stepped to the entrance of her tent. Taking a slow sip, she looked over the small camp that had sprung up over the last few days.

Thankfully, the Aetherium was stable and there were no emergencies. Because as much as they’d prepared to forge deep into the uncharted lands of the western continent, she hadn’t been planning to stake camp for over a week.

There hadn’t been any warning. Smoulder had simply stopped traveling with them, suddenly claiming a hill and refusing to move far beyond it. It had forced the expedition to a halt, but they’d adapted. Uthica had refused to abandon her friend. And no one was surprised she’d stopped when they’d seen what laid beneath the hill.

Even now, she found it amusing that the closest thing she had to a real pet was her soul-sister’s bonded. While her father had gained his system as her pet, she hadn't taken another. As she took another sip, she spotted her father below, making his way across the field from the hill where Smoulder still sat.

As she savored the flavor of her tea, Uthica frowned. She missed the teas her father normally brought with them, but those had been destroyed by a rampaging herd of thubbles. The herbivores wouldn’t have been much of a threat to them, but her father had been sorting his teas and left them in camp while they were scouting the river further west. He had more of course, but they wouldn’t do much good a continent away. It was annoying that the System wouldn’t allow teleportation across oceans.

“Daughter,” Pern said, nodding his head in her direction as he drew close. Even now, it spurred shared pride when Uthica noted the others in their camp offering him deference. She suspected she’d never stop feeling that satisfaction.

“Father, how was your visit with the statues? Have they told you their secret purpose yet?” Uthica asked, smirking at him while nodding at the hill.

“There are more of them. Again,” he said, shaking his head. “At this rate, the hill’s going to be replaced by little stone statues.”

“Any word from your architects? Have they found a site for your Academy?” Uthica asked, turning away from the hill and the subject as she took a sip of her tea.

“They have. There are a few candidates, but I’m leaning towards the isle of Stubborn Ash. It has the stability and meets the Mana-requirements, but more importantly, it’s isolated and beautiful,” Pern replied, halting next to her and glancing at her cup.

“There’s more inside. Are you certain you want to put your Academy on an island with an active volcano?” Uthica asked, her eyes looking east as though she could spot the distant isle.

“Bah, you know it’ll be as stable as anywhere else on Akilo with proper enchantments. Is this the Frostblossom?” Pern asked as he poured himself a cup.

“Hmm.” Uthica confirmed with a nod.

“Ah. Much better than the sea swallow.”

“Hmm. It should be. Took a week to dry it properly,” Uthica replied as her eyes moved back towards the west. And her current problem. It was almost a blessing that she only had one.

“Quest: The Way Above. Find Nexus point 704, located within the shadow of Wyrda’s rift. Rewards: Ten Copper-Rank Integration Points. Unlocks Quest, The Silver Ascendant.“

Unless she was mistaken, this would allow her to break through into the Silver tier.

A bump against her ankle made Uthica look down. Smoulder was sprinting down the hill, a familiar package hanging from her mouth.

“Is that…” Uthica started, squinting as her vision focused on the bag. It was. “That’s the last of the Frostblossom.”

“What?” Pern said, looking up from his own cup of the tea before seeing where Smoulder was charging off towards the hill. “Vaus take her, she knows how hard that was to dry properly.”

“It seems she wants us to investigate the hill again,” Uthica said, chuckling as she took another sip of her tea while her father chased after the mana-hare.

She handed the cup to the nearby lieutenant before turning to follow herself. It was time to see what new mischief Smoulder was up to.

A note from Draith

Okay, so, two chappies today. This one is early, and the second will be in two hours, which will be the regular posting time going forward.

Also, thank you to... RoyalEclipse, TransrealClouden, AxisArk, BenevolentChaos, Nemo Consequentae and Johan Persson, for the amazing reviews.

Wow, that's a lot of reviews.

If you don't want to leave a review yourself, going and give these guys some love is a great way to share your opinion without having to figure out the words.

6.01, A Really Early Start

7:24 am, local time. (January 11, 1512)

The stars above are foreign, but seeing Ukila hanging in the sky assures me I remain on Akilo. I gather Smoulder in my arms, basking in her presence alongside the early morning light. As Smoulder purrs against my chest, a whiff of something fruity draws my attention. Next to us is a spilled bag of crushed leaves, which seems to be the source of the scent. Looking around, I spot a nearby grove of trees, the nearest boughs pushed up against the crude building I crawled out of. They’re bent in such a way as to suggest the trees were here first, and the building rose in their midst.

“Smoulder! Where have you run off to, you little rascal,” a familiar voice calls from above, obscured by the thick wavy grass. There’s a quarter of a second where my heart catches, as the feeling reminds me of hearing papa call for me. But while the feeling is the same, the source is different.

His voice sounds off, the pitch lower than I’m used to, yet I’m certain it’s Uthica’s father, Pern. Which is confirmed when his familiar face appears at the edge of the rise just above where I rest. “Ukila’s shadow!”

I wave at him as he yells behind him, though his following words cause me some confusion. “Uthica, an Eldinsworn.”

The explosiveness with which Uthica emerges from the grass leaves me giggling. I should probably be worried. Or afraid. But Uthica has a book in one hand, and she’s wielding it as though she intends to thwack me over the head with it.

Uthica sees me sitting with Smoulder, staring at her while giggling madly. Then she stops, turning to her father and patting him on the shoulder. “That’s no ordinary Eldinsworn. That, father, is Alexis.”

Pern raises his eyebrow as he turns to Uthica. “I thought you said she was K’tharn.”

“I said she felt like a K’tharn. Not that she was one. That’s her.”

Trying to make a good impression, I smile and wave as Pern kneels down at the edge of the path, inspecting me. “Never seen an Eldinsworn who wasn’t swaddled before.”

Uthica’s laughter is low and sweet, but it feels slightly too high, hearing it from outside her head. “I’m sorry Lexi, but you are rather underdressed.”

Suddenly, Smoulder’s warmth and softness against my bare skin is much more… well, not awkward, but I’m much more aware of it. With my cheeks warming, I pull large portions of stone from the nearby building, shaping them into a crude stone-plate skirt and t-shirt. Modesty somewhat secured, I say, “Thanks. Didn’t mean to flash you like that.”

Stepping forward, Uthica offers me a hand. “No offence given. Though I must admit to some surprise. Is your arrival a response to my letter?”

It’s my turn to laugh, taking her hand as she pulls me and my stone clading to my feet with ease. “I wish. No, this is more of an accident. A happy accident, but still unintentional. Don’t know how it happened.”

Uthica nods, clasping my hand with all four of hers. We share a moment, staring into each other's eyes, as though neither of us can believe this is real. Then I step forward and pull her into a hug, tacitly ignoring the fact that my hand is still made out of magic. Instead, I latch onto the fact that she’s shorter than me. Everything about her has always felt ten-feet tall. It feels like she should be even bigger than Ivicka.

When I push away, Uthica smiles, holding me by the elbow. “It doesn’t matter what brought you here, I am glad to see you. If you’d come at another time, I’d call for a feast to celebrate your arrival. Perhaps have them declare one of those holidays they love so much.”

Pern finally approaches, his slight stature more apparent as he gets close. I’m taller than either of them but the more than half-meter I have on Pern makes me feel like I’m towering over him. Which, considering the affection that reminds me of papa, is highly disconcerting. “Unfortunately, my daughter is right. This is not the place for feasts. But your presence could be useful.”

“Father. We have no business involving Lexi in my problems.”

“Why not? You’ve attested that she is like a sister to you. Would you not ask your sisters for help, were they still with us?”

Instead of answering, Uthica closes her upper eyes, leaning back and staring up into the stars. Then Uthica turns to me, her lips pressed together.

Yet she still doesn’t speak.

“Tell me. If I can help, I will. I don’t mind. Though preferably after I get some clothes, that is.” Smoulder pushes against my cheek, as Uthica’s stance seems to relax.

“That can be arranged. We’ve collected several of the Eldinsworn’s outfits. One of them should fit.” Uthica leads me over the rise to where a bustling camp of K’tharn are gathered at the edge of the grove. Several K’tharn are gathering fruit from the trees, a small orange-ish red one that almost reminds me of a pear. Uthica grabs one of the K’tharn and sends her off to find me a set of clothes, putting emphasis on the fact the clothes need to be clean.

“Do they really need to be told to keep them clean?” I ask Pern as Uthica talks with another of the K’tharn about… juice, for some reason.

“Most of the young ones don’t understand the peculiarities of worn clothing,” Pern remarks. “But I’m curious. You said you didn’t come here on purpose. How did you get here?”

“Honestly? I think it was Smoulder.”

“Ah. That makes sense. She is unusual for a mana-hare.”

“Nah. Smoulder’s just weird period,” I declare. Smoulder radiates smugness, as she realizes we’re talking about her. I give her headscritches, relishing the feeling of her pushing against my hand.

Uthica comes back, leading us down the hill, and, unprompted, explains that the juice will be crafted into all sorts of magical ciders.

As we move past a group of K’tharn laughing over a nearby fire-pit where they have an apparatus for processing the juice laid out, I prod at my System. Gently. Despite its recent notification, I get a sense that it’s recalibrating again. There’s a sense that I could force it to display, but that doing so could have less than desirable results. And that it’s almost ready anyway.

So, my attention returns to their camp. It has a different vibe than I’m used to. It’s only after we reach a table where Uthica has arranged for several bowls of a meaty stew that I place it. The way the K’tharn interact, bumping into each other, laughing at a volume that only Rufka or a rabid Desh’mersa fan could match. “Vigor. Everyone here has more vigor.”

“What’s that?” Uthica asks from where she’s smelling a sample of one of the ciders, handed to her as we sat down. I follow her example, taking a chair next to her, and being careful not to allow my stone armor to crush it.

“Your people. They’re so alive. It’s not like the K’tharn I’m used to. Well, most of them.” Rufka would probably get along well with these K’tharn.

Uthica mumbles noncommittally as she talks with one of the brewers, who has several more of the drinks with them, but Pern nods. While Uthica discusses which ciders to focus on, Pern decides to teach me about what they’re doing. Though after a few minutes, the conversation shifts from cider to the vagaries of using elemental magic when cooking in more general terms.

“Personally, I find K’tharn with wind-aspect classes to produce the best grilled meats. But water-aspect classes are better at stew,” Pern explains.

“Wouldn’t that be offset by having a cooking subclass though? Or just being good at all magic?” I ask, watching as Smoulder makes her way over the obstacle castle, which I created for her while talking with Pern. “And what element is best for cider?”

Pern tosses a hard green pellet toward Smoulder, his aim perfect, landing in the centre of her next pad. “Well, obviously both K’tharn would have a cooking subclass equipped. It’s not as though either serve poor meals. But when striving for the best, every edge helps. And we’ve found that cider is usually best brewed by those with a mix of water and earth.”

Smoulder crashes through the castle on her next jump, disrupting my thoughts and our conversation. While I’m extracting her from the pile of broken stone, Uthica returns, her brewmaster and their ciders gone.

“Sorry about that. Now, what were we talking about?” she asks, watching me give Smoulder vigorous headscritches.

Pern and I look to each other. We’ve covered so many topics, I don’t remember what we were talking about when Uthica was first distracted. Maybe Cider?

“You were going to ask Alexis for help,” Pern supplies.

Uthica raises a brow. “I was, wasn’t I?”

“Right. Yes. I’m ready. Let’s do this!” I say, letting Smoulder climb onto my stone-covered shoulder, where I reshape the material to give her a proper platform. “What am I helping with?”

With a raised eyebrow, Uthica shakes her head. Then she waves for me to follow, leading us towards her command tent. Even as we’re walking away, the K’tharn she sent off to get me clothes returns. After three hours, I thought they’d forgotten about me and my preference for not-naked. Or been redirected to a more important task.

Accepting the bundle of neatly folded dark grey fabrics, I follow Uthica on a minor detour to a nearby tent. Which allows me to dress in private without creating a stone booth in the middle of her camp. Better for everyone this way, really.

The bundle turns out to be a set of loose pants, a blouse with a low neckline and a heavy cloak. All of which is so grey, a small part of me thinks I’d be better off with my stone cladding. At least it has personality.

And it fits properly.

Which the clothes I was gifted with, do not. At least, not at first. With a couple tucks to secure the loose top, courtesy of some subtle metal manipulation, I cinch the neckline up to a reasonable height and tighten the leggings so they’re not going to catch on everything. Then I create some slits in the arms, reweaving them shut with thin metal thread.

I almost choose not to take the cloak, but keep it folded over my arm instead. Spare material in case I get inspired. I’m not sure if any of the stuff in my inventory will be available or if I lost everything with my System.

Either way, I’m not complaining. I’m kind of happy to just be alive.

Uthica’s talking with yet another K’tharn when I emerge. Pern takes her elbow guiding her away even as she continues listening to the K’tharn complain about their subordinates. From what I can gather, three of them got into a fight over… a game board? Or maybe over who won their game?

It’s not until Uthica starts instructing the K’tharn on a few different methods she could implement to maintain discipline that I understand why the other K’tharn is here. Advice. She came to Uthica for advice. Turning to Pern, I ask, “Doesn’t she have better things to do than give people advice? Is she still queen?”

Pern chuckles. “You’re not the first to suggest that. It was an issue her aunt mentioned on multiple occasions.” His laughter stops as his gaze softens, focusing on Uthica. “She may not be perfect, but she always makes time for those around her. If she’s not lost in her work.”

“Does that happen often?”

Pern’s countenance shifts, a scowl stealing its way onto his face. “Not as often as it used to. We’ve had… an unusual period of peace. Though these Eldinsworn are proving troublesome in a way we haven’t encountered before.”

Uthica rejoins our conversation as the other K’tharn wanders away, adding, “But hopefully, as father implied, you’ll be able to help with that.”

I nod, letting her lead us toward her tent, the intricate enchantment etched into every square centimeter marking it more clearly than the flag flying outside. Inside it’s similar to the last time I saw it, except with enchanting notes and materials instead of reports and pens. One at a time, Uthica places materials to the side, only unfurling her large map once they’ve all been set in neat rows atop a nearby shelving unit.

The map shows the North-Western continent, though I can’t help but note how incomplete it is. It has notations indicating the approximate location of the enormous rift, and the coastlines look familiar to what I know from my own map. But most of the interior is empty. The one exception is the river that leads from the east coast to the lake at the foot of the rift, which has little blobs of highly detailed markings.

“The Eldinsworn started harassing us when we landed on Thendia. I sent most of our people back east, but the System insists I need to reach the rift.”

“Quest?”

“Yes. Silver-Rank, I believe. Need to find a Nexus point on the west rim.”

“Huh. I take it the Eldinsworn are keeping you from flying, considering all this unexplored space?”

“Yes. They have a weapon that ignores all defences. They’ve only deployed it when we’ve attempted to fly, but they’re hardly pushovers when trying to push forward by land. We were making progress, but slowed down when Smoulder got attached to the hill. Which makes sense, considering you were beneath it.”

I take a moment to give Smoulder some headscritches. Least I can do since apparently she got everyone to sit down and wait for me.

Then I turn back to the map, squinting at it before looking out in the direction of the camp. “Do you need to bring everyone?”

Uthica shakes her head, “No. They're primarily here for support.”

“So, they don’t need to reach the Nexus point? Just you?”

“Yes. And I’ve tried running it, but the Eldinsworn respond in force. Between their knowledge of the local terrain, denying us airspace, and their teleportation magus, it’s only been getting more tedious, the close we get.”

“Wow. Jerkfaces. Does your quest have anything to do with blowing them up?”

Uthica groans as she leans against the table, “No, that’s why it’s so frustrating. It doesn’t even mention them. They’re just obstacles. But that’s where you come in.”

“Yep,” I agree. Even without my System, I can probably teleport us to this Nexus in an hour or two. My magic still seems to be working, and a quick flex reveals that my Facet is still there. Not that I’m ready to test it. Not until my System finishes its… whatever it’s doing.

“Since your appearance mirrors the sworn, they might be willing to talk to you.” Uthica pushes off the table, turning to inspect me. “In fact, if you were wearing the cloak, I’d think the camp had been infiltrated. Those clothes fit you better than they did the sworn they were taken from.”

“Thanks. But if they’re as shoot first, ask questions never as you’re making them sound, I don’t think we need to risk negotiating. I can just take you there.” I turn away from her appraising gaze, looking over the map. “We can use the hills and ridges to get to this Wyrda’s rift, then it should only be a matter of minutes to circle around its cliffside.”

“You remember the part about not being able to fly?” Pern asks, reminding me of his presence. It’s uncanny how quiet he can be.

“Yep. No flight involved. Point-to-point teleportation.”

Uthica stands up straight, rocking the table with the sudden shift as she turns to me. “You’re a teleportation magus too? Father, can you imagine how much easier… everything would’ve been if I had one third her power?”

I raise my hand to object, but… she’s probably right.

“I know. But she’s offering her assistance now,” Pern points out, one hand on my shoulder.

“You’re right. And just in time for my Silver rank quest. Maybe the gods are looking down on us for once.” Uthica rolls the map back up, sliding it into a case on her hip that’s way too small for it. Dimensional storage for the win.

I rub my hands together, the elemental stone that makes up my still lost hand surprisingly soft against my normal hand. “So, shall we go now? I don’t know about you, but I feel like I need to move.”

“Yes. We can leave immediately,” Uthica nods, striding toward the door with me only a pace behind her.

Pern clears his throat. “Uthica.”

Uthica stops, causing me to dance to the side as she looks over her shoulder. “Yes father?”

“Good luck,” he answers, tossing her a wineskin. Probably full of cider.

Uthica grins, strapping the wineskin to her belt before charging out of her tent. She leads us to the top of a nearby hill, scanning the horizon beneath the night sky. Smoulder hops from my shoulder to hers, and Uthica reaches up to pet her without stopping her search. Then Uthica stops, pointing west. “There, the ridge with the gap in the trees two-thirds of the way up. Can you take us there?”

I attempt to reinforce my eyes with Twilight to zoom in, but it doesn’t work. “I’m going to need a couple minutes,” I inform Uthica as I start making adjustments. Compared to peeking out of the egg that served as my prison, making these adjustments is simplicity itself. Which means it only takes me fifteen minutes to figure out that I need to replace the components that provided the auto-focus when I originally created the effect with the System.

Am I going to have to modify all my spells? I confirm my raw manipulation hasn’t been affected, conjuring a ball of lightning and fire. How is the new System going to affect things?

“Are the basic elements involved in spatial magic? None of our experiments have given us clues,” Uthica asks as I wave the ball back and forth, reminding me that now probably isn’t the time to be playing.

But then again, I should be prepared.

“The process that brought me here messed with my spells. And a few other things. I’m testing,” I explain, glancing around. I wouldn’t have a problem with Uthica knowing that my System’s rebooting, but I’d rather not broadcast that fact to her whole camp. And whoever might be spying on them.

I’m expanding the sphere of fire and lightning to its limits - much greater than before my sojourn into the past - when Uthica says, “perhaps we should move this to the practice field.”

Looking around the empty hill, I don’t see anyone else about. But I follow her down to an equally empty field where I can practice with my spells.

As we step out, I get a notification.

“Temporal instability inhibiting full restoration. Additional resources required.”

The notification feels… softer, in a way. Less intrusive. That said, the actual message is a tad worrying.

“Uh, Uthica, I’ve got an important notification,” I say, even as she takes a position across from me.

“Go ahead. I wouldn’t want to test you when you’re not ready,” Uthica replies, and her tone is enough for me to delay opening my System as I look over at her. Yep, she’s grinning.

Rebuilding my spell repertoire might be a little more… intensive than I’d been planning. Shaking my head even as a small smile creeps onto my own face, I turn back to my System.

Instead of a Status though, the only thing I can bring up are the Framework names. Not Class, Framework.

“Framework selection suggested. Frameworks available: Void Cataclysm Lotus, Radiant Cataclysm Lotus, Cataclysm Yggdrasil Sapling, Gaia’s Cataclysm Oakling, Cataclysm Paradox.”

Time to see what this new System has in store.

A note from Draith

Shoutout for Minute Mage.

So, the author asked if I wanted to trade shout outs... and seeing as I'd read and mostly enjoyed the story back when it was on Rising Stars, I figured sure, why not.

The MC gets a limited time magic. As you probably inferred from the title, it lets him wind the clock back by a minute. Useable once per day, but it's a litrpg, so that's totally upgradeable.

I mostly enjoyed the story, but I'll admit... when he decided to 'go become an adventurer' I kinda noped out. Just don't enjoy that trope.

If you do, you should totally check it out!

Did I mention it has time-magic?

Wiggles fingers.

6.02, Framework

10:55 am, local time. (January 11, 1512)

Considering how much I have to look over, I create a throne of stone at the edge of the training field. Smoulder takes her place on my lap as I open up the first option.

“Framework: Void Cataclysm Lotus. Framework incorporates destructive aspects of the Umbra resource. Framework structure requirements: Low Health base. Low Stamina base. Extreme Focus base. Extreme Mana base.”

“Framework processing modifiers: Excellent processing of Focus, Mana, Umbra and Facet. Limited processing of Health and Stamina.”

“Framework ancillary functions: Umbral Resource emulation and incorporation.”

I blink at the display for a few seconds before Focusing. And thankfully, there’s more information available. The requirements of the Framework are as simple as they seem. I need to have a good amount of mental Attributes, and some physical, though a great deal less. Unlike the overview, Focusing reveals that I specifically need Eighty in all my physical Attributes and a hundred and twenty-five in my mental stats.

And there’s a sort of link that I’m able to follow, which allows me to determine my Attributes. They’re the same as they were before my rebirth, which gives me a small feeling of relief. I think I might be able to sort out all my status, if I wanted to, but I decide to start the reconstruction first.

After I’ve finished going over the frameworks.

The processing modifiers are my System’s ability to transform mana. Not into regeneration, but into upgrades for the same attributes I was just checking. Though it’s not clear what sort of limits it has.

As for the ancillary function…

I’m basically able to copy Beth’s abilities. I could even have Resource based armour, if I wanted.

I sit back, staring upward as I consider if this changes anything. It seems like the Framework is still just a class.

The Radiant Cataclysm Lotus is similar, except it lists Splendor as an ancillary function. A resource I don’t have any information on. And my ability to download new codices is gone.

So I ask Uthica if she’s heard of it.

“No. The only thing I can think of is Luminance. Did you unlock a new Class while practicing?” Uthica asks, reminding me where we are. And when I am.

“Uhm. Not exactly,” I reply.

“Splendor is likely a high grade resource. The more abstract a concept a resource represents, the more powerful it tends to be,” Pern notes from where he’s standing at the edge of the training ground.

“Are you going to need more time?” Uthica asks, her eyes drifting towards her camp.

“I… probably. But I’d appreciate your advice for this. Both of you. Maybe we can take it back to your tent. Or somewhere more private,” I suggest, looking over the camp.

They share a glance, then lead me further away from camp. Straight towards the hill where I pulled myself out. We don’t go down though, instead making our way to the top of the crude building. At the top is an enchantment that stands in clear contrast to the building. The lines are neat and perfect. Any one of the enchanters I know would be impressed, I’m certain.

Once we’re in the center of the carved runes, Uthica kneels down, and places an equally runed strip of metal down, pulsing mana through it. The runes flare, and a transparent dome pops into place overhead. Then it flashes, growing darker until the camp below is little more than a vague outline.

“Hmm. We should be secure,” Uthica says, leaving the strip of metal in place. “Father, can you confirm?”

“Of course,” Pern replies, his hands already tracing runes in the air. I watch as he carves a spell into the air, surprised by the visual component.

“It’s part of his class,” Uthica answers my unasked question. “He’s able to empower his spells by making them into rituals. It’s excellent for stress-testing.”

Even as she finishes, Pern unleashes a spell that I’m only vaguely able to discern the purpose of, some sort of Piercing effect. It doesn’t create the smallest ripple.

Uthica waves at me. “Go ahead, try it.”

“Was I that obvious?” I ask, unable to keep the grin off my face. Yet before I can rebuild and test my own Pierce spell, Smoulder unleashes a flaming blast at the barrier, an incandescent white burning away with no more effect than Pern’s spell.

For a second, the interior of the dome gets warm enough it's uncomfortable. Then it cools down, a cool breeze sweeping over us.

Thankfully, compared to the adjustments I had to make to my binoculars spell, Pierce is simple, only requiring a few extra energy storage runes. And it splashes as ineffectively as the others.

It also produces an unexpected message.

“Spell recalibration detected. Please complete Framework selection so System Reconstruction can commence.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter at the System as I turn to Uthica. “So… this might take a bit.”

She retrieves a set of wooden chairs they had folded to one side of the enchantment, as it even blocks access to inventory. After Pern hands me one of their ciders, I take a long drink. Then I sit down, and start filling them in on… well, everything since I talked to her last.

The System instability and subsequent glitches. The cities we got flying again, thanks in no small part to her. The unexpected queendom I’d mostly foisted onto Tipan and Wyonna. I even tell them about Odean.

I finish with Beth’s accidental… I’m still not sure exactly what happened, and that’s what I tell them.

My side of the story is short. And when I ask Uthica what I’ve missed, she trades a glance with Pern, then pats my hand. “It’d take far too long to catch you up. And we can do so later. First, it sounds like you should address your System glitch.”

“Yeah, might be best,” I agree, pulling up the next Framework.

“Framework: Cataclysm Yggdrasil Sapling. Framework enhances the System and Spatial aspects of the Facet resource. Framework structure requirements: Moderate Health base. High Stamina base. Extreme Focus base. Extreme Mana base.”

“Framework processing modifiers: Excellent processing of Focus, Mana and Facet. Moderate processing of Stamina. Limited processing of Health.”

“Framework ancillary functions: Facet Resource capability expansion. Interplanetary transportation, Improved System customization.”

I stop, then reread the last line in the ancillary functions. Interplanetary transportation. That’s… well, being able to teleport straight to Earth would be amazing. When I Focus, I discover that it’s limited to places I’ve been to after equipping the Framework. Which is… well, I mean, that’s basically the same as Raz’s place. Much less exciting. Sure, it doesn’t require Nexus points and… actually, I think it allows me to grow my own, in mana-rich areas. Though it would take a while.

Realizing how much information I’m able to tease out of the description, I Focus on Splendor again. It’s… healing related. Similar to Reprieve, but without the barriers. And with some amount of offensive use. Even though it wouldn’t allow me to create barriers, I could use it to form armour, which causes me to snort. There was a time I would’ve loved all these options to armour myself up.

The System customization is also interesting, as it would let me set up my own System nodes in each seed I created. But they could be overrode by the primary System. Which makes me wonder… am I disconnected from the main System? Is that what happened?

Either way, I take a minute and tell them both what I’ve discovered. Which leads to a longer discussion as Pern starts questioning me about everything I know about classes and resources.

Uthica indulges us, only cutting in when Pern and I start talking about the differences between the Aero and Wind resources. Wind being the less refined version, that is slightly better at creating an undirected burst, but worse in all other ways.

Not that I really needed to know that, but we got a little carried away.

“You mentioned that you’d be able to create transport nodes?” Uthica says, as Pern and I smile sheepishly at each other.

“Yeah, but it takes… uh, years, for them to develop. Decades, I think.” After quickly Focusing on the relevant part of the description again, I nod. “Yeah, it depends partially on the local mana, but the fastest a seed can grow into a proper sapling is twenty years.”

“Hmm. Less than ideal, but still useful if others can use it.”

“True. And the class is… interesting. But I still have other options I wanna check,” I say, waiting to see if she has any more questions before opening up my menu.

“Framework: Gaia’s Cataclysm Oakling. Framework enhances the Perspective aspect of the Facet resource. Framework structure requirements: High Health base. High Stamina base. Extreme Focus base. High Mana base.”

I blink several times as I reread the second line. How is it supposed to enhance Perspective? I can already see through other people’s eyes. And swap memories.

“Framework processing modifiers: Excellent processing of Focus and Facet. High processing of Health, Stamina, and Mana.”

“Framework ancillary functions: Facet Resource capability expansion. Improved Networking. Social Prowess. Increased Physical Endowment. Regeneration.”

Oh. Yeah, I guess that could do it. Improved Networking is much more impactful than it seems. It not only allows me to build a network with my IFF ability, which I confirm is functioning normally, it allows me to spread it through existing contacts. And it makes it so my number of links is effectively trillions.

That’s a lot of potential eyes, ears and teleport beacons.

Social Prowess is being good with people. But… really good with people. To the point it’s a little creepy. It comes with the ability to instantly know everything about any person connected to my Improved Network. And to know how to act to better influence them.

Increased physical endowment would make me more curvy.

It’s only regeneration that keeps me from giving this Framework a total pass. As I Focus on it, I realize it’s not just a little extra Health recovery. As long as I had the Facet, I could regenerate an arm in less than a second.

I tell Uthica and Pern everything about the class as I sit there, steepling my fingers and tapping my chin, thinking.

“It is worrying that such a class exists,” Uthica says, running a hand through her chocolate-coloured mane. “If Jethico had even a fraction of that ability, imagine how much more disruptive she could’ve been.”

“Your aunt can’t do any more harm. Not now that she’s been sealed away,” Pern reminds Uthica, patting his daughter’s hand.

I blink. That… I’m pretty sure that’s not how it happened. I guess history’s already changed. This… I don’t really want to think about it. I’ll need to, that’s for sure, but I don’t think I’m ready to do so yet.

As Pern pulls Uthica into a hug, I decide there’s more important things to worry about than history being entirely rewritten. Like giving Uthica a hug. Smoulder agrees, and we all hug for over a minute before breaking away.

There’s dampness around Uthica’s eyes, that I’m a little surprised she doesn’t just whisk away. Then she lays a hand on mine and her father’s shoulder. “Thank you. It’s been… too long. But we’re still not done, are we?”

“Uhm, no,” I admit, almost flicking to my menu. “We still have one left.”

And it’s the one I’m the most excited about. I was barely able to keep myself from jumping straight to it.

Cataclysm Paradox.

“Well, I can tell you’re excited. Go ahead, Lexi,” Uthica says, squeezing my shoulder.

I nod, smiling back at her before opening the description.

“Framework: Cataclysm Paradox. Framework was enhanced by Temporal aspect of Facet. Framework enhances Temporal aspect of Facet. Framework structure requirements: Alexis Wyonna Everette.”

Well, that’s not… incredibly weird or anything.

“Framework processing modifiers: Excellent processing of Focus, Mana and Facet. High processing of Stamina. Limited processing of Health.”

A little more normal.

“Framework ancillary functions: Facet expansion. The End allows you to wade within his pool, the Beginning reminds you to remember, the middle is yours.”

Uhm.

What?

How is that a description? If Wyonna were here, I’d swear she was trolling me.

When I look at the description again, I blink.

“Framework ancillary functions: Facet expansion. Blessing of the Omega. Temporal Library.”

After spending a second wondering if my brain’s playing tricks on me, I can’t help but Focus on the Blessing. To my surprise another notification appears.

“The End has witnessed you and you survived. He has given his blessing, protecting you from being swallowed by lesser dwellers of the Temporal Tides. This blessing grants no additional benefits without the Cataclysm Paradox Framework.”

In addition to the notification, I know that if I choose this Framework, the Blessing will protect me from the worst effects of Temporal experimentation. Like deleting myself and everyone I’ve ever known.

I… it would’ve been nice to know that was a thing I needed to worry about before I sent myself hundreds of years into the past. Not that I did it on purpose.

Also, when did it observe me?

Shaking my head, trying not to worry too much and feeling the need to distract myself, I inspect the Temporal Library.

Which is a literal building, that I can access from anywhere when I’ve drawn time to a complete stop. Meaning it’s not easy, cause Pause doesn’t even come close to that, despite the name I’ve given it. But part of the Library’s benefit, is knowledge on how to bring time to a full halt. I’ll still have to build the improved spell, but it gives me a starting point.

It’ll also allow me to store any Facet ability I create in a mental spell vault to make modifications easier. And to top it off, within its walls, it contains every book I’ve ever seen or heard of. Even if I’ve never read it, the books will be available somewhere on its shelves.

If knowledge is power…

When I tell Uthica and Pern about the weirdness, they exchange a glance. Then Uthica just snorts, “It’s hardly the first time a class upgrade has had weird flavor text. And I’ve seen far more ominous.”

“She’s correct. And it can be the opposite too. Poor Noj’son was bound to a blood parasite, which she had to cut herself open to use. She even went around talking to it. Her flavor text just said ‘blood familiar’.”

“And I thought Gaia’s Cataclysm Oakling was bad,” I say, sipping at my nearly forgotten cider as Smoulder shifts in my lap.

I give her headscritches as Uthica reaches into my lap to do the same. “Not all classes are good for the user. We’ve known that since I used to call you Stranger. Some thought I had that kind of class. Until this little spawn of Vaus came raining down from the sky.”

“Well, despite the ominous message… Yeah, I’m still taking it,” I say as Smoulder has a moment of crisis, forced to choose between my lap and Uthica’s as we both scritch her. She almost falls, her legs stretched between us when I stop petting her. Even as she blinks up at me, I will my choice at what remains of my System.

“Framework confirmed: Cataclysm Paradox. Please prepare for Facet expansion.”

Smoulder chooses to respond by launching from between Uthica and I to land in Pern’s lap, turning to look up at him as if he will restore her rightful quota of scritches. Which he does, after an amused sigh.

“Facet expansion has begun.”

Four little words that don’t even begin to encapsulate the everywhen I’m experiencing. The table, Pern, Uthica and Smoulder are suddenly a tiny mote of my existence.

Feels like there are a few too many Tuesdays, for some reason.

6.03, Build-a-System

2:15 pm, local time. (January 11, 1512) Typical Tuesday.

Thankfully, my experience of everywhen doesn’t last long. Well, not in the real world. I spend less than a second and more than a subjective eternity before returning to the normal flow of time. Only the faintest impressions are left behind, but… it feels as though my sensitivity has been heightened.

Feeling like a dunce for not inspecting every aspect of my class, I Focus on the definition for Facet expansion.

“The Beginning and the End have guided you along your temporal thread, and returned you to your place in the Middle. Your journeys through the temporal tides will be smoother. Your thread is stronger.”

I… I’m not sure why I was expecting the description to be more helpful, but I was.

Well… anyway, now that I have a Framework in place, time to open my status.

Which… requires me to go through a set of prompts to configure how I want it set up. Thankfully, it has most of my previous settings saved as presets.

Once I click the last configuration, without so much as a flicker, my status appears.

Administrator Pandora’s Status

Framework: Cataclysm Paradox

Tier and Approximate Strength: Second stage mana integration, minimal mana density and optimization.

Previous System designation: Copper-1

Core Attributes Comparative to Prior System analysis. Accuracy guaranteed with 99.9% Confidence.

Strength: 90

Constitution: 90

Agility: 105

Endurance: 105

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 125

Resolve: 125

The first part of my new status is mostly familiar. I can’t help but note that I’m listed as an administrator now, but other than that, this feels… refreshingly familiar.

Though the next section has me raising my eyebrows a bit.

Soul bound Storage capacity: 1.19 Cubic meters. Damaged in transition. Restoration pending resource allocation.

Bonded Armour: 6/8 patterns stored. Restoration pending resource allocation.

While both of them needing resources is less than ideal, this is more of a relief than anything. Though I can’t help but worry about the contents of my inventory. Is everything gone? Did it all get smushed?

I’ll need to restore my backpack to check.

If I can. It’s not listed under my stored armours. And it takes me a second to find it under the new version of my equipment manager. Though when I focus on the restoration, it doesn’t ask for Integration points.

“Estimated Resources required: Matrix processing time: 33 hours. Mana: 600,000 SMu. Focus: 3,300 SFu.”

“Optional processing mode: Double processing time to eliminate Focus cost.”

“Optional resource processing: Facet: Reduce Matrix processing time by 1 hour per 1000 Core Matrix units.”

“Supplemental resources detected. Process one standardized mortal-grade mana essence shard for approximately 100,000 SMu. Expected variance of 5%.”

“Supplement resources detected. Process one standardized iron-grade mana essence shard for approximately 1,000,000 SMu? Expected variance of 3%.”

Okay, well, that’s a lot to process. Hehe.

I lean back, turning to Uthica and Pern, letting them know that… my update is a little more involved than I was expecting.

There’s the fact that everything is going to take time or Facet to restore. A lot of Facet. And I can supply the mana from my personal mana supply.

Further poking reveals that I can also exchange matching elemental shards for a higher rate when restoring my gear, if they match the function. Or more accurately, less of the mana goes to waste being spent on conversion to its proper type.

Efficient, right. I should finish inspecting the changes to my interface before I continue experimenting.

Iron Rank Resources retained:

Crystallized mana recovered from Integration Points: 7 Iron Essence Shards

Resources Recovered from Progression Marks: None

Resources Recovered from Ascension Crests: 1 elemental matrix compatible upgrade algorithm. Reusable. Unable to emulate full processing assistance with limited access to current network.

Wait… nearly seven hundred integration points and they’re reduced to only seven Iron mana shards?

Wow. That’s a brutal loss.

And the loss of the Ascension Crests stings. Though it looks like part of that was just getting access to the System? And the matrix is reusable. When I focus on the matrix, it’s… a lot. More complicated than the entire spell for my ice castle.

Which, I realize, I still have stored away. I spend a few minutes confirming that my spellbook and notes are intact, to my relief before moving on to the next part of my status.

Copper Rank Resources retained:

Crystallized mana recovered from Integration Points: 2 Copper Essence Shards

Resources Recovered from Progression Marks: None

Resources Recovered from Ascension Crests: None

And… still brutal. That’s eighteen points of Copper-rank attributes, up in smoke. Suppose I should be thankful I have any, after nearly losing my System. And they are shards now. Shards are more useful than points.

Though that makes me wonder. Where are these shards? I don’t have them tucked away in my hair, do I?

A quick pat down of my head doesn’t reveal any hidden shards, and I’m not quite prepared to go searching in… other places they might be hidden.

Deciding it might be best to put off that discovery, I return my attention to my status.

Core resources as abstracted via previous System:

Health

Pool: 1360/1355

Edge: [144.7]

Regen: (1177/day)

Stamina

Pool: 1540/1388

Edge: [155.3]

Regen: (1246/day)

Mana

Pool: 3004/2358

Edge: [216.8]

Regen: (2334/day)

Focus

Pool: 2212/2358

Edge: [202.2]

Regen: (2334/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 31/671

Edge: [76.4]

Regen: (646/hour) > (233/second)

Well. That doesn’t seem to have changed much. In fact, are there even any changes from…

Oh.

Wow. That’s a massive change in my Facet regeneration. An increase of roughly twelve-hundred and ninety-six times what it used to be, if I’m not mistaken.

A not insignificant boost.

Is that the only thing my new Framework has boosted?

Matrix Ancillary functions retained from existing Class Abilities:

Core Framework Improvements:

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10, 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10, 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10, 0/10

Interesting. When I Focus, I’m able to get a complete understanding of what each of the upgrades will do for me. And how to gain them.

Each of these also require mana and processing time to implement. Oh. And with my new regeneration, maybe not that much time.

And now that I have access to the underlying mechanisms, I realize that the increase to my Facet regeneration will be affected by my new multiplier. Also, the expected costs are again stated as estimates. On top of that, they're not flat costs per upgrade, with the cheapest being only twenty thousand Mana and the most expensive being over two million. Guess the System just averaged things out.

Moving on, I look over my previous class abilities.

Framework Special Processing patterns:

Temporal Threading (IFF): 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1, 0/2

Elemental Chakram: 3/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 2/2

Limits of Mortality: 1/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1

Anchor: 1/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1

Decision Tree: 1/1

Lightning Warp: 1/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 3/3

The effects of the abilities feel the same. But there’s a great deal more understanding of what each one does available to me now. Like, shifting tides ties a strand of Facet to every spell I cast while under its effects, and then allows me to reposition people by sending them along those strands. Which means if the strands were cut, it would prevent the teleportation.

With the greater understanding afforded to me, I take a closer look at Echo of Agony. And confirm that the default version didn’t have a toggle. But now that I have root access, I can redesign the ability. And my new expanded Facet makes the changes I’d need to make easy to decipher.

However, buying the upgrade would cost me an even million mana for the first level and over a month of processing time. Or roughly seven-hundred-thousand Facet.

Which… would be less than an hour’s worth. That’s… insane. Seems mana is going to be my bottleneck.

I end up taking a break from my status, discussing it with Uthica and Pern. Not that they have any brilliant insights into my unusual System.

Though when I describe my abilities for Pern, reading out the effects, we discover that I can use Channelled Casting to spend my Facet on processes automatically, in addition to its normal use to channel spells.

“You know, Lexi, the thing I don’t get,” Uthica says, while sipping at another of the ciders. “You said you don’t have integration points anymore. So how are you supposed to increase your attributes? Or your level?”

“I… huh, guess I should check,” I reply, my eyes glazing over as I poke my System to find out.

The answer?

Mana.

Mana and processing power.

As I answer her, I can’t help but note that they’re just like everything else.

Though they’re not nearly as expensive as I’d been expecting. The first bump in Strength is only around ten thousand mana, and takes two hours of processing power. Increasing my Intellect, or really, any of my Mental attributes, is even cheaper. The first point costs a little more than four-thousand mana and forty-eight minutes.

Further prodding reveals that the expected costs will increase pretty rapidly, but a single copper essence contains enough mana to increase my stats across the board dozens of times.

And it turns out I can choose to link my attributes directly to different elements which gives them increased processing efficiency in exchange for reducing an attribute’s ability to process mana of other elements.

I could even customize them to be hyper-efficient at processing wind shards if I wanted. And I suspect that if I had an elemental-based class that used Aero as a resource, I’d benefit from doing so.

Smoulder keeps me from getting too lost in my new System, booping me in the leg and reminding me that we haven’t seen in each other in a long while. So I take another break, and we all return to the practice field where I spend time working to rebuild my spells in between building an obstacle course for Smoulder.

Helped along by Uthica, of course.

All but one of my spells requires adjustment. The Fireball spell I developed with Demo works precisely as we originally designed it.

It seems Demo helped me build it without relying on the System at all. Which explains why I thought it was needlessly complicated. I’m certainly thankful for the extra complications now. Using it as an example, and with Pern and Uthica offering their assistance, I set to work.

Two hours later and we’ve restored a half-dozen spells, mostly shields, a non-elemental pierce and Lightning Torrent.

With that done, I take a look over my System again. Then I use an Iron shard to start boosting my attributes, setting my Intellect and Spirit to benefit from the improved Facet spending. In less than an hour, they should both increase by over ten points. I use the third available channel to increase my Facet regeneration because…

Why wouldn’t I?

Uthica almost doesn’t want to leave.

Despite her years of enchantment work, the runes I’m working with are completely new to her. There’s a good chance I could have finished another three spells if I hadn’t been explaining everything to them. But teaching them’s been worth it.

Now that my System is… mostly understood, and I have combat spells ready for action, it’s time to test teleportation.

Using only the base tools of my new System, I’m again forced to rebuild the spell.

This time, I start with an array for detecting others within range. Something I’d been thinking about, but unable to integrate using my previously cobbled together efforts of my matrix and the rigid design of the old System.

Stealing inspiration from fireball, I add collision detection.

After thirty minutes of design, followed by ten minutes of testing with stone statues while making further adjustments, I’m finally confident enough to test the ability with Uthica.

“This is… revolutionary,” Pern says, studying the floating spell matrix floating in front of him.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I reply, waving him off. “Most of it’s cribbed from other people’s work. It’s all in those books I gave you.”

“Yes. So you mentioned,” Pern replies, tapping one of the metal tomes I had carved for him that contained hundreds of pages of my notes. Not very neatly organized, unfortunately. Never meant to have other peeps read my notes.

“Father is correct, Lexi. Especially since you were able to make adjustments that will allow us to power it with mana. There will need to be tests. And a great deal of enchantment. But this could change the shape of the Aetherium,” Uthica practically breathes the last before shaking her head. “But you said you were ready to test it?”

I nod, placing Uthica across from me. Then we teleport to the top of the hill, and I wait, inspecting her carefully once we’ve appeared. Once I’m certain she’s okay, I take us around her camp at a breakneck speed, each teleport more rapid than the one before. On the fifth teleport, Uthica finally holds her hand up.

“No more. Not yet,” she warns, placing her hand on my shoulder. It seems there’s still some disorientation. Yet it’s vastly improved compared to even my best efforts with the old spell.

With my preparations complete, we bid farewell to Pern, then pack away a fair bit of the cider.

With a final wave, I teleport us directly to the empty hill, and now that my twilight-vision is working, I have no problem picking out the ridge she directs me to. The clear spot appears to have been caused by a large section of the hill sliding down, creating a distinct gap in the surrounding foliage.

The step across space is both instant and not. Unlike the hops around the camp, I’m aware of the time between. It’s not long, no longer than a slow blink. Yet that’s the first time I’ve been aware of it when not using Facet to slow down the experience.

And I’m not sure if the new design or my expanded understanding of Facet is to blame.

Uthica shakes my arm in excitement for a second before calming herself and joining me in scanning our surroundings.

There’s no sign of the Eldinsworn, so I take us to the next ridge. This time I spend the Facet and Focus to observe the differences in the process. As we enter the shunt that directs us to the new location, the outside world zooms by. Even in the slowed down world of Pause, it’s passing too quickly to easily make out. But… I’m able to reposition myself. When we arrive, I’ve changed from my typical stance to a single foot forward, with my hand at my forehead as though I’m shielding my sight from the sun.

Arrival jostles me slightly, my left foot too high to be fully supported. I’ll need to work on that. Again, no sign of the Eldinsworn.

We continue, teleporting our way around Wyrda’s Rift until we reach a mountain that reveals not only the west rim of the rift, but grants us a magnificent view of the inside of the interior. It’s far more colourful than the Aethire rift. Instead of an empty darkness, a myriad of colours dance together, like an oil slick of magical energies, all churning about as if playing.

“Wow.” I don’t teleport us immediately, taking the time to properly appreciate the view.

Uthica hums beside me, “Dangerous. The combinations are unpredictable when they spill out of such a rift. And frustratingly difficult to replicate.”

“I just thought it was pretty.”

Uthica grunts, which turns into a couple beats of laughter. “I guess it is, isn’t it. It’s been so long since I looked at it that way.”

“That’s a shame,” I note, still watching the swirling chaos.

Uthica shrugs, “There’s always more to be done. Not much time to appreciate the landscape.”

I nod. “Right. Hint acknowledged.”

Uthica’s eyes flare wide. “I didn’t mean to imply…”

Elbowing her gently, I say, “It’s fine. I’m just messing with you.”

“Oh. Sorry, I’m not really used to people joking with me. Other than father, of course.”

“Right. That whole queen thing. You ever think of having friends that aren’t your dad?”

Uthica stares at me, as I stand up and select our next target. It should take us almost directly on top of the Nexus point. Uthica still hasn’t said anything by the time I’ve teleported us to our destination. Stepping forward, I perform my perfunctory scan for the elusive Eldinsworn.

And this time I find them.

Uthica is lost in thought until I pull her behind a nearby tree, peering past the hill at the camp below. It looks like it belongs on earth with barbed wire fences, concrete buildings, and even a pair of freaking spotlights.

“Eldinsworn,” Uthica whispers, her hand drifting toward her staff.

“Looks like. And they’re camped right on top of the Nexus point. No way that’s a coincidence.”

With the enemy finally spotted, I take some time to inspect them. But I don’t have the System’s infinite knowledge, so I only learn that they’re elvenoids. If I want more, I’ll have to get closer and give them a full-body Facet scan.

They have a few guards posted, but none seem particularly wary. We sit quietly as I count. Twenty-three. Seven of them are taking advantage of the beautiful summer morning, lounging at a pair of tables, eating a mix of sliced meats and baked veggies. My stomach rumbles slightly in response, reminding me that my only meal since returning to my mortal shell was that bowl of stew with Uthica. And I’ve used a lot of Facet and mana since then. Neither of which feels as though they’ve regenerated as much as my System tells me they should’ve.

The table distracts me from my thoughts as one of them turns to reveal their face clearly. I was expecting an elvenoid form based on my scan, the clothes I’m wearing and Uthica’s certainty I could pass for one.

But I’m not expecting the black-haired, blue-eyed face that doesn’t have so much as a pointy ear to set it apart.

“Those are humans,” I hiss, staring down at them. Watching the dining people, I confirm it’s not just the first one. Unless their insides are weird, they’re definitely human. The only strange feature is that all seven at the tables have the same black hair and blue eyes.

Uthica shakes her head, “That’s not what identify reveals them as. It tells us that they are Eldinsworn, servants of the dark gods.”

“Don’t suppose it tells you which dark gods?” I ask, keeping my voice low.

Uthica shakes her head. “Only that they’re the enemies of all who serve the gods.”

“It’s funny how that doesn’t narrow it down as much as I’d like,” I reply, a smile sneaking its way onto my face. “Any chance your quest’s updated? Maybe to say we can just go around?”

Uthica eyes go glazed for a second before her face twists into a grimace. “Yes, it’s updated. And no, it doesn’t want us to go around.”

“Let me guess. It wants us to kill all the Eldinsworn?” I ask, staring down at the camp. The thought turns my stomach. And not just because the camp is full of maybe-humans. There’s a good chance these people are somehow associated with Ukila’s hidden civilization.

Which means they’re mostly innocent people who’re just targeted because they don’t serve the System.

“No,” Uthica says, her voice dropping out as she reads. “I… It… The System wants me to gain access to the Nexus node…”

I nod. That at least shouldn’t be too hard.

“And then… And then it wants me to use it to travel to Ukila.”

Already nodding, I stop as her words are processed. Then I turn to her, unable to keep a small smile from slipping onto my face. She’s staring up at Ukila, her breathing incredibly fast.

In hindsight, I probably should’ve seen this coming. Looks like I’m getting off Akilo for a while.

A note from Draith

Am kind of away from computer for the next few days at a family thing.

6.04, Sister in the Sky

9:09 pm, local time. (January 11, 1512)

Uthica is still staring up at Ukila as I pull her down behind cover.

“You seem surprised,” I note, waving my hand in front of her face to get her attention.

Uthica shakes her head before looking at me. “Hmm. I always knew it was technically possible to go up there,” she says, waving at the sky. “We’ve been working on the Thenite ships for years. Ukila was going to be our first step. But I was certain it would be decades before we set foot on Akilo’s sister.”

“And now you’re being sent by the System,” I nod.

Uthica’s expression darkens, her eyes narrowing as she bites her lip drawing blood. “It may seem unqueenly of me, but it feels as though something’s been taken from me.”

I nod, looking down at the encampment. “Well, at least it’s not going to be easy.”

At my words, Uthica’s expression clears. “No. It won’t be. That’s something. There’s still a challenge to overcome.”

“Weren’t you just complaining about how much easier it would’ve been if you had my abilities,” I tease, returning to my surveillance of the camp.

Uthica crawls up beside me, all four eyes locked on the movements of the Eldinsworn below. “Well, at least this time I should be able to achieve this without your help.”

“Oh?”

Raising her lower left hand, Uthica grins at me, twisting an ornate silver ring before vanishing from sight. I roll my eye, then a hand grasps mine and I can see her again, though only a faint outline. I can feel the mana flowing over me as she pulls me slowly to my feet.

With a single finger to her lips, she turns, leading me down the side of the hill with the sort of Agility that only an integrated being can display. As my first real test since being reborn, I’m pleasantly surprised to find I’m capable of keeping up with her. My movements aren’t quite as smooth, but Uthica is peak copper-rank, so I can forgive myself for only being about eighty percent as graceful.

I’d still be winning dance awards on Earth, I’m certain.

We slip past the guards, their vigilance as slack as I’d first thought. Then again, how many people have they had sneak inside a Nexus in the middle of nowhere.

Slowing just past the entrance to the camp, Uthica turns left, following the barbed wire until she gets to a gap between a pair of the concrete buildings on the edge of the complex. I almost reach out to touch the rough surface but catch myself. They could be warded. It’s a shame. I haven’t seen concrete since we arrived on Akilo. Never thought concrete of all things would make me nostalgic.

We push between the concrete buildings. The lack of colourful graffiti and traffic grease dulling the nostalgia. Suddenly, I’m wishing I could reshape it. It’s not proper concrete without graffiti. Not that I’ve ever sprayed graffiti on anything in my life before.

First time for everything.

Keeping my vandalism in check, Uthica stops just before the central thoroughfare. Checking both directions, she steps back and goes full System-blank, her hand still grasped tightly around mine and her eyes vacant. A second later, I feel an energy surrounding us.

I Pause time.

If the System is going to be nice enough to give me an example of how it teleports people between planets, I’m certainly not going to turn down the opportunity to study it.

The process is surprisingly similar to the System’s regular teleportation method. The only differences are a slightly streamlined targeting algorithm, and reinforcement to the energy storage segment of the spell, making it more robust. Probably because it takes more energy to transfer someone to an entirely different planet.

Who would’ve thunk it?

With the amount of proficiency I’ve gained with the System’s teleportation network, the symbol for our destination is nearly decipherable, with only a single unfamiliar symbol. I’m guessing that must be the symbol for Ukila.

Even as I memorize the symbol, the spell kicks into full effect. Witnessing the depths of space whirring past while within the protection of the System’s teleportation is simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying.

Smoulder doesn’t share in my enjoyment, though thankfully, she’s far less aware of the effect.

Emptiness stretches out, filled with brilliant points of light, and on either side is an orb of green and blue. It should make me feel small.

Instead, I feel at peace.

And then we’re standing in a paved clearing on Ukila, welcomed to a new world with all the love of the old.

The guns pointed in our direction are a nice touch.

I want to laugh at the guns.

They resemble early earth muskets, but with the enchanted runes along their sides, I suspect they’re deadlier. The guns waver after a second, their wielders unable to find a target. Invisibility would make that harder.

Deciding that remaining where we arrived is a key ingredient in the recipe for getting shot, I teleport us to a nearby roof to watch. There seems to be confusion as several of the people who were pointing guns at us start shouting at each other in an unfamiliar language. They seem to be a mix of K’tharn and Eldinsworn, though there are a lot more K’tharn than Eldinsworn.

One of the K’tharn pokes at the spot we were just standing, immediately eliciting shouts from their comrades, one of whom pulls the K’tharn back. When nothing happens, the confusion escalates, and with it the voices of the soldiers.

A single voice barks out. The mumbling stops as the confused Eldinsworn and K’tharn form ranks, their rifles held clasped behind their backs.

That seems like a horrible parade rest position. Which is probably the point.

A person in a fancier looking outfit emerges from an invisible building, walking toward the waiting soldiers.

Part of me wants to stay and watch. But Uthica’s pulling at my hand.

Following Uthica to the far side of the roof, I hear a woman’s barking voice behind us as Uthica points to a distant mountain. I nod, selecting a nice-looking valley with a stream running through it. The stream plummets off a cliff that looks to be hundreds of meters tall. It should give us a modicum of privacy.

With a blink, we arrive, and my stomach rumbles again. Louder this time.

“Well, that was interesting. Invisible buildings. People the System doesn’t register. Travelling to another planet,” Uthica says, staring up at Akilo.

“The Eldinsworn or the Ukila natives?” I ask, looking at the valley walls, searching for a good spot to form a hidden shelter.

“Natives?” Uthica responds, finally noticing me reforming an empty gully I found in the valley wall. “What are you doing?”

“Setting up camp,” I answer, though I stop at her question. “Do you think we should go further?”

“No. I’m… not used to travelling without an entourage. Or without my tent. I was so enthralled with your magic; I acted like a cub. We should’ve returned to father. I didn’t even message him first.”

I nod, resuming my work, Smoulder doubtful about my efforts when I don’t have a giant bunny head over the entrance. Stealth, my little friend, means not letting everyone know you were here. But have some headscritches.

With Smoulder satisfied and Uthica gazing off into the sunset… Or is it sunrise? Hard to tell.

Either way, I complete work on our humble nest for the night. It’s surprising how much harder it is now that my earth-manipulation has been reduced. But in the time I’m working, I’m able to apply techniques from metal and stone-manipulation, improving my efficiency. Not a lot, but it’s encouraging. Already, my skill is recovering. It’s slower progress than I’d like, but… I have time.

The thought stops me.

How long will I be able to stay here before I return to the present?

Will I be able to return to the present?

I don’t even know how I got here.

Will Rufka forget me?

Leaning against the desk, I shake my head. Now I’m just being silly. Even if Rufka never sees me again, she’ll remember me. As long as I don’t accidentally delete her from time…

Deep breath. She’ll be fine. Time’s rubber and all that. Smooths itself out.

By occasionally gobbling up entire planets.

But I’ve got the blessing. No deleting the people I love. It practically promised that.

Petting Smoulder aggressively, I’m still trying to distract myself from my self-destructive thoughts when Uthica wanders into the central lounge.

She takes a look at the scattered Smoulder statuary then back at me. “You know, I thought the statues were her work, trying to tell us something. It actually makes more sense that you managed to somehow make them by reaching through time.”

We both stop and stare at each other for a second before Uthica shakes her head, a small smile tugging at her lips. “No. Now that I say it out loud, that doesn’t make sense either. I need sleep more than I thought.”

“Your chamber is on the left. I didn’t know if you brought a bed, so I made the room extra large. There’s a shelf in case you didn’t.”

“Thank you. I do have another question though. Why can’t I see you in the System? Are you an Eldinsworn too?”

“Do you want the long version, or the short?”

She considers me for several long seconds before saying, “I’d prefer the long version, if you don’t mind.”

I smile at her, patting the bench next to me. “Sounds good. Sleep can wait.”

“I suppose it can.” Uthica takes her place next to me, pulling out some food from her inventory. Then pulling out more when I inform her I’m unable to access my own inventory. Then I begin the story. I hadn’t been planning to start at the beginning.

But Uthica’s questions led me there.

“Well, you have my memories, right? You remember when I was just a kid, I went sledding with my papa. And how after that we discovered I could play with magic? Well, after that…”

Akilo Local Time: 3:12 AM, Ukila Local Time: Close to midnight.

It’s late into the night when we finally retire, the sun having set shortly after the beginning of our discussion.

Turned out it was sunset after all.

Sleep is blissfully empty of dreams or sporadic magical outbursts. But I have a new problem. I haven’t regenerated any of the Mana I used the day before, despite my System claiming I should be. I’m still sitting at three-hundred and twelve, the same as when I went to sleep.

And there’s nothing in my new System that tells me why. There isn’t even a condition.

It seems I’m going to have to figure out how to restore my Mana myself. At least my Stamina is replenishing normally.

Not keen to test if health does. Not until I can figure out Mana and I have a proper healing item.

Uthica is still sleeping, so I go out into the valley, having an early shower while Smoulder keeps watch. Watching the water pool, I remember what Wyonna said about time. It’s like an ocean. What does it mean that I’m hundreds of years in the past? Have I already altered events?

It doesn’t really matter. I can’t change it. I’ll just have to see what changes when I move forward again. And I will move forward again. But that means doing something far scarier than messing with Teleportation.

Testing Temporal-manipulation’s limits. Even with my blessing, the thought sends a chill down my spine.

But I don’t let that stop me.

I Pause time, the falling water frozen as I step back, leaving a me sized hole. The simplest thing. But it takes enough Facet I drop Pause. Right, need to get my regeneration solved first. Then I can start on experiments.

Finishing my shower, I turn my attention to the world around us. There’s plenty of mana right there. So, can I take it and make it my own?

Referencing the design of the mana-blocking and gathering device that once protected the mad Forerunner Folthka’s lab, I start constructing spells that reverse the flow of mana, directing it toward myself.

But I don’t cast them. Not yet. Instead, I wait for Uthica to wake. Then I explain what I’m trying to do.

“You’re not regenerating mana? A side-effect of your System rebooting, you think?”

“Seems pretty likely. Now, this is the structure I think has the best chance of succeeding. If I’m right, then if you create the structure using the System it should tell you, right?”

My System might be able to help too, but outsourcing to the one that probably has more safety procedures in place makes sense. At least for the first version.

I’m protected from messing with time, not mana. I also don’t have much to spare. Just making the models cost me a point.

Uthica squats next to my metal construct, studying it carefully before her eyes glaze over.

“Well?” I ask, tapping the metal sphere of runes with my equally metal hand. One I realize I might be able to cannibalize for more mana.

Uthica shakes her head. “It doesn’t confirm it as a spell.”

I sigh, but nod. “Didn’t really think I’d succeed on my first try.”

Uthica growls at the runework, “I wish I knew how long this was going to take. Not just getting your mana regeneration back, but finishing my quest and getting back to Akilo.”

“Right. Your quest, you never mentioned if it updated.”

“Defeat an Ukila Pandregen. Plus, a thousand lesser creatures scattered across Ukila. Have you ever heard of a Bitteler? Found a hundred and twelve kilometers to the North of Ukila transit point one.”

“Wait, your quest tells you where to find them? That’s great, that should make it easy.”

“That depends. What kind of enemy is this Bitteler? Does it feed on the suffering of others? Misdirect with illusions? I just… at least on Akilo, we have records of most of the dangers. And the ones we don’t, we can infer the risk from our legends.”

“Well, I guess that’s just more reason for me to have full mana. Better to have fully prepared backup.”

“Yeah,” Uthica pauses, staring at the tablet. “I think I have an idea.”

While Uthica tests her idea, I start transcribing the next six I’ve already developed. When Uthica informs me of her failure, I just nod, pointing her to the next one.

“Okay. I’m sure the theory of using Twilight to strengthen the bond is solid. But I don’t have the ability to use Twilight mana,” Uthica reminds me.

I blink, then look down at my designs. All of them require Twilight. It’s the most critical component for complex workings, so why wouldn’t they.

Sighing, I consider casting one of my designs myself. But that would just cost even more of my limited mana.

Marching away, I throw a rock at the wall. But not with mana. I can’t spare any mana. I suppose, in an emergency, I could refill by using a mana shard. But that seems… incredibly wasteful.

Thirty unique designs later, each with several minor adjustments, and not one works for Uthica.

I’m certain it’s because she can’t manipulate Twilight.

Which just means I’m going to have to teach her. Wish I had one of the illusion rings we used to teach the others.

“We should take a break,” Uthica suggests. “We haven’t even had breakfast yet. I don’t know about you, but I think better on a full stomach.”

Conceding, we sit near the edge of the valley, watching as the water plummets out of sight. I stare at one of the crispy bites of meat Uthica hands me, contemplating it.

Did the old System draw mana out of the air? Was it like photosynthesis for magic?

If it wasn’t, was it drawing power from somewhere else?

Popping the meat bite into my mouth, I savour the flavour as I try to figure out what I’m missing.

“Could there be another reason other than the fact you can’t use Twilight-mana,” I ask. “Maybe I’ve been hung up on the wrong thing. Your System will automatically use Twilight if you need structure.”

Tossing another bite up, I jerk my head to the side as Smoulder catches it out of the air, taking it for herself. After she ignites it into a ball of flaming ash.

Rolling my eyes at the waste of food, I scoop another out of my bowl.

“I’m not certain what it could be. Maybe the System just doesn’t want me to be able to gain mana faster.”

“Hmm. Maybe. But that doesn’t help, so let’s not assume that yet.”

I take another one of the bites, barely keeping it for myself when Smoulder attempts to catch it out of the air again. The next few bites devolve into a game as Smoulder attempts to snatch them away while I try to stop her.

Normally the game would involve magic, giving me a huge advantage. But without regeneration, it’s pretty much Smoulder’s match. Until she knocks one of the pieces over the edge. I wince, watching the delicious morsel vanish into the mist of the waterfall.

“How long do you think it’ll take for that to turn into mana-dust here? Do you think it’ll have the same rate of decay as on Akilo?” Uthica asks, staring after the lost meat.

I stare at Uthica as my brain picks apart her sentence. There was something… food turns into mana-dust if left alone long enough. You need to eat more to fuel your transformations.

Pulling another piece of meat out, I toss it into the air. This time I snag it away from Smoulder with magic.

When it’s on my tongue, I attempt to draw mana from it, letting it sit on my tongue. There’s a slight tingle, but I don’t know if that’s actual feedback or just wishful thinking.

But…

Leaping out of my seat, I charge back to the designs. After a few minutes, I come back to Uthica with our third design, modified to be more compact.

“Lexi, we already tried this one.”

“Yes. But we tried it on empty air. Try using it on this,” I say, handing her one of my meat bites. Of which she has her own bowl. Whatever.

She raises an eyebrow but doesn’t ask me any more questions. Her eyes get the Status glaze, and then she leaps to her feet, grabbing me by the shoulders and shaking me.

Good sign.

“I-I… t-take it, it worked?” I ask as Uthica giggles madly.

Uthica’s giggles keep building until she collapses next to the stream, worryingly close to the edge. Before she can send herself over said edge, I pull her back.

It takes her two minutes before she’s ready to speak. Even then she still giggles as she explains, “It didn’t… it didn’t just give me the spell. It gave me Twilight-manipulation.”

“That’s-” I start, but she holds up a hand as her giggles die down slightly.

“Not just… It gave me Lightning-manipulation… and Metal… And… I just…” Uthica’s giggles overwhelm her again as she flops backward in the grass.

I decide to leave her to it, not sure what to say to a several century old demi-god who’s collapsed into a giggling fit. Besides, I’d like to have some of that mana-regeneration. So, I place one of the bites in my mouth, chewing it as I cast the spell.

The rush as my mana is not just fully replenished but sent overflowing, knocking me on my back. There’s a soft feeling from my System, letting me know there’s a notification. But I don’t bother checking it. It takes me half a minute to realize…

I’m giggling too.

Mana’s a giggle-drug.

6.05, Over 9000!

Akilo Local Time: 2:53 AM, Ukila Local Time: Almost, nearly, probably noon. (January 12, 1512)

It takes me less time to recover than Uthica, pushing myself out of the grass, the sun illuminating the entire valley. Smoulder is playing tag with Uthica, hopping between her hands, prompting further fits of giggles.

Etched on my face, my smile threatens to send me back into giggles as I consider my state. The extra mana flowing through me is bleeding out. And when I check my Status, I find my mana level is over 9000. Way over.

Giggling again, I shake my head and refocus on my mana with a forced frown.

Unfortunately, it’s ticking down fast. A loss since I can’t handle the excess. I’m unable to push it into my attributes after a certain point, receiving a warning that doing so could damage the foundations.

I’m not processing it properly. Expending Focus, my urge to giggle drops drastically. Still there but reduced.

Wishing I had access to Wyonna’s advanced analysis right now, I try directing the excess mana into my damaged storage. And that absorbs it. Not ideal, but it’s better than letting the mana go to waste.

The next half hour is spent trying to coax the excess mana into repairing my inventory. A lot of the mana is lost, flitting away into the ambient mana of Ukila. But I manage to work a fair amount into the repairs, and the personal attention even seems to reduce the amount of processing power it’ll take to repair.

Sadly, I don’t feel as though I’ve repaired it properly, so much as patched between cracks.

It’ll take more practice before I’m able to harness this method of mana regeneration fully, but the fact I can already make use of it is promising. Combined with my new System, I should be able to grow faster than ever. Not many people who’re going to be able to guide me though. Obviously, I’ll ask Uthica, but who else?

Maybe the natives of Ukila? They’ve found a way to exist alongside a world encompassed by my old System. Did they figure out how to run one of their own?

Glancing over at Uthica, who’s chasing Smoulder around the clearing, I contemplate whether I should investigate while we’re here. Unless I’m able to replicate the System’s interplanetary teleportation, it might be my only chance to… wait, did my pad with my notes on portals survive? Am I going to be able to access it?

Am I… still a Citizen?

I take a deep breath.

Even if I’m not, I’ll figure this out. I have Uthica, and my own notes on teleportation. And there’s no way I’ll give up on it. It’d be way too useful. Especially if I’m able to teleport to other planets, like Earth.

As Smoulder lands on my shoulder, I catch Uthica as she lunges for her. She sends me back a step, but she catches herself before she can completely bowl me over. “She’s so fluffy.”

“Yep. Listen, Uthica, you’re experiencing a mana-overflow or… something like that. Too much mana, anyway. You might be able to use Focus to concentrate,” I inform her, Smoulder scurrying across my back out of Uthica’s reach.

But Smoulder’s foiled by Uthica’s second pair of hands. If I couldn’t feel how much fun Smoulder was having, I might be worried.

Uthica has wrapped me in all four arms as she attempts to snag Smoulder when my words seem to penetrate. She snaps to a stop, then steps back, her ears flat. “Sorry… Thank you.”

“No problem. It affected me too; I just wasn’t hit as hard.”

Uthica nods, not able to meet my gaze. I tap her on the shoulder, then spread my arms for a hug. She laughs, though this time it’s dignified instead of uncontrollable giggles. She accepts, giving me a brief hug.

Then she releases me, and we step apart.

“I need to see if I can address these… giggles,” Uthica states, her lips twitching upward as she takes a seat next to the stream.

I nod, walking to where we were eating before our giggle fit. I’m still hungry. Turning meat into mana didn’t leave me satiated at all.

Most of Uthica’s portion was eaten before we figured out the absorption spell, and the remainder was sent flying over the edge. My own spilled about, but a quick application of earth, water then fire and they’re serviceable again. Definitely not tasty like they were before, but Smoulder still wants to steal them, and if they’re good enough for her…

Actually, that’s probably not a minimum standard I want to use.

I keep a couple pieces of meat wrapped in a steel pouch on my waist, in case I need to use them to restore my Mana later. I’d have saved more, but even now I’m still hungry. Silly body needing food.

While I’m pondering whether it would be better to hunt down a big predator or a bunch of smaller herd animals to restore my larder, Uthica jogs up next to me. “Okay, as much as I want to stay here and experiment, now that you have your mana back, I think we should get going.”

“Right. Where to?” I ask, letting her lead the way.

“I’d like to get a lay of the land first. I… was wrong about needing to get back to Akilo. This is a unique opportunity. And as useful as your teleportation is, I’d rather explore.”

I frown, but she’s right. Shame. Dying really put into perspective how much I’d been needlessly worrying about teleportation. In truth, it’s put a lot of things in perspective.

“Hmm. It’s a shame the Eldinsworn kept us from bringing dragons. It’d be nice to explore on dragon-back. I wonder if they have any.“

“I mean, they’ve got K’tharn here, so dragons are possible,” I say, peering out over the edge with her. “Might need your help. My wind manipulation is weak at the moment.”

“As was mine up until an hour ago,” Uthica smiles, handing me a ring. “Just link to it and…”

I pat her shoulder, taking the ring. My System responds, but instead of automatically connecting, it provides a set of possible linking methods.

Choosing the ‘recommended’ option, I Pause, watching as it creates a simple bridge to the ring using the basic structure I’d use to power a shield spell. It sinks into place and I feel a new presence on the edge of my soul-scape. It’s weak, little more than a fraction of a fraction the size of my soul-scape.

But I’m able to glean the basics of its function by Focusing on it.

Flight. That’s the basics.

The execution is more sophisticated, using a combination of reducing my effective mass while creating an aerodynamic envelope to propel me through the air, responding to mental prompts which are enabled by the link to my soul-scape.

The intricate construction is the most clearly I’ve ever understood regular enchanting. For the first time, I feel like I’m able to discern more than the basics of something that has… damnit, it’s cause it’s related to movement, and overcoming air resistance, isn’t it?

Yep, I totally know how to design something similar for a fighter-craft.

A second after exiting my soul-scape, I’m floating a meter above the valley floor. Smoulder expresses her dissatisfaction at us flying by burrowing into one of the pockets in my borrowed cloak. Uthica considers my floating form for a second before disappearing, then grabbing my hand.

Now that I know I can regenerate mana, I almost stop her. But she’s using items, so the mana cost should be an order of magnitude better than what I can do. Besides, I haven’t taken the time to re-engineer my invisibility spell.

We soar out of the valley like a pair of dragons, ready to hunt for prey to sate our great appetites.

The Bittelers from Uthica’s quest turn out to be a type of bug that scurries between trees, its hard carapace making it annoying to attack with solid objects such as stone or metal. But it burns real easy. We spend more time searching down Uthica’s targets than killing them. Surprisingly, her System counts all of mine and Smoulder’s kills as progress for Uthica’s quest as long as she’s in line of sight. She doesn’t even have to be looking at us.

Is there some sort of hand-shaking going on?

Crouching over one of our latest kills, I crack open its shell, pulling out some of the smoking flesh. It’s only a fraction of the size of the meat bites at my waist, but it should be enough to restore my Mana use for the fight.

The mana flows into my soul-scape, seeping directly into my Mana-pool. It doesn’t completely refill my mana, but it’s close enough.

Taking another several chunks of meat, I attempt to infuse them with Twilight-mana, to mark them as ‘mine’. Hopefully this time it works. I’ve already failed to mark them a dozen times, despite copying how Uthica’s System does it. I can get my System to poof them easy enough, but it’s having trouble with the whole ‘mine but not destroyed’ thing.

I’ll know if my latest attempt works in an hour.

“Ready?” Uthica asks as I stand.

“Yeah. How many more of these do you need?” I ask, retrieving Smoulder from where she’s finished marking her dominance over the defeated Bittelers.

“Hmm. Three-hundred and twelve. I think-” She cuts out, firing a tightly packed ball of fire from a gun shaped wand, before continuing, “Make that three-ten. As I was going to say, I think we should investigate this Pandregen. This has been far too easy for a Silver-rank quest.”

“Yeah. But there’s nothing saying that this is the last step,” I observe, taking her hand as we disappear from everyone except each other’s view once more.

We fly North, using the mountain where we first camped as our primary landmark.

“Ever wonder what it’d be like to live like this? Completely separate from others. Just hunting and experimenting with magic,” Uthica muses, a small ball of fire floating over her hand. It’s so small I wouldn’t be able to see it if I wasn’t so close.

I offer her a wry smile, thinking back to my first days on Akilo. “It’s a lot of fun. But I don’t think I’ll ever be the type of person to forgo the company of others.”

“True. Besides, father would never allow me to cut myself off from my friends.” Uthica veers to the side, skirting around a tree that has vines on it that reach in our direction despite our invisibility.

Creepy.

“My mom didn’t even notice when I stopped spending time with kids from school,” I note, a bittersweet feeling in my mouth. Knowing that mom used to be better when I was younger… It makes me wonder if I can ever get that mother back.

“Mother… I don’t think about her often. I didn’t know her that well. We lost her not long after the System arrived, and even before that… she was less important than father.” Uthica slows, descending toward a rocky promontory that overlooks where the forest we’ve been flying above ends.

Ahead, the land is scarred, great black rents that stretch for hundreds of meters breaking apart the otherwise barren rock.

“Pandregen’s territory,” Uthica informs me, her voice barely audible over the sound of the forest around us.

Nodding, I scan the terrain ahead of us, but it appears to be empty rocks and gravel. Still, Uthica doesn’t move, so I continue watching.

We remain there for nearly fifteen minutes before one of the ridges in the distance crumbles, a scaled lizard rising from the broken rock. Its head is shaped like a hammer, its sides armoured in dark grey plates that taper off near its narrow tail.

Looking to Uthica, she nods, settling down.

Right, she prefers to study creatures. And my advanced analysis might speed things up but it could also give away our position just as easily.

I tap Uthica on the shoulder then gesture closing my eyes. Well, eye. Took me a while to realize it hadn’t been restored either.

She nods, returning her attention to the Pandregen.

Meanwhile, I turn my attention inward, shifting to where my Facet is stored. Like the rest of my soul-scape, my Facet’s storage is now associated with a place from my memories. Though in its case, I’m unsure I’d have chosen the ugly tree to be its storage component.

Too late to change it now.

Walking around the gnarled tree, I place my hand on it, feeling the way its roots twist and wind through my soul-scape. There’s a flow, very slow, but there. Following it, I discover I’m spending Facet even now. Tracing it, there’s a slow leak that just… disappears. While the leak is annoying, the flow of Facet lets me confirm I’m regenerating an incredible amount of Facet naturally.

Thanks to my channelling, it’s being used nearly as fast as it regenerates.

Unable to trace the leak further, I work backward.

My Facet originates in the ugly tree. But it doesn’t come from nothing. The tree is linked to the rest of my soul-scape. Including my other resource pools. It’s drawing small amounts off each of my other resource pools, then combining them into Facet.

The conversion rate is… well, insane.

With only a slight amount of effort, I’m able to prod the tree to increase the conversion rate further. The tree surges, drawing the needed resources at a rate that shocks me out of my mental space as I hack up blood, my System pinging me softly in the background.

Uthica turns to me, her eyes narrowed, an unspoken question on her face.

I shake my head, clamping down on the coughing.

She nods, turning her attention back to the Pandregen as I assess my condition, reading the notification.

“Administrator Customization detected: Resource Overdraw implemented. Current conversion channels insufficient, safety activated. Feedback mitigated. Use Administrator permissions to override safety?”

Dismissing the message, I inspect myself. I’ve managed to consume some of my Health, and done so in a way that comes with side effects. Don’t want to know how much worse it would’ve been without the safety.

Leaning away from Uthica, I create a small ball of stone, spiting out the blood then encasing it. Disposing of the entire disgusting package, my self-assessment continues. The conversion took nearly a tenth of my health, but my Facet is… at roughly ten times its normal maximum.

Given the issues I’ve been having with healing, this could be a problem.

Well, no problem, right. Just don’t hurt myself.

As I consider my new, near infinite supply of Facet, I groan.

That’s going to be… well, I’d say that travelling five-hundred years into the past would be easier.

6.06, Hands in the Air

Ukila Local Time: Late afternoon. (January 12, 1512)

True to form, with a nigh infinite Facet pool, I start experimenting, since we’re not doing anything else. My first experiment is using Pause without dipping into my pool. Just for the challenge of it.

It lasts close to, but a little less than a minute, though the duration varies slightly with each attempt. Still, that’s without costing me more than 0.01 Facet. A much lower limit than I used to need.

Uthica taps my shoulder, drawing my attention, and stopping my experiments before I get much further. She leads me away from the Pandregen. Five minutes flight toward the mountain, she stops floating over the canopy near a flock of green and yellow crested birds. They sing a harmonious rhythm that would make an orchestra jealous as Uthica pulls us higher, telling me her plan.

My traitorous grin gives away my agreement before I’m able to reply.

The herd of Bittelers is nipping at our heels angrily, their small mouths not much of a threat as we lead them toward the Pandregen. True to form, it took longer to find them than it did to get them to follow us. Now that we’re flying close to the Pandregen’s lair, we drop into invisibility. A crude illusion continues forward. It’s not intricate enough to fool more than the most casual glance, but its enough for the Bittelers.

They continue forward, ignoring the sudden change in terrain that most wildlife would wisely avoid.

Cracking stone rains from below as the Pandregen turns toward the Bittelers. The Pandregen roars at the intruders, waiting for their next move. Which only serves to draw the Bittelers toward it.

This seems to be what the Pandregen was expecting. It digs its claws into the ground, then corkscrews forward, a living drill that tears not just the Bittelers to pieces, but the surrounding soil as well.

It didn’t even use Stone-manipulation, it just tore the stone apart with raw physical force. The Bittelers durable shells crumbled like a paper bag under a semi-truck.

“Hmm. It could be more challenging than I’d anticipated,” Uthica notes.

“Doesn’t seem that bad,” I say, trying to compare it to most of the creatures I’ve fought. Pretty sure the Vothborean would smash it to pieces. The immortal mana-warped too.

Uthica raises an eyebrow at me but doesn’t comment. Instead, we repeat the experiment, but with other monsters. It’s as we’re watching a pack of lizards that resemble Ostriches with green armor as they get destroyed when Uthica decides she’s ready.

“I’ll be handling this fight on my own. I don’t want to risk failing the quest by accepting your assistance. However, I’d appreciate if you kept watch. And pull me out if I get in trouble,” Uthica says from the top of our now familiar promontory. Which we’ve confirmed I can teleport to fast enough. “Though I don’t suspect I’ll need you to.”

“Good luck,” I say, clapping her on the shoulder as the last of the Ostrich-lizards squawks its death cries.

Uthica stands up, her form disappearing as she engages her ring. Minutes later black lines fill the air over where the Pandregen is feasting. They descend slowly, creating a cage around the Pandregen dozens of meters distant. Once the cage has surrounded the Pandregen, touching the ground on every side it contracts. The Pandregen snorts, its wide mouth opening in a roar as it turn to face it’s most recent challenger.

But Uthica doesn’t appear, remaining invisible as her net contracts around the Pandregen. It tries to corkscrew away, but the black threads adhere to its carapace, locking it in place. It struggles in place for a minute until a bright blue-white rune appears, accompanied by buzzing. The rune is one of the most complex spell designs I’ve ever seen, thousands of lines linking each segment, all packed into less than a square meter.

The buzzing rune floats down, much like the net did before it.

Unlike the net, when the rune makes contact with the Pandregen, it’s effects can’t be mistaken as benign. Its earth-splitting roar is replaced with a harsher shriek as it struggles futilely to escape where the blue-white rune is slowly searing through its flesh.

Then it’s over, something critical finally giving out.

Or maybe it just ran out of Health to shield it from damage that should’ve killed it much earlier.

Only after it’s stopped struggling does Uthica appear above it. She flies down to its body, using a set of oversized shears to cut it open. I fly over to join her as she pulls out its heart, a healthy but small organ. Then she pulls out a second and a third. Once she’s pulled out the seventh, she finally steps away.

I conjure an orb of water for her to cleanse herself. Uthica nods her thanks at me as she vigorously scrubs herself clean of the Pandregen’s viscera.

“What’s with the hearts?” I ask as she dries herself off.

Uthica grimaces, staring at where the seven hearts now rest on a sheet pulled from her inventory. “Quest update. I need to take each heart to a different spot on Ukila, use them to trigger a beast surge, then cleanse the beast surge.”

“That sounds. Extensive. And time-consuming,” I note.

“I suspect it will be. I’m sorry to say, this is going to take considerably longer than I’d feared.”

“Well, at least you’ve got me to get you there faster,” I reassure her, keeping Smoulder from investigating the hearts.

Uthica packs the hearts up, nodding. “But this means you’ll need to be in peak form. What was with the blood?”

“Uhm. Thought you missed that. Was trying to overclock my Facet,” I admit, letting Smoulder go free once Uthica has the last of the hearts packed away in her inventory. “But at least I found out my health regenerates on its own. Even if it’s slow.”

A fact I was able to confirm over the last few hours as we herded the monsters to the Pandregen. Again, it’s less than it should be, according to my Status, but it’s there. And despite my admin status, I haven’t figured out why yet. There’s a… lot of information to go through. And the System doesn’t seem to have useful filters.

Uthica and I stare at the remains of the Pandregen as Smoulder hops onto its head, throwing back her head and roaring in triumph. It comes out as more of a ‘mew’ or maybe a ‘meh’. Either way, when Smoulder hops back to me, I reward her efforts with more headscritches.

“We should…” Uthica trails off as several forms appear from the trees to the south.

They’re garbed just like the Eldinsworn, though like the ones at the gate, these ones count several K’tharn amongst their number. They’re approaching cautiously, their rifles held at the ready but not pointed in our direction. When they’re a dozen meters away, they stop. One of the humans steps forward, calling out in that unfamiliar language again.

“Don’t suppose you understand what they’re saying?” Uthica asks, her posture low, ready to act.

“Not as such. And no convenient System codex to teach me either,” I say, lamenting the loss of such an easy way to learn new languages. “We could just leave.”

Uthica nods, then shakes her head. “We should at least make an attempt to communicate. If we’re going to be on Ukila for a while, they might be able to help.”

Ceding the decision to Uthica, I remain in place as she steps forward. Two of the Eldinsworn raise their rifles slightly, but none turn them on us. They make several statements in their strange language before Uthica calls out to them. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying. Do you speak Vausian?”

There’s no response, other than the lead K’tharn talking to one of it’s subordinates. They’re shaking their heads when Uthica repeats her question in M’terese.

This time the assistant responds enthusiastically, “May you always be sheltered beneath the waves.”

Uthica seems startled, raising her hand for a second before she returns the greeting.

“Forgive rough speak. The honoured depths do not visit often,” the Eldinsworn says, his voice trembling.

“You are forgiven. I have many questions, if you’d be able to answer them,” Uthica says, standing straighter. The assistant is talking in short sentences with what seems to be their squad-leader.

The squad-leader’s face remains masked, but she seems to be indulging the assistant, waving him forward. As Uthica talks with the assistant the other members of their squad come closer, until they’re standing in a perimeter around us. But they’re not watching us. Their attention is focused outward, gazes sweeping across the surrounding forest.

Uthica gets a lot of directions to places I’m guessing are listed in her quest log. While she’s doing that, I concentrate on her, trying to establish a connection.

In theory, I still have my IFF ability, but I haven’t tried to use it since I woke in the past. Not sure if it’s going to be broken like… nope, its activating.

The process is similar to connecting to the ring she gave me, though it’s even simpler. The connection stretches out from the ugly tree, Uthica a visible presence on the periphery of my soul-scape. While I’m investigating the nature of the bond, I discover there are two other connections leading away. One is to Smoulder, and that connection is… the comparison isn’t even one. Our bond is thick as the tree the bond springs from.

The other bond is far weaker, stretched nearly to the point of being broken. I’m afraid to interact with it, worried that even the slightest touch might cause it to snap. So I don’t.

Stepping out of my soul-scape, I’m able to confirm my connection is working as expected, my awareness of Uthica’s position clear in my mind. It’s solid. Good, I’d like to ensure I can’t lose her. Especially considering the modern Earth vibes I’m picking up from these Eldinsworn.

Still, with further testing required, I establish a connection to one of the nearby Eldinsworn, one with rich caramel skin. Her presence appears beside Uthica’s outside my soul-scape, but it’s not as opaque. She’s broadcasting her visual input directly across the connection. When I Focus on it, I can even hear through her ears. I immediately drop my Focus, but a snippet of her life slips through.

An argument with her brother. A male elvenoid with large sharp ears. They’re fighting over whether she should join the Eldinsworn, her brother accusing them of atrocities while she swears they’re heroes.

A common tale.

The fragment ends before I get any details.

But now I’m worried. Looking around, I count a total of twenty-four Eldinsworn, all with the same dark grey uniform. The same strange rifles. The translator is now asking Uthica questions that seem to be coming from their commander. Questions like, how did you get here. How many of you are there.

Uthica answers the questions concisely, lying through her pointy little teeth with a smile. “Sent by the M’tari. Twelve.”

The enthusiastic assistant conveys her answers to the squad-leader who seems to make a decision, snapping out orders to the surrounding Eldinsworn.

The shock on the translator’s face is all the warning I need, pausing time as several of the Eldinsworn spin in place, bringing their rifles to bear. Including the one I'm linked to. I consider blasting them off their feet, but instead I drop the pause, teleporting to Uthica’s side. With her in hand, we teleport hundreds of meters directly above, startling a flock of grey birds.

Below us, I watch as half a dozen dark blasts of energy tear apart the ground. The blast reminds me of where I’d seen the rifles before. They’re a similar design as the one Ivicka used to pierce through Genitha’s defences. There are barely heard yells from below, the Eldinsworn spreading out, combing through the trees. At least they don’t seem to be used to flying opponents.

As if reading my thoughts, a cloaked ship appears. Its hovering a dozen meters to the side of where we’d been talking with the squad.

And I had no idea it was there.

I trade a look with Uthica, pointing at the mountain. Uthica nods, so I teleport us to the mountain valley, using nearly half my Facet to make a trip of only two-hundred kilometers. There’s something heavy in the air.

The second we arrive Uthica says, “That was strange. Why did they turn like that.”

“I don’t know. But there’s something off about them.”

“The sudden decision to kill us did imply that, yes,” Uthica says, elbowing me.

I roll my eyes, but smile as I say, “Other than that. I’ve seen those weapons before. One of them anyway. It’s Reaper-tech.”

“Never heard of it,” Uthica says, leading the way inside our shelter while glancing over her shoulder at the sky. “That they can make something so large invisible and silent is worrying.”

“I mean, it’s only the size of a dragon. And people have made dragons invisible,” I point out.

“They… what?” Uthica asks, a plate heaped with steaks held in two hands as she stares at me.

I take the plate from her, setting it on the table as I answer, “Is that not a thing yet? I know the Aetherium in the future had several invisible dragon riders. Never saw one, but Tipan made a point of talking about it.”

Uthica shakes her head as she sits. “Perhaps they were inspired by my visit here. I have several ideas about how to do such a thing already. Hopefully I can test tomorrow.”

“See. Not so strange,” I say, spearing one of the steaks, placing it on my plate with a small sigh. Uthica has even less carbs available than a typical K’tharn. And with my ability to Focus on things to identify their nature gone, I can’t even scrounge in the forest. Well, not without sorting through the overabundant information I get from a Facet scan.

Either too much information or too little. Wouldn’t be a problem if I had Wyonna or if my System was working properly.

Still, at least it’s good steak.

“What really gets me is that they know M’terese but not Vausian,” Uthica says as she sets her plate to the side, the pile of steaks entirely gone.

“Well, the M’tari have been visiting Ukila for a long time,” I note, petting Smoulder, who’s established her claim in my lap.

“You mentioned that before. How do you know so much about Ukila?”

“Remember that dungeon I told you about. The one with the M’tari in it?” I ask, pulling at the soft tip of Smoulder’s tail as I glance up at Uthica, who nods. “Well, it had all of this. I’m surprised you don’t remember after we traded memories.”

Uthica shifts her empty plate back and forth several times before saying, “Not all your memories were clear. What did the mural say about the Eldinsworn?”

“Nothing. It never mentioned the Eldinsworn once.”

“Strange. Not once?”

“Nope. Maybe something happened to them by the time they made the mural. Or maybe they’re recent arrivals.”

Stroking her chin, Uthica nods. “That is certainly possible. I’ve seen more groups than I can count dissolve since I was a cub.”

And with that morbid thought, we move on. The rest of dinner is peaceful as we discuss what to do next. And whether there might be a way to detect the invisible ships.

It’d never occurred to me before, but we’re not the only ones flying around while invisible. And despite what I told Uthica about invisible dragons, I’m not used to the concept of others flying around while invisible. The Taken must do it though.

After dinner, I attempt to reverse the conversion process for my Facet, hoping to boost my Health regeneration. There are several warning notifications as the safety kicks in again.

And my Health ticks up but I end up getting a slightly bloody nose. Less than ideal.

It aches for over an hour afterwards. Seems lingering pain is back now that my System’s changed. I consider experimenting with my System to find an option to disable it again but decide to hold off for now.

The fact that the pain goes away entirely after an hour helps.

As I lay down for the evening, in a second ‘secret’ bunker buried deeper within our shelter, I enter my soul-scape to observe my connections. The connection to Uthica remains obscured. I’m certain I could reinforce it and experience her memories. But then… I’ve already done that, haven’t I?

Smoulder’s connection blazes, warming me physically and within my soul even now as she sleeps on my chest.

Instead, my eyes shift to the other connection. The Eldinsworn is inside a cramped space, surrounded by her fellow Eldinsworn. When I Focus on the link, I try to restrain my connection.

It seems to fail, because when the connection forms, I’m fully in her body. The cramped space smells awful, the sweat of two-dozen hardworking individuals packed into a space barely larger than my old bedroom on Earth.

There are several conversations going on nearby, including one my host seems to be part of. I attempt to understand what’s being said, but it all just seems like gibberish to me. Several minutes after I’ve established the connection, I’m no closer to understanding them. I’m about to disengage when a change comes over the space, everyone going quiet.

A second later there’s a low hiss from one end of the room, a line of bright light blinding my host for a second before an open compound reveals itself beyond her. They file out of the space, which reveals itself to be the cloaked craft that’d been hovering over us back in the clearing. She follows the others out of the hanger the ship landed inside to a bunkroom. When she starts getting disrobed, I let my Focus go slack. This time no memories intrude on my mind, so restricting my Focus seems to have prevented that at least.

Obscuring the image from the connection to the Eldinsworn as she continues to disrobe, I settle down to sleep.

The Eldinsworn can wait.

Cause during the end of dinner, Uthica had an amazing proposal. Tomorrow…

Tomorrow we’re going to become dragon riders.

6.07, Dragons!

Ukila Local Time: Early Morning. (January 13, 1512)

Dragons!

While Uthica had told me she had a way to draw dragons in, I wasn’t prepared for the sight that greets me when I emerge in the morning. There are over a dozen wild dragons circling our mountain. Crimson, emerald and sapphire scales all glint in the sun overhead. There are even a pair of smaller dragons playing in the pool outside our super-secret hideout, drawn by Uthica’s magical lure.

By the time I’ve taken in the breathtaking sight, Uthica is already approaching the larger of the pair, a deep burgundy dragon with pink highlights. He seems to be eyeing Uthica with suspicion, but not hostility.

The other dragon is black as… well, black as most of Josh’s public wardrobe before we came to Akilo. He’s far less concerned with our presence, his sleek head darting in and out of the mountain pool. I don’t know what he’s doing, cause I know there weren’t any fish in that pool yesterday. Maybe he’s trying to sharpen his scales even more. He does seem to have a lot of sharp lines around his snout.

Despite being smaller than the other dragons — who are settling in the valley below us even now — this pair are still large enough to ride. If Uthica can convince them to serve us. Which she assured me last night, shouldn’t be too hard.

These aren’t the first dragons she’s wrangled.

While I may be in awe, Smoulder’s not impressed with either of our prospective mounts.

The way they’re both playing in the pool probably doesn’t help. Nor does the fact that neither seem to have any affinity for fire. The one Uthica’s approaching has a strong stone affinity according to my Facet scan, his name roughly translating to Jagged Redstone.

And the other…

“Creature analyzed: Dragon. Gene seed D. Substandard physical reinforcement. Advanced magical pathways. Twilight-affinity.”

“Name: (The Darkest Period of Night, when Light Flees the Shadow)”

My new System provides me with a much more detailed breakdown, including a general plan for food and mana supplements for optimum growth. I’m starting to appreciate the less nuanced overview the old System had. I’ll need to figure out if I can program the new System to do both, and to store the advanced scan while showing me the simple one.

In fact…

It only takes me a minute to figure out how to set it up. Nice that some parts of my old System are intact.

And if Temporal Library works the way it says it does, once I can access it, I might be able to restore the rest.

My attention returns to where Smoulder is snorting at the much larger black dragon, who is currently ignoring her and darting its head into the pool.

Further upstream, Uthica seems to have come to an understanding with the burgandy-stone dragon, trading some of her stored Bittelers to it as it makes a deep rumbling noise.

Deciding to intervene before Smoulder gets carried away, I approach the black dragon. Slowly. It’s only as I get within a couple steps of Smoulder that it acknowledges me, pausing its darting motions. His eyes track my movement as I get closer, and it’s only as I reach down to pick up Smoulder I realize what he’s really watching.

My elemental hand.

Even as I’m shifting Smoulder to my other arm, I extend the currently steel and titanium limb towards him. He blinks, very slowly.

Then his head darts forward and he… takes a bite out of my hand.

Or at least, he tries to.

He’s grinding his teeth, but unable to actually pull my hand free. Or even budge me by much. He’s not very strong, despite his size. That doesn’t stop him from trying. Smoulder just snorts at him again, though I feel a faint annoyance through our bond since I’m not giving her headscritches.

Considering Smoulder and my bond, I decide to extend a tether towards dark and drooling. I can feel him come into shape at the edge of my soul-scape. And as soon as it forms, the connection feels different.

Midnight, and I know that’s what he thinks of himself as now, stops chewing on my hand, closing his eyes. Then I see the bond thicken. Not nearly as strong as my bond to Smoulder. But it’s almost as thick as my bond with Uthica, which I’ve reinforced.

Once the new bond has stabilized, he doesn’t even wait, chomping down on my hand again. And successfully biting a finger off.

Much like Smoulder, I can feel satisfaction emanating through the bond. And I can feel Smoulder’s displeasure radiating right back.

Which Midnight picks up on, turning to look at Smoulder, tilting his head to the side. They stare at each for several seconds before I feel my System prompting me.

“(The Darkest Period of Night, when Light Flees the Shadow) is attempting to form a partnership bond. Allow bond to be formed? Existing partnership bond will be used as a template.”

“Uh, sorry bud, but I hardly know you,” I say instead of allowing him to strengthen our bond. And I send a feeling of… patience and curiosity across the bond, trying to impress the idea of spending some time together first.

Also, a general impression of riding on his back through the sky. Cause… dragon.

Smoulder decides to help by sharing an image of herself atop his head. The feelings she imbues are ones of arrogance and majesty.

I do my best not to give in to the pure adorableness.

I fail, but Smoulder accepts her tribute of headscritches as fair atonement. Midnight doesn’t seem to understand the meaning, and snorts before attempting to nibble my hand again.

Which I realize, is because it’s made of super tasty mana. Cause, of course a Twilight dragon would find dense mana tasty.

Our interaction is interrupted as a mighty roar comes from just up the pool.

It’s not the dragon. Well, not just the dragon. Uthica is standing on the dragon’s back, and they both have their heads thrown back and are howling at the sky.

Midnight just huffs, but the dragons in the valley below respond with roars of their own.

So much for a stealthy hideout.

“What was that?” I ask Uthica, walking up to her as she and her dragon stop roaring.

“It was my acceptance into his pack. Sign of our agreement to work as one,” Uthica explains, patting his horn before sliding down his side to stand beside me. “And now his pack won’t attack us when we leave.”

“That… was a thing?” I ask, glancing down at the dragons below. I don’t think any would be a threat, but I wouldn’t have wanted to accidentally hurt them during our escape either. They’re technically not monsters, being natives of… I’m not sure if they’re from Akilo or Ukila, considering they’re on both planets. But I’m sure they’re from one of them, and not just a mana-beast.

“It was. Now, I shall guide you on how to…” Uthica trails off as her eyes move over to where Midnight and Smoulder are taking turns blasting a rock between them using puffs of fire.

Turns out that a Twilight dragon is more of an all element dragon. Midnight’s just really weak. At pretty much everything.

For the moment.

“You’ve already reached an agreement with him,” Uthica states, nodding her head. She doesn’t seem surprised, as if she expected me to be an expert dragon rider negotiator person. “Will you join your voice to his?”

“You… want me to roar? With a dragon?” I ask, just to make sure of what she’s asking.

“Ye-“

I don’t wait for her full response, already teleporting to Midnight’s back. Then I motion for Smoulder to join me, while sending the gist of what we’re supposed to do to Midnight.

He huffs, shaking his head then giving Redstone some side eye. Through the bond I can’t help but notice that he’s feeling nervous.

So… I may show him how to use Twilight to enhance his voice. Just a little.

As the three of us raise our voices to the sky, the mountain beneath us shakes. The dragons in the valley answer our call with one of their own, nearly as mighty. By the time we’re done, I realize I’ve lost over a hundred Health from the backlash.

Worth.

Now that we’re officially bonded, instead of waiting around for trouble, I get Uthica to move closer. Then with my improved teleport spell, I send us all to a ridge on the horizon.

My teleport has improved so much that not a single passenger — whether K’tharn, dragon or doom-bunny — is left sick. The trick seems to be in giving them time on each end for reality to ‘fade’. It’s a technique that warps their perceptions, and makes the teleport take an extra couple seconds, but it’s worth it.

Of course, despite us sending a warning over the bond, Midnight and Redstone are both shocked by the sudden displacement. It takes the rest of Uthica’s Bitteler corpses to satisfy Redstone, and it costs me two whole fingers to do the same with Midnight. Which… not much of a real cost. Still a little annoying since they’re only tasty if Midnight eats them from the source.

And I can feel the separation of the bits of mana even if it doesn’t hurt.

After, we spend an hour getting used to flying around as partners. Which includes maneuvers where I jump off Midnight’s back to free fall for hundreds of meters before lining up with him again.

Rufka would love it.

I almost let myself smack into the ground after having that thought, only catching myself because of a swift Pause. Staring at the ground less than a meter in front of my face, I try to take in a breath only to remember I don’t get to do that in Pause.

Instead, I teleport myself back into the sky, where the rush of air quickly refreshes me. After adjusting my velocity, I teleport over to Midnight who’s circling the spot I fell a second earlier. Smoulder spots me first, hopping into my arms even as I appear atop Midnight’s back, sensing my disquiet.

When I kneel down, I lay my hand on Midnight’s back, and he finally notices me. He sends an image of satisfaction, pleased his tasty snack-maker hasn’t been damaged.

Truly, I am the most appreciated dragon-rider ever.

Feeling that I’m as in tune with Midnight as I’m going to be without considerably more practice, I urge him to land next to Uthica. Which results in him stumbling during the landing, unaccustomed to the extra weight.

Which leads to ten minutes of practicing his landings. Since I can just teleport him into the air, landings really are all he has to practice. It also earns me extra bonus cool-rider points, since he appreciates not having to do the hardest part of flying himself.

Once Midnight’s gotten used to landing with me on his back, I hop down beside Uthica as he moves over to where Redstone is basking in the sun. Midnight pauses, looking at Redstone for a second. Then his gaze meets Smoulder’s and they move over to another rock. With both dragons taking a rest after the intense workout, Uthica joins me, her hand landing on my shoulder. “You’re… not a natural dragon-rider.”

“I thought I was doing pretty good,” I reply, feeling a little hurt.

“You… put yourself in danger before your dragon. And are far too willing to throw yourself off his back. These are…” Uthica shakes her head. “At least you’re not hurting him.”

I raise my hand, one metal finger raised. Then I shrug. She’s not totally wrong. “Guess I’m more of a dragon-buddy.”

“I… yes, I suppose so,” Uthica replies, a small smile tugging at her lips. “And now that we have our mounts, we should move on to the next stage of my quest.”

“After you,” I reply, bowing at the waist while waving to the side. Which I’m pretty sure is the opposite of her quest objective.

Clearly my form is off, because she neither laughs nor is fooled, moving over to leap onto Redstone’s back instead.

I stand up, dusting myself off.

Now that we have dragons, it’s time to ride them forward and slay hordes of monsters from their back.

Sab would be so jealous.

Only need to wait five-hundred years to tell her.

6.08, Unto The Slaughter

Ukila Local Time: Reasonable Morning. (January 13, 1512)

Our journey to the first of Uthica’s quest objectives goes smoothly. No random attacks by Reapers, mana-beasts or invisible dragons.

Probably helps that we’re the ones riding invisible dragons. Literally only took Uthica an hour to figure out how to extend her item over Redstone.

And not wanting to be out done, I did the same for Midnight, except I used my spell. After fixing it. And it took me more than an hour.

Point is, we both have invisible dragons!

Which… kinda feels like it defeats the point of being a dragon rider. But whatever.

I’ve also started fixing my inventory, sacrificing an Iron mana shard to do so. My attributes have been increasing in the background, and all my mental attributes are around a hundred and ninety already. My physical are much lower, since the processing requirements are so much more expensive. But a Strength of one-thirty isn’t bad.

Still haven’t figured out exactly what’s up with my weird mana regen though. There’s a drain, but my System refuses to tell me what’s causing it.

During Uthica’s reconnaissance of her first objective — a mana-rift that’s emerged in the middle of a river, pushing molten streams of rock nearly three-hundred meters into the air— I check on the Eldinsworn. Her squad is wading through the forest where we fought the Bittelers, poking and shooting every tree, rock and shrub, trying to flush us out. They’re unlikely to find us seeing as we’re already hundreds of kilometers away, but their dedication is cute.

I may let a bit of warm affection for their hard work slip through the bond, but I can’t be sure. And she doesn’t seem to react, so I don’t worry about it. I do try to pick up any of the words her squad is using though. It’d be good to know the language of our… well, they’re not exactly friendly, but maybe that can change if we understand each other properly.

Then again, maybe not. Zealots are gonna zeal.

Just don’t know if this bunch is in that category yet.

When Uthica is ready, she places one of the Pandregen’s hearts near the bottom of the mana-vent.

Then the event starts. At first only a handful of weak mana-beasts come forth. Then dozens appear at a time. Eventually, they stretch to the horizon. Well, outside of a one kilometer radius, anyway.

Lesser Cataclysm really doesn’t feel lesser when my Facet regens to full in five seconds.

“Maybe let a few of them get close,” Uthica suggests after a few minutes. “I’m getting quest progress, but I’m unable to study them properly.”

I blink at her, but start sorting out several of each type of mana-beast, tagging them not to be hit. Then I let the entire horde get within a couple hundred meters before obliterating them. Which results in some of the others dying just from the explosive deaths.

Whoops.

“Hmm. Thank you,” Uthica says as she leaps away from the fountain of molten rock to begin her studies. While she’s doing that, I channel mana into everything that can take it. Unfortunately, my Facet can only speed up so much processing at once, so a lot of the spare mana’s going to waste.

And I can’t claim them fast enough either.

At least I’ve got my auto-loot working, so we’re collecting a forest of shards.

As Uthica reaches the seventy-five percent point, I’ve rebuilt my backpack and successfully repaired my inventory. When I open it, I discover most of my possessions have indeed been destroyed. But it seems to have saved the most valuable items. All my mana shards are still there, as are…

Oh. The memory locket. Pulling it out, I stare at the small round object. I can’t help but laugh at the fact that I forgot about a memory locket. Is that irony? Or poetry?

Either way, it’s funny. Then I pull out a fractured memory crystal and laugh even harder.

My laughter is strong enough, I end up losing my balance and stumbling into the nearby molten rock. Which doesn’t do any damage, but does cling annoyingly to my Eldinsworn clothes until I force it to cool.

Ambient mana always seems to be more stubborn around vents, similar to when trying to contest another user for control.

With a thought, I prod the memory locket, and my System asks if I want to bond with it. In addition to the listed Edge, it grants me a flat processing bonus. Which has me chuckling again, though this time I remain wary of the lava.

After bonding to the Memory locket with less processing power than it grants me every minute, I send out another Cataclysm, killing the beasts that were charging mindlessly towards us.

Uthica’s no longer studying them, and is instead working on her new manipulation skills. As long as we have all these corpses, she has nigh-infinite mana, and she’s been utilizing it to the fullest. She’s progressed through the skills faster than I did when I first arrived on Akilo, shooting over from near zero to over two-hundred in all of them after less than a day’s practice.

Which prompts me to look at my own skill interface. It’s way more nuanced than my old one, yet it indicates my important proficiencies are all just over a hundred and ninety, capped to match my Intellect and Spirit. It also says my cooking is at one-hundred and two.

Take that old System!

As the event draws to a close, we both wait for a final boss to appear. But none does.

We share a look, but she shakes her head.

“Event’s finished. That’s it.”

“Well… okay then,” I say before moving to where Midnight and Redstone are perched above the river, once more basking in the sun. Smoulder pulls herself out of where she’s been playing in the heart of the molten vent, shaking off bits of flowing lava as she bounces between her platforms of fire to join us.

I scoop her up, and we head off to rest for the evening, settling in and just... talking.

After a decent night’s rest, where the only incident was Midnight trying to snack on Smoulder’s tail, we set off towards the next of Uthica’s objectives.

When we arrive at the cascading diamondfall, I have to take a moment to appreciate the pure splendor of the sight before us. There are waves, upon waves of diamonds being shot into the air, which then follow the physics I once called normal, falling down in a great shower of diamonds. Only to roll down the slope of the crater to tumble back into the mana vent, and be ejected once more.

“Well, I’ll admit. I haven’t seen that before,” Uthica says, Redstone snorting as he settles back onto his rear legs, as if to undercut Uthica’s words.

Midnight snorts right back, then breathes out a wave of nearly invisible Twilight mana.

It intercepts the falling diamonds, and what was already a spectacular sight becomes…

If a waterfall and a rainbow could combine their beauty, then imbue the majesty of a sunrise into it… I think it’d still fail to describe the aching beauty Midnight created in a single moment. A beauty I don’t think I could’ve appreciated as a mortal.

And then Redstone huffs out several of his namesake, ruining it.

The diamondfall remains, but the illusion Midnight wove shatters. And my dragon is already turning to fight Redstone.

Thanks to Uthica, I know that this is part of their personal dynamic, and I vacate his back

Smoulder hesitates, and I can feel her own anger at Redstone for destroying the illusion. Which surprises me. It… didn’t embody heat or fire in any way.

As she joins me, I realize she’s feeling a sense of loss and confusion. So I reach down, and pick her up snuggling her and giving her head-scritches even as Midnight tackles Redstone. A fight he would’ve lost easily a day ago.

But after all the mana I’ve been feeding him, they’re on nearly even footing. Redstone’s growth is limited, since Uthica doesn’t want to take him as an actual pet, but my System doesn’t need me to go that far to give Midnight benefits. I won’t be able to boost him past Peak-Iron, but that’s still much stronger than he was when he agreed to fly me around.

Wasn’t even part of our deal.

There’s a weak shake in the ground as Redstone tackles Midnight through a bank of diamonds that were piling up near the edge of the crater.

We ignore them, Uthica moving down to set up the next Pandregen heart as I continue to console Smoulder.

Wanting to test herself, Uthica has me remain on standby for this wave, so I use my time to restore most of my equipment. Though I realize it’s all still Iron-rank. Thankfully, it seems my System salvaged several upgrade patterns. And I discover that I have enough of them, I may be able to create a couple of my own. By dedicating years of processing time to the task.

Or… thirteen hours of all my Facet per year…

That can’t be right.

But I run through the math again, making sure to put it in my notebook. And… yeah, I can get roughly a year’s worth of processing done in thirteen and a half hours. Assuming I don’t run into limits. Which I probably will.

Still, the locket’s already increased my processing power by nearly twenty percent. If I can find more stuff like that… or… I can upgrade it to Copper, can’t I?

As another wave of monsters fall to a new set of spell traps Uthica has deployed, I open up my equipment upgrade interface. Now that I have the hang of it, it’s a big upgrade over the old one. And it didn’t even need any resources to get working properly.

Upgrading the locket looks like it will require a pattern I don’t have yet. Which is… unfortunate. But I can upgrade my aunt Sharon’s jacket. And… actually I can upgrade most of my gear, giving it five times the Edge bonus it grants now. There’s even some flexibility. I could swap the existing modifiers. And if I wanted to dedicate the insane ten million mana and ten years to each piece, I could convert everything to full-Edge equipment. And then not be able to upgrade anything to Copper.

Since I can make that change at any time, I decide to hold off and only do standard linear upgrades on everything except my all-Facet tattoo, simply because the costs to do so are low. Low enough that they’re finished upgrading by the time Uthica’s finished killing the last of the mana-beasts. Some sort of fox like ambusher hiding in the diamonds.

The mana-beasts seem to stop rushing in madly once they’re a couple hundred meters from the heart. A distance they’ve only been allowed to reach because Uthica is still testing new spells. Her current spell, a little silk grasshopper construct, leaps into one of the small piles of diamonds. A second later, one of the hidden fox-things explodes.

“What even was that?” I ask, squinting at where the grasshopper disappeared.

“I believe the System called them Knin ambushers,” Uthica replies, frowning at another pile and releasing a much simpler looking bolt of fire.

“I meant the spell,” I say as her bolt transmutes part way to its target, changing into a small bird that arcs downward and drills a hole through the not-so-hidden Knin. “And… you know, maybe I should just be learning more about spells from you, period.”

“I would be glad to teach you what I can,” Uthica replies, inclining her head slightly. I direct my automatic functions to processing more attributes, then join her.

She’s using runes I taught her and incorporating them into new spells. And while I can’t copy her spells exactly, since she’s getting assistance from her System, I can infer enough to repair most of my own.

Plus, I add the dart-bird fireball, cause it’s cool. Especially once I use Entropic Shift to make it into an ice dart-bird. Thankfully, Entropic Shift works with minimal issue, though it requires processing power to add the alternate version. And now that I’m looking deeper, I discover that each version takes a small amount of storage within my soul.

It’s practically nothing compared to a skill though, even after the repacking the Seed did. It does bring up a concern though. How do I get more storage?

A quick inspection reveals that my increasing mental attributes are actually tied to the size of my soul-scape. And some of the physical. It’s… all a very interwoven mess, really.

But then, everything always is.

Hmm. Maybe it’s time I put effort into a more perfect Pause.

Nothing like being able to put life on hold to sort out the mess.

A note from Draith

Am back.

Thank you for the kind review max_mustermann.

6.09, Freeze

Ukila Local Time: Noon. (January 14, 1512)

Leaving the diamondfall behind, I begin my experiments to improve Pause.

Though maybe experiments is too strong a word. For once, I have clear directions, thanks to Temporal Library. Which involves securing my own temporal thread. The part of me that extends forward and back and remains consistent no matter when I am.

Doing so is much more easily said than done.

Anchor helps with studying the effect in action, as it essentially has to Freeze time entirely whenever I use it.

The key is thickening my thread, though actually doing so is… it feels like trying to step around someone else walking down the hall and matching their own attempts to dodge. And more than just the six tries that used to be my average.

And I can’t just hold my hand out to point out my desired way around them.

There’s no trick to to this though. I just need to keep practicing until my metaphorical hand is able to direct me around my partner… which is time. My partner is time. That’s only a little weird, right?

Right. Don’t worry, just practice.

We’re over a very large sea or a small ocean, circling around Uthica’s next objective one hour and a subjective day later when I suddenly succeed.

The twisting ice-snake below us — an ice-wind mana-vent, not an actual creature — locks in place, alongside everything else as I manage to spread my thread out. Time still hasn’t frozen, not entirely. But it’s closer. And I can…

Yep, there it is. Just a bit more of a push and I’m officially frozen in time.

But… I can’t do anything. It’s worse than the first time the System locked me in place.

Even so, I’m not the same girl I was then.

With time frozen, I can feel my soul more clearly than ever. And the thrumming energy that keeps my shell alive in this state. Most of the Facet I need to enter this state is spent keeping my physical self intact. And… I’ve already found several ways to improve it.

I want to end the Freeze, but there’s something present in this frozen moment that shouldn’t be here.

While Midnight and Smoulder are frozen, Smoulder perched between the spines of his head just in front of me, they’re not alone. In the folded space between them, a… door floats. The shape is round in a way that squares shouldn’t be. But my mind immediately understands it’s just a consequence of distorted time.

Important, but not dangerous. At least, not to me.

Pressing my mind against the door causes my sense of self to shift, and I’m inside a small cozy room. A fire burns next to a comfy recliner. There are shelves to either side, filled with books, and above the fire rests a clock, ticking down the frozen-time I have remaining before the Freeze will end.

My current visit needs to be completed in a few minutes. But I suspect that it won’t take many improvements to my body’s time-shield before I can stretch it into hours.

I run my hand down the spines of the closest shelf, stopping as I find a familiar rulebook. Pulling it open, I laugh at the precise recreation. Guess I won’t need to buy my own Player’s handbook after all.

When my eyes drift over to the recliner, I freeze. Staring back at me, Smoulder sits there, wiggling her nose. And I realize I can feel her through the bond.

I waste nearly ten whole seconds before I break into a smile, kneeling down next to her.

“Guess I should’ve known you’d be able to join me, huh?”

Smoulder responds with a reminder that she went back through time first. Which is startling, because she knows exactly when we are compared to when we met.

Which… I suppose she’s my partner. It shouldn’t have surprised me. Not with how thick our bond has become.

Smoulder nods, her ears bobbing as she sits up. Then her eyes turn towards the clock.

Right. We’re out of time.

We return to the normal flow of time as Uthica yells over the wind. Not actual words, more of a cry of triumph as she drives Redstone down to the sole stationary spot along the snake-mana-vent that serves as the centre of this objective.

Midnight continues circling as she sets the heart in place.

In response, the ocean around the vent churns, as though she’d dropped the world's largest pebble, chunks of ice drifting along the top.

The waves rise high enough, I’m tempted to do some surfing. But unfortunately, my boards were all lost with my crushed inventory.

So, I return to Freeze, testing my new ideas for an improved body-shield. Soon I’ve stopped the leaks, increasing its effectiveness to the point I can remain within frozen time for nearly a day for only fifty Facet. For some reason, Edge has almost no effect on the duration of Freeze.

Still, a day is plenty of time to start looking through the library. It really does contain full copies of every book I’ve ever heard of. And my first few hours are spent paging through rulebooks that Sab and I used to use, just basking in the nostalgia.

As I close a rulebook dedicated to custom character backgrounds, a thought strikes me. Sab kept notes in her journal.

I haven’t just heard of it, I’ve seen it. That should be enough for my power to work, right?

Sure enough, when I turn to the bookshelf, my eyes are drawn to a little red-bound book. I hesitate, my hand hovering over the binding. This contains my best friend’s private thoughts. And while she’s shared it with me before, and even allowed me to make my own entries, venting where mom would never find it…

Reading it feels wrong.

So, despite my desire to see what she’s written since I left, I don’t open it. I do run my hand over its surface though. Temporal Library has even recreated the stickers that are plastered across the cover, bought at the Night Market less than a week before we were whisked away. My hand traces over the sticker of Luna, a cat from a show called Sailor Moon.

Sab had almost cut our night short when she found out I’d never seen it. I’d agreed we could do a marathon once we got our own place.

My soul body isn’t capable of shedding tears, but the sudden surge of all-the-feels is strong enough I find myself wiping at my eyes anyway. Smoulder is at my side, and I find myself snuggling into her as my soul-body takes a deep breath it doesn’t need.

Then, not feeling in the mood to delve through more books, I end the Freeze.

Uthica has only started dealing with the first wave of mana-beasts, reminding me just how quickly my tests were completed in real-time.

It gives me the opportunity to test my spells alongside Uthica. Which will be an excellent distraction.

I’ve upgraded every spell in my repertoire, taking advantage of her expertise and my expansive catalogue. And now I have an opportunity to make use of my Seeking Lightning Torrent.

Satisfying.

That’s the word that fills my mind as the single spell tears through hundreds of Iron-rank and dozens of Copper-rank mana-beasts. Only the large spiked crustacean survives, and it falls to the ice version, as do the mana-beasts filling the space behind it.

My next test isn’t supposed to be an attack spell. It’s a modified teleportation spell that can pull anything I have tethered or can see back to my location. It works perfectly, and leaves the killer-fish-snake thing I teleported impaled on another new spell, a metal cage of reinforced spikes that explodes outward when it makes contact.

Soon Smoulder joins in, stretching her own legs. Though she’s not satisfied with a few monsters, incinerating the offensive ocean alongside the monsters who dwell within.

With a flare of his wings, Midnight carries us higher to avoid the sudden wave of steam that billows out, huffing in Smoulder’s direction.

As the wave continues, I continue testing my improved spells. They’re impressively destructive. I especially like my new version of Uthica’s dart-bird.

It still starts as a dart. But instead of a bird, it turns into an image of Smoulder. And the spell explodes in sequence, creating a chain of seven fireballs before it runs out of energy.

I have, in a moment of peak creativity, named it boom-bunny.

When the monsters get thin, Uthica once more takes on the role of hunter as I gather as many bodies as I can fit into my inventory. I want to see if storing them will let me claim them.

I discover it does not. I need to stabilize the bodies before storing them. Annoying.

Still, with the excess mana, most of my System has been saturated. There are still some repairs I need to make, and I need to find or create a pattern to improve my Framework’s effective ‘level’, but most of the functions I had before I got caught in the mana-storm are repaired or queued to be done soon.

Which means that when Uthica winds up this stage of her quest, and we turn towards the next objective, I take the time to check on my soul-scape again.

Midnight and Smoulder’s bonds seem to have grown closer to each other, and the unknown bond still seems fragile, but the bond to the Eldinsworn is stable, and her movement catches my eye.

She’s gathered around a table with several other Eldinsworn and K’tharn, and they appear to be gambling. Splitting my attention between the game and teleporting Uthica closer to her next objective, I memorize every word they say. And from the way the others are referring to the one I’ve bonded, I’m pretty sure her name is Letonga.

The fourth of Uthica’s objectives is located in the middle of a low lying whirlpool, hundreds of metres beneath the surface of its host ocean. The vent that lies within seems to push water out of the whirlpool, the nearby fish seeming to make a game of riding the currents to go soaring high into the air.

As Midnight snags one in the midst of its glorious triple backflip, I drift closer to Uthica. The sounds of snacking dragon drift back as we get within wing-to-wing distance.

“Did you want to go straight to the next one once we’re done?”

Uthica shakes her head, her braided mane barely shifting. “We have gained a lot in a short time. I would like to see if your castle can create a usable Nexus point.”

I blink. Despite making the repairs to the spell, I didn’t even think about that. What will creating my own Nexus point do for me? Will it even work?

Or will it connect to Uthica’s System?

Even as Uthica is dealing with her waves, I descend to the mana-vent, using it as an anchor for my castle.

Landing, I begin to cast the spell, standing once more at the locus. Except instead of metal, ice or stone, I decide to erect a truly epic castle. Something that really says power.

It costs enough mana that if I wasn’t siphoning an active mana-vent into it, I would’ve been worried about the hundreds of thousands of mana I’m pouring into it.

But the castle made of pure lightning, tall enough to break over the ocean around it… yeah, it’s worth every point I didn’t spend.

By the time the castle is finished, so is Uthica’s objective. She joins me in the courtyard, where I’m sharing a post castle building feast of over-roasted fish with Smoulder and Midnight. Who seems to share my doom bunny’s preference for over-cooked food.

Uthica’s poking at the floor with her foot, as if expecting the lightning to jump free, as she get closer. But it remains contained within the considerable amount of Twilight that went into stabilizing the castle.

Really, the castle is more Twilight than lightning. It just doesn’t look like it.

Uthica doesn’t let her investigation slow her down, approaching the fountain where the Nexus access is located. From the way she paces around it, I suspect it’s not working.

“Nothing?” I ask, walking closer. I almost miss her response when a notification appears.

“No, it seems it doesn’t count. Shame. We will need to find a local Nexus,” Uthica says, running one hand along the edge of the lightning infused fountain.

I nod, glancing at my notification.

“Secondary processing node accessed. Offload tasks for processing? Note, any tasks not collected before Nexus destabilizes in three point two hours will be lost.”

“Oh,” I say, and at Uthica’s raised brows, I continue, “It seems it works as a secondary processing node. And…” I Focus deeper, and am able to confirm the details. “It’s less efficient than my own processing. But I could build ones that last longer. And I could make them cheaper by having a lot less castle.”

Not a lot cheaper. The Nexus is the most expensive part in the standard ice version. But still, cheaper.

“Hmm. That could be useful.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to make you sit around just to save me a bit of processing power.”

“Ah. But you could raise a castle at each objective. None have been less than an hour. It is perhaps, less than ideal, but it would allow you to get some use out of them,” Uthica notes, sitting on the edge of the fountain as Redstone finally works up the courage to enter through the gate.

“I… it just doesn’t feel that important. I’ll try it, but most of my repairs need a lot more than one of these castles is going to provide in an hour.”

“Well, perhaps you need to find a way to get more than an hours worth out of them.”

“I… Hmm. I might just be able to…”

Laying my hand on the Nexus, I let my Facet run over it, sharing my body shield. I can’t maintain it for long with my current mana pool. But I think I could bring it with me into Freeze. Maybe.

Even if it doesn’t help with processing… the experiment alone will be worth it.

Just… maybe it’d be better not to start with a castle the size of a mountain packed with barely contained lightning.

A note from Draith

Just realized this is chapter 211. Dat's a lotta chapters.

6.10, Me No Speakie Squeaky

Ukila Local Time: Late night. (January 14, 1512)

We don’t stay in the castle much longer, and I manually destabilize it as we’re leaving, trying to get it to break down slowly. Which I fail at, causing the mountain-sized castle of lighting to break apart in an impressive display of violence.

Also known as an explosion.

One might think I was the one who didn’t like water with the amount of ocean that’s caught in the blast. Smoulder’s approval is almost as strong as my embarrassment. Midnight is as amused as Uthica, judging by how his own huffing matches her laughter.

Definitely glad I didn’t try to experiment with it. And it’s enough to make me hesitate. Maybe I’ll start with inanimate objects instead of insanely complicated spell workings bound to thousands of points of mana.

Instead, we fly south, towards the next objective as I peek in on the Eldinsworn. It seems their team’s finally given up on tracking us, and instead they’re holding drills outside. There are several of their fliers in the background, and thanks to the commands, I’m able to expand my lexicon even further.

At this rate, I’ll be able to hold a poor conversation with them by the time we finish Uthica’s sixth objective.

When we get close to the fifth, we decide to rest for the day. The constant teleporting would make keeping track of when we slept last difficult if not for our Systems. And my unerring sense of time.

We set up camp in an abandoned temple overgrown by jungle a short distance from the fifth beast swarm summoning, the smell of breakfast filling our camp. Redstone and Midnight are huffing at each other outside, once more wrestling to settle a disagreement. Smoulder is refereeing, as though it were a game of Desh’mersa.

While they’re doing that, I scour the nearby jungle for fruit, using my detailed scan to expand our diet. Cause as much as I enjoy a good kebab or steak, I’m missing fruits and veggies. Uthica’s even using the juice as an additive for her mostly meat dinner.

“To be clear, I’m not complaining,” Uthica says, pulling a piece of meat off her kebob before popping it into her mouth.

“No, you’re right. Your quest still feels too easy. But then again, how many monsters have we killed now? Must by in the tens of thousands?”

“Do we count the swarms as individuals? Because then I believe it would be in the millions,” Uthica says, holding up her fingers less than a centimeter apart.

Shuddering, I shake my head, setting my suddenly unappetizing fruit to the side. “No. Anything smaller than my finger doesn’t count.”

“Hmm. Then I’d guess it’s closer to a hundred thousand.”

We sit there for a few seconds in silence.

“That’s a lot,” I say.

“It really is, isn’t it?” Uthica agrees. “Perhaps we are just particularly suited for this quest.”

“Or the fact we’re able to absorb mana from food has been making it easier.”

Uthica holds up the last piece of meat on her kebob, picking it off with a smile. “That is most certainly a factor in our favour.”

The fifth objective is a ruined colosseum that shares the same architectural style as the temple, simple stone block sealed together with mortar that’s turned pale with age. The possible historical significance does mean that we delay the activation, erecting protective walls that should funnel the beast wave towards a kill zone. Assuming that any survive Lesser Cataclysm.

The nature of the defence means no experiments for the time being. However, the fifth beast-swarm is no more challenging than the prior four. In fact, there are less monsters than the last three.

As Smoulder smacks down the last flying whale-snake, a soft buzzing fills the air.

A moment later several K’tharn appear in a flash of yellow light, standing in a tight circle. These clearly aren’t the Eldinsworn we’ve encountered so far, their outfits a tight fit with a mottled green pattern much like earth’s military uniforms. Though these are designed to match the patterns of the jungle around us. Our uninvited guests are also wielding rifles, though the design is completely different from the ones carried by the Eldinsworn.

They spot us immediately, calling out in Letonga’s language.

It’s not a typical greeting, at least from what I’ve learned. Closer to a warning to their fellow squad members if I’m not mistaken.

Also, what is it with the people on this planet? Do they all travel around in mobile kill-squads.

I respond to them with what is basically the local equivalent of hi. At least, I’m hoping it is.

My response causes the one that called out to spit a sentence at me that I’m barely able to catch. Something about crossing into… something. Suppose I should’ve put a bit more effort into learning the language.

Shaking my head, I call out with the only line I’m mostly certain of, “Me no speak Ulthean.”

Unfortunately, instead of calming them, my words have the opposite effect. Rifles are raised, half of them pointed in our direction while the rest start scanning the sky.

“What did you say?” Uthica hisses, though I can tell she’s trying not to laugh.

“I thought I told them I don’t speak their language,” I inform her as Smoulder hops up from where she was desecrating a defeated bird-thing.

The soldier who first called up to us lowers their rifle. Then she elbows one of the soldiers next to her, telling her something while laughing. The other soldier joins in the laughter.

“I feel like they’re laughing at us,” I say to Uthica.

“Hmm. Seems that way.”

“They do know we’re both queens, right?”

“Why would they know that?” Uthica asks.

“I don’t know. It just feels like they should.”

“What exactly would mark us as queens?”

“Other than our majestic selves, Redstone and Midnight and the thousands of dead monsters surrounding us?” I try, gesturing at the frankly ludicrous number of monster corpses.

“Yes. Other than those.”

“Uh. My throne?”

“What throne?” Uthica asks, raising her eyebrow and giving the area a cursory look.

“Smoulder?”

“Ah yes. The mana-hare who they’ve seen urinating on half of the monsters is definitely a sign of our esteemed status.”

Glancing down at my outfit, I try to think of something else. But I shrug instead, giving up. “I guess you’re right. There’s not much that would mark us as queens.”

“Ah. You did miss one thing,” Uthica objects, raising a single finger.

“Oh? What did I forget?”

“We have presence.” And in that moment Uthica imposes her attention on the laughing K’tharn. Who stop laughing as her gaze rests on them. I study her posture. It’s imposing, but I can’t do the four hands on my hips thing. Hell, I can only do one fleshy hand on my hip.

Yet it’s not the pose itself. It’s her bearing. The assurance.

And she’s right. It’s about presence. I join my presence to hers, staring down at the gathered squad, watching a shiver pass through them as I survey them with my sole remaining eye.

Fun!

The shiver turns into a full body shudder in the case of one squad member when Midnight and Redstone stand up behind us. Ah, good ol’ dragon-fear.

The one who’d started the laughter clears her throat, glancing at her companions before returning her attention to us. “Apologies, your majesterials.”

Did she just… in Vausian too. But… what’s a majesterial? Wait, that means the jerk heard our entire conversation. Before I can curse out her manners, Uthica responds, “I believe there’s been some misunderstanding. We are not the warrior queens of old.”

The soldier looks at all the monster corpses scattered across the hill, then to Midnight and Redstone behind us crossing over me before finally returning to Uthica. “If you say so… your majesties?” she tries. I can’t help but note that the poor squad member behind her looks ready to turn and run as their leader ends the sentence in a questioning tone.

Maybe we should dial down the displeased queen vibes a smidge.

“You may address me as Lore-Queen Uthica. And this is my companion Arch-Queen Pandora,” Uthica states, not dialing back one iota.

Also, Arch-queen, huh? That’s kinda cool. I shall humbly accept the upgrade.

“As you wish Lore-Queen Uthica. May I ask-” she turns away, exchanging words rapidly in their language with one of her companions. “May I ask why two Akilo queens have come to Mestril.” She gets an elbow from that same companion, then adds. “And why the Arch-Queen Pandora is wearing the robes of the Eldinsworn.”

Knew I should’ve created replacements for the rest of my missing clothes instead of staying in Eldinsworn swag.

Uthica scans the gathered soldiers, several of whom are still watching the sky. Then she turns to me, and with obvious deliberation asks, “Shall we allow them to take us to their leaders. I do not believe they are qualified to address us directly.”

I consider Uthica’s question.

Not loving the idea of dealing with politicians. But it could be a great learning experience. On the other hand, we’re close to completing Uthica’s quest.

Doing my best Uthica impression, I reply, “Perhaps we could arrange to visit once we’ve completed our original task. These ones have extended us some courtesy, but our quest is important.”

After gifting me with a tiny twitch of her lips, Uthica turns back to the soldier, who clearly heard ever word, if I’m reading the flicking of her ears correctly. “Arch-Queen Pandora is correct. We dare not take the time to meet your superiors. So, in answer to your questions. I’m here to cleanse Ukila of mutant mana-beasts. And Arch-Queen Pandora fancied the Eldinsworn’s robes. So, she wears them.”

The soldier does some apologizing, then produces a device that looks similar to a radio except attached to a large backpack. Uthica studies it with interest as the soldier explains how to use it to contact them when we’re finished with our business. When Uthica stores the radio in the pouch on her waist, several of the watching K’tharn start babbling.

At this point, Uthica and I give formal goodbyes, then fly away, going the opposite direction of her next objective. Once we’re out of sight, we land amongst a grove of trees with a break that allows me to teleport us to a distant ridge.

“Well, that was fun,” Uthica states, stretching her arms out in all directions, flexing her hands.

“Interesting, at least,” I acknowledge, disabling my Channelled Facet before making the next jump, so we’ll be ready if anything demands it.

The evening sun forces me to modify my Twilight-enhanced vision and reminds me I need to upgrade the spell to make such adjustments automatically. Adding it to my list, I pick a spot located next to a barren mountain for our next teleport.

Uthica pushes a frond to the side, gazing back in the direction we came from. “I don’t get to interact with people who aren’t part of the Aetherium who treat me with respect very often these days. The M’tari are… well, the M’tari. And there hasn’t been any other real power on Akilo in over a decade.”

Halting my spell, I ask, “Did you want to visit?”

Uthica smiles, the frond rustling as she releases it. “Hmm. No. I need to complete my quest first. Then… maybe. It would be good to establish diplomatic ties, if I’m able. Trade with another planet would surely be worth a great deal to my people.”

“Yeah, probably,” I agree. I didn’t even think about trade. Is that something I’m going to have to set up when I get back? Or does that take care of itself. I’ll need to ask Wyonna. And Tipan.

I miss Rufka.

The thought hits me like a punch in the gut. I try not to think of the others. Most days, I tell myself that if everything works out, they won’t even notice I’m gone. I mean, what’s the point of time-travel if you can’t take the time to grow and learn and then return to when you left better than ever without missing anything important?

It’s great having Smoulder back. And Uthica’s a great companion. And mentor. I’ve learned a lot from her in the last week.

But I still miss Rufka.

A reminder to ask about trade goes on my mental list. Along with another note to remind Rufka of how awesome she is. There are a lot of those.

Shaking my head, I teleport us to the distant ridge.

But when we arrive, I discover it’s not just another distant ridge.

Standing on the sloped roof of a row of townhouses, I gaze out over an entire city carved into the side of the barren mountainside. The streets are full of life, bustling with enough activity to make New York feel slow.

Or so I assume. Never actually been. Maybe I can visit when we get back to Earth. Travel’d be cheap.

With a tap on my shoulder, Uthica directs my attention to a nearby tower. The sentinels standing at the top wear the familiar uniform of the soldiers we were just talking to. I nod as she mumbles, “I suppose we can visit them now.”

I nod in response. It seems the semi-invisible city needs to upgrade its anti-teleportation wards.

After our visit, of course.

A note from Draith

6.11, New Threads

Ukila Local Time: Morning. (January 15, 1512)

Despite teleporting unannounced inside a hidden city, there’s no immediate reaction to our presence.

“You know. There’s nothing saying we have to introduce ourselves to the guards,” Uthica observes as Redstone and Midnight settle into a nearby valley between roofs. “A quick visit would allow us to find you a change of clothes.”

I sniff at my outfit. It’s not particularly fragrant, but then I do wash it twice a day. Still, it’d be nice having something else to wear. Removing the cloak, I move it into my inventory, which immediately makes me look less Eldinsworny.

Studying several of the people walking down a nearby street, I use metal manipulation to further pinch the fabric of my clothes, shifting the style to match a dignified looking K’tharn. Can’t do anything about the colour, but just changing the style should help. Even as I’m finishing, I glance at my sole human hand. Right. I stand out even with my cloths changed. Oh well.

And… I could just use Twilight to disguise myself. Whoops.

“Wonder if they use shards,” I say, looking for a shopping district even as I shift my clothes to match an Eldinsworn’s instead.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Uthica asks, dropping over a nearby edge into an empty alley.

Following her, I land nimbly, then look back up. A ten meter drop and it was easier than jumping off the back porch into a pile of leaves when I was a kid. When Midnight peaks his head over, I send a signal to stay out of sight over our bond. Smoulder reassures me that she’ll keep them from getting into trouble. After all, she’s managed to go an entire hour without lighting anything on fire.

I decide to trust her, sending her a burst of affection before leading Uthica out of the alley toward what looks like it might be a shopping complex. After crossing in front of a human who’s practically wearing a pair of curtains, I answer her, “They’re not integrated. Essence shards aren’t central to their improvement. It might not be something an average person even uses.”

Uthica tilts her head slightly, glancing at me sideways. “Then what would they use for trade?”

“I don’t know. Gold, jewels, paper.”

“Hmm. Paper is rather useful,” Uthica nods, humming in approval.

“Not like- Actually, close enough,” I decide, stopping in front of a busy plaza where a crowd of K’tharn are moving about, calling at each other in the local language.

“Could be an issue,” I note. I’m fairly certain I know the right words for different amounts, thanks to sitting in on more than one game of cards with Letonga. With lots of betting.

Uthica nods, staying close as I move toward a food stall near the entrance. I don’t order anything, instead watching as several of the locals make their purchases. They’re using a small octagonal coin, made of a silver and iron alloy. Moving through the crowd, I watch several additional transactions, noting coins made of copper as well. Against my expectations, the copper coins seem to be worth a hundred times as much as the silver coins. While they are larger, it just feels… wrong.

Either way, creating duplicates of the coins is simple and I’m soon examining clothes displayed out front of the nicer of the two clothing stores in the plaza. One of the clerks approaches me, babbling a lot of words in my direction. None of which I understand.

I don’t say anything, instead just raising the eyebrow over my missing eye. I may have disguised my clothes, but I felt no need to do the same to my face.

She stutters to a stop. While she’s not speaking. I point to a dress and a nice suit. She starts to babble again, but when I don’t hear anything that sounds like a price, I just arch my eyebrow again. As clearly as I’m able, I say the words I’m reasonably sure mean, “how much?”

It must be close because she spits out numbers I recognize. Thankfully, my research in the market before entering the stall pays off. I nod, following her to a counter in the back where I hand her the coin. She tries to usher me into a back room, but I shake my head, declining with a single syllable, “No.”

She frowns but doesn’t try to fight me as I lead Uthica back outside, my new clothes folded under my arm.

Uthica is chuckling the second we’re out of the shop, but I don’t acknowledge her, giving Smoulder headscritches as we return to our alley. The city is interesting, but once we’re back on the roof, I feel myself relax.

“That wasn’t fun,” I say, handing Uthica my new dress.

“It was interesting though. I’m not certain I would have handled it quite so well. And they use the little octagons for money? How do they keep people from making more?” Uthica asks while holding the dress out to inspect it, playing with the frills along the collar.

“I don’t think people here have access to magic. Least, not in the way you’re used to,” I answer.

“Ah. I suppose that would do it. It is strange to see so many K’tharn fully swaddled.”

“Would be, wouldn’t it. I was so worried about not messing up, I didn’t think about it much,” I say, stretching out the arms of my new jacket. Which my System informs me I can use as a pattern for my Aunt Sharon’s armor. A quick Facet-scan later, and my jacket changes to match.

Huh. Kinda wishing I had a full set of clothes to do that with now.

I’m about to start stripping, ready to switch outfits before remembering we’re still in the middle of a city. “Which way?”

Uthica points to the east, and I pick out a distant mountain. This time we hold hands while laying our others on the dragons, her invisibility cloaking us before I teleport. Thankfully, we don’t arrive inside another city, just a mostly empty mountainside, our only company a startled mountain bird who squawks when Uthica steps in its nest.

Smoulder pounces on the nest, with a vengeance, shattering the eggs within and spraying Uthica and I with their contents.

Rolling my eyes, I wash the literal egg from my face and we continue.

But I’m looking forward to going back.

Preferably after I have a better grasp on the damn language.

I was wrong about figuring the language out by the sixth trial.

But that’s mostly because it was so close to the fifth, located only a few minutes away. Amazing how quickly we can travel when I have infinite Facet. It lies at the bottom of a canyon more than two kilometers wide for its entire length, only narrowing to a close hundred of kilometers from its start, where the winding river that likely carved the canyon empties into the ocean.

The canyon is more interesting than the mana-warped beasts that emerge when Uthica infuses the Pandregen heart with her mana. After observing the effect six times now, I know that the System uses an array to blast mana across the entire valley. Embedded within the blast is a simple enchantment that informs them there’s an integrated nearby, causing them to stampede toward Uthica.

Since we know what activating the heart does, this time Uthica insists on setting up an extensive set of runes first. Another set of experiments. She really is a K’tharn after my own heart.

While only two rows of defences deep, the runes alternate between the elements and should leave almost nothing alive by the time it reaches us.

Unfortunately, they work flawlessly.

It’s the most boring beast wave I’ve seen since arriving. Probably should’ve done experiments of my own instead of watching Uthica’s.

Uthica’s immensely pleased with herself though, so it’s not all bad. “Did you see how many times they activated. These runes could probably defend this hill from ten times as many mana-beasts without needing to be recharged.”

“It is impressive,” I admit, studying her as she gathers parts from the strongest creatures. Something I should practice alongside her. So, I pull out a knife that was custom made for this purpose, less than a second ago, and set to helping her.

It’s more tricky than simply stabilizing the bodies.

Again, I know her System’s doing something extra, but I’m not certain what. Which leads to me harvesting several less valuable parts that fade away faster than usual.

It’s only as I watch Uthica that I discover the System isn’t infusing the parts to keep them stabilized. It’s wrapping them in a layer of unaspected mana, reinforced with Twilight.

It’s just using butcher’s paper in mana-form.

Once Uthica’s gathered most of the more valuable body parts, and the rest of the creatures have collapsed into mana-dust, we return to the runes she worked into the hill.

“Almost a shame to remove them,” I note, looking at the intricate runework.

Uthica grimaces. “Yes, but they’re only keyed to us. If anyone else comes along… Well.”

“Good point. Want me to break them up?”

Smirking, Uthica gestures at the runes. “Go ahead. I’ll be impressed if you’re able to.”

“Challenge accepted,” I say, then I teleport half the rune away, easy as breathing. Which causes it to explode violently.

“Hmm. Not sure how to ward against that. Yet. Are you able to disrupt them without teleportaion?” Uthica asks while whisking away the fire from the nearby underbrush, then pointing to the next of her runes.

I shrug, reaching into the stone beneath the runes. But something blocks my mana. I’m able to work my way in, but it takes me five minutes before I’m able to disrupt the first of her runes. And there are hundreds.

Uthica pats me on the shoulder, “I’m impressed. Didn’t think you’d even be able to do that much. Guess there’s still improvements to be made.”

“The hell was that?” I ask, staring at the runes with new respect.

Uthica takes out her tools, disrupting the next rune in a matter of seconds. “An anti-magic enchantment. To keep ambient mana from disrupting the enchantment. But tweaked to prevent any mana from affecting the runes.”

“It’s effective. If not for the fact they take mana to operate, I’m not certain I could’ve forced my way through.”

“Hmm. That’s how you got in? Not sure what I can do to fix that. But I’m sure I’ll think of something,” Uthica says, tapping the edge of the next rune in the circle. The next three all distort simultaneously, puffs of dissolved stone filling the air.

She continues working her way around the circle, while I attempt to disrupt another one. But I try to pay attention to how she’s built it. I spend so much time studying and teasing apart the structure that I’ve only finished three in the ten minutes it takes Uthica to finish the rest.

“Pretty sure that’s not fair,” I say, taking her hand before teleporting us to our campsite where our dragons and Smoulder are waiting. It’s perched on a small outcropping below the South rim of the canyon, and our arrival brings us out of shadow and into evening light.

Uthica shoves me gently, saying, “You literally just teleported us ten kilometers without a teleportation beacon or Nexus point.”

I stick my tongue out at her, but I don’t need to dignify that with a verbal response.

She just rolls her eyes at me, handing me one of the meat buns I managed to bake while she was crafting her runes. Practice run using market acquired flour mostly successful. The buns didn’t rise, but they’re tasty enough I don’t care.

The flaky covering could use a light dusting of sugar, but after nothing but meat and fruit for weeks, it’s a delightful treat. I’ll try dried fruit next time.

We enjoy a few hours playing a game Uthica prefers called Vaus’ Champions. The rules remind me of chess, but with different pieces assigned to different patterns and no pawns. It takes me several games to get used to the front-line pieces all having different rules based on the column they’re in.

With Uthica’s fourth victory of the night, I tilt my half-dragon queen over, indicating my disinterest in continuing.

“Thank you for sticking with it. Other than father, no one’s willing to challenge me,” she says as she places the pieces in a cushioned case.

Snorting, I say, “I don’t think that word means what you think it means.”

Uthica plucks the half-dragon queen from my hand, saying, “I mean it. I’m still winning. But if you keep improving… I suspect you’ll be taking my Queendom inside of a week.”

“I’m not that good,” I protest, scooping Smoulder up before she can knock the Spire-piece out of our shelter.

Uthica shrugs, packing the pieces away in a padded case. We spend the next hour discussing our plans for tomorrow before going to sleep for the night. As is routine at this point, I connect to the Eldinsworn Letonga. She’s not on patrol today, instead talking with a human I don’t recognize. In fact, none of her squad seem to be around.

They’re looking at a map I’ve seen before. She’s pointing to it and telling the human the days they searched each quadrant. I think. He’s taking notes, stopping to ask her questions.

Then after a few questions, he turns his gaze directly on her. His voice becomes colder as he presses her. I can feel her heart racing as the man raises his voice, yelling at her about wickedness or evil. She’s protesting, but he doesn’t seem to be listening, striding out of the room, a device clasped tightly in his hand. The red lights are ominous.

She goes back to her regular barracks, but it’s clear she’s operating on autopilot. She’s barely looking around as she sits on her bed, her usual wariness gone. I’m contemplating disconnecting from her when another pair of humans walk into her room. She doesn’t react to them, but they walk right up to her.

One of them speaks, and she stares up at them. I can feel her shock. Then she starts grabbing everything she can from beneath her bed. They’ve given her less than a minute before they grab her, practically carrying her by the shoulders to the edge of their encampment. Then they shove her past the outer boundary.

Was she just kicked out?

Why?

Her eyes start to grow damp, but she shakes her head minutely, striding away without looking back.

I follow along with Letonga until she’s moved a long way into the jungle that surrounds their camp. The map she’d been looking at hadn’t shown any roads in the region, and she seems to be wandering in a general westerly direction.

After about two hours, I decide I should disconnect. Part of me doesn’t want her to be alone, but I need sleep. Still, I send her feelings of support. I don’t want to whisper in her ears though. Not in a tongue she wouldn’t understand.

And as I cut the connection, I can’t help but wonder at why she was ejected from camp. What was the device he was carrying. Could he detect me? Or did it detect the connection?

Either way, I need to get my hands on it.

And… I wonder if there’s a way I can help Letonga. Maybe if she wasn’t on the opposite side of the planet…

Despite Smoulder’s comforting presence, sleep doesn’t come easily. But it does arrive.

6.12, Tear it Up

Ukila Local Time: Early Morning. (January 16, 1512)

I’m distracted throughout my entire morning routine, almost dunking Smoulder’s ear in my juice when I check on Letonga for the seventh time. But she’s sleeping. Still.

Which makes it worse. If she was awake, I’d be able to check on her and know if she’s alright.

“-you going to- Alexis, are you listening?” Uthica asks as I emerge from my eighth visit to check on Letonga.

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just worried about Letonga,” I answer, looking down at my stubborn shoe. Oh, wrong foot. Switching my new shoe to the proper foot, I start inspecting myself in a shimmering pane of water. Pants are on backwards.

“Letonga is the Eldinsworn?” Uthica asks while tossing a few mana-beasts that look like supersized snakes to Redstone. Even as she does so, she creates a small platform for Smoulder to jump on. It’s simple compared to my usual obstacle courses. Incredibly simple. But Smoulder indulges Uthica, jumping on and off the little square repeatedly.

“Traitor,” I declare, giving Smoulder a peck on the head as I tie the silk laces that hold the pants in place. Great for one size fits all, but a lot of work to get right. I’ve been spoiled by magical clothes that automatically resize themselves. It’s okay. I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Oh. Right. I must really be out of it. Using a few metal clamps, I resize everything in an instant. Much better.

Turning to Uthica now with pants secured, I say, “Was. She got thrown out last night. They didn’t even leave her in a good place, just shooed her into the jungle.”

“Exiled? Do you know why?”

“I can guess. She was in a conversation with someone else. Dude had a device that started beeping. Maybe scanned her?” I say, pacing back and forth as I think. “Pretty sure it told him about the connection I made with her. So, it’s probably my fault she got kicked out.”

“Alexis,” Uthica says, halting my pacing by putting two hands on each shoulder. “First. There’s nothing that proves it has anything to do with you. Second. She is part of a group who tried to kill us. Twice. And that’s not counting their efforts when I was with my people. You don’t owe her your sympathy.”

I shrug, meeting Uthica’s gaze. “You’re right. And… it doesn’t matter. If I could do something to help her, I would.”

Uthica pulls me into a hug, causing me to ‘meep’ before returning it. “You’re a good person, Lexi.”

“Thanks,” I reply, “You too.”

Uthica shakes her head as she lets go, holding me at arms length as she gives me a small smile. “No… No, good is a word I surrendered long ago. Now I simply try to not be evil.”

My first instinct is to object, but Uthica’s already marching out the door of our shelter. The canyon wind is cool this early in the morning, but thankfully one aspect of my System that remains completely unchanged is my resistances. In fact, I’m pretty sure they’re better than before.

I seal the entrance to our shelter with a wave of my hand. Probably don’t need to do so anymore, but it’s hardly an effort.

We begin our journey for the day with flight giving Midnight and Redstone the opportunity to spread their wings while we gauge the distance to her final beast wave. I hesitate to say final objective, considering how many stages she’s already completed. When I joined her, she’d already completed six stages.

At the rate she’s going, the next one might send her to Earth. Or require something equally crazy. Like putting cream cheese on a raisin and oat muffin.

After establishing that our destination is incredibly far away, we decide to teleport. But only after I attempt to improve the efficiency.

Now that I have more experience with repairing and optimizing my spells, I’m able to go back through and redesign it once more. And this time I do it with Uthica’s help, getting her to critique my design.

“Hmm. Wait… you’ve only been using a single spell for everything?”

“I… uhm, yes?” I reply, then tilt my head as I amend my answer, “Well, not quite. I also have yoink.”

When I demonstrate the more destructive use of teleport, Uthica just shakes her head as chunks of stone ping off our shields.

“We’re designing a proper suite. Are your time spells this poorly optimized?”

“Uhm…” I reply, taking a second to think before replying. “No, they’re better. But not by much.”

“Hmm. Well, we’ll start with a combat version,” Uthica says, setting aside several pages worth of runes. Smoulder comes over, and sits down next to us as we continue. A few rocks go flying in the air outside our shelter as Midnight and Redstone once more wrestle to establish dominance. Midnight’s a good sport about it, letting Redstone think he has a chance, despite being nearly twice as strong.

With Uthica’s help, I end up creating two combat variations of teleport. My existing spell is mostly kept the same, though we manage to eliminate a number of redundant and counterproductive runes, optimizing it for combat. It only lowers the cost by thirty percent, but it’s a noticeable improvement.

We also create a version that never includes anyone else, allowing me to be far more slippery without having to worry about consequences. Something I could’ve easily designed long ago.

The real revelation is when Uthica takes me through the typical setup for using long range teleports.

She thought I was already using a similar method, considering the distances we were covering. When she finds out I’ve just been looking to the horizon and teleporting us before she has a chance to realize we’ve done several hops, she blanches slightly.

For three whole minutes, she remains silent, simply writing formulas and runes on a tablet. When she’s done, she hands it over. It lists the basics of long-distance teleportation, which takes advantage of increased setup time by using three distinct spells:

- Mark a destination.

- Designate a set of people to be included in the effect.

- Actually teleport.

With the changes, the teleport portion of the spell jumps in efficiency by more than ten times. As in, I’ll be able to teleport halfway around the globe without System assistance. Which is handy, now that I don’t have it. Combined with the ability to record a target location in my spell book instead of needing a beacon, I’m… none of this was mentioned in the Builder’s books I had. They all used beacons, or were tightly tied to the System’s Nexus points.

Because, of course they were.

To be fair, across longer distances, beacons do help with efficiency.

When we’re finished, I’ve added seven new teleportation spells to my Spellbook.

“Okay. Ready to tear it up?” I ask, staring at a spot high in the sky over the horizon. Combined with the mountain we’re currently standing on; this is going to be the largest unaided teleport yet.

Uthica takes my hand, Smoulder hopping from her shoulder to mine. “I hope there is no tearing involved. It would be quite painful.”

I’m about to explain that it’s an idiom, but she has that glint in her upper eyes that tells me she’s trying to keep a straight face. Dirty move.

Trying to keep the smile off my own face, I turn back to the distant peak reaching out my elemental hand, currently infused with fire for the style points, toward it. Then I pull it back towards us as I activate the Teleport spell while saying, “Get over here!”

Totally unnecessary.

Which is what makes it so fun.

As this is the first maximum distance teleport we’re trying, I would’ve preferred to use Facet to observe it closely. But considering how much I’m already spending on the spell… well, I’ll have more once we arrive but not before.

Luckily, when we arrive, we’re not deposited into another hidden city. The floors aren’t lava either. So far, so not bad. The air’s a little thin, and we’re currently in free fall. But dragons. Also, my flight’s been restored, so that too.

After less than a second to get my bearings, I teleport us to a distant mountain valley.

Mostly, it’s just slightly different foliage than what we left behind. Plus, a frog-like creature hopping away from us in a panic.

That happens a lot when you teleport in from nowhere.

“Are you okay?” I ask Uthica, surveying what I’m now certain is not in fact a mountain. A tall hill, yes, but still just a hill. “Everything intact?”

“Hmm. I’m not sure, I think I’m missing an arm,” Uthica replies, causing me to spin so fast I nearly tumble.

This time she doesn’t bother trying to hide her smirk.

“I… why… you…” I turn away from her, pushing my way past a giant frond that clings slightly to my hand until I coat it with earth. Her laughter follows me as I push out to get a view of the terrain further south. I don’t look at the land, so much as search for distant peaks.

It took even less out of me than we expected. Less than ten percent of my Facet to travel as far as the greatly aided eye can see, twice. Which is an extra ten times more efficient than Uthica and I had predicted. If it wasn’t for the curvature of Ukila, I wonder just how far I could go?

When Uthica rejoins me, I’m drawing in a metal tablet, glancing up at Akilo as I work through the numbers.

It should be possible.

“What’re you doing?” Uthica asks when she sees my work, while Midnight comes over to nibble on my hand.

“Well, other than your missing arm, the first trial seems to have been a resounding success. Cost way less than we expected. Glad to see you found it by the way,” I say, waving the metal pad in her direction with the hand that’s not being munched on. “I think… pretty sure I could teleport us back to Akilo.”

Uthica pulls the metal pad out of my hand, looking over my notes as Smoulder intercedes with Midnight on my behalf. “Not worth the risk. If you’re correct, then you will be able to return. But if you’re wrong, you could be trapped in that horrible space between worlds. And what if resources don’t regenerate properly there. You’ve mentioned how thin the mana can feel.”

Not giving the pad back, Uthica starts pacing. “But… with a proper beacon. An actual enchanted beacon instead of your spell marker… and a focus item linked to the beacon… such as how the System sent us here…”

Uthica stops, glancing in my direction. “We could do it. Safely even.”

“Sweet.” Now that I’m free from Midnight’s grip, I’m already rubbing my hands together, anticipating being able to jump directly to our next target. From Akilo.

“But… we’d want to set up a proper beacon here on Ukila first. Then use the System to return to Akilo. You’d be able to come here whenever you want. Assuming you want to.”

Staring upward, I sigh. “Well, so much for that plan.”

“What plan?”

“I was hoping to cheat our way to the next target.”

Uthica pushes me, less gently than usual as she laughs. “We’re already doing that.”

Picking myself out of the bush I’d landed in, I push her back, but she doesn’t even sway. Need to up my physical attributes. “I wanted to cheat more.”

“Shall we continue?” Uthica asks, smirking as she hands my metal notepad back.

I nod, selecting our next destination from the horizon with less care than before. No need to make every jump at max distance.

Three more teleports and we’re standing at the site of Uthica’s last summoning spot, a chasm filled with life surrounded by a barren landscape.

“You’re sure this is it?” I ask, scratching my chin.

“That’s what the System says,” Uthica answers, Smoulder and the dragons crowding in behind us.

“It’s just…”

“Yeah…”

“I’m not sure I want to fight here,” I say, taking in the vibrant red and black pattern on a winged gliding lizard. Only one of thousands of similar beautiful creatures visible at a glance.

“Me either.”

“We could… just not,” I suggest.

“I wouldn’t if we had another choice.”

“Well. I guess we’ll just need to be careful.”

“Hmm. Very careful.”

Uthica steps over the adorable creatures that inhabit the isolated valley. The birds don’t scatter as we pass through. Instead, they cluster around us, as though curious to our intentions.

When we reach the spot Uthica’s supposed to activate the final heart, we share a look, before scanning the valley again.

“Do you think it’s going to make them all go wild?” I ask.

Uthica stares at where she’s supposed to place the heart, such a simple step to complete a powerful ritual. “I… don’t know.”

“Maybe this is one of those quests with a hidden objective? Like find a way to finish it without destroying this valley?” I suggest.

Sitting away from the heart, she nods. “Even if not. There are preparations we could make. It would be more work but… I think it’d be worth it. Even if the System doesn’t offer any additional rewards.”

“My castles… I think I can create some to serve as defence towers.”

“Hmm. And I shall deploy my runes. The valley will be safe.”

It’s weird how important it feels to protect the valley. But as I see Smoulder sniffing a smaller creature that resembles her, I know it’ll be worth the effort.

Besides.

I have time.

A note from Draith

Thank you Fitmo for the kind review.

6.13, Landscaping

Ukila Local Time: Early Afternoon. (January 16, 1512)

Before they can cause trouble, Redstone and Midnight are firmly reminded to keep their wrestling to a nearby valley that isn’t teeming with life.

Even as Uthica and I direct them to keep the valley safe, Smoulder follows her friend to even more of the smaller creatures. And they do look like her. Except their tails aren’t nearly as fluffy. Nor do they spontaneously light on fire to win an argument. An hour after arriving Smoulder has a pack of them following her everywhere. Despite her willingness to flare her power to impress them, she’s as reluctant to hurt the residents as Uthica and I.

Which results in her wandering about with a pack of devoted followers, chirping at her constantly while I raise castles around the edge of the valley. Eventually Smoulder retreats, hiding herself in my pocket, poking her head out to chitter at her followers before withdrawing back into my pocket.

Which leaves me chuckling as I work.

The rest of the day is spent just doing the first parts of the preparations, finding natural stone surfaces solid enough to serve as anchors for Uthica’s enchantments. For the first time in a long time, we camp under the stars. Neither of us wants to leave the valley, but we don’t want to create a shelter that disturbs it either.

Sitting next to Uthica in a clearing near the north end of the Oasis-chasm, I toss a twisted seed from one of the local trees into our evening campfire. Smoulder’s fans have finally retreated, and Smoulder is perched on my shoulder as Uthica explains her plans for tomorrow. My part will mostly be support, providing her with raw stoneworking skills to underlay her runework. “I want you to put in the effort to copy as much of the rune as possible. I’ve seen your finesse. With practice you could create proper ritual runework in a fraction of the time it used to take me.”

Selecting another of the abundant seeds, this one reminding me of an old man with a beard, I reply, “I mean. I still need the tools to finish the runes. And activate them.”

“For the moment. But I’ve seen Fethix perform enchanting without tools. It’s crude, but her magical control is worse than mine… Worse than mine was…” Uthica trails off, her little ball of fire and lightning roving across the back of her hand, leaving her fur unscorched. Which is a marked improvement over the first time she tried it. Despite her rapid increase in skill levels, she’s finding it harder to adjust than I did. She has an easy time applying her new skills to her spells or runes, but raw manipulation is different.

I’m starting to think neither System is able to grant us the ability to manipulate mana directly, only record how good we are. And maybe give us hints along the way.

“I’ll try. Now, I think it’s time for a rematch,” I say, pointing at where the case for Vaus’ Champions sits beside us.

Uthica shakes her head. “Hmm. Not tonight. I need to prepare these properly. Thank you though.”

Nodding in understanding, I leave her to her work. Smoulder on my shoulder, I fly to the rim of the chasm to review my Status, taking in the barren plains surrounding the oasis-chasm. Empty as it is, it has a haunting aspect to it. A promise.

With a small twist of the local mana, I create a raised platform then settle in.

My attributes are getting to the point where it’s going to take days to increase them, even if I dump tons of Facet in. My physical stats are all over one-eighty, and my mental attributes… Resolve is the lowest at two-twenty-five. Unfortunately, the cost to increase them isn’t just getting higher, it’s getting harder for my System to predict. The last point of Resolve cost two million mana more than it expected to. Which was twice its estimate.

Not a problem while we have the near infinite mana of the beast-swarms, but after…

Well, I’ll still have all the bodies stored in my inventory. Which reminds me… I don’t really need to track how many shards I’m packing. They’re not important now that we can harvest insane amounts of mana directly. Heck, with the mana-glut, I’ve even added Lesser Mass Flight to my core’s patterns. Which lets me lift half a dozen people into the air using a combination of fire, wind, lightning and twilight mana.

That was after I bumped my Framework’s improvements to my Facet massively. Buying the full suite of the first tier of upgrades was cheaper than my System expected and now I’m nearly maxed out. My Facet Edge has seven ranks into the second tier, and it’s the weakest. Regen’s at rank nine, and if the estimate is correct, should be rank ten by the morning.

While I’m looking over my status, I tweak my resources so they’re displaying per minute regens. Not that they’re perfectly accurate, since I can affect them by dedicating more processing power or attention to each. But they do provide a baseline.

Administrator Pandora’s Status

Framework: Cataclysm Paradox

Tier and Approximate Strength:

Approved Temporary Designation: Copper-1

Core Attributes. Accuracy guaranteed with 99.7% Confidence.

Strength: 90 > 182

Constitution: 90 > 181

Agility: 105 > 205

Endurance: 105 > 198

Intellect: 125 > 236

Spirit: 125 > 229

Perception: 125 > 228

Resolve: 125 > 225

Storage: 1.19 > 238.4 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 6/8

Iron Resources

Progression Patterns: 0

Ascension Matrices: 1

Copper Resources

Progression Patterns: 0

Ascension Matrices: 0

Core Resource Abstraction

Health

Pool: 1355/1355 > 2600/2607, Edge: [144.7] > [306.5], Regen: (1177/day) > (2.2/minute)

Stamina

Pool: 1388/1388 > 2602/2655, Edge: [155.3] > [360], Regen: (1246/day) > (2.4/minute)

Mana

Pool: 2358/2358 > 4191/4322, Edge: [217.9] > [382.9], Regen: (2334/day) > (4.3/minute)

Focus

Pool: 2356/2358 > 3800/4322, Edge: [202.2] > [370.7], Regen: (2334/day) > (4.2/minute)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 650/671 > 2100/2109, Edge: [77.4] > [138.5], Regen: (233/second) > (700/second)

Matrix Ancillary Functions:

Core Framework Improvements:

Increased Facet Pool: 10/10, 8/10

Increased Facet Edge: 10/10, 7/10

Increased Facet regen: 10/10, 9/10

Framework Processing patterns:

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1, 0/2

Elemental Chakram: 3/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 1/2

Limits of Mortality: 1/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1

Anchor: 1/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1

Seed: 1/1

Auxiallary Processing patterns:

Lightning Warp: 1/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 1/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 3/3

With my attributes near Peak Copper, I’m not too worried about what happens when we run out of free mana. Haven’t even had my new System for a week, so one could say I’ve made decent progress.

…

Yep, one could say that.

At the rate Uthica and I are going, I’m not going to have anything to invest in other than discovering new patterns a week from now.

The next thing I need to unlock is my subclass. There’s a lot of knowledge tucked away inside. However, it’s not just a matter of dumping Mana and Facet in. I either need to build an interface for ‘socketing’ subclasses…

Which my System will allow me to do easily enough. Just a couple weeks of dedicated processing time and a billion mana. No prob. Guess that leaves me at least one thing to dump mana into.

Or…

The second solution my System suggests requires a more hands on approach. I need to… digest the subclass. With my soul. Not only will it allow me to comprehend all the mechanics of the subclass, including ones I hadn’t unlocked, it will permanently absorb the subclass into my soul-space.

Plus side. I’ll always have access to it, and I’ll be able to equip a second subclass later if I build the slot.

On the other hand… my soul-scape is the core of my being. Adding anything to it is a major undertaking. With a lot of risk.

So instead of shaking things up on a whim, I put it off until after talking to Uthica.

With that decided, I visit Letonga in my soul-scape. She’s shivering as she makes her way through the jungle, and I can’t help but shiver in empathy. It doesn’t feel cold, so there must be something else bugging her. She’s also talking to herself, repeating a phrase over and over again. It doesn’t make perfect sense to me, but the general sentiment seems to be about finding and retrieving something.

Us, probably.

I’m not sure how she intends to do that on her own, but at least she’s not giving up. I watch her for an hour as she trucks through the jungle. At one point, she stalks along a tall branch then tackles a snake three times her size. With nothing but a thin wire, she slowly severs its head as she holds on despite its frantic thrashing. She’s clearly familiar with the snake, quickly cutting and portioning large sections of meat. She only takes as much as she can carry, bundling it up in a patch of snakeskin she strips from the same snake.

Another half an hour passes without her doing anything of note when I decide to disconnect, sending her another wave of reassurance before I go.

Nice to see she’s doing alright. Honestly, she’s better prepared for survival than I expected, since she doesn’t seem to be relying on magic.

Returning to Uthica, I find she’s still working on her runework. Deciding to turn in early, I set my head down, staring into the fire.

The flames reach into the sky, a basic chemical reaction. No magic involved. Just like Letonga.

The dancing flames soothe me to sleep. I dream of Rufka.

Today was… bad.

But then, every day since her thiani had disappeared into the past had been bad. Rufka knew she wasn’t handling it well. As Beth rallied people to restore the cities, and Tipan struggled to manage the kingdom that had been suddenly thrust into her lap, Rukfa had… She’d been ignoring them all. And when Rose had brought her a platter of spiced meats, alongside a barrel of Copper-rank vodka, offering to help her adjust to Lexi’s disappearance, she’d just about put an arrow through him.

They didn’t understand.

She wasn’t upset that Lexi was gone. She was upset she didn’t bring her with her. Lexi had promised to…

“Oh, Rufka! I miss you so much. Why are you so-“

“Lexi?” Rufka asked, closing her upper eyes as she swept her eyes around the room. But there was no sign of her thiani. And this wasn’t the same as her usual way of contacting her.

Wait… am I dreaming?

“Oh, thank Astra,” Rufka said. Which drew the eyes of several nearby users. Her ears folded backward as she became aware of where she was. In her distraction, Rufka’s feet had carried where she’d often spent the last weeks. Into the brightly lit halls of the Rabbit Queen’s temple. It was the only place Wyonna hadn’t been able to remove the statues of Lexi. “You’re not dreaming, Lex. I’m here.”

“I… I think I am though. But… I’m sorry I left. Wasn’t how I planned it, but I’m alive!”

Rufka was unable to help herself, laughing at the way Lexi stated something so obvious.

“Hey, I can hear you thinking about me!”

Staring up at the statue of her thiani, Rufka asked, “Oh, really? So, can you tell what I’m thinking now?”

“Wow. Do I really take up that much space? Oh, uh, I miss you too.”

Chuckling Rufka turned away from the statue. She’d deliberately been thinking of how it felt to wake up with Lexi beside her. And she liked how much space Lexi took up. It helped that she had a tendency to glomp onto Rufka while asleep.

“Awkward. Oh, your vision’s fading. Love you. Like all the muches!”

As the connection faded, Rufka shook her head one last time, looking around the empty temple. Then she strode towards the exit. There was work to do.

When I wake in the morning, I don’t remember my dream with Rufka immediately. Partially because Smoulder decided it was a good idea to turn the heat up to max and half my clothes are smoking when I wake.

Stupid non-System reinforced clothes.

Once I’ve dealt with the ashes of my new clothes, I lay and stare up at Akilo as a warm sensation fills my chest. Rufka’s still alive. And she still remembers me. This… this is good. The fact that she’s my only link to the present, and is also moving through time… less good. But it seems it’s slower for her than me at least.

It’s with renewed vigor that I push to my feet, and I find an excited Uthica, already working on making some final adjustments to her designs.

We walk through the oasis on foot, enjoying the ambiance as Uthica explains her reasoning for each rune. Lacking a lot of her understanding, I try to follow along when she gets into the more advanced concepts, but mostly I just nod. Still, Uthica returns to basics soon enough, smoothing out my understanding of flowrates, switching-instructions and mana-capacity of the runework we’re inscribing in the first location.

The basics are easy, and as we work, I ask her what she thinks I should do with the Voidtech Engineer subclass.

“Hmm. You said, this will become part of your soul-scape, yes? It will become something that forms a crucial part of you?”

“Yep. Kinda scary,” I admit while forming the crude shape of a combination deflection and incineration enchantment before letting her take over.

Uthica doesn’t speak again for some time as she makes the finer adjustments. It’s only once she’s done, that she turns back to me. “I think the question isn’t how useful it is. The question becomes… how important is it to you? If I had this opportunity with my Discerning Innovator subclass, I wouldn’t hesitate.”

“I… sorry, what subclass?” I ask, stopping before we can move on.

“Discerning Innovator. My enchanting subclass,” Uthica replies, pushing gently at my shoulder to get me to fly to our next stop between two of my castles. “It is rather rare. Father and I are the only users who I know were capable of unlocking it. Now, the question is… How do you feel about Voidtech Engineer? Not as a subclass. As having it be part of who you are.”

Instead of answering immediately, I stop to think, staring out across the valley. Then my eyes drift up to Akilo. And yeah… even if I could teleport there, how much cooler would it be to fly. Especially on a ship I built myself.

And Sab’d totally agree. Rufka would… well, she’d want me to be happy with my choice. I run a hand through Smoulder’s fur, as I consider it once more.

It’s really not a question. Voidtech Engineer is amazing.

So… I guess it’s time to modify my soul-scape.

A note from Draith

And the old version of TPWM is officially over. Chapters will only be posted her from now on. Thanks for joining on Lexi's adventures.

Don't forget to rate/follow/favorite.

That author dude,

Draith

6.14, Repairs and Renovations

A note from Draith

Minor edit to 6.00

6.00, Reminder that Pern got access to the System by becoming Uthica's pet back in book 1.

Even now, she found it amusing that the closest thing she had to a real pet was her soul-sister’s bonded. While her father had gained his system as her pet, she hadn't taken another. As she took another sip, she spotted her father below, making his way across the field from the hill where Smoulder still sat.

Ukila Local Time: Morning. (January 17, 1512)

When interactions between runes and the more robust structures enchanters use grow complex, that is when enchanting becomes more art than skill. This is the realm of enchanting Fethix, Trellica and Rufka all dabble in. That occasionally leave me wondering how they’ve managed such feats.

Uthica does not dabble. Her work with enchanting manages to make runes seem as though they are not just alive, but as though purpose is imbued in her every stroke. As she creates the protections for the valley, it is almost as if my soul aches in wonder.

And with her work serving as inspiration, I turn my focus to within my soul. I have all the time I need to make my changes, the nature of Freeze actually making the work easier. Being removed from time is amazing when you need to minimize outside interference.

My System sits ready, its guidance floating at the edge of my mind. My soul-scape is my own now. It can’t make changes here. Not on this scale. It can build on what I’ve created, and give directions. It can’t rearrange and rebuild.

The first thing I do is bring forth the subclass in my mind. It’s been partitioned, but there are… gaps, parts I already know it will need to link to. Codices and memories of Sab.

My soul-scape is formed of physical places that have meaning to me. And this is no different. When I last made changes, I was in a hurry, trying to cobble together changes in an instant.

This time, I have the opportunity to consider more carefully. I consider the Sanctuary cities. They’ve certainly had an effect. But they’re not something that resonates with me on a personal level, so I discard them.

For a second, I consider Science World. Sab and I have a lot of good memories there. There aren’t many places that I hold as fondly when it comes to learning. But I don’t think of spaceships or enchanting.

Instead… it’s the climbing wall rocket at space camp I picture. The same one where I met Sab. And where she convinced me to volunteer as a councilor. That was… well, I think I’d have a much easier time around that many kids now.

The climbing wall was… well, the first time I was there, I wouldn’t even touch it. That was despite the fact it was more giant rocket ship with bars and easy handholds than climbing wall. So easy a five-year old could do it.

Not me though.

And when we went back… well, Sab remembered. And she got me on the wall. Even with my nervousness, she got me to climb. All of eight feet.

But when I was at the top… the way Sab cheered for me… It was dorky, and awkward, and amazing.

Even then, it had almost been worth having to watch over twenty kids who were somehow less awkward than I was.

And now…

It’s exactly the sort of positive memory I want to enshrine in my soul-scape.

As I look at my soul-scape, I can see how my framework has settled in, reinforcing the existing connections. And I see how I can pull on those same connections while pushing to create a space for Voidtech Engineer.

At my System’s suggestion, I incorporate the subclass far away from the fragile bond at the edge of my soul that I now suspect leads to Rufka. By having it far away, it should keep the connection intact, even if things go terribly wrong.

But things don’t go wrong.

In fact, it’s a surprisingly smooth process.

Not quick, but smooth.

It takes me nearly fourteen frozen hours before I’ve finished incorporating the climbing wall into my soul-scape. But nothing wobbles, collapses or stretches.

And now… I can feel the knowledge filling me. And… demanding I go spend even more time in the Temporal Library filling in gaps.

So, I do.

After I let Uthica know of my success, I spend a day in Frozen time, reading with Smoulder. Who starts looking through picture books. She enjoys reading the tortoise and the hare. And I spend nearly an hour explaining it to her in emotive impressions.

Then she states that she’d never be like the hare in the book. Immediately before curling up in my lap and going to sleep. Inside Frozen time.

Which feels like the perfect time to explore the Library’s capabilities. The first thing I do is test whether I can have the shelf shift closer…

And nope.

Very carefully shuffling over without disturbing Smoulder, a feat that would’ve destroyed my legs on Earth, I start stress testing the limits. My first textbook on math, which I don’t even remember, appears. A book Sab recommended in eighth grade follows.

“Childhood’s End,” I say, turning it in my hands. For how much Sab said it affected her, I thought it’d be… bigger. Setting it to the side, to read when I’m here to just relax, I move on.

Okay, how about…

The journal that Tipan carries at her waist appears, but it’s… different. When I open it, I find that it’s missing all the blurry pages. They’re not revealed with the blur gone… the pages are just blank. Unfortunate.

But if I can get those… my mind flashes back to the Builder’s Library. I saw… a lot of books there. Using a smidge of Facet to enhance my memory, I recreate a book from a distant section I didn’t even venture into.

“The Sixty-Three Laws of the Spirit City of Cth’lixol,” I read out, as I flip it open to the first page. Standing there is a cat-girl in a suit I’d normally picture on Roberts. Not a K’tharn, but an elvenoid with cat ears. She has a bit of a smirk, and platinum blonde hair that falls in a neat braid behind her right ear. And on the briefcase she carries in her right hand is a neat logo, stamped ‘Neko and Law.’

Unfortunately, the note about the author is the most interesting part of the book, the rest going into great deal about the nuances of law in a city where the ‘Spirit of the Law’ is a very literal thing. There’s also a System added note that indicates the origin of this book is from within a ‘sealed’ star cluster. One that’s experienced the backlash of the temporal tides. Nothing remains of the star cluster.

Except this book.

Marking it as just another interesting example of what the System collects, I move on, testing the limits. And there are some. I can only do physical books. I can’t create the books that were transferred directly from the Builder’s storage to my pad.

At least, not until I realize I saw the actual books.

Then the three books appear, all on the shelves next to each other.

Taking a deep breath, I almost pick them up and start reading immediately. But I hold off. I’ve already let myself get distracted enough. I still need to solidify my knowledge for my new subclass. I’ve satisfied my curiosity. And they’re not of immediate importance.

So, while maintaining my awkward half-lean, squat, I shuffle back to my chair, to pick up where I left off, Smoulder remaining unaware the whole time.

Sometimes, I worry I spoil her.

Once I’ve finished reading the required texts, there’s a shifting, and I can feel the subclass almost ‘click’ into place.

When I emerge, there’s a System notification waiting for me.

“Subclass integration successful. Subclass abilities unlocked. Redundant abilities consolidated.”

There’s no need for the System to list my subclass’s new abilities. I know them all intimately. They’re part of my soul-scape, after all.

And to say I can build a ship… well, give me a week and a few billion mana and I could create a spaceship the size of a large yacht from scratch. Give me parts to work with, and I could do it in a couple days.

The hardest part would be the mana-fusion reactors.

For some strange reason, they have stringent requirements. Can’t imagine why having the power of the sun in the palm of your hand would need oodles of safety measures. Nope. Not even a little.

Even with my newly fortified skills, I still don’t have Uthica’s proficiency at freeform enchantment. That part takes actual practice. Even so, it’s easy enough for me to recreate the basic structure she’s using. And when I do, she only needs a minute to adjust the rune to her satisfaction.

“That was a powerful upgrade. It’s as if you went from a barely capable mortal to an early copper enchanter,” Uthica says, kneeling down to run her hand over the carved runes. “What say we get the rest of these done.”

Blasting through the enchantments at a prodigious rate, we’re standing near the heart again near noon. Well, noon on this part of Ukila.

“Ready?” I ask, walking around the one spot in the valley where we disrupted the natural terrain.

Uthica examines the runework on the monolithic stone for several more seconds before responding. “As ready as I can be without spending another few weeks.”

Standing back-to-back, I feel the mana thrum as Uthica activates the keystone, spreading a shield out to encompass the entirety of the oasis.

It’s not perfect, but it’ll keep the elemental energies we’ll be tossing around from destroying the landscape. It should also protect the local denizens from any raging mana-beasts. It won’t stop every wandering monster, especially if there are any mana-beasts hidden in the valley…

But we swept it end to end, so that’s pretty unlikely.

When Uthica activates the last heart, we wait, our eyes scanning the oasis and the ridge above for the incoming mana-beasts.

Several minutes pass without a single monster deigning to show up.

“Rude,” I say, glancing at the keystone. “You don’t think it’s cause we’re preventing it from working?”

Uthica shrugs. “Could be. We’ll see.”

It’s another ten minutes before a rumble reaches my ears. With a glance at Uthica, I fly upward, searching for the horde I suspect is approaching. There are more than I’d been anticipating. Less variety though. They’re all variants of an antelope, or something similar. There’s an unusually large number of variants with wind-aspects, leaping atop their compatriots heads as the horde approaches.

All in all, it doesn’t seem particularly dangerous.

Returning to Uthica, I convey what I saw. Then I ask the obvious, “Do we want to meet them outside the valley?”

“Yes. Let us not allow them to despoil…” Uthica responds with a wave of her arm, lifting off before I’ve finished.

My opening salvo feels less effective than usual, only a dozen of the elementalopes falling to my initial bunny-dart.

Which means I need to use more power.

While I could just use Cataclysm, there are more interesting options available. Drawing on one of the spells I’ve only finished thanks to Uthica’s advice, I create a wall of fire higher than a stadium.

A spell that Smoulder casts as well.

Siege Inferno.

Each of our spells should become as large as the herd itself. I have to absorb several of the lead elementalopes just to power mine. With Uthica’s guidance, I’ve upgraded it to feed mana back to me, not just powering it, but giving me more mana for my System.

Then Smoulder and I unleash our spells together.

The elementalopes have no chance. Even the fire-aspected ones are trapped within the twisted glass that replaces the barren land. And those are swiftly picked off by Uthica’s latest attempt at a hyper-efficient seeking missile, that absorbs some of their mana to create a spreading storm.

Her first three versions all fizzle out, but the fourth tears apart the remaining elementalopes in a shower of ice.

When the last of the elementalopes are dead, Smoulder hops forward, visiting several of the unburned elementalopes and letting them know precisely how much she thinks of their fire resistance.

I’m giddy as I seek out Uthica. This was way too easy to have been the last part of her quest. “What’s next? Purple elephants?” I ask, giggling.

Clever is me. Me is clever.

“Alexis?”

“Yep. One hundred percent! Well, maybe like seventy percent. I’m pretty sure I’m thirty percent you too!”

Uthica pulls me by the hand back to our little clearing, sitting me down. “Can you Focus for a moment?”

“Sure,” I answer, using Focus on her face. She has so much fur on her head. “You know, from a certain angle, you kinda look like Rufka.”

“Lexi, are you affected by over-mana?” Uthica asks, her face not nearly as smiley as it should be.

Oh. Yeah, I should check that.

“One sec. I’ll see,” I inform her, slipping into my soul-scape.

The sight of my soul-scape sends me into another series of giggles. Part of me knows that’s not the right reaction. Another knows I should just check my Status.

Yet both parts are silenced by the view before me. I can barely see any of my soul-scape, the entire place is buried in a fog. It’s not just a few stray wisps of mana.

Even the ugly tree is barely visible. But it seems to be the only part of my soul-scape that’s not completely subsumed. So, I make my way to it. It takes… a few hours? Just to absorb the mana in the area around the tree.

Returning to reality, I find Uthica’s set me beneath a tree with big leaves that have whirls within whirls. I stare at the leaves as they flutter in a gentle wind. It takes me several minutes before I’m able to tear my eyes away. My thoughts still feel all foggy, but at least I’m not giggling.

“Welcome back,” Uthica’s voice says from behind me.

“Did I leave?” I ask, almost getting lost in the movement of the leaves above me again.

“Just up here,” Uthica answers, tapping her forehead with a single finger as she steps into sight.

“Think I might still be gone,” I answer, the leaves behind her waving eagerly for me to watch them.

“Well, I’ve got coordinates for my next objective.”

I nod, closing my eyes to concentrate. But that just results in watching the fancy patterns behind my eyelids. Trying to use Focus helps, but only a little.

“But that can wait till the morning. You should rest. And I’ll see if I can figure out a way to bleed off some of that excess mana. Don’t need you dying from mana-poisoning of all things.”

“S’not poison,” I protest. That much I’m sure of. “It’s… pure. Mine. Just need to work it.”

Not sure where that certainty comes from. But it feels correct. Maybe my System? Except it’s usually clearer. Maybe it’s fogged up, just like my soul-scape.

This time, the giggle that escapes feels a little more natural.

“Hmm. You should eat, at least.” Uthica already has food in front of me. The last of my baked buns and a steak. I tear through them, barely tasting either. The juice she provides is equally ignored. But my body does feel better as I settle back into my soul-scape, returning to work. This time I attempt to do my work inside Freeze. But while I can shift the soul-scape itself, the fog is resistant to change while time is stopped. So I cut the Freeze early and return to working in real-time.

The night passes without me emerging from my work once. After a few hours, my System finally figures out the effects of what I’ve been doing. I’ve been pushing up the processing ability of my soul-scape. While the general processing ability has benefited the most, parts of soul-scape are tied to my attributes. The ugly tree is related to my Spirit attribute. Roughly.

Honestly, I’m pretty sure when I reassembled my soul-scape, I scrambled everything together. The fog isn’t as equally spread as I first thought. And while I can move a small portion of the fog as I please, most of it hangs tightly to certain areas. And unsurprisingly, I managed to make my Strength my lowest priority. I’m so weak, I can barely lift a bus with one hand.

Practically mortal!

Snickering to myself, I continue my work. When I’m done, my soul-scape feels much better. I’ve even been able to add several new structures. A library — thick vines on its front facade with a fully covered veranda set to the side, an idealized version, rather than one I’ve visited — is now associated with my knowledge skills, tidying them up nicely. Much more solid than my Temporal Library, if not as cozy.

Another addition is a small storage shed. Inside is an assortment of tools and cleaning agents. It’s associated with a single obvious skill. Though Cleaning popped when Odean’s locked memory was released, I didn’t loose any of the knowledge associated with it. It’s a strange kind of reassuring to know how to clean a shirt in a thirty km/h wind using nothing but water and a bit of soap. Or the equivalent magic skills.

With my soul-scape in excellent condition, I glance up at my connections. Letonga’s is completely dark. Likely sleeping. Uthica’s is less obscured than usual, granting me a glimpse of myself lying beneath the tree, drool dripping from my lip. I almost jump out of my soul-scape the second I see it, but I’m stopped when I notice the weak connection to Rufka flash. It’s only for a second, but I know that was Tipan I just saw.

Shifting my focus to the weak connection, I inspect it. Contrary to my worries, my recent mana overage hasn’t weakened it. In fact, after all the work with my soul-scape, I’m certain I can stabilize it.

Taking a tuft of the non-dedicated fog, I work it into the connection, taking the time to do it piece by piece. Another hour later, and I’m no longer worried a solid sneeze will knock the connection loose.

The entire time I worked, the image remained the same. Tipan is standing just in front of Rufka, locked in place, as though unable to move. So… maybe time isn’t moving for them. Though I’m pretty sure some time has passed. But even my casual studying of the bond felt like I was going to pull Rufka back to me. Which would remove my only link to the present.

And as much as I want her here, my System warns that she won’t be protected like she is in the present. My blessing is powerful, but whatever gave it to me doesn’t value Rufka like I do. Silly all-powerful time creature.

When I finally slip out of my soul-scape, my mind is still on Rufka. Until I sit up and realize there’s still drool hanging from my lip.

Wiping my face with a splash of purified water, I attempt to hide behind it, pretending it was intentional. Then I realize Uthica’s not in the clearing at the moment. She’s a couple hundred meters away, next to the keystone.

I walk over to where she’s sitting, Smoulder in her lap and surrounded by dozens of the oasis-chasm’s diminutive squirrelesque residents. One of the chasm-squirrels approaches Uthica. It moves forward a step at a time, glancing back at its comrades. It doesn’t get close enough to touch her before turning around, dashing away. As I watch, several others repeat the attempt.

A game of bravery.

Despite attempting to approach slowly, I seem to interrupt their game when I land next to Uthica. Though while they do back away, they no longer scramble for their trees. Progress.

They chitter at each other, their voices forming a backdrop as Uthica says, “Afternoon. Feeling better?”

“Much. Now, I’m not certain, as things were kind of woozy. But did you say you had your next objective?”

“I did. I’m pretty sure it’s the last one though.”

“Oh. Why?”

“It wants me to access the nearest Nexus point.”

“That’s weird. Usually it gives you quest completion.”

“Well, according to my quest, there’s only one Nexus point on Ukila,” Uthica adds as the chasm-squirrels resume their game, though with me as an additional obstacle.

“Ah. So, it wants us to go back.”

“Yep.”

“City first?” I ask, as one of the chasm-squirrels with a distinct white arrow on its forehead tags my ankle. It’s greeted by a huge wave of chittering when it returns to the rest.

Uthica doesn’t respond as we both watch the chasm-squirrels hoist the one that tagged my ankle onto their shoulders and carry it away. Their chittering is low, but persistent as they pass out of sight. “Yes. After a couple days. To make the runes here permanent.”

“Uh… yeah,” I agree, as the sound of small drums fills the nearby chasm. “Do you think the System…?”

Uthica shrugs, “The System just calls them mana-infused vartha. Says they’re related to mana-hares but that’s it. No mention of…”

Her all-encompassing wave sums it up well enough. Conversation drifts to our personal objectives as we start. We spend the next couple of hours taking notes of the materials and changes we need to make to make the protections permanent. In that time, a small delegation of the chasm-squirrels, or vartha, arrive at the edge of our clearing.

They’re led by the one who tagged my leg. They stand tall at the front, surveying our clearing. It waves its hands back and forth, chittering at its companions. They follow it forward, several darting back a step or two. But after the first reaches me and puts its hand on my ankle, two more join it. I remain still, smiling down at them. A complete contrast to Smoulder who retreats into my pocket, peeking down at them from her sanctuary.

This seems to give the others the confidence to come forward. Soon I’m surrounded by the little critters, all of whom are chittering away. Kinda feeling like a fairy-tale princess.

Uthica laughs suddenly, startling not just the vartha, but Smoulder and I as well.

Glaring at her, she stops laughing, but her eyes betray her bemusement as she explains, “The System granted me the ability to automatically learn languages. As a hidden objective quest reward. For… protecting and befriending the pre-integrated natives of Ukila.”

“That… that sounds useful.”

“Would’ve been more useful a century ago,” Uthica grouses. “But its still a wonderful boon.”

“Wait. Does that mean you can understand what they’re saying?” I ask.

“Yep. They’re planning a celebration. In honour of the great hare-bearers and the mighty hare of flame.”

“Huh. Think we’re invited?” I ask.

As if waiting for me to ask the question, the vartha with the arrow on their head tugs at my leg.

“We’re the guests of honour. Rude if we didn’t attend, don’t you think?” Uthica’s laughter is barely audible, but that’s only until the vartha scrabbles up my back, into my hair. Then the little bugger starts tugging at it, trying to get me to turn.

As the vartha I was about to designate Little Arrow attempts to steer me toward their celebration, Uthica collapses in a fit of laughter.

He might need a different name.

Like Little Jerkface.

6.15, Stop. Rewind. Play again

Ukila Local Time: Evening. (January 18, 1512)

Despite his attempts to corral me forward, Little Arrow finds himself stuck in our clearing, tugging at my hair as I wait for Uthica to recover. His companions wait at the edge of the clearing, merrily chittering away until Uthica reins in her laughter. Then she flips to her feet with a graceful roll.

The second she lands, she chitters at Little Arrow.

He stops tugging at my hair as he chitters right back. I can practically hear him lift his chin. Uthica leads the way out of the clearing as we’re swarmed by the rest of our escorts. Smoulder swats them away when they encroach on her and her tail. To save her from the persistent locals, I transfer her to an inside pouch, trying to keep my amusement from bursting through our link.

We’re led to an entire village, hidden within a thick bramble close to a small lake. The buildings are crude but well cared for. They’re also tiny, almost as squee-worthy as their residents. Uthica and I are guided to an open space near the entrance, practically standing on each other’s toes as our hosts leap off. All except Little Arrow, who tugs at my hair even as Uthica pushes back out of the bramble.

“They’ve just realized they don’t have room for us,” Uthica informs me, still smiling as Little Arrow leads me around the lake.

The next few hours are a mixture of watching the vartha scurry around mixed with an unusual amount of laughter from Uthica as some of our hosts serve us portions of baked herbs on tiny little plates. Little Arrow only leaves my head once, running off to the little squirrel’s room. I make him clean his paws in a globe of water when he returns, but then he returns to my head.

The food is what draws Smoulder out. While it’s not as charred as she normally prefers, she still eats with gusto. She doesn’t even scorch it further. The ultimate compliment.

By the time the celebration has died down, Smoulder is lying in the grass as Little Arrow combs her tail with an impromptu comb they’ve built out of ivory from an unknown source.

“Definitely made the right choice,” Uthica says, popping a meat bite into her mouth. Despite their efforts, they weren’t able to properly satisfy her hunger. Because they don’t eat meat. Just bugs.

Thankfully, Uthica headed that particular idea off before they attempted to bring us any.

Watching where the vartha are gathered around a pair wearing poor wigs chittering madly at those beneath, I reply, “Definitely.”

At a particularly high pitched chitter, the crowd all get up and charge at the two with their wigs. But then a third ‘hops’ forward, knocking the crowd back, saving the wig-varthas from the crowd. The entire gathering resumes chittering at each other as the wig-vartha take their wigs off.

“It’s about our heroic victory. Well, Smoulder’s heroic victory,” Uthica informs me.

“Sounds about right,” I say, reaching over and offering Smoulder some victory pets to accompany her tail-combing.

“I’ve never seen anything like them,” Uthica says.

Looking over them, I ask, “What do you mean? Don’t you have mana-hares?”

“Hmm. Mana-hares aren’t the same. Even our friend Smoulder isn’t as smart as these vartha. Nor as peaceful. They understand danger. But they don’t fight. They escape. It’s… difficult to imagine. To run instead of defending until the end,” Uthica shakes her head. “But then, with what happened to those who ran to the Sanctuaries…”

“Yeah, not getting a class. That would’ve been tough,” I agree, leaning back to better take in the evening sky, the clouds above stained red and gold by the setting sun.

“It wasn’t the loss of the Class. That was important but not the real cost,” Uthica says, sitting down beside me. “I’m referring to only ever being allowed a single child. It’s why we’re building Aethire.”

“Right,” I say. Then when Uthica doesn’t say anything else, I ask, “Do you have children?”

“No. I had a niece I loved dearly. But I’ll never have children of my own. It wouldn’t be fair to them,” Uthica states, her words unusually crisp.

When I glance over, there’s moisture in the corner of her eyes. Reaching forward, I squeeze her shoulder.

Uthica shakes, a laugh-cough emerging. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to bring down the mood. This is a celebration afterall.”

“Ah yes. The victory of the almighty Smoulder over the big bad elementalopes.”

“Is that what you’ve been calling them?”

“Eh, I doubt I’ll ever see them again. Don’t need to worry about their proper name.”

“You’d have made a horrible Lorekeeper,” Uthica shakes her head as several vartha charge past, diving into the nearby lake.

“I have not once claimed otherwise,” I agree, catching the splashing water from the air before it can strike us. “They make decent sized waves for such little people.”

Uthica nods, the conversation drifting through the possible explanations for squirrel-sized creatures to make such large splashes and other such subjects until we retire for the evening. When I check on Letonga, she’s still fighting her way through the jungle. Though it seems she’s found a large grey animal with a blunt head to carry her above the worst of it.

Good for her.

For Uthica, the next three days are expected to be a mix of runecrafting and diplomacy with the Vartha. For the first time, I’m missing the old System. It would’ve had an easy way for me to learn the language, one thing my new System lacks. Hard for me to contribute when I can’t understand what anyone is saying.

Despite her efforts, Uthica admits there’s very little a newly awakened species hidden away on another planet can offer her people. Regardless, we both create pacts with the Vartha promising their people that they’ll be welcomed in our nations. Even if mine won’t even exist for hundreds of years. A concept, I’m surprised to discover, they understand. Hardly know how to make tools, but they understand time travel.

Little weirdos.

A conversation between me, Uthica and Little Arrow about the nature of time travel leads me to reflect on how limited I’ve been in developing my temporal abilities. Or at least, the limits of using it intentionally. I did somehow manage to send myself hundreds of years into the past, after all.

The first step, much like with teleportation, is having a target. I can sidestep the coordinates slightly by following my personal Temporal thread.

Before I start my experiments, I fly to the south of the valley, a rocky chasm where Redstone and Midnight are lounging in the early sun. Midnight perks up the moment I approach. And is soon nibbling on one of my fingers.

I give him full arm headscritches, and make sure he’s going to be okay before setting off on my own.

Sitting more than a kilometer outside the valley, I gaze at the broken scenery around me. A twisted tree, barely clinging to life. A jagged series of boulders, shorn free of the earth. And a collection of beetles — that not even the Vartha like to eat — sealed inside a quartz container.

Test subjects.

My first attempt will be attempted away from my test subjects. So, I start walking, once I’m five minutes away, I’m ready to start. Simple first test. Going back in time, say five seconds.

I reach into my mind for the tether. Even using my Facet, it’s hard to track at only a few seconds. So, I reach back farther. Three minutes. Should be able to do that.

I tug.

Suddenly my thoughts are overlaid with another set. I’m where I was standing three minutes earlier. And I’ve already tried the attempt? Of course I have. I just…

It takes me a minute to realize that both my future-self and present-self’s streams of consciousness and memories are present at the same time.

Confusing.

Which is putting it mildly.

I walk out in a different direction, once I’m almost 3 minutes away, I look inside. There’s a knot now, more easily grasped where I returned to before. When I tug it, I’m slammed into my head with two other streams of consciousness. Both of which are experiencing this for the first time.

When the confusion passes, I realize I’m on my knees, dried blood on the ground. Reaching up, I find crusted blood on my nose and still damp area around my eyes. Even my ruined eye. It didn’t faze me the first time, but it seems repeated resets are… dangerous.

It also… has thrown all my processing out of whack. My System warns that I should wait at least an hour after doing a reset to start improving my soul again. Small disadvantage there.

Inspecting the knot again, I notice it’s bigger. Easier to grasp, but it doesn’t let me choose any particular point within the knot. So, each time, I’ll have less control of when I emerge.

But… I wonder how it might interact with the thickness I create when I use Freeze.

Before testing, I decide now's a perfect time to test if I can bypass the restriction on digital information in my library. Pulling out my Builder’s pad from my inventory, I give a small thanks to the part of my System that recognized the pad storing the books on portals I acquired from the Builder’s Library was critical, even if I don’t need them now that I have the Temporal Library. If I’d chosen another Framework…

Well, let’s see if I can access them on the pad.

Cracking the first one open, I’m delighted when my System informs me it’s requesting a mana-strength verification. Good first sign. With a pulse of mana, my System unlocks the book and I give in to the temptation I resisted the first time, flipping to the first page. And… I realize if I hadn’t put all that effort into understanding teleportation, it would be completely useless. The other two books are the same, and they soon join the first in my journal, copied at the speed of thought.

With a second copy of the knowledge secured, it’s time to resume my Temporal experiments. My eyes drift to the damaged ground nearby. Definitely wasn’t delaying cause I’m having flashbacks to what happened with my early attempts to teleport. Nope.

Smiling at my sillyness, I shake my head then fatten out my Thread into a proper day-long Freeze.

And then spend a day reading more about voidcraft and basic Portal theory with Smoulder. I wasn’t able to bring the pad inside, but my Journal is still available. They actually seem to share a few parallels, mostly in the distortion of space and mana-isolation requirements.

When Freeze ends, I wait for ten minute before sending myself back once more. The process is far smoother, the Freeze remaining in place and allowing me to recombine my streams of consciousness. When I try to end it early, I discover one disadvantage.

I can’t.

So I spend another Frozen day with Smoulder, this time focusing on some of the more complex assemblies required for permanent portals. The energy requirements between worlds seem to be absurd.

Like, create another planet levels of absurd, if I’m doing the math right. No wonder they only open the one on Akilo once a decade.

When the day-long Freeze ends for the second time, I almost want to take a break. But instead, I return to testing. Though with more reasonable durations of Freeze.

Further trials reveal that the Freeze is set at whatever duration I use the first time. And I can use shorter Freezes initially, and they still work, but I have to wait through the full duration both times. Ten minutes is the shortest I can get before I start suffering physical side-effects again. They all leave circles of destruction, but at least it’s contained to a roughly three-meter radius.

Finally deciding to take a break from my time-travel efforts, I start working on completing Tipan’s wind-form from Elementalist’s Peak. Between what I’ve learned from Uthica and my subclass, it doesn’t feel nearly as daunting as when she first acquired it in Elementalist’s Peak.

It’s a nice distraction after nearly coughing my lung out after the test with a one-minute Freeze. With my current attributes, I was worried that might actually happen.

After I’m sure my body’s recovered, I turn my attention back to time-travel.

The rewind is less disconcerting when all of my perspectives know what to expect. And it only requires a few seconds of Focus to create a moment like that. Compared to needing to spend at least ten minutes in Freeze…

So, I start on experiments that don’t require Freeze as a setup. It takes nearly two days of real-time practice, but by the time I’m done, it only takes ten or so seconds to adjust to having two streams of consciousness when I don’t use Freeze. It’s a lot harder to return to an exact moment, but still…

It should grant me a lot of freedom.

I also confirm that reverting without freeze has only a miniscule cost in terms of my real health if I only do it once, at most producing a bloody nose. But a second attempt without Freeze leaves me coughing on the ground until my Health kicks in and restores me. And that’s for a mere three-minute jump.

On the third day, I abstain from any sort of experiments while helping Smoulder set up an obstacle course for the vartha. Three whole hours after breakfast, I’m ready for the next step.

It’s time for a bigger jump.

This time I’m going to try for an entire hour.

Looking around at the remnants of my test subjects, I give them a sloppy salute. The twisted tree and the boulders all remain, basically unharmed. The same can’t be said of my beetles. It turns out I can take other creature back with me… kind of. They pay the same costs I do. Which is hard on them without a Copper-rank resilience to cushion the blow. I have a sole remaining beetle.

Who I refuse to name.

Nameless beetle won’t be linked to me for this test. Not for the first run.

Sitting cross legged in the center of my testing circle, I Focus on a moment an hour ago. I prepared for this, using Freeze for an entire frozen hour instead of ten minutes. Ten minutes has proven to be enough with the shorter hops, but they have less to reconcile.

I tug.

Hurtling back, there’s no noticeable delay before my mind crashes into my past. Despite my preparations, this time it’s like a wedge the size of an apple is jammed between my thoughts. It takes me the entire frozen hour just to remember what day it is. Another half-hour is spent remembering why I’m in the middle of the empty circle.

It’s three more minutes before I remember it’s not supposed to be empty.

Standing on weak legs, I inspect my surroundings. The only hint at what happened are a few small pieces of the boulders that stood at the edge of my circle. Each remaining piece is cut smoothly, as though I’d used my teleportation power.

Nothing else remains.

Centering myself, I take a deep breath.

This is why I was practicing out here. With disposable test subjects. It takes me another hour before I feel physically ready to start testing again. Then two more before my next attempt.

This time, I prepare concentric circles of stones leading away from me. To determine the area of effect. Clearing my thoughts, I create a new Freeze point.

I tug a second time.

Turbulent. Not as completely awful as the first attempt. But little improvement. Having a reference in my mind helps. It still takes me the full Frozen hour before I remember to inspect how large an area around me is affected. Twenty-three meters. In a perfect circle.

Need to get that down. Or the only times I’ll be able to revert to are going to be when I’m standing in the middle of nowhere, alone.

Not exactly ideal.

Summoning a third set of marking boulders, I repeat all the steps again. My third attempt I concentrate on keeping my mental state stable. Twenty-two meters.

Deciding to take a proper break, I return to the valley, where Uthica is working on the Keystone, Smoulder keeping a vigilant watch over her. Most of her adjustments to the rest of the runes were completed yesterday, and she’s been here ever since.

“Hey,” I greet her.

“Hi,” Uthica responds, not glancing my direction. I don’t say anything else, waiting for her next break. Despite answering me, there’s a good chance she doesn’t truly recognize that I’m here.

Creating a small ball of lightning-fire around a sliver of ice, I bat it back and forth with Smoulder as I wait.

“Oh, hey Lexi,” Uthica says a few minutes later.

“Hi. Got a minute?” I ask, sneaking the little ball past Smoulder with a last second manipulation. Smoulder narrows her eyes but chases after the escaping ball.

“Sure. Problems with your time-travel?” Uthica asks, plopping down beside me.

“You know, you could at least pretend to be impressed,” I say, elbowing her.

“Why?”

“Because… Nevermind. Yes, I’m having trouble.”

“Are you sending the mana in the wrong direction? You seem to like doing that from what I remember,” Uthica teases with only a tiny twitch of her ear.

Rolling my eye, I ignore her jab as I reply. “No. Not this time. I checked. But I feel like I’m missing something."

“Well, why don’t you tell me the problem. I’m sure if we focus on it, you’ll figure it out.”

“Focus… huh. That’s probably it.”

“Seriously? You haven’t been using Focus?” Uthica demands, her eyes narrowing.

“I’ve been using it. For casting the spell. But what if… Thanks,” I proclaim clasping her shoulder as Smoulder returns with the ball of energy.

“Hmm. No problem,” Uthica says, turning back to her work with a short shake of her head.

Smoulder nudges me with the ball of energy held delicately between her paws. I haven’t been making as much time for her as usual with all my experiments. The mornings have been all building, and our time in Freeze isn’t the same sort of play we normally do, since neither of us can use regular magic inside the Library.

How am I short on time when I’m literally time-travelling?

Torn between playing with Smoulder and continuing my experiments, I fold like a stuffed bunny, spending nearly two hours playing with her. Only once Smoulder has been properly appeased do I bid Uthica a goodbye she doesn’t acknowledge then return to my testing circle.

This time, I spend Focus to assist me in creating as ideal an empty mind as possible as I Freeze. To further assist my efforts, I use more Focus to clear my mind before my attempt to go back.

Again, I tug.

This time, I arrive with only a small gust of displaced air. Even my mind only takes a few seconds to sync up, most of which is spent absorbing my thoughts for the last hour. Every single one of my marking boulders remains standing.

Until I blast them apart in celebration when my Freeze ends.

Not my humblest moment.

Still, even with my success, I continue practicing, feeling out the limits. I’m able to prevent destruction at up to a little more than an hour, by Focusing on both ends. And the destruction extends only a couple meters if I don’t Focus in the ‘future’. Until I go past an hour of rewind. Then it starts scaling up fast. Destroyed over a hundred meters around me at an hour and fifteens minutes fast. Good thing I didn’t try two hours.

A secondary benefit of using Focus is that I’m able to get Freeze down to just two minutes to create a safe Temporal waypoint.

Finally satisfied, I fly back to Uthica, with just a quick glimpse at Letonga’s latest progress. While I’ve spent my days practicing how to rewind time, at least an hour each night has been spent with Letonga.

She’s managed to make it to a settlement, though I never caught the name. It’s big though. When she tried to sell her mount, she got into an argument with the merchant. It was loud enough to draw the guards. Their uniform was the same as the city we passed through. Maybe there’s a hidden nation? Maybe it’s the same city? I don’t recognize any of the businesses or streets she’s visited, but we weren’t there long.

After getting a price she was clearly unhappy with, Letonga spent the next couple nights in bars and markets, seemingly talking to strangers. She has a tendency to get in their faces. She’s spent so much time interrogating people that when I connect to her now, I feel I’ve gotten a solid grasp on her language. I also note, with some personal pride, she has a distinct accent compared to the locals she’s interacting with.

Every night, when I finish watching, I send her another surge of encouragement before disconnecting. Tonight’s the same. She’s just finished asking about a wild lizard when I disconnect, landing near Uthica.

I’m waiting for her to make the last adjustments to the keystone when Little Arrow approaches us. Little Arrow wasn’t his varthan name, but when he found out what I called him, he adopted it immediately. Despite not knowing what an arrow is.

His chittering seems to be less upbeat today. Which is understandable. We’ve made it clear we’re leaving.

And as much as he admires us, he needs to remain with his people. Uthica conveys his farewells, which I return. Then he states that his people will always remember the strangers from above. And the second important fact I insisted on. We are not gods.

Despite his assurances, I’m not certain I got the message through, as they’re making statues in Smoulder’s image. They think they’re being sneaky, hiding them when I get close, but I’ve seen them.

Oh well. At least there aren’t any of me.

He moves to the edges of the central clearing where the keystone sits, joining the rest of his people. It feels like every vartha from across the valley is here, watching as Uthica completes the last activation.

Much like its initial activation, there’s a thrum to the mana as the enchantment activates. But this time I can practically taste the intent. An aura of non-violence now pervades the oasis-chasm.

And that’s how we leave them.

I hope they make it. I never did see them in the future. But then, Eastern Akilo hasn’t had contact with Ukila in over a century.

Retracing our steps back to the city is easy. Right before entering the city, we stop to rest. It’s funny how I can stare at an entire city and know it’s just sitting there, looking like nothing more than a cluster of mountains.

Still gazing at the distant city, I idly start putting extra resources into restoring my Facet, trying to perfect the boosted regeneration. But I’m distracted by a flash above the city and overdo it. I start coughing blood, as I collapse forward.

“Alexis!” Uthica calls, her hand on my shoulder and supporting me before I hit the ground.

“Fine-” A cough interrupts me. “I’m fine. Just careless overclocking of my Facet.”

“I’m starting to worry about your method. We should sit down and run through it,” Uthica suggests.

I stare at her. My method… there’s barely anything to my method. Just a bit of… Shaking my head, before nodding, I say, “Agreed. First thing when we get back to Akilo.”

“Not tonight?” Uthica asks.

Turning back to the city in the distance, I answer, “It’s not urgent. I’ll just stop using it. There’s way more important stuff to work on. Besides, we’ve got a city to explore.”

6.16, Good Cop, Scary Queens

Ukila Local Time: Morning. (January 23, 1512)

With the sun a handspan above the horizon, Uthica and I enter the city, returning to the same rooftop as last time though we leave Midnight and Redstone behind.

It’s a good roof. Well, for our purposes, anyway. Well shielded from the passersby below and — unlike most of the buildings around us — the building even aligns with the illusion that cloaks it. Less chance of appearing mid-air or getting stuck inside an unexpected roof. Or wall. Or anything really.

Dropping off the side of the building, I lead the way back to the market while chatting with Uthica about the weather in the local language. She’s super worried it’s going to rain.

Or at least that’s the cover.

Really, we both just want to practice. Though Uthica shouldn’t need it, having been granted proficiency by her System. But she wants to. So, we’re arguing about the number of clouds in the sky when we’re approached by a pair of K’tharn in military fatigues. We turn to them, and I realize we might know the language, but the laws… not so much.

Were we jaywalking? Or maybe our clothes are out of place? Except we’re both wearing outfits I bought on my last visit. Letonga didn’t have to deal with this. I think…

“May we help you officers?” Uthica asks, stepping forward slightly to shield me, her hand held open. Okay, so don’t emergency teleport us yet. Which makes sense, it’s not like they’re pointing their rifles at us.

“Can I see your multi-pass?” The shorter of the guards asks, her eyes only flicking to me for a second before returning to Uthica.

“My multi-pass?” Uthica answers, her confusion clear. Information’s important, and we can always come back in disguise if we mess up. Which I realize we already did. We could’ve gathered information from the rooftop. Still, it’s not bad enough I want to revert to the Freeze I used before we teleported into the city.

“Sheila, I don’t think they have passes,” the second guard says, her eyes fixed on our feet.

“No passes? We’re going to need to take you to the gate,” the guard named Sheila says.

I step forward, asking, “The gate? Is this really necessary?”

Sheila stands up straight, her eyes looking past my head as she states, “All visitors to Ketenna must have a multi-pass. Entering the city without a multi-pass is subject to a two-hundred copper fine. Subsequent offences will-”

“I think they get the point Sheila,” the second officer interjects.

“But the regulations say-” Sheila objects, her stature suddenly deflating as she turns to the other guard.

The other guard shrugs. “The regs say lots of things Sheila. Let’s not waste these people’s time more than we need to. Now, what do we do next. And please, for the love of Ketenna, don’t quote the regs.”

Sheila’s ears flick back, but she nods, drawing herself up. “We’ll bring them to the gate. We’ll find out if they can afford their fine. If not, we expel them from the city with a note on their records. If they’re able to pay the fine, then they can choose to stay. After they complete their paperwork.”

Turning to us, the second guard adds, “That’s assuming you don’t resist arrest. All this is rather academic if we have to spark you.”

“We’ll come along peacefully,” Uthica says, beating me to it.

“Good, good. Sheila?”

Sheila jerks, then she rotates on her heel, “If you’d follow me, please.”

As we walk toward the gate with Sheila and Uthica leading the way, and ‘the vet’ walking beside me, I ask, “So, how did you know we weren’t locals? Do you really know everyone in Ketenna?”

The vet laughs. “In Boras district, maybe. But no. You were flagged after your last visit. Unbound Eldinsworn stand out. Plus, the hand and eyes are distinctive. No one remotely similar passed through the gates. And you sure as Slavos aren’t a citizen.”

I glance down at my hand that’s currently made of what I thought was a rather subtle stone mixture, nearly matching my skin tone. Flexing my hand, comparing it to my other hand, I almost feel insulted. It’s nearly the same. “I put a lot of effort into this hand.”

“Still emits Essence like a busted class-2 Phase rifle.”

“Oh? Is there a way to fix that?” I ask, staring at my hand as I flex it. My System is… confused by my hand. It’s not part of the System’s established functions or uses. It proposes several analytical processes to fix the leaks, all of which look like they’d cost several billion mana. Whoops.

The vet shrugs. “Probably. You’d need to ask one of the government Scents. Or maybe a scrapper.”

“I’ll do that,” I decide, flexing my hand again before sighing. I wouldn’t be surprised if my hand is where all my mana regen has been going.

We reach the gate a short time later. The word gate is a massive misnomer. It’s more like a set of doors, with three large doors set to one side. I’m about to point that out when I notice the entire ceiling is only held up by four columns, all of which have clearly marked targets on them. Closer inspection of my memory as we approached reveals the entire setup is designed to collapse, sealing the city.

Luckily, we don’t have to go under the gate/deathtrap. Instead, we’re led to a tall building abutting the wall. The white finish is the same as the rest of the city, only made distinct by the words next to the door. Words I don’t understand. Letonga has failed me!

I try not to snicker to myself as Sheila leads us inside, directing us past a line of K’tharn, who all turn to stare at us. It’s hard not to strike a pose as we’re led out of the front room, to a small side office. Behind the desk, a busy K’tharn taps at a pair of triangular pads that reminds me of a split keyboard. Sab and I tried one out once, and neither of us could stand it.

The K’tharn glances up at us when we enter, pointing to a nearby pair of chairs.

As Uthica and I graciously take our places, Sheila and the vet take positions to either side of us. Then we wait.

After a few minutes, the K’tharn stops tapping, closing the triangles against each other before her eyes flick over us. “Ah. Hello. So, you would be the unregistered visitors. I’m Prime Administrator first-class Jude Winstrom. But you can just call me Jude.”

“Lore-queen Uthica,” Uthica responds, causing Jude to pause in the middle of whatever she’d been about to say.

“And Arch-queen Pandora,” I add. Didn’t think we were going this path, but I follow Uthica’s lead.

Jude raises her eyebrow. “Very much not locals then. Akilo?”

Uthica nods, so I again match her.

“Lovely. System approved I take it. No, don’t answer. We don’t have proper paperwork for Akilo royalty. I’m afraid you’re just regular citizens here. Which means you’ll be bound by our laws so long as you’re within our domain. If you want exceptions, you’ll need to talk to… I’m not actually entirely sure. Someone in central, though. Sheila, make sure they have a proper Instructional when they leave. Not just the local guidebook,” Jude pauses, looking to Sheila until she receives a nod. Seemingly satisfied, Jude returns her gaze to us.

She considers us for several seconds. “I imagine that you won’t have any problem paying the fine of two-hundred thousand copper?”

There’s a small gasp from behind us as Uthica’s eyebrows raise, and she glances at me.

I nod. It’d be easy to create that much copper. It does make me reevalutate their economy a bit. Uthica turns back to Jude, about to speak.

But Jude holds up a single finger. “I was afraid of that. Officers, please wait outside.”

The vet raises an eyebrow, but otherwise doesn’t react stepping away from the wall and passing in front of me on her way out. Sheila on the other hand, opens her mouth to object. She even gets the word “but-” out before the vet stops her, dragging her out into the hall.

I can hear her muffled voice asking the vet about what happened when her voice cuts out completely. There’s a barrier around us that uses a tiny amount of wind mana to rip apart all sound that passes through. Efficient design.

Jude clears her throat drawing my attention. “Now. You’re from Akilo. You most likely have the System. You have access to the sort of magic that makes any sane person weep. Plus, you could destabilize our economy in a single night,” Jude says, leaning her chin against her lower hands while steepling her upper hands and resting them against her brow. “And we brought you in on a fine for… not having your multi-pass on you. Why are you even here?”

Glancing at Uthica, I shrug. “Shopping. And sightseeing. Invisible cities aren’t common where I’m from.”

“Shopping?” she asks incredulously.

“And sightseeing,” Uthica reminds her, with a small smile. I’m unable to keep a matching grin from forming on my face.

Jude seems to relax at this. “You’re serious.”

“Yes?” I ask, not sure what else to say to that.

“Oh, thank the Aaleen.” Jude starts tapping away at her keypad. “Your mana-signatures and biometrics both indicate you’re serious. This is great news. I thought those two had dropped a surging Class-5 mana-render in my lap.”

I don’t know what that means. But it sounds bad. Part of me wants to object.

Still… she’s not wrong.

“Okay. We’ve got your mana signature on file. If you’re going to stay, I’ll just need a sample of your bio-sig for the records,” she says coming around the desk with a device. She pauses about a meter away, then holds the device toward me. “If you’d just press your thumb here.”

Uthica and I share a shrug, and I press my thumb against her little pad. It sucks my finger into it for a second before releasing it with a pop. Didn’t even prick me. While I’m still inspecting my finger, I hear Uthica’s finger go through the same process. Jude hustles back to her desk, tapping a few more keys. Then she opens the door. “Sheila, can you run down the hall and grab two blank multi-passes from the front?”

Sheila mumbles her affirmation and Jude closes the door, the silencing effect cutting out Sheila’s steps once more. I wonder if they have other advanced enchanting here. Would it be more advanced than the design of literal starships?

More tapping. Then Jude glances up. “Okay. I’m still going to need you to pay the two-hundred copper fine. As well as a five silver processing fee.”

“Your money is so backwards,” I grumble as I create the coins in my pocket, pulling them out.

“Not everyone uses the System to handle all their transactions. Besides, our money serves us well.”

“Not what I meant,” I say, sliding the coins onto her desk. “But I was wondering. About my hand?”

Jude clears her throat, looking at the closed door. “There’s a scrapper near the Eastern gate who might be able to help you. Unfortunately, you don’t have clearance for central, so you can’t talk to the Omniscients.”

“The what?” I ask, not understanding the last word. Jude starts to speak but is interrupted by sharp ding from the closed door.

Jude walks to the door, opening it to retrieve two small disks from Sheila, who peers past her at where we’re seated. I wave to her as Jude returns to her desk, remaining silent until the door closes again. “The Omniscients. They’re… I mean, it’s in the name.”

Still not understanding, I look to Uthica, who says, “People who know everything.”

“Ah.” Not ominous at all.

Jude nods, while placing the first disk on the device she used to gather our bio-signatures. The disk is no larger than my palm, a simple plain white circle less than a millimeter thick. “They’d be able to help you. But you’d need Class-4 or higher clearance.”

Uthica shifts, asking, “And what level clearance do we have?”

There’s a whirring noise from the device that pervades the room. Once it’s finished Jude pulls the first disk off, setting the second disk in place before answering. “You’ll both have Class-1 clearance for a week. At which point you need to leave or get your pass renewed. Which is much cheaper than paying the fine. It’ll let you visit the Outer-city merchants. But only during the day. Should be enough for you to see the sights too.”

“Can we get better clearance?” I ask, watching the process as the second disk is imprinted. There’s definitely mana being used. Twilight, and a lot of it. But the disk has no detectable emissions.

“You could. If you’re willing to take part in our temporary worker program. It grants temporary class-2 status and allows you to work in the city for up to six months,” Jude answers as the second disk causes the device to reach an even higher whirring noise. When the whirring dies down, Jude stares at the disk before turning to Uthica. “A damn… no. Above my paygrade.”

Striding over from her desk, Jude drops the second disk in Uthica’s hand like it’s burning her. She hands me mine with more aplomb but is obviously still uncomfortable. “There. Now you’re all nice and legal. Please keep it that way. If you decide to extend your stay, just come back and let one of the clerks at the front know and they’ll renew your multi-pass.”

“Thanks,” I reply, standing up while examining my disk. It isn’t a uniform white disk any longer. In the center is an intricate fractal design, interspersed with flecks of colour. It’s incredibly dense, starkly contrasting with the outer four-fifths which retain the white purity with only a few words I can’t read stamped on them.

“Keep them with you. And try not to lose them. I’d rather not have to spend days tracking them down,” Jude says, returning to her desk, where she taps at her pads a couple times without sitting down. The sound from the hallway resumes, Sheila’s voice especially clear as she asks her partner about cracking down on something called ‘vershima.’

Another word I don’t recognize.

The door slides open before the vet can respond. Jude waves them in, instructing them to return us to the street. Then she turns to me, her hand held out. “Thanks for not killing anyone or blowing up my office. Shadows protect.”

Returning her gesture, I shake her extended hand. “Shadows protect.”

Once Uthica’s completed the same ritual, we’re ushered out of the building. Soon as we’re in the street outside the building, the vet says, “That went well. Good luck.”

Then she starts walking away. Sheila hands me a thick book, then gives us a short wave, scurrying after the vet who’s already several paces away.

“So…” Uthica says, as I slip the thick book into my inventory. I’ll look at it in Frozen time later… maybe. “Shopping?”

“Shopping,” I agree, flipping the multi-pass in the air before catching it. “Then some sightseeing.”

“And I’d like to see that Scrapper,” I add, holding my hand up, flexing it. Maybe improving the containment on my hand will have knock-on effects, helping other aspects of my magic.

Heh.

Knock-on.

A note from Draith

My friend Kraze is taking his fun little (Only 10k followers!) story, The Laws of Cultivation: Qi = MC^2, off RR soon, and asked me to remind peeps that now's their last chance to check out the cultivating drug lord and Pokemon wannabe MC for free.

It's a fun read, so I figured I'd give him the shout.

6.17, Not-A-Dentist

Ukila Local Time: Noon. (January 23, 1512)

After several hours of browsing through the markets, we grab lunch then procure a room at an inn near the gate. The inn fascinates Uthica, who spends several minutes exclaiming over the enchanted showers and comfortable bed that came with the suite. Which are nice features. But the room is nothing compared to Raz’s. It barely even feels fancy compared to the motels mom and I would stay at on the drive to visit my grandparents.

Still, I do my best not to dampen Uthica’s enthusiasm.

Which is easy once she starts ranting about the technical challenges of creating such intricate enchantments on a scale where they can afford to put them in every room.

Half an hour later, Uthica still rambling about the implications of simple, mass-production enchantments, we make our way out of our room. I lock the door with a tap of my multi-pass, and a heavy thunk sounds out. It’s such a satisfying sound, I nearly tap the door again.

But I restrain myself, leading Uthica past the front desk where the bored clerk is reading an actual paper book. The sight makes me pause, but Uthica’s momentum carries me out the door. And then we’re off to the Eastern gate to find the Scrapper.

Finding our way toward the gate is easy. And finding our way to the Scrapper is nearly as effortless. The first local I stop, turns and points toward the high-walled compound set against the wall a ways north of the gate.

“Huh,” I say, staring at the plain white walls.

“Problem?” Uthica asks, scanning the building to see what’s caught my interest.

Shaking my head, I say, “No. I just thought it’d be more of a junkyard with a title like Scrapper.”

“Junkyard,” Uthica asks. Oops, I substituted English again. Vausian doesn’t have a similar word. And from what I’ve heard so far, I’m not certain Ulthean does either.

“Place of broken or damaged materials,” I explain. “But out in the open.”

Uthica nods, “We have no need of such a place.”

“Guess not. Not when everything breaks down into mana and floats away,” I say, stepping inside an arch that leads to a small courtyard. Still no sign of miscellaneous scrap. Just a pair of heavy bronze doors at the far end.

“Which brings up the question. What then does this Scrapper do?” Uthica ponders, staring at the pair of heavy bronze doors in front of us. They’re not even rusty or tarnished.

Worst junkyard ever.

Stepping forward, I attempt to pull the door open, but it remains firmly shut. I knock on the door as I consider Uthica’s question. “They clearly use a lot more enchantments here than you do on Akilo. Maybe a Scrapper breaks them down?”

A rumble under our feet keeps her from answering.

Even as the rumble cuts out, one of the heavy doors in front of us swings open. A short pu’shaha opens the door, looking up at us. His dark brown fur is matted down, a face mask set atop his head as he considers us.

“You’re not Jezia,” he states, managing to sound displeased despite the high pitch of his voice.

“No. We are not. We were hoping you-” Uthica starts.

“Not supposed to talk to anyone but Jezia,” he states, interrupting Uthica as he starts closing the door.

“Wait!” I proclaim, stepping forward and jamming my elemental hand in the door as a wedge. The door slams into my hand with a ‘thong’, and I wince despite it not hurting.

“Huh. Magic hand. Not a prosthetic,” the pu’shaha says, not so much reopening the door as letting it drift out of his grasp as he takes my hand. He turns it over, pulling a spiky tool from his pocket and poking my hand with it. “Not enchanted, direct control? But not conscious?”

“Uh, yeah. And it leaks a lot of mana,” I add to his analysis.

Uthica stands to the side, a bemused smile fixed firmly in place.

“It would. Nothing to keep the mana in. Like a bucket with no bottom,” he pokes my hand a couple more times, using different parts of the tool. “Hmm. Was wrong. There’s a bottom. Just so many holes its not very effective.” Then he looks up at me, squinting. “How you alive?”

“Can you help me fix it?” I ask, glossing over his last question. His analysis making me feel even worse about my hand. Guess it really is the reason my mana regeneration is so poor.

His laughter is like a bang, drawing my attention to where he’s slapping his leg. “Me? Fix an enchantment. Ah. Jezia would have me split down the middle.”

A voice behind us, causes me to turn as she says, “Vess straight, I would. And I’d be right to do it. You’re not ready.”

The voice comes from a K’tharn dressed in a similar pantsuit to the one I’ve chosen for the day. But where I chose mine to match the common blue and white style that is currently in vogue, hers is a brilliant green, with gold and silver highlights. The green of her suit is almost as bright as her eyes which are looking us both over.

“You’d be the visitors from Akilo then,” she states,

“You’ve heard of us?” I ask, unable to keep my brows from shooting up.

She nods, stepping past us, shooing the pu’shaha away from the entrance. “Wethla stopped by with her newest cub a few hours ago. Sheila’s a sweet girl, but I can tell she’s already wearing on Wethla’s patience. I’ll never understand why she volunteers to train all the new recruits when she just spends her nights complaining about them. If it wasn’t for-”

Glancing back at us, she changes subjects, “Anyway. Warned me you might be coming by.”

“Warned you?” I ask, following her in when she waves us forward. I stop when she points to the side where she’s removed her shoes.

“Warned me. Advised that despite only having class-1 passes I should treat you with respect. Wouldn’t tell me more, other than the fact you’re from Akilo. But that’s enough, isn’t it?” She doesn’t so much ask as state the last before striding down a well-appointed hall. Along the far wall a painting of several K’tharn gathered around a table draws my eye. Jezia sits prominently at the center of the table, the other K’tharn all looking up to her, as though she were a valued mentor or… god.

Uthica and I follow her down the hall, stopping when she reaches another heavy bronze door at the end. She pulls out a disk much like our recently received multi-passes. Except the fractal pattern in the center of hers takes up the inner four-fifths of the disk. She presses it to a panel next to the bronze door, and the thunk makes the one back at the inn sound like a gentle tap.

And that’s with it unlocking.

Just to be sure, I reach out to the stone in the wall to confirm I can alter its structure. But it rebuffs me.

“Yeah. I’m not going in there,” I state. Uthica stops beside me, the pu’shaha pushing past us as the door slides open. He enters the room ahead of Jezia, pulling out the tool he was prodding me with and connecting it to a device just like the one Jude had. Jezia sets her bag on a nearby table, ignoring us as she opens it and starts sorting its contents.

Uthica and I glance at each other, before I clear my throat.

At this, Jezia turns, arcing her left eyebrows. “Yes?”

“Would you be able to help with my hand?” I ask.

Jezia shrugs, returning to her sorting.

“Is that a no?” I’m feeling confused. She invited us inside, didn’t she?

With a jar halfway to its shelf, she pauses, pointing it in my direction as she says, “You’re the one who doesn’t want to step into my workshop.”

Then she resumes placing the jar on the shelf. I take another look at the walls that repel my stone-shifting. Then share a glance with Uthica. Uthica leads the way in.

Despite my hesitation, nothing happens when we cross the threshold. The mana even feels the same. Hopefully, that means we’ll be able to teleport out. The room smells… sterile. Like a hospital without the underlying stench of near-death.

So, like a dentist’s office.

There are an impressive array of creature bits in the jars lining the walls. Hundreds at least. Each labelled and clearly sorted. Not what I expected at all.

Way creepier.

The chair that dominates the right side of the room further reinforces my impression of a dentist’s office. It even has a complicated assembly at the end of a swinging arm adorned with lenses, scalpels and fine points.

“Welcome to Jazie’s Scraptorium. Now, you were saying you had a problem with your hand? Did you incorporate an incompatible mana-signature?”

“I… I don’t think so,” I answer, changing my hand to fire to more easily inspect the boundaries. My System proposes new solutions, one of which might reduce the cost of repairs to one billion mana.

“Interesting. Have a seat please. Nelik, what do the initial samples say?”

The pu’shaha taps away for a few seconds before turning to Jazie. “Strong elemental component. Surprisingly stable. Venting rate may vary. I think it’s supposed to leak mana.”

I approach the seat. With Uthica at my shoulder watching over everything combined with my own strength… Well, the ominous looking apparatus doesn’t so much make me nervous as unsettled.

It seems designed to inflict pain. Just like a dentist.

Jazie wanders over to where Nelik is pointing at a display with a wireframe model of my hand on it. “Designed to leak mana? Seems like poor design. Why not use the mana to reinforce its structure or invigorate the user?”

“Didn’t know what I was doing,” I answer, feeling as though they’re criticizing what felt like an impressive achievement. At the time. “Was just trying not to die.”

“Oh. You did it to yourself? Not bad, for an amateur… I suppose. Let’s take a look,” Jazie says, stepping closer. She brings the apparatus closer as well, setting it over my hand. It ticks each time she adjusts it until there are lenses on every side of my hand. The spikes are set above and behind the lenses. What I thought were scalpels, she uses as handles, tapping them to make fine adjustments to the other tools.

It’s all very professional.

As Jazie has my hand completely encapsulated and is peeking through one of the lenses, a ring sounds out from next to the desk. “Well, that’s inconvenient. Nelik, check who it is. And don’t open the door this time.”

“Yes Jazie,” Nelik mutters, leaping from the chair to rush down the hall.

“Now. Where was I. Ah, yes.” Jazie leans forward over the device, placing her face against a panel that obscures her entire upper face. She hums and murmurs to herself as she continues to tap at the fine adjusters. Nelik dashes back in.

He’s about to speak, one hand raised in the air, but then he sees Jazie.

Lowering his hand, he joins us in waiting. Jazie continues her examination for several minutes before finally pulling away.

“That is the sturdiest enchantment I’ve ever seen grafted directly onto flesh. Not the most elegant, mind. But definitely sturdy.”

“Meaning?” I ask, as Nelik starts to make soft coughing noises in the background.

“Meaning that it would take more skill than I possess to make changes to it,” Jazie answers, sitting back. “I hope containing the mana leakage isn’t urgent. It doesn’t seem to be hurting you. Actually, it seems the leakage is from you cycling ambient mana through your body.”

“Oh. That makes sense,” I note, cycling the mana into my hand again. “Is that why it doesn’t cost me mana to maintain it?”

Nelik coughs louder this time, and I glance over. But Jazie ignores him, “The hand should have a rather low mana cost to maintain. But it’s the fact it doesn’t seem to harm you that’s interesting.”

I’m about to explain that it’s probably my elemental resistances preventing me from being hurt when Nelik finally screams, “Jazie!”

“Yes, Nelik?”

“It's your hunter. The one you sent out for the Pendregen hearts? She’s back.”

“Already? I didn’t expect her back for another week. This is excellent news. Ready the stasis-hold and prep the… actually nevermind, I’ll do it myself,” Jazie spins about, just about running into Uthica. “Oh. Right. You’re still here.”

Uthica glances down at my trapped hand and Jazie follows her gaze. Jazie’s eyes narrow, but then she moves back to her position. After several quick adjustments, my hand is released.

“Thanks,” I say, pushing myself out of the chair, taking a closer look at the apparatus as I stand up.

Jazie only barely mumbles a response as she strides out of the room. Yeah, her attention’s elsewhere. Kinda want to meet this hunter though. Able to take down a Pendregen without the System. And it sounds like it’s a pretty big accomplishment from the way Jazie’s reacting.

“Shall we?” Uthica asks, gesturing toward the exit.

“I guess? I kinda want to meet this hunter though.”

“I’m sure we’ll see them on our way out,” Uthica assures me, walking away.

“Sure. But I want to meet-meet them, you know?”

Uthica raises an eyebrow at me, a small smile tugging at her lips as she gestures forward. “Well then, let us go meet-meet them.”

Nelik dashes past as we’re walking down the hall. Two steps further, and we pass Jazie murmuring to herself in a side room. I can’t help but note that this room’s door is a simple but elegant wooden door, nothing like the behemoth to her workshop.

Retrieving my shoes, which are more like covered sandals, I start putting them on when the ringing sounds out again. Guess it rings in every room? Wonder if she has it in her bedroom. That’d be annoying.

“Nelik. Why haven’t you let her in yet?” Jazie yells.

Nelik, who’s standing by the door, his hand literally on the handle, looks at me with a helpless shrug.

I pat him on the shoulder, as he pulls the door open, stepping back to let the hunter in as he says, “Welcome back. Sorry for the wait. Jazie wasn’t expecting you to return so soon.”

“Yeah. Me either. But I’m better than I thought. Found one-”

I’m just finishing putting my shoe on when I look up to meet the gaze of Letonga. It’s always weird when I see someone in front of me that I’m more used to seeing from their perspective. I let go of my shoe, reaching out my hand in greeting, “Oh, hi. Long time, no-”

“You!” She screams, her hand flashing out to punch me in the side of the face, her body rotating in a way that says her foot isn’t far behind. But I don’t move.

It’s strange being so resilient, but Smoulder hits me harder than that when she’s just messing around. Letonga throws several additional punches and kicks, several aimed very unsportingly, but I just stand there and watch her. Nothing’s emphasized how different I am from who I was as the ineffectiveness of Letonga’s strikes. I’ve seen this woman take down monsters large enough to snack on full sized cows. Well, if Ukila had cows.

Jazie arrives during the altercation, if you can call it that, only to leave when she sees Letonga beating on me futilely. Her endurance is rather impressive.

And I’m picking up a lot of curse words in a very short time.

“Should I?” I ask, glancing over at Uthica who’s reclining on the shoe bench.

Uthica chooses not to be helpful, smiling at me enigmatically, but not uttering a word either way.

This was not how I imagined my meatspace meeting with Letonga.

Maybe I can get her flowers?

6.18, Junkyard Heart Transplants

Ukila Local Time: Afternoon. (January 23, 1512)

Letonga’s tirade starts to wane, her fists resting on my chest more than striking me. And then she leans forward and starts crying.

“Why… won’t… you… just… die…” she mutters, bashing her head against my chest.

Not effectively, but still.

I pat her on the back, once more looking to Uthica. This time she’s not smiling. Instead, her eyes show her age. A sadness I’ve felt thanks to our connection.

And I realize, Letonga’s lost.

I try again, “Hi. Nice to see you again.”

It’s as if my words are a glass of ice water to her face. She stops hitting her head against me, stepping back. Her cheeks remain damp, but her expression hardens. “You cost me everything. What did I ever do to you?”

Blinking, I turn to Uthica. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but she did try to kill us, didn’t she.”

“Twice, if you count… whatever that was,” Uthica comments, her smile back in play.

“Yeah, well, other than that,” Letonga retorts, stepping toward the door.

I’m certain she’s going to step out when Jazie speaks, startling me. “Where do you think you’re going with my hearts?”

Unable to answer in time, Letonga is grabbed by Jazie as she storms forward. “I took a big chance on you. And I’m glad it paid off, but you’re not going anywhere without giving me those hearts. And you…”

Deciding personal space is a thing of the past, Jazie leans toward me, her voice low, “We haven’t finished your examination. Nor have you paid me.”

“Paid you? Uh, how much do we owe?” I ask, glancing towards Uthica.

“We’ll figure it out. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble, given the nature of that fancy hand of yours.”

“She doesn’t take coin,” Letonga adds sourly, her face turned in a grimace.

“No need for it.” Jazie has me by one hand and Letonga by the other. I could easily resist her but allow her to pull me along. Until we get to the bronze door again.

Then I decide to put my foot down.

Literally.

Jezia jerks slightly when I stop moving. But it hardly fazes her. She just releases my arm, pulling Letonga into the room. I watch, leaning against the doorway as Letonga retrieves a bag from her backpack. It’s way too small for a single Pandregen heart, nevermind all seven. Magical storage. It must be.

Magical storage that’s not linked to a System.

I need.

It’s only as I bump into Letonga that I realize I’ve moved into the room. She moves away from me, and I mirror her action, not wanting to crowd her.

She doesn’t move far, continuing to unfold the bag, then pulling the first heart out. Unlike Uthica, who kept the hearts wrapped in a thin sheet of metal, Letonga has it suspended in a jar similar to the ones lining the shelves of Jazie’s room. Just, much larger. She could fit her entire backpack in the jar the Pandregen’s heart sits in.

Jazie takes the jar from Letonga with all four arms, holding it by the handles set into each side. She sets it on a septagonal cart, and the way the seams match up implies it was hand-built for exactly this task. There are even slots for each of the seven jars to screw into. They proceed to transfer the next heart in precisely the same way.

But I’m only vaguely interested in that. I’m using Facet to study the bag they’re pulling it out of. A completely non-System aided storage space might hold the key to restoring access to my own.

With my Focus draining, I watch in slow motion as Letonga draws the second heart forth. There’s almost no visible sign of the transition. Almost.

The visual cue is little more than a warble. A distortion. But it’s enough for me to Focus on when she draws out the third heart in my near Frozen state.

There’s an enormous set of runes leading to the central portion of the bag. Most are enchanting runes, which I’m starting to recognize from my work with Uthica. But others are familiar for a different reason. They’re the same runes I use for teleportation. Just arranged differently. There’s a set of distinct runes for the destination that almost match the runes for the point of origin. Several unfamiliar runes, seem to be responsible for the extra-dimensional space.

At least, that’s the only thing I can imagine they’re used for. It’s possible they just make the contents spicy. But I’m putting my bet on them creating the space.

I’ll ask Jazie after she’s done.

She’s already proven she’s got a decent understanding of the basic mechanics of using mana. Which is amazing when I stop to think about it. I need to pick her brain for everything I can. And maybe we need to visit those know-it-alls too. There must be some way a pair of uber-powerful mages like Uthica and I can earn temporary class-4 access.

As they pull the fourth heart from the bag, I use my Facet to trace the way the runes trigger. It’s a cascading effect, the unfamiliar runes interact directly with the runes that change the size of the…

Teleportation changes the relative size of the objects it moves through space. And the System’s Storage was directly linked to my personal attributes. Which were just the System’s interpretation of my soul-scape.

Does that mean that all I need to do is find a way to duplicate my soul-scape? Why haven’t I been studying Uthica moving things in and out of her inventory? I’ll just add that to the list.

Right. On the list.

Reassured I’m not forgetting everything, I watch them draw the fifth heart out. Even with the fifth heart, Jazie continues to use all four hands to handle it. A second later, the reason for her caution is demonstrated. The jar jerks in her hands, nearly throwing itself to the floor. Even as the heart within shakes about, smacking into the side of the jar, Jazie hoists it back into position.

Placing it on the cart, she speaks for the first time since starting, two hands pressed down on top of the heart as it continues its struggles. “Nelik. Get my aura-calibrator.”

Nelik makes his way to a nearby cabinet, drawing forth a thin cylinder with several solid buttons on its side. He hands it to Jazie who doesn’t even look as she takes it in her lower left hand. She flicks a switch, bringing the tool over the struggling heart.

“Wha-” I begin asking, but Jezia hushes me as she closes her upper eyes while narrowing the lower.

Ten seconds pass as she flicks the switches on the aura-calibrator. I can feel its effects on the ambient mana in the air, changing the tint from a neutral-elemental field to one more aligned with stone and earth mana. As she works, the heart’s struggles decrease until it stops moving entirely.

“Well, I certainly won’t need to examine that one to ensure it’s retained its vigour.” Jazie smiles at Letonga, who nods in return. Then Letonga notices how close I’m standing and frowns at me. So, I take another step back. Which only makes her frown deepen.

Seriously, you can’t win with some murderous ex-cult members.

Then Jezia jostles her cart, and Letonga turns back to her work. The remaining two hearts go smoothly, though the seventh heart acts much like the fifth, albeit with much less gusto. With only a couple more adjustments, Jazie locks the seventh heart in place on her cart. Then she turns to Nelik, handing him the aura-adjuster.

He hands her another tool, similar in shape, but with a pair of pliers on the end. She uses the pliers to secure thin sheets of bronze over the hearts, hiding them from view.

She trades tools with Nelik once more, this time taking the device Nelik poked and prodded me with when I first arrived and connecting it to the cart. I can detect it doing something with Twilight-mana, but the process is mostly obscured. There’s a flash on the device, at which point she marches it over to her desk, plugging it in.

We wait in silence. I’m tempted to talk to Letonga again, ask her about how she took down a Pandregen, but her glower and Jazie’s repeated warnings still my tongue.

Contemplating waiting in the hall, my thoughts are disrupted when Jazie stands from what I’ve decided is her magical-computer and walks back to the cart. She rolls it out of the room, eliciting an objection from Letonga, “Hey Scraphead, you haven’t paid me for those yet.”

“You’ll get your payment as soon as I’m done my tests.”

“I’m not letting them out of my sight until you pay me,” Letonga insists, storming after her. I look to Nelik, who rolls his eyes, but motions for me and Uthica to follow him. Jazie leads us to another room, but she stops at the entrance. “You can watch from out here. But no one is to enter? Understand?”

Joining my assent to the others, she’s about to step inside when she turns to look at me, then Uthica. “And try to keep your magic in your sleeves, or whatever it is the kids are saying these days.”

Before I can respond, she closes the door, which is made of transparent crystal of some kind. It resembles quartz, yet it’s nearly as transparent as glass. She moves the septagonal cart into the center of the chamber, while I stand uncomfortably next to Letonga.

“So…” I begin, but Letonga shakes her head.

“Don’t want to hear it. You ruined my life, and if the Scraphead doesn’t come through…”

“What did she promise you?” I ask, curious what brought Letonga here. There are so many things that a magical re-enchanter — and I’m pretty sure that’s what a Scrapper is at this point — could provide, but I don’t know which might have drawn Letonga in. Especially not for a task that must have been as dangerous as taking on a Pandregen. We fought literal hordes of mana-beasts that took less preparation or firepower than the single Pandregen Uthica killed.

Not that it was obvious, considering how easily it died. But her explanations of everything she did. Yep. Not as easy as it looked.

“None of your business,” Letonga answers after several seconds.

“Fair enough,” I reply, focusing my attention back on Jazie.

She’s donned a full-body set of armour. Likely magical, considering she put it on in only a few seconds. It has a symbol with eight concentric circles around a central eight-pointed star.

“What’s that symbol mean?” I ask Nelik, figuring attempts with Letonga are at a standstill.

But she’s the one that answers when Nelik stares at me like I’ve grown a second head.

“It’s the mana-hazard symbol. For areas of extreme mana. Like in there,” Letonga says, slapping her hand on a matching symbol carved over the doorway.

“Oh. Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Which is why she has the suit. You’re really not an Edinson, are you? Where the hell did you come from?”

“Akilo,” I answer immediately, not even thinking about it. "And what's an Edinson?"

“Huh. Command’d be real buzzed to find out that there were any free Edinson not under their thumb on Akilo.”

“Uh. Still not an Edinson. Pretty sure.”

“And I don’t have two arms, and a leg that cramps when a mana-storm sweeps in.”

“Your leg cramps when mana-storms get close?”

“Not the point. You’re an Edinson. No doubt about it. Even my grunt-level education made that clear.”

“No, I’m telling you, I’m an elvenoid according to the System,” I say, Vausian doesn’t have a word for human, so I fall back to the closest I’ve got.

“Say that again,” Letonga demands, finally turning to face me.

“What? I’m not an Edinson.”

“No. What did you call yourself?”

“I’m an elvenoid.”

Before this moment, I didn’t realize it was possible for someone with such rich caramel skin to go pale. But Letonga manages it, her right arm reaching out to the wall for support. Then she starts laughing, so quietly I can barely hear her, despite my enhanced perception. She continues laughing, sinking to the floor, and not responding when I say her name.

I turn to Uthica, who only shrugs. As does Nelik.

Guess Letonga’s finally lost it.

Well, at least she’s safe.

6.19, Diagnostic Delights

Ukila Local Time: Afternoon. (January 23, 1512)

For the next few minutes, I remain silent, watching Jazie remove each of the hearts from their corresponding jars before prodding them. I imagine she’s taking the measurements she referred to. Letonga remains nestled in the corner next to the door, refusing to acknowledge us. So Uthica and I are discussing our evening plans. We’re divided on which of two restaurants we should try, both having interesting cuisine that neither of us has tried before.

Uthica’s managed to convince me to go to the one that grills custom combinations of meats and vegetables in front of their customers when Jazie emerges, her full metal suit gone. With her blindingly bright green suit revealed once more, she turns to Letonga, who scrambles to her feet. “Excellent. Even better than I could have hoped. I’ll give you exactly what you asked for. Plus, I’ll allow you to keep all the equipment you borrowed for the job.”

“Thank you. But…” Letonga looks at us.

“Ah. Yes. Privacy.” Jazie nods. “In my workroom. Nelik, keep them entertained until we’re done.”

“How long this time?” Uthica asks, echoing my sentiment. I don’t mind waiting, especially since I’m learning so much, and I do want to expand my horizons further…

Even so, just standing around is unproductive. If we’ve got time, I’d like to be working on my list.

Jazie stops, looking over her shoulder. “It shouldn’t take more than half an hour.”

“That long?” Letonga asks. “I didn’t think it would-”

The rest of her statement is lost when Jazie pushes the door closed, the solid k’thunk sounding through the hall.

Turning to Uthica I ask, “So, feel up to helping me with creating backup spatial storage?”

“You’ve had an insight?” Uthica asks as Nelik leads us into another side room, this one with several low couches.

“Maybe. I’d like to see how your inventory works. Inspect it properly as you use it. Then compare it to my own. Might be able to extrapolate or even steal the design,” I explain, sinking into an especially poofy purple couch. Flopping forward, I crawl out of the all-encompassing mess as Uthica sits on a far more sensible black couch.

“Hmm. I’d be happy to help. Is there anything in particular you’d like me to use?” Uthica asks as I settle on the couch next to her.

“Let's start with something big. Might make it easier to observe the process,” I decide. Nelik returns, carrying a plate with several pastries on it. “You have… uh, what’s the word?”

“Pastry?” Uthica asks, taking one from the plate.

“Pastry,” Nelik confirms, setting the plate on an end table and taking one for himself as he sits on a nearby couch. “They’re a delicacy of the Eldinsworn. Or so they claim. I’ve heard the southern cities argue that they developed them first and the Eldinsworn just stole the recipe. Either way, Jazie insisted I learn how to make them if I wanted to be her apprentice.”

He takes a big bite, chewing it slowly before saying, “No regrets.”

I take a bite of my own pastry, a crisp golden brown with red flecks of some sort. The tartness is almost perfectly balanced against the sweetness. I’m already reaching for a second before I’ve finished my first.

While I’m working on my third, Uthica starts transferring a large plain metal box in and out of her inventory, roughly two meters to a side. I’d never even considered it, but apparently when you reach copper-rank, not only does your inventory continue to grow at a much greater rate, but the size of items you’re able to move into it increases.

This is the first time Uthica’s needed to store anything larger than the Pandregen hearts. She’s stored and retrieved it twice before I’m done my third pastry. I’ve watched with my eyes only enhanced by Twilight, but I haven’t been able to see anything. Not that I really thought I would.

Her third pass, I inspect the mechanisms using Facet while remaining Focused. There are no additional runes, but there’s a lot of different elemental-mana interwoven in complex patterns. All bound together by Twilight.

It’s… disappointing. I watch her complete the process three more times, convinced I’m missing something.

“I don’t get it…” I say, as she stores the empty metal box once more.

“What’s the problem?” Uthica asks, licking the crumbs from her fingers.

“There’s nothing new. I already know how to do everything,” I say, even as I use my System to store the same box. Yep. Nothing new.

“So, you’re ready to try?”

“I guess? Might be rough though. What happens if it doesn’t work?”

“Whatever you try to store explodes? And then we heal?” Uthica asks, looking at the empty plate, as if she can summon more pastries just by looking at it. Which she basically could, if she’d stocked up on them.

Getting off his couch, Nelik collects the plate, saying, “Sounds dangerous. And like something Jazie would love to watch.”

“Yeah. I wanted to talk to her first. There must be something I’m missing,” I reiterate.

“A good idea. Perhaps we can return tomorrow.”

“Maybe. I have so many questions. But shouldn’t we be getting back to Akilo?”

“No. There is far too much to learn here. They will be fine without me,” Uthica states.

“You’re sure? Weren’t you just telling me how you needed to get home this morning?”

“Yes. But I received a message from father while Jazie was working. It seems completing the last quest enabled messaging,” Uthica says, leaned forward, her eyes narrowed as she looks past me. “And with my father’s assurances in hand, I intend to learn all we can.”

I nod, looking down the hall to where Jazie and Letonga are hidden away.

Won’t argue with that. Though…

“Wait, your father messaged you, and you didn’t tell me?”

Uthica blinks, then turns to look at me. “I… didn’t think you would… I’m sorry. For all that you are like a sister, I’m not used to anyone else caring about father.”

“Yeah, well…” I trail off, as I realize I have memories of her dad that Uthica doesn’t even have yet.

Time travel is weird…

“I do care. Pern’s awesome. And if you want to talk about him, I’m here,” I say, reaching over and squeezing her hand.

“Thank you, Alexis,” Uthica replies, squeezing back.

“Though.. Maybe not here,” I amend, looking around the mad scrap-dentist’s workshop.

With a shared laugh, we shift our conversation to a discussion of the standardized runework the city uses for so much of their infrastructure, trading notes on what we’ve learned so far.

There’s a thunk from outside, and Letonga walks past our room, staring off into the distance. Then she’s gone. A second later, Jazie marches past, Nelik racing after her. There’s a moment of raised voices before Jazie comes back to us.

“Let’s get this done, shall we?” she asks, waving us out of the lounge area to her workroom.

“I’m not even sure what you’re planning to do. You said it was too stable to modify,” I note.

“Your hand, yes. But you’re more than just a hand, aren’t you? I’ll be able to give you better feedback if we do a full scan. And for payment…”

“Yeah. You’re certain we can’t pay you coin? I’m certain we can afford it.”

Jazie laughs, “You’re not getting off that easy.”

“Can’t blame a lady for trying,” I reply, creating one of the silver coins and waving it in her direction.

“No. And if for some reason my accounts magically drain in the next minute, I’ll keep it in mind.”

“You don’t happen to have a joint account?” I ask, thinking back to my empty account on earth. Flipping the coin in the air, I stare at it as it tumbles down.

Huh.

When I get home, I’ll have all the money I’ll ever need. It’s not just Ketenna that values precious metals.

Jazie just laughs again, not answering my question as she sits me in her not-a-dentist’s chair. Then she pulls the devilish apparatus close, hitting a switch that causes it to split wide. She swings it closer, asking, “Can you lean forward please. I need to put it around your head.”

“What?” I ask, staring at it.

“Your head is where all the complex patterns should be centered. Assuming a System-user shares any similarities to a mana-beast. So, your head,” Jazie explains, all four hands already making adjustments.

I sit forward, glancing at Uthica who’s studying Jazie with the same intensity Jazie’s directed at… well, everything. I wonder if Jazie’s like this all the time. Bet she’d be interesting on game nights.

Sighing, I shift in the chair, as I wait. Finally, Jazie closes the apparatus around my head, adjusting the lenses. On the end of each lense are rods that feel far spikier than they did when they were pointed at my hand. Especially now that they’re pointed at my only remaining eye.

It takes her five minutes of fiddling with too sharp rods before she’s satisfied, pulling the apparatus away. She hums to herself for a couple minutes at her desk, before stopping and squinting all four eyes at her screen. “Well, that’s not what I expected. Not at all.”

“Oh? Problem?” I ask.

“No. No problem. Just completely different than I expected.” She turns in her seat toward Uthica. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to take a turn.”

Uthica’s answering grin is so immediate Jazie leans away from her. “I thought you’d never ask.”

As I’m getting off the bench, Uthica says in Vausian, “Make sure you watch closely. There’s a lot to learn.”

Nodding, I trade places with her, watching over Jazie’s shoulder as she subjects Uthica to the same process. From this angle, I can see the lenses flaring up as she makes her adjustments.

Uthica’s right. I do learn a lot. Possibly more than Jazie, since I know Uthica so well. It’s almost like peeking into her personal soul-scape.

When Jazie’s finished, sitting at her desk and looking over her scans she stops, looking between her scans and each of us. “This is… exactly what I expected when I scanned you.”

Focusing on Uthica she says, “So, as I was saying, all your patterns are exactly as I expected. They’re much neater and denser than I’ve seen before. But otherwise, normal.”

Then she turns to me. “But yours are… completely unique. There’s a single pattern that’s familiar to me. But it’s in the wrong spot.”

She takes a minute to create a copy of her scan, printed directly onto a thin grey sheet that feels like plastic. She presses a finger against one corner, and a three-dimensional image pops up. And I can tell it’s definitely my soul-scape. Though the structure is vague, no detail at all. Despite all her tools, her scan is crude. It doesn’t even show any traces of my new System.

But she achieved it without any help from either System. Nice.

Which means I immediately Freeze, then start scanning everything in her lab with Facet, building a proper database of Systemless tools.

Something I should’ve done when we arrived.

“Yeah. This looks right,” I note, after my Freeze ends, moving to hand the scan back to her.

“You can keep it. It’s just a copy. Or I can destroy it for you.”

“Please,” I request, holding it to her. She takes it from me, placing it atop a panel on her desk that causes the sheet to curl up into a ball before disappearing in a small puff of blue mana-dust. Which is then immediately sucked out of the air into a small vent in the top of her desk.

“Mine too,” Uthica says, handing hers back.

“You know that people pay… right. Nevermind,” Jazie says, taking Uthica’s sheet and repeating the process. “Did you want the scan of your hand at least?”

“Yes. And I actually have more questions for you. A lot of questions.”

“Oh. I’d be happy to answer questions. For the right price of course. Speaking of which.”

“Finally,” Uthica says. “What do you want of us? Another set of Pandregen hearts?”

“What? For a few scans? I mean… would you… No, that’s not a fair price. No, I have a few ideas. But first, I need to know…”

“Just how talented are you with Stone magic?”

6.20, No Nice Things

Ukila Local Time: Evening. (January 23, 1512)

Standing in Jazie’s back courtyard, I inspect my afternoon’s work.

The functional fountain is one of my better pieces. I could’ve finished her request in a few minutes. But she’d allowed artistic flourishes. So I’d decided to put proper effort into it. And Smoulder had her own input to add, insisting I add hidden paths for her to sneak along.

Considering we’re planning to spend at least a few days picking Jazie’s brain, having a nice place for Smoulder to spend time is a win-win scenario.

When Smoulder emerges from her afternoon nap, Jazie almost has a heart attack, insisting we need to let the Scrapper scan her too. I only concede after she ensures it wouldn’t hurt Smoulder.

Not that Smoulder’s feeling particularly cooperative after having just woken from her nap.

With yet another scan to read, and the similarities between Smoulder’s and Uthica’s to compare against, it emphasizes how much my soul-scape has shifted.

While making occasional forays out to learn more about the local culture, most of the next few days are spent talking and experimenting with Jazie. While neither Uthica nor I discover anything revolutionary, we both expand our spell repertoires. And I’m able to create a second inventory.

The most important thing I learned in regards to storage, is that mana needs to flow through it to keep things in stasis. The cost is negligible but it takes five hours of dedicated effort to figure out how to access the space without collapsing it.

In exchange for her answers on things such as mana-interfaces and dimensional interactions, I provide simple expansion of her premises, stretching her workshop several stories underground, physically. No using spatial magic for labs in Ketenna.

I don’t think much of the work, at first.

Not until I overhear an interesting tidbit as Uthica and I are browsing in a shop with dozens of different boardgames, all of which are enchanted with minor effects. Enchanted boardgames are one of Ketenna’s main exports to the other hidden cities.

As I’m examining a set of cards that match the ones Letonga used to use, a K’tharn I assume is the proprietor complains to her friend, catching my attention.

“I’m telling you Gerty, I’ve looked into it. It’d take fifteen different forms, and twice as many bribes to get approval to grow a second floor. You know how strict they are about bringing in the mana-workers. Just isn’t worth the effort,”

“Still think it’s a shame. You always used to talk about the dedicated puzzle floor,” Gerty said, rapping her hand on the counter.

“And that’s not even including the price to have it excavated. According to- Yes, can I help you?” the shopkeeper asks, when she notices my upheld hand.

“Sorry, I just happened to overhear, and couldn’t help but wonder. How much is it going to cost to build a second level? Sounds like it would be cheaper to get a new place.”

This sends the shopkeeper into another rant about the paperwork involved in setting up shop in a new location. Not to mention having to train her customers to go there instead. She does eventually get back to the cost of excavating the second floor.

The permits alone would've been more than a year's rent at the inn we’re staying at. The excavation is ten times that amount. Jazie isn’t just saving a fortune in labour. She’s getting an entire underground complex that doesn’t show up on government plans or permits.

Huh. Maybe I won’t go around bragging about my work.

We end up buying more than half of the boardgames on display in the shop, as well as the cards I was looking at earlier. They’re not flowers, but they feel like they’d make a better apology gift if I see Letonga again. Being able to store everything in my new beltpouch of holding is delightful. And it’s massive. Working together, Uthica and I have managed to create a copper-rank equivalent storage space.

Though it’s only half as expansive as our personal storages, I’m able to store items of any size. So long as I take the time to wrap them in a cage of Twilight and Facet first.

Thankfully, magical items for storage aren’t unknown in Ketenna. They’re just really rare and mark you as a person of importance. Whoops.

Returning to Jazie’s, we find her in her workroom.

“Hey, we wanted to thank you for your hospitality,” I start, producing one of the boardgames, wrapped in a manner the owner assured us was appropriate for gifting to our host. Or my mother. Or my third cousin, twice removed. Point is, she was very certain.

Uthica produces a similar package. This one is a set of open footwear. Chosen with Nelik’s help.

The sudden introduction of gifts catches Jazie off guard, causing her to stare at them for several seconds. “Uh. I didn’t get you anything.”

Setting her present on the desk in front of Jazie, Uthica says, “It’s fine. These are just to represent our appreciation for your patience with our questions. We’ve learned a great deal.”

I nod along.

“Well. In that case, it’d be rude not to accept them,” Jazie decides, pulling the wrapping away from the boardgame. Again, one Nelik had recommended. “Interesting. I’d been thinking of… hmm.”

When she picks up the second gift, she shakes it slightly. When it doesn’t rattle, or whatever she’s listening for, she starts unwrapping it. At first, she starts to smile. But then it quickly twists into a scowl.

“Uh. Did we do something wrong?” I ask.

The scowl disappears as Jazie turns to us. “No. It wasn’t you. It’s… nevermind. These are excellent gifts. Thank you.”

With a few more pleasantries, conversation drifts to enchantment and the differences between System-assisted and unassisted enchantment. As it often has the last couple days. It turns out there are several different methods of System-less enchantment on Ukila. The Eldinsworn have a completely different method than Ketenna. And the southern cities have yet another method.

While it’s a subject we’ve talked about before, there’s… a lot to learn. We’re talking about whether it’s worth the mana to construct parts from nothing for the more tightly controlled parameters when the ringing that indicates there’s someone in the front courtyard sounds. We pause as Jazie rises, calling out for Nelik. When she opens her workroom door, I see Nelik already sprinting for the door. He’s only gone for a second before he comes charging back.

“Well?”

“It’s that hunter,” Nelik pants out.

“Ah. I was wondering when she’d be back.” Jazie taps her chin, then strides towards the front door.

“Wait. Letonga’s back?” I ask, sitting forward and following her out of the room.

“It would seem so.”

“Wonder if she’d be willing to talk. I still have questions for her,” I state. Plus a set of cards to give her.

“As do I,” Uthica agrees.

“You may ask her once I conduct my business with her. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Jazie says, brushing her clothes down. She turns to Nelik. She pauses for several seconds, inspecting him as though she’s only just noticed something she hadn’t seen before. Then she instructs him to open the door.

“Greetings Letonga, I’m-”

“Good. You are here,” Letonga says, pushing past Jazie.

She’s grabbed my arm, managing to pull me two steps toward the door before I halt her in her tracks. All I have to do is decide to stop moving.

“Ack. Come on. We don’t have time-”

Shaking her arms off, I interrupt her. “Not going anywhere until you explain what’s going on.”

“It’s the Eldinsworn. They know you’re here. You need to get-”

This time Uthica interjects, “Did you tell them?”

Letonga pauses. “No… Well, yes. But not on purpose. Look, it’s not important. They’ll be here soon.”

Uthica and I share a glance.

“It would seem we’re leaving sooner than we’d planned,” Uthica apologizes to Jazie.

“So, it would-”

“We don’t have time for this!” Letonga grabs my arm, attempting to lift me.

“-seem.” Jazie turns her glare on Letonga.

I sneak a quick hug in to our host, then ruffle Nelik’s hair.

“Just need to get Smoulder from the fountain,” I inform Letonga, who pulls at her fur.

“Fine. Let’s get this Smoulder. Then we need to go. They could find this place at any time.”

“Why do you even care?” I ask, jogging lightly in the direction of the fountain.

“I… I just do, okay.”

Uthica and I trade looks again. I activate my recently improved personal shield spell, a thin shell of Facet held in place by proper runework. Beside me, Uthica twists her ring to generate a similar effect.

We emerge into the back courtyard just in time to see Smoulder smashing a cloaked Eldinsworn into the fountain. I take a small bit of pride in the fact that despite the ornate detailing, the fountain doesn’t chip. I may have used a bit more mana than strictly required to reinforce it.

Leaping directly onto my shoulder, Smoulder sends a pulse of worry in my direction. Which is when I notice she’s bleeding. It’s just a small nick in her ear. But I almost entomb the Eldinsworn. Instead, I merely bury them up to their neck in solid stone, giving Jezie a new art piece.

“Up?” I ask Uthica. She nods, grabbing Letonga by her waist before turning invisible, then launching into the air.

Letonga’s yelp partially ruins our attempt at stealth. But the black beams that cut the air beneath us leave us unscathed. The weapon’s presence almost makes me think I should’ve teleported us away, but we need intel.

There are nearly a dozen of the grey-clad figures scattered on nearby buildings. Even as we’re rising above their crossfire, I see several large creatures in the distance. They’re smashing at Ketenna’s eastern gate, which appears secure. But it explains where the guards are.

And even now, I see several ships flying in our direction. Better response time than on Earth.

The Eldinsworn don’t sit still, their beams of death swinging in our direction.

“Stop whining, you Vaus-bound idiot,” Uthica whispers, her voice coarse as we fly to the side.

Even as Uthica continues to dodge, I teleport to the side of the closest Eldinsworn. A simple twist of space smashes their rifle to bits. They spin, calling out my location with surprising accuracy despite my invisibility.

Annoying.

I don’t wait for their beams to converge on me. Immediately teleporting above.

Yet the second I appear, I’m hit anyway, a thin gash of red blossoming on my left arm.

Huh.

I Freeze time, and just spend a couple minute to take in the situation. Yep. I’m bleeding. Even before I froze time, my System started working to restore it, but I’m still annoyed that it can’t just stop these weapons.

Using the extra time Freeze grants me, I target every Eldinsworn I can see, destroying their rifles.

Being non-lethal is so much easier when your opponent isn’t a weapon.

I’m tempted to interrogate one of the Eldinsworn, but Letonga seems to know what’s going on. Not wanting to risk getting caught unaware by one of those rifles, I teleport us to a mountain along the horizon. Hopefully, far enough away to be out of their immediate range while still allowing us to scope them out as they leave.

Even as the sight of the mountain valley I chose comes into focus, I look back toward the city. A flash flickers in the sky for a fraction of a second.

Then there’s a warping of the air.

I squint my empty eye, feeling at the mana as it begins roiling.

“What just-”

Sound is ripped away, as a shockwave washes through the valley. Even mana-reinforced trees are torn from their roots and sent flying.

When the wind dies down, Uthica steps up beside me, Letonga held loosely under her arm.

“Is she…?” I sorta ask.

“She’s fine. Just overwhelmed. Not very durable without her enchanted gear.”

Turning back to the city, the warped feeling is gone.

“I wonder what that was,” I say, looking around the wrecked valley. How much worse would it have been at ground zero?

Letonga mumbles something, but it’s not clear, her words slurring together.

Uthica sets her down, retrieving one of the items she built in conjunction with Jazie over the last few days. She was hoping to heal my eye, but it hadn’t worked. It had proven effective at healing Jazie though. Jazie had been rather excited about it, and had added the schematic to those she intended to sell. But Uthica had remained disappointed.

Still, it could prove its worth now.

As Uthica tends to Letonga, I remain focused on the sky. The Eldinsworn have stealth fliers. And they clearly had access to the city. Any little blur could be them approaching.

Letonga starts coughing, then I hear the sounds of slurping as Uthica hands her a drink. When Letonga is finished, she pushes the juice away. “It’s the emergency seal mechanism.”

“What?” I ask, not turning away from the open sky.

“The explosion. The city has sealed itself away. Nothing’s getting in. Or out.”

“For how long?” Uthica asks, helping Letonga.

“Depends. A month at least. Up to ten years. The Omniscients don’t exactly tell people.”

“A month? Just because of a few Eldinsworn?” I ask, finally turning to look at Letonga. Her hair is matted and ripped free in several places, but at least she’s not bleeding. And her eyes are clear when they meet mine.

“Everyone knows what happened when the Essence arrived. The shields are there to prevent it from happening again.”

“Still, seems drastic.”

“My comrades will be purged. Then the Omniscients will hold a public ceremony about the good of all. Or some ver-crap like that. There will even be a week-long celebration.” Letonga pushes herself to her feet, wincing, but hobbling over beside me, looking back in the direction of the city. “The chariot won’t have been in the city. We should keep moving.”

Looking to Uthica, I think for several seconds before asking, “Why should we bring you with us?”

“Huh? I warned you, didn’t I?”

“Yes. And you also mentioned that they only found us because of you.”

“Yeah. But that was your fault too!”

“How was it our fault,” Uthica asks from Letonga’s far side.

“Because… because they took my brother.”

“Not sure what that has to do with us,” I point out, legitimately unable to connect that logic.

“They took him because they figured out I’m connected to you somehow. But since I wasn’t leading them to you, they took Keztil. They sent me his voided finger as proof.”

“So, you told them where to find us?” I ask, my voice lacking any emotion.

“Yes. But then they refused to return Keztil. And I realized they weren’t going to. I’ll have to get him out myself. But…”

“But?”

“But I couldn’t let them kill you. I knew I shouldn’t have told them. It’s just…”

“They had your brother,” Uthica says, squeezing Letonga’s shoulder.

“Look. We need to go. I need to get to my brother. And that’ll be a lot easier if I don’t have to climb down a freaking cliff first,” she says, gesturing to the near vertical surface leading to the valley we’re standing in.

Selecting a point far in the distance, Uthica nods and I teleport us toward the Nexus.

And toward the Eldinsworn.

Several jumps later, we stop in a grove hidden a short distance from the Eldinsworn compound, most of our surroundings obscured by forest canopy. My stomach growls, reminding me that we skipped lunch thanks to the Eldinsworn attack.

I luxuriate in pulling my lunch out of my newly built belt of holding as Letonga washes her face in a nearby stream. Building magic items is so cool.

“So,” I say, chewing one of the tasty pastries Nelik provided us. Though mine were acquired from the source directly. The baker was rather appreciative of the oversized tip. “Do we help her with her brother?”

“She hasn’t asked,” Uthica observes, shrugging.

“Does she need to? Her brother isn’t an Eldinsworn. Technically.”

“You can’t save everyone,” Uthica states.

“I know that. But it’s not even out of our way.”

“Could keep us from getting home,” Uthica notes.

“You don’t believe that. Or you’d tell me we shouldn’t,” I say, elbowing her gently.

“Nope. I don’t. It wouldn’t be simple though. They can see through invisibility.”

“True,” I turn to Letonga, asking, “Hey, how much do you know about that? How come they can see through our invisibility.”

“Because you both leak mana. I think- urg,” Letonga turns away, throwing up into a nearby bush. Again. I’m starting to get worried. She’s been throwing up since our second teleportation.

“Well, not much I can do about leaking mana,” I admit. Despite several attempts, I made no progress fixing the geyser of gushing mana that is my hand.

“Hmm, I might be able to incorporate the extra mana, keeping it from escaping. But that’d require building a completely new enchantment,” Uthica muses.

“Wouldn’t work,” Letonga objects, from her spot next to the creek. “They’d just… they’d just catch you because you created a null-zone. Almost as obvious as your stupidly bright mana-sigs. You’d need to create something that allows mana to pass through it. That’s how the… the chariots work.”

“It’d be easier to bury them all,” Uthica states.

Letonga’s laughter, is sharp. Bitter. “Yeah. It would. But they’d just dig their way out. You’re not the first hostile magic users we’ve faced.”

“Well, I could just teleport in. Take him and run.”

Nodding, Letonga’s grimace softens. “You might. As long as everything goes perfectly and they don’t kill him out of spite. If I wasn’t… sick, I’d just walk in. A little bit of dye works wonders.”

“Dye?” I ask, squinting at Letonga. “Like, strained from berries and dried?”

“Hmm. I could do it. Not much I can do with a stealth field, but I could create an enchantment that allows me to have a normal mana-signature in an hour or so,” Uthica rubs her chin.

“But dye?” I ask.

“Yep,” Uthica agrees.

“But that’s so…”

“Disgusting?” Uthica suggests.

“Stupid?” Letonga snaps.

“No… it’s… just… just so…”

I trail off, looking between them before looking down at my feet as I mumble.

“So normal.”

It’s not a bad idea. But not using magic to solve our problems?

It just seems wrong.

6.21, Mind Squared

Ukila Local Time: Evening. (January 26, 1512)

Letonga recovers from her near-breakdown enough to guide me through the canopy, a veritable symphony of chirping emanating from the birds in the branches above us. They’re taking full advantage of the last hours of this beautiful day. And so are we. Though instead of play, our efforts are focused on finding a few local plants. I watch Letonga, dig around, pulling them from the dirt, root and all. It’s only after the fifth that she’s satisfied, and we return to the clearing where Uthica’s working on her enchantment.

Letonga mentions needing a thick rock to mulch the plants, so I create a pair and start grinding them together. Before they’re even broken apart, Letonga yells, “We’re trying to avoid having a strong magic signature! Now we’ll have to gather them all-.”

Calmly stepping back while she throws my ruined effort out into the forest, I coax Smoulder away from her perch atop Midnight’s head. As Letonga collapses into a heaving fit, I return to the forest, hunting down the plants. Which would be hard, if I had to do it. But I have Smoulder, and she saw the plants we gathered before I ruined them.

Less than ten minutes later, we return with a new armful of slimy plants. I didn’t even conjure anything to carry them on. Letonga nods in approval as I lay them out. Then she crushes them with rocks she plucked from the stream. Once she’s done, she works the dye into Uthica’s fur.

Then we sit, waiting for the dye to set as Letonga talks Uthica through everything she knows about the complex.

While they’re doing that, I return to my soul-scape. There’s a few more wisps of mana-fog that I work in before turning my attention to the window-connections. I can see Letonga watching Uthica and I. I’ve avoided connecting to her since we met her at Jazie’s. Considering how angry she was with me, I figured she wouldn’t appreciate my support.

However, I didn’t sever the connection either. She’s still potentially dangerous. As illustrated by how she brought the Eldinsworn down on Jazie’s place.

Uthica’s window remains opaque unless she happens to glance in my direction. Not sure why it works like that, but I’m glad I can’t just casually intrude on her. The third connection to Rufka remains a distorted mess. Which is what I came to check on. Was really hoping for another moment of seeing her tawny fur. Or even Tipan.

No such luck though.

Now that I have an idea what it is, my System is able to provide me some limited hints at approaches I could take to improve the quality of the connection. They’re all going to take dedicated time, though. Resources too, which aren’t quite as limitless as they were a week ago.

Seeing Uthica standing within Letonga’s window, I slip out.

“How does it look?” Uthica asks, flipping the Eldinsworn hood over her head then turning back and forth. Then she pulls the mock rifle I formed out, pointing it at me.

“You look like you’re ready to blast me to pieces,” I decide, stepping around her to inspect her properly.

“Excellent. If I’m not back in two hours…” Uthica starts, slinging the rifle into its resting position.

“Destroy the entire base to get you out,” I reaffirm, which earns an approving burst of affection from Smoulder. Though I think she’s hoping something does go wrong just so we can blow up the base.

“Exactly. Unless you see something that warrants earlier interruption.”

I nod, because of course I’ll be watching her efforts through our connection.

“Yep.”

Uthica goes to step out of the clearing. Then she stops, marching back over and wrapping me in a full-on K’tharn hug.

I hug her back, but laugh slightly as she sets me down.

“What was that for?” I ask, still holding her hand with my left.

“Just in case. Besides, hugs are nice.”

“They are nice. We should hug more,” I agree.

“And so it will be. Thus, have we decreed,” Uthica states in her serious queen voice.

I step back, snapping my best impression of a K’tharn salute. It loses some of the effect with only one arm, but Uthica still gives me the proper answering salute.

Then she steps into the forest, barely disturbing the bush as she moves.

“Too quiet,” Letonga mutters.

“What’s that,” I ask, looking at the noisy birds above us.

“She’s too quiet. It’s like her feet are wrapped in Wettel silk,” Letonga clarifies, glaring after Uthica. Then she starts shivering.

Getting up, I move over to her, kneeling down and laying the back of my hand against her head… which is useless considering my heat tolerances. Instead, I create a small piece of ice and press it against her head. It melts at a rate that’s worrying.

“I’m not certain, but I think you have a fever.”

“Course I have a fever. I’m…” her full body shiver causes her to bite her tongue. She spits a glob of bloody spit to the side, then continues, “I’ve got mana-poisoning. I’m good as dead.”

“What? I thought mana-poisoning only happened on new worlds?” I say, reaching out to touch her forehead in another useless gesture.

She swats my hand away. “Obviously not.”

“Is there anything I can do?” I ask. If Roberts were here, he’d probably be able to help her. Then again, even he had a problem healing my current injuries. Then again… that’s cause I made them a permanent part of me.

“Not unless you’re an expert who can set up a mana regulation system inside of an organic being as they’re dying of mana-poisoning.”

“Well, I’ve only done it once. Wouldn’t say I’m an expert,” I say, thinking out loud as I consider how I might go about it. And while I mostly did it myself, I had my System’s help at the end. Would I be able to do it without it? And do I have to relive her life?

“Wait. What?” Letonga asks, grabbing me by my collar and dragging herself directly before me. “You’ve saved someone from mana-poisoning?”

“Yeah. Myself. Technically, I didn’t have much of a body at the time. Not exactly a great sample size,” I admit.

Letonga’s bitter laugh returns as she lets go of my collar, falling back into the grass. “You really are elvenoid, aren’t you?”

It’s weird hearing my English word mixed in with her language. Even weirder is how she says it without a hint of an accent.

“Yeah. I’m an elvenoid. Not sure why that makes me special.” I sit back, giving her room. Smoulder feels no such compunctions, poking her nose in Letonga’s face.

Even amidst her shudders, Letonga reaches out and strokes Smoulder a couple times. Then she glances in my direction, her hair obscuring her face as she says, “Because you’re the enemy.”

“The enemy? You’re enemies with elvenoids?” I ask. “Isn’t that kind of like being enemies with the stars? Or small harmless animals?”

Letonga doesn’t answer, lying on her back, shivering.

“Right. Guess it doesn’t matter. You’re in a bad way. Only problem is Uthica’s charging toward your friends, and I need to monitor her.”

Letonga nods. “Better Keztil lives. He was always the smart one.”

“Uh huh. Hold on, I’m just going to check on Uthica,” I inform her before slipping into my soul-scape. I bring Uthica’s perspective into focus and reinforce the connection.

Everything is sharper than ever. Her Peak-Copper attributes at play. Also, having four eyes instead of one.

“Lexi,” she breathes the second I connect, before I’ve even oriented myself to her senses.

“Yeah,” I respond, taking in her surroundings. She’s already crossed a third of the distance to the camp. Roughly thirty kilometers in five minutes. She’ll need to slow down when she gets closer, to avoid raising suspicion. But it means I should have time to diagnose Letonga at least. I convey the situation to Uthica, and she pauses.

Kneeling behind a tree, Uthica asks, “Should I come back?”

“No. But maybe just observe their camp until I contact you again? I wish she’d mentioned the mana-poisoning before you left.”

“As do I. But she had no reason to suspect we could help. Not if she’s used to it being a death sentence,” Uthica says, rising to her feet and resuming her controlled dash. “Let me know once you’re ready. But if I don’t hear from you in an hour, I’m flying back. I won’t risk you for either her or her brother.”

“Thanks,” I say, sending her a warm pulse of reassurance. She sends one back, nearly overwhelming me as I disconnect. It’s like a long-distance hug, with all the emotional weight but none of the physical distraction.

Blinking my eyes open, still subsumed in Uthica’s sisterly love, I look over at Letonga. Was I hitting her with this? And I thought I was being subtle.

“So?” Letonga asks, not so much as looking in my direction.

“She’ll hold off on the mission until I’ve taken a look at you.”

“You’re making a mistake. She should rescue my brother first. Then if there’s time, you can try to save me.”

“She’s not even there yet. There’s still time,” I reassure her.

“Fine. It’s not like I get to have a say in it. Unless… I could just refuse to let you touch me,” she says, pushing herself upright.

“You could,” I agree.

“But it wouldn’t matter, would it?” she asks. “You’d just do it anyway.”

I stare at her for a second as I consider. “Yeah. Yeah, I would.”

“You’re just like them,” she states.

I laugh. “You think they’d try to save your life after you tried to kill them?”

Letonga grimaces. But then she says, “No. You’re doing what you think is best. What do you think they’re doing?”

“Killing people,” I answer, no doubt in my answer as I start inspecting her with my Facet, through our bond, allowing me to peer directly into her soul-scape.

“Because we thought… because they think it's the right thing to do.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I’m not certain helping you is the right thing to do,” I confess. “But I do feel kind of guilty you’re in this situation in the first place.”

“It is your fault. If you’d just cooperated, you’d be dead and I could be with my squad,” Letonga spits out.

I stop inspecting her soul-scape for a second. She’s turned away. Ah. “Nice try. But you’re not going to trick me into not helping you.”

“I don’t deserve it.”

“Probably not,” I agree, deciding not to let her waste any more time I add, “Now quiet. Or else I’ll tell Smoulder to pee on you. And she’ll do it.”

Letonga looks down at where Smoulder is purring away in her lap. She looks like she’s about to object, but I just raise the eyebrow above my missing eye. Shuddering, she turns away, petting Smoulder with longer strokes than before.

Satisfied she’s not going to cause me any trouble, I go back to inspecting her soul-scape. It’s more of a slow slurry than a real landscape. It’s similar to the fog that hung over my soul-scape, but there’s nothing underneath.

And my System tells me that the slurry is unaspected mana.

Without a System of her own, Letonga has no way to control her soul-scape. And when I poke at it through our bond, using strands of Facet, it bulges away. So, that’s where I start. With Uthica’s and Smoulder’s soul-scapes to serve as examples, I start shaping Letonga’s soul-scape with Twilight. Unlike when I was attempting to reform my own soul-scape, her fog responds quickly, practically leaping into place.

Which is great, but I need to engineer it so that the mana doesn’t build up. Maybe I can teach her to adjust her soul-scape herself?

But she’ll need a way to interact with it. Hmm.

Dropping out of Letonga’s soul-scape, I ask, “What sort of image would you picture for entering your soul?”

Letonga looks at me, then glances down at Smoulder. Oh, right, my threat.

“You can answer this question. But then quiet again.”

“I don’t know. A book maybe? Or a mirror?”

“Hmm. That’ll have to be enough, I guess,” I decide, creating a book out of metal. Then I hold it in front of her. “How does this look for an entrance?”

“What? It’s okay, I guess. A little squat. And who reads metal books?”

“The metal part’s not important,” I say, waving her off. “Tell me when,” I add, slowly stretching the book.

After a few more adjustments, including a picture of her and her brother that I create by cheating a little, the book is mostly done. And by cheating, I mean using a stray thought that popped into my head from hers. I’m building her soul-scape, so it’s not exactly my fault the image slipped through.

It does give me inspiration for the next bit though. As I’m about to slip back into her soul-scape, I say, in surprisingly good impression, “My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts.”

Unable to catch her reaction as I slip inside, I freeze time, granting myself several hours to work. Thankfully, mucking about in the soul doesn’t need time to be flowing. I start forming her book with an emphasis on connecting it to Letonga’s conscious mind. It’s going fairly well, the connection reaching a point where I can practically see it leading into the depths of her soul, when suddenly I feel a strange presence.

Another formless blob is suddenly sharing the space with me.

“Letonga, is that you?” I project at the blob, using the incredible power of my mind.

“Yes? What’s going on? Why are you talking in my head?”

“Nevermind that for now. Can you see what I’m working on?” I ask even as I start considering the possibilities of being able to share Freeze.

“See what? You’re just sitting in front of me, as unmoving as a-”

“Not in the real world. In your mind. Focus on the book. The soul-book we made together.”

“Okay. I’m concentrating what’s- Oh.”

The book suddenly changes shape, shrinking but becoming far more detailed. A golden inlay spreads across the cover as beneath the book a plain brown desk with a matching plain brown chair sprout for the nothing. And floating beside me, no longer formless blob. Well, it’s a little formless, but it’s also vaguely Letonga-shaped. Total upgrade.

“What is this place?”

“This is your very own personal soul-scape. Now with one-hundred percent more soul. The fog is purified mana. It’s handy for reinforcing your soul-scape. Which’ll fortify you in the real world. And prevent you from getting mana-poisoning.”

“You’ve… you were supposed to cure me!”

“I did. You’re not-”

My last comment is said to the void as her presence disappears. Following her out, I find her crying, holding Smoulder tight against her chest. Smoulder hardly notices, her purring still rumbling away.

And we’re no longer Frozen…

Huh.

Well, at least she’s not dying. I connect to Uthica, letting her know she can continue with the mission.

Letonga continues to cry, refusing to meet my eyes.

Well. Not sure what I did wrong, but it’s time for Uthica to rescue our ungrateful associate’s brother. Hopefully, Letonga will feel better once we have her brother back.

Of course, she’ll probably insult my heritage instead.

To be fair, if that includes mom, I might just help.

A note from Draith

One of my friends I used to do marathon sprints with when writing the rough draft just released the first book of his modern-urban fantasy story, Double Blind. Check it out on Amazon, audible or read more below.

So, I read this back when it first came out on RR, along side a few thousand other people. It has an interesting System, amazing characters, incredible world-building and a clever protagonist.

It's a great read, though it tends to explore darker themes.

Here's the RR link if you want to check out the free chapters.

6.22, No Cardboard Boxes

Ukila Local Time: Still Evening. (January 26, 1512)

Instead of focusing on Letonga's breakdown, my attention is drawn back to Uthica. We can figure out what I did wrong after Uthica's finished her infiltration. Which she'll be doing alone.

Well, kind of.

With Midnight, Redstone and Smoulder watching my back, I’m going to be Uthica’s eyes in the sky. Except more in her head, than sky. And I only have one eye. And… point is, I’m with her.

And since I’m with her, she has instant backup or instant retreat. Assuming they can’t block my teleport. Well, if they do, we’re still close enough to be there in a couple seconds, thanks to Freeze. Even as I consider my options to keep her safe, Uthica slips closer, taking advantage of the long shadows of the setting sun.

The base has dozens of Systems for detecting magical entry. But the only defence it has against mundane intrusion is a high wall and a thick gate. They don’t even have proper guards. A simple mana-normalized grappling hook attached to a similar cable is enough for her to climb the fifty-meter wall. She probably could’ve leapt it, but the impact might have given her away.

She leaves the cable dangling off the side, obscured from the main exit by the surrounding jungle. The Eldinsworn’s decision to use the jungle as camouflage working to her advantage.

The ever-present perfume of the jungle is thinner on the inside of the wall, intermixed with other scents. The most noticeable is the sweat of K’tharn and humans. A smell that doesn’t exist amongst integrated, I realize. Uthica pushes her way toward the command center. Letonga said the most likely place for them to be holding her brother are the cells beneath.

Joining at the back of a group of K’tharn already walking toward the command center, Uthica manages to make it in the front door less than a minute after she entered the complex. She finds her first real obstacle inside.

A thick reinforced lock on the door leading down.

Letonga warned us about it though. Uthica could smash it, but that would give the game away. So instead, Uthica makes her way to the supervising officer’s office. It’s locked as well, but there’s no alarm on this door. So Uthica crumples the handle in her fist, pushing it open.

The passcard isn’t in the desk where Letonga said it would be, but Uthica searches the coat hanging from the chair and pulls free the small octagonal disk.

She’s about to leave when a pair of voices pass in front of the door, forcing her to duck under the desk.

“-the commandant is acting strange,” the first voice says, moving into the room.

“Stranger than usual?” the second voice asks.

“Much. She ordered models made. Of a little rodent of all things.” The first voice cuts out, the rustle of cloth taking its place.

“Are these like the ones she did of the K’tharn. Those were… disturbingly detailed.”

“Ha. No. Thankfully, she didn’t have more than a vague impression. Just told us to watch out for them. They’re not the enemy. But they’ve got her worried. Even had me-”

The voice cuts out as the door drifts closed. I’m certain they’re going to notice the broken handle, and I can feel Uthica tensing too. But the sound of their voices fades, moving away.

Uthica sneaks out from behind the desk. The jacket that held the passcard is gone. But the room is empty. The door sits mostly, but not quite closed.

Gliding across the floor, Uthica peeks through the gap, listening. When she doesn’t hear anything, she slips out into the hall, taking a casual pace that mirrors the Eldinsworn she saw earlier. When she reaches the locked door, the passcard grants her immediate access.

Uthica slips inside, letting the door close behind her. She reaches the lower floor, ducking beneath the window that leads into the interrogation room. Letonga said there are often guards inside, even when they aren’t interrogating anyone. Not on shift, but using it as a rec area.

It’s the same room I saw Letonga interrogated in before she was expelled.

Uthica pauses at the door, standing to her full height before placing her ear to it. The low mumble of voices can be heard despite the thick door. Uthica doesn’t stay long enough to identify their words, moving around the corner. Another tap of the passcard unseals the outer door.

There are no guards in here unless they’re serving breakfast or dinner. If they bother to serve either. Letonga assured us that the Eldinsworn were rarely concerned with the long-term welfare of their captives.

Uthica checks all four of the rooms, but each one is empty. An unpleasant but not completely unforeseen event. If he’s not here, that probably means he’s in the interrogation room. She seems to agree with me, as she immediately moves back to the interrogation room. This time she takes a risk, glancing through the window.

But there’s no sign of a prisoner. There are just a pair of Eldinsworn in their full uniforms playing a game of cards.

Uthica leans back, one ear to the door. But they’re just talking about their game.

“Lexi, ideas?” Uthica whispers.

“Teleport everyone into a river. Think I saw one a few hundred kilometers away.” When Uthica doesn’t dignify my idea with a response, I add, “I’ll ask Letonga.”

Relaxing my focus on Uthica, I return to the clearing where Letonga is still crying. Her sobs are barely audible. It makes me feel guilty to disturb her. But it’s her brother that Uthica’s searching for.

“Letonga. Your brother’s not beneath the command center. Is there anywhere else he might be?”

Letonga blinks several times as she appears to process the words. Then she turns to me, “He’s not… but…”

“Any idea at all?”

“No… wait. The commandant’s office. He might be there. And if not, there’d be documentation about where he’s being kept.”

“Thanks. I’ll let Uthica know,” I reassure, almost reaching out to pat her shoulder but thinking better of it. Instead, I reconnect to Uthica, passing Letonga’s idea to her.

Uthica nods, not responding verbally as she slinks beneath the interrogation window. She makes it up the stairs to the main hall when a voice calls out. “You, yeah you.”

Turning slowly, Uthica comes face to face with a fresh recruit, clearly marked on his sleeve. A human with dark auburn hair. He glances at the door Uthica just emerged from, asking, “Is Krissy still on duty?”

Uthica nods, pulling his hand from where it’s resting on her shoulder.

“Oh. Sorry. I told her I’d meet her after her shift. You know how she gets if people are late. That’d be a horrible start to our first date, you know?”

Uthica nods again. This time patting him on the shoulder as she walks past.

“Hey, wait,” He calls out, and I can feel Uthica tensing as she turns around. But then he just waves and says, “Thanks!”

I can practically feel Uthica’s urge to smack him as she marches out of the command center.

She takes a deep breath before turning toward the commandant’s tower. Unlike the rest of the buildings in the compound, the tower isn’t an ugly block building. Instead, it’s an ugly spire of concrete and steel with large square windows.

There aren’t even guards at the front when Uthica marches inside. Letonga said they trusted in enchantments and secrecy to protect them, but I’m starting to think they rely on magical detection too much. Notes for myself in the future I suppose. If I ever have a secret compound, keeping people from sneaking inside seems like it’d be important.

Uthica makes it all the way to the commandant’s office on the tenth floor without encountering a single soul, which I feel proves the point. Listening at the door, Uthica’s keen ears pick out a muffled groan from the far side of the door. She opens the door, pushing it open a centimeter at a time as the room comes into view. The commandant is present. She’s distracted, another K’tharn standing over her, massaging her back.

To the right is her desk. It’s segregated from the commandant and her masseuse by a thin screen. Uthica pauses for only a second before slipping into the room, closing the door as gently as she opened it. Then she ghosts over to the desk. Again, the Eldinsworn’s anti-magic methods prove to be vulnerable to mundane infiltration. There are short stacks of documents on the desk, none of which are even locked away.

There are even more in small cardboard boxes next to the desk.

Flipping through page after page, Uthica doesn’t seem to find anything important. There’s an especially loud moan from the other side of the screen, that causes Uthica to pause. But the massage continues, and Uthica turns back to her reading. Despite getting a rudimentary understanding of numbers during our time with Jazie, it’s all meaningless to me. At the bottom of the second stack, Uthica finds a document that catches her interest. She flips through it, finding a list of numbers.

Uthica glances at a map attached to the side of the divider. She slips the paper into her inventory as she approaches the map, tracing numbers written on the edge of the map. Coordinates.

She taps a spot far to the South.

There’s another moan from the far side of the divider, prompting Uthica to slide to the exit. She glances back, and she spots something that makes her stop in her tracks. There’s a perfect replica of Smoulder sitting on a stand next to the massage table.

Shaking her head, Uthica slips out of the office.

When she turns away from the office, a startled human is staring at her. Uthica glances back at the office, where another moan drifts through the door. She turns back to the human, winks at him and holds a single finger to her mouth.

Then she glides past him.

She’s already atop the wall by the time he emerges from the tower, looking around.

With a small wave he probably doesn’t see, Uthica detaches the grappling hook then drops down the wall, bracing against it to slow her fall. She lands so softly her enhanced hearing can barely pick out the thump. Then she charges into the forest.

Only after she’s a couple minutes away does she speak. “They’ve moved him.”

“I thought they might have. The only thing I got was that he’s to the South. Where did they send him?”

“Hard for me to say. Its name is only listed as the Grey Place.”

“The grey place?”

“Yep. That’s it.”

“Well, I’m sure Letonga will know more. See you when you get back. And Uthica.”

“Yes Lexi?” Uthica asks, jumping a hundred meter chasm without breaking stride.

I send her a wave of reassurance, “You’re awesome.”

The slight stumble as it hits her, informs me I’m not the only one affected by it.

Even as she sends a hug back through the connection, I disconnect, snickering.

That was the only misstep Uthica made.

Alexis: 1, Eldinsworn Base: 0.

A note from Draith

Huh. Another of my friends launched their book. Busy couple of days. You might have already seen Dungeon Tour Guide on RR. It's a fun read. You can find it on Kindle and Audible, and you can find more info below.

It's the story of a healer who gets resurrected as a dungeon core, and decides to go the 'not a killer dungeon' route, and guides people through his dungeon instead. It's a great read, with good recurring characters, a surprising amount of outside world-building for a dungeon-core story and excellent stakes.

You can find the free sample chapters on RR here.

6.23, Oh Damn

Ukila Local Time: Night. (January 26, 1512)

After disconnecting from Uthica, I check on Letonga. I’m not sure if the cool of the evening is better for her, but she’s stopped crying at least.

Deciding I’ll wait until Uthica gets back to question her, I pull out some food, and try to get her to eat. Letonga ends up taking a bowl of steamed… meat of some sort. I didn’t ask what it was, I just know it’s better than steamed anything has a right to be. And my scan will tell me what’s in it, and the locals' name for it. But no translations.

While I make sure Letonga eats, Smoulder returns to her perch atop Midnight’s head, dangling little balls of fire in front of him that he delights in snapping up. When she doesn’t flick them across the clearing to send him running into Redstone, anyway.

Thankfully, she’s not doing that as we wait for Uthica, understanding that we don’t want to give our position away.

At least, I think she understands.

Either way, as Smoulder behaves, I pace while attempting to reduce the amount of mana my hand is circulating. Not making progress, but I’m making the attempt. My System expected it to have a low chance of success, but it was worth the attempt. And now I have a better understanding of what’s going on inside.

However, what I’ve learned isn’t promising. I might have to make fundamental changes to my hand.

Which will require me basically shattering the existing structure.

Not an exciting prospect.

Uthica enters the clearing with a leap, tackling me to the ground, Smoulder jumping over to join, adding her weight to Uthica’s own. Uthica’s laughing as she keeps me pinned with just her legs, raising her hands over her head in a pose I’m pretty sure she stole from my memories.

“This is because I made you stumble, isn’t it?”

“What? No. I would never be so petty,” Uthica disagrees with Smoulder looking down from atop her head. “This is because…” She tilts her head to the side for a second, squinting.

“Yes?” I ask after a very patient second.

“This is because you made me stumble,” Uthica finally admits, bopping my nose before standing up.

“Where’s my brother? Why are you back without him? I knew I shouldn’t have relied on a voidhead and a flintear.”

Glancing at Uthica, I ask, “Am I the voidhead or flintear?”

Uthica strokes her ears, then reaches out to rub mine. “I must admit, I’m not certain. Neither of us has ears like flint. Nor does voidhead have any obvious correlations.”

Letonga doesn’t share in our high spirits, turning away from us. She takes two steps into the forest before Uthica calls, “They sent him away. To the ‘Grey Place.’”

Stumbling hard, Letonga tumbles into a nearby bush. She doesn’t climb out of the bush so much as flatten it in its entirety in her efforts to regain her footing. Once she’s standing, she stares at the remnants of the bush. Then she rips a branch off a nearby tree and beats the remains into so much mulch. It’s more ground up than the roots we used for Uthica’s dye job while the branch is little more than a stub when Letonga is finished.

“That seems like a bad sign,” I observe.

Uthica nods as we watch Letonga march back to where she was eating when Uthica arrived, picking up the bowl and staring at it.

Before I’m able to approach her, she flips onto her back and screams, the bowl flying wide.

It’s loud.

Enough so, that I think it’s time for us to change camps. I signal Uthica, but I don’t warn Letonga. Doubt she’ll even notice.

I do however warn Midnight, Smoulder and Redstone.

Since her brother’s to the South, that’s the direction I take us. Several short jumps later, and Uthica’s certain we can see the Grey Place. It’s appropriately named. The land is an ugly mixture of bogs and bare grey stone. Along the edges of the bogs lounge large snakes, their colouration nearly identical to the twisted trees scattered about the foul place. It almost smells as bad as Talmaskan Tea tastes.

Pulling herself together, Letonga joins us in surveying the place. “I hated it here.”

“I mean, it’s kind of drab. But it doesn’t look that bad,” I note, though I do shudder. But mostly because I made the mistake of imagining having another cup of that horrid tea.

“There are beetles the size of my thumb. One bite and you’ll spend a week bound to the toilet,” Letonga states, her face twisted into a scowl. “And you can’t eat or drink anything local. It’s all poisonous.”

“That’s… not really a problem. Any of it,” I point out.

“What do…”

She trails off as I conjure a ball of fire the size of her head in front of me in answer. “It’s amazing how easy it is to keep the bugs away when you have magic and they don’t.”

“Some bugs do develop an affinity,” Uthica says, unhelpfully. I turn to her with a look that I hope conveys my feeling of ‘You’re not helping’. Her answering smirk lets me know she’s fully aware.

“But those are easily dealt with,” I reassure Letonga. But if anything, her scowl is deeper than before.

“Magic. You want to use magic in the Grey Place.”

Angling my head slightly to squint at her, I nod. “That’s the plan.”

“Why don’t you toss that little ball of fire in there?” Letonga suggests, a smile tugging at her face. It doesn’t reach her eyes though.

Obliging her, I create a proper spell structure, then infuse the fire mana into it. It flies into the bog, and explodes, obliterating the tree I used as a practice target. Huh… I should probably stop targeting innocent trees.

Instead, I shall end the tyranny of stone!

While Letonga’s jaw is still hanging loose, I send another fireball into the bog. This time, in accordance with my temporary resolution, I target a large boulder farther in. When my fireball strikes it, there’s an even louder crack as it splits down the middle and then starts… trying to crawl away?

“Oh. It’s like… a crab. With a stone shell? That’s impressive.”

“Hmm. I think the bog disrupts System magic,” Uthica notes, throwing a small fireball of her own toward the bog. It unravels before it can strike even the closest tree.

“Looks like it,” I agree, patting Letonga on the back. “Aren’t you glad I don’t use her System.”

Letonga squints at me. “How? How can you use their power without their leash?”

“Honestly? Mostly luck. And not giving up. I wish I could say it was skill. But at this point… No. It’s luck,” I nod, looking toward the bog. Then I turn back to her, unable to resist. “But better lucky than dead, right?”

After sending Midnight and Redstone away from the bog after a warning from Letonga, I hoist us into the air, wrapping myself and Letonga with matching harnesses of metal.

“You should probably do me too. Not sure how well my equipment will work in there,” Uthica says, frowning at a chakram similar to my own, but with more jagged edges.

“Wait! We need to talk… and review first. You can’t just go charging into the Grey Place. The Reapers don’t like uninvited guests.”

“Reapers?” Uthica replies in Vausian, her brows furrowed.

I drop both of us, turning to Letonga and grabbing her by the shoulder as I stare her in the eye.

“Did you say Reapers?” I ask, very carefully not triggering Lesser Cataclysm.

It is one of my more impressive feats for the day.

Letonga nods vigorously, her head bobbing at impressive speeds as the sun sets behind her, casting her shadow like a great pecking bird across the bog.

I’m glad we’re upwind from the bog as Letonga explains, “This is one of our main ports on the planet. Most of the Skystriders land here when they first enter Ukilan space.”

“Sorry, back up. Our ports? I thought you said there were Reapers?”

“Yeah… that’s why it’s one of our ports. Because we’re Eldinsworn,” Letonga says. This time, I hear how she slurs the word, just a little.

And it sounds almost like ‘Oh damn.’ And it definitely sounds like the Vausian word for Reaper.

“You’re… you’re Reapersworn?” I ask, rubbing at my temple. Yeah, I should’ve seen that coming. Guns that can take down a Copper-rank like nothing. Grade-A Reaper-tech right there.

Of course the anti-System Reapers are the Patrons of the Eldinsworn. Or Reapersworn, I guess. But why hasn't the System detected them? As I rub my head, Letonga keeps talking.

There isn’t just one Reaper on Ukila. Nope. Dozens. There are so many Reapers on Ukila that Letonga has met eight unique Reapers personally. And played cards with three of them. And the System doesn't know about any of them. Even now, Uthica doesn't seem to be getting any quest updates.

“They’re really no different than an edinson. Well, except that they’re old. Like, they were all alive before the mana-storms struck. They don’t talk about it often, but it does come up. I was playing with Loshi, and she mentioned playing a similar game with the former governor of Ketenna. The most famous governor of Ketenna, the same one that spread the word of the incoming disaster a few centuries ago.”

“Some edinsons swear the Reapers are gods. Others that they’re devils. But they’re like you,” Letonga states, pointing at me in a rather accusing manner. “Hell, they even look like you. If you had a beard, you’d be able to pass for ol’ one-eye himself.”

“Eldin?” I ask, leaning forward in anticipation despite myself.

“What? No, there’s no Eldin. No, I’m talking about Alaven. Lost his eye when his home was destroyed. I think.”

“Alaven? That’s… what happened to his home?” I ask, standing up and pacing back and forth.

“Uh, I think he called lightning down on it? And stone. Oda loves teasing him about it. Oh, and he loves his thrones.”

Even as she’s speaking, I realize my System is softly buzzing in my ear.

“Integral Temporal Thread detected: Reaper Oda. Reconstruct localized history?”

As I look at the notification, the underlying meaning fills my head. I can follow Letonga’s thread and grab snatches of this Oda’s memories when they shared proximity.

It’ll take personal attention though. My System can only give me the most basic of guidance.

“So, I think… I think I can get some insight into Oda,” I say, contemplating the prompt. If I’m understanding it correctly, it’ll work better from within Freeze. I’m about to say more when my eyes drift to Letonga.

“If it was any of the other Reapers, I’d say whatever you’re thinking of, it isn’t worth it,” Letonga says, stumbling over the Vausian pronunciation of the word. “But Oda’s a lot of fun when she visits.”

I point at Letonga, but I’m not sure what to say, so I turn to Uthica.

“Hmm. If you believe you can do it safely,” Uthica says, her eyes shifting to look out over the bog.

As I inspect the notification, I realize my System can’t tell me if it’ll be dangerous. Just that if I fail, I’ll get less memories.

“I mean, I think it’s less dangerous than a lot of my other abilities. And it’s an aspect of my new class I haven’t explored yet,” I reply, flexing my elemental hand, sending a flash of lightning through it before returning it to stone.

“This would be a good time to test it then,” Uthica says, staring across the empty bog. “I shall stand ready.”

I can’t help but smile.

Time to see what secrets a Reaper keeps tucked away in their mind.

Deciding to embrace the wise guru vibe, I settle down, legs crossed as the dark night sky floats above us. Uthica is nearby, standing between me and the bog. Letonga is sitting across from me, being watched by Smoulder.

She’s close enough I could reach out and boop her thin nose. And if she was one of my friends, I’d probably have done so already.

Instead, I Focus on our connection. And follow her thread backwards. I see flashes of her life as I move backwards, mostly her service to the Reapers. Her thread is thin, and something about it makes me feel as though it’s fragile. From this perspective, I notice that everyone has their own thread. Most are as thin as Letonga’s, though some are even thinner.

And one is much thicker. Oda’s thread stands out like a beacon when I run into a memory where Letonga was playing cards with her. And winning.

Well, least I didn’t miss it.

Shifting my attention, I connect to Oda’s thread.

Swearing, Oda glared at the edinson sitting across from her, all while trying to keep her smile from breaking out.

It was always more fun to let the freeborn get a big lead then try to win it back. They tended to be more friendly when they felt they had a chance. Like most mortals.

Oda kept her cards close as her eyes avoided the hidden Hel-borne watching over the game. While their invisibility would hide them from a mortal’s sight, they were like small beacons to a proper Talini. A rather unpleasant reminder of their father’s unending war during an otherwise carefree game.

At least her father had sent her to an interesting planet to gather new allies. Her brother had been sent to scour mana-less worlds, with barely tech-literate mortals his best prospect.

Her thoughts returned to the game as the mortal played an excellent hand, a Koutur rush, if Oda wasn’t mistaken. A most excellent hand.

Yes, mortals were a wonderful distraction.

The rest of the game is boring but I do learn that Oda is called away to another star system, and won’t be back for over a decade. After the game, I spend another few hours of Frozen time going along Letonga’s thread, absorbing more of her encounters with not just Oda, but other Reapers too. The others are… boring. Sure, there’s some logistical data. And discussion of their duties on Ukila. They even have tech that lets them control magic that’s built into their nervous systems.

But they’re boring. At least in the times they share their Threads with Letonga.

Still, I learn they’re mostly here to maintain their hidden ports so they can trade with their allies on Ukila.

A Reaper named Vrathorn does know a lot about Ukila, and its network of hidden cities. The cities are protected by robust mana-absorbing enchantments. Designs the Reapers provided, though the designs were greatly improved by the local K’tharn. So improved, that the Reapers' outreach program transitioned from ‘exploit the primitive natives’ to a full-fledged alliance.

The Ukilans even have a fully functional space navy, with mana-less faster than light travel.

My eyes drift upwards, but their ships are invisible. And not just to the naked eye. Common trait of Reaper-tech is to be invisible to all but the most thorough of System scans.

Like mine.

And the Ukilans are even better. Too bad the Reapers don’t know how their ships work.

After sharing what I’ve learned with Uthica, I lean back, staring up at the star filled sky, Akilo low on the horizon.

“So, what does this mean for getting her brother out?” Uthica asks, kneeling down while idly tracing a rune.

“That’s… that’s a good question,” I admit, turning to Letonga again.

“Means we’re Systemed. Right up the ass.”

“Did you just use System in place of… no, nevermind. We don’t have to fight them, right. We’ll sneak in. Just like Uthica did to the Eldinsworn compound.”

“Oh. And how do you intend to do that? Pose as a Reaper?” Letonga demands, her hands in the air as she storms away down the hill.

“You know. That may work,” Uthica says to me as we watch Letonga kick a rock. The rock goes flying, and Letonga stares at her foot then kicks another rock toward the first. It’s not until she’s kicked the sixth rock and it smashes into the first that she sits down with her head in her hands.

“Sorry, what might work?” I ask, turning back to Uthica.

“You posing as a Reaper. You know this Oda now. And you have their powers. We could easily pass as your Eldinsworn servants. Or guards. We’ll need to work out the details with the pouting cub,” she says, waving at Letonga. “But I doubt an Eldinsworn would dare challenge one of their gods.”

Nodding, I smile at Uthica as we wait for Letonga to calm down.

When she returns, we start planning my official ascent to godhood.

6.24, Cosplay Cosmic

A note from Draith

Minor edit to chapter 6.04, 6.06

Chapter 6.04, deleted a sentence where Lexi added a tether during their first incursion during the base to Letonga.

Chapter 6.06, instead of attaching a tether to a random K'tharn when Lexi and Uthica were surrounded and talking to the Eldinsworn squad, Lexi attached the tether to Letonga, as I was supposed to have it.

Ukila Local Time: Wee hours of the morning. (January 27, 1512)

My throne makes a return for my divine ascension, though my usual Smoulder embellishments are absent. Oda never learned to appreciate the adorableness embodied by the bunny. It doesn’t keep Smoulder from taking her place on my lap though. It’s a shame Midnight can’t navigate the Grey Place safely. Letonga suspects he’d be fine once we arrive in Nothen, the port compound in the center, but I don’t want to spend the morning doing resets just to get our dragons in.

So I let him nibble on a finger then send him to frolic in a nearby gully with Redstone. One I made for them, since the local bog is so uncooperative.

Technically, we’re not using my throne design at all. It’s modeled after similar thrones that Oda rides around on. Including a lot of naked elvenoids making love. And skulls. Lots of skulls. Goddess of fertility, farming and death by snu-snu. Wonder if that’s why Letonga thought she was fun.

As we get closer, I give Letonga a bit of side-eye, wondering just how interested in this goddess she is. Those thoughts are scattered when I spot the spaceships Letonga referred to as Skystriders.

They’re much more original than the Builder’s Sanctuaries. Not as immense, but each is an obviously customized build.

I’m glad Letonga knows which Reapers are on planet at the moment.

Roleplaying as Oda isn’t the worst choice, since she changes her outfits regularly. And enjoys wearing all sorts of masks. Combined with the fact that despite being off planet, she told them she was just going to be tied up in a personal project and she’s kinda the prime choice.

Definitely not because she’s the only one I know enough about to impersonate, nope.

It’s a shame though. For my first time dressing up as a god, I would’ve preferred one like Thor. Err, disguise myself. And Alaven would’ve been perfect for that. Got the beard, hammer and lightning. Not the son of the overgod or anything though. None of the Reapers' high command would visit a backwater like Ukila. Not without a fleet large enough to blot out the sky.

But according to the rumours, he doesn’t leave Nothen when he’s on Ukila. He likes to stay in the central complex, partaking in the arena and several of the other amenities he’s personally sponsored. And Letonga didn’t have the deets on any other cool war gods.

Setting down a fair distance from the outermost pad, Uthica activates her invisibility ring and mana absorption attachment, allowing Smoulder to settle on her shoulder. Even with her equipment, it’d be risky to have either of them come inside with their connections to the System. But I don’t want them to be too far away either. So, they’re staying here. And we’re turning it into a safety waypoint. A spot and time I can return to.

This’ll be our first attempt to use my Freeze-reset in a truly dangerous situation. But with Reapers involved… Well, time-travel is a calculated risk.

Once the safe zone is established, Letonga moves to my side. This time she’s going to be searching for her brother personally while I’m flying us toward Oda’s totally-not-abandoned ship. There’s a decent chance that if we can’t find her brother directly, then Letonga can use the passcard Uthica stole to access the port security system to find him.

We just need to avoid being questioned. Letonga assures me there’s zero chance anyone will believe I’m Oda if I open my mouth. Even after several attempts to modulate my voice with Twilight, she insisted it’s not primal enough.

And I’ll admit. I have no clue what primal means. Which makes it impossible to match. Even my memories of Oda don’t seem to match up to whatever Letonga’s referring to. Maybe if I hear some of the Reapers talking?

Flying past the outer perimeter is simplicity itself. No one dares stop Oda returning on her lecherous throne of death. As we approach Oda’s pad, we fly past a ship that looks more like a weathered lighthouse, its top spinning slowly even now.

“I don’t know that one,” Letonga informs me when I glance to her.

Without acknowledging her further, I direct my throne toward Oda’s ship. The word ship is a rather poor fit in this case. Perhaps monument that can fly would be better. The base is spherical, adorned with hundreds of jagged fins with a great deal of lurid art decorating the space between those fins. Nearly half of the depicted figures are Oda herself.

Above the bulbous base, a central square-spire protrudes upward, the sole sign of what it really is. The sharp angles of the spire contrast with the softer images carved into its surface, of crops flourishing and people gathering in festivals. Again, images of Oda dominate the surface, though here she’s only in about twenty percent of them.

I fly close to the ship, cloaking us once we’re practically at the entrance. Hopefully, it’s enough to fool casual observers. And if they’re watching us closely, we’re already in trouble. My disguise is a barely adequate facade of Twilight and artful arrangement of clothing.

Under the veil of concealment, we retreat to a small shed at the corner of Oda’s assigned pad. The shed is as unobtrusive as Oda’s ship is eye-catching. No splitting attention.

Letonga is able to open the shed with ease, shuffling inside as I keep watch. She’s gone for only a couple minutes before returning.

“I’ve got it. My brother was taken by a Reaper known as… Vrathorn. Does that sound familiar to you?” Letonga asks, reading from a thin piece of plastic.

Nodding my head, I answer, “I’m familiar with Vrathorn. But Oda remembers him as a wolf.”

“Could be him. Report says he’s a lone wolf. It also says he procured Keztil alongside the Eldinsworn guarding him. To investigate their true nature,” Letonga says, then she flips it over, looking at the next page. “But that’s about it. Just his ship’s coordinates and a note to all Eldinsworn to keep their distance.”

“At least we have a target,” I reassure her, gazing towards the marked landing pad. It’s on the far side of the arena, near the center of the port. Supposedly being closer to the center indicates lower ranking or leverage.

Letonga bobs her head a fraction of an inch, “Yes. Let’s find my brother and get out of here.”

Floating back to the rough location we disappeared, we pop back into place, flying away from Oda’s ship toward the center of the complex. I wanted to skirt around, but Letonga insists that Oda would never do that. She’s known for being very demanding. And my memories mostly agree.

Not wanting to charge directly into this Vrathorn’s, I land us at one of Oda’s favourite restaurants so Letonga can gather intel. And get us some of Oda’s favorite fried pasta. Letonga steps away, joining in line as I watch the ‘peasants’ mill about. Really, it’s just a collection of Eldinsworn and their servants. The ratio of ‘human’ to K’tharn is nearly even. Still, all of the humans are that strange black-haired and blue-eyed mix. Except for the tall blond man staggering around at the far end of the alley.

He’s easily a head taller than any of his companions, but that doesn’t stop him from leaning on them as they make their way into a nearby building. But he doesn’t seem content to go inside, raising his voice, “What? What’d you say?

Suddenly I understand what Letonga meant by primal. His every word is infused with Twilight. But it’s more natural than when I used it to amplify my voice. Instead, his seems to penetrate the very air.

I don’t hear his companions reply over the general noise of people turning to look and gossip, but I hear someone next to me clear their throat.

Glancing to my side, I find Letonga standing there, waiting. As my gaze meets hers, she nods, turning purposely away from the blond man’s display. I take that as a cue to leave. We set off down the street, leaving them behind. But the blond man’s next words carry to us, even from out of sight. “She’s here? And she didn’t come to see me? I’ll split her in two!”

His words split the air more than this person he’s talking about, but they’re someone else’s problem now that we’re away.

“So?” I ask, watching the surrounding crowd for more like the blond man as I levitate the throne in the general direction of our target’s vessel.

“We’re lucky. Vrathorn’s not here. Went to visit the Gate. He’s investigating a disturbance.” Letonga isn’t able to keep the smirk off her face as she relays her discovery.

“Interesting,” I respond, changing course and flying us directly toward the ship.

“Even better, he leaves his ship open. Runs an exchange out of it. We should be able to walk right in.” Letonga’s smirk disappears. “We might even be able to buy my brother, if the rumours are true.”

I glance at her.

“They trade in exotic animals. And indentured servants,” she says, her shrug short.

Vrathorn’s ship comes into view ahead, standing apart from the low concrete buildings around it. The bone and leather aesthetic would fit perfectly in Aethire.

Well, before Aethire collapsed into thousands of pieces.

The entrance to his ship is a massive skull, taken from some oversized canine. From my earlier observations, I know there are two more skulls located on the distant sides, one of a giant cat, the other a lizard. These Reapers sure do love their skulls.

Gliding between the surprisingly thick crowd of Eldinsworn, I move forward with impunity as they scramble to get out of our way despite my low speed. Letonga was right about Reapers being respected.

Or feared.

Within the giant skull, the crowd gets thicker, but still people shove each other out of the way to escape before I run them down. Which is something Oda would do. We get inside, and I’m expecting to see cages, or stocks where people are being auctioned off.

But no.

Instead there are curtains. Curtains as far as my eye can see. Bright blue curtains with silver pictograms on them. The pictograms are elaborate, yet clearly depict what lies within. A singular wolf-head. Three cat-heads. Some clustered stalls with lizard-heads. And one with a head that could be an ape or a very ugly human. Letonga immediately starts toward the pictogram of the ugly human, and I move my throne to follow her.

She’s holding the curtain open for me to pass when a loud below emerges from behind us. Standing in the entrance is the blond guy from earlier. Except instead of a drunken wastrel whining to his friends, he’s strapped down in a full ensemble of thick furs, a helmet with not two, but four horns on it and a giant hammer that’s taller than he is.

A hammer that’s pointed in my direction.

“Oh, Eldinsbane,” Letonga swears, “Guess Alaven was talking-”

“Oda!” Alaven screams as he stomps toward me. If I thought the crowd scrambled to get out of my way, it’s nothing compared to the way they scatter now, some of them literally leaping over each other to get away.

Seeing as we’re caught out, I turn back to him, keeping my true visage hidden even as I quirked my eyebrow upward.

“Thought you’d sneak back in without making good on our little bet, didn’t you. But I heard you were back, and wearing a fresh face.” He stomps right up to me. He’s kind of handsome, his cheeks just round enough he doesn’t seem hard. The effect is ruined by his glower though. “So, I came to settle the wager. Only I find you’ve run off to Vrathorn to purchase yourself a new toy. I knew you were petty, but I thought…”

He pauses, turning to look at Letonga. Then a smirk crosses his face. “But hey, I can be petty too.”

I begin responding, infusing my voice with Twilight. “Alaven, we can-”

But that’s as far as I get before his hammer swings forward, smashing Letonga into the ground.

I stare at her mangled body as Alaven leans on his hammer, leering at me. “I’m sorry my dear. What-”

He doesn’t finish as I thrust my hand forward, a spear of metal shooting toward his throat. Alaven throws his arm up to block, but I’ve already frozen time. Only a couple minutes, to give myself the advantage. I set another dozen piercing spells loose on him, all reinforced with Twilight, certain they’ll need all the help I can provide to bypass his defences. I want to tear him apart. To leave him as nothing more than kibble.

I force myself to calm down. Letonga will be okay. I may not have access to a healer but… I just need to go back. Restart from zero and enter town from the opposite direction.

But first…

First I run a thorough scan on him, from head to toe, memorizing everything about him. Then when that’s done, I slip into an improved Pause. As nice as Freeze is for time to think, I can’t move in fully Frozen time. Blasting myself away from Alaven, I force my gaze past Letonga’s twisted body, a single thought keeping me from reverting.

Her brother. If I find him now, we can come straight back for him. There are over a dozen elvenoids on comfortable looking couches behind the curtain, prices displayed over their heads in several languages including three I know. But not a single one resembles Letonga. And given that he’s supposed to look like a smaller version of her, that’s a bad sign.

Well, if I’m going back in time anyway…

I break my throne apart, throwing claws of metal in every direction, ripping the curtains away. It eats up most of the rest of the current Pause, but I discover a hidden stairway that leads upward.

Do I continue?

Deciding to risk Alaven's reaction, I fly toward the stairs as I start a second Pause, this one empowered with additional Facet and Focus. I only check over my shoulder right as I reach the door.

I almost fly into the wall.

Alaven is on his knees, tears in his eyes, his fur armour ripped to shreds, as is most of his body. His hammer lays flopped on the ground, and the Eldinsworn are all staring at him. Those that have had time to notice, anyway.

But I don’t have time for this. It could all be an act. Slinging another volley of piercing arrows at him, I continue toward the stairs. They’re sealed, but a dozen piercing claws of steel shred the door as easily as they did Alaven. I make it to the top of the stairs, exploring each room until I finally find Letonga’s brother.

It’s…

We’re late. Far too late.

With a quick look around the room, I confirm what a quick glance already told me. Keztil was tortured. And it wasn’t pleasant.

Blasting out of the room, I set the whole thing on fire. Then I start burning the walls as I rush back to the central chamber. It’s been less than three real-time seconds.

Alaven is no longer on his knees. He’s dead. Unless Reapers have a way to come back from not having a head. Which… if they’re on a level with the System, they probably do.

Best that I’m resetting time then. Better to not have a pissed off god-being after me.

Again.

I bend down, next to Letonga. “Shh,” I whisper. “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”

Not sure if it’s a lie. How am I going to convince her it’s too late to save her brother. I’ll just have to figure that out.

Letting time resume, I take one quick look around to ensure the area’s clear. Focusing my mind, I clear it of distracting thoughts.

I pull.

Returning to the past, I feel at ease. The two minutes of Frozen time go by quickly as I contemplate everything that happened.

Less than an hour-

“Aaaaagghhh!” Letonga screams out from her position outside my circle, collapsing to her knees as Freeze ends.

Ouch. That definitely didn’t happen last time.

A note from Draith

Had minor surgery last week, and been kinda afk during the recovery. Going to get back to it now though. If things go well... we might be going up to two chapters a day again. (And hopefully I'll catch more of my silly continuity mistakes)

Thanks for reading!

6.25, Precious Cargo

Ukila Local Time: Wee hours of the morning… again. (January 27, 1512)

Uthica is leaning over Letonga, the distant light of the complex mottling her fur as she shakes her. I walk out of my time-shift safety circle, moving to join them when Letonga screams again. This time her scream is muffled by Uthica placing her hand over her mouth.

Smoulder leaps from Uthica’s shoulder to Letonga’s lap, pushing hard to reassure her. I can feel the reassurance she’s trying to send through the bond. Feels bad that Letonga can’t experience it directly…

Maybe she can?

My bond with Smoulder is my most intimate and deepest, but it’s also the one I’ve mostly just… relied on being there. Despite being put in place by the System, it’s always been distinctly between us. Even when my old System was falling apart, our bond was sturdy. So sturdy that it pulled me through time when I...

Now I attempt to redirect it. Not the bond, but the feeling. While I don’t want to link them together, passing along the feeling is easy as eating ice-cream in summer. Just like I’ve sent Letonga my own reassurances in the past, now I send Smoulder’s reassuring feelings.

Alongside some reassurance and affection of my own, of course.

As I'm doing so, I notice that Letonga's thread is... closer to mine. It's a little thicker too. Not as thick as Uthica's or a Reaper's, but more tangible than it was. Right, need to inspect that more later.

Letonga stops screaming almost immediately after I've passed along our affection. Which is progress. The tears are worrying though.

“You… you’re worse than they are…” Letonga mutters, finally turning to look up to me.

Her eyes are wide, so wide it would be funny if not for the naked fear I can feel through our bond as she stares at me.

Apparently, Uthica disagrees, since she's chuckling lightly. I elbow her, but Letonga doesn’t even seem to notice, her eyes shifting down to Smoulder.

“But… you don’t want to hurt me. Despite everything, you’re still trying to help me. You killed a god for me. Why?”

“Wait, you remember that part?” I ask, leaning away from Uthica’s return swipe. Which was unnecessary, because she stopped part way through to focus on Letonga.

“Yes. His hammer smashing into me. You… destroying him as fast as he destroyed… Then you left… but you came back, and we were here again. But… I also hadn’t left yet… and… and it hurt. It hurt so much,” Letonga says, whispering the last part into Smoulder.

Uthica and I share a long look, before looking back at Letonga. “Right. Apparently, I can bring others back with me.”

“Hmm. One other at least. And given how much it hurt her…”

“Yeah. Might be a better way to do it though,” I respond, pushing myself to my feet. “Wasn’t exactly planned.”

Uthica offers Letonga her hands, pulling her gently to her feet as she says, “Yes. And now that we know it’s possible, we can discern what-”

“Keztil! You found my brother! That’s why you left!” Letonga shouts, suddenly grabbing me by both of my shoulders. “What happened to him?”

“He’s… uh…” Should’ve spent more time thinking about how I was going to break the news to her. To be fair, wasn’t expecting her to remember anything. Would've spent my couple minutes in Freeze thinking about it otherwise.

But apparently my stutter's enough. Before I have time to Freeze to consider my words, she stops crying. But I recognize the look on her face. I pull Smoulder away as Letonga picks up a nearby rock, smashing it into dust as she throws in into a nearby boulder, leaving a crack.

She’s already way stronger than I was after being integrated. Is she picking up extra mana through our bond?

This time Letonga doesn’t continue, instead just staring at the crack in the boulder while flexing her hand.

Uthica and I remain silent, stepping back to give her space. After a few minutes, I decide we need to get moving. While we did choose this little rocky isle as a safe place, it’s not necessarily going to stay that way.

Especially if she’s not the only person I brought back.

Shuddering at the idea I might have brought Alaven back with the memory of me killing him, I pull Letonga with me, letting Smoulder go back to her. I slide my arm under her, though it’s more of a morale thing, lifting us both on my throne as we circle away from the complex.

No reason to return, so I start flying away towards the hidden valley where Midnight and Redstone are hiding out. We arrive to find Midnight perched atop Redstone, the smaller black dragon clearly keeping the larger pink one pinned in place. A quick inspection of our bond reveals he's reached the limits of Iron already.

Shaking my head, I shape my throne into a saddle and direct him... away. We’ve only been flying for a few seconds when Letonga stirs.

She looks around, then turns to me. “Where are we going.”

“Haven’t decided yet. But away. Rather not have gods dropping thunder on my ass.”

“But you destroyed him. You could destroy all of them.”

“I doubt that. Pretty sure he wasn’t prepared for me.”

“We need to go back.”

“But-”

“Ketzil is still there! If you know he’s dead, then you saw him!” she yells in my ear. “Wait. Do the thing. Go back further. You can save him!”

“I…” There are no words. He’d been dead for over a day. With the way the radius of destruction increases with every minute I add to my loops after the first hour…

“It’s not that easy,” Uthica says, picking up on what I’m unable to bring myself to say. After several seconds of Letonga staring at me with wide eyes, Uthica adds. “She can barely travel back an hour. If she prepares ahead of time.”

“But she… and then… but greater than a god…” Letonga starts crying into my shoulder. I look up at Uthica, shifting my gaze back toward Nothen.

Uthica taps her chin three times. Then she nods.

“I can’t go back to save him… but we can get him out,” I tell Letonga against my better judgement.

“You’ll do it? You’ll go back for him?” she asks, pulling at my collar.

Nodding, I start redirecting Midnight. He grumps at me, snorting as we swing back to his valley, Uthica and I discussing what I’ll need for our second attempt.

Clouds block out the night sky as we settle into our latest site, prepping the waypoint for me to try again.

Hopefully I don’t have to kill a god twice in the same day.

Then again… that would be a hell of an achievement.

With our preparations complete, I fly — sans throne — toward the Reaper port-complex of Nothen under the veiled darkness of night. Even without the veil of invisibility we’re under, it would be hard to spot us without enhanced vision.

Despite my protests, Letonga is once more at my side. She insists that she needs to see what happened to her brother. Uthica was the one that overrode my objections. She claimed that knowing what happened to your family was one of the greatest gifts a user could receive. And despite Letonga being an edinson, Uthica felt it still applied, since most bodies would turn to blue dust.

And she also reminded me that if his body was still intact, it should be retrieved. While the odds are poor, if his body’s physically there, and not tied to the System…

Well, might not be much of a chance, but there’s a slim possibility we can restore him.

Not that either of us tell Letonga. Having that sort of hope ripped away is worse than not having any at all. I still remember the young doctor that came in with an experimental noise treatment that could’ve woken Papa.

It worked on the kid in the next room over. It was amazing seeing Chris get up and celebrate with his family. Really, it was. But Papa wasn't as lucky.

So, yeah. Not putting Letonga through that.

This time when I enter the city, I don’t use Oda's visage. Instead, I’m going as a mysterious male Reaper with black hair and two beautiful blue eyes. I'd rather have them wonder about a strange Reaper than have Alaven kill Letonga in another pique of jealous rage. Also, because I’d rather not be associated with Oda if he somehow does remember what happened. Letonga has dyed her hair... with a plain brown dye made from bog plants. Completely non-magic.

I managed not to comment.

If anything, our entry is even smoother this time. The Eldinsworn notice our passing, but not one dares speak up. Neither do they scramble to get out of the way, simply showing me slight deference. When I reach Vrathorn’s ship, an unknown K’tharn presents themselves before me. Unlike those around her, this K’tharn stands straight as she greets me in the Eldinsworn’s tongue.

Same accent as Letonga.

But I don’t have Letonga speak for me this time. I’ve decided to handle it myself, now that I have a proper understanding of how a Reaper behaves.

However they want.

“Your master,” I start cutting the K’tharn off in the middle of their greeting. “I have business with him.”

“I’m afraid Lord Vrathorn isn’t available at the moment. But perhaps I may be able to help? I am his most trusted-”

“When does he return?” I ask, allowing my twilight-darkened eyes to settle on her as I lift her off the floor.

This time she does shudder, glancing down as I bring her face to face. “He’ll be back by morning. If you’d like to wait, we have some excellent-”

I’ve already turned away from her as she’s giving me the spiel. I pretend to search the room before setting my eyes on the entrance to the secret stairway.

“I’ll wait upstairs,” I inform the K’tharn, setting her down. She objects as she chases after me. Impressively, she reaches the door seconds before me, having to thrash through several obscuring curtains while I simply wave them aside.

“While I understand I can’t stop you, I beg you reconsider. Lord Vrathorn will not take kindly to you intruding on his personal quarters,” the K’tharn informs me as she steps forward such that she’s next to the door, but not blocking it.

I nod, as though considering her words. Her shoulders slump, the tension practically seeping out of her as she says, “Thank you.”

Which makes the next part even more fun. Interrupting her again as she tries to direct me away, I reply, “Perhaps he shouldn’t have taken my property then.”

She stares at me, uncomprehending until the sound of the door being ripped away by floating stone claws fills the air. Then she sprints away. I don’t blame her. There’s a chance she’ll be blamed for not being able to stop me. I don’t really care. The Eldinsworn are here by choice.

The indentured servants not so much.

According to Letonga’s intel, they’re all criminals sold into indentured servitude to pay off their crimes. In so doing, all past obligations are wiped clean. Including their records as to why they were sentenced. Which just seems slimy to me.

But while I suspect some could be innocent, I don’t know the truth. That they don’t belong to Vrathorn only further complicates matters. He’s technically just a broker.

And their temporal threads are so thin, I’m worried I might snap them if I look too close. A worry my System informs me is entirely justified.

One of the indentured servants walks past, chatting with an Eldinsworn while sipping from an elegant wine glass.

Yeah… Not feeling a burning need to set them free. At least, not the ones on the open floor. I didn’t see any upstairs last time but if they’re there…

I might not free his slaves on this visit, but if there’s a chance to end Vrathorn, I’ll probably take it. I really need to know more about his organization. And Reapers and their capabilities. My scan of Alaven wasn’t very useful. A biology that’s shockingly similar to humans other than the secondary nervous system made of metalic bio-machines that control mana. Which, okay, now I know a little about how they control mana. But it didn’t tell me how tough he was… though obviously he’s not that durable, considering how easily I shredded him.

Setting my thoughts to the side, I ascend the stairs, Letonga close behind. Once we’re inside, I have the stone hands set the door back in place, leaning it against the wall with a solid thunk before directing the hands into place around me. We go directly to the room where Letonga’s brother was… tortured.

I stop just outside the room, turning to Letonga. “Are you sure you want to see this? It’s… I can cover him first.”

Letonga shakes her head. “No. I… I need to see what they did to him. I…”

Nodding, I push the thin wooden door open. We both turn away as an acrid stench washes over us. One of the perks of doing this in Pause the first time. No sense of smell. I clear the air around my face with wind manipulation, but it’s not able to push the memory of the smell away.

Without waiting for her eyes to stop blinking, Letonga pushes into the room. She finds her brother immediately, his body splayed in plain view. “He… they…”

“Yeah,” I agree. "Told you it was bad."

“No. You don’t understand. This wasn’t for Keztil. This is a traitor’s death. He shouldn’t have… this was for me. A price that should only be extracted from me. This is… Keztil didn’t swear… they broke the oaths…” she snarls the last, her fist slamming into her open palm with a thunderous impact. “I suspected when you said… when his body was here. But part of me didn’t want…"

We both remain in silence for a few seconds as Letonga cradles the ruins of her brother's face. Then with a clenched fist, she turns to me.

"You can cover him now. Please.”

“Sure.” I float over, laying my hand on him, placing a thin layer of stone over him. When the process is complete, I perform a thorough scan of his body. Just in case. There’s nothing I can do for him, but from what Roberts has told me… if I keep him in stasis… There really is a chance.

His body vanishes, moving into a separate portion of my inventory segregated to keep his remains safe. Hopefully. That’s what my System tells me, anyway.

With Keztil tucked away, I find Letonga looking through a leather-bound book I hadn’t noticed.

“What’s it say?” I ask, tempted to set the whole room on fire again.

“Not sure. It’s like a journal but… I think it's not by Vrathorn. Unless he likes talking about himself in third person,” Letonga says, her voice flat. Then she tucks it into her backpack. “Maybe it’ll have answers.”

“Maybe,” I agree, scanning the room again, not mentioning that I’ll be looking through that book in Frozen time later. “Is there anything else?”

“We should take everything that’s not bolted down. Not here, but if he has an office… or anything that seems important. I want… need to take something from him,” Letonga says, storming out.

Following her, I nearly bump into her outside.

“You can… With what he did… I can’t send him to our ancestors. Would you… could you purge my brother’s body? I don’t want that freak to have it.”

“Uhm... Sure. I'll make sure they can't get it,” I answer, glancing back at the empty stone cover. I fill the inside with fire and lightning, cracking open the cover as I finish. On an impulse, I reform the stone into a small figurine sharing her brother's resemblance. If he hadn’t been mutilated.

“Thanks,” Letonga says, plucking the figurine out of the air.

We continue through the rest of the upper level for nearly half an hour. I’m about ready to call a halt to our exploration when we reach a dark metal door. It’s secured against magic, my manipulation skills unable to touch it. But a single short-range teleport removes it entirely. I store the door in my inventory as Letonga peaks into the room.

“Whoa,” Letonga mutters, taking a single step inside before I yoink her backward. “Ma-eep!”

“I forgot you have no exploration experience,” I say, shaking my head at Letonga who’s glowering at me.

As I’m setting her down, she tugs at her Eldinsworn tunic. “Not sure what that has to do with this.”

“Traps,” I state, sweeping the area beyond the door with Facet and picking out three distinct traps. Two of which had their connections severed when I removed the door. Well, that makes it simpler. I wrap the last trap, a rune that has something to do with superheating the air in the room. Wait, no. Just the area by the door. It’s advanced work. Like, Uthica or Genitha advanced.

Removing it is as simple as teleporting it out the window on the opposite side of the hall. It doesn’t even trigger the rune. With the entrance traps removed, I scan the rest of the room with Letonga looming at my shoulder.

It’s funny, the room is filled with an eclectic medley of artifacts, but Letonga’s drawn to the least valuable thing in the room. The solid bars of gold. They’re not even given a place of prominence, used as a makeshift table for enchanted items.

I barely have attention for any of it.

In the center of the room is something that calls out to me. It’s a single petal of a flower. The interior of the petal reminds me of a pure mana Essence. If a mana essence replaced the dark portions with nothing but the swirling colours. The petal sits atop a small black stand, contained behind at least three layers of runes. If I had to bypass them using Uthica’s methods… well, I’m not sure even she could do it.

But really.

I wave my hand for effect as I pluck the petal from its perfect perch. It lands in my palm, pulsing against my skin. It’s like the first time I touched mana, my channels flaring in excitement. I can feel it flooding my soul-scape with energy, the taste of ice-cream teasing my tongue.

Uthica said she figured out how to do ice-cream, right? I need to ask her about that.

The mana flowing off the petal is great, but not what I need right now. Especially if I get the giggles.

I drop it into my inventory, creating another segregated space. Even in stasis, I can feel it leaking small bits of energy into my soul-scape. Which helps restore my mana regen. Kinda neat.

With the petal stored away, I wait for a blaring alarm or approach of a Reaper. But there's nothing.

Did I seriously just steal the most secure thing in this room without being detected?

My soft laughter is interrupted as Letonga hoists one of the golden bricks, cursing to herself. “This… has to be worth more than I’ve seen my entire life. And this prick has dozens of them.”

I consider pointing out their relative lack of value compared to everything else in the room. But the satisfied smirk on her face as she puts it into her backpack stops me.

Sighing, I gesture with my elemental hand, replacing it with gold from the pile. “Here let me,” I say, lifting the entire stack.

Letonga nods, her smirk stretching higher as she dumps the one she’s holding on the floor. Then she starts shoveling the random objects from the pile into her backpack. I add the last block of gold to my collection as I look at the other three objects held behind secure enchantments.

Well, theoretically secure.

The first is a ring. It’s covered with golden writing, gleaming despite the darkness of the room. The second is a pile of string. Within the third enchanted display is an empty bottle.

As I’m reaching out to inspect them with Facet, I hear a familiar bellow from downstairs.

Dunderhead’s arrived.

Glancing at Letonga, I see her trying to fit yet more random items into her backpack.

We’ve got everything we need. Still, no reason to leave expensive toys behind. I refuse to touch any of the objects before inspecting them, not wanting to accidentally pick up a cursed or explosive item. I choose to ignore the fact the petal had a higher chance of being cursed.

Then I teleport all three at the same time, sending them to one of my new hidden teleportation waypoints for later analysis.

It’s nice being able to send things long distances without having to go with them. In fact… I repeat the process with the golden brick collection, sending all but one to the same place as the relics.

Then I use the last bar to sweep the room clean, teleporting it away as well.

“You just… Why didn’t you do that in the first-”

Another bellow from down the hall, this time Thunder-butt calls out. “Vellim! Brother, are you hiding in here? I’m going to tear you to pieces.”

Seriously, does this guy have a problem with everyone?

Deciding I have no intention of finding out, I teleport us away.

We appear at the waypoint, Uthica waiting nearby, a small obstacle course formed from the side of a boulder wall for Smoulder to play on. Midnight has decided to participate, serving as a launching pad at the beginning.

Uthica turns while Letonga is still regaining her footing. She already seems to be adjusting well to the disorientation of teleportation.

“You were successful then. I was starting to wonder,” Uthica states, even as the course collapses and she leaps atop Redstone’s back.

I nod as I prompt Midnight into the sky, pulling Letonga down behind me. “Wasn’t even that exciting. Might have found you a ring though.”

Uthica taps her chin, before saying in Vausian, “A ring? I may have completely misunderstood our relationship. I will need a moment to reassess… Hmm. Very well, I accept.”

“Accept what? I didn’t think rings meant anything to K’tharn?”

“You’re correct. But we both know what it means on Earth. To become lifelong Thiani with a ring?” she asks with a glance in my direction.

“Uh. Right. Nope, didn’t mean that. I’m sorry… I do love-”

Uthica’s laughter interrupts my explanation, as I realize she did that on purpose.

“Hmm. Sometimes, you are too easy,” Uthica states, tilting Redstone forward as we boost their speed and ascend above the clouds.

Narrowing my eyes at her latest turn of phrase, I blink at her. “Okay, you did that one on purpose. I think.”

“I would never give you the runway.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” I complain. But Uthica just throws her head back and laughs harder.

As Midnight’s huffing laughter joins her, I cross my arms shaking my head.

Too bad I can’t chase the smile off my face.

6.26, Just Give Me a Reason

Ukila Local Time: Late evening. (January 27, 1512)

Flying away from the Reaper spaceport, I can’t help but feel I could’ve gotten away with more under such a lightless night. But the spaceport’s glittering lights in the distance disabuse me of that notion easily enough. Besides, with Letonga’s brother’s body secure, we have a decision to make.

“Do we stay on Ukila or return to Akilo?” I ask Uthica, as I figure out which teleportation point is closest to the loot I teleported away.

“Hmm. Pros to staying, possible discoveries in the southern hidden cities. If we can find them,” Uthica starts.

Letonga speaks up, “I know the location of Thapier and Themetar. Well, the general locations. If we can find the Bounded Sea and the Endless River. And we might be able to find a map in either the Eldinsworn base or back in Nethon.”

“An idea we should’ve accounted for earlier,” Uthica laughs. “If we’re considering staying.”

I shake my head. “If it doesn’t take too long, maybe. I’m a little worried about hanging around though. Got lucky with the Reapers so far, but those cultists are packing toys that rip right through our defences. And the Reapers could be even worse.”

“That is understandable. To be honest, I’d like to see…” she glances in Letonga’s direction for only a fraction of a second, but it still causes her voice to hitch slightly, “my father.”

“Yeah. After we inspect our swag, of course,” I agree, having figured out which waypoint is closest to the one I chose to dump our loot at. I did not choose an ideal location, but while purloining our preciouses, I wasn’t thinking about the fact it could be dangerous to teleport directly to them afterward.

Definitely setting up teleportation points in pairs in the future.

Even so, we decide to fly the final stretch, enjoying the night air instead of teleporting along the horizon. I’m sitting side-saddle, leaned up against one of Midnight’s ridge spines as I watch the world go by, when Letonga asks, “What about me?”

“What do you mean, what about you?” I respond, my eyes locked on a pair of white and red birds that’d fit in on Earth as they chase each other back and forth.

Letonga huffs, “I mean. I can’t go home. And I can’t go back to the Eldinsworn.”

“Hmm. That’s up to you,” Uthica answers.

“Yep. Totally on your shoulders,” I agree, as the pair of birds pass into a small copse of trees below us.

“On my? But… no. I’m your responsibility. If you’d just let me die, I’d never have found out about Keztil. I could’ve… I could’ve… No, you saved my life. I’m your responsibility. You have to…” She trails off, drawing my attention away from the birds. She’s staring off into the darkness, but unlike me, her attention doesn’t seem to be focused on the wildlife.

I look to Uthica for support, but she just shrugs.

Closing my eyes, I contemplate the situation for a second. And that’s all it takes to make a decision.

“Fine,” I say, placing my hand on Letonga’s shoulder.

She blinks, turning towards me, her eyes narrowed. “Fine?”

“Fine. You’re right. You are my responsibility. But that means you’ll follow orders,” I decide.

“Never had to do that before,” she shoots back, her lips twitching upward for a second before the scowl reclaims her face.

Still, gonna count it as a win.

Our conversation is interrupted when Smoulder peeks her head up, yawning. After receiving a few headscritches, she breaks away to climb atop Midnight’s head, her tail flowing behind her as we soar through the night sky.

The waypoint where the loot is stored is located below the broken plains far from any known Reaper or hidden cities. Hopefully. There’s almost nothing on this part of Ukila. No forests, mountains or even hills. Just mana-vents and flat land.

Lots and lots of mana-vents.

Which means lots of roaming elementals.

When I unseal the stone wall blocking the space off, several gold bars tumble out.

Huh, slightly more packed than I expected.

“I think you could’ve chosen any other waypoint and it would’ve been tidier,” Uthica teases.

“What’d you do to our… what was your word for it? Swag?” Letonga demands. Again, her smile shows up for a moment before retreating.

I roll my eyes at both of them, answering despite myself, “Wasn’t important to me at the time. Was more concerned with possible traps and the god of beer kegs.”

“Beer kegs?” Uthica asks, testing the English words on her tongue. She says it perfectly. Her language ability is amazing. “Oh, for putting alcoholic beverages in.”

Yep. Amazing.

I start levitating the gold bars out of the crowded entrance. Then I stop and just make a second entrance through the stone instead, bypassing the crowded entrance to get to the rest of the shelter.

Once I’ve picked up the scattered items, I reseal both entrances and we get to the arduous task of discerning what we’ve acquired. Ha. Sorting loot. Arduous. That’s like saying a garage sale is arduous when you have three fresh twenties in your wallet.

Even as I carefully move the three special items to the side, Uthica starts tearing through the collection of other enchanted items, sorting them by general function. Almost immediately, after starting, Uthica stops, whistling low as she pulls a broom away. Handing it to me, she says, “it can completely restore a being’s physical form.”

Holding the stick with straw at one end up in front of me, I ponder whether it’d be enough for Letonga’s brother. Which is when I hear her crying again.

She’s staring at the broom, her eyes red. She mutters, “Maybe… if I hadn’t told you to…”

I rub my forehead with my elemental hand, which is still formed of pure gold. The softness almost makes up for its gaudiness.

This is why I should’ve just told her. Considering I managed to inform Uthica, I… yeah, I couldn’t tell Letonga. Not when we didn’t have a way to restore him. I’m about to explain but Uthica beats me to it.

“But we took your brother’s body,” Uthica states, her eyebrow raised as she relays my deception.

I want to thank Uthica, but Letonga stares right past her.

Letonga stands up and shoves me. She manages to send me stumbling a step, which seems to surprise her more than it does me, if her wide eyes are any indication. Then her eyes narrow again. “You… you made it look like you’d incinerated his body. Gone forever… You…”

“It does not matter. It would be a great waste to use this on your brother,” Uthica states, shaking her head. “It will be consumed in the attempt.”

I grab Uthica’s shoulder, and I’m about to reassure Letonga, but she beats me to it.

“No, don’t say it. I don’t have the energy for this. I need to sleep this is all just…” She walks away, finding my old room. She pauses outside it, pulling the figurine of her brother from her pocket. She raises it overhead where she holds it, her hand clenched as if she’s about to throw it to the floor.

But she stops, pulling it close instead. Then she grabs the door to my old room, pulling it open. Letting her have it is no great sacrifice.

Encouraging Smoulder to spend the night comforting her?

Now that’s a sacrifice worthy of a statue. Despite not wanting said statue, I open my pocket, urging Smoulder on. She nods at me once before impacting Letonga’s leg.

Letonga stares down at Smoulder for a few seconds before scooping her up and bawling into her fur. Then she disappears inside my old room.

Once Letonga closes the door, Uthica pats the spot on her earth bench as she asks, “What happened?”

Sighing, I sit down next to her. “I may have created a stone shell that looked like her brother before moving him into my inventory. Then pretended to incinerate the body that wasn’t there before turning it into a figurine.”

“Hmm,” Uthica replies, her lip twitching.

“You agreed it would be better not to give her false hope,” I remind her, though it’s lacking vigor.

“I did. Didn’t think that’d require pretending to burn his body.”

Slumping backward against her, I stare at the ceiling. “Thought it was a good idea. Give her closure. Magical super-healing items that don’t rely on someone having the System? Well, this is my first.”

Uthica nods, leaning forward. “It would be worth taking it apart to study the mechanics.”

“After what I just put her through?” I respond, flipping the broom over where it sits on the table. If not for the engraved runes, it would be a perfect wicker broom.

“Just a thought. I suppose it’s a fairly narrow use case anyway,” Uthica concedes. “Besides, you will scan it first. And we’ll study it when we heal him.”

“You know. It might not work,” I point out, even as I start scanning it with my Facet. And my scan agrees with her assessment. It should do exactly as she said, restoring him to perfect health. My System is also able to store a perfect copy.

Not sure how it’ll handle his soul though. If he even has one. Is that a System thing? Or my matrix? If it exists on its own, I doubt this thing will be enough.

Taking the broom from my hands, Uthica nods.

As she's inspecting it, I add, “My System says I can create a copy… for the low price of twenty billion mana. Roughly. Still, the enchantment seems solid. And it has a robust scanning system. If we could separate it…”

“Hmm. If you can replicate it, that certainly makes it simple,” Uthica says, “Even if it would cost less to fly to Akilo.”

Shrugging, I let the broom go, even as I share the scan with Uthica. But my gaze keeps drifting back to it as Uthica and I resume categorizing everything we found.

I was wrong.

Sorting through loot can be arduous.

After a few minutes of staring blankly at an empty bowl, I decide sorting through the loot can wait for morning. So I retreat to bed. I need to carve a new bed chamber, since I didn’t create the sanctuary with three people in mind. But that only takes me a couple minutes, most of which is ornamentation.

I spend far too long, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling wondering if I should use the healing-broom on Letonga’s brother right this second.

But no. Letonga needs to be there. And there might be something else that could help.

For the first time in a long time, I sleep poorly. I dream of standing over Ketzil, with implements in hand, as though I was the one to put him through the torture. In the background, voices accuse me of cowardice and recklessness.

Deciding I’m not going to get a proper night’s rest, I stumble into the common room. Might as well sort through the loot, even if… oh.

Letonga’s already there, broom held tightly between her knees, Smoulder cradled in her lap. She glances up when I enter but doesn’t say anything before returning her focus to the broom.

If she could activate the broom by staring at it…

Uthica emerges from her room half an hour later, finding me moving a small pouch back and forth between two piles, unable to decide which one it belongs in. It’s too powerful for the weak pile. But it’s too weak for my medium pile.

Plucking the bag from my hand, Uthica drops it squarely in my Reaper-tech-I-don’t-understand-but-will-soon-scan pile. I raise my non-magic hand in protest, saying, “That doesn’t-”

“Have you eaten yet? Either of you?” She asks, rolling right over my objection.

Food…

I shake my head, giving Uthica a small smile, “Nope. Did you have something in mind? I was thinking we could go for waffles. With some nice maple syrup.”

“Hmm. Earth food. Could be challenging,” Uthica says, her face set as she scratches her chin. Then her lip twitches as she pulls plates loaded with bacon, scrambled eggs, and sausage out. “But how are these for Earth-like breakfast foods. Your favorite Saturday morning meal? Just like your Papa used to make?”

“Uhm. Pretty close, yeah. How’d you get it all?” I ask, staring at the fried tubers on the side. She’s even managed the smashbrowns.

“I’ve had a few years to try most of the recipes I acquired from our shared memories. And it was… well, it’s silly, but I always hoped we’d find a way to meet. And if we did…” Uthica shrugs, holding a plate towards me.

“Oh. Thanks,” I say, taking the solid plate of nostalgia from her. Snagging one of the pieces of bacon with my newly steel hand, I hold it up. After staring at it for a couple seconds, I pop it in my mouth.

Its crispiness is perfect, though it’s sweeter than I expected.

Still… as Uthica convinces Letonga to eat, Smoulder nodding seriously beside her, I realize what it really tastes like.

Home.

6.27, Sweep it Off

Ukila Local Time: Morning. (January 28, 1512)

While I’ve been munching on my first piece of bacon on Ukila, Uthica and Smoulder have cajoled Letonga into joining us. We eat in a mostly peaceful silence, though Uthica throws out little quips every couple bites and Smoulder makes sure the food is the perfect temperature. Amazingly, it’s not maximum crisp.

Well, unless it’s for her.

Once I’m finished, I’m feeling better. Much better. Even Letonga seems to be in a better mood after her breakfast, smiling at a small pun Uthica makes involving sausage. A pun I don’t get.

Then Uthica resumes sorting loot, which prompts me to join her. Our focus is on any items that might help with the restoration. She finds a paste without any enchantment, but the label indicates it’s a multi-species fluid replacement product. Kinda like a universal blood donor, but for all the things.

As Uthica sets down the last item, a set of pins all stuck into a soft yellow ball, our attention drifts back to the broom. The paste is the sole possible item that may help.

Pushing myself to my feet, I take the broom in hand, raising the table to waist height. “Well. Best to get this done with then. Either it works… or it doesn’t.”

The table is cleared, and I scour it with a ball of water, mostly to assure Letonga we’re taking this seriously. Then I produce her brother’s body from within storage.

Letonga lets out a small gasp but doesn’t turn away.

I set the broom on his chest, the bristles covering his face. The first of the instructions my scan revealed. Uthica observes me with all four eyes, taking notes as I start pulling the straw away from the end of the broom. I stab each strand into his flesh, where it remains, stuck as though with the world’s strongest superglue.

When I’m finished, there are over a hundred straw spokes sticking into his chest. Which is the last of the prep. I tilt the broom handle upward, the ‘bristles’ remaining in place as the handle moves into a vertical position one centimeter at a time. Once it’s at a 45-degree angle, I stop. There’s a subtle wooden ring near the tip of the handle, and my hand locks around it.

Twisting the ring, I release the handle, stepping back.

The broom takes over at this point, continuing its inexorable climb until it’s perfectly perpendicular with the body.

Two things happen at once. The bristles start to move, stitching pieces of the body together. And the ambient mana is sucked out of the air, leaving us in a nearly mana-free room.

I step to the side, opening the entrance to the outside, and mana seeps in. But just as quickly, the broom sucks it up. So, I start manually cycling mana, breaking down food without absorbing it to supplement the natural levels. It’s calming, and I get lost in the cycle until Uthica shakes my shoulder.

Looking over, I see a healthy looking young elvenoid laid on the table, the shriveled remains of the broom lying on the floor. Letonga is turned away, her shoulders shaking.

Not saying anything, I step forward laying my hand on his chest, ready to store his body. But then it moves beneath my hand.

“Uh…” I say, pulling my hand back as his chest rises then falls. “I think it worked.”

The thud as Letonga spins, slamming her knees into the table fills the room. She doesn’t seem to notice, pulling him into a hug. His eyes are closed, and he doesn’t return her embrace. But he continues to breathe slowly.

An impressive recovery from completely dead.

“I think we should give them space,” Uthica suggests, tugging my elbow gently.

Nodding, I follow her outside.

Uthica leaps to the lip of the small chasm our sanctuary is nestled in, where Midnight and Redstone are lounging, watching the horizon. “That consumed an unusually large amount of mana.”

“Yeah,” I agree, following her up with a rare exertion of my own body. “But it brought him back. That’s impressive.”

“We’ll see. Just because the body’s been restored…” Uthica’s eyes track back to the empty doorway beneath us.

Neither of us says anything for a couple minutes, maintaining a silent vigil. Then Smoulder hops out the door. She doesn’t join us, just staring up at us for a few seconds while sending me a feeling of impatience before turning around.

Taking that as a sign, we descend. Letonga has set her brother on the couch. His eyes remain closed, but he’s not flopping over. Then again, she does have him propped up fairly well. She looks over when we walk in.

She stands up, snapping a perfectly executed salute over her left eye. “Commandant.”

Blinking, I Freeze time. This is like being made queen all over again. I can handle it. Just need to not laugh at the absurdity of her saluting me so soon after she was spitting in my face and beating on me.

Resuming time once my entirely inappropriate amusement has passed, I return her salute poorly, saying, “At ease.”

Despite slackening her pose slightly, she stands with her back stiff as a board, her eyes fixed on an empty spot in front of her.

“Nope. Absolutely not,” I say, turning away.

I catch her shifting her eyes in my direction as I return my attention to her. She quickly snaps them back, but at least there’s something to work with.

“You’re not my soldier. Yes, you’ll be following orders.” I hold up my hand as she starts to salute again. “Because the System thought it was funny to make me a queen. And I can accept that I’m in a unique position.”

Letonga glances at Uthica who’s leaning in the doorway, smirking at me. But that’s fine. Cause I finally figured out what I’m going to do with Letonga. It was obvious, really. “But I’m not a military commander. People need to tell me when I’m messing up. I don’t want your unerring loyalty at all times. So, yeah. You’ll be following orders. But they won’t be mine. They’ll be Uthica’s.”

Uthica’s smirk grows by a degree as Letonga stares at me. Then she eyes Uthica from the side. Her stance slackens, looking between us for a few seconds.

“No,” Letonga states. “If you don’t want my service. Well, now that I have Keztil back, I’ll try my luck searching for Themetar. If I can reach the Bounded Sea…”

Already moving, I take her by the shoulder. “Do you even know where we are? And how are you going to get him there?”

“We’re near the equator. There’s only one rift-field on the equator, so we’re somewhere in the Bellest desert.” She looks around the room, but whatever she’s looking for isn’t here, so she heads for the door, pausing in the entrance. She looks back at me. “I’ve survived this mana-cursed world for decades before you showed up. Now that I’m… With my new strength, we’ll be fine.”

I stare at her, and she lifts her eyes to meet my gaze. “Unless you’re willing to be my commandant. I’ll serve you. But I can’t serve her. I’ll kill myself before I allow the System to control me.”

I Freeze time again. She’s still staring at me, but I close my eyes to think. Maybe it’s worth it, taking the time to take her south? It wouldn’t take long, assuming we can find the city.

One less person relying on me.

Then I open my eyes, and glance at her brother. Unless the southern cities are far more advanced in healing than Ketenna was, his best chance is with the healers on Akilo. Besides… if we create a beacon, I should be able to return to Ukila.

Unpausing, I address her, “For now, you can follow me. But like I said. I don’t know what I’m doing. I give you a stupid order, you tell me. Unless we’re infiltrating a gaggle of demi-gods. Then you keep it to yourself.”

Letonga’s lips curl upward as she salutes again. “Yes swera.”

Choosing not to comment on the strange affection she gives the word sir, I add, “Oh. And I’d prefer if you didn’t salute.” To which she just salutes again, though this time she’s giggling as she does so.

She’s improving!

Then she turns away.

I join Uthica where she’s still leaning against the doorway, watching as Letonga returns to her brother, touching his face gently.

“I’ll admit. I didn’t anticipate that much disgust,” Uthica says, finally stepping inside. “I’ll admit the System isn’t perfect. It’s deeply flawed in fact. But…”

“Yeah,” I agree glancing at Letonga. Even Demo doesn’t seem to hate it on such a visceral level.

While Letonga fusses over her brother, Uthica and I return to the loot. Now that we’re not focused on healing Keztil, we inventory it properly.

There’s a lot of Reaper-tech that isn’t dangerous… well, to Uthica and I. There’s a kinetic rifle that would’ve probably left me broken and bleeding back on Earth, but now can’t even penetrate my skin from close range. A lot of the tech either requires years of training or is inferior compared to our Systems. Which means Letonga might just be able to repay us a bit since she knows how to use most of it. Shame we can’t use the good stuff immediately. If Uthica got a skill for it, she’d probably get a quest alongside the skill to destroy it.

Luckily, we didn’t just grab Reaper tech. There’s lots of enchanted goodies too.

The most common enchantment are items that are basically wands. Coming in fifteen different variants, including the needles in the yellow ball, only two are actually wand-shaped. One is, in fact, a pair of comfy hiking boots. But they all blow stuff up using elemental magic and have limited charges.

So I’m counting them as wands.

Four of our new treasures are little wireframe pyramids which stabilize mana in the area around them. Uthica suspects they were an active part of the room before we nabbed them, as opposed to actual treasure.

There are five different sets of armour, only one of which is remotely close to my size. They’re all similar to what Alaven was wearing when I destroyed him with my elemental spells, so I’m not certain I’d trust my life to them. Still, they might be worth having for the disguise value alone.

Then there’s the three unique baubles. Plus, my petal, which is still giving off light hints of mana from within my inventory.

When Uthica looks at them, none of the place of pride items are identifiable by her System.

And while mine gives me a perfect scan, it doesn’t immediately tell me what they do.

Still, by studying the projection of my scans closely, including the parts of the enchantment Uthica can understand, we’re able to determine a few details.

The ring with golden writing consumes its wielder from within. In exchange, it allows them to channel the power of the sun. At least, that’s what the glowing text says. Uthica’s unable to make out the enchantment to confirm. Considering it reminds me of some of the runes required for creating a functional mana-fusion reactor, I suspect it’s powerful.

The pile of string is suspended away from us as she studies it. It tried grabbing onto the steel I used to lift it, and ended up dissolving it. Uthica’s studies reveal it’s not enchanted. I take over, examining it with Facet. It’s entirely biological. Weak against fire, but most substances it touches will be consumed by its incredibly acidic surface. Except a few types of stone.

Leaving the acidic string in its new stone prison, we move on to the bottle.

“No enchantment,” Uthica states.

I nod, my Facet tendrils already going to work. “Huh. Nothing special. But why’d he have it in secure storage.”

Coughing from where she’s sitting, Letonga smiles in our direction. “There’s another reason to keep things stored away.”

“What?” I ask, looking between her and the bottle.

“Sentiment.”

Uthica and I glance at each other. Then we look back to the bottle.

“Did I steal his first bottle of booze?” I ask, looking at the plain bottle. It’s not even fancy. No runes or even the stamped shapes a bottle on earth might have. It’s just a plain glass bottle.

Shrugging, Uthica places it to the side.

We spend the next hour cleaning up. I’m tempted to dump the acidic string into the bottle, then drop the ring into them both. Just to see what happens.

But I don’t. I also don’t take any of them with me, instead taking them all to nearby mana-rifts, burying them separately. The ring is the only one I plan to retrieve. And only if I figure out how to convert it to a proper reactor.

With that completed, Uthica takes me to the side. “We don’t know if my quest will take others back to Akilo with me. It brought you the first time but…”

“But we don’t have any assurances. Which means we should build a beacon first.”

Uthica nods. “The mana-stabilizers should make it easier to create a proper array on this end. And once I’m home, it’ll be even easier to build one there.”

“So, do we just build it here?” I ask, waving around.

Rich, warm laughter fills our little sanctuary, as Uthica puts her hand on my shoulder.

“Here… in the… No. Definitely not. We’ll need to build…”

Nodding, I listen to Uthica as she begins to tell me what she’s been planning since she first mentioned the beacons.

As the details unfold, I look around the current sanctuary. It’s a decent size, probably a dozen meters across after the recent changes.

But it’s not enough. To build this beacon, we’re going to need more space.

A lot more.

Like, maybe, something the size of a castle.

6.28, Parts Run

Ukila Local Time: Noonish. (January 28, 1512)

Flying through the relatively small aperture at the apex of the new beacon enclosure, I barely notice the temperature dropping as I leave the morning sun behind, descending far beneath the surface. My thoughts of creating an above ground castle were dashed when Uthica pointed out that the best way to make sure it would survive unnoticed for half a millennium was to have it buried deep.

Near the entrance is our new temporary hideaway, where Letonga’s brother is stable but still unconscious. His condition serves as an uncomfortable reminder of Papa. Even if Keztil is tucked away in Letonga’s room, his presence rekindles thoughts of how I just gave up on Papa.

It also reminds me that I won’t be doing so again.

While Letonga hasn’t been very helpful with the raw shaping of the massive underground sphere where we’re building the hidden beacon, she did have an idea for speeding up construction. As we were putting the basic structure for the beacon in place, she suggested we raid the Eldinsworn for parts. Not from the port in the Gray Place, but one of the Reapers’ satellite bases.

Considering that I can teleport around the globe in minutes, I countered by suggesting we try buying what we need from some of the southern cities instead. And looking for something that might help her brother while we’re at it.

Either way, whatever we choose, it’ll come later.

First we need to get the main chamber assembled properly. Creating the dome was the easy part, especially since Uthica won't let me add any decorations yet. For the moment, the only Smoulder statues are located at the entrance.

With the main chamber completed, I'm focusing on reinforcing the structural supports of the beacon chamber so it doesn’t collapse no matter what happens over the next few centuries. Then, using a combination of Facet scans, and basic scanning spells, I lay out shafts that snake through the stone to redirect mana from dozens of the nearby mana vents directly to the chamber, though we hold off on connecting them for now.

Once done, each of the redirected mana vents will lead into a different part of the array Uthica’s constructing. Uthica is barely finished the basic outline, and expects to take another three days to complete it properly. Though she admits there are redundancies in the array she could omit if pressed. But her father is still sending her messages, so she’s not in a hurry. Not if it means having permanent access to Ukila.

I haven’t mentioned to her that I’m getting homesick. Not for Earth. But for my friends. I caught another glimpse of Tipan last night. Rufka’s still in the same exact position as the last time I glanced at the connection, which is encouraging in a way. It’s as though time has frozen for them. Not that I believe it. More likely, the next time I brush the connection too much, I’ll find out another week’s passed in their present. Or a year.

Just have to be careful not to return to that when.

A gust of wind tosses my hair in my face, pulling me out of my thoughts. I turn, using my fully recovered wind manipulation to neatly braid it before clamping it in place with a brooch formed from gold. Then I locate Uthica near the bottom of the chamber where she’s opened one of the vents, sending not just mana, but a constant breeze blowing into the chamber.

Flying next to her, I see where several runes are broken along the edge. “Problems?”

“Lexi. Perfect timing. Can you reseal this for me?” Uthica asks, yelling to be heard over the blasting wind.

Not bothering to yell my answer at her, I pull the edges of the stone together, reinforcing it with further layers until it stops feeling as though it’s going to buckle. Once the vent is restored to its original mostly blocked state, I look to Uthica for an explanation.

“The vent reacted to the runes. Created a feedback loop.”

“Don’t you normally have something to prevent that? Overflow runes or… what did your father call them, blobbers? The ones that soak up mana for later use?”

“That was for your benefit. And… I may have forgotten to include them,” Uthica admits, pointing to the ruined edges of her work. She’s right. Still more intricate than I could do, but her standard blob shaped runes are completely missing.

“Are you okay?”

Uthica pats my shoulder before kneeling next to her broken runes, clearing the damage away. “I’m fine. I tried to build this with as little System help as possible. Turns out it’s more difficult than I expected. The System is a powerful tool. Without it… well, there are a few more issues than I’m used to. That’s all.”

“Okay,” I say, fighting to keep a smile from forming. “And why are you trying to do it without your System?”

“Well, with all the issues you had when your System was flaring up… And the natives' ability to harness mana without the System… I wanted to see whether I could build this beacon to be completely independent,” Uthica explains as she starts carving new runes.

“Huh,” I reply, before kneeling next to her and studying her work. Most of it I can recognize, which makes sense, since she’s working on the simpler reinforcement at the moment. Once we’ve got the parts we need, we’ll be using several sections stolen from my ice castle spell to complete the chamber. All heavily modified though. “Won’t the System just… you know, take it over after?”

“I… don’t think so. The System isn’t perfect. And it seems to rely on connections to existing nodes. We’re half a planet away from the only Nexus on Ukila,” Uthica replies, her words accompanied by a shrug. “Worth the attempt, I believe.”

“Oh, definitely. And I should be able to help. I think I can just… turn networking off on my System,” I say, prompting it. And as I thought, it quickly shows the protocols for connecting to other Systems. Which I realize is how I’ve been able to help Uthica with her quests. And… I have protocols for fooling the System for the next few hundred years. All courtesy of the Forerunners.

Thanks to my admin status, turning off networking really is just that easy.

“Interesting,” Uthica says as I copy her runes on a nearby mana-shaft. Though I add the blobbers.

Then it’s my turn to watch her copy mine, though she makes the proper adjustments for the different location and mana-type coming from her vent. Which I definitely didn’t do.

After a few minutes of adjustments under her guidance, my reinforcements are up to snuff and we continue the work. With me laying out the basic framework, and Uthica making adjustments behind me, it only takes us a couple hours to finish the chamber’s basic setup.

Which means it’s time for parts acquisition.

Deciding to make use of our stockpile of gold bars, mostly to appease Letonga’s sense of worth, we’re soon in the southern hemisphere ready to crash the local gold market. The hidden cities should be a lot easier to find than I was expecting.

“So, this Bound Sea… it has an entire supersized ruin in the middle?” I ask while we’re taking a short break so I can get a proper fix on our next teleport target. Smoulder is once more atop Midnight’s head as I search the horizon.

“Yes. It’s said that old allies of the Ukilans once used it before they died out,” Letonga replies, making me arc an eyebrow.

“And Themetar’s on the western shore?”

“That is what I read, yes,” Letonga confirms through clenched teeth, her hands still grasping tightly to Midnight’s back ridges.

I nod, urging Midnight to take us higher until I see the superstructure peeking out of the land-locked sea. A sight that might well be visible from orbit.

The artificial nature of the structure is pleasantly juxtaposed against the vibrant green life struggling to reclaim it. I get a feeling of melancholy when I realize it’s the remains of the very structure the M’tari used to visit Ukila.

Our plans to pick up parts are derailed slightly when I guide Midnight towards the super-structure.

I can’t help but want to see more. To touch it with my own hands.

Uthica indulges my curiosity, following behind without a word, though Letonga squawks at the sudden shift of Midnight’s bulk. When I glance back, I see her barely holding on to his scales, and I’m reminded that not everyone is comfortable standing on dragonback. Not like me and Smoulder.

Perks of being near-peak Copper, I guess. And being able to fly at a whim.

Add to list. Teach Letonga to fly.

The ruins are mostly empty, a collection of stone and steel that has more curves than I’m used to, but could otherwise easily be found in any city on Earth. Other than their pure size. It takes a lot of room to accommodate an adult M’tari.

After a few minutes, we arrive in a clearing near the centre of the superstructure. An open space where the M’tari and their K’tharn hosts would mingle, trade and discuss ideas. There’s an amphitheater along one side that’s mostly intact that Midnight and Redstone settle on as I leap clear, Smoulder landing on my shoulder as I touch down.

Moving to the center, I let loose a sad chuckle at the idea of a lone K’tharn staring up at a giant M’tari to share a conversation. Given the height of the seating, the M’tari would’ve made Lord Thansome seem like a tadpole in comparison. Or maybe it just got shifted higher when the building collapsed.

My chuckle makes me realize that the space is shaped to redirect sound passively, causing my laughter to echo outward. I suppose that would’ve made it easier for the M’tari to hear their smaller friends. Smoulder lets out her own small growl, and it echoes around the chamber as if she were as large as Midnight. It even gets him to flinch, looking around for the threat.

Laughing once more, we continue exploring the ruins. There are a few more minor discoveries, but mostly it’s just an empty building. Any tech or memorabilia have been removed long ago.

So we leave the ruin behind, continuing to our actual destination. The hidden city. Though instead of teleporting directly inside, we go through the gate. We’re greeted by a pair of professional K’tharn, paying our entry fees in pure gold. Which is worth more than copper, but not by much.

Ukila’s economy is weird.

We’re even allowed to bring our dragons, though we have to promise they’ll behave.

Which is how I find myself once more walking down the streets of an Ukilan hidden city. Except this time I get to go as myself, and we have our entire entourage behind us.

On our way to a local scrapper the admissions officer recommended, I stop, Uthica walking up beside me. In the center of the plaza is a statue of a M’tari. One I happen to know. Edge Treader, the first M’tari to come to Ukila. There’s a plaque underneath, dedicated to the heroic sacrifice and loss of their great friends.

“Well, that seems silly,” I mutter.

“Hmm. I suspect they don’t want to expose their people to the System. And if they knew the M’tari are thriving on Akilo… Simpler this way,” Uthica says, her upper eyes closed as we inspect the statue.

“The M’tari survived the System?” Letonga asks from Uthica’s far side, her blue eyes flicking from us to the statue and back. “Huh. Not a surprise EIC got that wrong.”

“EIC?” I ask, even as we turn away, continuing on our way to the scrapper.

“Eldinsworn Intelligence Core is the official name,” Letonga replies, her eyes drifting back to the statue. “But most grunts agree that Everybody’s Idiot Cousin is more fitting.”

I grin at that. The comparison works in Letonga’s language and English. But not as well in Vausian, which is probably why Uthica’s squinting her lower eyes at Letonga.

The local scrapper, a K’tharn with a penchant for pausing in the middle of her sentences, doesn’t seem as well versed as Jazie. And she’s a little shocked when Letonga slaps one of the solid gold bars down in payment.

Still, that shock quickly turns to avarice as they try to sell us on all the other services and supplies they can provide.

Including an enchanted truck to carry everything in.

It’s a massive box, and instead of driving it, it follows the holder of a command rod around. No flight, but as a temporary measure, it’s pretty convenient. Smoulder enjoys perching atop it as we move through the city, and she’s soon joined by our pair of dragons. Midnight is mostly pleased about no longer having to dodge the frail mortals that keep running up to him.

Their claim means we don’t really have a choice but to buy it. Of course, we don’t stop there, buying their entire stock, clearing them out. Which includes a number of medical devices that may help Letonga’s brother. And then we go to three of their associates, cleaning them out too. I only have to create an extra ton of gold to do so. The mana I use to create it is recovered by consuming a single kebab found in a plaza near our second stop, alongside siphoning off mana from the petal.

Cheap parts acquired!

Once Uthica’s certain we have everything we’ll need, we investigate the local rules on accessing the library. Unlike Ketenna, Themetar doesn’t have restricted parts of the city. Well, technically, we have to pay to get inside the Library, keeping our multi-passes around our neck to show we’ve donated. But it’s only a few of their local coins. It’s not even a pound of gold.

Hmm. My sense of value might be getting a little skewed.

Soon we’re walking through the library, sans dragons, and I’m trailing my hand over the physical books. They have digital archives too, but just like on Earth, some people prefer the old fashioned method. Which is handy, since I can’t send digital files directly into my Temporal Library. Sure, I can add them to my journal, which I can read in the Library, but since just seeing a computer doesn’t transfer its contents to my Library, I need direct access to the data to copy it.

With a book, a simple glance is enough to snatch all that’s contained within.

If my Library didn’t have an auto-sort function, adding an entire library would be a serious hindrance.

“This is… not how I usually visit libraries,” Uthica notes after we’ve walked down the third row of neatly stacked books, my hand trailing along the spines as I glance over them.

I pause, looking at the book my hand comes to a rest on. A compendium on the characteristics of… some chemical I don’t recognize, and its applications in modern society. Except it’s dated about three-hundred years earlier. The entire section is labeled as something that roughly translates as applied physics, though the contents seem to be a mix of chemistry, physics and some principles I can’t even name. Turning to Uthica, I give her a shrug. “It’s new to me too. Efficient though.”

“Hmm. Can you even read these?”

Blinking, I look back at the book and realize I can. And I don’t think I’ve learned the local language.

“I… yeah, I can,” I reply, my eyes moving up the rows. And I realize I can understand the words on each of them, despite the fact they’re written in at least twelve different languages. “Looks like I have auto-translate for books.”

“That is so unfair,” Uthica says, huffing as she pulls a book off the shelf. A compendium of mana-principles, the common devices that incorporate them and their uses in the bedroom. Which was next to a tome about the history of great K’tharn scholars who first discovered nuclear power.

This library has the weirdest sorting system.

“What even is this?” Uthica asks, holding the book to the side. On the page is a device described as a dual-sided, high-heat, food-preparation aid.

“A toaster,” I answer, pulling the book away from her before I find out how that’s supposed to be used in a K’tharn’s bedroom. No good can come from such knowledge.

Putting the book back where it belongs, despite knowing the book shouldn’t belong anywhere, I wave them along. After considering it, I don’t need to be walking down the aisles. I’m pretty sure a glance will pick up most of the books.

“Are there any restricted books?” Uthica asks Letonga, who narrows her eyes in response.

Instead of answering, Letonga changes course, moving directly towards a pu’shaha that’s arguing with a K’tharn twice his size. Something about not having food in the library. Or about it not getting delivered properly? His accent is thick enough it’s hard to tell.

When Letonga interrupts, the K’tharn ends up slipping away and the pu’shaha turns his fury on her. Which she shuts down by virtue of asking, “Does this library have any good books, or is it all the normal boring Systemed crap.”

The pu’shaha’s eyes flash, only barely flickering over Uthica and I before returning to Letonga. “You ‘ink a ‘ittle jab like that is ‘nuff for muh to take you to Queen Alantha’s memorizes? Just oo’ do you think you’re dealin’ wit’?”

I blink as I consider my power again. And yeah… I don’t have to see them. Just him mentioning the name is probably enough.

“Is that all you’ve got? Even the smallest outpost has a copy of Alantha’s memoirs,” Letonga laughs. “I had to read them as a cub.”

I squint at Letonga’s use of the word cub. It’s… a little weird, given her clearly elvenoid features. Maybe she was raised differently?

At this, the pu’shaha breaks into a grin. “Who ‘aid anything about a ‘opy?”

Letonga’s eyes go wide, and I decide it’s time to step in. “So, I take it we can’t see it? Do you have any other interesting books?”

“No… and I ‘ink you’re done. Let me see your ‘ulti-pass,” he says, already reaching towards me.

I’m so shocked, I only barely grab it first. “What? Why? They said we could come back as often as we want.”

“That was before you started ass-, purv-, looking to read our goodest books. Who’re you wit’? The Selven Sisters? Thapier’s Grand Press? Are you part of the Sandwich assortium?” he demands, waving a tiny finger in my face. “No. It doesn’t ‘atter. I’ll ‘ave the headmistress deal with you ‘erself.”

I consider just… resetting time, to before we came in. But honestly, this is such a minor hassle I decide to see it through. Better than putting Letonga through another loop.

When we get to her, the headmistress ends up taking the pu’shaha to task. She even escorts us to look at their private collection as way of apology. Through a solid glass wall that’s enchanted so well I’d have a hard time breaking through it, but I can see the books. They’re each kinda fancy, but none of them are about anything groundbreaking. They’re just culturally important. And despite the barrier, I can see Temporal threads on each of them.

They’re thicker than most of the K’tharn I’ve seen.

It’s strange, considering almost nothing else seems to have a Temporal thread. So I poke my ability, trying to figure out if it has anything to do with it.

And yeah, it does. It’s making the threads of books easier for me to see. Or grasp.

I could change the story in one of their books. If I wanted to.

But… given the way the headmistress is standing, clearly proud of these books… yeah, that’d be so wrong.

Maybe the pu’shaha was right. It is time to leave.

6.29, The Beaconing

Ukila Local Time: Late Evening. (January 28, 1512)

After leaving the library behind, we decide to have dinner at a small stand that serves delicious noodles with crunchy veggies. And copious amounts of meat, of course. Ukilans may have mastered the fundamental forces of the universe, but they’re still K’tharn.

It’s funny that Midnight eats more veggies than a typical K’tharn.

Giving him big belly scratches after dinner, we’re soon on our way, leaving Themetar without fuss. Though once we’re a short ways outside, we stop to break apart the truck. As nice as it is, we’re unable to fit it into our storage in one piece. And the hassle of carrying it far enough away to teleport it without witnesses isn’t worth it.

Spatial storage is present on Ukila, but from what we’ve read, no one has teleportation. So I’m keeping from revealing my cards to yet another hidden city. Rather not have them shut off access like Ketenna. Not that we can confirm that my ability to teleport is why they bunkered up.

As I climb on Midnight’s back, Uthica and I are already discussing how we might modify the new storage compartment to transport something the size of the truck. Then our conversation shifts to our next steps with the beacon. With the truck and everything we acquired earlier, we should have all the parts we’ll need, though we’ll probably have to adjust our designs somewhat.

Once we’ve flown out of sight of the city, I teleport us directly to our underground beacon. Even in its early stage, it’s enough for me to use it as a destination while I’m still on Ukila.

Allowing for my companions' more regular need for sleep, we go to bed, though I spend nearly a day’s equivalent reading in the Temporal Library with Smoulder. The journal from Vrathorn’s ship is… worrying. It details a lot of torture sessions, and the author’s worry that Vrathorn is getting more and more obsessed with the unusual disappearance of Ukila’s mana-beasts. Which matches up to our arrival on Ukila, and our subsequent System guided quest.

Who knew people would notice us slaughtering hundreds of thousands of mana-beasts.

Whoops.

After reading the journal, I spend some time going through several books with Smoulder, teaching her the basics of the alphabet. My ability to transmit my thoughts directly into her head helps a lot. As does her burning desire to know more. She’s able to start reading through some of the basic picture books on her own after only a couple hours, though she keeps asking questions.

She’s strangely lacking in her usual smugness, though there’s a determination to her efforts that more than makes up for it. Until she gets tired, and curls up in my lap to think over what she’s learned.

When morning comes, I have some suggestions for Uthica about how we can use our windfall of parts. And she indulges me, before suggesting improvements. Letonga spends the day with her brother, using every device we found that might help. None of them require Uthica or I, so we leave her to it.

We spend the entire day assembling the chamber, before Uthica waves me over. “I think we’re ready for the first real test.”

“Oh?” I reply, arching my eyebrow at her.

“Yep. You need to figure out how to connect your targeting spell to that set of runes,” she says, pointing to a cluster of runes in the very bottom of the chamber.

“That’s it?” I ask, looking around the massive chamber that’s already three-quarters covered in runework linked by the more heavily enchanted components we acquired in Themetar. Which probably aren’t going to be enough to finish.

“That’s it,” Uthica answers, smirking at me.

Never a good sign.

“You’re not going to help, are you?”

“Not this time. It’ll be good practice,” Uthica says, squeezing my shoulder. “But do show me your solution before you put a new crater in this moon.”

Shaking my head, I fly to the rune-cluster. When I get close, her smirk makes sense. The cluster is at least twice as complex as the coordinate runes the System uses. Which makes sense, since it’s designed to work without System assistance.

Memorizing the rune is easy. Getting it to work with my existing spell is the real trick. I spend hours trying variations of my spell, but the answer evades me. I’m taking lunch with Letonga, complaining about my lack of progress when she asks, “Sounds like you’re trying to fit a square into a round hole. Your existing spell isn’t designed with such fancy coordinates in mind.”

“Could be,” I admit. “But I’m not entirely certain how to change it without Uthica’s help. Like, I have a million ideas, but none of them seem to be viable.”

“Write it down. Usually helps me,” Letonga suggests, rising from the table with a bowl of meat-flavored broth for her brother. Which I know she’ll be patiently feeding him.

Nodding, I write out the full spell formula on one wall of the sanctuary. I actually need to expand the sanctuary by an extra dozen meters to fit the full spell.

Letonga comes back into the room as I’m working through the target selection array. “What’s that?”

“The target selection spell,” I answer as I ponder the rigid nature of the grid storage system. It could probably be extended.

“Huh. You don’t do anything small, do you?”

“Not my choice. Need every one of these runes,” I say, as I split part of the wall, pushing it away so I can break the formula without too much effort.

“Sure. Just, when I said write it down, I meant like, on sheets.”

“Oh. It’s easier to work with it this way,” I explain. “In fact, I think I’ve figured it out.”

Connecting the expanded spell selection circuit, I run through the entire pattern from end to end. And discover I made it so one of my safeties was always activating, preventing the spell from doing anything but release the mana.

Another half hour of revisions later, and I have a working spell. Still, I run it by Uthica when she stops in for a late lunch.

“Your spellwork has improved a lot since we started,” Uthica remarks as she inspects my modified spellform.

“I have spent half a month working with you on improving it,” I point out, stepping next to her. “I was thinking that if I included an extra parameter, I might be able to expand the scope even further.”

“You want to reach Earth.”

“Ideally. I don’t have the coordinates but…”

Uthica drapes her arm over my shoulder, “I think it’s sweet. You have the Sanctuaries. Doing this means you want to come back.”

I nod. “Can you blame me? Akilo’s where all my peeps are.”

She chuckles, “I don’t blame you. Not at all. But you’ll need to return to your time first, I suspect. Not much point in going home if you’re five-hundred years early. Or coming back.”

“Yeah. About that...” I pause, mustering my courage.

“Soon then,” Uthica states, clasping me tighter for a second. “I won’t lie. I’ll miss you. But…”

Staring at the spellwork on the wall, Uthica smiles. “I never thought we’d have a chance to meet like this. Nor spend two weeks together, just the two of us.”

Letonga’s hey in the background is ignored as I gently shove against Uthica’s side with my shoulder. “Yeah. It’s been awesome. Personal lessons from the Lore-queen herself. You know you’re the-”

“Lexi,” Uthica reminds me, stopping me from telling her anything about her future. Well, anything she didn’t pick up from when she absorbed my memories.

“Sorry,” I apologize. “I’ll miss you too. But hey, I’ll still stop by occasionally. Long as I don’t die a horrific death trying to save Earth.”

“Don’t… don’t say things like that,” Uthica says, a shudder passing through her.

“It’s the truth. I’ve been avoiding it, here in the past. But once I go back, somehow we need to stop the mana-swarm.”

“Well, you can travel through time. Perhaps you can stop it before it starts.”

“Ha. Wouldn’t that be the dream,” I agree. “I just need to know when it happens. And where.”

“Keep your eyes open. And use your ability to recall memories perfectly. Perhaps you already know,” Uthica suggests.

“Pretty sure that if I knew when the apocalypse was launched, I’d remember it.”

“Perhaps you can at least find a hint,” Uthica says, nudging me with her elbow.

I nod, though I don’t hold out much hope. “Need to know where it comes from too.”

“Hmm. Still easier than stopping a class-5 mana-storm.”

“At this point I’m feeling like teleporting the entire planet would be easier than stopping the storm. Don’t suppose you could arrange the runes for that?’

“With five-hundred years to prepare? Probably.”

“Huh. Yeah… with five hundred years. If I could bring the others back…” I try to picture it, and a memory of a conversation with Wyonna slams into me like a physical punch.

It’s so vivid, it’s as though I’m once again floating in the air high above the very first dungeon, Lescado. Though this time, instead of the text I read originally, I can hear Wyonna’s voice.

(Wyonna) "Oh, and just like an ocean there are powerful creatures that lurk within the depths."

"But I'm not going to have to worry about those, right? I'm just a person in a motorboat," my past self asks, making me reflect on how much I’ve grown. I could barely pause time, forget about moving through it. Am I still just a motorboat?

(Wyonna) "Well, you should be safe. Considering their existence has only been inferred. They're suspected to be behind worlds disappearing from history. But since the worlds just disappear, it's hard to know. Plus, there aren't many people in motorboats to compare you to either."

“Was… what was that?”

“What was what?” Uthica asks, her arm still around my shoulder as I readjust.

“Just… I don’t think… Bringing the others back might be a mistake. In fact, I might have… I shouldn’t be here. I’m putting you in danger. I might be putting all of Akilo in danger.”

“What? Lexi, what are you talking about?” Uthica asks, pulling her arm off my shoulder and turning me to face her.

“She warned me. It feels like forever ago, but Wyonna warned me,” I say, clasping Uthica’s hand as I think about the rest of the conversation. “And I think my System tried to warn me too.”

“About what?”

“Time. About messing around with time. There are predators.”

“Predators. Predators who prey on those who use time-travel?” Uthica ask, her eyes narrowing.

“Yes. I mean, she didn’t have proof. But…”

“But?”

Taking a deep breath, I glance to the side before returning my gaze to Uthica. “But my blessing probably came from one. And it protects me from lesser predators. But not all of them. And the risks are real. Wyonna said planets have disappeared before. Entire worlds where all that’s left are the people who were too far away.”

“That… that is rather disturbing,” Uthica admits, her arms going slack as she steps away.

“Bit of an understatement,” I agree, slumping down on the stone couch and staring at my massive formula.

“But…” I start, staring at the expanding circles around part of the formula. “It might not have anything to do with predators.”

“Oh?”

“When I was first experimenting, I travelled back… and everything around me was gone. Just poof, like it’d never been there.”

“Ah, yes. You think-”

“I think predators might not be the main cause of planets going poof. Or at least, not all of them. Mostly, it could’ve just been people who tried to jump too far. If I’d tried to jump a year back…”

“Hmm. There was no such effect when you first arrived.”

“Uh. That’s probably not repeatable,” I say, trying to imagine tearing myself apart, locking myself in a System provided Seed, and then breaking out each time I wanted to travel backward in time.

Honestly, half of it I don’t even know if I could do on my own.

“The next thing to check. Does it happen when you move forward through time? Or…”

“Or am I stuck here with you?” I tease, sticking out my tongue at her. But then my face falls. “That’s a good question. Scary, but good.”

“But one that can be answered with minimal risk,” Uthica reassures me, patting my shoulder as she sits beside me.

I nod. It’s going to be weird though. Jumping forward through time. How am I… “Huh. Need to figure out how to create an anchor in a time I haven’t been to yet.”

Uthica looks at the modified spellwork on the wall. Then she pats me on the shoulder again. “We’ll figure something out. Forward should be easier than backward. At least we’re going forward already.”

Staring at her, I smack my head. She’s right.

“You have an idea then,” she states.

“Literally anything could be my anchor. I just need to connect to it at the right when,” I explain, leaping into the air as I fly back and forth. “It’s like a delayed teleport. I might even be able to use the same coordinates. Shouldn’t even be difficult, we put objects in stasis all the time. That’s basically jumping forward in time for the object.”

“Good. Now, I should get back to work. Let me know if you need help with the testing. Also, don’t forget to test that. It should work but…” Uthica gestures at the wall.

Right. Almost forgot about the teleportation spell. Well, I can test that first.

After one more check.

6.30, Boulder Bob's Bad Day

Ukila Local Time: Evening. (January 29, 1512)

I brush the grit from my hands, my new testing circle bisected neatly by the evening shadow of my largest measuring stone. It occurred to me that my new teleportation spell might have side-effects, so testing’s been postponed until Uthica’s finished with her work for the day.

And while she’s working on fine-tuning the runes, it’s the perfect time for me to do some initial test runs for jumping forward in time.

Though I’m also considering how I might use it on something else. Being able to put someone in stasis would be… It’s been on my list for a long time, but honestly, blasting them with elemental energy was always easier.

But since I’m doing the testing anyway, I might as well start with some inanimate objects first. And what better inanimate object than my brand-new test-dummies, boulder-Bob and his boulder-buddies, Bob’s boulders.

My boulder-gang aren’t just stone-people. No, they’ve been upgraded with rough contours, scraggly exteriors, and advanced personal features, like eyes and big boulder noses. It might be insensitive, but it’s the noses that earned them their new designation as boulder-people.

I want to show my efforts to Smoulder, but alas, initial testing is too dangerous, so she’s back with Letonga. Who can probably use the support anyway.

It’s frighteningly easy to envelope my first boulder-person. In a process similar to storing something in my inventory or my first attempts at teleportation, I wrap them in Facet. Though my technique is vastly improved compared to those early attempts.

Instead of pulling the fully enclosed boulder-person through space… I give it a gentle nudge. Just a tiny push forward, along its admittedly weak tether.

The boulder-person disappears. Which is promising. It’s hard to estimate how efficient the process is going to be. So, even though I used the smallest smidgen of Facet I could, I don’t know how long I’ll need to wait.

Sitting patiently for five minutes, I start to worry. After another ten, I’m flitting back and forth, flaring my elemental-hand between elements every few seconds.

After another thirty minutes, I’m considering sending a second volunteer on an excursion when my first reappears with a crash. At least, most of it emerges. They seem to have misplaced their left arm-

Crack!

Oh, there it is.

As the arm clatters to the ground, I inspect the integrity of my boulder-person. Other than the missing arm, there are several nasty looking cracks cobwebbing out from the neck, shoulders, and knees.

Huh. Need extra Facet around the joints. Noted.

My next boulder-person emerges with all their limbs intact. And only thirty-two minutes later. But there are still cracks around the joints.

So, theorem. Using more Facet reinforcing the joints means they don’t go as far when sent forward. Downside… same thing. They don’t go as far forward for the same amount of Facet.

The third experiment provides supporting evidence, the boulder-person reappearing only fifteen minutes after I pushed them forward with a much thicker Facet-shield. And they’re completely unharmed.

Not exactly the sort of stasis I was thinking of, but it’s a promising start.

And while further tweaking is required, the sun’s gone down, so it’s time to talk to Uthica then test the new teleport spell.

Flying back to the beacon chamber, I peek inside. But Uthica’s already retired.

When I enter our sanctuary, I notice that Letonga has altered the wall behind the couch. It’s divided into neat grids, and one of the grids has an image inscribed. Walking over, I see a finely detailed depiction of Uthica and I surrounded by Eldinsworn, the defeated Pandregen in the background. I can’t help but note that despite Uthica handling the encounter, I’m the focus of Letonga’s art.

Special attention has been given to my missing eye and elemental hand, both having not just incredible texture, but slight colouring.

A gentle cough pulls my attention to the side where Uthica is waiting.

“Hey,” I greet her before looking back at the picture. “Did you see this?”

“Hard to miss. It’s an interesting way for her to practice her magic,” Uthica says. “But forget the cave scrawls. How did your tests go?”

“Good,” I answer, before relaying the results as we head back to my test circle to show her the damage to the boulder-people.

“Another devastating attack,” Uthica notes.

“You realize I’m specifically trying to keep it from hurting people, right?”

“Which is why you’ll be so effective when you use it for harm,” Uthica states, sending a shiver down my spine. It’s not that she thinks I’d be capable of it. It’s that she seems certain I’ll need to.

Shaking myself, I finish relaying my results. Uthica nods along.

“Any advice?” I ask.

Uthica’s lips curl into a frown. “Not yet. I think I should observe a test directly. After we’ve got the beacon configured. Speaking of-”

“I think I’m ready. That’s why I was looking for you,” I answer excitedly.

Uthica bumps me with her elbow, asking, “Not because you wanted more ‘breakfast’?”

The last word is in English, but I don’t deign to comment on her perfect enunciation, instead focusing on the spell formula for the upgraded teleportation spell.

With a final check, I imbue the runework with Facet with a wave of my hand.

Cause it’s cooler that way.

Even as I appear in the center of the massive beacon chamber, a thought occurs to me. I haven’t been using runes in any of my temporal efforts. Super excited, I’m about to run back to tell Uthica until I realize something.

She’s going to kill me for not mentioning this earlier.

Yet when I return, her wrath is non-existent, simply giving me a small smile as we return to our shelter for dinner. The savoury smoky scent of our dinner pervades the lounging area as Uthica explains her concerns.

“I’m not certain what runic structures would even help with your Temporal experiments,” Uthica admits. “Even overflow runes could have unintended effects when used in conjunction with Temporal energies. At least with Spatial experiments, we have the System to draw upon. This is all… new magic can be very dangerous.”

“More testing,” I say in agreement, using the single golden finger I’ve shaped into a fork to stab a cube of smoked meat. “But runes might give me the control I need to make it to back to my present.”

Uthica nods as we continue talking, discussing possible supplemental runework, though it’s all theoretical. Letonga joins us for all of five minutes before declaring us both ‘blathering runeheads’ then turning to her work on her wall.

Sharing a smile with Uthica, I wipe my wall clean of my teleportation spell, and we start drafting out dozens of different Temporal designs to test tomorrow. It’s well after midnight when we finally retreat to bed, where I Freeze, only to spend another day helping Smoulder with her new love of reading while reviewing my notes more.

The next two days of real-time are a mix of flurried testing, socializing while helping with the chamber and spending days in Freeze reading about portals and poring over the results of my Temporal experiments. In truth, Smoulder and I spend almost a month in Frozen time and with her growing literacy, she’s even learning how to pretend to listen.

Our bond means I can tell she’s not able to understand any of the issues I bounce off her, but she has perfected her head nod.

The early tests aren’t as promising as I’d hoped. Even the most basic of runes causes strange effects.

Like the standard extra capacity rune causing boulder-Bob’s arm to take the place of his nose. Or when Uthica’s array of reduced flow-rate runes turned his foot into a super sonic projectile.

Still, we make progress on my new spell and the beacon.

When Uthica finally announces that the chamber is complete, I’ve managed to send boulder-Bob-23.1 safely into the future by precisely one-hour. Not one second more or less. The enhanced accuracy is accompanied by an equal increase in efficiency.

If I’m right, subsequent tweaks should allow me to send boulder-people forward in increments of fifteen minutes. I set four more on longer test runs, in increments of three hours before leaving my test circle to talk to Uthica.

“Nothing more to be done here. You should be able to lock on to the chamber from anywhere within the star system. Hopefully farther,” she says in way of greeting when I arrive inside the chamber.

“Hmm. Do you think it’s going to be strong enough to return from Earth?” I ask, which causes her to look up from where she’s inspecting the runes along the central landing platform.

Uthica gives me a small smile, with a matching shrug. “If it doesn’t, I’m not certain I’m capable of one that does. And I’m still struggling to understand the mechanics of portals. The System doesn’t want to help with them at all.”

“So, now that we’re done… do we assault the Eldinsworn Nexus point complex… that’s a mouthful,” I observe as we pace the edges of the central podium raised in the center of the beacon chamber.

“We could. But we should perform as many tests as possible first.”

I frown. More tests means time spent working on teleportation. Which means less for my Temporal experiments.

“Sure you’re not just trying to keep me here longer,” I jest, deciding Uthica’s right, we should confirm it works.

Uthica doesn’t answer, stopping a step behind me. She’s staring at me with her eyes narrowed.

“Do you really believe everything is about you?” she demands, flying away before I have a chance to respond.

“What?” I ask the empty air, staring at the empty aperture Uthica flew through.

Confused, and more than a little hurt, I sit on the edge of the podium gazing at the runes below.

They’re intricate. Hours upon hours of work etched into every surface I can see. Not a single aspect of the chamber is untouched by Uthica’s hand. And I’ve been so absorbed in getting my new time spells working, I didn’t give her a single compliment or word of thanks.

Right, time to apologize. I slip off the edge of the podium, hoisting myself into the air and returning to our sanctuary.

But Uthica’s not there. Instead, I find Letonga working on yet another scene. This is the seventh. All of which feature me in the center of different scenes of my time since I first arrived in the past. Including things I haven’t mentioned, such as our time in the distant valley with the Vartha. Looking at them again, it’s easy to discern that each specifically emphasizes my efforts while minimizing Uthica’s contributions.

“What are you doing?” I demand, fed up with Letonga’s pseudo-art.

Letonga looks over, the stone that was rippling under her hand growing still. “I’m recording your achievements. Someone should.”

“Those aren’t just mine!” I yell. “Every one of those is more Uthica’s doing than me.”

“That’s not how I see it,” Letonga responds with a shrug.

“You weren’t even there,” I say, pointing at the picture of the Vartha.

Letonga looks up at me, her smile showing far too many teeth. “Oh, but I was. Don’t you get it. Whatever you did to me, you’re in my head. I saw it all.”

“I… what?” I ask, stepping back. “That’s… that’s not how it works.”

“How what works?” Letonga asks, stepping closer. “Your little mind-spying trick? I didn’t know what it was, until I saw you using it on Uthica.”

“But…"

“And you know the worst part?” Letonga asks, stepping next to me.

I shake my head as she presses me against the wall, her breath hot against my ear as she rasps out, “You don’t even want me as your own. You just want me to be safe.”

She pulls back, sauntering back to her drawings.

Emerging from the shelter, I stumble along the bottom of the chasm until I reach the far end. Then I flop down, staring up into the sky, watching the clouds drift lazily by.

My watching is interrupted by Uthica flying into the chasm. She flies directly into the shelter, without a glance in my direction. I lay back, staring straight into the sky as my thoughts continue to circle.

Uthica interrupts my view of the sky again, but this time by interjecting herself directly above me. I scramble into a sitting position, saying, “Uthica… I’m sorry, I never meant. You’ve been amazing. And doing so-”

Placing a finger over my mouth, Uthica starts laughing.

Staring at her, I can’t help but feel indignant. I was trying to apologize and she’s laughing at me.

As I narrow my eye at her, Uthica stops laughing before drawing me into a hug.

“Uh. I feel like I missed something,” I say, returning her hug half-heartedly.

“Letonga was bragging about getting you to yell at her,” Uthica says, releasing me from my hug.

“Okay…”

“I… you were right. I didn’t need to make such a powerful beacon. And we don’t need more tests. But both mean you’re here longer,” Uthica admits. “They’re both still good ideas. But that’s not why I was suggesting it.”

I’m unable to keep my eye from blinking as we stand there in silence for a few seconds.

“Can you forgive my selfishness?” Uthica asks, her upper eyes closed and her lower ones staring directly into my lone eye.

“Sure,” I respond. “If you can forgive mine.”

“Nope,” Uthica denies me, “You’ll have to earn your forgiveness. Three games of Vaus’ champion after dinner tonight.”

“What?” I protest, “I forgave you without conditions!”

Uthica nods. “Hmm. You clearly need to work on your negotiation skills.”

“My… this isn’t a negotiation. It’s a heartfelt conversation between friends.”

“Sisters,” Uthica corrects.

I look at her for a second. “Hmm. I don’t know. Would a sister hold back her forgiveness in exchange for three measly games of Vaus’ champion?”

Tapping her chin, Uthica looks away before answering, “You’re right. A sister would never withhold her forgiveness for three games of Vaus’ champion.”

“Thank you. Apology acc-”

“She’d need at least five.”

6.31, Uneven Affections

A note from Draith

Minor edits

6.21, Slightly more description about what Lexi did to shape Letonga's soul-scape

Letonga grimaces. But then she says, “No. You’re doing what you think is best. What do you think they’re doing?”

“Killing people,” I answer, no doubt in my answer as I start inspecting her with my Facet, through our bond, allowing me to peer directly into her soul-scape.

“Because we thought… because they think it's the right thing to do.”

Satisfied she’s not going to cause me any trouble, I go back to inspecting her soul-scape. It’s more of a slow slurry than a real landscape. It’s similar to the fog that hung over my soul-scape, but there’s nothing underneath.

And my System tells me that the slurry is unaspected mana.

Without a System of her own, Letonga has no way to control her soul-scape. And when I poke at it through our bond, using strands of Facet, it bulges away. So, that’s where I start. With Uthica’s and Smoulder’s soul-scapes to serve as examples, I start shaping Letonga’s soul-scape with Twilight. Unlike when I was attempting to reform my own soul-scape, her fog responds quickly, practically leaping into place.

6.23, Lexi wonders about the System not detecting the Reapers.

Of course the anti-System Reapers are the Patrons of the Eldinsworn. Or Reapersworn, I guess. But why hasn't the System detected them? As I rub my head, Letonga keeps talking.

Ukila Local Time: Evening. (January 31, 1512)

After Uthica’s horrible attempt at extortion, I leap forward trying to put her in a headlock as I say, “Oh, so that’s how you want to play it.”

Uthica slips my attempt at a headlock, managing to pin me completely while still having an arm free. Until I deploy my swarm of steel and gold hands. Even then, it’s still nearly a draw until Uthica calls out, “Fine! Two games.”

I pause, considering her offer. Then I nod, holding out my now alloyed hand.

She takes it, and we shake as though we’ve made a deal for the ages.

As we turn to go back to the shelter, I pause.

“What? Are you worried about Letonga? I can handle her,” Uthica reassures me.

“It’s not that. Well, actually it is that. But it’s not about being able to handle her. It’s about what she seems to want from me,” I admit.

“Oh. She finally told you then,” Uthica says, walking forward.

“Yeah, she… wait, finally. How long have you known she has the hots for me?”

“Since that incident where she collapsed on your chest and kept nuzzling herself against you,” Uthica answers.

“Nuzzling? She wasn’t…” I think back to Jazie’s and when Letonga pushed herself against me. “Oh. Wow. Have I ever mentioned I may be the densest person ever?”

Uthica laughs. “Hardly. Have you met my aunt Jethico? Did I ever tell you about the time she…”

By the time we walk into the shelter, I’m laughing at the tale of Jethico’s string of ignored suitors. Many of whom she later lambasted for not expressing their interest clearly.

“I can be rather ignorant of such things myself,” Uthica admits as we enter the living room. Letonga isn’t there at the moment, setting me at ease. Until I notice the new addition to the panels on the wall.

“Okay. Now I know that didn’t happen,” I say, looking at the graphic depiction.

“She seems rather eager to demonstrate how she would prefer to serve you,” Uthica says with a chuckle.

“Yeah. Kinda having second thoughts about that. Probably best to get her brother to a healer on Akilo then leave them in Themetar,” I inform Uthica while turning away from the overly sexual depiction on the wall.

A high pitched ‘Eep!’ causes me to look toward the hall leading to Letonga’s room. I don’t see her, and my connection tells me she should be in her room. But I didn’t even consider she might be able to hear us.

“I’m constantly messing up today,” I mutter to myself, receiving a squeeze from Uthica. “Next shelter. Soundproof walls. That shouldn’t be that hard, right?”

“The walls are fine. You need better doors,” Uthica observes.

Sending her a weak grin, I move down the hall to Letonga’s door. It’s closed, but she could’ve done that after I heard the ‘Eep’. I place my hand on the door for a second instead of knocking. What am I even going to say? Thanks for your dedication, but since you’re into me, I’m gonna dump you and your brother in the southern cities with more wealth than you can carry?

Well, maybe I can lead with the wealth part.

Raising my currently gilded hand, I give the stone door three sharp raps.

Letonga pulls it open immediately. She snaps to attention, no sign of her earlier aggressiveness. “Commandant.”

“Letonga,” I respond, glancing past her to where her brother rests on the second bed, surrounded by little sculptures I don’t recognize. And one I do.

“I’d like to apologize for earlier, commandant. I don’t… I don’t know what came over me,” Letonga says. Despite the hesitation, her voice remains flat, devoid of inflection.

“We should talk,” I say, tempted to rub at my head. “May I come in.”

“I’d rather you not,” she responds, her eyes flicking to the side as she adds, “I’m not sure I could prevent a repeat of my earlier actions if we were alone in my room together.”

“Ah. Of course,” I say, clearing my throat. “About my comment about bringing you back.”

“Please commandant. You don’t need to explain. My actions were inappropriate.”

“Yes,” I agree. But then I take a deep breath, closing my eyes and looking towards the ceiling. “But not unappreciated. If I didn’t already have a thiani, a woman I love very much, I’m certain I would’ve entertained your advances.”

Letonga stiffens at my words, her eyes scanning my face frantically.

“Your thiani?” she says, testing the word, “They’re female?”

“Yes. Is that strange?” I ask, squinting at her shift in the conversation.

She doesn’t respond, searching my face instead. Then she straightens again, saying, “Not weird at all, commandant. A god can love whomever they choose.”

“So can you,” I reply, feeling upset at the idea that the only reason she might be okay of my love for Rufka is because I can stand toe-to-toe with a Reaper.

“If only that were the case,” Letonga responds, her strict control of her face slipping into a sad smile as she gazes at me.

Whoops. Probably not the best choice of words there.

“I mean. You can like girls,” I start, but she’s already shaking her head. “Look. You can stay, so long as you understand there’s not going to be anything between us. But I won’t be here forever. I’ll be going back to my time. And you’ve already made it clear you won’t work for Uthica. Leaving you with the M’tari or bringing you back to Ukila are the only reasonable choices. And I won’t leave you broke. You’ll have all the money you could ever need.”

“Yes commandant,” she responds, her salute as crisp as ever. But I can see the beads of moisture in the corners of her eyes. “If you’ll excuse me. I should see to my brother.”

“Of course,” I reply, letting her close the door on me.

Walking back into the lounge, I see Uthica standing next to the graphic depiction, leaning forward and inspecting it.

Kinda forgot about Letonga’s… art.

“You know… she’s getting much better with her fine control skills,” Uthica comments, turning to me with a giant smirk.

“Oh hush,” I reply, glancing at it once before turning away. Can’t quite bring myself to wipe it clean, but I don’t want to stare at it either.

“Well, this seems like a perfect time for Vaus’ Champions,” Uthica states, sitting across from me as she draws the board out.

“You know, I still need to do those tests,” I remind her even as I settle into the second chair.

“Later. I mean, you’re the fancy time-mage, right? You’ve got all the time in the world.”

I stare at her, then glance down at where she’s setting the pieces on the board.

Hmm. I can do more Temporal testing while we’re playing. And if it happens to give me an advantage…

Well, that’s just a happy accident.

After our fourth match, Uthica calls a halt. “We should test the beacon. And then make plans for returning to Akilo.”

“You’re just saying that cause I finally won a game,” I smirk. Despite cheating, it took four games and I only won once. Maybe if I’d actually been willing to Rewind to replay moves, I could’ve done better, but until I’ve sorted Letonga out…

Well, having her loop back with me would just make our current situation even more awkward.

Uthica tilts her chin upward and slightly to the side, “A proper queen would never stoop to such a tactic to forestall defeat.”

“So, you’re saying, you would?” I ask, placing the uncaptured pieces to the side of the board.

“Of course,” Uthica admits, returning the board to her inventory as we pack the pieces in their case. “I’d rather be the Queen who wins, than one who’s proper.”

“Ha. I bet,” I say, looking toward the hallway where Letonga remains. She hasn’t come back out since I talked to her. Which… I guess makes sense.

I purposely stride to the entrance without acknowledging the art on the wall. Uthica joins me seconds later, and we go off to resume testing. We spend the next few hours repeating all my spells except Rewind, but with Uthica observing and giving feedback. We don’t make any important tweaks, just a couple minor improvements to efficiency. In fact, she has less suggestions than usual.

Despite that, it’s surprisingly fun.

The sun has long set when we finally return to the shelter, still discussing adjustments I might be able make to the long-distance teleport to further improve efficiency. Which mostly comes down to a much longer casting time, and possibly offloading some of the casting to my Channeling ability. The idea of using it for spells again is almost weird after using it for increasing my Attributes for so long now.

Still, Uthica thinks I might be able to combine the multiple channels with a beacon to ‘steer’ a teleport slightly. I’d just need one that lasts long enough to test.

Like, say, coming back from Akilo.

When we enter the lounge, my eyes drift over to the mosaic on the wall. The scene has been wiped away. And most of the others have been adjusted slightly. Now Uthica at least appears in all of them.

Still doesn’t get central billing, but it’s progress.

As we settle in, I invite Letonga out to discuss our incursion to get Uthica to the Nexus.

Eventually Uthica states what we’ve been beating around for too long.

“It doesn’t make sense for all of us to go together. Keztil remains unconscious. And there’s no guarantee the System will take either of you with us,” Uthica states, pointing at Letonga.

“So. Instead of risking yourself, you want to leave us behind to just wait for you,” Letonga snaps, leaning toward Uthica.

“Yes. It will be easier for Lexi to learn the new rune if she’s there when I craft it,” Uthica states, not rising to Letonga’s challenge.

Before Letonga can respond, I nod, saying, “Agreed. It would be easier. But you’ve already taught me the combination. And with the ability to use it to look ahead, I’ll be able to join you from here.”

“But-” Uthica starts.

“And I can see directly through your eyes, thanks to the connection. We can’t just leave Letonga here on her own. Who knows how long it’ll take to get the beacon on Akilo working,” I state. Uthica winces slightly at that, and I reach out to grasp her hand, reassuring her I didn’t mean anything by it.

As I release her hand, Letonga’s intense gaze burns into me. Her jaw hangs open, just slightly, but enough to make an audible snap when she closes her mouth.

Pretending not to notice, I push Uthica to continue with our planning. With just Uthica invading, it's simple. Basically, a repeat of her previous intrusion. After some scouting of course.

We go to bed with a plan solidly in mind, teleporting across the world the next day.

It’s only as we’re standing on dragonback, thousands of meters in the air, staring at the complex with Twilight-enhanced vision that we realize we’re going to have to amend our plans.

The entire complex is gone. And the Nexus node has disappeared with it. Uthica’s quest still says it’s there, but…

Flying closer, we soon confirm our original suspicions. The compound really isn’t there. There are hints of its previous existence. Stone foundations that are already being overgrown. A discarded flag, torn and ripped to the point it’s nigh unrecognizable.

But no buildings, and no Nexus.

“What happened to them?” Letonga asks, her voice cracking as we dismount.

“Internal disagreement?” I ask, holding up a rock that’s been cleanly severed as Smoulder peers at it from my shoulder. Same as my abilities. Or the Eldinsworn’s rifles.

“Looks like it's a few days old. Probably not long after my last visit,” Uthica remarks, accepting the stone to look it over. Then she tosses it to the side while leading the way toward the Nexus.

“Vrathorn?” Letonga asks, looking around. “They said he was vindictive. But to wipe out an entire outpost?”

“Whoever it was, they don’t want us leaving,” Uthica states, pressing her hand against an invisible barrier.

My hand comes up beside hers, as Letonga kneels on my other side. She presses one of the stolen Reaper devices against it, waiting until it starts beeping.

“It’s a city defence screen. Access is locked, no password. Never seen one this small before,” Letonga says, leaning back on the balls of her feet.

“You said those things can last for years,” Uthica says, staring at the empty space. The Nexus is only a few meters away.

“Depends on the power source. But for a shield this small? A decade easily.”

As Midnight shifts behind me I turn, finding him waiting patiently. I take in the rubble, the empty space and the barrier stopping us. Then my eyes flick upward as a thought strikes.

I start laughing. A deep full-bellied laugh that fills the clearing.

Letonga and Uthica stare at me, and I try to wave my laughter away. But it just occurred to me.

We want to get back to Akilo. The Reapers have stopped us from using the Nexus to teleport home. The Reapers have ships.

I’m going to steal a ship from a god.

6.32, Watered Down

Ukila Local Time: Evening. (February 1, 1512)

“I have an idea that’ll solve all our problems,” I say, turning toward Uthica whose hand remains against the invisible dome at the heart of the empty clearing. The morning sun makes her appear as little more than a silhouette until I shift to the right.

“All our problems? You’ve figured out a way to keep invaders from ever bothering Akilo again? And found a new form of government that will stop corruption? A solution that will allow me to win at Vaus’ Champions against father?” Uthica asks, arching her left eyebrows. “What is this miraculous idea?”

“Clearly, the commandant has found a way to pierce the barrier,” Letonga states, nodding at the dome. As she asks, my attention drifts towards the dome, and I send a thread of Facet towards it. Only to have that thread snapped off. Hmm. No, not snapped. Sent forward. They've put themselves in stasis, it seems.

“Okay. Not all our problems,” I reply, waving my hand at them as my attention turns back to my idea. “But I do have a great idea! We steal a ship from the Reapers,” I proclaim, my smile still firmly in place despite their attempts to disarm it.

They both remain silent for a second before breaking into laughter as loud as mine had been.

Uthica recovers first, saying, “You want to… steal… Hmm…” Pacing back and forth, she starts nodding to herself.

Letonga is still laughing, though whether she’s laughing at me or with me has yet to be determined.

On the other hand, Smoulder is already nodding on my shoulder. It’s the same nod she practiced while indulging me in my temporal tangents, but the support is appreciated. The fact that Midnight is now copying her is a little worrying though.

“It’d be best if we pull it off in a single attempt. If they find us, I suspect they’ll do this to us.” I wave at the scoured clearing around us. “So, you know, going to need to Rewind if things go wrong.”

“It’s a terrible idea,” Uthica states, all four hands on her hips as she looks in the general direction of Nothen.

“It is,” I agree, laughter threatening to spill forth again.

“But…” Uthica begins, her ear twitching.

“But…” I repeat, a chuckle slipping out.

“It’s better than trying to teleport between planets without a beacon,” Uthica admits. Then she smiles. “And it’ll be fun.”

It’s at this point that Letonga’s laughter decreases from inhibiting to nervous giggles, “You’ll need… need to get inside. And you… you’re known now. They could… be… waiting.”

“Yep. That’s part of what makes it fun,” I state.

“We’ll need to make preparations,” Uthica says, kicking a piece of razored building loose as she paces. “And you’ll need to figure out what’s going on with your Rewind.”

I nod, and we return to where Redstone’s waiting at the edge of the old compound, glaring at Midnight who was supposed to wait with him. Then we start flying away from the sealed Nexus point, Letonga still giggling behind me as Uthica and I start discussing what we might need.

Several hours, one good night’s sleep and a great deal of planning later, we stand outside Nothen at another Temporal waypoint. One thing I have to say in favor of them having their little complex in the middle of a rocky bog. There are thousands of excellent spots to prepare. Which is good. Cause there’s a very real chance I’ll need to reset time at least once.

Thankfully, Letonga’s little inclusion in my Rewind doesn’t seem to be universal. As long as she’s not standing within a hundred meters, I can Rewind without affecting her. And if she’s close, she’s actually better at handling the side-effects than I was when I first began playing with time. Probably helps that my Rewind spell barely resembles the crude attempts I started with.

There’s one hurdle we can’t plan our way around though.

Choosing a ship.

I’m inclined to take Vrathorn’s. That it’d have the side benefit of shutting down his pseudo-slave trade is definitely a factor. Uthica hasn’t ruled it out, but she’s not letting me forget we don’t know what he’s capable of.

I’m not minding the idea of going in with the intent to reset. It means I’ll be able to have fun. No real consequences. Unless I bring Letonga with me.

Best not to subject her to getting killed for some Reaper’s amusement.

The bog is at its most foul beneath the afternoon sun, but I’m able to ignore the stench as I appear near the outskirts of Nothen. Mostly. Occasionally I catch a whiff, but mostly I’m able to ignore it as I fly past the outer pads. The lighthouse ship and Oda’s monstronsity both remain, but they’ve been joined by another ship formed of vines and blossoming flowers.

It’d be a perfect ship for Josh.

Ignoring the ships, I head directly for the central arena, where all the amenities and entertainment for the Reapers are located. As well as Alaven's ship.

And hopefully, Alaven.

He’s already proven that he can’t keep his mouth shut. And maybe I’ll learn something that I can use against him. And if not… well, maybe we’ll steal his ship instead of Vrathorn’s.

When I get close to the crowd around it, I can’t help but wonder if maybe his ship should be considered part of the entertainment. The nearby Eldinsworn are far more boisterous than those moving around the rest of the complex. There are wrestling rings, dancing stages and long tables with people drinking scattered beneath the boughs of the ship.

All of which are packed.

Seems like he’s having a party. The revelers grant me a wide berth as I approach, floating above them.

Alaven himself bellows out when he sees me.

Given his habit of seeking me out, no matter what form I take, I decided to come directly to him this time. Since I’m resetting time, I haven’t even bothered with a disguise.

Watching the crowd part between us keeps me amused as Alaven stomps toward me, several Eldinsworn following close behind him. He stops a dozen steps away, staring up at me with bleary eyes. “I don’t recognize you.”

“You wouldn’t,” I respond, letting a tiny, lopsided, smile sneak onto my face. “But I know you, Alaven.”

“Of course, you do. Who doesn’t know the god of Thunder and Stone!” he roars at the crowd surrounding us. They answer back with a mighty cheer. It’s legitimately impressive. “So then. Who do I have the pleasure of addressing then?”

“I’m known as Pandora to some,” I answer, keeping the smile locked firmly in place.

“Pandora?” He says, testing my name on his tongue. “That’s familiar.”

“It’s from Earth,” I inform him, taking the first of the risks Uthica and I agreed on. The Reapers have the ability to travel outside of mana-space. And they’re far too close to human to be accidental. So, time to find out if they know about us. The biggest problem is whether Earth was a common enough word back in the 1500’s. Or whenever Alaven last visited, if he did. Linguistic drift. Total pain.

Alaven glances at his wrist for a second, then he turns his brilliant blue eyes on me again, though this time there’s a dangerous gleam in those bleary eyes. “Earth is off-limits. And I’d have run into you if you’d been there before the quarantine.”

I Freeze time for two reasons at the end of his sentence. The first is to consider what he just revealed. I thought he might’ve heard of Earth, but he’s been there? And not just visited, but spent enough time there to know every other Reaper before it went under… whatever this quarantine is. I wonder what happened?

The second reason I Freeze is to see if he has any way of detecting it. Last time I used it, I’d already attacked him. And he wasn’t in much of a state to observe anything by the time it was over.

When I end the Freeze, I say, “The word is from Earth. I never said I was.”

He narrows his eyes further. But then his face splits into a smile. “Clever. You’d get along well with Vellim. He likes word games.”

“Oh, if half the things I’ve heard about Vellim are true, I doubt I could keep up,” I say, glancing past him to see his Eldinsworn's gazes turning outwards.

“Nonsense. He isn’t half as clever as the stories make him out to be. Though he is as arrogant. And annoying,” Alaven declares, drawing laughter from the surrounding Eldinsworn. “So Pandora, what brings you to my camp on Feast-day?” Alaven turns, pointing at a table. The Eldinsworn there scramble away, clearing the space. Alaven gives them a very short bow, before waving me toward the close end.

Nodding, I begin floating toward the table as I answer, “Would you believe I’ve come because I find myself in need of a ship?”

“How did you arrive in Melcretis without your ship?” he asks, setting himself at one side of the table, making a come-hither motion to a nearby Eldinsworn. They dash in as he makes an order for food and some drinks.

“Circumstances beyond my control,” I answer, alighting gently on the bench across from him. I spread a thin layer of stone across the ground, keeping my feet out of the muddy sludge that dominates the area.

“An experiment gone wrong?”

I raise the eyebrow above my missing eye at his question but give no other response.

“Sorry. Not many other reasons for injuries like that. Especially for such a skilled Arcanik,” he says, accepting a large tankard from a returning Eldinsworn. This one is bolder than most, stopping to stare at me for several seconds after giving Alaven his drink. I deign to meet his gaze, giving him the same small smile I used on Alaven.

He doesn’t handle it nearly as well, tripping over himself as he scrambles away from the table.

“Yep. You’d definitely get along with Vellim. He likes terrorizing the people too.”

“All I did was smile,” I reply while accepting my own tankard from an Eldinsworn who refuses to meet my gaze.

“An Arcanik’s personal attention? And one who’s taken the Oath? Your visage could still Oda’s loins,” Alaven says, laughing at his own joke.

Despite wanting to know what exactly an Arcanik is, I don’t want to reveal my ignorance. So, I turn my gaze on him instead. “Are you implying I’m less than perfect?”

“Perfect. Funny word that, you know it means different things depending on context,” Alaven says, leaning toward me.

“Oh?”

“I’d say you’re not perfect. Beautiful, yes. But not perfect.”

Freezing time, I center myself. As far as my self-confidence has come, I still wasn’t ready for Alaven to call me beautiful. Especially with my missing eye. Which means… he’s trying to manipulate me.

When I unpause time, I say, “Oh. Then you’d say I’m flawed?”

Alaven grunts a laugh, “We’re all flawed. Despite what the Orators say. Never met a trueborne who was better than the people.”

At this, I can’t help but give him a genuine smile. But then I remember he’s a murdering dickface who kills these same people because he thinks it’s funny. Or at least that was my impression when he attacked Letonga. “On that we can agree.”

“Take myself for example. I have a nasty temper. Plus, I do things I regret all the time.”

“Oh?”

“Yep. Like a few days ago, I tore into Vrathorn’s ship searching for my brother Vellim. Because I was certain Vellim would be the only one who would dare cross Vrathorn,” Alaven smiles at me, taking a long sip from his tankard before continuing. “Cept it wasn’t him. It was some other trueborne. One no-one could identify. I thought they were the perfect thief.”

“You thought they were the perfect thief? But something changed?”

“Yep. They got away clean. No trace. But they took something important. Vrathorn’s greatest prize. A petal from the world tree.”

“No?” I gasp, leaning forward. “From Yggdrasil?” I find myself asking despite myself.

“Yep. There’s been no sign of it since the theft. Like it vanished. Until ten minutes ago,” he says, a giant smile plastered to his face as he points his tankard in my direction.

“Ah,” I say, leaning back as things click into place. He recognized the Norse word. He really does know Earth. And the fact the petal is from the world tree of legend… well, that has all sorts of interesting implications.

Alaven nods, his eyes scanning me from head to foot. “Not strong enough to have it on you. But you’ve seen it. And recently.”

Managing not to laugh at his statement is tough. But it’s good to know he can’t tell I have the leaf sealed within stasis. “Perhaps.”

Handing his tankard off, he receives a new one from a waiting Eldinsworn before turning back to me. “You don’t have to worry about me spoiling your fun. Never seen Vrathorn so mad before. Would’ve sworn he was chiseled out of ice until you made off with it.”

“So… this is why I’m not perfect?” I ask, nestling my chin in my golden hand.

Taking a long draw from his tankard, Alaven nods. “Pretty much.”

“Huh. Disappointing,” I reply. Which manages to get him to spew his drink. His choking laughter is cathartic.

“Pandora, you might be the most interesting trueborne I’ve met since we closed off Midgard. Other than my brother, of course. And he’s so troublesome, he’s not worth the effort,” Alaven manages to say after only a couple seconds. “You should stay. Keep me company.”

“As enticing as that sounds, I have things I need to do. Perhaps in the future,” I say, taking a sip from my tankard. Then I stare at it. Are they serving watered down honey? Shrugging, I drink most of it. It’s not bad but lacks any kick.

“Right. You said you needed a ship. Any preference?”

“Well, I had my eye on a certain model with giant wolf, lizard and cat skulls serving as entrances,” I inform him before finishing the last of my drink.

He chortles. “What’d Vrathorn do to you? Wait, don’t answer that. If you want to steal his soul, I don’t want to be involved.”

“Well, I never said that. It was just a whim,” I reply, trying to figure out what Alaven meant by soul. Maybe I don’t have as good a grasp on this language as I thought. Either that or Reapers are stranger than they appear.

“Ah, too bad. He’d never recover from that.”

“Oh, so now you’re encouraging me?” I ask.

“What? I’d never encourage such a thing. Definitely not. I’d also be honor bound to destroy anyone attempting such a theft. If I knew they were involved,” Alaven leans forward, lowering his voice while giving me an exaggerated wink. Smoulder’s more subtle than this man when she’s on fire and smashing through a horde of monsters. “It would be especially disgraceful if I were to learn someone had stolen detailed plans of his weaknesses from my own database.”

I can’t quite keep the smile off my face at that. Yep. Subtle as the hammer strapped to his back. “It would be, wouldn’t it.”

“But enough of that. Let’s drink!” he declares, shouting for mead. Maybe it’ll be stronger than what we’ve been drinking. Still, I should be moving on.

As I’m trying to think of a reason to excuse myself, another four drinks are set on the table. Two for each of us. Feeling betrayed by nameless Eldinsworn #57 as she retreats from the table, I pick up one of my mugs. Prepared for something stronger, I’m surprised when it’s just as weak as the first cup.

When Alaven sees me down it without issue, he calls for another round. Before I know it, we’ve each drank ten full tankards. At first, he was befuddled at my ability to out-drink him. But now he’s just plain fuddled. He’s definitely showing the effects, but I remain sober as when I arrived. At some point in the last three tankards, his words stopped being legible.

And after the last, he starts snoring in a puddle of his own drool.

Guess I win.

6.33, All Green Thumbs

Ukila Local Time: Noon. (February 2, 1512)

I excuse myself from the table, asking for the nearest bathroom. My competition with Alaven seems to have tempered the crowd’s fear. Now they step to the side in a calm but collected manner instead of scrambling out of the way. Not sure how I feel about that. There was something entertaining about the scrambling, yet I prefer not to be a figure of terror.

Alaven's ship is as blunt and obtrusive as he is, little more than a squat cylinder with thick fins sticking off the side. The fins don’t even have a nice symmetry to them. They’re scattered across the side of the ship, as if at random. On the other hand, it is the most spaceship looking ship I’ve seen so far.

However, despite his apparent desire for me to steal the plans from him, gaining access isn’t as simple as walking in. Instead, I end up needing to pause time to rifle through several Eldinsworns’ pockets to find a passcard.

Access card in hand, I step into his ship. Harsh light greets me, the first hallway a series of closed doors with simple portholes. Moving through the ship, I check each room for anything that might resemble the database he mentioned but find nothing.

There are lots of storerooms, some full of tables, others full of products I'd expect to see in a medieval trading settlement, like coarse furs and hemp rope. It's kind of surreal to see them inside of a spaceship. Then again, when I think about the decor outside, it matches the theme. Maybe he just carries around extra. Do Reapers not have access to extradimensional storage?

That’d be weird. Maybe he just doesn’t stick everything in storage.

I continue my search, eventually moving up a level. Finally, on the third, I find what might be a console. On my second pass through the room.

To be fair, nothing here shares any resemblance to Vrathorn’s ship. And the console doesn’t look like a console. It’s more of a stone monolith. But it’s a stone monolith with words atop it, the runes shifting in real time, with a dull gray orb slowly swirling at its peak.

I step closer to check it out and… And I can't read the damn thing. Figures my translation only works on actual books. Maybe I should've brought Letonga.

Well… that's easy enough to fix.

Setting a new teleportation mark inside Alaven's ship, I teleport back to Letonga and the others. They barely have enough time to be startled before I cajole Letonga into joining me. Then we're back in the ship, with Letonga reading the display. At first, she starts reading out each line, but I interrupt her, "Don't bother. It's a waste of time for you to teach me now. Just find out if there's a way to transfer everything quickly. And make sure we get everything on Vrathorn's ship. Alaven’s too."

"Yes commandant," Letonga answers, shifting the runes across the surface of the tablet. She continues working while I check the hallway. There don’t seem to be many people inside Alaven’s ship. And those who are here, don't bother me, what with the mistaken impression I'm a Reaper and all. Eldinsworn don’t float several centimeters off the ground at all times.

Still, I'd rather not have one stumbling over Letonga as she works, so I keep my intimidating self in the doorway.

As I’m waiting, I glance over at her and notice that the smooth orb on top of the monolith is shifting as she works. Mostly it remains dull grey, but occasionally, a purple streak of lightning shoots through the orb, like an oversized marble. I stretch my Facet out to scan it…

Only for my Facet to burn.

Quickly terminating the attempt, I’m thankful when the feeling immediately stops. A quick check of my Status reveals that other than a few points of Focus, I don’t seem to have lost anything.

Further inspection of the ouch-marble is interrupted when Letonga cries out, "Got it!"

Shifting my focus, I see her printing… yep, printing, stone tablets out the side of the monolith. The pages are still just a bunch of gibberish, but between her and Uthica, I'm sure they'll be able to translate it quick enough. Nodding, I take her back to the waypoint, leaving Alaven's ship behind.

He's passed out in the common area anyway.

As Letonga pulls out her copies, I realize she's copied more than just a few notes. She throws a map of Vrathorn's ship on the recently formed table. I check it against my memory as Uthica and her pour over her other pages. There are several passages that I don't recognize. Hidden, perhaps?

It only takes Uthica a minute to translate the first few pages to Vausian, handing them over for me to read. There's a lot. Everything from arming and disarming codes for Vrathorn's weapons to the weight of his ship at time of landing. "Wow. Why would they need to know how many candles he brought?"

"Wax is a controlled substance," Letonga answers offhandedly, working with Uthica to create an accurate legend for the translated map. I'm tempted to ask more, but it's not relevant. Instead, I start copying each page into my journal with the intent to send myself back. Alaven said he'd be honor bound to come after me if the theft was detected, and I wasn't exactly subtle. But if he doesn't even remember talking to me… It's hard to imagine being more subtle than that.

I'm only halfway done transferring the pages to my Journal when they finish with the map. The latest page is a detailed description of Vrathorn's favourite drinks over the last twenty years. When I realize it, I pause, looking over at Letonga. "Did you just copy everything?"

"Faster than reading. And you have as much time as you need to read," she says, shrugging as she wipes a word clean, correcting it with Uthica.

"Hmm. This should be everything," Uthica says, holding the map out for me. "I'd like to check it all again."

"I still need to copy these, so, you have a couple minutes," I reply holding up the half finished stack of translated pages. "But if you're not done by then, I'll probably go with what you've got so far. I'd rather not be here when Alaven wakes up."

Uthica nods, keeping the map. Then she and Letonga start combing over it again. I don't pay them much mind, other than when they raise their voices over a disagreement regarding syntax, trying to copy the other files as quickly as I can. Scanning physical stuff into my journal is tedious. Should’ve just made them into a book.

As I'm finishing with the last page, a treatise on souls, the power of the Orators and hymns reminding good Talini to partake in their daily bio… something, Uthica holds the map out to me. "Good as we can make it. It'll have to do."

"Thanks," I reply, taking it from her. It's definitely an improvement. And I was right about the passages being hidden. It appears a solid third of the ship is sectioned off behind hidden doors. Why weren't Vrathorn’s treasures hidden? Did we just take the obvious loot?

Deciding the answer can wait until after I reverse time, I tell them, "Okay, I'm going back.”

Uthica pulls Letonga away before she can say anything, both of them waiting far outside the safe zone, Smoulder on Uthica's shoulder. I can feel Midnight’s confusion as he joins them.

I wave goodbye as I Focus, letting my mind grow still.

The transition is rough. So rough, that when I arrive in the past I'm knocked to my knees as pain blossoms in my chest. It takes me several minutes to recover and it's only as I do that I see Uthica and Letonga on the ground, Smoulder nosing at Uthica. When I attempt to go to them, trying to float forward, the pain flares again.

I roll on the ground for a minute before testing my magic once more.

And am answered by pain.

The magic works, but it's accompanied by a wretched twisting feeling. Turning my attention inward, I find a network of cracks stretching throughout my soul-scape. And I notice that something important is damaged.

The ugly tree.

It looks as though something has taken the already miserable tree and beat it with a flaming sword. Or more accurately, struck it with lightning.

Even as I take it in, it cracks again, a piece of it crumbling up and folding inward in a flash of purple-tinted blackness.

That’s… probably not a good thing.

I… need to make repairs. Again. Things need to stop messing with my soul-scape, damn it.

As I start pulling at the sparse fog, I realize I don’t have enough. But I have lots of food in stasis. Then a whiff of mana seeping into my soul-scape reminds me of something else that might help. The petal. Pulling it out of stasis is… weird. Because as I hold it in my hands, I realize I could draw it directly into my soul-scape.

But that’d be crazy.

Right?

Running my hand over it, I think about the ugly tree within. I never wanted it to be a pillar of my soul-scape. Is that why it’s being consumed?

Could I… replace it?

Stroking the petal again, I'm filled with a sense of peace.

The peace of eternity.

Yeah… this could be an upgrade. As I prod my System, it confirms it. It also takes this opportunity to inform me of a ‘Critical Structural Error’. Which apparently it’s been trying to do since I tried scanning the dome atop the monolith.

Figures.

Willing the petal into my soul-scape has me collapsing to my knees again. But then I don’t have time to pay attention to my body. The petal needs guidance, and for the moment, I’m the gardener.

At the crack’s widest point emerges a sapling, its vibrant white trunk pushing out of the ground beneath the ugly tree at my urging, its leaves tinted gold.

The distinctive scent of maple pervades my mental senses as I contemplate the sapling. Its roots look frail, barely reaching the edges of the new tear. It’s going to need support to pull things back together. So I start feeding it the wisps of mana-fog. And when it rejects the fog, I consume some of the food in my inventory. But the mana from that isn’t right either.

So I try feeding it Facet instead.

My limitless Facet suddenly seems like far too little as the sapling stretches. Still, I’m maintaining a balance, as I guide the sapling’s roots to grow throughout my soul-scape, using them to thread it back together.

Then there’s a surge as more of the ugly tree collapses into nothing. And my Facet starts disappearing faster than I’m generating it. And there’s no way to stop feeding the sapling. Not safely. Because it seems I’ve bound my Temporal thread into its structure. It’s a convoluted mess, its roots interwoven with my thread in a week in either direction.

I need more Facet. I'm going to need to supplement it just to keep my soul-scape from collapsing.

And I need to supplement it now.

Emerging from my soul-scape, I see Uthica looking my way. I wave to her, and she nods before turning her attention to Letonga, even as I see Midnight tilt his head down to look at me from above. They’re okay, and he’s watching over me.

Which is good, because I'm so low on Facet I'm about to run out. I don't know what might happen to my soul-scape if that happens. Turning away from Uthica, I pre-emptively return to my knees. I don't have time to be gentle.

I siphon off a fifth of my resources in an instant to refill my Facet. Fluid streams down my face as I cough quietly. I don't take time to address the blood. My Facet’s still draining, but it’s nearly balanced. I have an hour at most.

Slipping into my soul-scape, the sapling responds quickly to my first attempt, drawing together a small crack along the edge. I continue in a similar manner, working the edges together and making quick progress. But after only ten minutes I'm nearly out of Facet and the sapling's roots aren’t nearly pervasive enough to replace the ugly tree's.

When I emerge to restore my Facet again, I feel the rush of wind on my face.

I'm held in Uthica's arms and we're flying atop Midnight’s back.

"Glrk," I cough out. Then I spit the blood in my mouth out, before trying again. "Where are we going?"

"Away," Uthica grunts. Then I notice Letonga is strapped down in front of me. It would seem I'm not the only one still suffering aftereffects.

"I... need to keep working. Something borked my soul-scape," I inform her.

Uthica just grunts again.

Taking that as assent, I clench my teeth before restoring my Facet at a more reasonable rate. I can't afford to keep depleting my Health with the amount of Facet I'm going to need. Diving back in, I continue my repairs. It takes me five more cycles before I have my soul-scape repaired enough I can return my attention to the sapling. Except, it’s no longer a little sapling.

It’s now a tree half the thickness of the ugly tree. In the back of my mind, I knew the sapling was growing, sucking up my Facet the entire time, but I hadn’t realized how much. It's as though every repair I made strengthened not just its roots, but the tree itself.

The ugly tree is half gone, but its former presence can be inferred from the twisting curves of the new tree. As I look at it, I realize it has a name.

Hope.

Well, that’s… the short version. Its full name is The Small Seed of Hope That Grows Into the Future.

But I’m just going to call it the hope tree. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem to be intelligent. It is heavily interwoven with my System though. As another piece of the ugly tree collapses, I feel the drain on my Facet grow slightly. Then a new root forms, matched by a branch above.

It seems I’ve reached a stable point, but my Facet regen’s going to be a bit sporadic until the ugly tree’s gone.

Still… it should be enough.

When I open my eyes in the real world, we're no longer near the ugly bog of the Grey Place. Instead, we’re over a sprawling network of rivers weaving beneath rocky cliffs, flying north. The rising sun is the most obvious sign of just how long I was working.

"Morning," I say, my voice cracking.

"Oh, thank Astra," Uthica says, hugging me closer, making me aware of the solid lump of Smoulder nestled between us. Her purring is so low, the passing wind is louder. Letonga is no longer strapped in front of me, instead riding on Redstone’s back at our side. But she doesn't look much better than I feel, a scowl fixed firmly in place.

"What'd I miss?" I ask, brushing crusty flakes off my face.

"Letonga returned with you again. And I was hit by something too. Luckily Smoulder and Midnight were unaffected. Pulled us out of the bog," Uthica answers, ascending slightly to take us over a cloud.

"Wait, pulled you out? You were on the shore when I recovered."

"Yes. Because Smoulder and Midnight got us out."

"Good girl," I mutter, providing her with headscritches. Then I lean forward and give Midnight scritches behind his head ridges. “You too. Good job.”

After a huff from Midnight, and a slight uptick in Smoulder’s purring, I turn back to Uthica. “Did I miss anything else?"

Uthica glances behind us, across the empty bog. "The Eldinsworn started searching the bog. They weren't close, but there were a lot of them."

"Damn. Can't help but feel this is all-" my words are cut off by a hiss as the pain blooms in my chest again. I've run out of Facet. As I slowly restore it manually the pain is manageable. Almost nothing, really. Well, compared to some of the things I’ve been through. "Pretty sure it's all related to the damn marble breaking my soul-scape."

Uthica nods. "Are you able to take us back to camp?"

Wincing, I shake my head before answering, "No, I'm running on fumes until… well, however long it takes to get my new soul-scape fixed. I should be able to leapfrog a bit though."

There’s a moment when Uthica smiles I think she’s going to make a joke, but instead she says, “Well, we should probably review your findings then. We’ve a long flight ahead of us.”

Sighing, I create the first of the sheets I copied, about to hand it to Uthica. Then I stop, staring down at it.

As I turn it over, I realize something else has changed.

I can see out of both eyes.

6.34, Eye of the Forerunner

A note from Draith

Minor edit to 6.34

6.34, Clarified that the time reversion was successful

The transition is rough. So rough, that when I arrive in the past I'm knocked to my knees as pain blossoms in my chest. It takes me several minutes to recover and it's only as I do that I see Uthica and Letonga on the ground, Smoulder nosing at Uthica. When I attempt to go to them, trying to float forward, the pain flares again.

Ukila Local Time: Evening. (February 2, 1512)

The sun is already setting by the time Midnight flies us into our hidden sanctuary. The first thing Letonga does is run down the corridor to check on her brother. I’m still opening and closing my eyes, testing my vision with each. And there doesn’t seem to be any problems seeing with my right eye. Not that it’s been restored to its original brown.

Instead, my right is now black, threaded through with golden strands. Or golden roots. My hand has taken on a similar appearance, though I can still fill it with elemental energies if I want.

Neither Uthica nor I say anything until after Letonga is gone. We’ve been quiet for most of the trip back, reading through the copies I made of Alaven's liberated documents. After a silent exchange Uthica and I decided it would be best to wait until we could talk in private.

“Your injury is going to delay things,” Uthica states. “Which couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, sinking into the soft couch while holding my hand up in front of me. It no longer seems to be leaking, but the hope tree's made up for that by sucking down even more Facet than the leak was.

“I just received a message from father. A new quest has been issued. There’s an invasion.”

“Just how many invasions do you have to deal with?” I ask, rubbing at the ache in my chest where the hope tree is trying to pull at my non-existent Facet. Rubbing doesn’t help, though slowly siphoning off my resources to refill my Facet does. Even as it makes my nose itch.

“On average? One a year. Some years are better than others.”

“One a year? That’s crazy.”

“Hmm. They’re not so bad anymore. Not like the early ones. Well, if I’m there to help…” Uthica stares at the ceiling.

“Hey, I’m sure they’re fine,” I reassure her.

Uthica turns back to me, a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes fixed in place. “They are. For now. But it means I don’t have the luxury of sitting around.”

“Yeah. Sorry,” I say, pulling my hair in front of my restored eye as I think, unable to keep a small smile from forming at the fact I can tell my vision’s obscured. “Either I need to figure out how to teleport to another planet with wavering Facet and no beacon or we need to steal the ship. More vital than it was before.”

“More dangerous too,” Uthica observes.

“You think we shouldn’t?”

“Oh, we absolutely should. But I won’t be sitting on the sidelines. You brought everything we need,” Uthica says. This time when she smiles, it reaches her eyes. Letonga emerges from her room just in time for Uthica to start laying out her plan. It’s simple. And will require a bit of luck. But it should work.

We just need some furs.

After staying up late into the night, talking about contingencies, hazards, and obstacles, we likewise rise late. With my limited Facet, it’s going to take us most of the day to get back to Nothen. Time Letonga and I will spend working on her weak manipulation skills.

Before we set out, I check on my soul-scape.

The hope tree doesn’t seem to be suffering considering how much of my Facet it’s been sucking up, having already grown to be nearly as tall as the ugly tree was. The ugly tree has collapsed further, though its collapse is slower than it was at first. Its further collapse means the spiraling shape of the hope tree is even more convoluted than it was at first. At the rate the ugly tree is collapsing, it looks like it’ll take about a week before the hope tree has replaced it. Which is a lot of Facet.

Even now, the hope tree is vivid and full of life. If it wasn’t sucking away my Facet to rebuild my soul-scape, it’d feel like a boon. With my soul-scape mostly stabilized, I turn my attention to other things. Like checking my System, only to discover there’s a notification I missed.

“Repository of the World Tree has been added to the Temporal Library. Synergy confirmed. Framework Processing pattern: Eye of the Forerunners is available. Estimated processing time required: One hour. Estimated Facet required: 42,000.”

“What…”

“Problem?” Uthica asks from where she’s customizing a set of Eldinsworn robes to fit her properly. The adjustments aren’t technically necessary, but Uthica admitted she had been incredibly uncomfortable when she’d snuck into the Eldinsworn complex.

“I’m… no. Remember that super-powerful petal I told you about.”

“The one from the world tree? The one you were gathering mana from? Yes,” Uthica answers, holding the robe up in front of her.

“Right. I used it to patch up my soul,” I inform her, holding the sleeves to the side for her.

“That’s good,” Uthica says, ripping a seam along the neck of the robe.

“It is?” I ask, even though I agree.

Uthica takes both my hands, making me hold the material solidly in my hands. “It is. The world tree was a symbol of great power, if I remember correctly. Having such a thing in your soul-scape should make you stronger, should it not?”

“Ha. That… yeah, I have a new ability, I think. Well, I need to build it first. But it’s cheap. Well, it would take a minute of not feeding Facet into my soul-scape,” I say, watching Uthica run her enchanted sewing wand along her new seam.

“So, you will need to regenerate Facet using your… other method?” Uthica asks, nodding at her handiwork.

“Maybe. But that’s a painful proposition.”

“What’s a painful proposition? Are you two changing the plan again?” Letonga demands as she enters the room.

“No. Trying to figure out what to do with my new weed,” I reply, fingering the ache in my chest as I smile at calling anything related to the world tree a weed. Then apologize in my head, when I think about all it’s doing for me.

“Is that what I am to you now? A weed?” Letonga asks, her voice raised.

“Are you trying to take offence at everything I say?” I retort, a frown forming as I turn to Letonga. Her blush is more telling than I was expecting.

“It was supposed to be a joke,” Letonga waves her left hand at me as she turns away, hiding her face.

“Made me chuckle,” Uthica says as she slides her arms through the sleeve of her robe, nearly punching me in the face. Even as I’m ducking back, she apologizes, “Whoops. Sorry. Hate wearing these things.”

“Here let- Yep, like that,” I say, then turn back to Letonga, who’s standing stiffly at attention again. Damn.

“Sorry, Letonga. Not used to you making jokes,” I say, searching for something better to add.

“Understood commandant,” Letonga says, not meeting my eyes, her caramel skin still tinged pink. Then she adds, “I’ve completed preparations with my brother if you’d like to inspect them.”

“Sure,” I reply, gesturing for her to lead the way.

She spins, marching away before I’m done uttering that single syllable. Opening her door, she shows her brother is secured within a steel enclosure. It’s there to protect him more than anything, since we’ll be bringing him with us. And now that he’s ostensibly alive, we can’t just tuck him in our inventory.

Inconvenient, that.

“Looks good,” I state even as I probe the protection-coffin with my metal-manipulation. Those aren’t just words either. I may have provided her with the materials, but she’s reshaped them around Keztil without a problem. “No flaws. And you made sure he’ll be able to breathe. And see. You know, if he chooses to wake up while we’re taking the ship. Excellent work.”

“Thank you, commandant,” Letonga replies, words clipped.

“Of course,” I respond, hustling out of the room. I’ll just let her cool down before apologizing properly.

As I emerge into the central lounge Uthica strikes a pose. “How do I look? Appropriately Eldinsworn enough?”

“Nope,” I answer, stepping forward to tug the hood down. “Also, you’re slouching. You never slouch.”

“Thought it’d be more appropriate. The Eldinsworn aren’t exactly an elite force, despite their equipment,” Uthica responds, straightening.

“Mostly true. But there are a bunch of Eldinsworn like Letonga. And they make up for the rest,” I say, checking her outfit again. No more problems.

Uthica nods, spinning into a few different combat stances, her wands spinning from position to position. I watch her move through her stances. All this time together, and I’ve never seen her full routine before.

It’s different with the robes, and I realize that’s the point. Uthica continues for several minutes before deciding she’s ready.

Which is my cue to grind out the Facet I need for my upgrade. Taking it slow, I only develop a small ear ache, which quickly goes away.

And then I feel the difference in my right eye. Turning to Uthica, there’s a soft pull at the edge of my awareness. When I Focus on her, I get an almost familiar notification.

“Analyzing Temporal Thread. Interpolating current Temporal position.”

“Sapient Analyzed: K’tharn. Female. Gene seed D.”

“Name: Uthica of clan Halterin.”

“Relevant lore: The single most famous K’tharn from Akilo. Known throughout the Nine worlds for her wisdom and skill. Defended Akilo from numerous invasions in her prime temporal experience. Secondary temporal experiences have been incorporated due to Administrator Pandora’s interference.”

Even as I read, I know that if I wanted to, I could have my System dig deeper, and continue expanding the relevant lore. I could even get it to provide me with a summary of her whole life. Which would be a bit much.

“Attributes: Physical; Comparable, [Peak Copper], Mobility; Comparable, [Peak Copper], Magic; Comparable, [Peak Copper], Awareness; Comparable, [Peak Copper].”

Despite the fact that listing her Attributes as Peak Copper is already an upgrade, I can look closer, if I want. For example, I know her Strength is currently an even two-hundred. For her privacy, I don’t peek at any of her other attributes, though I’m pretty sure she’s similar to me in that her Strength is her lowest.

“Attacks: Extensive rune-based spell selection. Enhanced damage from studying. Enhanced damage when targeting weak points. Enhanced damage when using rune-based traps. Limited elemental manipulation.”

“Defences: Rune-crafted Mana Resistance: Incredible; Rune-crafted Physical Resistance: Incredible; Rune-crafted Fire-resistance; Incredible;…”

I close the notification instead of continuing down the rest of Uthica’s lengthy list of defences. The ones shown were only the first of several pages.

“Temporal Thread: Quality; Upper 90th percentile, Durability; Mid 80th percentile, Malleability; Upper 10th percentile. Proximity to Pandora’s Temporal Thread: Upper 80th percentile.”

Well, that’s new. My System informs me that Quality will affect my ability to view a thread, or its ability to analyze it. Durability covers how well a thread can withstand having changes made to them before really bad things happen. And malleability is how easy… or hard, a thread is to change.

Proximity is… well, how closely her thread is tied to mine. And it affects all her thread’s other aspects when influenced by me.

Closing the notification, I sit down with Uthica, telling her what I’ve just unlocked.

“That is… I find myself conflicted,” Uthica says, leaning back and looking down the hall towards Letonga. “Will it work on everyone? Are there limits?”

“Well, we’ll need to test it more. But I’m pretty sure it works better on you since we’re so close,” I reply, letting my new sight play over the room before settling on Letonga who has just returned.

Unable to help myself, I let my new scan play over her as well.

“Analyzing Temporal Thread. Interpolating current Temporal position.”

“Sapient Analyzed: Edinson. Female. Gene seed D.”

“Name: Letonga Eld Mouller.”

“Relevant lore: Former commando of Ukila based Eldinsworn. Bound servant of Administrator Pandora.”

“Attributes: Physical; Weak, [Upper Iron], Mobility; Weak, [Peak Iron], Magic; Pathetic, [Upper Iron], Awareness; Weak, [Peak Iron].”

“Attacks: Rudimentary elemental manipulation.”

“Defences: Physical: Low, Mana: Low.”

“Temporal Thread: Quality; Lower 30th percentile, Durability; Mid 20th percentile, Malleability; Upper 90th percentile. Proximity to Pandora’s Temporal Thread: Interwoven.”

My eyes are drawn to the very last line.

Her proximity to my Temporal thread is…

As I inspect my thread more closely, I see that Letonga’s thread has indeed been wound into mine. Ever since I first linked to her, I pulled it closer. And it was so much smaller and weaker, I barely noticed. And now it’s stronger, but… I don’t see any way to pull her thread away. Even Smoulder’s thread isn’t so tightly bound.

Yeah, that might explain some things.

6.35, Grand Theft Starship

Ukila Local Time: Evening. (February 2, 1512)

Even as I consider how Letonga’s thread being interwoven with mine might affect things, we don’t stand around waiting. As soon as I've stolen a glimpse at her brother and confirmed his thread is still intact, we mount up and head back towards Nothen.

The flight back is awkward, since Letonga is still sharing Midnight with me, and we have her brother strapped across his back. The awkwardness is quickly replaced by tension when we spot the first patrol of Eldinsworn. They’re on the ground, waving wands back and forth.

“Scanners,” Letonga hisses, pointing us back the way we came. Midnight starts banking immediately.

Once we’re out of sight, Letonga says, “They’ll be able to pick up whatever they’re looking for. Probably related to the stuff you stole from Vrathorn.”

Oh, it’s the stuff I stole now.

Keeping my thought to myself, I ask, “Is there anything we can do to, you know, not have them notice us?”

Letonga answers, “Yes commandant. We need a scanner for ourselves. Then I can find their teams before we stumble across them.”

“Easy enough,” Uthica declares, disappearing from all my senses. She’s even able to hide herself from my internal connection with her latest understanding of how my senses work. Guess she’s about to find out if she can evade the Reapers' scanners.

I wait with Letonga atop Midnight’s back, my hand stroking Smoulder’s tail. None of us say anything as the silence stretches. Five long minutes later, Uthica reappears, wand in hand.

It’s a solid thing, thick as my arm with several analog switches along one side.

Uthica hands the scanner to Letonga, who holds it with her left hand, adjusting the switches with her right. After a few seconds, she swings it side to side, nodding. “We should be good. I’ll be able to detect their searches before they can see us.”

“Can’t they do the same?” I ask.

“They can. But they’re out there in numbers. They’ll be expecting to detect others,” Letonga explains, her eyes dancing in excitement for a second before glancing at me. When she adds, “Commandant,” her voice has gone flat.

“Excellent,” Uthica says, reactivating her larger but less effective invisibility field.

Three close encounters later and we’re flying far above them, getting close to Nothen. With the number of Eldinsworn sweeping the bog, the complex is practically deserted, only a handful posted as lookouts remain. And none of those lookouts are anywhere near Vrathorn’s ship. There are over a dozen outside Alaven's however, and a few near Oda’s as well.

We watch the complex for several minutes, but there’s no sign of change. Once ten minutes have passed, I signal Uthica, informing her it’s time to move closer. We leave the dragons hidden under a veil of invisibility as we drift closer, keeping our use of mana limited. The descent is slow, each of us watching for telltale signs of a trap. Or cloaked Eldinsworn ships.

Even now, the skull-doors remain open, each of the maws ready to receive guests. Or hide ambushers.

We push inside, moving through the crowd one step at a time. The crowd is subdued, and there’s a lot of looking out into the dark. But Letonga’s not detecting any Eldinsworn on her scanner and my threads are coming up empty too. Nothing but slaves.

When we reach the hidden door, we find it’s been replaced. Reinforced.

I could still rip it off, but that risks drawing Reaper attention.

I separate from the others, dropping invisibility. To enter the codes to move through the complex I can’t be invisible. And it needs to be me since I’m the only one proficient enough with Twilight magic to interact with the ship’s systems properly.

Also, I’m the only one that can pass as a Reaper.

The door slides open with a whoosh. None of the indentured servants glance our direction, and no blaring alarms or blasts of energy announce our intrusion. Uthica and I sweep the corridors as we move upward, but there’s no sign of traps. We move into the second set of hidden corridors that take us directly to a hidden control room.

The room itself is dominated by a pod along the wall, which we ignore as Uthica and Letonga start working their way through the four consoles in the room. While they do that, I teleport our dragons into one of the nearby storage rooms, where they should be safe until we reach Akilo. Neither Uthica nor I are ready to say goodbye. As I run my hand over Midnight’s face he takes a soft nibble out of my arm. I smile at him, patting his snout as he settles in place. Then there’s a call from across the hall.

I glance down at Smoulder, and she gives me a nod, letting me know she’ll keep the dragons out of trouble. Reaching down, I give her a quick head-scritch, a smile pulling at my lips as I move to join the others.

They’ve found the primary lock. The console has an orb not unlike the one that zapped me, though this one is black with flashes of crimson. It requires a specific sequence of runes, all formed from Twilight. A rotating series of runes based on an invisible display.

Something no Eldinsworn could hack. Neither could most System-integrated. Most.

Between Letonga’s understanding of Reaper-tech, Uthica’s enchanting skills and Alaven's files, they’ve built a device that allows us to fool the computer. A long grey box, littered with hundreds of swappable runes that we attach to the side of the console. Which still wouldn’t be enough, if not for my ability to manipulate twilight mana without Uthica’s System.

As I’m feeding my mana into the machine, my eyes drift toward the pod on the wall. Its function wasn’t specified in Alaven's documents. It was just listed as ‘The Boundary’. Which doesn’t really reveal what it does. It mostly looks like some sort of crash couch, with a little band around the edge with similar crimson-flecked black. Maybe for long nights in space or something. Or maybe… My eyes flick to the marble atop the main console then back to the rim.

It… might be related to whatever Alaven was talking about with Reaper souls, I suspect.

Shaking my head, I confirm it’s empty then turn to where Letonga is waiting by several screens along the far wall. As the machine works, I link in the external displays with several bursts of twilight, finishing the last of Letonga’s instructions. We have full access, and Uthica retrieves a full seat we create to give her properly calibrated control, so she can actually steer the ship.

On one monitor, it shows what I suspect must be Vrathorn, who’s located in what would be an otherwise indistinguishable part of the Grey Place’s bog, if not for the very obvious time-crater I left behind. But more importantly, on another monitor, I see Alaven approaching. He’s bellowing at full volume, swinging his hammer back and forth as he nears the ship as he yells for Vellim again.

Honestly, better him than the unknown that is Vrathorn.

“How long?” I ask Uthica.

“I need two minutes. More would be better,” she answers, all four hands moving in small jerks as she adjusts the runes along the sides of the dull grey box, careful not to move it from where it’s strapped to the side of the console.

Donning a similar visage to the visit where we stole the petal in the first place, the one where I was a middle-aged nameless Reaper, I stroke my illusionary beard. Then I hoist my steel staff, floating down to meet Alaven, one last time.

The servants stare in shock as I flash through, setting the flaps fluttering. I catch a sparse few whispers as I emerge from the wolf-skull, standing just outside the entrance as Alaven approaches. They’re certain another Reaper has come to contest Vrathorn’s purpose. There seems to be a lot of intent behind the word 'purpose', and several of the better dressed servants seem nervous.

I dismiss them as my attention settles on Alaven. He’s in a full set of furs again. The same ones I shredded when we last fought. Which would be reassuring if not for the whispers, the orb and the pod…

I feel like there’s something about the Reapers I’m missing.

“Brother!” Alaven yells despite being less than ten meters away.

“Alaven,” I answer, slamming my staff on the ground.

“Have you taken leave of your-” Alaven stops bellowing as he stares at me. “You’re not Vellim.”

“No,” I admit, unable to keep the smile off my face. “I’m not your brother. You’re keener than he said you’d be. How’d you know?”

“My brother would have found a way to insult me with his first breath,” he answers, leaning on his hammer, tossing his hair behind him as he gives me a small smile.

Nodding, I scan the road behind him. “I see you came alone. Here to stop your brother from crossing Vrathorn?”

Alaven's eyes narrow, “So, you do know who it is you are meddling with. I don’t know who you are, but despite his wretched habits, Vrathorn is no fool.”

“But he is absent,” I note, counting down the seconds. Uthica only needs another thirty. “So, the only one standing in his stead is you.”

“He is. But he could call off his search at any moment. And he would, if he knew the thief had returned to his vessel,” Alaven grins, his hammer swinging onto his shoulder as he steps forward. “And I could call him.”

“But you won’t,” I state. Twenty seconds.

“I might, if I’m not shown the truth.”

“The truth?” I ask, my grip growing tighter on the staff. Thirteen.

“Who lies beneath that veil. Is it an old friend?” He asks, crossing the distance between us faster than I can process.

I curse internally. I’d forgotten how fast he could move. The only time he’d done so before was when he’d attacked Letonga.

“What will you do if I’m not?” I respond, feeling a distinct lack of fear. Five seconds.

“Well, new friends are good too,” he responds, his hand closing tightly around my non-elemental arm. The pressure is strong enough it would’ve snapped it back on Akilo. Now it barely bothers me.

Deciding to roll with it, I drop my disguise. The Twilight unwraps, the mana cycling through me as my true form reveals itself. I meet his gaze with both eyes.

“Eldin’s beard!” he exclaims, letting go of my arm and stumbling back, making clumsy warding signs. Ones I only know thanks to Oda’s misuse of them to insult the overly religious in her games.

“Oh, that’s just insulting,” I say, rolling my eyes at his clumsy warding signs. “Those won’t help. I’m not a demon or servant of Hel.”

“I remain pure, Orator, I remain pure,” Alaven mutters at me. Before I can respond, he stumbles away, charging down the street with far more urgency than when he arrived.

As I watch him flee, I’m able to catch a glimpse of his thread, which is… weaker than Uthica’s.

And I also catch a glimpse of why he’s terrified. These Orators of his are anti-System special operators with the mandate of their… huh. I know there’s more but the thought is almost shredded as I consider it. But they’re designed to hunt Reapers. To keep the story pure.

I’ll talk about it with Uthica later, but for now… For now, it’s past time to go. I step inside as I slowly siphon more resources to top up my Facet. Just in case. The second I enter the central chamber, the jaws snap closed behind me. Glancing around, I notice that the slaves seem to have made themselves scarce. Probably a good idea, considering Alaven's usual behaviors. After giving a few slaves tucked in the corner a short wave, there’s a rumble from all around, prompting me to fly directly to the control room. Which has been somewhat reconfigured to be a cockpit.

When I enter, I find Uthica sat within the newly built control chair, Letonga standing over her. Uthica glances up but returns her attention to her work when I give her a quick wave.

“Commandant. If I may say something,” Letonga says as I step next to them.

“You can speak freely, Letonga,” I reassure her. “Doesn’t mean I’ll understand, but you can speak.”

She nods, but her face remains blank, “Yes, Commandant. Alaven, his fear would’ve made sense if he remembered what you’d done to him. But you did nothing. Why did he run?”

“Mistook me for an Orator. Second time he’s mentioned them. Any clue what they are?”

“No, commandant. Just that they’re part of the Reapers’ religion. They don’t speak of them often,” Letonga offers as the ship lurches beneath our feet. She stumbles into me, but I catch her easily.

Her cheeks glow, but she remains quiet as she regains her footing. However, she can’t pull away, the increased pressure of our acceleration holding us in place as the ship rockets upward. Guess they don’t have anti-gravity. Or maybe Uthica didn’t turn it on. Either way, we’re strong enough it’s not so bad. Long as I don’t move.

The increased pressure lasts for twelve seconds. Twelve long seconds where my hand keeps Letonga from stumbling into something. As soon as the acceleration stops, I release her.

A small nod in my direction is her only acknowledgement. Better.

Uthica releases her grip on the control array, glancing up at me. “That was an interesting experience. I feel as though one of the unnecessary steps I bypassed may have been more necessary than I presumed.”

“Wait. You didn’t do that on purpose?” I ask, staring at her. I can’t help the laughter that follows, plopping down on the floor as we cruise toward Akilo.

“No. Despite my best efforts, I still make mistakes on occasion,” Uthica admits, still fiddling with the console.

“Save some of those for the next time we play Vaus’ champions, eh?” I reply, leaning back to watch Akilo grow close through the overhead window. It starts to tilt out of sight as the ship rotates, leaving us with a view of Ukila. To my surprise, there aren’t any ships coming after us.

The rumbling returns as we descend through Akilo’s atmosphere.

Uthica laughs as the rumbling levels off to a perfectly smooth hum.

“Figured it out?” I ask, watching Ukila return to its normal size.

“Yes. Finally. I’ve also received a warning and a quest from the System,” she says, eyes glazed over. “It says I’m in possession of Reaper technology. I need to destroy it, hand it over or remove it from System-space within a week or others will receive a quest to do the same.”

“That’s a rather benign warning. Usually, the System comes in guns blazing,” I note, unable to keep a trace of bitterness from my voice.

“The rewards are nice too. Sweet Astra…” Uthica stops, then dismisses the screen. “The reward for turning the ship over to the System is a Silver Ascension Crest.”

“That doesn’t sound that-” I start, but Uthica holds up her hand.

“As in, to advance to Gold.”

Whistling is the only appropriate response, so I do exactly that. Letonga on the other hand, remains distracted, staring at the form of Ukila above us. It is an amazing sight, probably more so for her. Especially if she’s never seen it from space before.

“Well, a week should be plenty of time to strip it of anything important,” I say, looking around the cockpit.

“Hmm. The System has a condition prohibiting me from investigating the ship if I want the reward. But it doesn’t say anything about letting you do so.”

“Guess I’ve got my work cut out for me then. Are you having any issues flying it?”

“Not anymore. We will land south of my forces in less than a minute.”

“Wait, already? Whoops, guess I should change into my fancy clothes,” I say, spinning in place, metal threads tucking and rearranging my clothes in a single second.

Once the ship has landed, we step out of the cockpit, making our way out to greet Uthica's forces.

Before we even make it outside, we’re reminded of the slaves who remain within the lower chamber. Several of whom have injuries, due to the sudden acceleration and lack of mana-granted fortitude.

And all of them are still bound in slave collars.

With my new sight allowing me to discern their health and crimes at a glance...

Well, it seems meeting up with Pern is going to have to wait.

A note from Draith

My friend Vitaly is doing a neat little story that is changed directly by people interacting with it. Check out the soon to be human Zeniya in Observer Causality to join the early and fun stage of the story. And maybe even find out how this shoutout will change the story itself.

Let us propel Zeniya into Magical Girl Idol famedom.

6.36, Severed Threads

A note from Draith

Minor edit to 6.35

6.35, Clarified that Letonga's brother is strapped to Midnight's back

The flight back is awkward, since Letonga is still sharing Midnight with me, and we have her brother strapped across his back. The awkwardness is quickly replaced by tension when we spot the first patrol of Eldinsworn. They’re on the ground, waving wands back and forth.

Akilo Local Time: Morning. (February 3, 1512)

As I sweep my gaze over the assembled slaves, I let out a deep breath. Thankfully, the worst injury seems to be a K’tharn with a broken arm. Deciding to hold off on judgement for the moment, I focus on getting them in shape. I nod to Uthica, letting her know I’ll take care of our passengers while she talks to her troops.

Finding one of the K’tharn servants I remember working directly for the Reaper, I ask, “Healing supplies? You must have some, right?”

“Those are for dedicated-“

“That’s a yes. Where are they?” I ask, stepping towards her. She doesn’t answer, but her eyes do dart to the side. It’s fast, but not to my heightened perspective. Using my recently acquired knowledge of the ship’s layout, I direct Letonga to a hidden panel near the stairs leading to the rest of the ship. What swings out is a complex set of short arms, with an array of tools held in place in the middle.

“Ah, this is perfect, commandant,” Letonga says, waving the injured K’tharn over. She winces as Letonga taps at the console. In the meantime, I start using the servant to organize the former slaves. I’m able to configure my new sight to scan for why each of them has been imprisoned, and sort them by a surprisingly accurate threat level. It can’t give me all the details at a glance, but picking out murder is disturbingly easy.

And the process reminds me that I’m not exactly innocent of such things myself.

Even as I’m pressing my teeth together, Uthica pats my shoulder.

“I need to talk to my people,” she says, her eyes meeting mine. “There’s going to be a lot to be done in the next few days.”

I nod, as I get the head servant to start lining people up for more thorough scans, thankful my new vision seemed to be less violent when inspecting people’s threads than my old method. Otherwise this wouldn’t work.

Uthica’s emergence from the ship is greeted by cheers as she stands above her people holding her hands in the air. Letonga and I remain in the ship, where I observe Uthica’s return unobtrusively. And Smoulder’s. She makes sure she’s standing beside Uthica as they descend the ramp. As does Redstone, who Uthica is considering bonding. Midnight remains next to me as I work through the debt-slaves.

So far most who’ve had marks of murder, actually had the crime take place as part of their service, compelled by their collars.

However, standing in front of me is a pu’shaha who started before he was enlisted. And he enjoys it. He’s eyeing up the K’tharn next to me even as I inspect him. Considering I removed the collars of every other slave that’s stepped before me, I suspect the wide eyes on his face are a genuine sign of shock when I don’t remove his.

It takes me nearly an hour to sort through the rest of the debt-slaves, and only six remain imprisoned. By the time I’m done, Uthica’s already arranged for most of her expeditionary force to board. The former dividers are quickly stripped and rearranged as I consider my six prisoners.

“I can judge them, if you’d like. You’ve determined they’re all dangerous, correct?” Uthica asks, taking a position next to me.

“That… would probably be easier,” I admitted. But I don’t give her the prisoners. There’s a considerable chance Uthica would simply execute them. Which, considering what they’ve all done…

I close my eyes, calling up the laws of the kingdom we’d established before I’d blasted myself into the past. And the laws are clear. They’d all be dead if I follow the rules of my own kingdom. But so would half the people I set free.

The System isn’t kind.

“Commandant, the collars will keep them from hurting others, so long as you don’t remove them,” Letonga says, unprompted.

As I look at her, she remains standing stiff but her eyes are locked on where the freed debt-slaves are gathered. The ones who aren’t prisoners anymore.

Already, there are two groups forming. The former ‘upper’ servants are gathered together around the K’tharn I strong-armed the healing supplies from, near said healing apparatus. Meanwhile, the ones who were treated like cattle are closer to the exit with no clear leader. Still, the latter are being approached by Uthica’s forces, who seem ready to recruit them.

My attention shifts back to my six. “You’re saying I should just… keep them prisoner. Forever.”

“Unless they prefer death, yes,” Letonga agrees, her eyes passing over the six. “You’ve seen what they’ve done.”

I close my eyes at that. She’s not wrong. I… there’s blood on their hands. Blood that makes me feel foolish for ever giving Beth a hard time.

“So,” I say, standing and approaching my prisoners. “I guess that’s your choice. Service or death.”

To my dismay, Midnight chooses that moment to snort, releasing a fog of shadows. It gives me quite the background. But it also makes me feel like I’m thirteen and trying for maximum edginess.

One of the K’tharn stands up, her eyes fixed on me, a cruel smirk on her face. “I’ll take death. Or you can free me, like you did the others.”

“I’ll give you a minute to reconsider,” I say with a sigh, squeezing my eyes closed. Is this really what I should be doing? Then I picture the face of the child she…

Yeah, I can’t just let her go.

She just snorts, standing in front of me without moving.

“So… you’re certain you want death?” I ask again as I open my eyes, hoping she’ll reconsider.

“Yeah. Not that you have the-“

Unfortunately, I’ll never find out what I don’t have, as I’ve already removed a large section of her spine. If Roberts’ analysis was right, it should’ve been completely painless. Her body slumps to the floor as my gaze moves to the others, who’ve all scrambled to their feet and are staring at the slumped K’tharn. “I take it the rest of you would prefer imprisonment?”

The pu’shaha who was the first of my prisoners nods slowly, his eyes holding a new light in them as he looks at me. A light I don’t appreciate.

“Commandant,” Letonga says, her hand lifting up, but she doesn’t touch me. Probably for the best.

“I’m… it’s fine,” I say, my eyes looking down at the body at my feet. Honestly, she was worse than Ivicka. Still, killing her… I wish I could say I regretted it. But after seeing everything she’s done, everything they’ve done, it’s taking everything I can not to…

There’s thudding, and the smell of cooked… something. Sweet and savory. When I look up, the other prisoners are all missing their heads.

“I… what?” I say, only to look down and see Smoulder staring up at me. She’s purring and sending me reassurance over our bond. Which makes me realize I was broadcasting my feelings. To her and Letonga. Picking Smoulder up, I pull her against my chest, taking a deep breath.

“Alexis,” Uthica says. I look over, and she nods towards the ‘hidden’ section of the ship. Most of the former slaves are now staring in our direction, I realize, and I bury the feelings of disquiet. Then Uthica leads the way.

Pern nods in my direction as I follow behind. “It is never pleasant, dealing with prisoners. And even more so when the path is… unclear.”

“I… think I just didn’t want to admit… thanks Smoulder, but you shouldn’t do that again, okay? Not unless I ask you,” I say, holding her up in front of me.

I receive feelings of confusion from her, as she realizes she’s made the pain in my chest worse. Then she nods, and this time, it’s not an indulgent nod. She really does understand.

Pulling her close, I take another deep breath. Not how I saw the day going, that’s for certain. And the fact I can… just undo it… somehow that makes it worse. Because they all deserved worse.

When we reach the cockpit, I end up sitting down along the side, my eyes unfocused as the ship launches smoothly into the air.

Almost would’ve preferred the shaking launch of our first flight.

As if trying to distract me as we ascend above the clouds, Pern runs a hand over the controls. “It is a shame we must give this up. The world at our fingertips.”

“Not by our hands though. We will be able to create our own soon enough, father,” Uthica notes as we reach the apex, the ship preventing us from feeling the weightlessness I’d been anticipating. More disappointment.

“Besides, how often do you need to jump halfway across the planet?” I ask, elbowing Pern with a weak smile.

Uthica and Pern share a long look, their ears flicking slightly, then Uthica brings up a new scene on one of the monitors. There are hundreds of massive ships floating in space over the north pole of Akilo.

“Oh. That often, huh?” I say, counting the sheer number of ships. “That’s the invasion, huh?”

“Hmm. Yes. Thankfully, they will be held back from simply landing as they will. They will only be able to deploy ten million troops a day.”

“Oh, so, practically nothing,” I reply, shifting Smoulder in my arms as we soar toward the humble beginnings of Aethire.

The scale of the invasion really gives me perspective about my recent execution. Already, the invasion forces have killed over a hundred K’tharn. And they were simply scouting out the invasion forces.

As we continue down, I close my eyes again and take a deep breath. I’m thankful I don’t have the flashbacks or nightmares so many people seem to suffer after killing someone. But at the same time, now that I’m thinking about it, that worries me. Rufka once told me we’re all monsters. Was it the System that made me like this? Does it just make us more mentally resilient?

Or am I just more like Beth than I thought?

My eyes drift to the screens displaying the area near our destination, latching onto the distraction. Despite the bone and hide buildings, there are already mighty ships floating overhead. One of the great barges, that dwarfs even Vrathorn’s ship lies moored at the south side of the great city’s work camp. Even a single glance and I already have ideas on how we could retrofit it to move faster. Though I doubt we have the parts.

“And we’re officially back in the Aetherium,” Uthica says, guiding the ship down a fair distance away from the city’s main work camp, and the rift Aethire is being assembled within. We’re far enough away neither is within sight once we touch down.

Once we’re on the ground, Letonga steps forward, waving in the direction of her brother. “Commandant, I… you promised healers.”

Uthica responds before I’m able. “They’re close. And they’ve already been informed. Your brother will be seen immediately.”

Letonga stares at Uthica for a few seconds before bowing, “Thank you.”

Returning the bow precisely, Uthica turns away, greeting the approaching dragons. I can’t help but note how there are more dragons per K’tharn in their current Desh’ilas than the future. In fact, every K’tharn rides their own dragon, even though the number of K’tharn in each squad remains the same.

They’re greeted by Midnight and Redstone with a pair of roars.

Which Smoulder manages to outclass with a channelled burst of fire, funnelled around her. The fact it vaguely reminds me of a jet engine doesn’t seem to detract from the respect she earns from the surrounding dragons.

Even as Smoulder shows up the dragons at their own game, Uthica engages her people in an exchange of information, getting details on the latest invasion. Moments later, under the watchful eye of Smoulder, a pair of dragons deposit a woven basket the size of a bus nearby. Several K’tharn march out of the basket toward us, directed to Letonga and I by Uthica. After a few short questions, they take Letonga and her brother with them into the woven basket-building.

I’m tempted to follow, just to take a peek inside the basket building, but decide to allow Letonga her privacy. Instead, I spend the next hour with Uthica and Pern as she receives the latest updates.

Uthica doesn’t seem too worried, but she’s going to need to deal with several of the more vicious attacks personally.

“I know you only have a week to study the ship, but can you help?” Uthica asks.

Glancing at Vrathorn’s ship, I nod. Whatever secrets it holds aren’t as important as helping people. And it's not like my interference in her time could get much worse.

Before we’re able to leave, Letonga hears about our plan to join the fight and comes storming out. “Commandant, please, let me join you.”

“I… if you’re sure,” I reply, looking over her shoulder. “What about your brother?”

“Kez… the healers say he’s going to need time. Days, at least. And I want to fight,” Letonga says, snapping a salute at me. The way the fingers of her other hand keep curling and uncurling makes me believe her.

Sighing, I nod. I’m not going to keep her from helping out. I’m sure Uthica can use all the help she can get.

The next two days are spent fighting off teddy-bear-esque monsters half our size. With machine guns. The mindless automatons aren't dangerous to Midnight, nevermind Uthica or I. While I teleport us locally, my still limited Facet means we use Vrathorn’s ship to move between locations, studying it even as we travel. I do add a great deal of new teleportation points to my library though.

Crushing the invasion means I have a chance to get some guilt-free stress release in. I'm not the only one who chooses to unleash on the mechanized hordes, Smoulder creating the sort of inferno that would wipe out half a continent if we couldn't just suck the fire away with a thought. Even then, it's enough that I couldn't rein her in on my own. Which leads to a long talk about proportional responses.

After several more lessons with Smoulder, and a few-hundred-thousand smashed murder-teddies, I'm feeling less stressed. Smoulder doesn't slow down, crisping more than ever, though with less... flash.

The one downside to the invasion being composed of robots, is that they barely give any mana. Efficient designs.

On the other hand, lots of spare parts.

In between fighting off the non-picnicking teddy-bears, I tend to my soul-scape. My direct attention seems to increase the hope tree’s progress, so I help when I can spare the time. I also study the way Letonga’s thread is interwoven with mine, looking for a way to peel it back.

But my System is telling me that it’s not very likely. Unless I want to just… delete her.

Since I consider that a non-option, I don’t poke too much, simply thinking my options over as we stave off the invasion.

When we return to Aethire, Letonga is practically bouncing in anticipation. As we set off, Uthica received word her brother was conscious.

“Commandant,” Letonga says as we’re stepping off the ship onto the stone landing pad Uthica’s people created in our absence. “Would you… come with me?”

“I…” I look around, then glance back at the ship. Smoulder spots me, and comes hopping over, leaping up to my shoulder. “Yeah, sure. Lead the way.”

“Thank you,” Letonga says, giving me another nod before setting off towards the long term care unit. Well, long term for Akilo. If someone has to stay for longer than a week, they tend to get a prosthetic and sent back to work.

Her brother’s room is technically its own building, a hide and bone hut located outside the workcamp, close to the Aethire workcamp. When we step inside, Letonga pauses but when she sees her brother sitting up, she runs across the room, wrapping her arms around Keztil.

He jerks against her, his eyes seeking me out.

“Letonga? What are you doing here?” he asks, shaking his head.

“I heard you’re better, I came as soon as I-“

“That’s not what I mean. Why are you here? Do you know what you put me through?” he demands, his voice cracking as he tries to push her away. Not that he has much luck with her low-Copper attributes.

“What? I didn’t-”

“I told you. When you joined the damned Eldinsworn, I told you they were evil,” he screams as she lets go of him.

“But I-”

“They tortured me Letonga. For days, they tortured me. I was… I thought I was going to die,” his yell descends to a barely audible whisper at the end. “And it’s all because of you,” he hisses, jabbing Letonga in the chest. “All because you joined them. And then betrayed them. Couldn’t stick to their rules any better than you could nan’s, could you?”

“Kez, it's not-”

“I don’t want to hear it. Just… just leave…” he says, laying down, turning his back toward us.

“But I-” Letonga starts, reaching toward him.

“Leave!”

Letonga nods, standing straight then marching out of the hut. I’m turning to follow her when I look back at him. After all we went through, just leaving doesn’t feel right. So I send Smoulder to comfort Letonga as I wait for him to acknowledge me. It takes several seconds of staring before he turns to look at me.

Even as Letonga steps out of the tent, I meet his gaze.

Now… what do you say to a kid who’s literally been tortured to death?

Well, there’s always the old standby.

“Hi, my name’s Alexis.”

6.37, Stem to Stern

Akilo Local Time: Morning. (February 5, 1512)

Instead of responding, Letonga’s brother looks me over again, his eyes narrowing as he finishes his inspection. “You’re one of them, aren’t you? The Reapers.”

“Not exactly,” I say, not moving closer.

“You’ve got the pale skin, though the scars are unique. Never heard of a crippled Reaper before.”

“Not so crippled,” I reply, changing my wind-aspected hand to one full of gold.

“What do you want with me?” he asks, his chin quivering as he meets my eyes.

“Don’t you think you were unfair with your sister?” I ask, not letting him chase me away.

“No. Everything I said was true,” he states, rolling onto his back and staring at the ceiling of his hut.

“Probably. It was my fault she was kicked out, you know. And you didn’t listen to her side,” I note, pulling up a chair next to his bed.

“Is it going to make up for being tortured to death?”

“You’re not dead,” I point out, leaving out how we brought him back.

“Which is a surprise,” he says, one hand tracing over his stomach. “Was certain… he even promised…”

“Who promised what?”

He clenches his jaw, turns to me and says, “Vrathorn. He promised me that it would be my last death. That I wouldn’t have to endure anymore.”

“Really? Last death? Why did he promise that?” I ask, leaning back.

“Because I told them… because I agreed to his terms,” Keztil says, turning away from me. And not really answering the part I was interested in. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get some rest. Being nearly dead is tiring.”

“Hmm. It really is, isn’t it,” I agree, nodding. Then I push up from the chair, hesitating as I come to my feet. “She cares about you, you know? Insisted we take on the Reapers to save you. Wanted to die in your place.”

He doesn’t say anything, but I see his shoulders shaking.

Deciding this is one of those situations that’s probably going to need more time, I step out of the tent. Only to find Letonga standing there, staring at me. She doesn’t say anything, but her cheeks are sparkling with moisture.

Hmm. Probably best to keep her busy. So, I take her to Vrathorn’s ship, searching through his stocks for anything interesting. Mostly it's a mess. The ultimate hoarder’s home.

It’s as we’re sorting through a third room full of pillows, blankets and towels that Letonga speaks. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Do what?” I ask, pausing in the midst of moving one of the sorted stacks of towels to the side with a carefully constructed burst of wind. I was being extra careful and everything.

“Talk to my brother. I heard… I heard what you said,” Letonga says, not facing me.

“Wasn’t much,” I demure, placing the stack down and pulling apart the next.

“Yes, it was,” Letonga insists. “I don’t think… you don’t understand what it was like. Growing up an edinson amongst K’tharn.”

“You’re right. No clue,” I agree, refolding a dozen empty towels into the sorted stack with a soft gust of wind. “Did you want to tell me?”

“Why do you have to be like that?” Letonga hisses at me.

I stop, about to tear open another stack of towels, “Like what? I like using magic.”

“No. Understanding. I’ve insulted you in a dozen different ways, attacked you, tried to kill you, tried to… tried to mate with you. And you just… accept me,” she practically screams the last word. “Why? I would’ve killed you a dozen times over if I had your power.”

“Maybe. Well, probably, given your earlier attempts,” I admit, sitting on my recent stack of folded towels instead of continuing. “But… hmm. I think my Papa told me something once that might explain it better. Something he told me back when I first discovered my powers.”

Letonga sits on a stack of piles across from me, folding her arms. “I barely remember my father. He joined the Eldinsworn when I was young. Keztil was just a baby. Abandoned our mom.”

“I’m sorry,” I mutter.

“It’s fine. But he’s why I joined; you know. I wanted to find him. Ask him why he left us. It wasn’t supposed to be permanent. But… they did something to us. I remember a light, being led into a room with my squad and then… I woke up a week later, all thoughts of finding my father gone. I didn’t even remember it until you mentioned yours,” Letonga says, her tears slipping down her face once more.

I offer her my hand, and she grabs it like a woman drowning.

We sit silently for a second, then Letonga asks, “What was the saying? The one your papa told you?”

I shift, staring at the low ceiling as I use Facet to recall the memory clearly, “Oh. Well, he said, ‘Lexi, the thing about power. People say power corrupts. That’s what you’ll hear, Lexi, people always say, power corrupts. But that’s not how it works. Power reveals. Shines a light on who we really are.’”

“’Most people won’t have power Lexi. And trying to get it. Well, that road is the one that corrupts. But power doesn’t corrupt, kiddo. It reveals. And the choices you make when you have it? Those can corrupt you if you’re not careful. You keep that in mind, okay?’” I recite, as I picture the memory. I can feel his voice in my ears, and the cold around us as if I was still there with him, that night I created a snow slide in our backyard with little more than my raw magical talent.

His words make me wonder about how I dealt with the prisoners. What did that reveal about me?

“Huh. Power reveals. Never heard that before,” Letonga says, her voice drawing me out of my thoughts. When I glance over at her, I find her staring at me, her eyes narrowed.

I shrug, considering pushing myself to my feet. But she still has my hand held in a death grip. I could break it, yet after what happened with her brother, that feels wrong. Instead, I wait.

“Do it again. Please,” she begs.

“Do what?”

“The thing. Where you make me feel safe and assured. Like everything’s going to be right with the world. The thing you used to do when you watched over me,” Letonga says. “You’ve stopped. And… please?”

Deciding that today she could probably use it, I slip into my soul-scape just long enough to send her a wave of reassurance. When I emerge, she’s smiling at me, my hand no longer in a death grip. Now, Letonga holds it gingerly instead. As though she might break it at any second.

Which is frankly ridiculous. I can crush solid steel, there’s no chance she’s breaking my hand.

“Thank you,” she says, tears starting again. Damn. The whole point of this was to give her a chance to get away from the tears.

“You’re welcome,” I reply automatically. “We should probably get back to…”

Even as I wave about the room, I admit it’s a weak excuse. At least to myself.

“Just another minute?” she requests, giving me an unusually pleading look.

Sighing, I relent, “One minute. But no more.”

She nods vigorously, her head nearly knocking over one of the nearby stacks of folded sheets.

When the minute is up, she doesn’t protest the withdrawal of my hand. She does wipe at her eyes the moment I turn away, and at this proximity, the disturbance in the ambient mana makes her actions clear enough.

For the next several days, we continue working through the ship, sorting through all the odds and ends. Occasionally one of Uthica's lieutenants, a K'tharn named Lexica, shows up to let us know of a new invasion. Then we all take the ship to a new location to fight off a swarm of killer-teddies. She even takes me up on my offer of Vaus' Champions, proving Uthica isn't the only one who's better than me.

We test the beacon, and Uthica and I are able to confirm its effectiveness. At least for in system jumps. The experience is uncannily similar to the System's teleportation between worlds. Then Uthica has me teleport a bomb directly into the fleet, and with a single bunny-shaped explosion, the invasion is over.

After days of poking into the ship’s inner workings, sorting through all the random storage and triple checking for more uber-loot, I’m starting to feel like we got everything of real value on our first incursion. The ship itself has given me a few ideas for my own designs, including a way to incorporate the ring on Ukila into a proper mana-fusion reactor, but otherwise… nothing.

It’s disappointing, but not entirely surprising. The last few days have at least resulted in Letonga being more comfortable around me. She’s not calling me commandant all the time, and she’s not bursting into tears any longer.

Her brother still refuses to talk to her. He’s totally willing to talk with me and will even listen to my arguments in her favor, even agreeing when I explain how it’s my fault she left the Reapers. Yet he tacitly refuses to talk to Letonga.

He’s gone so far as to join the Aetherium, which he informs me of at the same time as he tells me he woke up on Akilo with a System. As did all the former debt-slaves, I find out from Uthica when I go to ask her about it. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of bringing Letonga with me when I decided to ask Uthica about him applying to join the Aetherium.

“Yes. I accepted him this morning,” Uthica confirms, not raising her head from the sheet of paper in front of her.

“He’s my brother!” Letonga screams at Uthica.

“Hmm. And he’s fully recognized as a user by the System. I’m not in the habit of turning away help. He’ll join the training program, like any other user,” Uthica informs her, marking a report she’s working on without looking up, petting Smoulder with one of her lower arms as she works.

“You’re not taking this seriously,” Letonga says, grabbing the edge of the table. I can see her muscles strain as she attempts to pull it away. But even with only one of Uthica’s lower arms braced on it, she’s able to keep the table from budging. Must be made of some sturdy stuff to withstand the amount of force acting on it.

“I take all such requests seriously,” Uthica responds, setting another page to the side. Letonga goes to snap the page off the table, and Uthica snags her hand in the air, finally giving Letonga her full attention.

“But they are the request of the individual. Not their family. And it seems you forget you’re here not on your own merits, but as a companion of Alexis,” Uthica states, rising from her chair to guide Letonga away from her desk.

At this, I lean forward from my place near the door. “Wait. You were only putting up with her because of me? Shit. Sorry bout that.”

Uthica waves me away as she continues addressing Letonga. “And I can sympathize with your concerns. All who serve in the Desh’ila face greater risks. But they are rewarded in turn.”

“But once you start messing with my paperwork, you’ve crossed a line. I have no sympathy for those who would disrespect another’s work,” Uthica’s voice drops twenty degrees, and I can practically feel the tent’s temperature drop with it.

Letonga isn’t responding to Uthica. Instead she’s slumping to the side while glaring at her. Letonga’s almost channelling perfect Smoulder energy. But Uthica’s had plenty of practice with Smoulder, and, sorry to say, while Letonga’s cute, she just doesn’t have the same effect. Uthica ejects Letonga from her tent with enough force to throw her clear across the road outside. Letonga lands deftly, throwing up an unfamiliar sign — one I’m certain isn’t polite — before striding down the road.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Uthica asks, retaking her seat. She uses her magic pen to complete three documents at once before adding, “Unless you were here for the same reason as her?”

The chair in front of her desk creaks as I lower myself into it, Smoulder emerging from my pocket. “Not totally. Her reaction caught me completely off-guard. I came to tell you I’m done with the ship. Nothing of interest there.”

“Nothing? In the entire ship?”

“Okay, nothing interesting left. The pod was nifty. Pretty sure they’re able to be reborn using them. Well, when they’re not in a million pieces on the control room floor. And there were a few curiosities, like the insect collection on the second floor. Lots of nice towels. Nothing world shaking, though I did find a matching set for me and Rufka,” I reply, reaching over to run my hand through Smoulder’s fluffy tail.

“Towels are always good,” Uthica says, marking something on her paperwork.

“What’re you working on anyway? Don’t tell me you actually do paperwork? Who are you reporting to? Your father?”

“In part. I’m reporting to the council. The time for queens on Akilo is coming to an end. Soon the Aetherium will be governed by a meritocracy,” Uthica declares with a smile as she sets her pen to the side.

“And can’t you just use System messages to inform them?”

“I could,” Uthica nods.

“But you don’t.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Hmm. Why do you think?” Uthica asks, leaning back in her chair, her smile growing wide.

I stop twirling Smoulder’s tail for a second as I think. Out loud. “Let’s see. Not because of avoiding notice. System records everything anyway. But it doesn’t always share, so keeping your own permanent records. Also, for posterity, maybe so you can display them in a museum.”

“All good points, but not why I do it,” Uthica says, her smile threatening to climb off her face as all four eyes watch me.

“The ministers would have to wait for it to arrive, so, wait…”

“Are you saying that you’re doing it this way so they’re not informed as quickly? Doesn’t that work against the idea of a council?” I ask, leaning forward to inspect the letter Uthica’s writing. It's a detailed report of day seven after we left. As I scan the page, comparing it to my memories, I realize it's not really that detailed.

There’s no mention of what we had for lunch, or the joke Uthica made about Smoulder’s destructive impact on the local fauna.

“Not at all. This is non-critical information. And that it takes longer to get to them is a minor disadvantage.”

“Huh. Well, I’m not sure what it might be then. Why do physical reports?”

“Because they’re physical,” Uthica answers, standing up and striding around her desk.

“Everything with the System exists up here.” Uthica taps her forehead for emphasis. “But it doesn’t engage the other senses. It doesn’t keep us involved with the world. Too much has been allowed to be lost. And not just because of the System.”

Looking down at the report again, I ask, “So, you want them to have it in their hands when they read it?”

“Yes. I know it's not the most efficient way to do it. But it gives it more weight,” Uthica explains, pulling the report from my hand, placing it atop the others.

“Literally,” I add, smiling as she hefts the stack of pages, placing them on her second desk to the side.

“So, you’re certain you’re done with the ship? There are still two days left on the System’s deadline?” Uthica asks, returning to her chair. Smoulder sees the cleared desk as an opportunity and launches herself forward to investigate.

“Unless there’s something super-hidden in the support structure, yeah. And if there is, it’s not around the cockpit. I’ve scanned every cubic inch with Facet,” I confirm, teasing Smoulder by blasting her tail with small spheres of water.

“I’ll give it until tomorrow, in case this invasion surges again. Having a rapid response vehicle is… convenient.” Uthica plucks Smoulder off the desk and into her lap, enabling Smoulder to dodge my latest wave of attacks with zero effort.

I nod as Uthica pulls out her board for Vaus’ Champions.

Three games later, Uthica knocks over my Queen for the third time in a row when she asks, “How is the gardening going?”

Takes me a second to understand she’s referring to the tree sucking up all the Facet within my soul-scape. “It’s… not. The ugly tree’s all gone, but the hope tree just keeps on sucking. Only thing I can do is choose how many times a day I want to give myself a bloody nose to feed it more.”

“Hmm. That’s unfortunate. It would be nice to have you available to take over for the ship without hurting yourself. I never appreciated how much of the difficulty in managing these invasions was simply getting there fast enough,” Uthica says as she resets the board.

“Can’t be everywhere at once,” I agree, rotating the board so I start second. Maybe starting second will give me an advantage. “Was thinking about how I could probably build one out of raw mana, if I can tap into mana-vents properly. Or if you can get me the parts.”

“I’ve looked. And we have most, but the reactor is… difficult,” Uthica states as she takes her first move. “And the ability to teleport is far too rare.”

“I would miss it,” I say as she moves her Dragon out of its roost. Regretting my choice to let her go first, I counter with my archmage to BX-3.

“Perhaps it's time to have a pair of healers attend you. So you can feed this tree until it’s satisfied,” Uthica suggests, defeating my archmage with one of her Fallen.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see that,” I mutter, staring at the board. I take her Fallen with one of my own, but the archmage remains lost. Oh, curse my short-sightedness. “Did they make any progress on healing without compatible Systems?”

“Sort of. Pelthia, one of our best healers, believes she can restore your health pool using a ritual normally reserved for healing unbonded dragons.” She doesn’t take any of my pieces this time, simply moving her lightning tower to flank her dragon.

“Wait. You want to heal me with a dragon-husbandry spell?” I ask, placing my Fire-Burrow next to her Fallen. Which I immediately lose to her Drowned Summoner.

“Modified. But yes.”

“Guess it couldn’t hurt. When do you want to start?”

“The healers should be ready for you in the morning.”

I stare down at the board, my Queen lying in the ashes of my defeat. Then I fix Uthica with a level gaze. “Don’t suppose they’re ready now?”

“I’m afraid not. Why?” Uthica asks, leaning back.

Plucking the pieces back, I rotate the board back the other way.

“You’re going to need them after I get my vengeance.”

Uthica smiles as I set the pieces back in place, though it’s sharp. Perhaps I should be preparing for tomorrow’s restoration, but first…

Just… one more game.

6.38, The Blood Price

Akilo Local Time: Noon. (February 8, 1512)

Breaking through the clouds, the noonday sun shines down on a group of K’tharn preparing a ritual circle the size of my old apartment on the outskirts of camp. Despite staying up with me until dawn, Uthica’s already gone, seeing to some minor emergency.

Glad I’m not sleeping in the ship, since she took it with her.

Letonga shifts next to me, watching the K’tharn work with narrowed eyes. “I don’t like it.”

“Of course not,” I reply, patting her on the shoulder and sending her a mild morning dose of reassurance. “You don’t like anything they do.”

“Only when it’s wrong,” Letonga disagrees, a single strand of her black hair slipping free to flap in her face. With a grunt of annoyance, she tucks it back, a smile emerging once she has it secured.

Not having anything constructive to add, I nod, watching the healers continue their work. A few minutes later, one of the K’tharn approaches me, giving me a small bow as she says, “Queen Pandora. The ritual is ready. If you’d take your place, we can begin.”

“Sure. Any last second instructions?” I ask, following her to the middle of the array. They even brought in special stones that are set into key points in an octagonal arrangement.

“Nothing I’m sure you don’t already know. Tell us when you’re running low on mana. Don’t use too much health at once. No creation of elemental phenomena within the ritual space,” she informs me, stopping directly before one of the special stones. She points to a very large, flat, octagonal stone in the center of the space. “You’ll need to remain on the Focal stone for the duration of the ritual. If you leave it while the ritual is in effect, there could be backlash.”

“What, like bleeding out my ears?” I ask, with a smirk.

To which she nods. “That has happened before.”

That wipes the smile off my face. “Wait, seriously? I thought this was supposed to be for healing?”

“Particularly unruly dragons have been known to incur massive backlash,” she says, sitting on her stone with her legs crossed. “So long as you do not disintegrate a quarter of the runework in an spite-fueled outburst, you should be fine.”

“Don’t deal with people much, do you?” I comment under my breath as I test the sturdiness of my stone, totally not hesitating to step on it. Nope.

I glance at where Letonga’s watching from the edge of the circle, Smoulder snuggled in her arms. Smoulder doesn’t even budge, purring contently as I set foot into the middle of the ring. This is going to be pure suffering. Non-stop draining and refilling my health until the tree has had its fill.

Fun times.

Before they start, I begin the process, slowly siphoning health off into Facet. The tree gobbles it up, as if the already enormous amount of Facet I’ve been feeding it was barely a trickle. While it’s slurping, I follow my Facet to trace through my soul-scape. The hope tree’s roots have been spreading even with all the starvation, providing a visual link between all the pillars of my soul-scape. Even though it doesn’t really belong in a couple of them.

The day continues, and despite the pain of feeding health into Facet then having it restored via an array meant for dragons, the most notable thing about the day is how tedious this is. I have to maintain attention throughout all of it, breaking down my resources, directing my Facet inward, following the tree’s growth… yet none of it is interesting.

When Uthica returns, the sun setting almost in my eyes, I’m debating whether we should call it a day when the decision is taken from me. Because I’m not hemorrhaging Facet anymore. The tree has finally stopped growing. It’s twice the size the ugly tree once was, its canopy shielding most of my soul-scape. And its roots reach deep. Deeper than I realized my soul-scape went. I’m able to follow its roots to the very edge of my soul-scape. And… it seems I’ve developed pathways for feeding my pools directly into the tree.

Not sure what that means yet, but my System’s telling me I should be able to convert them without the whole bleeding thing now. Yay!

Uthica passes me a bowl of spicy meats, asking, “So, did it help?”

“It did. Damn thing finally stopped growing,” I reply, using metal manipulation to levitate the spoon to my mouth while I snuggle Smoulder.

“Hmm. Didn’t think it would be so simple,” Uthica admits.

“Simple? She spent the day with blood streaming down her face,” Letonga says, dropping her spoon back into her bowl.

“I did?” I ask, as we move toward Uthica’s tent.

“You’re still covered in it,” Letonga states, flicking my clothes which causes a shower of dry powder to flake off.

“Wow. That healing was more effective than I realized. Didn’t feel a thing,” I say, inspecting myself properly. There’s dried blood everywhere. When I touch my cheek, I realize it must be over half a centimeter thick.

“I need a bath,” I decide. “I’ll see you guys later.”

Uthica wishes me good luck as I hurry to my tent. I’m barely inside the door when I create the bath, filling it quicker than I’m able to escape my disgusting clothes. So I destroy them. I was gonna need new ones after what they’d been through anyway.

Several long moments of just soaking are followed by thoughts of the future. Now that I have Facet again, I can resume my experiments. Which means I’ll be able to see Rufka again. Really looking forward to that. It’s been far too long since I held her in my arms. Hmm. Yeah, that’d be nice, having her here right-

The sound of a low cry from outside the wall of my tent interrupts my bath. I’m not entirely, certain, but it sounds like Letonga. Drying myself off, I summon a set of clean clothes before making my way around my tent. Letonga is leaned against a barrel I didn’t even know was there, panting.

“Are you okay?” I ask, placing a hand on her shoulder. She spins around, her ears flicking back as she stares at me.

“S-sorry, I was just coming to see you when…” Letonga trails off, turning away. She takes several deep breathes before standing straight, looking me in the eye. “I’m afraid the connection has changed again, commandant.”

“Changed how?” I ask, almost dipping into my soul-scape.

“I’d rather not say. Good evening commandant.” Letonga dashes away from my tent before I can ask her more.

Slipping inside my soul-scape, I look to where her connection sits on the edge. Except, just like with our threads, the connection is now interwoven with my soul-scape, the hope tree’s roots running through it.

A cursory inspection reveals that a similar growth has formed around my connection to Smoulder, while my connection to Uthica remains untouched. Not wanting to risk accidentally binding her, I hesitate for a second before disconnecting. I’ll talk to Uthica about it tonight.

That done, I return my attention to the connection to Letonga. I can feel her emotions with only the briefest brush against the connection. Embarrassment, happiness, arous-

Okay, maybe I don’t need to be looking so closely. Except it's harder than ever to turn away.

Still, when Letonga slips into her tent, I exit my soul-scape immediately. Even so, I can feel her emotions seeping into me. Which wouldn’t be such a problem if not for her current state.

Since I don't teleport straight there, it takes me nearly two minutes to arrive at the entrance flap to her tent. She doesn’t hear me call out to her at first. But when I send a surge of affection over the connection, she calls out my name. Though it’s long and drawn out.

Not the effect I was going for.

“Yes, Letonga?” I shout again. Not wanting to enter her tent without an invitation.

“Lexi?” she asks again, drawing my name out. Then she seems to realize I’m not a figment of her imagination as she proceeds to utter several curse words before calling out, “Commandant. What are you doing here?”

“You’re right about the connection changing,” I inform her as she pushes open the flap to her tent, her normally ordered hair mussed as though she’d charged through a windstorm. “I was hoping we could-“

Not letting me finish, Letonga presses against me, her lips firm against mine. I’m so surprised, I don’t respond for a second. Then I push her away from me, probably harder than I need to. After wiping my lips clean, I repeat myself, though this time I’m able to finish, “I was hoping we could fix it.”

Letonga’s mouth drops, her eyes flaring wide as she mumbles, “Fix… oh… oh no. Commandant, I’m sorry. I’ve… why do I keep doing this?”

“The connection,” I state. “Magic like this. It can mess with your head. Pretty sure it's been messing with mine too. I should’ve known. You seemed to be getting better but now I’ve made things worse. Again.”

“Not worse,” Letonga protests weakly. I wait, but she doesn’t choose to elaborate.

“Anyway,” I continue. “I think it’d be best if I eliminate the connection before it becomes permanent.”

“No!” Letonga cries, staring at me like I’d threatened to kill her brother.

“Uh, no? What do you mean no? You’ve seen how much it’s affecting you,” I say.

“It’s fine. I just… I misinterpreted your reason for coming here. It won’t happen again, I promise. But please. Don’t… don’t take this away from me,” Letonga pleads even as she snaps back to attention, her eyes watering as she stares past me. I can feel her desperation leaking through.

“I’ll think about it,” I answer, rubbing at my forehead with my regular left hand. “Just try not to feel too hard until I’ve had a chance to work through things. The connection isn’t one way.”

“Wait. Then you felt…” Letonga gulps hard, her eyes flicking to my face before returning to their thousand-yard stare.

“More than I should've. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry I ever forged the connection with you in the first place,” I admit, turning away from her to stare in the direction of Uthica’s tent. I should talk to her. She’d have-

“Don’t say that,” Letonga stage-whispers, “Best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“What? I know I didn’t hear that right,” I reply, my eyes snapping back to study her flushing face.

“I said, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Before I met you, I thought all K’tharn were useless idiots. They deserved their servitude,” Letonga spits the words out, her eyes burning bright blue. “But Uthica…”

We stand there for a few seconds, laughter from nearby K’tharn drifting to us as Letonga works her jaw back and forth. “Uthica is freer than any Eldinsworn I’ve met. And as capable as any Reaper. No thanks to her System.”

“That’s-“

My words are lost as the air around me explodes, heat coursing past my defences as I’m thrown through the nearest tent. When I lift my head, Letonga’s nowhere to be seen. In fact, it’s tough making out anyone beneath the writhing mess of collapsed tents.

Easy to spot the Reaper floating overhead though.

The wolf’s head cloak gives a strong hint as to who we’re dealing with, but I’d say that his focus on the ship’s active shield is a better sign. But most tellingly, I recognize his face from Oda’s memories.

Guess Vrathorn’s not just letting us get away with his ship.

6.39, Inconvenient

Akilo Local Time: Early Evening. (February 9, 1512)

Another blast ripples out from where Vrathorn’s floating, his cape fluttering back to reveal full-plated armour underneath. But I’ve already Paused time, slapped him with a tether, and moved a dozen meters into the air. So this time I’m prepared. I have a shield in place before the pulse hits me, but it throws the rest of the camp into further disarray, tents flung clear of the area directly beneath him. Not enough to really hurt most users, but definitely an annoyance.

No sign of Letonga, yet our connection means I know she’s safe a dozen meters behind me. And that she’s confused more than worried. Uthica on the other hand was closer to the epicenter of the first blast. Either inside the ship or her tent. Her tent which is the only one still standing, shrugging off the last blast wave as easily as I did.

Unlike Alaven, I doubt Vrathorn’s going to be scared off by my passing resemblance to an Orator.

Still can’t believe that worked.

Best bet is to not give him time to react. I’ve got Facet again, so that should be easy. And his pod’s been thoroughly dissected, so if we do end up killing him, he shouldn’t be back to haunt us.

There’s a niggling voice that makes me wonder when killing became an acceptable solution. A niggling voice that’s a lot louder when that thought crosses my mind.

I nearly throw up. My first thought was to kill him. Not rewinding time or capturing him. Instead, I was going to end his life. Turning my Pause into a proper Freeze, I settle myself as I create a proper return point.

First…

“Analyzing Temporal Thread. Interpolating current Temporal position.”

“Sapient Analyzed: Talani Trueborne. Reaper. Hermaphrodite. Gene seed D.”

“Name: Vrathorn Fenrirchild.”

“Relevant lore: The sole surviving child of Fenrir, born in the wake of Ragnarök, Vrathorn is one of the few Reapers with a direct tie to those who walked on Earth. Ostracized and banished from the great halls of Veilsogu for the sins of his father, Vrathorn is a weak and unimpressive representative of his species, as are all Talani who dwell in the shadow of the System searching for scraps. Pissed at Administrator Pandora for stealing and disassembling his Soul.”

“Attributes: Physical; Weak, [Lower Copper], Mobility; Weak, [Mid Copper], Magic; Pathetic, [Mid Copper], Awareness; Pathetic, [Low Copper].”

“Attacks: Enhanced Physical Blows. Reaper Scythes. Secondary bio-mana support system. Copper-grade equivalent.”

“Defences: Physical: Incredible (Vastly improved by Armor), Mana: Comparable (Vastly improved by Armor). Redundant life-support. Restoration equivalents (Currently crippled).”

“Temporal Thread: Quality; Mid 20th percentile, Durability; Lower 80th percentile, Malleability; Mid 10th percentile. Proximity to Pandora’s Temporal Thread: Close.”

I don’t just study his attributes, I take the time to look him over as I create a point I can easily return to. Just in case.

Part of me wishes I’d created a save point before I talked to Letonga. But with how it works now, I would’ve just brought her back in time with me anyway, shared embarrassment and all. Course it would’ve been useful for… whatever this is.

With my save point established, I float upward under Paused time. Which is when I spot Uthica. Sparring with Alaven. Because of course Vrathorn brought backup.

She dodges a bolt of lightning that splits the ground for hundreds of meters behind her but doesn’t move to take advantage of his overextension. Oh, she’s keeping him focused outward. Away from where everyone’s recovering.

With Alaven distracted, that leaves me with only one demigod to handle. And not even a particularly strong one. Maybe I can just take him halfway across the world? Or dump him in space. He can probably survive that, if my understanding of his support systems is right.

“The Orator impersonator herself,” Vrathorn calls out as I allow time to move, staring straight at me. Well, his gaze is actually locked on my hand. “Trying to keep me from reclaiming my ship?”

I hesitate, staring back at him. As he moves to set his hand on the ship’s shield, I look around. People are recovering just fine. Midnight and Redstone are pushing their way out of a deep rut, and Smoulder’s with Uthica. Alaven's chased them far to the east, nearly out of my field of vision. But no one’s been hurt. Not seriously.

“Depends,” I answer, watching him work. The fact he’s not already inside leads me to suspect he’s too late.

“Oh? You’ll just stand there and wait for me to reclaim my Soul? How kind of you.” His sneer indicates precisely what he thinks of my ‘kindness’. The rifle he’s raising in my direction further emphasizes the point.

But I haven’t just been floating around. I’m already wresting away control of the metal within his armour, the plate providing more resistance than the most stubborn material I’ve encountered before. Yet it’s yielding to me.

“Not kindness,” I say, hoping to keep him from attacking me as I remain ready to Pause time. “Curiosity.”

It works. He stops raising his rifle as he stares at me with narrowed eyes. Then he glances quickly to each side. Probably expecting an ambush. Traditional but effective tactic. One Beth would’ve recommended if she were here.

“Too bad I’m not inclined to indulge in your curiosity,” Vrathorn snarls, his words managing to sound half-growled as he raises the rifle toward me. But his arms freeze into position, locked in place by his armor.

Nodding, I inspect him with my Facet, searching for any sign of hidden weapons. There are at least four possible weapons, though I think at least two of them would destroy everything in a few-kilometer radius. Him included. Weird they didn’t show up on my scan. “That’s fair. If I were in your position, I wouldn’t indulge me in my curiosity either.”

He doesn’t snarl at me this time. Instead, he’s watching me with his narrowed eyes. Then he smiles, though it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I think I’ve changed my mind. Ask your questions.”

Ha. Bluff equals called. Well played wolf-boy, well played. Guess I need to come up with- Oh, I know. “What’s an Orator, and why did Alaven think I was one?”

At this, he laughs, his armor shaking despite my sturdy grip on it. Might not have him quite where I want him after all.

Even as I reinforce his armour with more layers of metal, he stops his laughter, turning his gaze on me. “You didn’t even know who you were impersonating? Are you truly this disfigured? With all the magic at your command?”

“Healing isn’t exactly my specialty,” I respond, more bothered by his comment than I’d prefer. I thought I’d recovered rather well. I only have a… okay, yes, my hand and forearm are still technically missing.

But magic!

“Not your- Ha. More the fool then. Though not so much as Alaven. He’d have given you his own ship, if you’d asked for it, you know. And never thought twice about it,” Vrathorn says, shaking again.

“No. He wouldn’t,” I disagree. Vrathorn clearly underestimates Alaven. Then again, so did I, before I sat down at a table with him. Despite his weak tolerance for booze, he’s not dull.

“How would you know? Why would you think you know how he’d react when you don’t even know what an Orator is?” Vrathorn demands, clenching his right fist slightly.

This time, I don’t give him an answer, meeting his gaze with both eyes fixed on his. Then I wink at him with my tree-touched eye.

The shudder that runs through him is thoroughly enjoyable. Almost as enjoyable as what I see behind him. Uthica is flying back with no sign of Alaven, and she’s headed directly toward the ship.

“You know, I was wrong,” Vrathorn says as he flexes his right hand again.

Maintaining my silence is easy. Stretching my Facet around him in preparation to Teleport him halfway around the world? That’s proving weirdly difficult.

“Yes. I was wrong. You are more of a fool than-“

Whatever he was going to say is lost as I send him to a distant teleportation site at the Southernmost tip of the Western Continent. It costs me all my Facet, and I don’t even get the satisfaction of seeing the look on his face.

A few seconds later, and Uthica passes through the still glowing shield surrounding the ship. Guess the shield wasn’t System based.

Keeping watch for Alaven or a magically returning Vrathorn, I glance down. Which is when the camp below me explodes into action. Almost as though they’d been frozen in the moment of the explosion, they now move with the purpose and direction I’m used to from Uthica. Less than a minute after Vrathorn’s disappearance, a familiar lieutenant checks on me, snapping off a salute as I inform her of what happened. Lexica, my assigned lieutenant. Pretty sure Uthica assigned her to me just to have me weirded out.

She flies off to inform Uthica’s command staff, and I soon have another lieutenant flying up to me. Before they can relay whatever message they were sent with, Uthica emerges from the ship to a cheer. Which is immediately followed by a ‘pop’ as Vrathorn’s entire ship disappears, nothing left but blue dust drifting in the wind.

The lieutenant flying toward me turns around, joining Uthica’s command staff as they charge toward her. I float down to check on Letonga, who hasn’t moved since the first attack. When I flip back the tent covering her, she’s just laying there, staring at the sky. She glances over at me for a second, then her gaze returns upward.

Feeling awkward, I decide fixing the connection can wait.

“Didn’t doubt you for a second,” she says as I turn away.

“What was that?” I ask, looking back at her.

Letonga waves in the general direction of where the ship was. “When we were frozen, locked in that awful paralysis. I wasn’t worried. I couldn’t be. Knew you’d deal with them. I’ve never…”

“Okay,” I say. Maybe the connection can’t wait. I can feel her admiration through the bond. And… other things. “I’m going to try to restrict the connection. Not end it, but I shouldn’t…”

Letonga nods though she doesn’t look at me.

Slipping into my soul-scape, I stare at the connection. The feelings flowing through shift from the tumultuous mess they’ve been, replaced by calm resolve from her end. Well, that should make this easier.

Examining the intricate flow of the roots, I see nothing’s changed since my inspection earlier. And now that Letonga’s calm, I’m not feeling pressured to escape. So, I sit and study the roots that somehow reach from my soul-scape into the connection. Tracing them, I’m relieved to see that they don’t reach all the way into Letonga’s soul-scape. They’re still confined to the connection itself. I start reshaping my soul-scape, poking at the roots with Facet.

Which causes a single strand to reach further into the tunnel.

Welp, no more of that. Replacing Facet with Twilight infused mana, I tentatively poke a root. When nothing grows, I perform a more thorough examination, working my way along the root. And I also learn more about what changed our connection in the first place.

The bond is reinforced by all the waves of affection I’ve been sending her. And each and every time I did, I pulled her thread closer to mine. While this wouldn’t have any effect on Uthica, because she’s actually an important part of history, Letonga’s… not.

At least, not before I interfered.

Her thread used to be thinner than most K’tharn I’ve met serving in Uthica’s armies.

Closing, my eyes, I swallow. This really isn’t… I shake my head, connection first, apologize later. I move my attention back to the connection, continuing my inspection. It’s not a perfect understanding, but there’s enough Twilight woven in that I can trace the overall pattern. And I think I’ve found a spot I can block off with a valve.

Just have to create it without Facet.

With a thick gnarl in my metaphorical hand, I trace it down to where the thinnest piece is, a bare strand connecting the tree to this root. I’m about to shape it when a stray burst of affection washes over me, causing me to lose focus. Luckily, I don’t damage anything. But it’s a reminder I should hurry.

Crafting Facet into a barrier rune is surprisingly easy. I suspect I’ll need more than one to stop the free passage of our emotions, but that’s okay. I have all the Mana-fog I’ll need.

Forming the shield goes perfectly, and it settles in place over the connection. Already, I can feel the emotions passing through being muted. It’s not enough by itself, but if I create… I think a dozen or so, we shouldn’t be feeling emotions unless we choose to.

As I’m preparing the next shield, I notice Letonga’s emotions are gone.

Was the one shield enough to fix it after all? Turning my attention away from my work, I’m just in time to see Letonga staring back at me through the connection.

“Okay, that’s new,” I remark as she waves at me. Glancing down at my own vague body, I can’t help but note how crisp hers is. Her caramel skin, burning blue eyes and raven-black hair are all fully present. As are her hands, which are running along the edges of the connection.

“Uhm. Maybe don’t-“ I start, but Letonga plunges her hands into the sides of the connection. This time my entire soul-scape heaves. Letonga pulls back, staring at her hands for several seconds even as I stumble to my feet. Much more solid feet than I had a second ago.

While I’m marvelling at my not quite complete form, Letonga strikes again, though this time my soul-scape doesn’t just heave. It shifts, drawn toward the mental tunnel where Letonga is pulling at the sides. For several seconds, it feels as though she’s going to draw me through the connection. But then she stops, the suction reversing as quickly as it started.

“What-“ I start, but then I see her smug smile. She’s staring at the walls of the much shorter mental tunnel. The roots are already through, worked within the soul-scape beneath her feet.

I leave the soul-scape, grabbing Letonga and shaking her by the shoulders until she opens her eyes, meeting my gaze with a casual salute as I ask, “What have you done?”

“I fixed it commandant. No more of my messy emotions intruding on your mind,” Letonga says, her expression blank.

“But you… the connection is tighter than ever!” I shout, dropping my grip as I fall backward. A quick inspection confirms that her thread is now almost completely encompassed by mine.

“Yes. I couldn’t let you leave me. Now you never will,” Letonga states, her face still blank.

“You… no… don’t you understand? I’m going home. To be with-“

“With your friends,” Letonga nods. “The people who are actually important to you. And now you’ll take me with you.”

Staring at her isn’t enough. I want to grab her and shake her until her shiny white teeth fall out. But she’s so listless, her expression so blank that I find myself worried as well.

“What did you do… to stop the emotions?” I ask, unsure I actually want to know the answer.

Letonga smiles, but it’s weak, barely a twitch of her lips. “You had a problem with my emotions, so I went inside. And I ripped them out.”

She says it so simply.

All her emotions. Gone. Because they were an inconvenience to me.

I…

…

This is not what I wanted.

6.40, Yes, Commandant

Akilo Local Time: Evening. (February 9, 1512)

Standing next to Letonga, whose blank face is hidden in evening shadow, merry laughter — from a crew of K’tharn restoring the camp — contrasts harshly with my current feeling of guilt. If I’d just cut the connection earlier, she wouldn’t have become addicted to my reassurance. And that’s the only thing that makes sense.

I made her a Vaus-damn addict.

And now… Letonga sits calmly. Her eyes no longer burn brightly. Instead, they’re nearly invisible.

“Letonga,” I start, and she looks at me. “You should get yourself something to eat. I’ll fix your tent.”

“Yes, commandant,” Letonga says, pushing herself to her feet then marching toward the laughing K’tharn. She doesn’t hesitate as she walks up to them. The laughter stops, but soon she’s walking away, farther into camp. As she disappears, I note the first by-product of the change. I have an unerring understanding of her direction, but now I can’t tell how far she is. Because it feels as though she’s still standing next to me.

Pondering what I can do to fix this, I erect her tent with barely a thought, magical hands snapping it back into place in less than a minute. Will reseting fix it? I doubt it, since she’s stuck herself so close to me. Still, if anyone’s been killed, I might need to reset anyway.

It’s when I step inside to restore her furnishings to their place, I come across an open book beneath her overturned bed. A book of physical paper. I pick it up, drawn in by an image on the page of an Eldin facing a giant easily five times their size. And it’s a passage about the actual namesake, Eldin. And his journey into the frozen lands of Jotun. I can’t help but notice that Eldin is missing his right hand and eye.

Bet his sacrifice was a lot more noble than getting caught in a storm after everyone was already safe.

Righting the folding table, I put the book on top, leaving it open. Looking down at the rest of her scattered belongings, instead of snooping through them, I collect them with magic and deposit them on the table. With one last twist of magic, I smooth out the sheets of her bed and turn to leave.

Letonga is standing in the entrance, staring at me.

“Uh, hello Letonga,” I say, pulling my hair in front of my eyes as a makeshift shield.

“Hello commandant. I’ve eaten. Do you need anything else?” she asks, tone completely flat. No, flat feels wrong. Hollow is more appropriate.

Shaking my head, I step to the side. I need to talk to Uthica. Maybe she can help. “No. I don’t need anything. You just… take care of yourself.”

“Okay. I think I should sleep. I haven’t slept a full night since we met,” she says, walking past me to her bed. Then she starts pulling off her cloths.

I choose that moment to call out a hasty goodbye, rushing out of her tent and almost running face first into a K’tharn waiting just outside of Letonga’s tent. The same lieutenant that I talked to earlier.

“Queen Pandora,” the lieutenant salutes. “Queen Uthica requests your presence in her tent.”

“Sure. Any word on what happened to the attackers?” I ask. I suspect it’ll take Vrathorn a while to get to us. And when he does… well, maybe we shouldn’t be setting up camp here.

“The Queen chased off her opponent, forcing him to flee into his ship. We have reports it was seen flying southwest. Our Queen wanted to ask you if you might know why?”

“I have suspicions,” I say. I’ll leave it up to Uthica who she chooses to tell what. Especially since I only suspect Alaven's gone to retrieve Vrathorn. Still, that only gives us more reason to leave. Or for me to go back and rewrite time a bit more.

The lieutenant takes my response as the request for silence it was, escorting me the rest of the way without another word.

Pern and Uthica are both inside the tent when I arrive. Not one of her command staff though.

“Oh Lexi, thank Astra,” Uthica says, enveloping me in a hug before I’m fully inside the tent.

“Hey. Uh, missed you too,” I squeak out, returning the hug at half strength.

Uthica releases me, glaring at me with her upper eyes closed. “Don’t ever do something that stupid again.”

“Sorry. What?” I ask, legit confused. How did she hear about my mistake with Letonga?

“You should have let him take the ship. Not flown up to confront him face to face. The reward wasn’t that important,” Uthica scolds me.

“Sorry. You- Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. Sorry,” I mutter, scratching my head.

“It’s fine. Was hoping to use it against him, but the System changed its quest. Demanded I turn in the ship immediately or it would destroy Akilo. And now I have a quest to kill or chase him out of the System. And only twelve days to do it. Do you know where he went?” Uthica asks, her arm draped over my shoulder as she leads me to the map.

“Yeah. I sent him to the Southern Tip of the South-West Continent,” I say, pointing at the furthest node away from us. And where the tether I slapped on him is pointing.

“Hmm. Should buy us an hour, if Alaven’s ship is as fast as Vrathorn’s,” Uthica says, staring at the map. Before I can say anything, her eyes glaze over. Then several voices outside start calling out orders. “The camp Wardens will keep the shields at full strength if they come back. No more surprise attacks. Shouldn’t have caught us the first time.”

Pern pokes Uthica in the side, causing her to jerk me to the side as she attempts to dodge it. But she fails, probably because I wasn’t prepared to move so I kind of locked her in place. “We’ve been over this. The decision was made. No one was hurt, and the Wardens are rested enough to keep the shields charged all night.”

“But what if we moved camp,” Uthica asks.

Pern shakes his head. “They have a ship. It might not be as fast as the one you commandeered, but it’s faster than anything we have.”

Uthica grins. “But Lexi’s improved her teleportation. And she’s got her Facet back. She could take us anywhere.”

“If it’s not too far,” I say. “There are a lot of K’tharn out there. And I’ve never teleported hundreds of dragons before.”

“Hmm. No dragons. The dragons can fly back to Aethire. They’ll serve better there anyway. Targets that big will be a liability against the Reapers and their rifles,” Uthica states, running her hand over the map. Uthica taps a point, the city with the statue. Hundreds of abandoned buildings, prepped with supplies. A perfect place to hide. “Here. If you both agree.”

“Perfect,” I say, Pern nodding on Uthica’s other side.

“Good. Now, we just need to figure out how to chase a god out of the system after stealing their ship from them,” Uthica says, shaking Pern and I with a giant grin on her face.

Ah. If only that was all I had to worry about.

“Actually,” I start. They both turn to look at me, brows raised in a way that makes me smile at the family resemblance. Then I shake my head, sighing before taking a deep breath.

Time to explain my connection to Letonga. And how much I messed up.

Despite the late hour, the light from Ukila illuminates Uthica’s dark-brown fur clearly as she leads the way through camp, dictating new orders to her command staff. Clouds cover the sky, prompting her to activate a glowing globe as we approach Letonga’s tent. Uthica lifts her hand, then turns to her father. He nods, stepping forward and raising his voice to call Letonga.

Still not clear on what we’re doing here. I finished describing Letonga’s symptoms, Uthica and Pern shared a look then they nodded at each other before rushing out of the tent, leaving me to chase after them. Even as I caught up, Uthica was already calling out orders, getting everyone ready to leave.

And now we’re here, the tent flap rustling as Letonga responds with a slurred, “Commandant, is that you?”

Uthica nods at me, so I step forward and say, “Yeah. It’s me. Sorry to disturb your sleep, but we’re moving camp.”

“Of course, commandant,” Letonga answers, the hollowness of her words more pronounced now that she’s not struggling to consciousness. Uthica and Pern share another long look.

“What’re we doing?” I hiss at Uthica now that she’s not barking orders.

“Hmm. I want to see her before I say anything,” Uthica says.

Pern nods, but adds, “We’ve seen symptoms like this before. But like Uthica, I’d prefer to see her before arriving at a diagnosis.”

“That bad, huh?” I ask, more nervous than when I was staring Vrathorn in the face. Before I can receive an answer, Letonga calls out that we can enter.

Uthica claps my shoulder for a second, before pushing into the tent. Letonga is fully dressed, every piece of her grey robes in place, including the mask she’d stopped wearing. She’s packing her belongings into a duffel-bag as we enter but stops the moment I pass the threshold, standing and moving into a salute.

“At ease,” I say for what must be the hundredth time. This time, she does seem to be at ease, going so far as to sit on bed. While staring at me.

“Letonga,” Uthica says, stepping forward.

Letonga’s head swivels to Uthica, as she says, “Yes, Uthica?”

Uthica pauses, glances back at me then continues forward until she’s kneeling in front of Letonga. “Can you take off the mask?”

The cold lenses shift, Letonga’s gaze moving past Uthica to me, so I nod. Letonga pulls the mask away, revealing her empty eyes, their faded blue barely visible despite the magical light hovering at Uthica’s shoulder.

Drawing a device from her inventory, Uthica holds a solid cube in one hand as she waves an attached wand over Letonga’s face. Uthica lets out a low hiss, before turning and handing the device to her father.

“Soul-burn,” he states. “Like with the Daughters. Or the Morgred.”

“It’s still fresh,” Uthica notes, waving a thin wand over Letonga.

“So, you’ve seen this before?” I ask, feeling a surge of relief. If we can fix her… Well, I’d rather have Letonga’s emotions intruding than see her like this.

“Similar,” Pern confirms. “Never self inflicted though. Not sure where the rest of her went though. It’s normally sucked out of them,” Pern notes,

“Could she have used it to reinforce our connection?” I ask.

“Possible. Definitely possible,” Pern agrees. “But without a way to inspect her soul directly, it’s impossible to confirm.”

“Hmm. Might still be in there,” Uthica notes, pointing to something on the device. A reading that roughly translates to spiritual potency. Which sits at ninety-eight.

“You know, I think you might be right. If her soul was gone, that’d be much lower,” Pern says, looking back to Letonga.

“I know,” Uthica says, rolling all four of her eyes even as a smirk tugs at her lips.

Pern smiles at her, running the wand over Letonga again who continues to sit there, staring in my direction. “Well, her readings are stable.”

“So, does that mean we can fix her?” I ask, unable to wait for them to continue.

Uthica takes me under her arm as she takes my hand in hers. “We don’t know. Soul burn isn’t something we’ve been able to fix. Sometimes people get better. Other times they don’t.”

“But… you have tools. You can tell what her spiritual potency is. And her soul’s cohesion.”

“Yes. But we’ve never used them for healing,” Uthica admits, glancing at Letonga again.

“You didn’t… what did you use them for?” I ask.

Uthica closes all four eyes, her sightless gaze directed over my shoulder for a second. Then she opens her lower eyes and says, “As you’ve noticed, people with soul burn are more suggestive than normal. They’ve been used against us in the past.”

“Meltiva,” Pern mutters, his hands shaking.

“Who’s Meltiva?” I ask.

“She’s… she was a friend. One who didn’t survive,” Uthica says, her eyes drifting away from me. But then her lips twitch into a smile. “That’s in the past. We have tools we didn’t have then. Unfortunately, we have more pressing matters to attend to.”

“Right. Destruction of Akilo. Honestly, I think I’m getting too used to having imminent destruction hanging over my head. This seems more important,” I say, crouching in front of Letonga. She watches me but doesn’t otherwise react.

Uthica nods, “You and me both. What I could get done if we had a decade of peace.”

“Ah, but then we wouldn’t have all the System’s fabulous rewards,” Pern notes from behind me.

Uthica starts chuckling, as I take Letonga’s mask from her, inspecting it. “Why did you put this on?”

“Because my appearance upsets Alexis,” Letonga states, a small smile on her face as she reaches for her mask.

Uthica’s laughter cuts out, and I rock back on my heels.

“No. Your appearance doesn’t upset me,” I deny. “It’s… it’s not your appearance.”

Letonga nods, dropping her hand.

“That’s unusual,” Pern notes, and Uthica nods.

Before I can respond, a K’tharn from outside interrupts, drawing Uthica away. But she returns a second later. “We’re ready to start.”

Nodding, I turn to Letonga. “Stay close to me. I promise, I won’t leave you behind again.”

“Yes commandant,” Letonga says.

When I turn away, I swear I see her smile stretch across her face and her eyes flare bright. But when I replay the memory using Facet, it reveals it was just my imagination.

This is affecting me more than I thought.

Shaking my head, I follow Uthica to the ritual circle I was using just a few hours earlier, new stones replacing the keystones the healers sat on previously. Uthica is taking me through their use, the way they allow normal users to convey large numbers of people.

“Not that they can do it as quickly as you can,” Uthica states as we make minor adjustments to my teleportation spell, which should let me use it to target… a lot more than I usually do.

“Yeah. What’s our time like?” I ask, bumping into Letonga as I turn around. She steps back, moving out of the way with a salute. I sigh, before saying, “Maybe don’t stand quite so close to me.”

“Yes commandant,” she responds without moving. Well, as long as she stays a couple paces back, I shouldn’t run over her again.

Uthica gazes at Letonga for a few seconds before answering my question, “The first wave is ready. And the rest will be ready by the time you return.”

I nod, and suddenly a third of the camp swarms forward, over three-thousand K’tharn surround the ritual circle. Except for Letonga, no one is inside the actual circle with me.

This’ll be the first teleport on this scale I’ve attempted.

If it doesn’t work, resetting will be guaranteed.

Pushing my Facet through the array, I feel it extending, surrounding each of the K’tharn marked by the System as active participants. It’s an amazing combination of System components, using my System’s fake handshake to use her System’s resources.

Kinda feels like cheating.

Uthica’s certain it’ll work. Everything feels copacetic, so I engage the teleport.

For a brief instant, I feel every one of their minds brush against mine. Then they’re gone, compressed to a degree that’s unpleasant to dwell on, as if they’ve been stored inside my inventory. Before I can contemplate that too deeply, Letonga and I emerge in the center of the landing plaza, and the mish mash of K’tharn decompress, appearing around us fully intact.

Funny how Uthica left out the bit about them being compressed like that.

After making sure they’re okay, we teleport back.

“Commandant?” Letonga says, as I triple check to make sure none of the K’tharn were injured on this end.

“Yes?” I ask, following her pointed finger upward.

Floating there, clearly waiting for us, is Vrathorn, plate mail replaced with the standard grey robes of the Eldinsworn, a rifle leveled in my direction. Yet I hardly notice, because floating next to him, are the severed heads of the defence squad. Lieutenant Lexica among them. My stomach heaves at the sight but I reach for Freeze. But he didn’t wait for me to notice him, already firing his rifle before I looked up.

The blast tears right through my stomach, which is enough to stop me from entering Freeze. Probably my spine too. It’s a big hole. I can feel my Health trying to restore it, but I don’t bother. Instead, I close my eyes and Focus, reaching out to the save point I created during our first fight with him.

Before Letonga tied us together. I have no idea what’ll happen. But I can’t let Lexica die for me. Not like that.

And if I’m honest, I’m hoping it’ll reverse Letonga’s decision.

Vrathorn is descending, a rictus grin on his face.

So, I do what Smoulder would do.

I give him the finger.

Then I disappear.

6.41, Temporal Annihilation

Akilo Local Time: Early Evening. (February 9, 1512)

Slamming into my save point, I’m not able to take in any detail, my mental state shaking even as my Frozen grace period expires.

I collapse to the ground as my mind struggles with itself, still trying to reconcile the time that never happened. It might’ve been a whee bit over an hour since I set the save point. A blast from above throws me into a nearby tent, my shield unconsciously dismissed as I recover my sense of self.

Travelling back that extra fifteen minutes was worse than I expected.

When I’m finally able to inspect my surroundings, I find a perfect circle cut out of one of the tents beneath me. And that was using a save point.

Looking up, I find Vrathorn working at the shield. It’s been several minutes since I returned. There’s no sign of Uthica. Probably still distracting Alaven.

Part of me wants to just say screw it. Let Vrathorn take his ship.

But that part of me is quashed by the memory of Lexica’s severed head, floating next to Vrathorn as he attempted to kill me.

I can’t let him escape. Nor can I risk him coming back. I need to do what I should’ve done the first time.

Flying up to only a couple meters from him, he stops his work, turning to stare at me.

“The Orator impersonator herself,” Vrathorn calls out. “Trying to keep me from reclaiming my ship?”

Taunting him again, I repeat our previous conversation as well as a I can, buying time for the first step in my plan. When I see Uthica charging toward the ship, I Freeze time. Then I start wrapping him in bands of Facet. Once I have him properly bound, I push him forward. Five minutes. That’s all the time I have before he’ll reappear. But it’s more than I need.

Centering myself, I have to avoid dropping into a focused state. I glance around the camp and I’m suddenly grateful for the way his interactions with the ship have pushed everyone away. It makes what I’m about to try safer. Or at least I hope it does. The ship vanishes into blue dust and Uthica appears below, but I wave her back.

When Vrathorn pops back into existence, he stares at where his missing ship was, “What did you-“

Not letting him finish, I send myself back. I don’t use a save point, moving only the few minutes to the beginning of our empty conversation. But I use more force than I’ve ever done before.

My mind is prepared for the incoming shift, but it still hits like a truck. I force myself to look beyond my own disorientation, aided my awareness this was coming. A scrap of the wolf’s head cloak is floating toward the ground. That’s it. Vrathorn’s gone, erased from time.

If he comes back from that…

“What… are you okay?” Uthica asks, approaching where I’m kneeling on the ground.

Huh. When did that happen?

“Lexica? Is she okay?” I ask, lifting myself to my feet with my magic. For some reason, my muscles don’t want to cooperate.

“Lexica? The lieutenant?” Uthica asks. She pauses for a second, eyes flicking across her invisible interface. “She’s fine. Why?”

“Nothing. Nothing, I just… that’s good.”

“Hmm. Come here,” Uthica demands, pulling me into a hug. As her arms wrap around me, my head flops onto her shoulder. Her surprisingly damp shoulder. I’m not even able to lift my arms to return the hug as Uthica lowers me to the ground.

“It’s not the first… why does…”

It’s not Uthica, but Letonga who answers. “Because you can’t change it.”

A second later, I feel Smoulder’s small form pressing against my side. My scritch-reflexes are so strong, that even now as my body refuses to respond to my conscious commands, I reach out to scritch behind her big floppy ears.

We sit there for a few minutes before I’m able to move. I return the hug with Uthica for another minute before pulling away from her. Letonga is standing two paces away. The exact distance she was standing before I came back.

“Are you?” I ask, not wanting to look at the connection.

“Crazy? A useless drone? No. I’m not… normal, either,” Letonga responds, her eyes flashing brilliant blue for a second. “But you’re still stuck with me. I… I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I figured,” I reply, nodding.

“Alaven started running. Whatever you did to Vrathorn seems to have scared him,” Uthica notes, her gaze lingering on the scrap of cloak.

“What does your quest say?” I ask, prompting Uthica to glaze over.

Uthica’s laugh is bitter as she responds. “That I’ve been awarded for killing a Reaper. And I have a twelve-day countdown to… what?”

“What?” I ask,

“The quest just updated again. I… it doesn’t make any sense though.”

“What does it say?”

“It says, ‘Quest redacted. Objective irrelevant. New objective, say farewell to Citizen-based anomaly. And congratulate her.’ And I have twelve days to complete it.”

“Oh. That’s… weird. But I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised,” I sigh. Even separated from the System, it’s still tracking me. As if to prove it, my own System updates, informing me of an incoming data transfer request.

“Citizen authentication required.”

I don’t accept it, but my own System decides it’s a good time to give me a notification of its own.

“Warning! Major temporal thread deletion detected. Temporal stability has been reduced below safe thresholds. Further changes may result in the loss of Monocretis star system upon return to the surface.”

“Does that mean it makes sense to you?” Uthica asks, then her eyes narrow as she stares at me. “Hmm. It’s you, isn’t it?”

“Yep. System’s warning me, I think. Too much mucking about with time. The congratulations are new,” I reply, glancing at the notification requesting my authentication. “Give me a second?”

“Of course,” Uthica replies.

Soon as the words are past her lips, I teleport to the top of a nearby ridge and create a castle tied to a mana-vent. I have my System partition the data into a separate processing node within, letting it decompress and analyze it.

Even partitioned, I’m able to see the results, which I review from inside Frozen time. The System knows we’re in the past. And that I’m the reason it’s having temporal anomalies pop up. It’s also included a nice little ‘suggestion’ on how to get home.

Just reinforce my connection to Rufka, binding our threads more closely together and in so doing, draw myself back to her.

Except, I don’t want to just… subject her to that without her consent. Feeling at my connection to Letonga, who feels as though she’s next to me, despite the fact I know she’s standing two paces away… Yeah, I can’t do that to Rufka, the way Letonga did it to me.

Not without talking it over first.

Still, the data isn’t useless. My System is already proposing ways I might be able to use Rufka’s thread as a guide. Though it’ll require I drop out of Freeze to process their chances. Instead of addressing that immediately, I slip into the Library instead. And find Letonga and Smoulder both waiting for me.

“I… commandant?” Letonga asks, and I squeeze my eyes shut, poking at my System. I didn’t want her here.

When I open my eyes, she’s gone. Good. At least I still have some control. And the consequences of that… could be useful.

Smoulder hops over, jumping into my lap. And I have to explain what’s happening. Including the fact we’re going to be leaving Uthica. Which she understands surprisingly quickly. It seems Smoulder is far too familiar with losing loved ones and never being able to see them again.

At least, that’s the impression she gives me.

As she doesn’t feel like sharing, I decide not to press, giving her extra comfort scritches instead.

Then I take time to just… contemplate everything that just happened. I deleted Vrathorn.

My System is able to compare the existing System’s data with its own records of the future, and extrapolate the potential drift surprisingly well, having done most of the calculations before I entered Freeze. The data indicates that’s the single biggest cause of my disruption, though apparently my time with Uthica’s been bad too. Somehow, the giant beacon beneath the surface of Ukila is negligible. Same with the matching beacon Uthica had her team build on Akilo. And that mostly because they’re hidden away and have no use to anyone but me.

For now, anyway.

As I go through, I realize that everything with Letonga… has no effect. Her impact on history was so negligible that neither System considers the changes to be significant. Especially, since I have to bring her with me.

I frown at the reminder, and Smoulder stirs in my lap. Looking down, I realize there’s another creature I want to bring forward. Midnight.

Should probably upgrade his bond. And he was just as unlikely to be significant as Letonga. Again, according to my System’s analysis. Though in his case, that’s kind of a relief.

Always wanted a pet dragon, and he’s pretty easy to take care of.

Without anything else to look over, I end my Freeze and return to Uthica, Letonga still at my shoulder. I glance back at her, and she’s unable to meet my gaze, her eyes flicking to the side. Uthica’s already moving, restoring order to her camp.

After letting Uthica know I’m back, and safe, I teleport away again.

We arrive on the eastern edge of the great rift where Aethire is even now under construction. I can see one of the great spines reaching towards me, held up by massive temporary structures. Still, Aethire never reached the eastern edge. It stopped growing before that.

With my need for processing power, I set up several castles along the rim of the great rift, setting them to analyze my System’s ideas. Letonga and I teleport from site to site while Smoulder and Midnight trail behind us, playing along the slopes below. Having him around really does give Smoulder more to do. She doesn’t need nearly as many obstacle courses to keep her busy these days.

Moving my attention back from where Smoulder just knocked a dragon a thousand times her size down the hill, I look back to my latest castle. A twisting building that only barely catches the eye, as if it’s made more of dream than reality. It’s easy to adjust my castles to power themselves using the ambient mana coming up from beneath, so long as they’re made of wind, since that’s mostly what the rift puts out. Which means I’m leaving an array of nearly invisible, wind-aspected mini-castles stretching along the eastern rim.

I take my time with them, more than I should, Freezing time to consider their design, putting in the effort to make each one distinct. All because I’m also using the time to mull over everything that happened.

My reluctance to kill Vrathorn… Just because I wanted to avoid killing him, I forgot just who and what I was dealing with. I’ve let Uthica treat me as a queen, but… I don’t think that’s really who I am.

Looking back at the line of wind-castles I’ve created up to this point, I snort at that thought. Easier to build a castle than to be a queen. And I’ve never had to deal with any of the actually tough choices. Removing Vrathorn… is probably worse than just killing him too.

While drawing another wind-castle into existence, I glance over to my companion, still hovering two paces away. I’ve been putting off uncomfortable thoughts and feelings too much lately. Treating it like everything I’ve done in the past is more like a vacation than… real.

Guess it’s time to change that.

“Letonga,” I say, stopping as her brilliant blue eyes flash towards me.

“Yes, commandant?” she asks, her posture going stiff.

Sighing, I rub the ridge of my nose with my left hand, as if the motion might somehow make this easier.

“We need to talk. About the future, about your brother, and about what you did to… us.”

“Understood commandant,” Letonga replies, snapping a salute.

I sigh as the last of my castles comes into existence above us. I guide her inside, to a room that’s practically invisible from the outside, as we sit down across from each other. I’ve spent far too long just… coasting along, hoping that things would sort themselves out.

Need to set that aside, and work on adulting.

Time to stop playing.

6.42, In The Cards

Akilo Local Time: Late Evening. (February 9, 1512)

As Letonga and I sit on the near invisible patio, I scratch my head as I try to figure out how to start. First, I make sure the temporary blocks I was building are in place. I’d rather not have us sharing our emotions freely. This conversation is already going to be hard enough.

Looking for inspiration, I turn to the late night sky, looking up at the big swirl of stars. It’s funny, cause I know we’re still in the milky way, but the stars here are so… different.

Not that I saw them often, living in Vancouver for most my life.

“I owe you an apology,” I start, turning back to Letonga as I speak. Her gaze is still looking upward, her eyes locked on the same stars I was just looking at. “I never meant to… I don’t want to hurt you. But I’m not in love with you either.”

“Yes, commandant,” Letonga replies, her eyes flicking in my direction for a second before returning to gazing outward.

“Ugh, can you give me more than that,” I grump, crossing my arms as I lean back and look down to where Smoulder and Midnight are making their way towards us. “We need to figure this out. You’ve bound yourself to me, pretty damn tightly, from what I can tell. And you know I don’t want a mindless follower.”

“Sorry, commandant… but I…” Letonga trails off, rubbing at her forehead as she turns away, shifting the near-invisible chair she’s sitting on. “What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know,” I reply, uncrossing my arms. “But clearly the bursts of affection were a bad idea.”

“I’m… they felt like they were helping. I just… I’ve never…” Letonga trails off, shifting in her chair. Then she stands up, moving to the edge of the balcony and looking out. “Everything about you is so… confusing.”

“Sorry,” I reply, honestly upset that I’m confusing. It’s not like I intended to be. “Anything in particular we can talk about?”

“Yes. No. I… I’m still trying to clear my head from when I…” She waves her hand, and I’m guessing she’s referring to when she bound herself to me and turned herself into a zombie. “Commandant, I think…”

“Yeah?”

“I’d die for you…”

“Oh. That’s annoying,” I reply before I can stop myself. “I mean, for you, it must be annoying, feeling that way when you know I don’t… reciprocate,” I amend quickly, though that’s not how I really feel. Her wanting to die for me is annoying. I don’t want her to die, period. Nevermind for me. That’s the whole point. If I wanted her dead…

Well, I’m not sure what that would even do to us at this point.

“You don’t even… Odin’s breath,” Letonga sighs, rubbing at her forehead. “I know you don’t feel the same way. But I can’t help myself around you. I never… I shouldn’t have… I’m sorry, commandant. What I did… I can’t even say I regret it.”

“I… you can’t?” I ask, suddenly regretting having this conversation.

“No. I regret that you didn’t enjoy it, but being empty like that was… liberating,” Letonga says with a long sigh. “Not having to worry about you throwing me away. Or how the Reapers were going to punish me once they caught us. Or Keztil hating me.”

“Oh,” I reply, choosing to reshape the table as I process her words.

“And now… I think it helped. Made me appreciate how much your… affection has been affecting my decisions,” Letonga says, leaning out over the rail.

“I’m sorry about that. And about basically ruining your life. I never should’ve been so… flippant,” I reply, looking down at the wind-table that I can reshape with a thought. What does the way I’ve been using my power reveal about me?

“Keztil’s still not talking to me,” Letonga says after a minute of neither of us talking.

“Yeah. He’s… I’m not certain what, but he’s not mad with you anymore. I can ask him to reconsider talking when we get back to camp,” I say, unsure of anything better to offer.

“I’d appreciate that, commandant,” Letonga says, nodding in my direction as Smoulder and Midnight get closer, their playing audible as dull thuds and cracks in the distance.

“You know what we should do? We should… play some Astra’s stride and just… get to know each other more. Since we’re going to be together. And I’d prefer you call me Alexis,” I say even as I begin forming a board. It’s a little more ornate than it needs to be, but at this point, that doesn’t require any more effort than normal. I don’t really want to play, but I feel it might make our conversation less awkward.

“I…” Letonga turns back, her blue eyes flashing again. Then her eyes move to where the pieces are appearing on the board. A small smile tugs at her lips. “I would like that, Alexis.”

As she takes her seat across from me, I start, “So, first question, I guess. How old are you?”

“Don’t you already know? I thought the nature of your analysis could tell you these details?”

“I do, but asking seems like the polite way to do it,” I reply as I take the first move.

As she takes her red piece, moving into the board, Letonga responds, “I’m 852 Ells old. Which I believe would be roughly twenty-seven, in your Earth years.”

I stop, my hand hovering over my piece as I blink at the unfamiliar word. I’ve picked up most of her language, but that one is new. When I place my second piece, Letonga is quick to follow, as she adds, “And how old are you?”

“I… uhm,” I blink as I think about it. Technically… I’m nineteen now. At least, if I count the time since I came into the past. But there were still a few weeks until my birthday before we came back. “I guess I’m nineteen. How do you know how long an Earth year is, anyway?”

“I…” She hesitates, holding her piece as her eyes flicker towards me. When she sees me with my head resting on my hand, she continues. “Between all the memories you’ve sent me, and your intrinsic understanding of time, it was easy.”

“Oh,” I reply, taking my next move. “Okay, next question. You said you joined the Eldinsworn to find your dad. Did you want to keep looking?”

“I… I’ve been looking through Vrathron’s records. And there’s no record of him in the last ten years. Whatever happened to him, it’s… yes, I do, I just don’t know where to look next. I can’t ask you to return to Nothen.”

“Right. Yeah, I’d prefer not to,” I agree, placing my next piece towards the middle. “Still, we might be able to raid one of the less important bases. Preferably one with no Reaper.”

“That would be appreciated. Perhaps if I had news of our father, Keztil would talk to me,” Letonga says, placing her next piece. And then our conversation is interrupted by a dull roar.

Standing, I look over the edge, and see that Midnight and Smoulder have managed to set off a landslide, causing a section of mountain to break free and tumble away from the ridge where the wind-castles are set.

Seeing that Smoulder and Midnight are both fine, we return to our game. As we resume, I purposefully move the conversation back to lighter topics as I get to know the person who has bound herself so tightly to me.

But I do it the old fashioned way, instead of just reading every iota of her experience through our bond.

Because… I don’t really want to be her partner, but maybe we can figure out a way to be friends?

After nearly an hour of talking with Letonga, we’ve come to a sort of… understanding. I still wouldn’t say we’re friends, but at least she seems less… reverent.

She’s also, somehow, even worse at Astra’s Stride than I am.

“Are you just letting me win?” I ask as I place the last of my pieces into her side once more.

“No. I just don’t enjoy the game,” Letonga admits, wincing as she says it.

“Oh. You should’ve said so. We could’ve played something else,” I reply, making the board and pieces reshape into Vaus’ Champions with a wave of my hand.

Letonga frowns at the new pieces, and I can’t help but sigh. “You don’t like Vaus’ Champions either, do you?”

“That’s not-“ Letonga cuts out at the glare I give her, her arms raised as if to ward me off.

“The point is that you’re supposed to speak up. If you don’t like it, say so,” I state, causing the entire thing to collapse again.

“I… well, in that case… I’d prefer to play Sever’s hand,” Letonga replies, giving a small shrug. “But we’d need at least four players.”

I nod, but then shake my head. “You’re going to have to explain. I have no idea what that is.”

“Sorry, commandant. It’s… do you remember the card game I used to play? When I was still an Eldinsworn?” Letonga asks, holding her hand up as if she were holding a hand.

When I nod, she goes on to explain the rules. Which are similar to poker, though each hand has six cards, and the deck has seventy-eight. There are five suites instead of four, and three semi-wildcards that are weaker than their real equivalent. I create a full deck as she explains their design and the associated meaning behind them.

The first suite is the enslaved. Which Letonga tells me represents the System. The second suite, the Trueborne, represents the Reapers. When she tells me the third represent the Phothen, I almost laugh. Cause the third suite is called the tailless fox.

“It’s because they can’t be captured,” Letonga explains, when I point out just how many tails Demo has. “Not because they have no tails.”

I nod as she describes the fourth suite, the verdant swarm. Which represents the creatures that spread the mana-swarm.

“Wait, I thought they were controlled by the System?”

“Hardly. The System couldn’t exist without the mana-swarm. How do you not know this? You’ve seen inside my head, haven’t you?”

“It’s not like I went digging through your every memory,” I reply, holding up one of the wild cards. It has an image of a looping set of swirls on it, all surrounding a nebulous cloud.

“I… my apologies, commandant. I didn’t mean to imply…” Letonga’s sudden return to stiffness makes me want to groan.

But I don’t. Because I’m at least trying to be an adult about this, I remind myself.

Before I can reply, she adds, “If our situations were reversed, I know I would’ve seen everything I could. I… I already have.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not the first,” I reply. I leave unsaid that she is the first where it’s felt like a violation.

“I shouldn’t have. I realize that now. Again, I’m sorry commandant,” Letonga says, saluting me.

Yep. Feels like all our progress has been lost.

Turning towards the cards, I ask about the last deck, “So, what’s the story behind these ones then?”

Letonga blinks, before realizing I’m trying to move the conversation onward. “The fifth deck are the destroyers. They represent the Reavers.”

“Ah. You know, I don’t know much about the Reavers. Basically nothing. Hell, I thought they were just another word for Reaper.”

“They are… not from our galaxy,” Letonga says, her eyes going distant. “And they haven’t been seen in thousands of years.”

“So, they’re like dragons. Er, well, dinosaurs. If we were on Earth, that is,” I reply, shaking my head. “Figures of legend?”

“Oh no. They’re very real. We spent a month every year training our anti-Reaver tactics.”

“That seems… excessive, for an enemy you haven’t seen in thousands of years,” I reply as I pick up the high card of the destroyer suite.

Letonga nods as she picks up another of the cards. The second lowest of the set. “They have a Valnya in Nothen. Well, its exoskeleton.”

“They preserved its exoskeleton?” I ask, turning towards her.

“They didn’t have to. The Reavers are… well, if the System enslaves mana, the Reavers prey on it. They destroyed half the known worlds when they last invaded the galaxy. Or so the story goes. The exoskeleton still consumes mana to keep itself intact. Not much, but enough that even I could feel it,” Letonga explains as she hands me the card.

When I crafted it, the card reminded me of a puppy, with its perky ears and wagging tail. Not exactly a form that screams exoskeleton to me. Guess it wasn’t fat around the middle like I thought.

I sigh as I hold the card in my hand, looking up to Ukila.

There’s no way I can afford not to know about these.

Guess we’re going back to Nothen.

A note from Draith

My friend has his first book or Jester of the Apocalypse up for sale as of today.

It's a fun story about a pseudo-cultivation/mage world where the MC gets trapped inside a cursed timeloop for... a long time. And then he comes out and unleashes his new crazy on the world.

It's got fun writing, and the MC definitely puts in the suffering. I finished the whole book before I met the author too.

6.43, How To Bond Your Dragon

Akilo Local Time: Late Evening. (February 9, 1512)

Smoulder is perched atop Midnight’s head as they soar up to land at the edge of the balcony, and I wave Letonga back. Despite growing in strength, Midnight hasn’t really grown in size much. He’s large enough to ride, but compared to the massive size of most dragons, he’s still kinda dainty.

Waving them forward, I run my hand over his sleek head, thankful that my improved toughness means that the sharp edges of his head scales don’t cut into my hand.

Before starting, I turn to Smoulder, and let her know I’m planning to bond Midnight.

She tilts her head to the side, blinking at me as her ears flop to cover one of Midnight’s eyes. Then she nods while sending me an impression that he will be an acceptable little brother. Which is followed by another impression, reassuring me that I’ve been an excellent little sister, and that just cause we have a new brother, she won’t love me any less.

The complicated swell of emotions and ideas overwhelms me for a second. Then I reach out and pull Smoulder into my arms. Ignoring the fact she considers me her little sister for now, I give her many scritches while snuggling her against my chest. “Love you too, you little fuzzball.”

We remain like that until Midnight sticks his muzzle in, pushing against my chest. Laughing as Smoulder moves to my shoulder, I let Midnight nibble on my pinkie while scritching him behind his ear scales. I must hit a good spot, cause suddenly he’s pushing his head against my hand, his snack forgotten.

“Hey big guy, what do you think? Still interested in joining our little family?” I ask when he finishes pushing against my hand.

Pulling his head away, Midnight tilts his head as he looks at me. I can’t help but note how perfectly he’s copied Smoulder’s earlier movement. Lacking the floppy ears though. Instead, he straightens out, stretching his wings wide.

“(The Darkest Period of Night, when Light Flees the Shadow) is attempting to form a partnership bond. Allow bond to be formed? Existing partnership bond will be used as a template.”

Chuckling as the notification pushes at me once more, I nod. But I don’t just let the System do all the work. I make sure to monitor it as it goes through the process, and feed extra Facet in to improve the bond to be on the level of Letonga’s.

If he’s going to come into the present with me, I suspect I’ll need it.

The second the bond is finished and I’ve dropped out of my soul-scape, Midnight roars. Then he reaches down, his mouth closing on my shoulder. Then with a feat of flexibility I wasn’t aware he was capable of he deposits me on his back.

I’m facing backwards, but the effort’s appreciated. Even as I’m re-orienting myself, Smoulder leaps into my lap as he pushes off the balcony. I can just barely hear Letonga cry out as we dive down, swinging around the castle until we’re flying along the edge of the great mana-vent. I manage to convince him to swing back to Letonga, and I call down to her, letting her know I’ll be back soon.

Then, right as Letonga gives me a nod and a salute, he turns, taking us directly into the mana-vent.

Unable to contain the scream of glee, I let Midnight take me deeper into the vent than I’ve ever gone before. As we get deeper, I realize the temperature’s increasing. But it’s not enough to bother any of us. Descending into the darkness, I coat my eyes in Twilight, which is when I realize how… alive, the air around us is. It’s as if I was swimming in the ocean, and was in the midst of a coral reef and the life had been hiding. Or so I imagine.

Midnight flits through the surrounding mana-life, and blasts through the middle of a school of sky-eels that remind me of the Elswyrms. Then he looks back at us, slurping up one of the eel-like creature he must have snagged.

With every movement of his wings, I can feel our bond stretching and shrinking, adjusting. This flight isn’t just for fun. It’s to help shape the bond, I realize.

Midnight nods, and I can feel his joyous laughter before he dives once more.

I just throw my head back and laugh, letting him carry us. He spends the next half hour just exploring different parts of the rift, our bond syncing more and more until we run into another Twilight dragon.

Perched on an outcropping of rock, it’s curled up in a ball near the tip. Despite the abundant life around us, it’s entirely alone.

The other dragon’s no bigger than Midnight, but when I analyze it, I realize there are still dangers on Akilo.

“Creature analyzed: Dragon. Female. Gene seed D.”

“Name: (That Which Dwells Within The Dark And Feasts).”

“Relevant lore: There are stories of dragon-riders going missing when exploring the depths of Aethire’s great mana-rift. This humble dragon is the source. A non-sapient guardian of the World’s End Dungeon, this creature has been imbued with power only sustainable within the rift that it has made its home.”

“Attributes: Physical; Extreme, [Low Gold], Mobility; Extreme, [Mid Gold], Magic; Extreme, [Upper Gold], Awareness; Extreme, [Low Gold].”

“Attacks: Enhanced Physical Blows. Mana obliteration.”

“Defences: Physical: Overwhelming, Mana: Overwhelming. Non-corporeal. Unkillable.”

“Temporal Thread: Quality; Upper 90th percentile, Durability; Upper 90th percentile, Malleability; Lower 1st percentile. Proximity to Pandora’s Temporal Thread: Distant.”

My analysis seems to draw its attention, and the weight of its gaze presses against me more than the ambient mana. Midnight seems to feel it too, going stiff right as he’d turned to make another pass around it. It doesn’t move from its relaxed position, though its eyes track us until Midnight takes us up and away.

His eager exploration is muted for nearly a minute before he shakes off, darting after another school of sky-eels.

For a moment, I let myself enjoy the amazing world we’re flying through as Midnight snacks on his latest acquisition.

Feeling I’ve indulged him enough, I tug at him to ascend. As we do, I experiment with turning my Twilight-vision on and off, and confirm that the fish aren’t just hidden in the dark. They’re invisible without Twilight running through my eyes.

This entire ecosystem is camouflaged.

Smiling as we return to the lighter regions above, I realize we’re almost halfway around the rift. We’ve been moving a lot faster than I realized. Much faster than he used to fly. As I reach down and pat his back, I consider his changes. He’s already moved into the copper tier, my System using the available matrix to let him bypass his former limits. And his attributes have benefited from our little trip.

I’m able to send him even more mana over our bond, and I move one of my Channelling processing channels over to helping his changes process.

And while I’m doing that, I wonder what sort of options he might have as my pet. There are no race changes available, but he does have three interesting Frameworks my System has complied for him.

“Framework: Light Flees the Shadows.”

“Framework will rework Midnight’s core to grant him access to Reprieve, emphasizing his ability to survive the attention of those bigger than him, ensuring he and his new family will endure.”

- “Framework structure requirements: Medium Health base. Low Stamine base. High Focus base. Medium Mana base.”

- Processing modifiers: Excellent processing of Focus and Reprieve. Moderate processing of Health and Mana. Limited processing of Stamina.”

- “Framework ancillary functions: Reprieve Resource emulation and incorporation.”

The first is… kinda like Roberts?

“Framework: Darkest Night.”

“Framework will rework Midnight’s core to grant him access to Umbra, granting him the ability to destroy those who threaten him and his new family.”

- “Framework structure requirements: Medium Health base. Medium Stamine base. Medium Focus base. Medium Mana base.”

- Processing modifiers: Excellent processing of Umbra. Good processing of Health, Stamina, Mana, and Focus.”

- “Framework ancillary functions: Umbra Resource emulation and incorporation.”

And the second is basically emulating Beth. And I’m expecting the third to be based around Josh, but instead it’s… not.

“Framework: The When.”

- “Framework will rework Midnight’s core to grant him access to Facet, permanently linking his temporal thread with Administrator Pandora’s. This will allow him to carry her through space and time.”

- “Framework structure requirements: Low Health base. Low Stamine base. High Focus base. High Mana base.”

- Processing modifiers: Incredible processing of Facet. Good processing of Health, Stamina, Mana, and Focus.”

- “Framework ancillary functions: Facet Resource emulation and incorporation.”

Yeah. Guess having a framework based on Facet would be powerful. He might even be able to make traveling through time a little easier.

When I describe the options to Midnight, I have to take my time. Because despite his high intelligence, there are a lot of implications to… all of them.

And he appreciates that. Enough so he sends me the impression that he’d like to take the time to consider them.

Probably for the best.

As he flies to the top of the ridge once more, I consider the non-class options I have available. He has several abilities that are similar to the ones for Smoulder, including the ability to summon him to me, or to store him within my soul. Which my System clarifies would be like adding an exterior area to my Temporal Library.

When I realize it’ll only take a few hours for both upgrades for Smoulder and Midnight, I change my other channels over. It might delay any solutions for returning to the present, but I suspect that being able to harbor them within my soul will help. And it only takes my System a minute of processing to confirm I’m right.

And now that I’m making changes, I realize I can shape the exterior of my Library. It only takes a few seconds of Facet-powered processing to create statues of Smoulder and Midnight flanking the entrance on either side.

As we step inside Freeze to inspect the changes, her very own castle growing within my soul, Smoulder nods, acknowledging that the redesign to the Library’s front entrance is appropriate. Then she scrunches her face, looking around.

My smile slips when she turns towards me, and rather insistently asks where the statue of me is. Shaking my head, I queue up a statue of myself to join Smoulder. Thankfully, this area is private, so I don’t have to worry about anyone seeing it.

Except… Letonga will be able to access this area too.

The thought sours my amusement. Maybe I can… yeah, when I poke the System, it informs me I could create a space for her as well.

Hmm. That might…

Dropping back into real-time, I poke at my System until it confirms that not only can I create the structure, I can use it to control access to my feelings. It’s technically a change to my underlying soul-scape, and the buildings are all just abstractions that feel familiar.

But that’s fine.

When we land, Letonga is pacing back and forth. The second she notices us, she spins around, stepping forward. “Commandant, are you-”

“I’m fine,” I wave off her worry. “Sorry about that, Midnight wanted to improve our bond by working together.”

“I… a route I should have taken,” Letonga says, giving the dragon a nod as she holds herself stiffly.

It would’ve done more to endear her to me, but I try not to dwell on it, as I tell her about creating her own space inside my soul.

Her eyes shine bright when I mention it, but she just nods. “I… will think about what I want. We don’t need to make it immediately, correct?”

“No. But we can create something temporary, and improve it later,” I reply, my eyes shifting past her to my temporary wind-castles.

“Understood. Then, for now, can you create this,” Letonga asks, and I can feel a nudge pushing at my mind. But the door holding back our connection holds, and Letonga’s idea doesn’t reach into my mind. Not until I pull the door open and let it in.

She’s mostly managed to keep her feelings free of the concept. But I still note hints of nostalgia and sorrow as I inspect the building she’s sent me. Technically, it’s a single suite in a building that’s similar to an apartment building in function. Except it’s more like dozens of enormous blocks stacked against each other in steps.

As I create several of the slanted apartments, I catch another hint of what this is. Her childhood home, where she and Keztil grew up. And the last place she saw her father.

With that reminder, I decide it’s time to go talk to Uthica.

And as long as she doesn’t object… well, despite the fact I shouldn't want to...

I'm kind of excited to go back to Nothen.

6.44, Reaching Out

Akilo Local Time: After Midnight. (February 9, 1512)

Our return to Uthica’s camp is somewhat sedate. It doesn’t help that it’s the middle of the night, and except for the watch, most are asleep. Including Uthica.

Right. Guess it’ll wait until morning.

Not that I need sleep. Haven’t seemed to need it since my new System. Which makes me wonder if sleep was another thing the old System just enforced on us.

The others are all ready for bed though, and with Smoulder and Midnight dragging me into a cuddle pile, I decide to indulge. As Letonga goes to sleep near her brother’s tent, I pass out buried under a tail of fluff atop a comfier than he looks, lightly snoring dragon.

Again, I dream of Rufka, though this time it’s just a dream.

At least, I hope it’s a dream, since she’s watching several city ships blasting out of the atmosphere.

“They’re leaving already?”

“Lexi, that you?” Rufka asks, making me realize that it is, in fact, not a dream.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“You know, I figured you’d be back by now. It’s been a month since you last talked to me,” she says, hopping up onto a nearby stone building and hanging her feet over the ledge. “Missed a lot.”

“Yeah. Missed you the most.”

“Hehe, nice one. Missed you too. Mum’s getting worried about you. And Beth doesn’t believe me,” Rufka says, shaking her head as she looks up. “Thinks I was just talking to a System fragment or something.”

“Well, it made a copy of Josh, so… understandable.”

“Yep. She… hasn’t given up on getting you back though. Even as the ship was taking off, she was talking about how she had a new plan,” Rufka says while leaning back and putting her arms behind her head. “Almost didn’t get them in the air. Had a saboteur, one of those spider people, managed to mess with Wyonna. She’s fine now, but was like Vaus had descended on us for a couple days there.”

“Oh, wow. Poor Wyonna. Sending her hugs. In fact, sending everyone hugs. Especially you.”

“Heh, thanks,” Rufka replies even as her eyes track to the side where Tipan is standing with a group of K’tharn at the base of a mountain. The mountain has been reshaped, a wide road stretching halfway up with hundreds of buildings visible to either side at just a glance. “Tipan’s been busy too. Decided to come west, investigate those people my mum’s been talking about. Turns out they’re not even on Akilo. Not really. They only have a small city near the mana vent. Rest are up on Ukila.”

“Hey, I know them!”

Rufka raises her right eyebrows, but doesn’t comment as she pushes off the building and starts walking towards Tipan. “Anyway, the council Tipan set up figured it’d be better to resettle on this side of the ocean, since we can stabilize the land. Easier to trade with the neighbours, and no need to upset the remains of the Aetherium.”

“Is Pelwerd under her control? Is she-“

Even as I start asking questions, I feel the connection weakening. I try to feed it more Facet, but that only seems to make it worse. So I send Rufka a wave of my love, alongside just how much I’m missing her.

Then I wake up.

It hasn’t even been half an hour since I fell asleep, but I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep again. I could teleport out of the cuddle pile, but I don’t want to disturb Smoulder and Midnight.

The ships are on their way to Earth. And time seems to be moving forward for Rufka. Especially when I sleep. When I glance at my connection, I see the vague image has shifted to a view of the newly formed city Rufka glanced at. Once again, it’s stopped.

Without knowing how I’m getting back to my present, I can’t start making plans. Will I get back early? What happens if I show up in my own body when I’m still on Earth? Can I?

Deciding I need my System to finish processing before I can address that, I turn to something else. The city ships are gone. And Beth probably took every other ship she could find too. I would’ve.

Which means I’ll probably need a ship of my own. I could build one now… but again, I’ll have to see how that affects getting back to the present.

Either way, I can start designing one now. I have the knowledge. And I know what parts are easy to reproduce. The most difficult is still the mana-fusion reactor. But I’m fairly certain I know how to modify the sun-ring I left buried on Ukila. I’ll need to pick it up while I’m there.

For the rest of the night, I slip into design mode, only pushing my way free of the snuggle pile when I notice the camp rousing. Amazingly, there’s no sign of Letonga. A quick inspection of the bond indicates she’s still sleeping.

Uthica’s awake, meeting with several other K’tharn, her ministers. They’re talking through their new plans for the expansion of Aethire around a covered table, and how the latest invasion has affected their schedule. It sounds like they’re going to be able to finish faster, since the invasion is easier than what they’d projected.

I can’t even imagine being so used to being invaded that you include it in your project schedule.

“Morning Lexi,” Uthica says once the meeting is over.

Responding in kind, my eyes track the excited K’tharn behind her as they hustle away to start their days. “Morning. Had some ideas I wanted to bounce off you, if you’ve got time.”

“Hmm. Walk and talk? I need to inspect some of the revised designs for the city’s backbone,” Uthica replies, already striding away.

“Sure,” I agree, floating just in front of her so I can look back as she walks through camp, nodding at her people. Being present and visible.

As we walk, I tell her about wanting to go to Ukila again. And what seems to be happening in the future. I also restore the tether, but don’t reinforce it. Not that I could pull Uthica through time if I wanted to. The strength of her thread is amazing.

It’s as I’m describing the Reaver shell they have that Uthica interrupts, turning towards me. “They have one on display?”

“Yeah. And I don’t really want to scan it directly. Not after what happened with Alaven’s soul. Wouldn’t put it past the Reapers to use something like this to protect their ‘Souls’.”

“Hmm. Possible. But we do have tools for that, you know? For those of us who can’t simply scan things with a glance,” Uthica reminds me, giving me a soft elbow.

I snort, then shake my head. “Right. Yeah. Actually, now that you mention it, can I get some of those soul inspection tools? I’d like to see if… they can inspect the connection to Letonga.”

“Hmm. It shouldn’t be a problem. And if you’re serious about creating a ship as fast as Vrathorn’s, I’d certainly appreciate one. Maybe I should have you talk to Fethix.”

“Right. I forgot you had her working for you,” I reply, my eyes looking over the camp. But it’s not like I’d be able to spot Fethix even if she’s here. Little engineer is… well, little.

Uthica’s lip twitches, as if she can hear my thoughts, as she changes course. “You clearly haven’t spent much time with her, if it’s that easy to forget her.”

“Uhm. Not much, no,” I reply, adjusting course to follow.

Uthica just nods as we continue talking, discussing my thoughts about how to design the ship. But for once, it’s Uthica who’s listening with only the barest of understanding. As good as she is at enchanting, I have… a very specialized expertise when it comes to voidcraft. Material selection is as important as the enchanting, even if acquiring any element on the periodic table is trivialized with magic.

A minute later, it’s my turn to be on the receiving end again as Uthica hands over a rod with several nubs along the length. It’s designed to be used with her System, but mine has an easy time faking the handshaking. Then she hands me several of the soul-scanning tools, explaining their basic functions as she goes.

She also pulls out a much larger assembly.

“This is what the Thenite Consortium uses for their advanced scans. It’s about as effective as an Iron’s first spell for us, thanks to its user locks. But I suspect you’ll be able to make better use of it,” Uthica says, showing how it can be unfolded to create a frame. And how it can be extended to a length of roughly seven meters, managing to make it sound dirty.

As my System pings a confirmation on achieving administrator status for the frame, Letonga arrives. She doesn’t say anything, simply taking her place a couple steps back. But it’s enough for the casual atmosphere Uthica and I had to evaporate.

“Should get to that inspection. Tell me what you find?” Uthica asks, all four arms crossed as she glances at Letonga.

“Will do. Have good inspections,” I reply, before waving for Letonga to follow me. Which she does without a word until we reach her brother’s tent.

“I… I don’t think he wants to talk to me, commandant,” Letonga says, her voice breaking near the end.

I nod, my hand resting on the fabric of the tent. “Guess you’ll have to wait here. It should only take a minute.”

Receiving her nod back, I call out to Keztil. His grumbling acceptance makes me suspect he heard us talking. When I step inside, I see that his hair is messy in a way that I almost forgot hair could be. The tangled mess matches the one on his bed, where he sits. The entire scene is almost artistic. “Oh. Morning Alexis.”

“Morning. Didn’t mean to wake you,” I say, stopping just inside the room. The entire room is a bit of a mess, I realize. Despite having an inventory, he doesn’t seem to have adjusted yet.

“It’s okay. Was hoping to talk to you anyway. I missed you yesterday,” Keztil says as his eyes lock on me, his fists clenched. “Did you really kill Vrathorn and destroy his ship?”

“Uh. Yes,” I reply, a little surprised. Though I suppose I shouldn’t be.

“You mentioned before that you and my sister could share memories. Can you… can you do that for me? Show me his death?” he asks, his voice wavering at the end. “I… I know, I don’t have the right to ask, it’s just…”

“Hey, yeah. No problem. Might take me a minute though,” I say, coming over to sit next to him.

“I’ve got all week. Uthica… she said that until I make up with Letonga, or Letonga leaves, I’m not allowed to start training,” Keztil replies, shaking his head.

His hair manages to stay suspended through the motion, but I try not to focus on that as I create a tether. This time, I’m super careful about his thread as I poke at my System. It confirms that it can transfer the memory as a codex. And that I can edit out exactly what I did.

As I review the memory, I realize… removing the context would make it seem like Vrathorn just disappeared. So, I decide to edit the memory a bit, keeping the time travel out, but ensuring that he understands I deleted Vrathorn.

“Ready?” I ask when my System’s done making adjustments.

“Yeah,” Keztil answers, his voice low and his fists clenched once more.

So I let my System send the memory over. And I watch his thread the whole time. It shimmers for a second, but my System has a lighter touch than I do, and other than being slightly stronger, his thread remains unaffected.

While his thread is unaffected, it only takes a few seconds for Keztil to start sobbing. I end up holding him against me, wishing I’d woken Smoulder from her sleep before transfering the memory.

Then he says something into my shoulder as he pushes away.

It takes me several seconds to realize he’s saying his sister’s name. In my defence, he’s still stuffy and sobby.

“Letonga,” I ask, holding him by the shoulder. “Can I call her in?”

He nods his head so violently I’m almost afraid he’s going to crack his skull on my nose.

Before I can tell her to join me, Letonga is already pushing through the tent flap. The second she’s through, Keztil spots her.

“Letonga. I… I’m sorry,” Keztil says the moment her eyes fall on him.

“Me too. You were right, I never should’ve-“

“No. But I… listen,” Keztil interrupt as he stands. “Vrathorn… he said that he’d consider your debt paid as long as I died. And that he’d know if I ever talked to you again. I’m sorry. I just… I wanted to keep you safe.”

Before Letonga can reply, he steps forward, wrapping her in a hug.

With her eyes wide, Letonga stares at me. Then she slowly brings her arms up and wraps them around her brother.

Not what I’d had planned, but honestly…

This is better.

A note from Draith

My good friend Kraze has officially released Qi=mc2. Or as it's now called, The First Law of Cultivation. It's lots of fun about a guy doing alchemy in a Xianxia world. If you haven't checked it out, you can pick it up on the zon or over on audible.

For those on audible, Labby's voice gets a lot better halfway through the book.

6.45, Nothen Doing

Akilo Local Time: Morning. (February 10, 1512)

Not wanting to disturb the hug, I step out of the tent, leaving Letonga to catch up with her brother. Which promises to take some time now that they’re talking. So, since I have a moment, it’s time to experiment with the new tools Uthica gave me. While she gave me instructions on how to use them, I still need to familiarize myself.

Which is made easier by turning them on myself, alternating between their readings and what I’m able to see within my soul-scape. I’m only slightly surprised to find that their tools give a map that’s similar in appearance.

On the other hand, discovering that the Temporal Library is also nestled deep within my soul-scape is kind of a relief. Between my own analysis, my System and Uthica’s tools, I’m able to discern that even now, it’s only accessible if I Freeze time. The restriction means it takes up considerably less space in my soul-scape too.

I’m poking around my connections to Letonga, Smoulder and Midnight, comparing them and trying to figure out if there’s a way to undo whatever Letonga did when she emerges from her brother’s tent.

“Your brother okay?” I ask as I return the soul detectors to my inventory.

“He… he wants me to join him, working for Uthica,” Letonga says, her eyes dull as she looks over the K’tharn encampment. “I didn’t tell him what… what I did, to you. To us.”

“Hmm. Yeah, I’m working on that,” I reply.

Letonga turns toward me, her eyes wide. Then she shakes her head, giving me a quick nod. “Understood, commandant. I must admit. I’m conflicted. I thought he hated me. And he was just… trying to keep me safe. And I was ready to…”

I don’t respond, clapping her on the shoulder instead, giving it a squeeze. No more sending reassurance over the bond, but there’s always the old fashioned way.

“What do you say we go see what we can find about your dad. Maybe some closure will help,” I say, my eyes already drifting to where Ukila hangs low in the sky.

“Thank you, commandant,” Letonga says, giving me a salute.

“Yeah, no problem,” I lie with a straight face. Then I teleport us over to where Midnight and Smoulder have finally awoken. They’re playing a complicated version of tag with Redstone that involves a lot of fire.

Well, at least they moved outside the camp first.

Waving them over, Smoulder gets in one last smack on Redstone even as Midnight waddles over. Redstone bellows in protest, but Smoulder just flickers away in a burst of flame.

I blink, as she reappears in a flame just in front of me.

“Uh… huh,” I say as she hops onto my shoulder. Don’t really remember her doing that before, but when I check her status, it seems like she’s had the ability for a while. Possibly since before I came back in time.

As she settles in place, Midnight rumbles his greeting within my mind. And he’s also decided on the path he wants.

It’s not one of the three that my System proposed. At least, not as they’re described. He wants a variant of the Facet Framework, but without the temporal aspects. Apparently they give him a headache to consider.

Instead, he wants to be able to teleport as easy as flapping his wings. And if I can work in a way to hide from things like the other dragon we ran across, that’d be great.

Setting my System to process his request, it comes back with a new option in just a couple seconds.

“Framework: The Ways.”

- “Framework will rework Midnight’s core to grant him access to Facet, permanently linking his temporal thread with Administrator Pandora’s while focusing on the ability to slip through the spaces between. This will allow him to travel along unfamiliar paths of the higher dimensions at great speed. He will also be able to vanish within these spaces.”

- “Framework structure requirements: Low Health base. Low Stamina base. High Focus base. High Mana base.”

- Processing modifiers: Incredible processing of Facet. Good processing of Health, Stamina, Mana, and Focus.”

- “Framework ancillary functions: Limited Facet Resource emulation and incorporation focused around movement and stealth.”

I squint at the Framework. Not because of its abilities, but because… I bet I could’ve just asked the System for more Framework options.

Oh well, no reason to cry over it. Pretty sure I can still adjust mine anyway. Not that I want to.

This time when I share the option with Midnight, he accepts it immediately. Then he vanishes.

Looking around, I’m only a little startled when he appears behind me. Then as I turn, he tries to slip his head under me to scoop me up. I laugh as I help him along, stepping on his head.

And then we’re gone. Once more, I have to remind him to go back for Letonga.

The feeling as he slips between spaces is different than what I’m used to. In a way, it’s smoother, the feeling similar to taking in a breath. But not being in control is a bit worrying.

We reappear next to Letonga, who steps back at Midnight’s sudden reappearance. She recovers quickly, leaping onto his back behind me. Then I urge Midnight to Ukila.

He doesn’t need a beacon, slipping along his pathways. It’s not as fast as my teleportation, but he’s also blazing the path as he’s going. It only takes us a minute before we emerge south of Nothen, most of the time spent as Midnight found his way between different nodes. I suspect my teleportation spell uses the same network, but using the beacon lets me detect the most direct route.

“Okay, that was cool,” I say as Midnight coasts above the ugly bog of the Grey Place.

“It was… an experience,” Letonga offers, shifting behind me.

“Anyway, let’s go take a look at this Valnya. And maybe find out more about your father,” I say setting a Freeze in place.

Then I direct Midnight north, flying in plain sight, no disguise. After the way Alaven ran after Vrathorn’s deletion, I suspect most of the Reapers in camp will keep their distance.

When we get closer, I find out I may have misunderstood them.

Alaven is standing near the entrance, flanked by two other Reapers. One of them I recognize immediately. It’s Oda, the god I first played as.

The second…

“Analyzing Temporal Thread. Interpolating current Temporal position.”

“Sapient Analyzed: Talani Trueborne. Reaper. Hermaphrodite. Gene seed D.”

“Name: Bendil Modichild.”

“Relevant lore: The seventh child of Modi, born in the wake of Ragnarök, he was an open opponent of Vrathorn. Finds his narrative diminished without understanding why. Bendil is a weak and unimpressive representative of his species, as are all Talani who dwell in the shadow of the System searching for scraps. Wary of Administrator Pandora, though he doesn’t remember why.”

“Attributes: Physical; Weak, [Lower Copper], Mobility; Weak, [Lower Copper], Magic; Pathetic, [Lower Copper], Awareness; Pathetic, [Mid Copper].”

“Attacks: Enhanced Physical Blows. Reaper Rifle Expertise. Secondary bio-mana support system. Copper-grade equivalent.”

“Defences: Physical: Weak, Mana: Weak. Redundant life-support. Restoration equivalents.”

“Temporal Thread: Quality; Lower 20th percentile, Durability; Lower 40th percentile, Malleability; Upper 50th percentile. Proximity to Pandora’s Temporal Thread: Distant.”

Huh.

As I pass my scan over all three of them, I realize Alaven is the strongest of them, though not by much.

They really are weak.

At my prompting, Midnight lands in front of them. Alaven stiffens, as though trying to summon his courage as he greets us. “Hello Wyrdsmith. I… apologize for my actions. If I had realized your true status, I never would’ve helped the Bland one.”

I twitch an eyebrow upward as I poke my System to give me more information about why he’s calling me a Wyrdsmith. It turns out it’s a poor translation, and Alaven doesn’t actually know much about them. Except that they’re above even the Orators. And that when one appears, the ‘story’ changes. They also have a tendency to remove Bland Reapers from the ‘story’.

I can’t help but wonder if they’re just killing Reapers. Or if maybe these Wyrdsmiths can control time.

My blessing did indicate I’m not the first to mess with it.

“I hear you have a Valnya carapace on display. Show me to it,” I say, deciding that since we’ve got guides, I might as well make use of them. Even if he attempts to attack us, Smoulder and Midnight are both stronger than they are, to say nothing of my own strength.

And Letonga’d be able to survive a surprise blow now. She’s not nearly as weak as she was when we first came here.

If my request surprises him, Alaven doesn’t show it, simply nodding before leading the way into the center of the compound. Oda and Bendil don’t follow, except with their eyes. They remain standing near the entrance as Alaven leads me deeper.

Well, less people to attack us, I guess.

When we near the carapace, it’s obvious. There’s a slight draw pulling the ambient mana towards it. It’s not strong, but it’s enough that I would’ve noticed if we’d come this deep before.

Dismounting from Midnight, Smoulder and I follow Alaven into the plain building that serves as their museum. Not wanting to be left alone, Midnight slips inside my soul. The sudden presence almost makes me stumble. And then I can feel him requesting access to my vision.

When I grant it, a sort of weight appears on my left shoulder, and an intangible mini-Midnight appears. He huffs as we move down a narrow staircase into a display hall. The carapace is only one item on display in the little museum. There are trophies of all sorts here, each of them displayed with a reference to which Reaper defeated them, and what verse in their story it happened.

Several of the trophies don’t have a name displayed, instead listing that an unknown Reaper was responsible. Yet when I look at a broken spear, one I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn came from earth, I can feel the broken link. Like little pieces of gossamer, I can just barely detect the touch of Vrathorn’s thread. Not all the unknown items are like that, but most were once his.

When I ask Alaven about the spear, he stops, glancing in my direction. To my surprise, I can see him actually sweating.

Weird.

“I’m afraid… I believe it was associated with the Bland one, Wyrdsmith,” Alaven answers, his eyes moving over the spear. “My memory of this is weak, but I know it involved a world where the story has been completed.”

“Hmm,” is all I say, turning my attention away from the spear towards the tug at my mana. The carapace is displayed proudly on a mock-skeleton, having the place of prominence. The name attached to it is one I don’t know, a Reaper named Therya Odinchild.

“Leave us,” I tell Alaven, and am somewhat surprised when he nods and then shuffles stiffly back up the narrow stairs. They’re really far too narrow for him to take comfortably. He’s not a thin man.

Once he’s gone, I pull out Uthica’s nubbed staff. It only takes me a minute to determine that while it’s absorbing mana, it shouldn’t be too dangerous.

I can absorb more mana using my custom spell structures. Still, despite wanting to poke it, I restrain myself, and deploy Uthica’s scanning frame. Which, once I have it set up, kinda reminds me of a cage. Then I poke my System, and it takes over, scanning the carapace.

It spits out a bunch of data, but the important part is that the System doesn’t actually have a defence against the carapace. If I put my elemental hand on it, there’s a good chance the carapace would tear pieces away. My analysis confirms that I could destroy it, and probably even teleport or delete it, but it’s still dangerous.

Hmm. I wonder.

Could I use the cage to do a Facet scan?

As Letonga walks through the far side of the museum, her eyes drifting over the artifacts, I start poking at my System.

After a few minutes of productive prodding, I convince it to create a similar Facet battery to the ones we used for connecting the Sanctuary ships. As the battery drops into my hand, I look it over. It’s not perfect, and the frame isn’t designed to use Facet, so I sit down and start making adjustments.

As I’m working Smoulder decides to watch, which leaves me with two extra sets of eyes watching my every move. But it doesn’t bother me. Finally, I’m done with the battery, and attach it to the frame. It takes another fifteen minutes to rewire the scanner to use Facet, but when I’m done, I stand back, hands on my hips.

Uthica’s going to be so proud of me.

I came up with a way to use enchanting to do something on my own.

Now, time to see if it works.

The new Facet enhanced scanner kicks into effect, and almost immediately, the battery… inverts. With its crystalline structure now on the outside, I realize my changes must’ve broken the containment somehow. It takes another thirty minutes in frozen time to find my mistake, and only two for my System to give me a new one.

This one’s made to my new standard. And I have a backup, just in case.

With my new batteries, the scan completes with only a few minor problems. Every pass visibly damages the frame, and there are little blips of darkness whenever the Facet passes over the carapace. But by the time the scan is done, the frame’s still standing and my System has a much more detailed analysis for me.

“Analyzing Temporal Thread. Interpolating current Temporal position.”

“Remnants Analyzed: Valnya. Reaver. Sexless. Gene seed K.”

“Name: Subself-LK-3090345.”

“Relevant lore: One of the infinite swarm of the Reavers, this Valnya was cut off from the Mind when it came under attack from an unknown entity. It was killed by Reaper Therya in a battle that left the Reaper crippled for over a year.”

“Attributes: Physical; Pathetic, [Lower Iron], Mobility; Pathetic, [Lower Iron], Magic; Pathetic, [Lower Iron], Awareness; Pathetic, [Upper Iron].”

“Attacks: Corroding Mana. Mental disorientation.”

“Defences: Physical: Weak, Mana: Weak.”

“Temporal Thread: Quality; Lower 10th percentile, Durability; Lower 10th percentile, Malleability; Lower 10th percentile. Proximity to Pandora’s Temporal Thread: Distant.”

Well, that’s… not so bad, really.

Still, it’s at least as strong as a Wolfadillo. And what my System didn’t mention in the summary, but reveals after a quick poke, is that they tend to arrive in bundles of millions. And they’re all connected by a hive-mind.

Honestly, I’m glad they haven’t been seen in thousands of years.

Though knowing my luck, I’m going to run into one tomorrow.

6.46, An Empire's Reserves

Ukila Local Time: Afternoon. (February 10, 1512)

With my scan complete, my mind moves to my other objective. Information about Letonga’s father. And I have a nice convenient source of answers nearby. Setting a new Freeze-point, I wave Letonga over before moving to the surface.

Alaven is standing at the top of the stairs when I emerge, pulling on his beard and muttering to himself.

Kindly ignoring his worried rambling, I clear my throat.

Which causes him to stiffen, turning slowly as he regards me. For the first time, he seems to notice Letonga, who’s been glaring at him since we first arrived.

It’s almost like she remembers him turning her into a pulp.

“Wyrdsmith,” Alaven says, nodding in my direction.

“I would like to see the records of my companion’s father after he joined the Eldinsworn,” I state, flexing my elemental hand that is currently empty, showing only the shadowy outline with golden streaks inside.

His eyes are drawn towards it as he nods, asking for Letonga’s fathers name.

“Fred Eld Mouller,” Letonga responds, her voice cracking slightly.

I just blink, trying not to give away how… weird it is that his name is Fred. I mean, technically, it sounds like Freh-ad. But still.

Alaven nods, his eyes having small flashes of gold appear within. Then a moment later he looks in my direction. A second later, my System pings, letting me know I’m receiving a data package from a non-System interface.

But instead, I have my System redirect the information to the pad I took from Lescado so long ago. Rather not give him a direct link to my System.

And that’s… pretty much everything I want to do here. So, since he’s already seen what I can do, I teleport us away.

Then, less than a second after we’ve left the camp a quarter of a world behind, I mount up on Midnight, opening the tab as I direct him toward where the ring is buried. He could slip through space, but I inform him I need some time anyway.

Which means he chooses to play, diving towards a forest of stone plinths that lay below. As he darts, swerves and teleports through the stone, I put off reading the pad, handing it to Letonga instead and just… enjoying the thrill of the moment. Sure, I can do all this myself. But having Midnight in control, and feeling his and Smoulder’s joy through our bond is refreshing.

When Midnight emerges from the forest, I look over my shoulder at Letonga. “So, anything useful?”

“I… our father left the Eldinsworn. He defected to the Ukilan Naval Defence Force,” Letonga replies, her voice sounding vaguely hollow. “And he managed to acquire a guarantee of freedom so long as we were on Ukila. A week before I joined the Eldinsworn.”

“Huh. So… you’re saying there might actually be a lead to follow?”

“Yes. But there’s more. Give me a minute,” she says as Midnight turns and starts floating down towards where the ring is sealed. “Oh. Oh no.”

“What?”

“If dad tried reaching out… he wouldn’t have been able to, because I was flagged as a security risk when I joined the Eldinsworn,” Letonga adds, her voice cracking. “The Reapers wiped my mind because I kept asking about him. And they didn’t want me to cause an incident. I was leverage.”

“Oh. Sorry,” I reply. Then our conversation is cut off for a moment as Midnight lands next to a rocky outcropping that’s the only visual clue as to the ring’s location.

“I… Commandant, I’ve messed up everything,” Letonga says as we dismount.

“Been there,” I mutter to myself. Then I turn to Letonga, squeezing her shoulder again. “The Reapers are the ones who wiped your memory. That part’s not on you.”

Letonga nods, then her eyes narrow.

I grin as I add, “But what you did with us? Yeah, that’s both our fault. And if I can’t figure out how to undo it, you’re going to be leaving your family behind as I return to the future.”

Her eyes flash blue as they widen. “I…”

“Anyway, I’ve got everything I came for,” I say as the ring floats out of the ground, suspended in a brick of lead, which is wrapped in a further layer of gold. “But I think you need to talk to Keztil when we get back. Tell him what we found. And maybe find out if there’s a way to contact your dad.”

“Yes, commandant,” Letonga says, snapping off a salute before returning her attention to the pad.

I don’t bother mounting up on Midnight, simply teleporting us back to Uthica’s camp with a thought. As much fun as riding Midnight is, he’s still slower.

The moment we’re back, I send Letonga off to her brother, reminding her to come to me if she has any good leads. After that, I entomb the ring a dozen meters beneath my feet. Smoulder and Midnight decide it’s a good time for a nap. But instead of going off to nap elsewhere, they both slip inside my soul. A second later, I can feel a sort of rumbling purr as they settle down.

Almost like they’re curled up around my soul. It’s surprisingly comforting.

Shaking my head, I turn my attention to my connection to Letonga. With her father and brother both alive… well, if I can undo the bond…

Hmm.

Poking at my System, I check to see if it has methods for removing pet bonds. Most are listed as permanent, but I notice that the death of either will technically end the bond. There are even mechanisms for making sure there’s minimal backlash. So, as I go to visit Uthica, I pour through the System’s methods, using my recent insights from bonding with Midnight as a reference.

And… I think I can unravel the bond to Letonga using the carapace.

It’ll require a lot of mana. And probably wreck some of my soul-scape, but I think I can do it. Of course, I’ll run the idea by Uthica first. And then inform Letonga.

Uthica isn’t in camp, and is instead on dragonback over the great rift, still conducting her inspection of the rift. But Pern’s here. So I go to him.

He greets me with a cup of tea, and before I know it, I’m telling him about my morning. “-and so, now I’m thinking I might have a way to disconnect Letonga. But I wanted to get some advice first.”

“And since Uthica’s busy, you came to me,” Pern says, nodding as he takes a sip of his tea.

“Uh. Yeah,” I reply. Kinda sounds bad when he puts it like that.

“Heh. Do not worry about my feelings. I am not insulted. You are much closer to my daughter. It is only natural you turn to her first,” Pern says, setting his cup to the side. “Now, why don’t you show me these plans?”

Nodding, I start laying out the details. Pern suggests using an enchanted chamber, similar to the one we built for the beacon. Except designed for inhibiting mana. Something they actually have. Because, as much as I forget at times, Uthica has a veritable empire at her command. Might be small compared to Ukila’s mythical forces, but she still has over ten million users as subjects.

Even as I’m mulling over all the resources Uthica has at her disposal, Pern continues giving me advice on how to improve the plan. Mostly it’s details on how to position the carapace, and the adjustments we’ll need to make to accommodate it. Importantly, he suspects we won’t be able to teleport it.

Which means we need a ship.

I could steal another one, but I did say I’d try to build one for Uthica.

Pern nips that in the bud immediately. “There’s no need to build a ship from scratch. We have voidcraft you should be able to use.”

“Right. Sorry,” I reply, scratching the back of my head with a sheepish grin.

“It’s no bother. Come, I’ll show you. Perhaps it will keep us busy until Uthica is ready to help,” Pern says, patting my shoulder.

“Where we going?” I ask, my eyes searching for where he might have a ship hidden away.

Pern points north, outside of camp. “We keep the usable Void-craft at a hidden spaceport to the north.”

“Wait, you have working ships?” I ask, following Pern as he leaps onto a nearby dragon with dark green scales.

“By a certain definition. The System doesn’t like us using them, so we’re locked out. We can study the parts and repurpose them for non-transport purposes, but not much more. Though you shouldn’t have that problem,” Pern says as he adjusts his dragon’s saddle.

Then the dragon leaps into the air, and I follow, letting Midnight continue his nap. It’s been a while since I really flew under my own power anyway.

A few moments later, we’re flying over a deep canyon. Not a mana-vent though. In fact, the ambient mana is a little lower than most other areas around the great rift. Pern descends, and as I follow, hundreds of openings in the stone walls become apparent.

“Are these all…” I start, my eyes going wide.

“Mhm. No point throwing them away, just because we can’t use them yet,” Pern replies.

As we fly deeper, I see thousands of K’tharn working around over a dozen different styles of ships. There are even several models I’ve never seen before.

I scan everything as Pern takes me deeper. And there’s enough new information coming in, I have to suspend one of my processing channels to not hold Pern up. After a few minutes, I realize Pern’s deliberately showing off all the ships, as we’ve doubled back twice and are near where we started, except deeper.

“And these are the ones I suspect will be most useful for travel to Ukila. From our studies, they seem to be excellent for short range travel. Though the System’s definition of short range, in this case, seems to include most of our star system.

The first ship he shows me is actually one I’m familiar with. It’s a Thenite Skyscreamer.

Sleek lines, and two forward sitting nacelles give it a predatory look. Which makes sense, since it’s meant for combat.

“Hmm. This isn’t my only choice, is it?” I ask, glancing to where he’s still sitting atop the green dragon.

“Of course not. But I thought we’d check to see if you can fly it before we got carried away.”

“Right,” I agree, stepping closer to the ship. There’s an access port, but no steps or ramp up. Not that it’s an obstacle, it just feels a little weird. Even Demo’s ship had a ramp. Still, I fly up, and the access port spins open when I lay my hand on it. I didn’t even have to use my System.

“Promising,” Pern says from just behind me, managing to startle me.

He didn’t sneak up or anything, I was just a mite focused on the Skyscreamer’s insides. There are harnesses, but none of them look like they’re meant to strap in a biped. At least, not in any way I can figure out. “You weren’t able to open it?”

“Not so easily. We’ve had to use specialized tools.”

“Okay, well, let’s see what we’ve got here,” I say, moving over to the controls. These are familiar, though not shaped for humanoid hands. Still, I’m able to manipulate crude metal tentacles into the controls. A second later, the entire ship lights up, and my System informs me I have a connection request.

Confirming it, I have the ship's status overlay my vision. It only takes a minute to run it through its pre-flight checklist, and then we’re floating over the cave-turned-hanger floor.

“I’d say this qualifies as flight,” Pern notes, stroking his chin as he inspects the readings displayed directly on the ship’s monitors.

“Agreed. So, let’s go shopping, shall we?”

Pern grins, then leads the way.

We spend the next hour looking through ships. There are several that pique my interest, but we end up at one that caught my eye early.

It’s a little blocky, and easily one of the larger ships Pern’s shown me. There are thin yellow lines that accentuate its otherwise dark black matte finish rather well. It’s not the most beautiful ship we’ve looked at, but I do like its aesthetic. But that’s not why I chose it.

It has a rather unique quality. And I wanted to know if it was the only one.

“We don’t actually know much about this ship. Not even its name. The System doesn’t seem to want to register it,” Pern admits with a shrug as I ask him about it when we return.

“Oh. I’m sure the System would love to tell you,” I reply as I lay my hand on the rear access. There’s a prompt from my System to send over access codes, which I confirm. It takes a moment, but then there’s a whirring as the door collapses before reforming as a set of stairs leading up. “But she’s a private lady.”

“Forerunner access confirmed,” a low voice chimes as I step inside. “Welcome aboard the Second Promise, Forerunner Pandora.”

6.47, The Second Promise

Akilo Local Time: Evening. (February 10, 1512)

As I step into the ship that my scan told me was a custom design built by the old Forerunners, Pern remains at the entrance.

“It would seem I’m still denied access,” he says, holding his hand up against an invisible barrier.

“Huh. Yeah, not sure how to change that just yet,” I reply as my eyes take in the entrance. Unlike the Thenite Skyscreamer, it has a more traditional airlock before granting access to the deeper sections. “And I think it's waiting for me to close the entrance before letting me inside.”

“Ah. Well, good luck. I must admit to some envy. Being able to fly and access these ships. The secrets they must hold,” Pern says, shaking his head.

I smile at him. “Well, I’ll see if I can’t get you in. I’d love to have a second set of eyes on this. Even better that your set has four.”

“Hmm. Quite,” Pern replies as he steps off the ramp. It folds back into a door with a soft hiss. When I turn back, the door in front of me has already opened.

The hall beyond has a faintly metallic smell to it, but is otherwise fairly boring. It does its job, leading deeper into the ship while granting access to the surrounding rooms, the shape of which were revealed during my initial scan. Most are ignored for now, seeing as they’re mostly storage or crew spaces. My focus is at the heart of the ship, where a pair of chambers reside.

Slightly closer to the front is the control chamber, where a pilot syncs up to the ship’s limited supplementary intelligence. And just behind it is the mana-fusion reactor. Unlike most of the other reactors on the ships Pern’s shown me today, this one is built for far more than local in-system travel. Considering they weren’t able to determine anything about it other than its general profile, I’m not surprised it was stored with the other in-system ships.

It might be on the bigger side, compared to its neighbours, but Pern mentioned that the smallest of the interstellar ships they’ve salvaged would make an oil tanker look like a dinghy.

And those are already in the collection of ships Uthica left for me before I even came to the past. Well, the ones that weren’t repurposed to build Aethire. For a second, I consider just how much effort that must have taken. Really, the whole city is a heck of a project.

Moving to the control chamber, it's easy enough to grant Pern access, and a minute later we're standing together in the reactor room, inspecting the robust design. We spend half an hour looking it over, partly checking for flaws, but mostly inspecting the design choices. Most of which, when combined with its unique ripple-drive, seem to be about creating the smallest disruption possible.

It's a stealth ship. And it seems to be good at its job too, considering they couldn't even scan it from the outside.

At my suggestion, Pern's avoiding analyzing anything inside too. Really rather not give the ship's secrets away to the System. I might need them myself.

After confirming the ship should do everything I need, I poke at what caught my interest in the first place. The database. There's… a lot. Too much to easily parse through.

So, I start with the latest entry.

{Galactic Standard Time: Calcum 22, 12,651, 09:12}

Forerunner Arathar.

There's unusual activity on the new world's sister planet. We've agreed to leave the Second Promise in a hidden mana-vent while taking the shuttle to investigate. Balthur objected. Again.

Sometimes I wonder why he even joined the Forerunners. You can't fight the System without taking a few risks. And who knows what we might discover.

At least Ylanna agrees. Whatever it is, their ability to hide from the System has her intrigued. Not surprising, considering how enamored she is with the Second Promise. Maybe this time, as we're taking in the costs of another new world, I'll be able to work up the nerve to tell her how I feel.

Well, as long as Mietak doesn't interrupt again. Guess I should be thankful the new recruit’s keeping him busy with all her questions. At least, I think it’s a her. I remember reading her species had three genders, and Theglia reminds of their females. But without the System, it’s too damned hard to keep things like that straight. And even I know using the System onboard the Promise’d be a bad idea.

Right. Captain's been reminding me these aren't supposed to be diary logs. But then… Who even reads them?

Signing off for the umpteenth and tenth time.

Forerunner Arathar.

The date puts the entry as being right around when the System first arrived on Akilo. I'm guessing they found the Reapers, and weren't allowed to come back. Or the Ukilans, I suppose. Either way, they clearly lost their ship.

I read through a few more of the recent entries, but they're mostly about the current state on Akilo, and which locals they can assist without drawing the System’s attention. A lot of their activities are in the form of leaving resources in convenient caches.

I can't help but note that they were operating on the opposite side of the planet from Uthica. They're also much more humanitarian than I was expecting. As I look back further, I find most of the Second Promise's missions have been similar.

Which leads me back to the very first log. It’s locked behind restrictions, but it only takes my System a minute of stealing temporal clues from the ship’s threads to break through.

Gonna need to keep that trick in mind.

{Galactic Standard Time: Duluth 02, 1,201, 09:12.}

Forerunner Weth.

I've done it. Created a ship that's not linked directly to my family’s cursed System. Stole the idea from Duluth himself. Arrogant fool didn’t think I’d be able to follow along. Clearly he hasn’t grasped just how much we can alter ourselves. At least, not yet. Hopefully, he won’t figure it out until I’ve finished building in the countermeasures.

Thankfully, Odean understands. Even if she thinks it’s better to work with our brothers to change the System from the inside. I hope… I hope she won’t forget me. But I can’t be like them. I refuse to abandon my friends.

This ship is part of keeping my promises to them. It might be a little pretentious to record them, but I need to keep them in mind. I don’t want the System to take them from me.

The First Promise. I, Thena, youngest daughter of the Gretans, the last of the Forerunners, swear that I will not rest until I have freed the System from my siblings, who are already calling themselves Creators.

As if they didn’t just steal our brother’s work.

The Second Promise. To bring aid to all I can, while not neglecting my first promise. This one, I managed to convince Odean to pledge to as well. And I suspect my sister will keep her word.

The Third Promise. To let my friends pass into oblivion, when they choose. Despite my words, I find this the hardest to keep. Losing my friends to something as banal as the passing of years is… torturous. Even before the System, our family hasn’t had to worry about such things.

The Fourth Promise. To not do this alone. I must continue gathering allies to the cause, no matter how much they may irk me. Aleana is proof of how much I can come to treasure someone I once hated.

And now I must wonder… would you be happy Lena? That I am making actual progress, and working towards our dream? Or would you say that I haven’t gone far enough?

As I cannot hear the whispers of the dead, and would call any such trick a manipulation of the System, I shall choose to hope for the former.

May your feet always fall upon fresh grass, wherever it is you find yourself.

With all my love, Weth.

Well, that was more… personal than I expected. And a bit… was one of the creators, the founder of the Forerunners? That’s a lot more than I expected to find. And this ship. She built it?

After some investigation, I discover that the Second Promise isn’t the same ship that Weth built. The logs are part of a general set of records that were copied over during its construction. Something that all Forerunners keep a copy of, even if they can’t access them. Still, it’s built upon a similar design, though it’s been modified to keep up with the System.

With only the barest of my curiosity sated, I copy the database to my System. Or at least, that was the plan. But it turns out that I’d have to manually open and review each file. They’re specifically locked against copying. Or any sort of mass manipulation. I could probably figure out a way around it, but that’d take time and processing power.

Annoying.

So instead, I return to my actual mission. Getting the ship flying. Which is much easier. Unlike the Skyscreamer, the Second Promise is designed for a wide range of species, with a highly morphic control chair. And equally adaptive controls. No System access though. Everything is manual.

It only takes a couple minutes before I have it figured out. Smoulder has risen from her nap, and is now beside me in a copilot’s chair, though she’s still trying to understand the concept of piloting, so the chair isn’t actually linked into anything. It’s not stopping her from trying to fly us into the wall.

Keeping my amusement to a small smile, I nod to Pern, letting him know I’m ready.

“I’ll inform Uthica. I imagine she’d quite like to be here for this,” Pern replies from a non-piloting crash pouch.

“Yep. Need to pick up Letonga too. After we go over the plan with Uthica. If this works, I’d like to get started as soon as we’ve got the carapace back on Akilo,” I say, reminded of why I needed a ship in the first place.

“I sent her the details. She’s already having a ritual space prepared,” Pern replies, causing me to shift in my seat and glare at him.

He raises his eyebrows, giving me a small smile. “As you said. It didn’t make sense to wait. And I knew my daughter would want to help, no matter how busy she is.”

“Yeah, I’m just upset you mentioned it through the System,” I reply, shaking my head.

“Ah. I did not consider… my apologies,” Pern says, bowing slightly in his crash seat.

Which is so awkward, I can’t help the twitch of my lips.

“It’s fine. Probably better this way. Is she ready to go?” I ask, flipping a few switches that I had the ship add. They don’t actually do anything important, but they’re a fun addition.

“She will be in ten minutes. Letonga will be with her,” Pern informs me after a couple seconds.

“Handy. What say we put this old girl through her paces,” I say, the smile slipping into a full on grin as I flex my hands inside the adaptive controls.

“Is that not-“

Before Pern can finish, I launch us forward, out into the chasm of ships. A few seconds later, and we’re above the horizon, zooming towards camp. It’s slower than Midnight flying through the side spaces, but still plenty fast.

Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet ride.

And it’s got a lot of secrets buried within.

Even so, my gaze flicks upward. There’s a sense of longing as I look towards the carapace, and consider my soul-scape. I hope this works.

It’d be nice to set Letonga free.

A note from Draith

Tomorrow's chapter might be late, or missing entirely. Managed to pull something in my back, and the pain is excruciating. Am able to manage it somewhat by moving around, but as you can imagine, that's not conducive to writing/editing.

Thanks for reading.

6.48, Dis-entangled

Akilo Local Time: Night. (February 10, 1512)

Under a starlight sky, I bring the Second Promise to rest at the edge of Uthica’s camp, in an area Pern indicates for this exact purpose.

Well, not exact, given that most of the things taking off and landing here are alive. Still, the purpose is the same. A safe place to land without wrecking the camp. Something I don’t have to worry about with Midnight, since he’s so small.

“Uthica has set aside a few hours,” Pern informs me as the controls release their grip on my hands.

The tether leading to Uthica tells me she’s already approaching the Second Promise. And given that the direction of Letonga’s bond is the same, I’m guessing Letonga is with her. Which Pern confirms a second later.

I’ve barely had time to lower the ramp before Uthica is striding up it, her eyes inspecting the interior. Then her eyes flick towards me as Letonga steps next to me. “Lexi. My father said you had a plan?”

“Uhm. Yeah. Probably. Did you have tea? It occurs to me we should have a proper conversation about this,” I say, waving towards one of the side rooms that serves as a dining area. It even has mounted furniture inside.

As I settle in my seat with only the minimum amount of reshaping, I explain my thoughts about teasing the bond apart. The entire time, I keep my attention on Letonga, waiting for her to object.

She does frown, but she doesn’t say anything.

“Hmm. This sounds dangerous,” Uthica states, running the fingers of her upper right hand down her chin.

“Yeah, well, the only other option I can think of is tucking Letonga into my soul like a pet and whisking her hundreds of years into the future where she’ll never see her family again,” I reply, unable to stop a grimace.

“That… would be…” Letonga doesn’t finish, her eyes going distant and fading to a near grey.

No one speaks for a few seconds, and when it becomes clear that Letonga’s gotten lost in her own thoughts, Uthica leans forward. “I do have some suggestions, though I suspect my father’s already mentioned them.”

Nodding, I lean forward, and we go over the details once more. And we do make some small adjustments to the proposed enchantments. But it’s agreed that final tweaks will need the Reaver's carapace itself.

My eyes move towards where Letonga is still sitting quietly. It’s almost weird, not having access to her emotions. But I don’t feel tempted to remove the barrier. Letonga is picking at the back of her hand, plucking softly at her skin as if unsure whether it’s real. Or maybe that’s just me projecting.

She seems to feel my eyes on her, as she looks up to meet my gaze. “Commandant. I… what will happen if I don’t have the bond to protect me?”

“I…” I hesitate. I don’t even know what might happen without our bond. Will she be integrated by the old System, like her brother? Will she succumb to mana poisoning?

My gaze shifts to Uthica, but she’s squinting at Letonga with her upper eyes closed, considering. Pern’s not much better, stroking his chin as he looks at the metal bracing of the ship’s hull above.

“That’s a good question. And not one I can answer,” I finally say, though I prod my System into running a couple projections. When it spits back results less than a second later, I’m almost upset I didn’t ask it before replying. As Letonga’s frown turns into a sort of blankness, I add with a sigh, “According to my System, it depends on where we do it. If we perform the separation on Akilo, you’ll be integrated before the bond is fully severed. On Ukila, there’s a chance you’ll have to deal with mana-deviation. And if we do it in space, halfway between planets, it should work best. And I can even gift you a rudimentary System of your own, once your mana has settled.”

At this, I also feed all our plans for the separation itself into my System. And get a refined step by step process a few seconds later, with disclaimers for unknown quality ratings of the Valnya carapace. Which I share with everyone.

Uthica proposes setting up within one of the side rooms, which is listed as a multi-purpose room, with both numerous attachment points for cargo and the assortment of recreational furniture stacked in the corner. When we go to clear the room, we discover the furniture’s already missing, saving us some work. And robbing me of my opportunity to swipe it for myself.

The first preparations require coating the entire chamber in an alloy of gold, titanium and copper. Considering the materials, the final appearance is surprisingly dark and lacking in reflection.

Between the first and second coatings, Uthica lays enchantments that will keep the room from having mana pass through. Enchantments that are so mana-starved that the mana they’re preventing will be the only source they receive. Then I layer even more of the dull alloy over top, burying them deep.

By the time we’re done, we’ve reduced the room’s footprint significantly. After completing the chamber, we create a support frame that will hold a single piece of the carapace. Because, of course, why would we need the whole thing.

With the chamber prepared, we return to Nothen.

Once more flying in on Midnight, it’s just me and Letonga, Smoulder still napping in my soul. It’s the work of minutes to requisition a piece of the carapace. Alaven doesn’t even question why I need it, choosing to bow at our feet instead.

It’s honestly a little embarrassing.

As I’m doing my best to ignore him, I float a long set of tongs made of the alloy towards the carapace. They’ve already been stripped of mana, and only the magical hands I have holding them feel the pull of the carapace. The tongs close over a single scale, then move it into a box that barely fit down the narrow stairs. I would’ve made it bigger, if not for the stairs.

When I have the scale inside the box, I can still feel its draining effect from outside. So I make the box thicker.

I’m tempted to expand the stairs, but that feels like going a bit too far. So I just make a skylight instead, and float the bigger box out that way. Getting it back to the ship is annoying, but only because we’re not able to save time by teleporting. Thankfully, the Second Promise is only half an hour away by flight.

Once we’re outside the city, Letonga speaks from her spot behind me, “Alexis, I’m not certain I understand. But isn’t this… couldn’t this plan damage your soul?”

I wince at that. I’d been hoping no-one noticed that bit.

“I mean… only a little. And it’s not like I don’t have experience patching my soul back together,” I reply, keeping the box containing the mana-consuming carapace fixed firmly in the center of my vision.

“This is… you should break the connection closer to my soul. Then you won’t have to-“

“Nope. I have the tools to do the repairs. You don’t. Sure, it’s going to suck, but at least I’ll be okay after,” I say even as I shake my head. “The System fragment I’ll be gifting you will be able to help with keeping things stable, but it won’t be… It can’t do as much as mine can.”

“Understood, commandant,” Letonga says, her tone flat.

I manage to stifle a groan. I’m going to have to be extra careful during the procedure to make sure she doesn’t try to ‘improve’ the process. Or maybe sabotage it.

“You are okay with this, right? Severing the connection?” I ask, not quite willing to take my eyes off the box, but shifting so I can see her out of the corner of my eye.

Letonga is staring off the side of Midnight, into the darkness. Her blue eyes are lit by an inner light as she turns back to me. “I… yes, this is the right move, commandant. Once I’m free, I shall find my father. I will miss your benevolent warmth, but I can’t just leave my family behind.”

I blink my eyes at the phrase benevolent warmth, but manage to say, “Good. That’s good.”

Then we both drift into silence until we’ve returned to the ramp of the ship. Even as I float the carapace-box inside the cargo room, I can’t get over her wording.

What… exactly does she feel over the bond? I thought it was the same for both of us, but…

While making my way to the cockpit, I continue to dwell on it. Even as I move us into position between the sister planets, I’m still worried about what I’ve been doing to Letonga.

Closing my eyes, I shake my head then head to the cargo bay. Slowly, I use my tongs once more as I open the box. Even from a distance, I can feel the tug at my mana. Somehow, it feels more pronounced out here where there’s so little ambient mana.

Placing the scale in the center of the frame, I nod to Uthica as she and Pern leave the room. Then I rouse Smoulder, drawing her out of my soul. She squints at me as I inform her what’s happening.

She looks over at Letonga, squinting at her. Then she nods, a feeling of not-good-enough coming through our bond, and approval at my decision to get rid of the interloper.

I’m glad that Letonga doesn’t understand Smoulder’s nod in her direction before hopping out of the room.

Sitting on either side of the frame, I use the remains of the box to seal the entrance. And then it’s just Letonga and I, staring at each other past a small greyish scale and the dull framework holding it in place.

“Guess it’s time,” I say, squeezing my hand.

“Yes, commandant. It is time for you to be free,” Letonga agrees.

Thankfully, since I was waiting for her to do something, I’m able to snag her hand as she reaches towards the scale.

“Nope,” I say, even as I rearrange the room to shackle her. “No more of that. You really need to get your… we need to get better at our impulse control.”

“Please commandant. I don’t want… after all I’ve put you through, I can’t… I can’t keep hurting everyone around me,” Letonga says, tugging her arm against the restraint.

“This isn’t you hurting me. It’s me fixing my mistake. I’m hurting myself,” I say, though I give her a half-smile as I add, “Besides, I don’t really want you hurting yourself for me either. And I’m… kinda selfish.”

With those words, I close my eyes and follow my System’s directions inward. Our bond was naturally avoiding the carapace. Now, I draw it closer. But not much. We’re using it to change the conditions we’re working under, but it’s kind of like working under a tent. It’s there to keep the ‘weather’ away, not be involved in the process itself.

As I start working, slowly pulling at the strands that form our bond, I’m amazed at how pliant it is. But while it’s pliant, the actual bond is very secure. Freezing time to give myself even more control, the entire bond is highlighted by the flow of Facet into the effect.

The work is… almost simple. I need to use small bursts of Facet to sever the ends of each thread, then slowly draw the thread back to either Letonga or myself. Most of the threads connecting us come from Letonga’s side. Which makes sense, since she’s the one who drew us so close.

One thread flashes as I brush against it, and my mind is filled with a memory of shortly after I first attached my tether to Letonga. She’s playing cards with her friends, before they shunned her. And I send her a burst of affection. It… is completely overwhelming. A feeling of warmth suffused Letonga, one that was entirely foreign to her. She lost the hand despite having amazing cards.

I didn’t even notice at the time.

As I pull apart more and more of the threads, I realize that the warmth never stopped overwhelming her. Even after she drew our connection together.

There’s more though. As I get deeper, I find remnants of what the Reapers did. The dead portions of her soul-scape.

Taking a break from my work, I draw Letonga into the Library.

“I… commandant?” Letonga asks, once more looking around at the Library in surprise.

“Hey, uhm, I’ve got some questions,” I say, providing her a comfy chair as I take one of my own. Then I pour us both a cup of peach juice. Something that I haven’t found on Akilo, but the Library can apparently create at a whim.

Accepting her own cup, Letonga shifts as she takes her seat across from me. “Questions?”

“I… yeah. The Reapers left damage on your soul-scape. I didn’t notice it before, but I wanted to know if you’d be okay with me fixing it. Trying not to just make unilateral changes for you,” I say, giving her a weak smile.

“Please, commandant. Perhaps if I regain myself, I won’t feel as… empty, once you’re gone.”

I almost flinch at that.

Being empty… yeah, that’s not a great feeling.

“Okay. I’ll do what I can.”

“Very well,” Letonga replies, closing her eyes and then disappearing.

Huh. Guess she has some ability over her presence in my Library. That… actually makes me feel better.

Leaving the Library behind, I return to my work. Though now when I come across the bits where the Reapers did their damage, I do my best to repair them. Unfortunately, I can’t just restore them. Afterall, I have no idea what was there before the damage. But I do my best, including getting my System to give me advice.

It takes me nearly a week of Frozen time of unwinding, but finally, I’m left with only the original tether. To my surprise, my patience has meant there’s been minimal damage to my soul-scape.

Maybe…

Maybe there’s a lesson in there.

A note from Draith

Sorry about that.

Pain knocked me for a loop, and then it took way too much effort to get back into the rhythm.

Anyway, we're back, and it's time to get this going again.

Thanks for reading!

6.49, See You Later, Alligator

A note from Draith

Minor edit: Wordsmith has been changed to Wyrdsmith.

The Space Between Worlds: Local time: Not Applicable. (February 11, 1512)

As I exit Frozen time for the first time in a week, I become aware of the world around me once more. It’s been less than a minute since I started, at least for everyone else. Letonga is still sitting across from me with her eyes closed, and I’m able to see the moment she realizes the bond is gone, her eyes flashing open.

From her perspective, it must’ve felt instant.

“I… you left the warmth,” Letonga mumbles, causing me to blink.

That… there shouldn’t have been anything like that. All I did was fix the damage.

“Hmm. That might just be the mana,” I finally say after a few seconds of thought. I don’t think about it as often as I used to, but cycling mana is still an amazing feeling.

Letonga holds her hand up, and flexes it, before looking at the carapace. She’d mostly ignored it before, but now she squints at it, moving her hand closer to it before quickly retracting it. “It’s more… personal now.”

“Yeah. Not too surprising. Guess being attached to me was limiting your own awareness,” I reply even as I start re-encasing the scale.

While Letonga continues exploring her new free sensations, I complete the final step, granting her a limited System shard. Like my own, it’ll take some time to grow, but even now, it’ll take care of regulating her mana. And hers won’t be as extensive or capable as mine, because… well, because Facet’s a cheat resource.

As the System settles in place, I get a notification from my own System, indicating that my actions have resulted in a slight decrease in temporal stability.

Sighing, I reopen the entrance allowing Uthica and Pern inside.

“A success,” Uthica states more than asks, nodding as she looks at where Letonga is still staring at her hand.

Smoulder hops past her, leaping up to thud against my chest, forcing me to scramble to catch her. Laughing as I pull her into head-scritches, I address Uthica, “Yeah. I’ve freed her. But apparently, I’ve mucked up time even more.”

“Unfortunate. But not unexpected. That would explain why I now only have three days to say goodbye.”

I wince. That’s a lot worse than I expected. “Damn. I… don’t think I’m going to be able to build you that ship.”

“Hmm. No, I suspect not. It would likely disrupt things too much. That’s fine. Thanks to what I’ve learned working on your teleportation beacons, one of my councilors has discovered an interesting exploit in the System’s teleportation network that should help,” Uthica replies, stepping back as I float the box to the edge of the cargo bay.

“Oh yeah?” I reply, and listen as Uthica starts describing a way that they’ve found to piggy back on each other's Return spells, as long as they’re in a party and have the proper beacon support in place.

Something the modern Aetherium definitely didn’t have.

Thankfully, time doesn’t seem to be any less stable, so this seems like a change I’d already caused.

Yay?

I continue listening to the details as I set course back to Nothen, Uthica practically gushing over the successful early tests. She’s still talking when I land, and it’s with some reluctance I take my leave, flying the carapace scale back to the Reapers. Whatever they did with it last time, I’m hoping they continue keeping it safe.

When I land this time, Alaven greets me with far less bowing. It seems my lack of deleting him from existence is starting to give him some boldness, because as I return the scale to its place, he speaks.

“Wyrdsmith, can this un-Reaped one ask a question?”

Shifting in place, I play both eyes over him as another flash of insight fills my mind. The Reapers are… farming their own people. And that’s what Alaven thinks I did to Vrathorn.

“Proceed,” I reply, even as more cultural knowledge presses at the edge of my consciousness. Knowledge that Alaven doesn’t even know. But his thread has touched upon it. “But know that answers would invalidate your story.”

Alaven pauses, his eyes going wide for a second. Then he pulls at his mighty beard. Then, for the first time since I reset, I see him smile. “Would you like to join me for a round? My sworn are good company. And I’m sure a trueborne who chooses such a beautiful form enjoys a good orgy.”

I can’t help but raise my eyebrow at his… proposition. Not because I’m tempted, but because I’m pretty sure that in his culture, he just did the equivalent of inviting the pope to an orgy with… well, with a bunch of drunken bikers.

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.

“No pressure. Just thought you’d enjoy it,” he adds, holding his hands up between us.

Touching at that cultural knowledge, I realize that his response was, in a way, a much safer response than whatever he’d been about to ask.

Well, from his perspective at least. Pretty sure there are Wyrdsmiths who would delete him for even inferring what he just asked me.

They might have a culture of living their stories, but people are still people.

“I’m afraid my time here is at an end. You will not see me again,” I reply, deciding to keep my answer short and honest. Well, honest enough.

“Such a shame,” Alaven says, his eyes locked on mine.

Deciding I’ve had enough, I leave. Quirking my eyebrow at him, I teleport back to the ship even as his smirk starts to grow in response.

Uthica and Pern are waiting, their eyes turned upwards as they talk, Smoulder settled in Uthica’s lap, soaking up as many scritches as she can. If I’m not mistaken, they’re taking notes on the shifting clouds.

When they spot me, they stand up and soon we’re on our way back to not-yet-Aethire. Letonga joins us shortly after I board, gazing out at Ukila as we lift into the air. “Commandant, if… it’s possible, I’d like to visit Themetar. I need to contact our father, and I believe they’ll know how.”

I glance over at Uthica, and she frowns. “I need to return. There’s much to be done.”

“There always is,” Pern says, interrupting her before Uthica can continue. “We don’t know how much time we have left with Alexis. I think this would be an excellent opportunity to say goodbye properly. We’re not expected back for several hours.”

Uthica’s frown collapses, shifting to a crooked grin instead as she turns towards her father. “An excellent point. And perhaps we shall even get your mane styled.”

I contain the chuckle as I adjust course, taking us toward Thematar. The weather is currently sunny, and the local time is early afternoon. Perfect for a casual visit. Arriving in the Second Promise actually makes going through customs easier.

Turns out the Forerunners had previous contact with the Ukilan city-state. When I step off the ship, I’m surprised when a pair of guards greet me not with questions, but with a report.

As I scan over it, I realize that it’s tracking data for mana-shifts, storms, System satellites and Reaper traffic. Thankfully, I’m able to transfer it all to my System for later analysis.

The guards offer to serve as guides, but I send them away to help Letonga with her search for her father instead. Then I spend the next couple hours with Uthica and Pern, enjoying a relaxed afternoon browsing the local shops.

We do stop in at a mane specialist, and after a great deal of deliberation, Pern ends up with a set of thick braids that lead halfway down his back. He has a crooked smile as he inspects himself in the hologram at the front of the shop.

“Not exactly a look for a distinguished scholar,” he says, running a lower hand along one of his braids.

“We can have it removed once we go home. But I like it,” Uthica says, stroking one of his other braids. “No user would accuse you of being dull with your mane like this.”

“No, I suppose they wouldn’t. They’d be too busy trying to figure out which matriarch would dare to steal me away from my daughter,” Pern replies, his hand stilling as he stands a little straighter.

Uthica just snorts, and we continue on our way.

Soon we stop at a playhouse, managing to arrive just in time for the afternoon show. We watch a performance of some local K’tharn. An apparently standard play for those new to their craft. It’s a retelling of the great negotiation, a period when the city-states of Ukila first brokered peace, and formed the Unity, the defense force that even now watches over their world.

There’s a surprising amount of romance and intrigue involved, and no hints of violence. Which makes me wonder if it’s propaganda. Who creates a defence force without worrying about violence?

Several times, the lost ones are mentioned, and it’s only as we get near the end of the play that the lost ones are revealed to be the K’tharn on Akilo. Their violent ways are the impetus for the formation of Unity.

The surprise twist, reveals that the K’tharn who’s been spearheading Unity’s formation is one of those very K’tharn.

By this point, Uthica and Pern are both very quiet. I suppose for them, this would feel very different.

The play ends with the Akilian K’tharn standing next to her greatest opponent at the start, both facing the crowd with the symbol of the Unity floating in the air behind them. They both clasp their hands in a three hand salute, their left hands wrapped around their prominently held upper right.

The crowd around us erupts in low howls, and after a few seconds, the actors leave the stage leaving only the Unity symbol floating there.

After another minute, the K’tharn around us calmly start filtering out of the hall. Which I’m pretty sure means the show’s over.

Emerging into the evening light, Uthica’s gaze moves around us, until landing on a tower towards the middle of the city. “They’re so… different.”

“Their lives are untouched by the System,” Pern notes, his eyes still watching the other K’tharn as they walk away.

“It’s more than that. Even before the System… we have more in common with Lexi’s people than our own cousins,” Uthica says, shaking her head as we move into a small park where I can let Midnight out to stretch his wings.

“Yeah, probably,” I agree, unable to contain my chuckle as Smoulder hops after Midnight’s ponderous tail. “We’re still figuring a lot out.”

“I will miss you,” Uthica suddenly states as she turns toward me. “I know your people need you, and that to keep you longer would be a horrible idea. But if I could…” Then she reaches out to ruffle my hair.

“Hey!” I gasp, closing my eyes as I attempt to dodge her efforts. To no avail. Because I can’t let her attack go unanswered, and mussing her hair means sacrifices must be made. As we collapse on the ground, pretzled together, I say, “I’m gonna miss you too. So much.”

A soft chuckle gets both our attention. Pern is shaking his head as we twist together so we can both glare at him. He raises his hands in surrender. “Sorry, I just… It’s good to see you like this. It’s been so long.”

“Well. No one knows me here,” Uthica says, even as she attempts to de-pretzle herself. Which isn’t easy, since I enlist Smoulder’s assistance in keeping her down. After another minute of wrestling, she manages to stand, though I still have half her arms locked down. “The needs of the queen-“

“I know,” Pern says, cutting Uthica off by raising his hand slightly. “Perhaps we can find a way for you to return. This would… be good for you.”

I decide to ignore the notification from my System telling me that the stability has dropped slightly again. Instead, I let go of Uthica, giving her a hug from behind. “You should. It’d be good for you and your father to get away occasionally. And Ukila’s about as away as you can get. At least for now.”

“I shall consider it,” Uthica says, managing to peel my arms free. “But I believe you have something more urgent to address.”

Sighing, I nod into her back, as I finally read the System notification.

“Temporal Instability: Catastrophic. Administrator Surfacing recommended. Three proposed Surfacing Models have revealed acceptable risk levels. Thiani-Bonding, Self-stasis, and Temporal reversion.”

“Expected time to collapsed local space-time: 3:31:01.”

“3:31:00.”

If I don’t want Akilo to be deleted from existence, it’s time for me to go home.

6.50, Tidying Time

Ukila Local Time Evening. Remaining time until the collapse of local space-time: 3:31:00. (February 11, 1512)

With my head still resting against Uthica’s back in the park on Ukila, I Freeze time.

Which costs me three seconds until the collapse, but gives me a full day to review the System’s notifications, as well as everything that lies beneath them.

Deciding to review it in the Library, I find Smoulder waiting, and take a minute to give her a few scritches before settling down in my chair with her tail at maximum floof, as if to distract me.

However, I manage to still it as I return my attention to not deleting Akilo.

The first thing I need to do, is check on the methods the System’s determined have acceptable risk. And figure out what it set as acceptable risk.

“Thiani-Bonding risk assessment: Damage to Pandora’s temporal thread: Lower 1st percentile. Swell: Upper 50th percentile. Temporal revisions: Maintained within 5.2 light years.”

Hmm. Okay, swell rate seems to be… how far forward I need to move past the ‘present’ and how far out the changes will impact, all rolled into one.

The first method seems to indicate that I’ll return… more than two years after I left. At minimum.

Not ideal.

Thankfully, it’s analyzed the connection through my dreams, and I should be able to induce the link. Which means I just need to prod it to talk to her. Unfortunately, doing so will cost an hour of stability, minimum.

“Self-stasis risk assessment: Damage to Pandora’s temporal thread: Upper 20th percentile. Swell: Upper 99th percentile. Temporal revisions: Maintained within 502 light years.”

Well… I guess, if I wanted my changes to propagate as far as possible, this would be the way to do it. Lock myself in a completely self-contained stasis field and then just… drift forward. Unfortunately, I’d arrive back in the present a century after I left. Roughly. Pretty hard to aim from inside complete stasis, especially while moving forward through unstable time.

If I didn't have a way to contact Rufka, I might have considered finding a way to improve this one.

“Temporal Reversion risk assessment: Damage to Pandora’s temporal thread: Lower 1st percentile. Swell: Lower 1st percentile. Temporal revisions: Reverted excluding user Pandora.”

The reversions are… Uthica would forget everything, which makes this the least appealing version by far.

The method itself would require a local infusion of Facet that would eliminate all the changes I’ve made. It would essentially reset everything I’ve done since rebuilding my body. Which my System has identified as an especially strong knot in my thread. It’s so big, I thought my thread just didn’t exist past that point. But no, it’s just… massive.

I could tear the knot apart and set myself free, undoing everything I’ve done… except deleting Vrathorn. Even Midnight and Smoulder’s changes would be partially reverted, though our bonds would remain.

Out of curiosity, I review several more methods the System determined to be not worth the risk. After only a few minutes of reading over options that would result in the obliteration of either Akilo or everything within 500 light years, I accept that the System really did pick out the only options with acceptable risk.

Though I do manage to pick out one important fact.

There are things I can do to reduce the amount of expected swell.

I start creating a list, poking my System to provide everything it can think of.

The list is thousands of pages long.

Some things are super simple.

Returning the Second Promise to its hanger-cave will increase stability by nearly a day, which translates into over a month of reduced swell if I’m using my connection to Rufka. Taking down my castles will restore stability by another six hours.

Since I prodded the System to give me a full list, it informs me that deleting Letonga completely would result in three days of stability. Which has me immediately change the parameters, making sure that no more of its suggestions include deleting people.

The pages long list suddenly becomes much shorter.

Continuing through the modified list, I realize, most of the remaining changes are about reducing risk of discovery or direct influence. And I can complete them all in less than ten minutes.

Well, except returning the Second Promise.

Further questioning reveals that leaving the ring inside the Second Promise should restore stability by nearly a week, which makes me blink. When I check again, I discover that the stability increase applies to everything I took from Vrathorn’s ship. Even the gold I traded away, though thankfully that’s such a small change, I can ignore it. Same with the towels.

When I’m done, I poke Smoulder to get her opinion. And I draw Midnight into the Library as well. He shakes his head, taking a few minutes to get used to the sensation.

Neither of them really understand what I’m asking them, though Smoulder tries really hard. But finally, she shakes her head, head-butting against my leg.

“Sorry,” I mumble, reaching down to give her head-scritches to help with her new headache. “I just…”

A deep feeling of emptiness fills me. Even with all the adjustments, I can’t see a way to get back to the present before Earth is struck.

Smoulder hops into my lap, pressing against me, reassuring me that it’ll be okay. And asking why we don’t just take shorter hops, if we’re so worried about hopping too far.

I don’t even hesitate, prodding my System. And it informs me that it can’t make an accurate model based on shorter hops, because I didn’t think to include one like that when creating the originals. It does know that actually stopping and making changes would make things worse. Which makes sense. More changes, more swell.

Still, deciding to set my castles to crunching that while I clean up everything else, I give one final review of everything. I’ll talk to Uthica and Pern about everything as we’re returning the Second Promise to its hanger.

Preparing Smoulder and Midnight, I un-Freeze time, pulling my head away from Uthica’s back.

“Hold that thought,” I say as Uthica starts to speak. Smoulder and Midnight slip inside my soul in less than a second, even as Uthica starts speaking despite my command.

Then I teleport away.

First thing on my list.

Collect all the random loot I left buried on Ukila. The caustic string is packed tightly in a sphere of earth as I retrieve the bottle. Then, since I’m still on Ukila, I return to the beacon. A few System guided adjustments, and the chamber is more disguised than ever.

Less than a minute has passed, and I’ve gained over an hour of stability.

A couple quick stops to clean up the mess Uthica and I left behind across the surface and I’m back to where I left Uthica and Pern in Themetar.

Uthica raises a brow at my sudden reappearance, but I don’t give her a chance to reply, teleporting us directly to the Second Promise. I look it over, wondering if I could teleport the whole thing back to Akilo.

Deciding now’s not the time to test the upper limits of my teleportation, I throw a ridiculous amount of the local currency at the guard simply yelling, “Temporal emergency.”

It just gets a confused look, but we’re allowed to leave with only a minute of paperwork.

As soon as the ship is headed towards Akilo, I spin around.

“Okay. So, I need to leave soon. But I can buy a little time by… uhm, cleaning up,” I say, blushing slightly when I see Uthica and Pern’s shared smirk.

They really are related.

Shaking my head, I push forward, explaining what I’m doing. And what I’m planning to do once we’re back to Akilo.

“You may want to clean up where you were reborn. Those statues are rather… distinctive,” Pern notes, shaking his head.

“Right,” I agree, adding that to my list, and the System confirms his suggestion a few seconds later.

When I store the caustic string in the same section I unraveled Letonga’s bond in, the stability jumps by a day. I consider placing the ring in my inventory, and bringing it forward, but poking at my System reveals that would cause an instant collapse of space-time.

Very carefully placing the ring in its own room, I gain two days of stability.

When I place the bottle on a shelf in the kitchen, I gain five.

Squinting at the bottle, I shake my head, then return to the cockpit. Uthica has another list for me. Little disruptions from my assistance with the invasions. Including some places that should be in worse shape.

When I punch it into my System, I’m surprised that, yes, I’ll gain stability from destroying a few mountains.

…

Shaking my head, I resume working, and expand the purposeful destruction parameters to include Ukila. But it seems all my tidying has already dealt with that.

The moment the Second Promise has returned to its berth, I’m gone again, dropping Uthica and Pern off in their camp.

It takes half an hour to complete my list, but I’ve reduced the expected Swell on returning to the present to nine months if I’m able to bond with Rufka. Still pretty high, but better.

The wind-castles are still working through simulations, but my System’s found at least one way to slowly make my way forward. I’ll have to hop forward in a pseudo-stasis, waking every six months or so, but it should allow me to return to nearly the same time as being bonded to Rufka. But I won’t be able to use Facet until we’ve passed the swell or I’ll render the whole thing moot and obliterate local space-time.

Which, apparently, includes Earth. Not sure how several hundred lightyears counts as local, but I guess my System is working on a galactic scale.

Still, not exactly an acceptable solution. Much as it’d suck for me, it’d be safer to keep myself in stasis longer. I refuse to risk several inhabited worlds’ very existence just to take part in saving Earth.

However, I might be able to combine the hopping with Rufka’s bond to reduce the swell slightly.

With the last projections completed, I collapse the castles.

No sign of my visit to the past exists, except for the impressions I’ve made on the people. And Vrathorn’s missing ship, I guess.

Emerging back in camp, I’m a little surprised to find Uthica and Pern sitting at a table with nothing but three cups of tea sitting atop it.

“So, I think I’m done. Just need to contact Rufka and… go home, I hope. But I… want to take fifteen minutes to say goodbye,” I say, taking the last chair as I accept the cup from Pern.

“Unfortunate. I was looking forward to beating you at Vaus’ champions again,” Uthica says, leaning across the table to hit me in the shoulder.

“Me too,” I agree, taking a small sip. “Beating you, that is. With all my future knowledge.”

“Ha. As if,” she snorts before taking a sip of her own tea.

“Hey. Maybe you could play with Lexica. You know, the lieutenant you had assigned to me?” I suggest, which earns a chuckle from Pern.

Uthica tilts her head, glancing out at where her people are moving slowly around the camp. We’re quiet as Smoulder climbs into Pern’s lap.

Chewing on her lip, I can tell Uthica’s clearly hesitant about the idea, so I add, “She… well. It’s not my place to say. But she’d give you a better match than I ever did.”

“I’ll do it. Since you asked,” Uthica says, her eyes growing damp.

The next few minutes are spent talking about nothing, but I feel each one race by. A perfect time-sense can be a curse. Wish I could bring her into Freeze with me. We could catch up on… so much.

When I stand, stepping away from Uthica, I turn back and give her one last hug. I squeeze her hard as I can, managing to get a chuckle out of her when I pluck her off the ground.

“I’ll never forget you,” I say, setting her down.

“Hmm. You better not. I’ll never forget you either.”

I can’t help but smirk as I say, “I know.”

Uthica elbows me gently, then pulls me back into a hug.

“Good luck with saving your world. It does get easier. And unlike me, you can actually be everywhere, all at once,” Uthica teases.

“Ugh. Yeah. Vacation’s over,” I agree, stepping away as Smoulder goes in to give Uthica a hug. Kinda. Really, it’s more of a headbutt. But the intent is there.

“You call this a vacation?” Pern asks, reaching out for a hug of his own. Which I oblige.

“Yep. Aren’t you going to miss me?” I ask, unable to keep a teasing grin from working its way onto my face as I release him.

Pern glances at Uthica, then sidles close to me giving her a mock salute as he drapes an arm over my shoulder. “Best of luck, Queen Uthica.”

Returning the salute with a perfectly straight face, Uthica replies, “You too, soldier. You’re going to need it if you intend to keep her safe.”

“Hey!” I object while Pern inclines his head in a shallow nod.

Then they both burst out laughing, as Pern steps away.

I call out to Midnight, who’s been having one last wrestling match with Redstone. He breaks free from where Redstone had him ‘pinned’ instantly, then bounds up into the sky. From hundreds of meters away, he dashes forward, teleporting directly into my soul.

Huh. Neat.

“It’s time,” I say, pulling Smoulder off her perch on Uthica’s shoulder. Then she slips inside my soul, curling in close to Midnight.

“It’s time,” Uthica confirms, putting her arm over her father’s shoulder.

When I close my eyes, I let the System press the link to Rufka open.

It’s not a full connection, the link kept as simple as possible to reduce possible swell.

I’ve barely started sending the impression of what I need across the link when Rufka presses back, insisting I do it instantly. Still, I take the time to explain it properly. Even if I’ve proven I can undo it with Letonga, I don’t want her rushing into this.

After another few Paused seconds, which are more than an hour on Rufka’s end, her resolve remains unchanged.

Unable to keep the tears from beading, I wave to Uthica and Pern. Then I weave a sphere around me, folding my body in as tight as possible. With my System’s help, I confirm I’ve formed a perfect sphere, with no weak points. Then I find the strand leading forward. Before I reinforce it, I do the hardest part to make sure the swell isn’t too large.

I cut my tether to Uthica. This time though, I truly severe it. There won’t be a return. No more flashbacks.

The moment it’s severed, I can feel the pull from Rufka’s tether. Still, I drift free, pulled forward as I prod the tree to reinforce my bond with Rufka. I watch Uthica and Pern stare up at me, less than a second passing though they stand there for over an hour. Then time blasts forward as I hop away, back to the incoming apocalypse, my friends and everything else the future has in store.

And back to Rufka.

A note from Draith

When I first plotted Lexi gaining control over her time-powers, it happened in like... 3 chapters. Including the visiting Uthica and Pern parts.

...

To be fair, this whole series was originally plotted to be one book, so what do I know?

Anyway, this isn't actually the end of this volume. We still have another 60k ish words of unedited stuff to get through. Then we'll be onto the last volume, which'll be another... lots and lots.

Thanks for reading!

6.51, Hopalong Lexi

February 11, 1512.

Uthica watched her sister float, suspended in the sphere, the presence nestled in the back of her mind her whole life gone for the first time. It hurt more than she’d expected. Knowing that the Eldinsworn had shared an even stronger bond was like a knife in the gut. Though Uthica could acknowledge it was the fact she couldn't join Lexi that really hurt.

Turning away, she looked over her status. It was still a shock to know she’d ascended to Silver. And she was pretty sure she wasn’t the only one. That last hug…

Laughter filled the air as Uthica sought out her father. Now that Alexis was gone, they had work to do. Aethire was more than just a dream.

She reached the lip of the crater when one of her subordinates approached. Uthica almost didn’t recognize her, about to dismiss her out of habit. Then she remembered Alexis’ last request.

“You’re Lexica, correct?” Uthica asked the lieutenant.

“My Queen.” The lieutenant snapped to attention with a vigor Uthica wasn’t used to seeing in her troops. Which was why she normally avoided this lieutenant. Even after all these years, Uthica still didn’t like formality. But compared to Letonga…

“At ease, Lexica,” Uthica said, inspecting the tawny brown fur of the K’tharn, tracing the form of several tattoos. One of the newer adopters of the enchanted tattoos then.

Lexica’s stance relaxed slightly as she fiddled with her arms, failing to be at ease at all.

Uthica stared at her, wondering what had gotten into her sister’s head. But a promise was a promise.

“Tell me, Lexica. Are you familiar with Vaus’ Champion?”

“My queen?” Lexica asks, her hands growing still.

“Vaus’ champion? Do you know how to play?”

Lexica twisted back and forth, looking over her shoulders as Uthica watched her. Once she’d confirmed that Uthica could indeed only be talking to her, Lexica faced forward again, tentatively nodding.

“Good. What say you report to my tent in… half an hour for a game.” Uthica paused, looking at the poor cub who seemed ready to crawl under the nearest collapsed tent. “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. It’s not an order.”

As if Uthica had stabbed her with a lightning wand, Lexica jumped, shaking her head. “No. I mean, yes. I mean, I’ll be there my queen.”

Uthica nodded, turning away to find her father. She’d find out if Lexica was any good after they’d set her plans in motion. Pausing, Uthica looked back at the lieutenant who was dancing in place, her upper arms pumping at the air.

Strange. Maybe she’d make a decent opponent after all. For all that she had taught Alexis, she’d learned something about herself as well. She didn’t want to be alone.

And while her sister may be gone…

It would be good to have a friend.

While watching Uthica and Pern, my sphere of reinforced Facet floats upwards until I’m locked in place in the center of gravity between Ukila and Akilo. And then time starts moving forward.

A few minutes and a decade later, my sphere of isolated time leaves Uthica behind. This little bubble is my entire world at the moment. A place outside of time. No one but me, Smoulder and Midnight as we hurtle toward the present. There’s enough space, that Smoulder decides not to remain tucked away in my soul, causing me a moment of panic when she emerges. But she seems unaffected by the passage of time as she leaps onto my shoulder.

Smoulder’s fluffy tail dangles over my currently metallic hand, her purring emanating to fill the small sphere as she tries to entice me into scritches. Smiling, I change my hand to liquid fire, custom shaped for maximum Smoulder enjoyment.

There isn’t much space in the sphere, but I’ve made a sort of cushioned chair, so I don’t have to just squat. Despite passing through time relatively quickly, it’s not the instant process I expected. And it requires more effort from me to move forward than I expected. We’ve been moving toward the present for nearly a day now, from our perspective, but only a hundred years have passed outside. And every hop, I get a little better at controlling how far we go, and how much we disturb our surroundings.

While the bond connecting me to Rufka grows stronger every second, the starting state was weak. So weak, that it’s been easy to slow for the hops to help reduce swell. And when we do, I get a chance to look outside. It’s amazing, seeing Uthica’s efforts lead to the formation of cities and the expansion of the Aetherium.

It’s a shame the capital of Aethire is now a shattered ruin. Or… it will be once I get back to the present.

The slowed periods never last long, no more than five minutes at most. That's as much as I'm able to wait before the System indicates that we'd be making it worse instead of better. Then we’re hurtling forward again. As I’m able to adjust, and learn the limits of what we can endure, the gaps between each slowed period get farther and farther apart. When we’re only a couple decades from the present there’s a disturbance that catches my attention, shining so bright to my thread-sight that I slow down to inspect it closer.

Once we’re in the moment, it takes me a minute to locate the source, but when I do, I’m able to coax our little bubble closer.

High above the star system, still isolated from the temporal flow in my little bubble, Smoulder and I observe as a team of unusual people pour out of a cube-shaped ship. We watch as they infiltrate a place I’ve only seen on video, Akilo’s System space station. It’s only when the bark-skinned Theglia steps forward that I recognize who these people are.

These are the Forerunners who sent us to Akilo.

Watching them collapse one at a time as they proceed deeper into the compound… It’s entirely bloodless, but the vacant look in their eyes sends chills up my spine.

For some reason, my System doesn't have a problem with us staying longer in this moment. As long as we don't interfere. We’re able to follow them all the way into what seems to be the heart of the station. Even as the last of her companions slumps, another tree-person like her, Theglia remains focused on a keyboard next to a central pillar. She’s moving thin cylinders into chambers along the side of the pillar, each motion so smooth, I’d think she was a machine if I didn’t know better.

It’s as she’s sliding one particular core into place that the vision comes to a near stop.

Smoulder squints at me as the action nearly pauses, turning as if to ask me what’s happening.

“Not sure,” I admit, inspecting Theglia’s face closely. She looks more cracked and worn than when I last saw her.

Smoulder turns back to look at the cylinder in Theglia’s hands. Then I get a burst of excitement from her as she flicks her gaze between me and the cylinder, wondering if I recognize it too.

“Hmm. I think so. Feels familiar,” I answer. Even as the words cross my lips the flow of time resumes, and Theglia loads the cylinder with the same ease she’s displayed with the rest. There’s a resonance with the cylinder. One I feel in the center of my being.

As the cylinder is locked into place, my bond with Rufka becomes much more vibrant. And insistent. Where I was able to control our relative location fairly easily before, now we’re ripped away. I catch one last glimpse of Theglia slumping down next to her companion with a small smile, her eyes gazing outward.

Smoulder shuffles in her seat, her curiosity bleeding through the link, trying to figure why she felt like a silly cylinder was familiar.

“I think it might have been… the source of my powers,” I tell Smoulder, watching through the transparent side of the sphere as we orbit Akilo from high above.

A few minutes and decades later, we’re wrenched out of orbit. This time we’re brought to a more familiar scene, four forms scattered in the grass beneath a collection of standing stones. We’re only there for a couple seconds before we’re tugged across the forest, following the path until the moment I first met Rufka.

Her golden eyes are fixed on me, with her bow drawn back with her beautiful, athletic arms. She’s using the fake accent, which I still hate. It’s amazing to see her. As she invites me in for tea, we zoom away. The next moment we’re sitting on a roof, staring up at Ukila. Then meeting Demo beneath the roots of the great tree. There’s no apparent rhyme or reason, but I watch my life after coming to Akilo on fast-forward.

As we approach the moment that Beth accidentally killed me, I can’t help but hold my breath. I dissolve our furniture, while sending Smoulder back into my soul. Then we hit the moment and… we keep going.

I knew this was going to happen, but I’m still not entirely prepared as we ride the swell past the moment of my death. It’s not even something I could snag onto if I wanted to. Much like Vrathron, my thread was severed.

As we move forward, I struggle to reduce the swell, pushing my remaining Facet outward. It doesn’t do much, but it does seem to help. We pass the moment I asked Rufka to strengthen our bond. And I can see the bond blossoming. If I was willing to risk it, I could exit right here. I know it. But the swell is still too strong. I can see the distortion it would cause.

So I wait, watching Rufka go through her days as I send reassurance over the bond. And I receive similar back.

Months. I skip entire months before the swell finally ebbs away to levels my System says are safe.

The connection to Rufka is stronger than I’ve ever felt it. Without any more than the gentle encouragement of the tree and our exchanged affection, it’s already stronger than the link between Letonga and I was.

I focus on the scene. Tipan is standing in front of Rufka, shaking her head. I can almost hear her words, a disappointed note to her voice as the time inside our sphere syncs with theirs.

Then a pressure, a force that’s been compressing the Sphere since the moment we left Uthica dissipates. I nearly gasp at the release, but unwind the Facet instead. There’s a low boom, the entire room shaking as I pop into existence an armspan away from Rufka.

Tipan’s swinging her staff in our direction when I’m lifted into the air, a mighty roar in my ear. Rufka swings me about, making a damn good effort to break my back as she keeps me secured in the tightest hug ever. A hug I return with equal fervor.

“Vaus-damnit. I told them you were alive. But no one believed me,” Rufka cries into my shoulder. Then she releases me enough to kiss me for several long seconds.

A cough from Tipan reminds me of the others’ presence. I almost say screw it and keep kissing Rufka, but I pull away for a second, turning to address Tipan. I shoot her a small smile, clearing my throat as I flex my hand. Then I finally speak.

“Sorry I’m late.”

6.52, Re-Queened

A note from Draith

Minor edit 6.51. Mistake in Uthica's opening paragraph last chapter. No Eldinsworn named Letonga leaving with Lexi, nope.

April 28, 2024. 9:12 am. Far later than I would’ve liked.

Morning light from the room-height window along one wall nearly blinds me as Rufka spins me about the meeting room. She refuses to let me go as Tipan chuckles, “Late? Alexis, we presumed you were dead.”

“Not all of us,” Rufka growls, finally setting me down but holding me tight against her side.

“No. Not all of us,” Tipan admits, with a shallow inclination of her head. “I’m quite glad to see you.”

“Thanks. Good to see you too. And I don’t blame you for thinking I was dead. It was a pretty near thing. Still, I think I should tell Beth. Actually, we have a lot to talk about,” I say, a frown growing as I speak.

Tipan doesn’t answer immediately, glancing at Rufka for a second. “Beth’s not available, I’m afraid.”

“Right. Off to save Earth. They couldn’t afford to wait for me, not if they thought I was dead,” I say, nodding.

“Ha. Beth said you’d understand if you were here,” Rufka laughs, shaking me. I can feel her joy practically overwhelming me through our bond.

As we break apart, I swat her away with a fond smile before turning to Tipan. “How are things here? Anything I can help with?”

“Things are… mostly stable. It hasn’t been easy without Wyonna here to help, but we’re making do. There were a lot of capable K’tharn among those you rescued,” Tipan informs me with a weak smile, her ears flicking.

“We rescued. It was a team effort. You were there just as much as I was,” I remind her, pulling her into a hug. Which Rufka quickly turns into a group hug.

Tipan laughs as she hugs me back. From over my shoulder I hear her say, “Yes. I forget that sometimes. Maybe I need to-“

My words are interrupted as Smoulder emerges from my soul with a blast of warmth. She’s remarkably restrained, only slightly singing the air as she impacts with Tipan’s chest.

“Oof. Good to see you too,” Tipan says, her hand reaching down to scritch Smoulder’s ears. Then Smoulder glares at Rufka, as if to tell her to get over to her.

As if that’s his cue, Midnight chooses to emerge, making the large meeting room suddenly feel crowded.

“Oh,” Tipan says as the twilight dragon stretches out sniffing towards her and Smoulder.

“Dragon!” Rufka declares in the same moment, attempting to push me back and stumbling into me when I don’t shift.

“No!” I deny, shaking my head as I pull her into a side-hug. “He’s not like that. I just… I may have met a totally awesome dragon. And now he’s bound to me.”

“Like me and Tuffie?” Rufka asks, squinting for a second before smiling in Midnight’s direction.

“Uh. Yes. Kind of. It’s… more than that. Like the way I share a codex. Except, kinda at any time. It’s like our bond is now. It’s… there’s a lot to tell you.”

Rufka hums to herself, nodding as she stares at Midnight. “Okay.”

Her ears flick, the way they do when she’s thinking, but her face doesn’t give me any clues as to her thoughts. She’ll tell me when she’s ready. Returning my attention to Tipan, I apologize, “Sorry. They’ve both been locked up in my soul for a while, and guess they felt the need to get out.”

“Ah. Well, he is rather unique. I don’t believe I’ve seen a twilight dragon before. Where did he come from?” Tipan asks while holding her hand out to scratch his hand while continuing to give Smoulder her scritches. A task that’d be rather difficult without her four hands.

Glancing at her, I shrug. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you the rest later, but for now, let’s just say, it turns out time-travel’s not just possible, I can steer through it. And Ukila’s got a lot more secrets than I expected.”

Rufka pushes me away slightly staring at me. “You can steer?”

“Yes?”

“And you waited half a year before you came back?” she asks, tone flat.

“Not by choice!” I object, holding my hands up. “I tried to stop earlier.”

She searches my eyes for a second before asking, “Couldn’t have left me a note?”

“Didn’t have an opportunity,” I reply, shaking my head. “Was swept along.”

Rufka nods, directing her attention to Tipan. But her smile doesn’t go away. “Sorry about that Tipan. You were saying?”

“I… don’t remember. Seriously Alexis? Time-travel? And you want us to wait?” Tipan crosses her arms, much like Letonga did. But for some reason, I feel like a fool when Tipan does it.

“Fine. So, why don’t I start at the beginning. You know how Smoulder was trapped in the past? Well, when Beth killed me, I-“

“Hold on. What?” Rufka asks, cutting me off.

“What? Smoulder was trapped in-“

“Not that. Beth killed you?”

“Oh. Yeah. But I’m pretty sure it was an accident,” I say.

Rufka looks at Tipan. “We’re going to need more than a few minutes.”

Tipan nods, her eyes glazing over. After a minute, she returns to us, saying, “Nothing pressing at the moment. Now. Alexis, why don’t you tell us everything. Starting with Beth… killing you.”

And so, I do exactly that. With Smoulder chiming in with bursts of fire to clarify her role. Clarifications I have to translate. Neither Rufka nor Tipan interrupt, though I can tell they’re tempted at several points. A K’tharn does step in once, bringing a platter of fruit and crisped meats. After a brief break to replenish my energy, I continue. Once I’m finished, Tipan spends an hour questioning me for further details on the Eldinsworn before she leans back with a sigh.

“What is it?” I ask, my eyes drifting to the window. Outside, red-walled buildings stretch as far as the eye can see. My fully Twilight-augmented eyes.

Tipan waves at Rufka to answer as her eyes glaze over.

Rufka is rolling her eyes when I look to her for answers. “The user Ivicka absorbed was an Eldinsworn. Part of a secret society that nearly died out.”

“Wait? Really? When did she find that out?”

“Ivicka’s journal,” Tipan states, tapping her side where it hangs, her eyes still glazed over.

Nodding, Rufka continues, “Tipan translated it all. And Beth was hoping for something to help Earth.”

“Only we’ve discovered they’re not quite as extinct as your friend thought,” an unfamiliar and high-pitched voice says from the entrance. Standing in the doorway is a form cloaked in the grey robes of the Eldinsworn.

Pausing time, I’m generating a shield even as Smoulder starts flaring her flames, prepared to incinerate them.

Inspecting the stranger closely, I’m prepared to entomb them. The robes are almost identical to the ones I stole. Which is impressive considering it’s been centuries. They even have the same symbol on the shoulder. But the stranger isn’t carrying a rifle. And there’s a… is that one of the vartha? What is one of the squirrel-people from Ukila doing on their shoulder?

A quick scan reveals that they’re a pu’shaha, and one that’s not even System enhanced, barely mortal.

Hmm. Half-measures? Steel bands around their wrists and ankles. And halt the blast of super-heated flame Smoulder’s about to unleash. Midnight was much more restrained, barely raising an eyebrow before lowering himself back to Tipan’s side.

When time unpauses, the figure stumbles as metal bands clasp into place around their limbs. The vartha scrambles atop their head, knocking their hood back, revealing a K’tharn’s dark brown mane.

“Wait, Alexis, stop,” Tipan calls out to me when she notices the shield pop into existence. When she’s certain I’ve stopped, she whirls on our guest, “I told you to let me know when you arrived. You’re lucky she showed restraint.”

The K’tharn grins at Tipan, his lips tugging up in a smile. “I was entranced at the prospect of seeing you again, Lady Tipan? How could I wait?”

Rufka snorts, chucking a fruit from the table at him. He dodges to the side, but he’s still bound, so he’s not quick enough to avoid the sweet missile. It splatters his grey robes, and he frowns down at them as Tipan covers her mouth, giggling.

Then the Vartha tugs on his ear as it speaks. Its voice is only slightly higher than his. Impressive considering its diminutive size of less than half a meter tall. “Companion Belkix, we are not here for you to repeat your unsuccessful courtship attempts. We are here as experts on the Eldinsworn.”

“Ouch, Peth. Don’t do that, you know how sensitive they are,” the K’tharn, apparently named Belkix, objects.

Straightening himself, Peth says, “If you conducted yourself with proper decorum, we would not need to correct you. Now apologize to our hosts.”

“I’m sorry,” Belkix says, flinching as Peth reaches for his ear again. “My apologies Lady Tipan. Commander Rufka. Uhh… Sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“This is queen Pandora,” Tipan declares before I can introduce myself, shaking her head while glaring at him.

“But you can call me Alexis,” I add with a sigh, extending my metallic right hand to shake theirs.

“Queen Pandora? The queen Pandora? It is our greatest honour,” Peth says, bowing from atop Belkix’s shoulder. When Peth notices that Belkix hasn’t bowed, they smack him in the ear again, prompting him to bow as well. Which ends up upsetting Peth’s position. My attempt to keep from laughing at their antics is only partially successful, coming out as a rough cough.

Rufka doesn’t even bother hiding her laughter, nor does Tipan shield her giggle. Starting to think we may not be the best at diplomacy.

As Belkix returns to his upright position, Peth leaps onto the table, brushing their orange-brown fur, as if to smooth out a wrinkle. An urge to scoot closer and sneakily pet him rises, but I know better, choosing to ask, “And who might you be?”

“I am first vessel Peth’detalin Urthaskish, of the Third collective of Vartha-Prime,” Peth states, bowing again, but with an added flourish of his hand.

“And I’m Belkix,” Belkix adds helpfully.

“I believe she was inquiring as to our position in the world,” Peth states, casting a reproving glance at Belkix.

“Oh. Right. I’m Ketenna’s top expert on Eldinsworn. Did you know they could shoot lasers from their eyes?” Belkix gushes, stepping toward me with a conspiratorial smile.

Thinking about Letonga, I wonder if this is hyperbole surrounding their distinctive eyes, or some unexplained Reaper-tech. Probably both.

Tipan huffs from her side of the table. “That’s not that special. Lots of people can shoot things from their eyes.”

Belkix turns back to look at Tipan, then around the room. “Well, yeah. Maybe here you can. But not if you want to remain free of the System.”

“Speaking of being free of the System. Where’s Demo? Did he go with the others?” I ask, turning to Rufka.

Tipan hushes Belkix as he attempts to contribute another random ‘fact’ about Eldinsworn. Despite her efforts he still manages to say, “Eldinsworn had horns too, you know? Under their hair.”

I roll my eyes at that, and when I glance at Tipan she gives me a small shrug. Though she’s frowning at him pretty intensely. I’m about to repeat my question when he interupts again.

“Anyway, why don’t we address why we were summoned. Lady Tipan, you said you wanted to see us,” Belkix says, turning his back on us.

“You mentioned you wanted to talk to me about Eldinsworn. It seems Lexi has had dealings with them,” Tipan states, leaning away from him, picking up an orange of her own.

She needn’t have worried. The second she’s finished speaking, Belkix whirls about, rounding on me as he asks, “You’ve talked to an Eldinsworn? In person? Did they have super-sharp teeth? How bright are their eye lasers? Did they try to kill you?”

“Yes. They did try to kill me. More than once,” I reply, able to track his questions with surprising ease, but deciding only the last is worthy of response.

“Wow. That’s awesome,” Belkix says. Then he seems to realize what exactly he said, his ears folding flat as he adds, “I mean, not the part where they tried to kill you.”

“It’s okay. Lots of things try to kill me,” I say, clapping Belkix on the shoulder with my heavy metal hand, trying to calm him down.

“Lexi, we’re not supposed to brag about how many things try to kill us,” Rufka says, a soft chuckle. “Mum says it’s bad form.”

Tipan clears her throat, drawing our attention to her. “That’s not why I asked you here. Peth, you mentioned Eldinsworn among our citizens. But you failed to mention they were a threat we need to address.”

“In our defence, you didn’t give us time to explain,” Peth counters, his diminuitive features cute, but oh so hard to read. “If you had, I would have told you they’re no longer a harmless cult. They’ve attacked several installations on Ukila. We’ve learned they have powerful illusions hiding their true forms.”

“Wait. They what?” Belkix demands, staring at his companion. “You never mentioned this? What else have you been keeping from me?”

“This isn’t the time Belkix,” Peth waves his companion off, staring at me. “You know as well as I do that the Eldinsworn have a vendetta against Queen Pandora. We thought we were merely warning our neighbours of a threat. Now I understand what prompted them to act.”

“Yeah. At least one of their bosses had reason to be upset with me, that’s for certain,” I admit.

“We need to warn you, Queen Pandora. One of the Eldinsworn’s masters has declared war on your home,” Peth states, brushing down his fur. “Akilo must be ready.”

“Except Akilo’s not really her home,” Rufka notes, stroking her chin.

“It’s not?” Peth asks, losing some of his stature.

“Nope. She’s not your average user,” Rufka declares, wrapping her arm over my shoulder.

“Yeah. My homeworld’s a long ways away from here, they’ll have a hard time making it there. Ripple-drives require mana to get their maximum speed, so there’s only so fast they can get there,” I say, plucking an orange fruit from the table. Belkix flinches, but I have no intention of wasting it on him, taking a bite before adding, “Though we will stop them.”

Peth nods his little head, stroking his chin. “Then our worry remains on Akilo. If none of the Eldinsworn left with your friend, they may target you instead.”

Tipan groans, causing me to look up from my second bite of the incredibly sweet fruit. Her head is in all four hands, hiding her entire face from us. After a few seconds, she looks up, saying, “Beth took thousands of volunteers with her. And that’s not all. Beth may have used your passing to recruit them. In her words…”

Tipan sighs, pushing herself up from the table, affecting a straight posture before saying, in a decently passable imitation of Beth's voice, “We go to save the home of Queen Pandora.”

6.53, Echoes

April 28, 2024. 11:21 am. Late enough to not actually be queen. Whew.

Tipan’s little announcement about Beth announcing to the Eldinsworn she’d take them directly to our homeworld leaves all of us staring at her. Okay, I’m the only one staring, but the others are kinda looking in her direction.

I’m about to question her when a K’tharn enters the room, pulling a cart laden with a proper lunch close behind. We all watch as she pulls the cart into the room, crossing behind Tipan, her head down the entire way. She spends over a minute fussing with the plates of steaming meat. She manages to transfer the entire meal to the table, moving the fruit platter to her empty cart, before she chances a look up.

Her casual glance is met by the entire room staring at her. And this time, we really are all staring. She stands straight with a small jump, saying, “My l- lady. I, I, I’m…”

Tipan smiles, taking the server aside, her words barely audible as she leads the poor K’tharn out. Rufka takes this moment to say, “At least there’s a chewy center to this scorched mess.”

“Oh?” I ask, watching Tipan reassure the server as they continue to apologize.

“It was mum’s idea.” Rufka rubs her hands together, her grin reaching maximum. “Can’t wait to tell her how it backfired.”

I’m rolling my eyes at Rufka as Tipan returns, having convinced the server that she hadn’t invoked the next great apocalypse.

“Sorry for that. I’d arranged for lunch, and Aliza’s used to just bringing things in without disturbing me,” Tipan says, before turning her eyes on Belkix and Peth. “But apparently no-one is bothering to announce themselves today.”

“Lady Tipan, you have our sincerest apologies,” Peth says, giving her a cute little bow. Though, I guess any bow would be cute when a two-banana-tall vartha does it. “Belkix had implied you’d asked to see us directly. We should have known he had interpreted your directive loosely.”

“It’s fine, Peth. I don’t hold it against you. Besides, we have more important things to discuss,” Tipan says. Despite the dismissal, I can’t help but notice her smile when Belkix cringes at her omission of his name.

“Yeah. Like, how are we going to warn Beth?” I ask, eyeing up a particularly succulent looking roll of dark brown meat stacked around an equally dark sauce.

Rufka snags the serving tongs before I can, plating a mixed variety of meats. She’s stacked the plate to near overflowing before she hands it to me, saying, “Here. And we’ll need to talk to Demo. Won’t be able to get word to them without him.”

“So, he didn’t go home yet?” I manage to get out, dipping one of the rolled meats in the rich gravy before taking another bite.

This is way better than Raz’s usual fare. It’s so savoury I almost miss Rufka’s response. “No. Someuser not only stole his engine, they took his navigation core too.”

“I thought he could fix it?” I ask as Rufka plucks one of the rolls off my plate.

Turning slightly toward her, I’m shocked when Smoulder snags a roll from the other side right as Rufka says, “He got his engine running. But the core is special. Something bout locking him out of his home.”

When Smoulder reaches for another roll, I just levitate the plate to her and get myself another one, leaving it dangling between her and Rufka.

Tipan’s smiling as Rufka tries to tug the plate away from Smoulder only to find it fixed in place. Tipan hands me a new plate, saying, “Demo had a lead on the core. He left a couple days ago. He should be close to the old capital.”

“Should be? Can’t you just message him?” I ask, stepping around Peth to grab the only green vegetable on the table. The large leafy vegetable seems to serve as more of a garnish, but I take it anyway. Should be nice and crunchy.

“Long range messaging hasn’t been working the same since you…” Tipan trails off, her smile disappearing and tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

Setting my plate to the side, I rush over to her, wrapping her in a hug.

“Sorry. It’s just… hard to believe you’re back. Even though you’re…” She shakes her head, a smile reappearing on her face. “But you are.”

“Long range messaging ain’t the only thing not working. The whole System’s been weird,” Rufka adds, latching on to convert our hug to a group hug. Which is fine until I see Belcix approaching, his arms spread wide.

Until I fix him with a raised eyebrow.

As Belcix withers beneath my gaze, Tipan says, “We can get word over the ocean in less than a day. Or we could pair you up with one of the new dragon-riders.”

“New dragon-riders?” I ask, leaning back.

“There were… ripples? Waves?” Tipan, looks to Rufka for a second, who nods. “Ripples shortly after you left. A lot of… well, unless you were a user, a lot of things changed.”

“We have a lot more dragons,” Rufka states, giving me a peck on the cheek. “The only good thing about you disappearing for so long.”

“More dragons? I thought the Aetherium already had lots of dragons?” I ask.

Tipan nods, “They had a dwindling stock, but not-“

“Thousands of dragons, Lexi. Thousands. They flew over the horizon shortly after the ripple,” Rufka interjects, pointing out the window. It takes me a minute to spot what she’s pointing at.

Which I think is understandable, since the dragons are diving in and out of the water as they play, birds flitting above them. And… my god.

Those…

Those aren’t birds.

“That’s… a lot of dragons,” I say as I watch a dozen dragons chase each other across the sky, torrents of whirling flame chasing at each other’s heels. “Where did they come from?”

“No-user knows,” Rufka says, pulling us closer to the window.

Peth clears his throat. “We marked the great dragon resurgence in the year 903PT, one hundred and three years ago.”

“That’s…” I trail off for a second before asking, “Is this a side-effect of my… uh… travels? What else has changed?”

“We don’t know. Not yet. Now, as for Demo. I’ve dispatched a messenger, but perhaps…” Tipan looks at me then does a waving motion with her two left hands. When I stare at her blankly, she sighs, adding, “Teleport. You could teleport there quicker.”

“Oh. Right. Couldn’t you just use your Return ability?”

“Not working properly,” Rufka answers as Tipan grimaces. “Last time she tried, she ended up using her Restoration.”

“Wait. Using the System’s teleportation killed you?” I ask, facing Tipan who turns away from me without answering. So I just pull her into a hug from behind.

I run my hands through her fur, stroking her ears gently while holding her tight against my chest. After half a minute of cuddling, Tipan says, “Knowing I just… didn’t exist for those thirty-six minutes…”

“Hey, it’s okay,” I whisper into her ear as Tipan nods, leaning back against me. And Rufka who’s decided to rejoin the hug with her usual grace, roughly bumping Tipan and I as she snakes her arms around us.

Tipan nods after another few seconds of quiet cuddling. “This isn’t important right now. We need to warn Beth. And I have a million other problems to sort out. I can deal with my existential crisis later.”

“So… if System teleportation isn’t working, I guess I’d better run some tests,” I say, releasing Tipan from my grasp.

She straightens her fur, even carefully checking her mohawk before smiling at me. “That would be great.”

“We’ll see ourselves out,” Peth says, leaping onto Belcix’s shoulder, tugging at his ears. Belcix adds his own mumbled goodbyes. And somehow he manages to secure Tipan’s hand in his, imparting a kiss on the back before being directed out by Peth.

I don’t take such a mundane exit, deciding to conduct my tests immediately. I separate myself from Rufka taking several items from the table over to the window. I start by teleporting a half-eaten, less-than-appetizing plate of smoked fish outside. It appears completely intact. I watch it drop out of sight as I test several more objects. A dozen pieces of silverware later and I turn back to Tipan and Rufka who’re talking about the K’tharn Buska, only to find Smoulder watching over my shoulder at the falling objects.

Stepping past Smoulder, I take Rufka’s hand. “I’m going to test my teleport again. I… if it doesn’t work-”

Rufka interupts me with a finger to my lips, “Doesn’t work? No. If you’re not certain you’ll be safe, we fly. In style.”

“But it’d be-“

“No. Just got you back,” Rufka stops me this time by pulling me against her. “You’re not allowed to disappear on me again. Not yet.”

“You should have more faith,” Tipan chides, shaking her head. “Lexi made it back from nothing, I’m sure she can handle a little teleportation.”

Rufka’s muscles tense for a second before looking to me. “We’re… two days. You can wait two days, right?”

“I…” I start, but the tears beading at the corners of Rufka’s eyes stop me. I caress her cheek as I say, “Of course. Two days.”

Her tears disappear, whisked away by magic. Then a smirk replaces them. She looks over at where Midnight is quietly snacking in the corner, amazingly unobtrusive for such a large dragon. It helps that he’s nearly invisible. “Get him to follow us?”

I’m barely able to nod before she charges out the door Belcix left through, my hand held tightly in hers. We race down the hall until we reach a balcony as I send a signal to Midnight and Smoulder. Midnight decides that the safest way to navigate the palace is to simply slip back inside my soul. But Smoulder takes up the challenge, and is soon hopping at our heels.

We race past several startled K’tharn before she pulls me over the edge. Tipan’s voice is calling out behind us as we drop toward the ground. But her words are lost to the wind as we drop along a thin ridge that looks more decorational than meant for travel. My attention moves upward as my feet have no problem finding impossible purchase as I take in the city.

And it’s a full-fledged city. Less than a year and they’ve built stadiums, highrises and even a massive aqueduct crisscrossing the city. All of it stretching down the side of a mountain, and looking over an immense lake. The aqueduct is Rufka’s target, and apparently our route. We run along, forgoing full-flight to bound forward, my hand still held firmly in hers.

The aqueduct takes us out over the lake, plunging down into the darkness. But we don’t follow it down. Instead, we skip along the surface until we get close to the nearest pack of dragons. There are dragons of over a dozen different shades of blue and green in this pack. One snorts in our direction as the pack ascends with flopping fish held within their jaws.

Midnight takes this as his signal, and emerges to roar his presence.

When I pull Rufka atop his back, the one who snorted flies closer. Her nose is cracked, the ridges on top broken along the left side of her face, whistling in the moving wind as she twists her head to inspect us. She snorts again, to which Rufka laughs. I find myself chuckling as well.

Then a piece of fish comes flying out of the dragon’s mouth, aimed straight for Rufka’s head. Rufka snags the fish from the air, holding it aloft like a trophy. She glances at me for a second, saying, “I knew Gersha would be happy to see me.”

“Shooting a fishhead at you is happy?” I ask, barely stifling another giggle as Smoulder manages to catch up, a flare of warmth washing over us.

Rufka’s nodding as she pulls me closer to Gersha. “Of course. She’s sharing her food with me. Sign of trust.”

“Actually, it means she thinks you’re a helpless wyrmling,” a voice calls from above. Looking up, I see a K’tharn standing atop Gersha, waving at us. The intricate white patterns on her black-furred face seem familiar, but I can’t quite remember where I’ve seen her before.

"Lethka!” Rufka calls out, throwing the fishhead at the K’tharn. It’s intercepted by Gersha with a snap. But Rufka is already pulling me toward where Lethka stands atop the soaring dragon, leaving Midnight behind. Rufka leads me down between Gersha’s back ridges, handing me a pair of straps hidden along the edges of Gersha’s scales. “Wasn’t sure you’d be out here today. Thought you had a date with Buska’s friend.”

“That’s tomorrow. Besides, I heard Lexi was back. I wanted to say hi,” Lethka says, waving at me.

“Uh. I’m sorry, do I know you?” I ask, scratching at my head.

“Oh… right,” Rufka says, scratching at her head as she turns away. “How do I explain this… remember how there was a ripple?”

“Yep. And lots of new dragons.” I nod.

Rufka says, “Wasn’t just dragons. Lethka here is…”

“One of the Echos,” Lethka supplies.

“Echos?” I ask.

“That’s what people are calling us. We’re from the new timeline.” Lethka doesn’t turn to look at me, but the sense of familiarity is stronger.

“And you know me?” I ask.

“You saved my life. And the life of my family,” Lethka confirms. “During the storm when you lost your eye.”

The second she’s finished speaking, my mind flashes back. Memories I never had suddenly overlap with my original experience. Time spent seeing to Lethka’s daughters before going back out into the storm. And more. Time with her after the storm. Her offer to teach us to ride dragons.

Rufka’s hand is on my shoulder when the memories clear. While it’s similar to the experience when I travel back in time, I take reassurance in the fact that nothing’s been deleted. It’s still… a lot. A heck of a lot. Suddenly, I’m really glad I gave time for the swells to settle.

“Didn’t expect Lethka to trigger your first echo,” Rufka says as she helps me to my feet, keeping my hands wrapped in the straps. “But should make it easier when you meet my sister.”

“Sorry… what?” I ask, staring at Rufka. No memories trigger. Do I need to meet her sister to trigger it?

Rufka nods seriously. “Yep. No sister for most my life. Then poof. Sister appears. Like Vaus reached down and cursed me with a sibling.”

“You’re kidding,” I say, trying to imagine what Rufka’s sister might be like. Would she-

“Yep,” Rufka admits, completely derailing my thoughts.

“Wait. Yep? You… you were kidding?”

“Yep. No sister. No changes to my family. Poor Tipan though. She’s got a new younger sister. Doesn’t know how to handle her,” Rufka informs me.

“You know, from our perspective, we’re not new,” Lethka says as the dragon lurches beneath us. Looking over her shoulder, there’s nothing but water ahead of us. When I glance over the side, I realize there’s no sign of land in any direction.

“Did we leave everyone behind?” I ask, looking around. Even Midnight seems to have disappeared.

Rufka laughs, but points at the clouds above us. “I tried. But your dragon is persistent.”

“I would’ve lost him easily if you hadn’t instructed me to wait,” Lethka contributes from her spot ahead of me, just behind Gersha’s thick neck.

Rufka snaps her head in Lethka’s direction, a single finger raised for a second before dropping it with a shrug. “Felt bad for him. Can’t just leave a pet behind.”

“Oh. He wouldn’t have had any trouble catching up,” I reassure Rufka with a smirk as I stretch my connection to Midnight. Then I hop off the far side of Gersha, landing on Midnight as he emerges from his journey between space.

Then I step back, leaping onto Gersha’s back with a smug smile. “It’s a shame I’m not allowed to teleport. You’d love a trip on his back."

“I’ll survive,” Rufka shrugs.

I nod, leaning back and letting the wind wash over me, throwing my hair about wildly. “So, I may be mistaken, but we’re flying on dragonback, off to see our friends, and I’m not allowed to teleport.”

“Yep,” Rufka agrees, then she shifts, sliding down to hold onto the harness with one hand, whooping loudly while hanging off the side.

Deciding she’s got the right idea, I slide down the other side and join her wild howling.

Smoulder and Midnight do similar, announcing to Akilo that we’re back.

Sometimes, you just need to let it all out.

6.54, Feeling Frisky

April 28, 2024. 11:59 am. Peacefully enjoying a moment after howling madly.

Even as the sun sets, we continue flying over the ocean separating the western continent, from the eastern continent where the Aetherium once reigned. While we’re moving, Lethka decides this is a great time to give me official instructions for dragon-wrangling.

Not that it’s hard. Even if Midnight wasn’t bonded, dragons are intelligent enough a gentle tug of the tethers is enough to adjust course once they’ve been trained. Tethers I don’t need, thanks to my direct bond with Midnight.

Still, after watching Gersha responding to hers, he insists we try anyway.

While we’re getting the harness and tethers in place, Smoulder makes the mistake of looking over the side, and discovering the vast waters beneath. With my hands full, I’m unable to reassure her but Rufka has it covered, multitasking as she gives Smoulder headscritches while sneaking in cuddles. Or whatever it is you call being wrapped by three arms from behind.

Secure as I am, Lethka continues the lessons she promised me… in the alternate time-line I never lived through, but now remember as though I had.

Rufka tries to reassure me, but I can’t help wondering how many more people I’m going to rediscover. Or worse, people who might be gone. Yet, it’s hard to worry about that as I pull on the reins of Midnight.

Apparently, he’s one of the ‘new’ breeds of dragons that appeared in the second time-line.

As if sensing my distraction, Midnight tugs at his reins, snorting as he dips much deeper than I’d been planning, turning a gentle maneuver into a full on dive. Rufka’s joyous laughter is overshadowed by Lethka’s scream from above, “For Astra’s sake, pull up!”

I don’t respond, pulling at Midnight’s reins. He snorts, disregarding my instructions to instead twisting in a loop until we’re dangling by the harness. We hang upside down over the empty ocean as he inspects the way we’re kept in place, Rufka whooping in my ear as I tug at the reins. When he doesn’t react, I mutter, “Stop being a jerkface, or I’ll take back all the nice things I was thinking about you.”

He snorts again before righting himself, so I stop using flight to offset the strain of the harness.

“Much better,” I inform him, yelling back to Lethka to assure her we’re fine. Seriously, Midnight being a little frisky? After everything we’ve been through? Kinda relieving.

“You need to be more strict with him,” Lethka calls, floating closer on Gersha’s back.

As I’m looking at her, I can’t help but wonder what my scan might reveal about her.

“Analyzing Temporal Thread. Interpolating current Temporal position.”

“Sapient Analyzed: K’tharn. Female. Gene seed D.”

“Name: Lethka of clan Halterin.”

“Relevant lore: An unassuming dragon herald, she is only one of over a hundred thousand K’tharn who were birthed in the wake of the great Ripple. Before meeting administrator Pandora, she was a talented dragon herald, but had no significant impact on the world around her.”

“Attributes: Physical; Pathetic, [Mid Iron], Mobility; Pathetic, [Mid Iron], Magic; Pathetic, [Upper Iron], Awareness; Pathetic, [Mid Iron].”

“Attacks: Bonded Dragon Breath. Weak mana manipulation.”

“Defences: Physical: Weak, Mana: Weak. Immunity to bonded dragon’s breath.”

“Temporal Thread: Quality; Lower 40th percentile, Durability; Lower 30th percentile, Malleability; Upper 50th percentile. Proximity to Pandora’s Temporal Thread: Moderate.”

Even after reading through her status, I continue looking at her. The thread reaching back is strong, but going forward. It… doesn’t really exist.

Looking around, I realize that everyone’s thread is much less tangible. There are still little wisps, but none that blaze like Uthica’s did. Was that… just an artifact of being in the past. And to be fair, I can still see our threads stretching into the past. Even as we fly, I can see the thread becoming solid behind us.

Wonder what else has changed.

While this does require further testing, I feel like doing so would go against my agreement with Rufka. So it’ll have to wait. But I do add it to my list.

When I glance over to study Lethka’s thread again, I catch her scowling at us. “You shouldn’t be distracted while we’re doing lessons. It’s disrespectful to him.”

For a second, her disapproving gaze reminds me of Letonga.

And I can’t help but wonder what happened to Letonga. I… really should’ve said goodbye. But part of me was worried she’d try to change things again. Even if it was my fault she got so unstable in the first place.

Shaking my head, I attempt to follow the instructions Lethka’s been giving us, tugging at Midnight’s reins. But he decides to ignore them, flaring his wings while displaying himself toward Gersha.

Rolling my eyes, I tap his head with a little bit of stone.

Even as I’m smirking at my ingenuity he tucks his wings in, causing us to plummet toward the ocean.

So I retaliate by supporting him with stone and steel to levitate him, preventing our downward spiral. When he realizes his attempt to drop us in the ocean isn’t going to work, he unfurls his wings with a huff of black powder. I direct the little flecks of destruction away from us. They won’t hurt me or Smoulder, but they’d make a mess of Rufka’s fur if they landed on her.

Midnight and I continue our wrestling match for a few more minutes before we reach a tentative agreement. I won’t use stone to prod him, so long as he doesn’t try to show off to Gersha while I’m riding him.

Which means that Rufka’s current whooping as we do a barrel roll is from Midnight and I working together after calling a truce.

“Not bad,” Lethka says as we come out of the spin. “Course Midnight is more intelligent than your average dragon. I was afraid you were going to hurt each other for a while there.”

“Nah, we’re cool,” I say, patting Midnight’s thick neck, his reins clasped to the back of his neck by a metal hand. A perfect compromise.

Turns out neither of us actually like using reins.

“Think you can handle another three hours? We should reach Pern’s Isle by then,” Lethka asks, flying Gersha’s massive body closer to us.

“Wait, we’re going to the Pernite Academy?” I respond, extending my twilight-enhanced vision to the maximum. I strain to see it, but there’s nothing but ocean ahead.

Lethka nods, her hair fluttering behind her as she dips away from us. “Pern’s Isle is the best stopping point when crossing the Divide. And it’s better to be well rested in case a mana-warped leviathon shows up.”

“Fair,” I agree, though my thoughts are on finally getting to visit the Pernite Academy. Turning to Rufka, I start peppering her with questions. “Will we finally get a chance to see the Academy’s fabled halls? What is it even like? Other than a repository for all the knowledge on Akilo. Do you think we’ll find more help left by Uthica?”

Rufka kisses the top of my head before saying, “We’ll find out when we get there.”

“Yeah. Yeah, we will,” I agree, turning my attention back to Midnight’s reins. Even as we glide across the ocean, I can’t help but dream of what we might find. After all the wonders I’ve seen on Akilo, I can only imagine what the centre of knowledge looks like.

With nothing to do, Rufka decides it’s a good time to catch me up on everything I’ve missed. Mostly, she tells me about her mum, but she also mentions that Roberts and Josh were pretty excited to return home. Especially with all the ships. They figured there was a decent chance to get everyone off Earth, and were mostly worried about logistics. Which makes me feel guilty for not immediately blasting off after them. But I promised Rufka.

There was an incident with another of the spider-kin people shortly before they left, an attempt to bomb one of the Sanctuaries. But Josh caught them, and they even managed to interrogate them before they killed themselves.

Turns out we’re not the only ones trying to save our planet from being destroyed. They’re very much in the ‘the Reapers will save us’ camp though. As long as they just do this ‘one thing’ for their mysterious benefactor.

“Can’t believe I missed that,” I say, my head resting on my metal hand. “I wonder if the Reapers would really help. I mean, they’d have the capacity, but would they bother?”

Rufka shrugs, then pushes down on my shoulders as she stands up behind me. “I think I see it.”

Following her gaze, I zoom in on the isle, barely visible in the distance.

The rotted buildings along an empty dock don’t instill me with the sense of wonder I’d been hoping for as Pern’s Isle appears, barely illuminated by the power of my twilight-enhanced vision beneath the dark and cloudy night sky.

In contrast to the quiet of the dock, Midnight’s powerful wings drive us upward, regaining the height we sacrificed to get a better look. Not that it made a difference at this distance.

“Was hoping for more,” I tell Lethka, who wisely kept Gersha circling above us.

Lethka smiles, saying, “These are the old Aetherium docks. When they stopped visiting the isle, the docks were left behind. The M’tari facilities are in better condition.”

“Why would they abandon a place of knowledge,” I ask, shaking my head. But then, I don’t understand a lot of the Aetherium’s choices in the last few years.

“Don’t know. You’d have to ask an Aetherite,” Lethka responds, leading us south, flying past the abandoned port town. Less than ten minutes later, a shining, sprawling town appears on the horizon. It’s spread around the edge of a massive bay with an acorn shaped isle in its middle.

When Lethka leads us down, she takes us to a building that’s clearly meant to house dragons. Not one of the large, open roosts is within three metres of the surface. I wait to the side with Rufka as Lethka and her assistant dragonrider get Midnight and Gersha settled in for the night.

He’s decided to be treated like a regular dragon, and I don’t begrudge him the experience. Personally, I think he just wants more time with Gersha, but I don’t say anything.

It only takes a couple minutes before Lethka is leading us through town.

It reminds me of when we first visited Glimmering Sands, the low wood buildings spread out along a wide path that moseys its way around the bay. Except here, the buildings are less cabin, and more long narrow warehouse. Without the wares.

Lethka takes us to the only truly large building, a several story structure that reminds me of a wedding cake with its extensive unroofed balconies and shrinking central core. The top is even decorated with a pair of statues. Though instead of a bride and groom, the statues are of Uthica’s father Pern and Letonga’s brother Keztil.

“What the?” I mutter as I stare up at the statues.

“Ah. The founders of the Academy. Pern and his son Keth,” Lethka informs us, pointing toward a dark opening in the wedding-cake-building. “Should be able to get rooms here.”

“His name was Keztil,” I say absentmindedly before turning toward Lethka. Then a thought strikes me. “And what do you mean son? They’re not the same species?”

Lethka just shrugs as she strides past, “I’m no historian. Just what I heard. You want details, ask a Pernite.”

“I think I will,” I reply, shaking my head before filtering into the building behind her.

Raising my hand, about to ask another question, it falls away as I take in the surprisingly spacious interior.

There’s a single central pillar, much like the one in Glimmering Sands, descending down through an open central chamber. A M’tari is lounging in a side chamber, its long tentacles curled about several pillars that seem to serve no other purpose. The squid-lady’s rumbling voice sets a deep baseline beneath the general murmur of the other occupants. It’s a surprisingly diverse crowd, with as many species as if I were visiting Raz’s interplanetary bar.

Maybe more.

The murmur raises to a roar as a tall lion-esque K’tharn in a pool of water up to its waist wrestles with a smaller M’tari. It’s merely twice his size, but I’m not certain the M’tari’s extra size is giving it an advantage. The crowd around the wrestling area roars again as the K’tharn gets dunked. I don’t get to see any more, Lethka leading us up a staircase and the roar of the crowd is muted.

While I’m looking back at the invisible boundary blocking sound, Lethka pays a short avian person for a night’s stay. I almost don’t want to sleep. There’s so much going on. But then Rufka pulls me closer, her affection bursting through our new bond with such intensity, it almost stuns me.

Maybe exploring can wait till morning.

6.55, Pesky Locals

April 29, 2024. 11:25 am.

Morning may have been an optimistic timeframe. If Smoulder hadn’t poked me in the shoulder, Rufka and I may well have spent the entire day sprawled amidst the thick furs of our suite as we caught up on missed time.

“Ha. I win again,” Rufka crows as she moves her last piece into position on my side of the gameboard.

“I was distracted,” I complain, sticking my tongue out at her as she packs the board away.

“That’s what you said for the last two games,” Rufka points out, plucking one of the little orbs out of my hand.

“Can’t stop thinking about Beth taking the Reapersworn to earth. You’d think Wyonna would’ve noticed-“

A sharp knock at our door interupts me.

Rufka groans as we crawl out of bed, stepping over the dishes from the morning meal. Delivered straight to our room, it means this is our first real interruption for the day.

Opening the door, I find Lethka standing on the other side, a crooked smile on her face as she takes in my relative lack of clothing and mussed hair. “Well, someone’s had a good morning.”

“Uh, good morning,” I reply, deciding not to comment while swinging the door open and gesturing her in. She steps in, pausing when she sees the sprawling furs scattered all around the room. I just shrug, pushing some furs off the chair in the corner, making room for her to sit even as my magic helps me slip into my clothes.

“We were just getting ready to leave,” I inform her, gesturing at the empty chair. “Make yourself comfortable.”

Lethka stares at the empty chair for several awkward seconds before turning to me, her eyes practically twinkling. “I suspect it’d be best if I didn’t. I actually came to request we remain here for another day. I’ve talked to a Pernite. He gave us permission to visit the Academy proper, and was wondering if you’d like to indulge. I’ll admit, I never thought I’d get the chance, and it’d mean a lot to me.”

“Oh. That sounds awesome.” I turn to Rufka, who’s putting the last of the loose furs back onto the bed. The heaping pile of furs nearly slides off the bed, but I catch it with a few metal hands, folding them as I grab Rufka by the shoulders. “Lethka got us permission to visit the Academy.”

“Cool! I’ve always wanted to knock over a few shelves!” Rufka nearly knocks my much neater pile over as she pumps her fists in the air.

“Actually-“ Lethka starts, but Rufka continues.

“Mum says the Academy is one of the best places for…” Rufka stops when she notices me staring at her with my arms crossed.

When she’s finished speaking, I turn back to Lethka. “Sorry. You were saying?”

“Nothing. It’s fine.” Lethka waves me off, but she doesn’t do a very good job of hiding her smirk.

“In that case, what’re we waiting for?” I ask, only to have Smoulder bump my cheek. “Oh. Other than letting Smoulder have some time outside.”

“It’s okay. They’re not here yet,” Lethka says, stepping outside. “I’ll give you a moment to… exercise.”

“Excellent,” I respond, giving Rufka a peck on the cheek before charging out of our room with Smoulder at full speed.

Lethka’s gasp as we move past her is the last thing I hear before we’re outside.

Once we’re outside, I pause, to just… take in the city again. The crowd is thick, making it harder to find an open space for Smoulder than I’d expected. It’s even busier than when we came in. And unlike back in Nothen, the people here don’t melt out of the way. I have to make my way through the crowd like a normal person.

It’s strangely liberating.

Smoulder joins me in sightseeing, despite the fact I can feel her need to charge around through our link, it’s matched by a similar desire to explore.

So we poke our head into a bunch of merchant stalls, all of which have weirdly familiar merchandise, but in styles I don’t recognize. Like the sashes an avian lady is selling that look like scarves, but are apparently for binding feathers during molting season. Or the oils being sold for massages, the lizard-kin vendor rapidly switching between a pitch for relaxing muscles and one for ensuring minimal scale strain.

Both of which, I’m pretty sure the System already takes care of.

When I scan his products, I discover that they do give a few hours of Health edge, though it’s only a couple points. To my surprise, none of his products have the same duration, each of them varying by several minutes, though the shortest is three hours.

Smoulder draws my attention away, to a stall that’s selling neatly woven rugs. Including one that is clearly of her. Parting with my not-so-hard-earned essence shards, I add the rug to my inventory. And another tale of the great Smoulder, though in this one, she’s referred to as the Crimson Calamity.

Technically, I was there for the fight the old K’tharn relays to me, but Smoulder gets all the credit. And has a much more involved backstory.

“You know, I never knew you adopted an entire Desh’ila, and gave them personal guidance,” I teased Smoulder as we walked away.

The sudden surge of sadness from Smoulder makes me pause. And I discover that while it wasn’t related to the story the old K’tharn just told us, Smoulder did in fact become the mascot for one of Uthica’s desh’ila for a time. And that she wasn’t able to save them.

With that crashing our mood, I pick up some meat, which I manage to encourage her to scorch as we make our way out of the city. And I listen to Smoulder as she uses a mix of words, emotions and images to tell me about her lost friends.

There may be a few traces of tears by the time we’re outside the city.

Then I fly past that edge, out of sight, where Smoulder starts trying to burn images of her friends into the rock. Instead, I choose to reshape it. This earns a nod as I put her friends' faces in stone.

Even with this, I can’t help but smirk a little when she insists that she needs to be above them. Except she’s putting herself between her friends and the sky.

I’m tempted to head back when Smoulder reminds me I need to put her through a full run of a proper sized obstacle course.

As she works her way to the top, I sit watching her on a throne of Rabbit-skulls. Because Smoulder insisted I keep changing my chair until I’d restored my throne, yet she wanted Rabbit-skulls. With skeletal ears, of course. All surrounded by floating platforms to separate me from everything else.

Something I would’ve countered, but indulging her in this moment just felt… right.

As Smoulder hops down from the floating waterfall island at the peak of her obstacle course, Lethka flies closer. She and Gersha land at the edge of the field. She takes each step along the floating steps with surprising care. The steps are only a few metres off the ground, ten at the most by the time they approach my throne. Still, Lethka takes her time until she’s standing on one of the larger floating plates alongside my throne.

“The Pernian is ready to show you inside,” Lethka informs me while craning her neck to stare at where Smoulder is continuing to make her way down. “They want to- is that safe?”

Lethka is pointing to a section of spinning blades where Smoulder has to bounce off each blade to ascend or descend.

Laughing, I stand, patting Lethka on the back. “It would take a lot more than a few spinning blades to hurt Smoulder.”

“Didn’t she spend the entire flight in your pocket because she’s afraid of water?” Lethka asks, still staring upward at where Smoulder is charging through an upside down waterfall full of frozen shards.

“Sure. But that’s just cause she wasn’t under her own power. She’s fine now.” To prove my point, Smoulder jumps through a churning channel of stone, dropping five meters as she propels herself down.

She’s at the last step, a simple stone platform, practically the easiest step along the way. But she’s thrown to the side by a wave of darkness, Midnight’s draconic head snortling. I glare at him as Smoulder recovers, turning her fall into a smooth roll. “As long as she’s not sabotaged.”

Lethka’s ears are flat as she glares in his direction. “I’m so sorry. I should have realized he’d followed us.”

Waving her off, I collect Smoulder, matching her glare, both of us giving Midnight the stinkeye. “Not your fault. I think he’s missing his buddy. They used to wrestle all the time. Besides, I’m sure Smoulder will get him back. Isn’t that right, you little ball o’doom,” I ask Smoulder giving her aggressive headscritches. She closes her eyes, turning away from Midnight with a huff before leaning into my hand.

Midnight gives another snort reaching for my hand, but Smoulder and I ignore him, turning away so he can’t get his snack.

Finally, I feel a bit of contrition over our bond, and we acquiesce. Smoulder even goes so far as to headbutt him. It’s hard enough, I swear I can see the air waves from the impact as he staggers back a step. And then they’re crashing down into Smoulder’s obstacle course. With a lot less direction this time. And neither of them are going easy, both displaying just how terrifying they can be, slipping through space or incinerating boulders the size of a barn.

It’s impossible to keep the smile off my face as I watch them bonding. It’s nice that my bond lets me know how much fun they’re having, and that neither of them is actually trying to hurt the other.

After they’ve blown off some steam and I’ve cleared up Smoulder’s obstacle course, I mount up, following Lethka back toward the city.

“Now, where was this- Oh, I take it that’s them?” I ask upon spotting the gathering of short K’tharn near the edge the city. They’re all standing around in simple beige robes, a stark contrast to the bandoleer and belt style I’ve grown used to. They’re all pointing and talking excitedly as Midnight lands, doing his best to seem majestic.

Which is kinda overshadowed by Gersha landing next to us. She’s a full sized dragon, and is easily three times as tall.

Still, one of the gathered K’tharn steps forward. An older pu’shaha moves toward me, his loose robe marked by three red stripes along his left shoulder. Each step is accompanied by the gentle thump of his thick staff, its surface etched with runes.

Deciding to meet him on equal footing, I slide off Midnight’s back, taking a step forward with Smoulder on my shoulder.

He pauses a few meters away from me, his mouth opening wide as he raises his staff.

But no words emerge as he just… stands there, his staff aimed at the sky.

Right as I’m about to greet him, he tumbles forward, collapsing in a heap. The staff rolls all the way to my feet before anyone thinks to react. There are cries from the small crowd, one of the K’tharn dashing forward. He manages to reach the crumpled form at the same time as I do, already turning the older K’tharn over.

The older K’tharn is gasping, clutching at his chest where discoloration indicates spreading blood from within his robe. Even as Lethka fumbles with a healing item, I can’t help but feel we’re too late. With his obvious age, it’s clear he’s not part of the System. Somehow.

Still, I pull his robe away, revealing a weeping wound in his chest where his heart should be. I channel mana into the hastily provided talisman of feather and bone, willing it to restore him, while turning my hand molten to seal the bleeding. All the while the younger K’tharn is cradling the man, not really inhibiting my efforts as he mumbles, “Lapa, no. No, Lapa, no.”

After expending my mana, the elder K’tharn has made no obvious signs of recovering. I place my hand on the shoulder of the younger K’tharn, squeezing gently. “Sorry for your loss.”

He doesn’t acknowledge me, but another pu’shaha approaches from the group of Pernites. Which is when I realize they’re likely all pu’shaha. They’re certainly short enough.

“We… uh, that is,” he says, fiddling with the single blue line on the shoulder of his robe while glancing down at the still weeping pu’shaha and their elder. “Lapa was… he just brought us along to learn. A very unique event. That’s what he said. And he mentioned the one-eyed queen. Insisted you were important.”

“Suppose so,” I admit, stepping away from the grieving K’tharn, and gesturing for blue-stripe to follow as I consider if this is worth rewinding time for. Regretting not testing my ability. “I understand if you need time. We don’t have to visit the Academy.”

“What? No, you must visit. Lapa was very clear that the one-eyed queen must be shown to the Heart.” Blue-stripe trips on his robes, grabbing at my still molten hand. I see the terror behind his eyes for several long seconds as I use Pause to change the element while catching him with a pair of supporting stone hands conjured.

“The Heart?” I ask, glancing over to where, even in death, the elder is still grasping at his chest. Right where his heart should be.

Blue-stripe nods, his chin nearly touching his chest as he says, “Lapa said we needed to show you to the Heart of the Academy. Though…”

Blue-stripe shifts awkwardly as I return my gaze to him and ask, “Though what?”

“Though Lapa never mentioned why we were taking you there. It’s just an empty hole in the ground.” Blue-stripe shrugs at my raised eyebrow, adding, “His son Terp might know, but as you can see, he’s…”

I don’t need to follow his gesture to understand who he’s referring to.

Well, good thing we’re not in a hurry. I’m about to ask Lethka to contact Rufka when I notice she’s already standing off to the side, not far from the Pernites. And standing with her are Belcix and Peth, Peth on the pu'shaha's shoulder as usual.

They’re talking in low voices as I approach, Belcix’s nearly a growl as he says, “And I’m telling you it wasn’t some random accident. That was Reaper-tech. If you let me look at his body, I can prove it.”

“What’s this?” I ask, giving Rufka a quick peck on the cheek when I get closer.

“Belcix is claiming the old K’tharn was killed,” Rufka informs me, keeping her voice level.

“It’s a kill-switch. Part of any Reapersworn’s standard infiltration package. Trust me, I’ve seen them before,” Belcix declares confidently, nodding enthusiastically.

“Wait, so you’re saying the old guy was a…”

“I think so. And if I’m able to inspect his body, I can prove it,” Belcix says, smiling at us.

“Not to get off track, but how did you even get here?”

“Oh. Tipan mentioned she was worried about you to Peth, and I thought we should come make sure you were alright. We took our shuttle,” Belcix says, waving to a small grey pyramid-shaped voidcraft I don’t recognize.

“And it seems that Belcix’s instincts have once more placed us in the right location. Despite my hesitation,” Peth adds, nodding his head at us. “I believe that together we may be able to prove his claims.”

“That… might be difficult to arrange,” I say, looking back at where Terp is still craddling his father’s body.

“Just order him to let me look,” Belcix says. When I turn my empty eye on him with a raised eyebrow, he just shrugs, “I’d want to know if it was my father.”

Rufka just shrugs, and I walk toward Terp, who’s no longer wailing. Instead he’s murmuring quietly.

It’s only as I’m kneeling next to him to get his attention that I see the dagger. It’s a nothing object. I could create a hundred of them in the blink of an eye. And such a simple thing should be no threat to me.

But he lashes out with it, and it pierces my skin as though I were soft butter, left in the sun too long. I stare at the dagger embedded in my arm for a solid second before turning to the young K’tharn glaring at me. He’s tugging at the dagger, trying to wrench it out. He’s practically throwing his entire weight on it.

I don’t feel so much as a twinge.

Plucking him away with my hands of gold, I wave Belcix forward.

I only barely notice Smoulder blasting towards his head. She bounces off one of my hands, as I direct it to take her impact, ready to chastise her for attempting to kill a witness. But then Rufka’s arrow explodes in his gut.

My hands are left holding an empty robe, nothing but small scattered bits of flesh already turning to sickly sweat mana-dust. Terp’s body has been so thoroughly annihilated, it’s already dispersing. I stare at the empty robe for several long seconds before turning to Rufka. She’s standing with her bow still drawn, aimed in the direction of the Pernites.

“Why?” I demand, my voice a low rasp I don’t recognize.

Rufka blinks, flicking her gaze toward me for only a second before returning it to the now cowering Pernites. “He attacked you.”

Belcix’s and Peth’s agreeing nods forestall my response. But I feel sick. And prepared to undo… everything. I just need to find out what we can, then find a reset point.

Sitting to the side, I try to gather my thoughts as Belcix kneels next to the body of Lapa. A man with a hole in his chest. Who was possibly a Reapersworn.

“Yep. It’s definitely Reaper-tech,” Belcix states, holding out a dull grey cube no bigger than the tip of my thumb toward me. It’s still covered in his blood, but I recognize it. He’s right.

I stare at it. Then I take a deep breath, ignoring it to instead ask, “Why did it go off now? What’s the point?”

Belcix just shrugs, packing the cube in a torn piece of his robe. “Probably triggered a contingency. Doing something he wasn’t supposed to. Possible it was remote triggered. I’ll have to check it to be certain.” The cube disappears into his pocket, and he asks, “You ready to deal with that?”

Following his gesture, I stare at the dagger I’d forgotten was still protruding from my arm. I nod, and Belcix steps closer, inspecting the dagger.

“Good thing Rufka shot him when she did. He could have detonated this. Might have cost you the rest of your arm,” Belcix says, pulling out a tablet and linking a cable to the dagger. Peth nods, climbing down to tap at the screen as Belcix squints at where the dagger is sticking out of me. “And possibly done worse besides.”

Nodding, I glance over at where the pernites remain huddled. Blue-stripe has his head in his hands and is kneeling in our direction. He’s not approaching us, but he has placed himself between us and the rest of his group.

“Rufka,” I say. She nods, but doesn’t otherwise acknowledge she’s heard me. “Can you have blue-stripe come closer?”

At this, Rufka does glance at me for a second. Her eyes linger on the dagger still protruding from my arm, but she nods. And then she calls out, “Hey you, blue-stripe. Lex wants to talk to you. Get over here.”

Several of the Pernites look at each other until they all turn to blue-stripe, who’s still kneeling with his head in his hands. Rufka clears her throat, and manages to say “I said-” before he manages to push himself to his feet.

He doesn’t raise his eyes, keeping them on the ground as he walks in my general direction.

When he reaches me, he raises his head slightly. But only enough he’s looking at my knees. “How can I help the one-eyed queen?”

The quaver in his voice is barely noticable. It’s entirely understandable though.

“Relax, I’m not gonna hurt you for what some other shmuck did. Now, what do you know about this dagger?” I ask, ready to Freeze if yet another of these damn scholars turn out to be a secret assassin.

He tilts his head upward just long enough to take in the dagger, before returning to his stooped posture. “It’s Lapa’s. Terp must have taken it off his body. It’s not a weapon. It’s just a knife… for cutting meat. I’ve seen him use it for a thousand meals.”

Flipping his head up, he drops to his knees, “I’d never have imagined it could hurt a user. Please, don’t kill them. I swear I had no idea Terp would do that. If you need to punish anyone else, punish me.”

“What?” I ask, staring at the groveling man. “Why would I punish you?”

“Because a pu’shaha attacked you,” he answers, his head dropping. “We all know that you are owed two lives in exchange for the attempt on yours. Such are the rules of the Deep.”

“Wait, this is a M’tari rule?” Not one I’m intimately familiar with, though I remember Thinnesq mentioning something similar in regards to rare fish.

“Yes. Lady Topreti insists… it doesn’t matter. My life is yours.” He straightens, staring me in the eye.

“No. Absolutely not. That’s not happening,” I deny him. His shoulders slump, but I’m not done. “I’m not punishing you, I’m not killing you and I’ve already had one servant force themselves upon me. Not doing that again.”

“If it’d been left to me, Terp would still be here,” I pause, making sure to gather myself before adding, “There was no need to kill him.”

Rufka flinches, but otherwise doesn’t react. Belcix on the other hand frowns, interjecting himself between me and blue-stripe as he says, “She made the right choice. If he’d been able to-“

My glare manages to shut him down, his words dying on his lips. A small part of me wants to try to rewind time. But I haven’t created a save point recently, and that makes doing so… dicey. For some reason I allowed myself to relax. If I’d created one, I could fix all of this without worrying about collateral damage.

But I didn’t.

Not wanting to take another chance, I take a moment to clear my mind while Belcix returns to his inspection.

“Okay. It should be disabled, I’m going to pull it out. Are you ready?”

Instinctively, I nod, interrupting my focus.

I’m about to negate myself, opening my mouth to advise him to wait when he yanks it out, holding it between us. It glistens with my blood, though there’s not nearly as much as there should be. Belcix smiles, glancing down at where Peth is frantically tapping at the tablet. Belcix’s eyes narrow for a second, then go wide as saucers as he looks back to the dagger.

Which is when it explodes.

6.56, Bits and Bobs

April 29, 2024. 2:11 pm.

Shrieking metal tears through me, ripping chunks out of my arm.

The sound of the shrieking metal is matched by Belcix’s rather high pitched scream. I Freeze time, grabbing the fragments out of the air before they can hit anyone else. Thankfully, Peth is spared by the tablet, only catching a nick in his fur.

Scanning the area, I confirm no new targets have suddenly appeared to take advantage of his mistake.

Once that’s done, I end the Freeze.

I don't need healing, my Health already restoring the damage. So I take the talisman still dangling from my free hand as I lean over Belcix, directing the energy into him. Last time I did this, it wasn’t exactly a smooth process.

But I’ve had practice.

Rufka screams behind me, and the shriek of her arrow blasts over my shoulder and something explodes near Lethka.

After confirming Lethka’s fine other than being shaken and nothing else seems to be threatening us, I focus back on Belcix’s wounds, with Peth making low noises the entire time. It takes nearly a minute and an entire kebab worth of mana, but the talisman stems his bleeding before withering into blue dust. Even after I stop, I can see his wounds healing.

When I turn my attention to Rufka, I realize she’s standing over us, her bow drawn. And it’s aimed at Lethka. Midnight and Smoulder are glaring in her direction as well.

“Did I miss something?” I ask, taking in the scene. Then I realize their attention isn’t directed at Lethka. Barely visible beyond her, scattered along the rocky ridge between us and the coast are bits of chitin.

“Analyzing Temporal Thread. Interpolating current Temporal position.”

“Sapient Analyzed: Malkog. Male. Gene seed D.”

“Name: Donedd of cluster-hive, Small Pond.”

“Relevant lore: A rapid follower of the Weavers. Has given their life for the Weavers several times. Will give it many more, all in the belief that the Weavers will save their world in exchange for their service.”

“Attributes: Physical; Weak, [Low Copper], Mobility; Very Weak, [Upper Iron], Magic; Pathetic, [Upper Iron], Awareness; Very Weak, [Low Copper].”

“Attacks: Powerful tech manipulation. Weak physical attacks. Excellent Reaper tech proficiency.”

“Defences: Physical: Weak, Mana: Weak. Restoration.”

“Temporal Thread: Quality; Mid 50th percentile, Durability; Lower 40th percentile, Malleability; Mid 30th percentile. Proximity to Pandora’s Temporal Thread: Moderate.”

Huh.

Checking my memory, I confirm that this is, in fact, the same Malkog cog-knight we found when they attempted to break out the Reaper. One the K’mintar killed.

It’s kinda annoying when enemies come back from the dead…

“I’m sorry, Lexi, I should’ve noticed the dagger,” Rufka says, her voice tight even as her eyes flit around the area.

“Not your fault,” I say, turning to her. She still hasn’t lowered her bow. She remains fixed rigidly as I place a hand on her shoulder. The moment I make contact, her shoulders slump and the bow clatters to the ground.

I start reaching for it, but am interrupted by Rufka colliding with me. I hold her for several minutes as she cries into my shoulder. Watching over her and Belcix, I wait until blue-stripe starts arguing with another of the pernites before I make Rufka stand up. She still has her arms wrapped around me, refusing to let go, but that hardly matters.

“Hey. Listen, I’m going to… I’m going to go back. To before this happened, okay? We’ll get this figured out properly.”

“Don’t leave me,” Rufka sobs as she keeps her head buried in my shoulder.

I sigh. First thing, I should make sure she can join me inside Freeze. If Rufka can do that, then she should be able to come back with me. And I already know Smoulder and Midnight can revert, to some extent.

So, I Freeze time, going into the Temporal Library. Smoulder and Midnight are waiting for me, though Smoulder has her head cocked to the side, and is inspecting our other guest.

“Uh, Lexi, where are we?” Rufka asks, turning as she takes in the Library.

I don’t answer her for a second, taking a deep breath in relief. I’m still going to spend some time inspecting our connection before we go back, but this is… a good sign. “You’re in one of my abilities, Temporal Library. Which is kinda inside my soul. It’s a long story.”

“Right. And we’re in a hurry,” Rufka acknowledges with a nod as she turns back to me.

“Actually…” I say, blinking as I think about it. I should’ve tested if I could bring Rufka here immediately. We could’ve spent time catching up and I wouldn’t have wasted an entire day. Shaking my head, I give a rueful chuckle. “Actually, we have all the time in the world. More, really.”

Rufka squints all four eyes at me, so I wave a pair of chairs into existence. Then I sit down and start to explain. Properly. Without skipping anything.

After nearly three days of time spent in Freeze, Rufka is feeling much better. Smoulder and Midnight are starting to get a bit antsy, as there’s not a lot of space to stretch their legs, even if they have their own places.

Adding ‘open space for pets to play’ to my future soul-modifications, Rufka and I finally return to the present.

With one last scan of everyone and everything present, I trace my thread back. It’s been less than fifteen minutes since I was watching Smoulder run through her obstacle course. It’s not as good as a proper freeze, but no one was around. Collateral damage should be minimal.

Before pulling on the thread, I take Rufka in my arms. We maintain eye contact as I send us back.

The trip is… smooth. So smooth I’m left confused as Smoulder leaps forward through her routine. If it had been this smooth before, boulder Bob would've never had to learn to pull himself together.

I do get a burst of feelings over my bonds though. Everyone is excited, though all for different reasons.

Rufka’s excitement is about having successfully traveled back in time. Smoulder and Midnight are both ecstatic that there’s no fuzziness.

Honestly, between everyone’s excitement, it takes me a few long seconds to realize how… easy it was.

Prodding my System, I discover it barely took me a third of the Facet I’m used to using. Further prodding reveals this probably has to do with being so close to the ‘surface’.

Which means… I could probably go back further. Though inspection of my thread reveals that there are a lot of snarls around the time I emerged. But if the quality remains consistent, I could slip back to when we were halfway over the ocean. Which is almost a day ago.

Still, not ready to test that. Not yet. Rather not put Akilo at risk just cause it seems like time-travel’s less dangerous now.

This time, when Lethka arrives, I’m waiting for her. And neither Smoulder nor Midnight get into a fight. They’re both on high alert as we travel back to meet up with the Pernites and Rufka.

Before we land, I locate the ridge where the pieces of chitin were. I find the Malkog hiding beneath a veil of invisibility. It’s subtle enough I doubt I would’ve spotted him if I hadn’t known where he was. While directing Midnight to land next to Lethka, I float down behind him, all nice and invisible like. Seems like the thing to do.

It’s hard to tell if he’s startled when I disrupt his little spell, but I recognize the dagger he tries to stab me with. Not wanting to deal with that again, I lock his arms in place with bands of reinforced steel.

“I’ve got a few questions,” I say even as I complete a thorough scan. He has a similar device to the old pu’shaha, which I teleport out of him, along with all his other toys. There’s a small pop as they're rendered into small pieces half a kilometer above us.

We stare at each other for a few seconds before he shifts, as though trying to get out of his bonds, his head rotating to the side.

“Yeah. Not a big fan of the whole suiciding so you can’t talk thing,” I tell him.

His head shifts once more, his black faceted eyes annoying in their lack of expressiveness. But I think he’s focused on me as he replies in a rough warbling. “You are too late, unweaver. The great lady has all she needs.”

“That’s nice. Why are you here? What are you-“

A wave of sound washes over me, and in the distance, a plume of debris rises over the city. Despite the inability to show facial features, I can practically feel the Malkog smirking at me.

I just sigh.

“Fine. I’ll just… find out the weird way,” I say, setting my System on his thread. A few seconds later, I have a clear enough picture. He’s here to sabotage any potential help that might be sent after the fleet of Sanctuaries. Ones they intend to steal to help their own world.

“So much for your belief in the Weavers,” I say, shaking my head. It’s pretty obvious that while some of the Malkog might believe the Reapers save them, most just paid enough lip service to have opportunities to get the ships for their homeworld.

I can’t hate them for wanting to take the ships.

But their apocalypse isn’t even for another two decades. They have a lot more time before the mana-swarm reaches their star system. Enough that it should be easy to save them after we save Earth. They’re also expecting a milder apocalypse than even Akilo had.

That, I can dislike them for.

His lady is onboard the ships with Beth, but that's all he knows. I don't recognize her face as I inspect his memories, but she's definitely elvenoid.

Looking him over, I realize I don’t really have the facilities for prisoners. Tipan would, but then I’d need to teleport.

Wonder if Rufka would count our days in Freeze as time spent not teleporting?

Dragging the Malkog behind me, I go to ask her. Once I'm in sight of the old pu’shaha, I teleport away the suicide cube in his chest. And the dagger he has at his waist. I'll deal with him after I've confirmed no one was hurt. Or reset time again.

“So, might need to do this again,” I say to Rufka as I get close, waving in the direction of the city, not wanting to waste time retreading our old conversations. “And I wanted to know if the time we spent in Freeze counted for my no teleport period?”

“I… hmm. Give me three more days? And my own room?” Rufka replies, smirking at me. “Something close to your heart.”

Rolling my eyes, I oblige her. Freezing time once more, we slip away. The first day is spent working to improve the entire space, finally giving Smoulder and Midnight enough room to feel like they can properly stretch their legs.

Which turns out to be good for me and Rufka too.

Then we end up spending three more days inside. Not just relaxing though. We spend most of the time talking about earth, and what we’re going to do about the Malkog. And how I’m going to get back to earth in time.

When we get out of the Freeze, I teleport into the center of town, toward the source of the explosion. It’s within the central cake-tower-inn we stayed in the night before. The building is already surrounded by sapients wearing the dark robes of the M’tari guard.

Listening to the crowd, I’m able to discern that one of the rooms inside was destroyed. Smoulder’s able to pick the faint fragrance of something having been poorly burned out of the air.

“What do you think the odds are they blew up our room?” I ask Rufka, while glancing over my shoulder at where Midnight is hovering over us. Rather not leave anyone behind as we investigate.

She crinkles her brow, frowning as she replies, “Damnit. I left the ingredients for a new batch of moonshine in our room.”

“Wait. Is that what those were? I thought you were going to make me a salad,” I say, watching a pair of M’tari guards approach us.

“Are you queen Pandora?” The elven-looking guard asks us, holding his staff in a white-knuckled grip. With good reason too. His scan reveals he’s mid iron. And not one of us is below mid Copper at this point.

“Yes, I’m queen Pandora,” I answer him, trying not to leak too much of my power. No reason to frighten him further.

“Lady Topreti offers her deepest apologies for the destruction of your living space. She offers…” The elf stops, gulping as he glances at his partner, a K’tharn who has just as tight a grip on her own staff. “He offers us as recompense for any damage to your property.”

“What the hell is with this city and offering me slaves?” I demand of Rufka before turning back to him.

She shrugs, her eyes scanning the crowd. Guess she doesn’t expect either of these two to be a threat then. Turning back to them, I try to explain, “Look, nothing against you, but I don’t need more people serving me. Heck, I don’t need anyone serving me. Was anyone injured in the attack?”

“It is kind of fun having people do stuff for us,” Rufka whispers, barely loud enough for me to make out. I avoid rolling my eyes, but elbow her slightly to let her know I heard.

Even as I’m considering rolling back time again, the elf replies, “No users were injured. Thankfully, only the upper suites were damaged.”

“Okay. Can we take a look? Do we need to bring you along?” I ask, my eyes drifting up to the smoke still drifting out of the roof. “Rather not, if we don’t have to.”

“You… you don’t want us?” the K’tharn stutters out, earning a open-mouthed gape from her elven companion. “Oh. Oh no. I told you I should’ve presented us. Now Lady Topreti is going to send our families to-“

“Talya, stop talking!” the elf hisses, clamping his hand over the K’tharn’s mouth. All four of her eyes go wide as she looks at him, her mouth drawing closed. He turns back to me, bowing as far as he can manage while keeping one hand on his companion’s mouth. It’s actually an impressive feat of contortion, as he manages to get his head past his knees.

“Please forgive my companion’s words. We will inform Lady Topreti that her gift displeases you,” the elf states, not raising his head.

“Oh, hell no,” I reply, pulling his hand away from his companion’s mouth. “Look, we don’t have time for… whatever this is, right now. But give me five minutes and we’ll talk.”

Leaving Midnight to keep them company, I teleport us up to our room. Or the remains of it.

It’s been pretty thoroughly incinerated. And there’s a very definite hole in the roof. But at least it didn’t spread far. The walls managed to contain most of the blast, directing it upward.

With Rufka in tow, I teleport back to the Malkog. Then a second later, we’re back on Tipan’s doorstep.

Tipan blinks as I walk in, turning away from a K’tharn she’d been talking with.

“Hey,” I say, waving at the Malkog. “Do you guy still have prisons? Not sure what else to do with this guy.”

“I… your teleportation is working properly, I take it. And yes, we have prisons. Kellica will be excited to have an opportunity to question a living Malkog,” Tipan replies.

“Right. Excellent. Do you need me to take him somewhere?”

Tipan’s already shaking her head. “No. The guards will take care of him.”

A second later, four K’tharn enter the chamber. I don’t recognize any of them, but they all give Tipan a small salute as she explains what to do with the prisoner. After clapping a full set of mana-draining manacles on him, they drag him away.

Then she closes her eyes for a few seconds. A moment later, a smile tugs at her lips. “Finally.”

“Sup, skyborne?” Rufka asks.

“The System is working properly again. I just sent a message and got a reply in less than a second. Well, we’ll need to run tests. Best if we don’t have any additional Return incidents, but this is a wonderful sign. I should’ve tried it the second you were back,” Tipan says, shaking her head as she looks at me.

“That’s awesome. Look, I want to stay, but I kinda… left in the middle of like three things,” I say, giving her an awkward smile. “Sorry to just drop this on you.”

“Hmm. I shall take care of it. But you will, of course, owe me,” Tipan says, tilting her head back slightly. Then she chuckles softly. “Kidding. Go. Hopefully Demo will reply by the time you return.”

Nodding, I teleport back to where the K’tharn and elf-boy are waiting under Midnight’s baleful glaze. Not exactly the mood I’d been going for when I asked him to remain behind, but I shake my head.

Then I turn back to the frightened K’tharn.

“Sorry, what were you saying? What’s the oversized appetizer going to do to you?”

6.57, Tidebreaker

April 29, 2024. 2:07 pm. Because time’s not a straight line.

My sudden reappearance isn’t the best for the poor K’tharn, causing her to snap her eyes shut once more as the crowd flows around us.

Tayla keeps her eyes closed for several seconds not responding. I match her silence. After another few seconds, she cautiously peeks through one eye to find me still waiting.

“Eep!” she cries out, before stumbling backward.

Luckily, no one steps on her, since the crowd is avoiding us for some reason.

Probably the glare Smoulder gives anyone who steps too close combined with the M’tari guards cowering in front of us. Could also be the way Rufka’s holding her bow with a crackling bolt of plasma at the ready. Just in case. Or maybe it’s the way Midnight’s looming over the road.

Definitely doesn’t have anything to do with me, nope.

“So?” I ask, offering her my hand as Tayla rights herself.

“She sends people away. They don’t come back,” the elf answers as Tayla tentatively accepts my hand.

“Sends them where?” I ask, searching the crowd for a way to where I saw this Lady the night before.

“To the Daughters,” Tayla whispers.

“We don’t know that,” the elf hisses back.

Tayla pushes him, saying, “How do you think she pays for their help. You know they don’t take Essence.”

I hold up my now solid steel hand, interposing it between them. “I’ve heard enough. I think I need to talk to your Lady Topreti.”

Hmm. Turns out the elf can turn paler than his already pale complexion. “Of course, Queen Pandora. Right this way.”

He doesn’t give me time to respond before striding away. I’m not the only one caught unaware. Tayla glances back at us before hurrying to catch up to her companion.

Following behind them, we move almost directly away from our inn. Less than a dozen paces later, another six M’tari guards close in behind us. Which from the way Tayla stumbles when she notices them, isn’t necessarily a good sign.

Still, I’m not worried about the guards. Lady Topreti on the other hand…

It doesn’t matter.

I signal to Rufka, informing her I need to stop for a moment. The guards behind us stop immediately but Tayla and the elf keep walking for several steps before noticing our sudden halt. Tayla grabs elf-boy, who grumbles at her until he sees me standing to the side of the road, Rufka watching over me.

Taking the time to Freeze properly, I create a genuine save point, nestled in a nook to the side. I should be able to loop back further if I need to, but more options seem like a good idea.

Once I’m certain we’ll be able to loop without so much as a bug getting snagged, I step forward, Rufka at my side. Tayla slaps elf-boy on the shoulder, and they start leading the way once more. But I stop them.

Rufka and I spend two entire hour long-loops questioning them about the current state of their laws, Tayla getting more and more nervous the deeper I press. Rufka’s amused at first, but decides to talk with elf-boy about their local sports after the first fifteen minutes in the first loop. Eventually I have all the information I need.

With the information secure, Rufka and I spend another few hours in Freeze talking over my plans. Then I reset once more. My preparations complete, I allow poor Tayla to escort us to Topreti.

Our destination turns out to be at the bottom of an open curving stairwell with the M’tari uplift myth carved into the side. There seems to be an emphasis on the M’tari’s superior position in this rendition, and much less reverence for Ukila.

When we approach Topreti, I can’t help but note she only has three tattoos. Less prestige than Lord Hansome, nevermind Lady Thinnesq. Which either means she’s younger, or a coward.

Her bulk shifts, as her large ovoid eyes blink slowly.

Tayla and elf-boy bow to her while the guards who were following wait outside.

“Hello, Queen Pandora,” her deep voice blurbles.

Deciding not to respond, I watch her for several seconds, my eyes boring into her as my scan completes. Despite her lacking tattoos, she’s upper-copper.

She shifts on her throne a few times, until looking to her guards. “Please forgive me if my apology was insufficient. But my understanding was none of yours were injured so-“

It’s rather amusing to watch her start blubbering as I disrupt the sheen of water surrounding her. She restores it quickly enough, but remains silent this time, acknowledgment of my position as an equal. Didn’t expect my lessons with Lady Thinnesq to lead to a M’tari honour duel.

“For what reason are you challenging me,” Topreti asks, her words picking up a new warble.

I let a small smile slip onto my face at her blunder. Now she can’t refuse.

“As a recognized wave-warder, I invoke the Rite of Tidebreaking,” I tell her, using the honorific for recognized foreign leaders. Technically, I’m not really a wave-warder, since as far as I’m concerned, I’m not really queen anymore. Tipan took all that over, and I have no intention of taking it back. Still, everyone insists on calling me queen, so I might as well use it.

“Tidebreaking? You wish to risk your life to amend my laws?” The way her tentacles quiver makes me wonder if she’s afraid or excited.

“Yep,” I answer, not bothering to point out that I’m not risking anything. She’s upper copper, but none of her defences are particularly strong. And she doesn’t have the ability to turn back time, teleport through space or be reborn.

“As you wish.” The giant squid pulls herself to her full height, dominating the chamber. But despite her forty meters of muscle and tentacle, I’m not particularly impressed. At least not by her size. She’s smaller than the obstacle course Smoulder was running less than an hour ago, but she does have a certain finesse to her.

As I’m admiring her form, the ceiling peels back, and she ascends out of sight.

Flying up after her, Rufka and I arrive just in time to see her land atop the tiered building dominating the center of town.

Her voice billows out, shaking the air as she proclaims, “The Wave-Warder, Queen Pandora has issued a rite of Tidebreaking. All those who would bear witness will gather around the Southern bay. Those who would cower and hide, are reminded that all are safe within these walls.”

“Yeah. That part’ll actually be true if she honours her part of the bargain,” I whisper to Rufka.

“You think she won’t?” she asks, her eyes still scanning the crowd. Pretty sure she’s more worried about another random attack than my upcoming duel.

Shrugging, I give her a kiss on the cheek. “No clue. She should, if Lady Thinnesq was honest. But maybe the rules have changed since I came back. Still, I’m hoping she’ll stick to her word. But if not. Well… there are other rites.”

“Do we really have time for this?” Rufka asks, finally looking at me. “I mean, I know you can turn back time, but this seems like an actual change you’ll want to keep.”

“It shouldn’t take long. And we don’t know if it’ll work, so best to find out now. Besides, if we keep this run, I’d rather have this resolved before we march into the Pernite Academy,” I answer while leading Rufka south, following Topreti to the South bay.

The M’tari is floating above her side of the bay when I arrive, her primary tentacles already tracing shapes in the water. Which tells me she’s planning to cheat.

Good, that implies she intends to follow the ruling. Otherwise she’d just put on a show before ‘losing’.

I wave Smoulder back when she attempts to follow me, letting her know that only one person can challenge a lady at a time. Which leads to Smoulder asking if she can go next. With a soft chuckle, I consider how that might play out.

Would it be worth messing with time just to let Smoulder have a go? Hmm. Maybe if we need to reset a loop anyway.

A pair of K’tharn conjure a stone promontory between Lady Topreti and I with a wave of their staves. At the same time as the rock comes into being, a third hustles forward, raising a giant banner that waves high above even their Lady. They stand there for half a minute, the banner fluttering in the wind as Topreti continues her preparations beneath the water.

Then there’s a loud proclamation, something deep and warbling, probably in one of the M’tari tongues. A declaration to start the match, I’m guessing, from the way Topreti rockets toward me. Her rune doesn’t immediately activate, which is annoying. Rather get that out of the way.

I blast forward to meet her charge, not bothering to Pause or Freeze. Just some slight acceleration is enough for me to be moving at more than twice her considerable speed. Our first exchange doesn’t involve any direct contact. I’m able to practically ignore her flurry of sharpened whips of water as I send a single blast of hyper-compressed water at her. Which she dodges. But it wipes away all her little whips, as though they’re nothing before breaching the surface.

As a bonus, it allows me to disrupt her spell formation beneath the surface without revealing I knew about it. Small victories.

Skimming over the water, I start weaving several additional torrents, cylcing through the elements as if testing the strength of her resistances. They also serve as a distraction as I dodge around her latest spell, a spear of water almost identical to the one I threw at her. Except slower by a considerable margin. When my torrents hit her, she doesn’t flinch redirecting them away from herself.

But she missed the steel rods studded with jagged thorns I hid inside.

With her tentacles flailing as the rods slap against her rubbery tentacles, Topreti disappears beneath the choppy waters of the bay. Her runework shifts and I enter Pause, watching the magic as it begins to take shape. She’s summoning an elemental, if I’m not mistaken. Large one too.

Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do to stop her other than win the duel before it’s complete. Well, I could rip the mana out of her spell, or teleport half of it away. But I’m trying to do this with just the flashy elemental magics.

Besides, winning shouldn’t be too hard since she’s mostly ignored the steel rods dug into her skin. I dip beneath the surface, charging toward her, not bothering to manipulate it out of my way and simply overpowering it with extra force, causing large volumes to boil upward as I close into direct manipulation range.

The scattered remains of my initial attack warp into steel bands, wrapping around her limbs. Not enough to hold an upper Copper-Rank Lord of the Deep on their own. But again, they’re just a distraction. One that’s snapping into place instantly from Topreti’s perspective.

Her tentacles bound by steel, I drag Topreti toward the surface as she begins her struggles. We’ve broken through the choppy waters into the daylight again when she gets a tentacle free which shoots towards me will all the speed of molasses.

Unfortunately for her, I’m done my preparations. The ball of highly concentrated lightning I’ve been shielding next to my chest slams out, catching Topreti in the face.

Her tentacle droops, along with the rest of her as the ball of lightning shoots out, creating a dramatic finishing move.

I blink as I stare at the unconscious M’tari. Didn’t expect everything to work so… smoothly.

Bringing her with me, I levitate her onto the announcement platform where her guards are all gaping at us. Mostly at her, cause I’m practically invisible next to her hulking form.

“I… uhm…” the third guard sputters as I float up to him.

Turning away from him, I float above Topreti’s unconscious form, her rumbling breath the only sign she’s still alive. By the time I crest her body, I sit upon my old throne once more, staring out across the gathered people of Vort Camlin.

“As per the Rite of Tidebreaking, I hereby declare all your insipid slave laws invalid. And pu’shaha are equal citizens. New laws and punishments shall be drafted in accordance with the existing System standards using these as templates,” I declare, projecting my voice as I throw a set of engraved steel plates at the cowering guards. “Punishments will be transferred as per the outlined rules. This stops today. And I just want you to remember…”

“None of this would’ve happened if you’d just left me alone,” I say, floating back to where Smoulder and Rufka are waiting.

“Nice speech. Little short. Seven out of Eleven,” Rufka says, her bow held loosely in her hand. But still not stowed away.

I nod, taking her hand as we return to the Pernites.

Today’s been eventful, but we’re still not done. Time to go see what the Pernite Academy is hiding that the Malkog thought it was worth killing me over.

Or more accurately, worth dying over.

6.58, The Heart

A note from Draith

Minor edit. There was no Letonga's litter. That was a bit left over from an old, old draft.

April 29, 2024. 2:32 pm.

Amazing how much you can get done in half an hour when you can just repeat it as often as you want. Despite our little detour to adjust the local laws, we’ve only kept Lethka, Belcix, Peth and the Pernites waiting for half an hour.

They’re all waiting together when we arrive, Belcix and Peth in an animated discussion with the younger pu’shaha who stabbed me, Terp.

Standing nearby with a smile on his face is the old guy, Lapa. He’s leaning on his staff, though he straightens up when we arrive, clearing his throat.

Once more, he raises his staff into the air.

I prepare myself for his long winded speech, but it’s surprisingly short. “Welcome great Pandora, we have long awaited your arrival. In the tradition of our esteemed founders, we would like to invite you for tea.”

“I… sure, tea would be great,” I answer, unable to hide the way my lips twitch into a smile.

He nods in my direction, then glances at where the other Pernites are now silently watching. “And… do you perhaps know what happened to my father’s knife? It seems to have disappeared.”

Huffing slightly, I shake my head. If he doesn’t know I teleported it into dozens of pieces, I’m not gonna tell him.

“Ah. Unfortunate,” he says, sighing deeply. “May we guide you to our enclave?”

“Sure. Why not,” I reply before adding another small save point.

Gathering the rest of his Pernite entourage, we make our way across the city, on foot. Because the Pernites have a tradition of walking everywhere, and it’s not terribly far. Only an hour or so, which gives me time to question the old man and his son about the specifics of their order. If I thought people were giving us a wide berth when we were escorted by the guards, now people are practically crawling over top of each other to get out of our way.

One unfortunate vendor has all his cabbages destroyed when a giant fluffy creature as tall as the stall trips while trying to avoid stepping on the fleeing denizens.

Realizing that walking isn’t working, I halt, creating a platform on which everyone can ride instead. There’s a few muttered words from the Pernites but Lapa waves them forward with his staff and a frown. Blue stripes makes an audible gulp when I hoist us into the air.

We’re halfway to the edge of the city when he clears his throat. “Did you really…”

His voice catches when I turn to look at him, my eyebrow raised. “Did I really?”

“Did you really ban all slavery in Vort Camlin?” Blue-stripe asks, not able to meet my gaze and looking down at the domed buildings passing beneath our feet.

“In theory. We’ll see if Topreti’s a M’tari of her word,” I reply, wondering if Vort Camlin’s the name of the city.

“This is going to… We’ll need to inform the Keeper right away.” Blue-stripe continues nodding and muttering to himself as we fly above the paved path leading out of the city directly toward the looming Academy.

It’s more of an isolated complex than a single building. At least from what I can make out of it so far. And all made of dark stone that doesn’t reflect the light. Honestly, it’s kind of ominous. Like the dark castles in those horrible cartoons Aunt Sharon insisted were the pinnacle of entertainment. Love her, but on that she was wrong.

Shaking my head, I can’t help but smile when several bolts of green-hued lightning arc between the dark spires. The cartoons might not have been great, but the Academy’s ambiance is making me think those castles themselves weren’t so bad.

“Can’t believe we’re finally going inside. Feels like we’ve been making our way toward it forever,” Rufka says, her bow still in hand as she takes mine in another.

“Looping will do that. It’s more atmospheric than I’d imagined,” I admit, taking in the sweeping ramparts and the… landing strips? Yep, those are landing strips, replete with a K’tharn waving glowing staves who’s directing a dragon toward its cave. Blue-stripe raises a hand in the same direction but isn’t able to find his voice when I turn to him.

Shrugging, I follow the dragon’s example, flying our platform directly along the landing strip to the bored gestures of the K’tharn with the glowing staves. We fly into a dark enclosure not dissimilar to a parking garage, with lines on the ground to direct our landing area and the exit. The Pernites scramble off the platform the second it touches down, leaving Lapa, Terp and blue stripe alone with us.

Lapa turns around, adjusting the front of his uniform as he addresses me while staring at my right knee. “I shall take you to the Keeper now, Queen Pandora.”

“Hold on,” I say, my hand on blue-stripe’s shoulder as Lapa and Terp hustle ahead, both excitedly talking about having me here. “I never did get your name.”

He glances over each shoulder before pointing at himself. “My name? Are you sure?”

I arch my eyebrow at him and he starts sputtering out, “Pettah, it’s Pettah. Please don’t kill me.”

Glancing at Rufka, I ask, “I’m starting to get annoyed with how many people think I’m going to kill them. Where do you suppose they got that idea?”

Rufka grins at me, shrugging slightly as she looks around the empty bay.

Midnight raises his head into the sky, and lets out a roar, as if he wants to remind me of our might. Which, according to our bond, is exactly what he’s doing. Smoulder just nods, as if this fear is our due.

“Yeah, yeah. I get it,” I say, shooing Pettah forward as Smoulder begins extolling our mighty virtues.

They lead us down a dark narrow corridor with sparking light-fixtures, the same green-hue lighting our path with flickering shadows as we descend through the castle. The trio take us back and forth down a dozen different hallways, staircases and a particularly squat room Pettah refers to as the memoriam. We’re exiting the seventh staircase when Lapa takes a sharp right and lays a hand on a thick wooden door inlaid with fancy carvings.

Pettah fiddles with the blue-stripe on his shoulder for a second before throwing me a glance. When he finds me meeting his gaze, he spins back towards the door as Lapa pounds on it with three calm thuds. Pettah seems to calm partway through Lapa’s knock.

Then Lapa pauses his hand held in place for a few seconds before he repeats the knock with a very distinct rat-a-tat-tat-tat.

This time one of the carved symbols spins open, revealing a weathered looking pu’shaha staring out. His eyes are all cloudy as he sniffs at the air. “Pettah? Is that you? What are you doing down here on your own? We’ve talked about this. I’ll forget about this if you leave, but otherwise Lapa’ll hear of it.”

“Ah, Keeper Exern. Lapa’s-”

The old pu’shaha starts rattling something on the far side of the door as it swings open. “Lapa’s what boy? Sent you to fetch me, has he? Too good to come visit me himself. Well, just you wait. I’ll show him what it means to-“

“He’s beside you!” Pettah exclaims, heaving at the words.

“Good to see your eyes are as dull as your sense of smell, you tattered lump of fur,” Lapa adds, shaking his head from where he stands beside the door.

Elder Exern had already stepped forward and has a hand on Pettah’s shoulder, to guide him into the room, when he starts at Lapa’s words. He turns to look in his direction, sniffing at the air. “Did you… by Vaus’ left tit, did you actually bathe, Lapa?”

The way that Terp’s ears flick back at the comment, indicates his embarrassment at his elder’s bickering. I choose not to comment, trading a grin with Rufka while Belcix covers his own grin with his hand.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lapa replies, his features so placid I’d have believed him if not for his son’s reaction. “I have invited the one-eyed Queen to partake of tea before visiting the heart.”

“The who? And are you saying you’re actually taking someone else down to the heart?”

“Uh, he means me. I’m Alexis,” I say, holding a hand out to him before realizing he can’t see it.

He squints in my direction for a second before turning back, and waving us all to follow him. “Well, come on in then. No use letting the good air out. The boy didn’t bring you here just to gawp at him, I’m sure.”

I can’t help but smirk at him referring to Lapa as a boy, but don’t comment as we’re led inside. The room reminds me of Uthica’s cache. Books, maps and scrolls piled all the way to the ceiling, every nook filled with knowledge. Exern guides Pettah to a trio of comfortable-looking chairs in the corner, the only spot in the room not layered in books. He blocks Lapa from sitting, offering me another of the free chairs as he takes the last for himself. “So, Lapa’s finally deigned to share his prize, has he. Good, good.”

Even as he speaks, he waves in the direction where Terp, Belcix and Peth are standing near the entrance to the small room. Terp seems to interpret this as a command to come closer, and then he’s pouring three cups of tea. Pettah seems rather nervous to be sitting and accepting a cup of tea instead of Lapa, his ears flicking rapidly as his eyes dart between the two elder K’tharn.

I give him my best reassuring smile as Lapa humphs loudly. “Shoulda known better than to drag you into this. Thought you’d want to be there when the one-eyed Queen retrieved her bounty.”

“Of course, of course. I…” Exern says, trailing off as he sips from his tea.

We wait quietly for him to continue. As we’re waiting, I sample my own tea. A nice fruity blend, with a bit of bite to it. One I’ve had before, though I don’t know when. After nearly a minute of silence I glance up to see Exern still staring off into space. He remains like that for several more seconds before seeming to remember where he is. He snaps his fingers, and waves his hands as he says, “right. Alexis. That name seems familiar. Something to do with your liver, wasn’t it Lapa.

“The Heart, Keeper,” Pettah corrects, wincing when the Keeper focuses on him.

“Yes, we’re here to see the Heart,” I interject before Exern can go off on a tangent. He seems like the sort to enjoy tangents.

“As I thought,” Lapa declares, puffing out his chest.

“Well, best we be off then. Let’s get you out of my fur,” Exern says as he pushes himself out of his chair, shuffling towards the door. He stops after two steps, swing back and narrowing his empty eyes at Rufka.

I’ll admit, I can see why people found it unnerving when I did it.

“You though, I do not think should be allowed to enter,” he says after a few seconds of inspecting her.

“Fine. But I’m not letting her out of my sight, so figure that out however you want,” Rufka states, her lower arms crossed.

“Easy enough. Not much to see anyway. Now, move, that’s right, out of my way you overgrown pu’shaha,” Exern says, brushing Rufka to the side with pure determination.

Rufka watches him stride past, her jaw hanging slightly open. “He just called me…”

“He did, didn’t he,” I say, unable to keep the grin off my face as Pettah scoots past us, offering the Keeper his arm. Which is promptly batted away. Lapa and Terp take their place behind him as our procession heads down.

“Hmm. It seems they’re not fond of K’tharn,” Peth says, stroking his small chin.

“Was… that supposed to be an insult?” Belcix asks as we follow the group of Pernites down another hall.

“I’m… not sure.” Rufka scratches her chin, glancing at me.

Shrugging, I jog forward a couple steps saying, “Don’t look at me.”

Which of course leads to them staring at me as they jog to keep up.

“I said don’t look at me,” I tease, elbowing Rufka as she catches up.

She just rolls her eyes but I manage to elicit a chuckle from Belcix. Then Smoulder leaps from Rufka’s shoulder to mine, giving me a headbutt before scooting into my pocket. At which point Rufka starts chuckling too.

I almost start laughing then notice Keeper Exern stopped a few paces ahead. His hand is resting on the wall as he mutters to himself, Pettah standing at his shoulder, glancing back at us. Lapa has his hands on his hips, and Terp just keeps looking between the two older pu’shaha.

Instead of laughing, I wave the other two to silence as we wait for the Keeper to finish, giving Smoulder a few scritches as she settles in. He continues his muttering words in a language I don’t recognize for over a minute before there’s a solid thunk from the wall. Then, in fits and starts, the wall crumbles and beneath it a door spirals open.

“Ah, Melup would’ve loved to see this,” Exern says, shaking his head as the dust settles. Then he bursts out in a sharp chuckle. “I wouldn’t have minded seeing it either. Pettah, what’s it look like?”

“It’s… just like it looked from above Keeper. Just an empty hole in the ground,” Pettah says, peering over the Keeper’s shoulder and obstructing my view at the same time. Talented.

Exern shakes his head, turning to me and pointing the most gnarled finger I’ve seen on a K’tharn in my direction. “You’d better appreciate this. Been sealed for the better part of a century.”

“Why?” I ask, pushing past him. “I don’t remember…”

Any answer he might’ve given me doesn’t matter as I look at the room. It reminds me of the beacon we built on Ukila. The perfect sphere. The spike of stone projecting from one side leading to the platform in the middle. Every surface covered in runes. It’s a perfect replica in all ways except one. The room is enormous.

“This must run beneath the entire Academy,” I whisper as I move next to Exern.

He nods while staring into the empty room. “Academy was built atop it. ‘No safer place in the world,’ Pern said.”

As I step past Exern, walking along the pathway projecting toward the center of the room, I study the runes. They’re definitely similar to the ones we crafted on Ukila. But there’s more here. A lot more.

When I step on the center platform, a blue screen pops up floating in the air. It’s just like the System menus.

“Status: Compatible User detected. Confirm User Identity.”

Not seeing any direct method of entering data, I stare at the screen blankly for a second.

“Uhh. Forerunner Pandora?” I try, glancing over my shoulder at Rufka who’s squinting at the runes along the edge of the bridge leading to the platform.

The screen disappears for a second before reappearing.

“Status: User Identity Confirmed. Confirm User Password. Hint, What did I want to know since I was a cub?”

Staring at the screen for a few seconds, I can’t help myself as I start slapping my knee in laughter.

I’ve been laughing to myself for half-a-minute when Rufka shakes me out of it, her upper eyes closed as she asks, “Lexi, are you okay?”

Instead of answering, I point at the screen, and say, “What is ice-cream?”

Rufka just squints at me while raising her eyebrow, but still offers me a hand up. Accepting it, I turn to the screen but it’s vanished again.

Pettah interrupts my investigation as he brings the Keeper onto the platform asking, “An exterior System? Keeper, did you know about this?”

Lapa and Terp are whispering to each other, both of them warbling over the empty room.

“Course I did. Pern told us all about it. Tools for the uhm… One-eye queen, of course. All very hush-hush, you understand,” Exern says. But his murky eyes are wide as he gazes about. “But… tell me what you see anyway.”

Pettah nods, taking the Keeper’s hand as he leads him forward. “Over here is a soft blue glow. It’s like the System prompts but…”

Tuning them out, I look up. “Wonder why she made it bigger?”

Not responding, Rufka turns to study the runes, her eyes drifting across the sphere. I leave her in peace and am about to ask Belcix the same thing when I realize he and Peth are studying the runes too. Guess that’s the theme of the moment. Joining in, I use a trickle of Facet to scan through my memories while comparing the runework to that of our beacon on Ukila.

I’m barely started when the blue System screen pops up again.

“User verified. Welcome Lexi. Please provide a query.”

“Uh. Thanks. What is this?” I ask the screen.

“Citizen IceCream has designed this interface to allow Citizen Pandora remote access to the System.”

“Citizen… Ice… cream?” I giggle. “Seriously?”

“What?” Rufka asks, abandoning her investigation as she joins me at the blue screen.

“Uthica… She… Well, look,” I fail to explain, shrugging while gesturing at the last line.

“I don’t get it,” Rufka says, looking to me. “Why would she choose IceCream as her Citizen name?”

“Pretty sure it’s a joke,” I reply, unable to keep from giggling as I read it again. And then the implications of the rest of the message finally seep in. “Wait. Remote access? I can access the System?”

“But should you?” Rufka asks, glaring at the words floating on the blue background. “The System tried to kill you.”

“The System has been known for its vindictiveness,” Peth agrees as Belcix steps closer.

“But… why would Uthica design this room for me if it wasn’t safe?” I ask them, at which Rufka and Belcix exchange a glance.

“What?” I demand, planting both hands on my hips as I glare at them.

“You’re… not wrong. It would appear the great queen… Uthica, that is, did an adequate job of… isolating the core components of the System,” Peth says, his eyes looking about the room.

“You agree?” I ask Rufka, taking her hand. “I won’t use it if you think it’s unsafe.”

Rufka stares at my hand. Then she turns away, her eyes scanning the sides of the sphere before eventually returning to rest on me. “I… don’t know. It’d take me days to search through all this. Maybe weeks.”

“Ahem,” Pettah coughs, causing us to turn to him. But it’s not Pettah who speaks.

Exern harrumphs as he points his finger at the space slightly to my left. “You think Pern didn’t expect doubt? He left a manual. Said the person who came would have the key.”

I raise my eyebrow, but don’t say anything. Would be nice if I knew what the key was. Should probably see the manual first. “So… where is it?”

Exern spins about taking a single step toward the edge of the platform before a gentle nudge from Pettah redirects him toward the bridge where Lapa and Terp are standing. Exern stomps ahead, Pettah’s hand on his shoulder until they reach the far end.

We follow Exern off the platform and back to his room, leaving the excited pusha’ha behind. Inside, Exern knocks over a pile of papers while muttering to himself. Several minutes later I'm reclining in one of the comfy chairs, sipping a cup of tea provided by Pettah when Exern lets out a cry of triumph. "Aha!"

"You found it?" Belcix asks, not rising from his own chair.

"Said I would, didn't I?" the Keeper grumps as he shuffles toward us with a thin roll of paper in one hand.

"That's it?" Rufka asks, her eyes flicking between the scroll and Exern's face.

"That's what it says, doesn't it?" Exern asks, waving the scroll beneath her nose.

"Hard to say," Rufka responds, snagging the scroll from his hand. "With you waving it about like that."

She gives the scroll a casual inspection, running her fingers along the seal before handing it to me. "Seems safe."

Accepting the scroll, I inspect the wax seal, staring at the strange emblem embedded within.

There’s a tree on it, and it almost reminds me of the one now growing in my soul-scape. But that’s not where I recognize it from.

It’s the same trees as the grove where I woke up when I first went back to her time.

6.59, Finding the Patterns

April 29, 2024. 3:55 pm.

The crowded room is quiet as I place my finger beneath the seal, creating a thin steel blade which I slide along the scroll until I hear a gentle pop.

Opening the scroll reveals a few short paragraphs. It’s all descriptions of how to tend your garden in the spring to prepare for the summer rains. It’s quite detailed.

I stare at it for several seconds before handing it to Rufka. "What do you think?"

"Bout as clear as the river in spring." Rufka narrows her eyes, glancing in my direction for a second. "A code?"

"Maybe. Or a distraction," I turn to Exern. "May I see the case?"

He turns his head toward the inert wood box held in his hand, his sightless eyes tracking his movements as he pokes the box instead of handing it over. I let him poke at it for nearly a minute before he finally grunts and hands it to me. “It’s just a fancy box.”

I nod as I take it from him, guiding my Facet along the edges. As I expected, I find the instructions that were missing from the scroll embedded into the seams of the box. They’re worked in between the runes of preservation that kept the scroll intact.

Picking out Uthica’s hidden instructions, I cross reference them to the letter. Only then do I find her message to me, hidden beneath the instructions and revealed with a slight infusion of my own mana.

Dearest sister,

Would you believe this is the seventh version of this letter?

It has been surprisingly challenging to write this, as this time I am certain your visit will be the last I hear from you.

I’m about to step through the portal, separating me from my world forever. My father is remaining behind, and will ensure this letter reaches you.

With all we’ve learned, it seems unlikely I will remain in contact with you once I step through the portal. Our threads, as you say, will be too distant.

Father and I were discussing the unique challenges and opportunities your version of a System had. And your request to have a single small hidden mana-computer process your patterns. And father had an idea. I don’t know how well his experiments will work out, but if they’re halfway successful, he believes you will be able to use the remote access terminal to… cheat a few clues out of the System. It’ll want mana in exchange, but we’ve already figured out how to bypass that limit, haven’t we, sister?

While I hesitated to waste my precious words on her, I thought that you’d like to know that Letonga found her father. Also, Keztil insisted I send word, and he, at least, has earned some small consideration. I do not expect to learn more of Letonga. She has joined the Ukilan’s secret defence force, and it would seem they’re leaving too. Most of them, anyway.

I miss you still, but Lexica has become a worthy opponent. Sadly, it seems that even an iron-rank soldier is better at Vaus’ Champions than you. (Though she is well through Copper now, she was still only iron when we started.)

With all my love,

Uthica of clan Halterin.

After wiping away the tears beading at the corner of my eyes, I feel the tug of an information packet. Confirming the System prompt, I let the small nugget of data filter into my journal.

While still recovering from the letter, I look over the manual.

They didn’t just craft a teleportation beacon to teleport between Ukila and Akilo. Long as I’ve got the mana, and with the right adjustments, I should be able to return from Earth. And I should be able to prod the System into helping me create my own version of Progression Marks and an Advancement Crest.

“See, just a preservation box,” Keeper Exern huffs out as he crosses his arms, bringing me back to reality.

“No… not at all. This is amazing. But why…”

“What do you mean no? Give me that,” he says, swinging two hands through the air half a meter to my right. Stumbling forward a step, he reorients on me holding a hand out.

Shrugging, I watch as Uthica’s hidden instructions burn themselves out then hand him the now useless container.

“Hmm. What’s that smell? No using fire magic in here, can’t you see the books?” Exern asks, while poking at my face with the empty scrollcase.

“Watch your hands. You’ll treat Lexi with respect,” Rufka says, stepping between me and the Keeper. “And if she wants to burn your entire hovel to the-“

“Whoa Rufka!” I interrupt, “We’re guests here.”

Rufka glares at the Keeper. Then a small glint appears in her eyes as she snaps to attention, saluting me. “Of course, commandant.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have shared every detail about what happened with Letonga…

“Ha. I like her,” Exern says, pointing in Rufka’s general direction with a smile. But then his eyes narrow, the murky orbs swinging in my direction. “But if you’re serious about respecting us, perhaps you’d like to explain the burning smell?”

Rubbing my forehead, I shoot a glare at Rufka before addressing him. “There was a personal message. When I read it, it erased itself.”

“You… this scroll has been in the personal care of the Academy of Pern for hundreds of years! A precious heirloom!”

Rufka snorts, patting the old man on the back. “An heirloom you left buried in a corner beneath a dozen books. It’s about as precious to you as Pettah here.”

Pettah raises a hand as if he’s going to object, but just shrugs and returns to leafing through a book as Exern glares in Rufka’s general direction. “That it’s in this room proves it’s an heirloom. These are all originals.”

At this Pettah drops the book he was paging through as though it were molten steel. Luckily for him, I catch the book with a pair of golden hands before it lands in Rufka’s untouched tea. With the book saved, I address Exern, bowing slightly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it had such significance.”

He stares at me for a few seconds before huffing. “It’s fine. I can hardly expect you to understand our customs. Not like Pettah here,” he declares clapping Belcix on the shoulder.

Again, Pettah raises a hand before letting his shoulders slump, taking Rufka’s cold tea and downing it in a single gulp.

“Thank you. If it’s all right, I’d like to return to the Heart.”

“Of course, of course. Pettah, take them back would you? I have important matters to attend to. Damn that Lapa,” Exern says, attempting to push Belcix past me. But he doesn’t budge, just raising an eyebrow in amusement. “Well, get on with it boy.”

At my nod, Belcix leads the way, Rufka and I right behind him with Pettah closing the door behind us.

“We really don’t need your help anymore,” I inform him as he leans on the door.

He shrugs, his blue stripe catching the hall light. “It’s fine. Lapa and Terp will… well, they won’t be much help. Someone should be available. In case you need anything. Or a guide on your way out?”

“Fair enough. Just… try not to interfere if things get weird,” I advise him.

“When,” Rufka chuckles. “When things get weird.”

“Right. When things get weird,” I agree, not giving Rufka a second before I add. “When Rufka’s around, it always gets weird.”

“Hey, I was-“ Rufka starts, but I shuffle quickly down the hall, leaving her standing outside the door.

They all join me a few seconds later, Pettah leaning forward and panting.

My feet echo off the stone of the bridge as I return to the centre platform, the screen popping back into existence as I draw near.

“User verified. Welcome back Lexi. Please provide a query.”

Thanks to Uthica’s little instruction manual, I have a few ideas about what I can access through this panel.

“Please provide suggestions for Progression Patterns and Ascension Matrices,” I say, looking out past the interface to where the runes glow in the background as it works.

“Working. Using existing user data to formulate options. Please provide feedback to help optimize results.”

Several runes across the surface of the platform start glowing. The interface sends me hundreds of new prompts asking me to run through a wide selection of my spells and abilities. Thankfully, I’m able to prod my own System to fill in the results. Then it has me jump in place, squeeze a floating rock with my bare hand and throw a spear, before taking me through a dozen other weird little tests.

The runes run in sequence a few times before eventually dying out as the screen reappears with several subsections.

“Update Complete. Please note, results are best fit. Displaying Results.”

-Standardized.

-Specialized.

-Customized.

Hitting the first one, the screen quickly updates.

“Standardized Progression Patterns available: 511. Patterns suitable for user Lexi: 0.”

“Standardized Ascension Matrices available: 322. Patterns suitable for user Lexi: 0.”

“Note: Standardized Patterns and Matrices can be stored within user Lexi’s personal storage for a minimal mana cost.”

That… sounds potentially useful. Shame that none of them are directly usable, but that’s not a total surprise.

As soon as I’m done copying the patterns over, I switch to the second option.

“Specialized Progression Patterns available.

“Specialized Progression Patterns available: 103. Patterns suitable for user Lexi: 0.”

“Specialized Ascension Matrices available: 192. Patterns suitable for user Lexi: 0.”

“Note: Specialized Patterns and Matrices can be stored within user Lexi’s personal storage for a moderate mana cost.”

When I check the costs, I almost choke. Three thousand mana per pattern. Moderate, it says. If I didn’t have the ability to transform food into mana, I’d only be able to copy one per day.

A modest feast worth of food later, and I’ve copied the patterns. Rufka is waiting patiently, but I notice her small smirk at the literal feast I shovel down. Not my fault that the mana absorption works best if it can’t escape. Definitely doesn’t have anything to do with me wanting to enjoy the food and get mana too, nope.

Once I’m done adding the Specialized patterns to my System’s archives, my attention moves to the third option.

“Progression Patterns created for user Lexi: 3.”

“Ascension Matrices created for user Lexi: 1.”

When I poke the patterns, my System confirms that they should be compatible methods of upgrades, though it only has an 87% confidence. I’ll need to ‘buy’ the Patterns first, to be sure. And even then, my System warns me that I’ll be taking a risk unless I spend extra time processing them on my side.

Still, it’s worth getting the extra information added to my System’s stores.

It costs me millions of mana for each of the Progression Patterns. Which wipes out my store of food, which was kinda running low anyway. I have to return to the surface to get more to pay the billions of mana it wants for the Ascension Matrix. Totally worth the handful of essence shards I pay with.

The entire time I’ve been working, Lapa and Terp have been investigating the chamber. To their annoyance, they’re not allowed in the chamber if I’m not there. Or if I ask them to leave.

Which I do before converting the mana for the matrix.

After they’ve left, it takes me almost an hour to convert the food without getting mana-giggles. Rufka’d never let me live it down if I did that in front of her.

The conversion process is slightly delayed as I take the time to teach Rufka how to do the mana-conversion spell. A process that’s significantly aided by our bond.

With the System’s options all loaded up, I start my own System on analyzing them. It’s slow, but I have ideas on how to improve that.

There’s a very large mana-rift that’s currently not being used for anything.

Wonder just how quickly Aethire’s old resting ground could check things over? With a few small castles doing the lifting, of course.

A note from Draith

Going to be moving/travelling a bit for the next couple months. Chapters should remain consistent through that time, but there may be disruptions.

Unrelated, my old method of transferring data over from Scrivener without losing the formatting no longer works. If you happen to notice System text that's not properly Bolded or Italicized (if it's Lexi's System), please let me know.

Thanks for reading.

Oh, and don't forget to Fave/Follow/Rate.

6.60, Starstruck

April 29, 2024. 7:31 pm.

Before I go convert Aethire into a massive processing machine, I return my attention to the interface. The upgrades I purchased are only one part of what it has available. Probably the most important, but still only one part.

The next thing I look at is a basic scan of my attributes. Something a user could get with a thorough inspection, despite me not being tied to their System. Kinda like how Wyonna can scan our trainees and get all their stats, though not as thorough.

Seeing the nodes scan, I decide to bring up my Status for comparison.

Estimate of User Lexi's Core Attributes

Strength: 180

Constitution: 176

Agility: 196

Endurance: 198

Intellect: 235

Spirit: 231

Perception: 222

Resolve: 216

Administrator Pandora’s Status

Framework: Cataclysm Paradox

Tier and Approximate Strength:

Approved Temporary Designation: Copper-1

Core Attributes. Accuracy guaranteed with 99.4% Confidence.

Strength: 182 > 185

Constitution: 181 > 182

Agility: 205 > 209

Endurance: 198 > 204

Intellect: 236 > 239

Spirit: 229 > 233

Perception: 228 > 231

Resolve: 225 > 230

Storage: 238.4 > 241.3 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 7/8

Iron Resources

Progression Patterns: Standard: 106, Specialized: 24

Ascension Matrices: Standard: 92, Specialized: 1 > 32

Copper Resources

Progression Patterns: Standard: 395, Specialized: 230, Personal (Pending): 3

Ascension Matrices: Standard: 79, Specialized: 161, Personal (Pending): 1

Core Resource Abstraction

Health

Pool: 2600/2607 > 2600/2651, Edge: [306.5] > [309.2], Regen: (2.2/minute) > (2.3/minute)

Stamina

Pool: 2602/2655 > 2602/2706, Edge: [360] > [363.5], Regen: (2.4/minute)

Mana

Pool: 4191/4322 > 4191/4393, Edge: [382.9] > [389.3], Regen: (4.3/minute) > (4.4/minute)

Focus

Pool: 3800/4322 > 3800/4396, Edge: [370.7] > [377.2], Regen: (4.2/minute) > (4.3/minute)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 2100/2109 > 2100/2328, Edge: [138.5] > [145.8], Regen: (700/second) > (725/second)

Matrix Ancillary Functions:

Core Framework Improvements:

Increased Facet Pool: 10/10, 10/10

Increased Facet Edge: 10/10, 10/10

Increased Facet regen: 10/10, 10/10

Framework Processing patterns:

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1, 2/2

Elemental Chakram: 3/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 2/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 2/2

Limits of Mortality: 1/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1

Anchor: 1/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1

Seed: 1/1

Auxiallary Processing patterns:

Lightning Warp: 1/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 1/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 3/3

Not much has changed, only a few attribute points across the board, and completion of the Facet enhancements. I note that the scan doesn’t list any of my abilities or my Facet in any way. And it’s lower by about three percent than my actual attributes

“Whoa. Mum would be jealous,” Rufka says, reading over my shoulder.

“What are we even looking at here?” Peth asks, pointing at the word Strength. “How is that supposed to be accurate? What kind of Strength? Your lifting strength? Leg strength?”

“It’s an abstraction,” Rufka answers. “Plus the System compensates for inherent weaknesses, so it should be accurate enough. You should see Wyonna’s breakdown though.”

I tune them out as Rufka takes Peth and Belcix through the basics of the Attributes used by the System. And the comparisons to Wyonna’s more robust Analysis.

There’s nothing surprising in Uthica’s analysis, but it’s not as accurate as my own. But Uthica didn’t build this for me to scan myself. She included it as another tool.

Still, as I listen to Rufka compare me to her mum, it kinda sinks in.

I’m no longer weak.

In fact, I’m so strong I don’t think the me of a year ago could scratch me. As I tap the screen with my golden arm, I’m given an instant reminder there are still lots of things that can do far worse.

Like that dagger… what happened there? Why was it able to stab me so easily, but then it just got stuck? Some sort of application of their rifles, maybe? I’ll ask Peth and Belcix if they have any ideas later. And maybe go find the dagger.

For now I need to memorize this Heart’s teleportation tag.

Closing my eyes, it only takes a few seconds to visualize the new key. When I open my eye, I realize my eyes are moist. And as I look around the sphere, I know why. This is another gift from Uthica. And quite possibly the last. She would’ve gone through the portal not long after this was built.

Water manipulation dries my eyes before anyone can notice and I turn back to the screen once more.

“Open System Store,” I instruct it, moving on to the last tool in this gift.

“Opening System Store. Please note. All prices must be paid in Essence shards and will only allow this terminal to provide you with a blueprint of the selected ability. User Lexi will need to decipher how to use the ability herself.”

“Huh. Better than I was expecting. Now… Let’s see what’s available.”

Going through the menu has a surprisingly wide array of options, but they’re almost all upgrades on existing options. One big difference I notice is that everything is listed in terms of Mana now. Even abilities that would have cost me a Mark or Crest can be purchased using Mana.

Including the Citizen Training Arena…

Can’t help but feel a little bitter at the Arena being available for purchase for the relatively low price of an even hundred million mana. Or one hundred Iron-Mana Essence shards. It’s usefulness now that I have a vastly improved version of my own is also questionable.

Still, that doesn’t stop me from buying it. A rune beneath the screen lights up when I indicate my desired purchase. The moment I place the required essence shards on the glowing rune, the screen updates, showing a page cluttered with complicated runes. And it’s only the first page of hundreds.

Okay, maybe it’s not so cheap. I run through the pages, taking the time to engrain each and every detail in my mind with Facet.

And then I take another Savepoint break before diving back in. There are hundreds of options, and most are cheap.

I buy them all.

Then I grab Rufka’s hand, whispering that I’m resetting the last five minutes. She chuckles when I tell her it’s to save on a few essence. But she doesn’t object, despite having to redo her conversation with Belcix and Peth.

Once we reset, I notice that she uses her new found knowledge to troll them.

I’m unable to help myself, holding back a chuckle as I sidle up next to her.

“Hey,” I say, taking her hand as Peth and Belcix go off on a tangent with each other, discussing how this might relate to their own observations of Reapersworn body reinforcement and something about void-shields. “Oops, looks like we lost them.”

“It’s fine,” Rufka replies, pulling me into a sidehug as we stare into the dark edges of the room. Most of the room remains dark, but the platform casts a soft blue glow throughout, making that darkness feel warm and welcoming. I pull her to the edge of the platform, where I plop down dangling my feet into the void.

Rufka sits beside me while Belcix and Peth continue their conversation behind us.

As I’m resting my head on Rufka’s shoulder, Belcix approaches, “Can we join you?”

Caught in the middle of running my hand through my thiani’s fur, I end up blushing. Rufka replies for both of us, beckoning them forward. “Sure.”

Belcix doesn’t say anything, instead lowering himself carefully next to me.

“So… uhm…” Belcix starts, then trails off as several runes in the corner light up for a second.

They’ve been doing that since we entered the room, so it doesn’t worry me, but it seems to have caught him off guard.

Shaking his head, Belcix cleares his throat. We remain quiet, waiting for him to speak. Finally, he finds his voice again. “I… may not have come all this way just to make sure you were safe.”

“Figured,” I reply, my body growing tense. Seemed a little too convenient that he showed up when he did.

“I… well, Tipan is…”

I can feel a soft huffing from Rufka, but it’s low enough, I decide she hasn’t earned an elbow. Yet.

“She’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. And she seems to barely notice my existence,” Belcix finally spits out, only to receive soft pats on his head from Peth.

Which makes it impossible for me to contain my smile completely.

“Anyway, I thought… you’re both really important to her, and maybe if we could be of some use to you, you could maybe… I don’t know, talk me up a bit. Except… I can’t seem to do anything for you. You spotted that Reapersworn so fast, and then didn’t even need our help with his equipment,” Belcix shakes his head.

Rufka snorts, then breaks into full open laughter while muttering, “Tipan and… and a pu’shaha. Oh. Oh, that’s just…”

Belcix’s ears fold back and he pushes himself to his feet. I hold my hands up to assuage him, but he’s already stomping down the ramp, Peth offering him reassurances.

I blink, wondering if I should follow him or if that'd make his embarrassment worse.

As Rufka calms down, she realizes Belcix is gone. “Oh. Damnit. I… I didn’t mean to laugh at him. I just couldn’t help it. He doesn’t even realize he tried to help.” At this she traces the already healed wound where the dagger slid in earlier. “You know, you get hurt too often for my taste.”

“If I got hurt once a year, that’d be too often for you.”

“By Vaus’ left tit, you’ve got that right,” Rufka says, pushing me away before drawing me back into a kiss. Then she pulls away, pushing herself to her feet.

“Why’s it always her left tit?” I ask, despite myself.

“Everyone knows her left tit’s the better one,” Rufka answers, smirking at me as she pushes to her feet. “I should go apologize.”

“Mhm. They might not be as useful as they’d hoped, but they seem like decent people."

“Well. Mum’d say more important. Not as good as being entertaining, but more important than useful.” Rufka ruffles my hair with her foot, then turns and strides across the bridge. I watch her go, her athletic muscles moving in majestic harmony.

She reaches Belcix and asks him and Peth if they can step outside. As Rufka’s apologizing to our advisers, I stare at the empty hole in the ceiling. Above the clouds drift by smoothly, the stars twinkling brightly.

The constellations are completely different from Earth’s, or how they were in the past. Not much surprise, I guess. They’re even different from Ukila’s starscape. Pretty sure the constellations in the southern hemisphere would be different than what I’m used to too. Not sure I’d even recognize the difference if not for my ability to recall my memories so clearly.

…

Wait.

Stars? There shouldn’t be any stars? Akilo doesn’t have stars anymore. Also, we’re a long way underground.

What’s going on?

Still staring at the star-filled night sky, I start looking through the manual. There’s nothing in them about being able to see the stars. When I focus on reality again, the stars blur, suddenly winking out.

“Did you guys see that?” I ask, rolling to my feet.

“See what?” Rufka asks as I jog over to where they’re laughing softly. A good sign.

“The stars!”

“Lexi, I haven’t seen stars outside of art and our shared memories. You know that,” Rufka says, tapping me on the nose.

“Yeah. But… I just saw them.”

“Whoa? Show me? Please?” Rufka asks, before turning to Belcix, who seems greatly relieved. “I’ll be right back.”

Rufka turns back to me, her grin practically swallowing her face as she drags me back onto the platform. She goes to where I was lying, flopping onto her back in a near perfect mimicry of my position. “Like this right?”

“Uh. Yep. But I don’t-“

“I think I see them.” Rufka states, squinting at the hole in the ceiling. I glance up, but don’t see anything. Maybe I’m in the wrong position?

I lay down beside her, looking up at the gap. But I don’t see anything.

“I don’t think…” I start but Rufka shushes me. So we lay like that, staring at the hole in the ceiling for a few minutes. Soon, Belcix and Peth come to join us. But the stars don’t come back.

I’m sitting up, about to apologize to Rufka for getting her hopes up when she gasps. It’s met by similar sounds of amazement from Peth and Belcix.

Looking up, I see them again. A scattering of beautiful little dots of light, partially obscured by a passing cloud. Cool, but not as impressive as most of the wonders I’ve found on Akilo.

Instead of saying that, I lay back down, staring up at the stars with them. We remain there for another thirty-two seconds before the stars blink out once more.

“What? Bring them back,” Rufka mutters, punching me in shoulder.

“It wasn’t me,” I explain, staring upward. “I think it just does that on its own. A side effect of the Heart maybe?”

“It does seem to be a rather sophisticated piece of runework,” Peth observes before talking with Belcix in low tones about how useful this would be for Ukila.

Rufka remains lying there, not saying anything as she stares at the empty hole in the sky. We stay there for a few minutes, and the stars come back. This time there are no gasps, but I still feel Rufka shift next to me.

When the stars blink out again, Rufka murmurs. “There really is more out there, isn’t there.”

“What do you mean?”

“More than Akilo. It’s just… I know you’re from Earth. But… that’s not… I don’t…”

Waiting for her, I bump her ear with my nose to let her know I’m listening.

She takes a deep breath. “We’re small. Aren’t we?”

“Hmm.”

“Like, mum’s always been the pinnacle. More powerful than anything else. But… I still see her lying there in front of you… And there’s so much more out there. Lex…” Rufka sobs as she stares up. “What if I can’t keep you safe? You were stabbed and nearly blown up today. What if you disappear again? This time you might never come back?”

“Oh. Hey. Hey, don’t talk like that,” I say, rolling over and pulling Rufka into an awkward upside-down side-hug. “I don’t have any answers for you. We’ll just have to do our best, Okay? And I’ll try not to let any more daggers explode in my face.”

“Good. You better not,” Rufka grumbles shoving me by my boob.

“Hey!” I protest, rolling away from her before she can get frisky. Too much to do to get started on that outside Frozen time.

“We’re really going out there, aren’t we?” Rufka shuffles sideways toward me, only stopping when we’re laying next to each other again.

“Yep. If these Reapersworn are able to hurt me, then…”

“Then it’ll be even worse for other-users. And they’ll be less ready than mum on her Class-day.”

“Sorry, what?”

“Mum’s always surprised on her Class-day. Like she expects me to forget just cause she’s been a user for a hundred and thirty-two years.”

“Whoa. I suspected Genitha was old. But 132? That’s impressive. Wait, that’s Class years, how old was she when she got her class?”

“Who knows. Knowing mum, she probably figured out how to get it when she was five.”

“Five, seriously?” I ask, prodding her.

“Hehe, no. So, what do you think I should get her?”

“I don’t know. I’m… bad at gifts. Maybe you could ask her?” I suggest, leaning forward and looking down at her.

Rufka bursts into a fit of giggles, slapping the deck. “Ask mum what she wants for her Class-day? She’d tell me not to worry about anything so foolish.”

“Well, I don’t know? What would you want on your Class-day?”

“To spend it with you and mum,” Rufka’s statement is so quick, so certain, that I can’t help but shake my head.

“No gifts?” I press, squeezing her hand.

“Nope. You, me and mum playing Astra’s Stride, eating Raz’s takeaway and just… you know being together.”

“That’s sweet,” I say, tucking a stray strand of her hair out of her upper eyes before pecking her forehead. “But… wait. Your class day was a month ago… wasn’t it.”

Rufka grimaces, but then her face morphs into a smile. “It’s fine. You’ll be there next year. And you’ll spend the rest of the year making it up to me.”

“I’ll do my best,” I agree, leaning my forehead against hers.

It’s all I can ever do.

6.61, Under The Radar

April 29, 2024. 8:17 pm.

With an occasional break to watch the starry sky, we spend another hour in the chamber, talking about Genitha’s birthday. Though not before I send Pettah away, telling him we can make our way out on our own. Teleport’s a pretty handy tool.

Belcix and Peth join us not long after our first discussion, despite my intention to revert so we’re not actually wasting time.

But after a good conversation about what Rufka might get Genitha, eventually settling on a variation of what Rufka gets her every year, I decide that it’s only an hour. And considering how eager Belcix is to help Rufka with her handcrafted happy Class-day card made of Ukilan materials, I think it’s worth it.

“We still need to find Demo,” I say as the latest window into the stars disappears.

After a couple seconds staring into space, Rufka says, “Mhm. Tipan says that he left a message with Glimmering Sands.”

Sitting up, I turn to glare down at her. “He has? When did we find this out?”

“Uh. Looks like when you were looking through all the options. Sorry, you know I’m not great about checking my messages,” Rufka says, her ears flicking back.

“I… right. Feels bad we didn’t know earlier.”

“It’s not that important, is it? It doesn’t change our plans, right?”

“No, guess not. Just… no, you’re right. I’m just glad Demo’s okay.”

“Wonder if he’s blown off any limbs since the last time we talked,” Rufka mumbles with a half-smirk.

“Hey!” I sling a ball of conjured mud at her, managing to elicit a loud ‘smuck’ as it clings to her shoulder while she cackles.

Pushing myself to my feet, I sigh. “We should get going.”

“Why? You can just teleport us there tomorrow,” Rufka says, her chest still vibrating from her laughter.

“Oh, so I’m not allowed to teleport until tomorrow?”

“Yep. No teleporting tonight unless it’s an emergency. Then it’ll be fine. Tomorrow.” Rufka waves a hand at me. “But for now, we relax. We should visit the market again. See if they have any good food. Nothing in your library tastes right.”

Peth breaks in, saying, “I would rather enjoy that. I saw a vendor selling spiced meats on a rich green salad. Never expected Akilo to have proper food.”

Belcix gasps, which earns a surprisingly deep chuckle from Peth.

“Okay, it’s settled then,” I declare, lifting them all with mass flight as I fly toward the hole in the ceiling. Faster than walking back through the Academy. Yet when I get close to the ceiling I realize it’s not a hole.

“Welp, I feel silly.”

“What?” Rufka asks, dangling from my hand as though she didn’t have the ability to fly herself.

“It’s not actually a hole to the outside. It’s just a viewscreen.”

“Like the ones in the dilation headquarters? Why would it be so far away?” Rufka asks. It takes me a second to remember the command center we received as a quest reward.

“Yeah. Like that.” We drift close to the top and I release Rufka’s hand to place it on the surface. It distorts at the mild pressure. Then it peels back, folding to the side like a leaf, revealing a tunnel leading upward. Despite scanning the sides, I don’t find any sign of the Second Promise.

Drat, was kinda hoping they’d moved it here.

Glancing at the others, I drift upward through the tunnel. It continues for a hundred metres. When I reach the top there’s another screen. It shows a similar view as the one on the bottom, the empty night sky, though this time it’s rimmed by a low wall.

Pressing on the screen again, it peels back like the one below leading us into the bottom of a shallow room with seats spaced around it. There are a couple Pernites here who turn to stare at us as we emerge. Before they can object, I call out, “It’s fine! Tell the Keeper we’re headed to town.”

That said, I contact Midnight as we make our way higher. His playful attempt to grab me out of the air wakes Smoulder. Soon there’s a trail of fire as we soar across the countryside, returning to the destroyed inn. When I find out that there’s no such thing as insurance here, I end up paying the innkeeper for the damages, despite her objections.

If I’d thought about it, I would’ve just reset. But getting a few users to repair it won’t even be that expensive.

While talking about the repairs, Rufka reveals that Lethka’s already booked another inn for the evening, so we fly over.

When we enter the busy tavern to let Lethka know our plans, we find her sitting alone in the tavern, nursing a drink. Looking to Rufka and Belcix, I send them away. Taking a place across from Lethka, I order a drink from the barmaid while encouraging Smoulder to get closer.

Lethka glances up, catching sight of Smoulder’s floofiness. And is soon petting her giant tail as I ask, “So, what’s eating you?”

“I… I’m not familiar with that expression,” Lethka says, but then shakes her head. “I’m afraid I must head home. Tipan has need of me. It seems one of my apprentices tried to free your prisoner.”

“Oh. Sorry,” I say, reaching across the table.

“It is hardly your fault. But I must be there to help determine how much she’s been twisted. And how much was just me being a fool,” Lethka says. Then she takes a deep breath, before pushing away from the table. “I wanted to tell you in person. But I should depart.”

“I could teleport you, if it’s important,” I offer quietly.

But she shakes her head. “I need time to… to think. Ballka is like a daughter to me. This is…”

Laying my hand on her shoulder, I give it a light squeeze.

She gives me a half-smile in response, and pulls me into a hug. And then she leaves.

When she’s gone, I spend a few minutes looking at the door before Rufka, Belcix and Peth come back in, joining me at the table. Both Rufka and Belcix are carrying an assortment of foods I’m guessing they purchased from the markets.

There’s a minute of them bantering about which food we’ll try first, which I don’t join. I just bask in their back and forth until a tray of twisted breads with a meat stuffing is placed before me. Which I share with Smoulder, until she takes an interest in Peth’s dish of salad and light meats.

Her improved manners mean that she only sears the portions he allows her to take.

The rest of the evening is spent eating delicious food, playing Astra’s Stride and listening to stories of Belcix and Peth’s time getting to know each other when they first started studying the Reapersworn in Ketanna. Turns out that Peth used to be a bit of a prankster, having once dyed all of Belcix’s fur a bright neon blue.

Morning brings with it a delightful awakening by Rufka. But I have my revenge, cheating by enlisting the help of several conjured golden hands.

I’m thankful that Smoulder and Midnight have figured out how to spend their nights inside my soul without needing to worry about things crossing the bond on accident. Gates are great.

When we emerge into the common room, I find Pettah sitting with Belcix and Peth. Pettah is excitedly rambling about the changes coming to Vort Camlin. And he’s not the only one. The entire dining hall seems to be filled with chatter about the One-eyed queen and her new mandates.

Glad my appearance isn’t as striking as it used to be. But I decide to apply a glamour that hides my distinctive eye and hand. And what’s probably a really bad case of bedhair, now that I think about it. I blame Rufka for distracting me during my morning routine.

Running water through my hair, I take a chair at the table with them which causes Pettah to stop talking.

“Don’t mind me,” I say, pulling a couple leftover dishes from the night before out of storage and starting on breakfast.

Despite my admonishment, they continue staring as I go through my first dish. “Can I help you?”

“You have… both eyes,” Pettah stutters. Glancing at his shoulder, I notice he’s upgraded.

“And you have two stripes,” I mumble, nomming on a crisp biscuit. “It’s a morning of amazing change.”

“But you’re the…” He glances around the room, leaning forward as he whispers. “The one-eyed Queen.”

“Sounds like too much work. If I were an all-powerful queen like that, might behoove me to fly under the radar on occasion. If you catch my meaning.”

“Uh… under the what?” Pettah asks, glancing at Belcix, who just shrugs.

“Nothing. It just means I’m trying to avoid notice.”

Belcix nods, a weak smile on his face as she says, “That explains the walking. And using the tavern furniture.”

“Honestly, it’s pretty comfortable. Can’t believe I’ve been making my own.”

“So… you can just restore your eye whenever you want? Why do you go around-“ Pettah’s words die in his throat when I modify the glamour just enough to give him a clear view of my face. And my underlying starry-eyed glare.

He gulps loudly, earning a snort from Lethka right as Rufka plops down beside me.

“So, Demo contacted us yesterday,” I say, redirecting the conversation towards Rufka. “Any updates on that?”

“One second,” Rufka replies, her eyes going blank. “Looks like he secured a large workforce, paying enough shards my mum would be shocked. Then he disappeared again.” When her vision returns, she extends a hand toward one of my plates of biscuits, raising an eyebrow.

I nod at her, pushing the plate forward. “Huh. Hopefully he hasn’t truly disappeared. I’m sure we can track him down… but we’re not going to put too much time into it. If he wants to be sneaky, I’ll leave him to it.”

General nods from around the table, and a questioning look from Pettah which is answered with me simply saying, “He’s a friend.”

Then we’re outside, headed to the practice area, where Midnight is waiting to get some exercise. He’s been well-behaved, so now we need to spend some time wrestling.

The field isn’t as empty as it was the day before. There are several K’tharn practicing in the vicinity. When they see us approach, several stop and move in our direction.

Luckily, their interest wanes when there’s no sign of the One-Eyed Queen who felled Lady Topreti. Though Rufka does have to fend off a few questions from some warriors who recognize her. Honestly, from the way she’s talking, I think she’s enjoying the attention.

I spend longer than I should, just standing there watching her demonstrate her techniques to the gathered warriors, her arms flexing as she demonstrates how she imbues her arrows with power. And then going right over their heads, and mine, when she starts getting excited about how the enchantments work.

This is also a wonderful moment for a Savepoint. I’ve noticed I remember my Savepoints more clearly than regular moments, so they’re good for more than just resetting time. When Rufka starts berating a young K’tharn who objects to using enchanting as part of her fighting style, I turn away to start my own routine with Midnight.

Drawing a stone-buddy test dummy up, I name him Earl. Time to see if there’s any disruptions to my teleport I missed yesterday. Or unintended side effects.

He reappears a meter from his previous destination without a single deviation. And Smoulder appears behind him. Which, of course, means that it’s time for Midnight to join in as well.

Deciding that this is a totally acceptable alternative to wrestling, I start teleporting poor Earl around the clearing, Smoulder and Midnight chasing him every step of the way. Right as I’m preparing to teleport him clear across the clearing, Smoulder smashes into him.

The remnants of poor Earl rain down around her as she hops back to me. I roll my eyes when she crouches down, ready to pounce at me instead of Earl. Then I shriek as Midnight successfully snags me first.

We proceed to put all of our teleportation methods through their paces, playing teleport tag across the length of the island over the next half hour. My skills are as good as ever, as are Midnight’s. And Smoulder’s able to teleport half a kilometer at a time, having apparently improved her own ability by studying us.

Pretty damn impressive.

It’s only when Smoulder comes to a screeching halt after our latest jump that I look around properly. We’re standing atop the peak of an apparently active volcano. I may have lost track of what we were doing.

Midnight soars past, his silhouette passing in front of a string of open volcanoes that stretch past the first. He spins in front of the billowing pillars of haze floating in the air above them.

“So… that’s impressive,” I say to Smoulder. She gazes down at the molten rock for several long seconds. Then she bops my leg before racing down the inside of the volcano. I stare after her for a second before laughing and chasing after her.

A mighty roar from Midnight lets me know he’s not far behind.

I chase her across the surface of the molten lava, my heart racing as we skip across. Like a stone across a river.

Except, unlike that stone, we won’t sink. Running up a lavafall, I tag Smoulder before leaping backward. Only to nearly smack into Midnight. Instead, I teleport halfway to the next volcano. Smoulder is right behind me, her eyes narrowed in focus when she appears. Then she does a triple stutter step, appearing behind me and sending us tumbling into a nearby stream of lava, the momentum causing a geyser of liquid rock to shoot up.

At first, I panic. But then… the fire doesn’t burn us, even here. Reaching out, I use fire and stone manipulation to push us to the surface. When we reach the fresh air, I take a deep breath. It’s relaxing, but doesn’t feel necessary.

Midnight settles on a nearby rim, snorting at us.

Smoulder pushes into my arms, snuggling tight while projecting a feeling of smug triumph and content love.

“Yeah, I bet-“

The rest of my words are cut off by Smoulder’s slightly too-loud-to-be-real snoring. I bop her on the nose, but can’t stop from laughing as I teleport us to the rim of the volcano next to Midnight.

He lifts us into place, then glides back toward the training area, only slipping into the spaces between once.

Rufka is sparring with several users at once, each of them in Copper. And from what I can tell, she’s winning. As I’m watching, several of her opponents teleport forward. One uses a stone fist technique, while another seems to step out of a pool of liquid silver. They attempt to flank her, but she’s already moving. She does her own teleport forward in a wave of lighting, knocking all three of her opponents off their feet, leaving them on the ground.

When she spots me, she waves before turning back to her opponents and giving them several tips. Only after bidding them goodbye does she join me.

We stop in to tell Belcix and Peth we’re going to be on our way, and I send them back to Tipan, reminding Belcix to just… be there for her. Rufka gives him some slightly more ribald advice, which causes his ears to flick back.

Then we’re outside the city, mounted up on Midnight. Rufka screams in delight when he takes us into the space between. Apparently our bond lets her perceive it the same way I do.

Laughing, we appear briefly in the sky over a M’tari coastal city. It’s not either of the ones I’ve visited before, and we don’t stay long enough for me to observe the differences in detail.

We’re on our way to the remains of Aethire.

And to the resting place of the Second Promise.

6.62, Shaking Off the Dirt

A note from Draith

Update 1/7 for Friday, July 14, 2023.

Minor edit, 6.60. Lexi bonded the Locket and it wasn’t included under bonded armour.

April 30, 2024. 8:52 am.

There are two sets of buildings in the shadow of Aethire when we get close.

Located halfway between Betheryne and the rim where Aethire once sat is a gaudy palace, stretching upward. Supposedly, the headquarters of Aetherium’s old ministry. It’s surrounded by a small smattering of stone huts that are barely deserving of the name.

Ridiculously low standards for people with magic at their disposal.

Closer to the rim is another set of dwellings, and while not as elaborate as the palace, a quick inspection with twilight-enhanced vision is enough to confirm their superior construction. The camp where Demo hired his workers.

Neither are our objective at the moment, though I intend to return later. There are K’tharn working along the rim above those stone houses, a small collection of enchanted homes rigged to the inner edge of the rim. We pass by them, teleporting out of sight before I start creating more of my mini-processing castles. With the memory of the twilight dragon still in mind, I keep them to the upper rim. Still, after an hour of work, I’ve created enough wind castles to cover half the rim. The amount of processing power is pretty ridiculous.

Especially since I’ll be looping them to restart several times while Rufka and I track down other intel.

Before we depart, we decide to test the limits on my looping, out here where there’s no one to get hurt. The first loop, we mostly just sit around playing Astra’s stride before looping back after two hours. Not one iota of damage. Loading up the wind-castle’s with the results of the previous loop, we push to three hours, though this time we decide to test ourselves in combat.

Rufka’s improved a lot, but unless I’m using none of my temporal abilities, she can’t keep up.

Which, fair.

The next few loops are all similar, though we also work on some spell design, trying to incorporate some form of Haste into Rufka’s toolkit. Which ends up in her deciding to talk to her mum about a custom tattoo.

Finally, when we do a 23-hour loop, there’s an effect on the nearby rim, wiping a hundred meters of the rim from existence.

After the whirling winds stop slamming into the area, we survey the damage from atop Midnight’s back.

“Welp, guess twenty-two’s the limit,” I say, looking at the smooth curve where it bisects one of my wind-castles. Most of the castle’s already faded away, and only one wall is still sitting there, maintained by a single Mana collection rune.

“Looks like. Mum’s gonna be so upset when she realizes how much free research time she’s missed,” Rufka says, throwing a rock at the remains of my castle. It strikes the sole remaining tower perfectly, causing the entire structure to crumble. “Her own fault for not checking her messages.”

“Yep,” I agree, shaking my head as we fly closer so I can restore the castle.

Then I tug Midnight to the side as I notice a dark shadow. There’s a ripple in the air, and if not for the way the ambient Mana is churning thanks to our experiment, I’m not sure I would’ve even noticed the form of a dragon flit past us.

I remain silent, holding my breath as what I’m pretty sure is the guardian of the rift investigates the damage. Again, it’s only the stirring of the Mana that gives me any hint that she’s left.

“Lex, you okay?” Rufka asks after we’ve been flying in place for over a minute.

“Uh. Yeah, just thought I saw something,” I say aloud while sending her an impression of exactly what I saw.

“Huh,” Rufka says, but then she nudges my back. “Well, nothing to worry about. Let’s get back to it.”

“Right,” I reply, prodding Midnight forward, restoring my castle. Only one of the Patterns seems to be getting close to completion, but we have a lot of time to deal with that. Though I think I’ll set a new savepoint a little farther forward, and away from this one.

With nearly a full day to each loop, we decide it’s time to start gathering intel while they work.

Our first stop is the hidden gorge where the Aetherium once stored their ships. It’s been closed over, but that hardly slows us down. Even with over a dozen meters of solid stone blocking the way, we’re soon working our way down. And my initial inspection of the surrounding caves isn’t promising. They’re all empty. Not so much as a stray nut or bolt remains.

When we get to where the Second Promise should be, I almost miss it. Because, of course, it’s been sealed over with stone. But the work is so smooth, I didn’t even notice a blip in the striations. Or the flow of the Mana.

With Rufka’s head resting on my shoulder, I pull at the stone. The first half-meter melts as easily as the stone on the surface, but then I encounter far denser stone within. Unable to peer through the wall, and not excited to teleport into stone, we start attempting to shape it away.

After five minutes and very little progress, I decide to attempt teleporting chunks of stone out of the wall, which goes much faster. It only takes us another few minutes to make it through the next twenty meters.

Finally, the Second Promise is revealed.

It’s… not exactly as pretty as it was when I left it. Most of the surface is covered in a thick layer of dark green residue. And there’s a pile of rubble from where part of the ceiling seems to have caved in along one side.

“Huh. Was expecting something… more,” Rufka says, her hands on her hips as she squints up at the ship.

“She’s not exactly at her best. Pretty sure she’s been abandoned for five hundred years,” I reply, even as Smoulder hops forward to sniff at the green residue.

Mignight snorts, and I can feel his aura of superiority as he compares himself to the ship.

“Yes, yes. You made it through five hundred years in much better shape,” I agree, trying not to roll my eyes.

Even as I’m rolling my eyes at Midnight, despite my best effort, I feel a spark of inspiration from Smoulder. And then a spark of fire as she explodes. It manages to melt most of the residue near her away, but it also creates a thick black smoke I quickly whisk away.

Almost like I’m used to her inspirations being linked to flames or something.

Her little outburst reveals that the ship underneath is intact, despite the weathered appearance. Not so much as a single speck of rust. Unfortunately, the rubble is blocking the entrance, so we have to spend a minute clearing that away before we’re able to gain ingress.

As I’m stepping aboard, Midnight snorts once more before slipping inside my soul. Guess the corridors are a bit tight for him.

“So, this is a Forerunner ship?” Rufka asks, her hand trailing along the wall as we move deeper inside. “Kinda thought it’d be bigger. On the inside, I mean.”

“Not everything has to be bigger on the inside,” I reply, stepping to the side to let Smoulder hop past as she makes her way to the cockpit.

“It kinda does,” Rufka disagrees, giving me a smirk before ducking her head into one of the side passages. I move to follow Smoulder, sure that Rufka will be able to find me easily enough once she’s done poking around. A quick check confirms that the ring is still safely stored away. The room that contained the acid is… not in great shape. On the plus side, the damage is only a few millimeters deep, and only the deck plating is scored.

The bottle remains a bottle.

Plopping down in the pilot’s seat, I’m disappointed to discover there aren’t any messages from Uthica in the logs. Which I guess I should’ve expected, since she couldn’t even access the ship.

While I wait for Rufka, Smoulder curls up in my lap as I read through some of the old logs, learning more about the Forerunners. Nothing revolutionary, but the more I read, the more it seems that their efforts really did seem to be about helping people.

I’m reading about a mission where they lost four of their six members delivering supplies past a Reaver scourge net when Rufka joins me.

“Nice ship. Think she’ll fly?” Rufka says as she drops into the co-pilots seat.

Closing the log, I grin at her. “Already ran the checks. Everything’s… well, not optimal, but she should be good.”

Rufka squints her eyes at me. Then instead of letting me test her out, she gets me to explain all the controls. And what I mean by not-optimal.

The lesson ends up taking over twelve hours, even with my sharing details through our soul-bond.

Which… I mean, she went from not knowing how to pilot a watercraft to having a perfect understanding of the Second Promise. And we’re not even going to keep this loop.

Also, I got to teach Rufka something. Which is always fun.

Time well wasted.

Once we’re done the lessons, we finally take the Second Promise out. Which is when we discover that one of the components that was damaged during the last half millenia was one of the fuel sensors.

Thankful for the loop, I don’t even wait for the explosion to reach us before I reset.

“That… was less than ideal,” I say, shaking my head. “I forgot to get the info from the castles before resetting.”

“Awesome, that means we don’t have to waste half an hour with you running between them,” Rufka says, already leaning forward and mentally tugging Midnight back towards the gorge.

“It doesn’t take half an hour. Only seventeen minutes,” I reply, though they are a tedious seventeen minutes.

“Mhm,” Rufka replies even as Midnight takes us into the space between, emerging over the gorge a few seconds later.

We don’t bother digging our way down, teleporting directly to the Second Promise. Unfortunately, we do end up having to excavate her to conduct repairs properly. And despite the fact we could probably do it faster if we reset time again, neither of us feel like it’s worth the extra half hour.

So, as we set down the Second Promise just outside the gorge, I create another Save Point. And then we turn our attention towards the K’tharn.

According to Rufka’s messages, one of the K’tharn in the better camp should be able to help us find Demo, since that’s where he spent half his shards hiring labour.

We leave the Second Promise behind, since there’s a good chance it’ll make getting answers harder.

There are no guards posted at the edge of the stone huts when Midnight flies closer. Though that doesn’t mean they’re unattended. There are listless K’tharn sitting around everywhere, though no children. They all turn to watch as we fly over them.

“What’s happening here? Why haven’t we helped these people?” I ask Rufka.

“We tried. They refused Tipan’s offer,” Rufka answers, staring down at them. “And we weren’t going to force them.”

Nodding, I turn back as we fly towards the other set of buildings. The ones in better shape. They also turned away Tipan’s offer of help, but they haven’t been idle since the fall of the Aetherium.

A K’tharn on the ground spots us, and begins waving, directing Midnight to land in an open field barely large enough for his bulk near the edge of the complex. The field is next to a sturdier, but still plain building, where the K’tharn waves us to next.

Inside are several K’tharn rushing around, but most activity seems to be centered around a desk at the far end where a tiger-striped K’tharn is standing over a map rubbing her forehead. Her black and orange ears flick back and forth as she guides a finger over the map.

The K’tharn who spotted us, leads us directly to the table. The tiger-striped K’tharn holds up a hand, signally us to wait. All the other K’tharn present, including the guide who brought us here, take this as some sort of cue and charge out of the building silently. Less than a minute after we approached, we’re alone with the tigress. It’s still half a minute before she lowers her hand and looks up at us.

“Hmph. Was expecting more,” she says, walking around her table and extending a hand toward Rufka. “The legendary Queen Pandora I take it? Tipan’s had good words. I’m her cousin, Telkorth.”

Rufka snickers to herself as she shakes the outstretched hand while glancing toward me. Finally, she straightens, pushing the smile to the side. “Nice to meet, you but she’s Queen Pandora. I’m Rufka.”

Telkorth groans, rubbing at her forehead again for a moment before turning toward me. “Of course you are. This is why I don’t do diplomacy. My apologies, Queen Pandora.”

My smile is genuine when I take her outstretched hand. “Pleasure’s mine. I’d avoid diplomacy if given the chance. Though it can be fun on occasion. And speaking of avoiding diplomacy, how about we skip to why we came. We’re looking for a friend. Demo was here recently?”

“Yeah. Took most of my best workers too. If you could get them back, it’d be appreciated. Didn’t expect him to take so many when he asked if he could ‘hire a couple skilled hands.’”

“I’ll see what I can do. But I’ll need to talk to him first.”

“Sure. He said you could find him if you showed up. Gave me this. Said you’d know what to do with it.” Telkorth tosses me a small object. “Damn piece of scrap won’t do a thing for me.”

Despite my now excellent reflexes, I still nearly drop it. It’s far slicker than I expected. A closer inspection reveals a highly polished stone.

And that’s it.

“Seems Demo’s sense of humour hasn’t developed much,” Rufka says.

I scan the stone with Facet and I’m surprised to find a tether I can trace. “Actually, this is all we need.”

“Ha. Good to know. Like I said, if you can get my workers back, I’d appreciate it,” Telkorth says. “And tell him a couple does not mean a couple hundred.”

I chuckle, shaking my head as I smile back. “Will do. And thanks.”

“Hmm.” Telkorth grunts as the scattered K’tharn start returning.

We amble outside, where I say, “Well, that was refreshing. Nice to work with someone who’s not afraid or reverent.”

Rufka laughs, as she hops onto Midnight’s back, asking, “So, which way to Demo?”

Flying up to take Midnight’s reins, I hold the stone-turned-compass over his spiked collar, turning until I have a direct line. It points South, not too surprising. But it’s not quite where I was expecting.

“I think he’s deep in the mountains of Vaus’ teeth.”

With the assistance of teleport, we’re flying over the rough location of Demo’s signal a mere fifteen minutes after leaving the Aetherite refugee camp. Unfortunately, the compass has been acting weird since we reached the mountains. We still have a general bearing, but I’m starting to wonder if Demo’s gained access to teleportation magic himself.

We crest a familiar mountain, and I find myself staring at a valley that was once overgrown with weeds. The same valley I first found Uthica’s cache of knowledge and lost Smoulder.

My thought about Demo getting teleportation was apparently only slightly off. There are gates where K’tharn are carrying large pallets of debris and disappearing entirely.

Following the stone, we arrive halfway up a distant hill. As I land, Demo comes sprinting out of a nearby building, his fluffy blue tails waving wildly as he laughs at the top of his lungs. He stumbles to a stop when he sees us perched atop the dragon. He squints at me three times, then takes his cap off, his hand waving it at us in quick motions.

“Hey Lex. Good to see yeh found me so quick.”

I’m sliding off the back of Midnight when Demo runs up next to me, his usual toothpick in hand. “Uhm. Don’t suppose yeh could take us down… oh say, there?”

“Sure,” I reply, following the toothpick he’s using as a pointer to a spot located about a kilometer down the hill. A simple clearing ringed in a short stone wall. “But gimme a hug first?”

“Uh. We should vacate the premises, if yeh catch my meaning?” he says, glancing over his shoulder then back at me with a big grin.

“Oh. Right,” I answer, teleporting us to the small clearing. Just in time it would seem, as a blast echoes from the building Demo ran out of. A massive wave of debris is thrown into the air, sweeping dirt and vines away while leaving the nearby buildings intact. Most of the debris lands in the street, but several pieces rain down nearby.

“Nice timing. I only set off a few of those every hour.” Demo says, adjusting his cap as he returns it to his head.

“What even was that?” I ask, pulling him in for his hug.

He hugs me back, patting me on the shoulder as he wheezes. Right, strength. “Well, you know how even powerful people are subject to the raw force of an attack even if doesn’t hurt them? I thought there might be a way to isolate that. And then I went a step further.”

He holds up a black sphere, split into two hemispheres by a thick dark grey band. “My latest tests have it so it only affects organic materials. Do not use on wood.”

I lean forward, squinting at the sphere. He’s managed to fit several unfamiliar runes in close, alongside ones I recognize for storage and delayed activation. Though the delay is pretty short.

“Want one?” he asks, wiggling his toothpick as he smiles at me.

“Sure,” I reply. Chuckling as he tosses it at me, I catch it and add it to my inventory in one smooth motion. “Thanks.”

“Yeh should wear it. It’d go well with that jacket,” Demo suggests, clapping my shoulder before giving Rufka a quick hug.

Then he takes a step back, whistling as he takes a closer look at Midnight.

“Where in the Nine Worlds did yeh find a real Dragon?” Demo asks, poking at Midnight.

Unsurprisingly, Midnight doesn’t appreciate Demo’s aggressive prodding, and teleports out of range.

“By the Sphere. It can teleport?” Demo asks, jumping back while looking at me, his toothpick dangling from his mouth.

“He can do more than teleport,” I reply, even as Midnight squints suspiciously at him.

He holds up his hands. “My apologies. I’d heard the System eliminated all of the real dragons a couple hundred years ago. Too much System corruption.”

“What do you mean eliminated?” Rufka asks, looking back at Midnight before turning towards the dragons some of the K’tharn are working with in the distance.

“Hmm. Translation problem?” Demo asks, looking up, tapping his chin with his toothpick as he continues, “Terminated. Discontinued. Violently. There was an event in Veinheill. Big too. Never heard the details, but it was common knowledge that ‘something’ disrupted the Reapers. And then Dragons stopped showing up in the Wedge.”

“The Wedge?” Rufka asks before I have a chance.

“Disputed space. Where the Reapers, System and Free worlds contest each other,” Demo says with a small shrug.

“And what do dragons have to do with the Reapers? Aren’t they native to Akilo? There seem to be plenty here,” I say, looking up at Midnight, who leans down to accept my scritches. And eat a bit of my hand.

“Nah. The dragons on Akilo are all System copies. Not true dragons. Look at how the little guy nibbles on magic. Exactly as the Reapers designed them,” Demo says, his toothpick practically humming as he speaks.

“When were they killed?” Rufka asks, joining in the head-scritches.

“I don’t know. Sometime before the Third Coreworld’s Fall. I’d have to check Saretesa’s logs to know for certain.” Demo meets Rufka’s raised eyebrows with a grin, his toothpick bouncing rapidly. “Speaking of which, I’ve got her limping again. And once we finish here, I’m hoping to get her flying.”

“What’re you even doing here?” I ask, watching as a loose stone from the explosion tumbles along the nearby road.

“We’re clearing out the city.”

“Yeah, I can see that. But why?”

“Well, you remember when I almost lost my leg?” He asks, leaning toward me.

“Yeah. Aethop’s Daughters corrupted it. And the System couldn’t heal it properly. What’s that got to do with… this?”

“Oh. It’s all part of ‘the Deal’,” Demo answers, turning away with his hands on his hips as he surveys the mostly empty city.

“The deal? The deal with who?” I press, coming up to stand beside him to look over the city.

Demo turns back to me, glancing back at Midnight as his grin grows wider. “Why, with the Daughters, of course.”

A note from Draith

Wow. That was way longer than I expected to be offline. Lots of stuff over the last week. Managed to hurt my back in a whole other way that basically made me useless. And I had to move anyway, which probably made it worse. Had two whole days where I basically didn't get anything done.

Then there was the actual driving. And visiting with family.

Finally, I took a couple days where I didn't have any wireless signal at all. However, those days meant that I actually got caught up, and even a little ahead.

That's right. I'm gonna be posting a whole whack of chapters to make up for all the days I missed. That's seven chapters coming in seven hours.

6.63, Return of the... Prince?

A note from Draith

Update 2/7 for Friday, July 14, 2023.

April 30, 2024. 11:33 am.

I check the sky. Yep, sun’s still hanging right where I left it. No new stars or sudden catastrophes incoming. World still seems sane.

Mostly.

Turning back to Demo, I arch a glamoured eyebrow. “A deal with the Daughters? That’s going to need more explanation.”

“Aw, come on. That was a great line, yeh can’t deny it.”

“I can and will.”

“She will,” Rufka confirms.

“Anyway. The fix… it wore off. Or something. My leg started changing again. So Rose and I tracked them down. And made some surprising discoveries.” Demo leans over the stone wall, his toothpick bouncing.

“Oh?”

Demo flicks a small stone off the top of the wall, turning to me as the pebble disappears. “They’re not in the System. Not like most anyway. System registers them as monsters. No interface.”

“Ah.”

“Mhm. And no limits. Or boosts.”

“So, you’re doing all this so you can get your leg back?”

“Hah. I can see how yeh’d think that,” Demo says, clapping me on the back. “But no. They healed it for free.”

“Then… you haven’t answered my question at all,” I note, crossing my arms as I let the glamour drop so I can turn my full displeasure on him.

To my satisfaction, Demo’s toothpick falls clear of his mouth as he stares at me. But then he starts laughing. “Oh. Oh by the Seven Sisters. It’s you, it’s always you!”

“What?”

“This whole deal? It’s on behalf of the One-Eyed Queen. And her alliance with the Ukilans,” Demo explains, slapping his leg as he draws another toothpick from the pack on his waist.

“Wait, you’re working for me?” I ask, confused.

“No. The Daughters are the ones who were negotiating on the One-eyed queen’s behalf.” Demo chuckles again. “So… you’re basically involved on both sides of this deal.”

“Except I had nothing to do with…” I wave out at the city being revealed one insane Kitsune-surrogate’s grenade at a time. “This.”

“You mean you don’t need a place for a few hundred thousand displaced K’tharn? A place with access to more meat than they could hunt in a hundred years?” He asks, leaning forward while wagging an eyebrow at me. “I thought it was weird the dolls wanted it for their ‘One-eyed Queen’. Rose said it’d make sense.”

“Where is Rose,” Rufka asks from my other side.

“He’s with his mom. Folthka’s the only reason things went as smoothly as they have.”

“Folthka? Mad scientist, tore the soul out of Josh, Folthka?”

“Yeah. She’s a doll now.”

“Okay. Back up. I think you need to tell us the whole story.”

“Well… okay. So, as I was saying, the transformation came back. And Rose suggested we go to the Daughters…”

The next few minutes are filled with Demo catching us up on how he and Rose searched half the continent coming up empty before hearing a rumour about Vort Comlin and their doll fodder shipments. Then they tracked one of the shipments to the Daughters. There was a misunderstanding, but Rose’s mother showed up. As one of the daughters.

Demo admits he couldn’t stop laughing at Rose carrying his mother around on his shoulder.

There was an entire rebellion within the Daughters’ hidden colony, led by Folthka, Demo and Rose. They even challenged the existing leadership to a duel. Of wits. Which was won before the entire tribe of Daughters.

“…and the city is the first step in making amends. It was supposed to be a surprise for Tipan,” Demo finishes, sipping from a canteen at his waist.

“Hmm. Telkorth’s not getting those workers back, is she?” I ask as Demo hands me the canteen. I take a single whiff and hand it straight back. “That’s worse than Rufka’s moonshine.”

“Needs to be to even feel the buzz these days,” Demo grouses, taking another sip before offering it to me again, which I once more refuse. Demo shrugs, securing the clasp only for Rufka to reach past me and snag it from his hand.

Rufka gives it a tentative sip as I turn back to Demo. “When do you expect Rose to be back?”

“Any minute. He knows yeh’re here, but not all of us can teleport across the continent all willy-nilly.”

“Those are some impressive gates,” I say, pointing towards the towering pillars next to the portal.

“Fer sure. Daughters had the designs tucked away. Just one of hundreds of liberated designs,” Demo says with a sigh as his eyes drift upward to Ukila. “Can you believe there’s an entire civilization on that damn rock. Sticking it to the System from right under their nose?”

Plucking the canteen from Rufka’s hands before she can drain the whole thing, I hand it back to Demo. “Almost sounds like you admire them.”

“Living on a System world? While remaining hidden? I’d spend a hundred years learning all they could teach me. If I wasn’t elevated to a Kanteel for that, I never will,” Demo says, taking another sip from his flask.

Rufka leans over me, swiping at Demo’s flask half-heartedly as she asks, “What’s a Kanteel? Hold still, Vaus damnit!”

If Demo answers, I don’t hear it as I’m tackling Rufka to the ground. Once I have her pinned beneath me, I look up. “Sorry, I missed that. What’s a Kanteel?”

Demo raises an eyebrow, taking another sip. Rufka answers while he’s still drinking, “He just said he can’t tell us.”

“Oh. Right, I should’ve known that. No knowledge must spread or some such,” I say. “Despite you telling us about the Wedge. And dragons.”

Shrugging, Demo returns his canteen to his belt. Which is when Rufka surges forward beneath me, managing to swipe the canteen as she tosses me to the ground. She sticks her tongue out at me, twisting the cap off. Then she holds it up, a single drop falling to her tongue.

“Robbed,” Rufka states, tossing the flask at Demo. He catches it with ease, returning it to his waist with a smile.

A sudden burst of fire from Smoulder draws our attention, and I follow the arrow she has floating in the air to the space between the gates. It’s flaired open, a rainbow of colour that floats there for a few seconds before resolving into an image of an open plateau above an expansive jungle.

From between the pillars a large group of K’tharn emerge, escorted by several of Aethop’s Daughters. Instead of the Ant-hoppers I remember from our first encounter, they’re riding tall creatures that look like an elephant squished into the rough shape of a person.

“Well, those are disturbing,” Rufka notes.

“I think the Tucks are cute,” Demo states, shielding his eyes as he peers at the gate. “Ah. There he is.”

Following his gaze, I’m able to pick out a K’tharn with golden fur in a fine emerald vest and trousers. Looks like Rose is back. His outfit is embossed with golden thread, the same colour as his mane. In fact, it looks like it’s a perfect match. Amongst the less clothed labourers, his vestments make him stand out like a beacon.

Plus, he’s shorter than everyone else.

One of the dolls isn’t riding a Tuck. Instead, they’re floating in the air next to Rose. Their body is made of the same emerald green and gold embroidery as Rose’s clothes. If that isn’t Folthka, I’d be shocked.

Deciding I don’t want to wait, I teleport us closer. The returning K’tharn seem to be in good mood, laughter and general chatter audible as we pop into existence next to Rose.

He turns with a spell forming when we appear, but stops when he see me. “Lex! It’s really you!”

In what’s become a regular affair, he charges forward hitting me with a full body tackle disguised as a hug. “You’d think you people missed me or something.”

“Ha. Good to have you back Lex.”

“Met Uthica,” I tell him. Somehow it seems like the most important thing to tell him.

“Wow. What was it like, meeting your other half?”

“Humbling. She’s more awesome than I’d thought.”

Rose pulls away to stare at me. “More? More than you thought? Did she create Ukila herself?”

“Ha. No, she’s just… super cool. You know?”

Demo throws an arm over Rose’s shoulder, shaking him. “Yeh should’ve seen Rose here when we were facing the Magma-Hydra. He was the definition of cool.”

Rose is rolling his eyes as Demo pauses, tapping his lip with his toothpick. “Oh. Wait, that was me, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. You were literally cool,” Rose agrees. “Which happens when you trap yourself inside your ice-grenade’s effect.”

Demo grins, shoving Rose lightly as they walk down the ramp. “Well yeah. But that was all part of my master plan. Remember how…”

Rufka leads Midnight along, telling him about how we met Rose, back in Folthka’s secret underground research base. Smoulder sits atop his head, translating her words to an even more inaccurate version of what really happened.

Those two are a bad influence on each other.

Vaus, I love them.

I’m making to follow when a gentle hand lands on my shoulder. Turning I find a pair of emeralds staring at me. And they’re no longer emerald in colour only. Folthka’s eyes have been transformed entirely to a gemlike surface. “You have returned. This is good. My son will not be joining you.”

“Uhm. What?” I reply.

“When you return to Earth to save your people. He will remain here, with us.” Her eyes glitter as I turn to her.

“I wasn’t going to ask,” I say.

“Good. I fear he will volunteer. If he goes… he will not be happy. The family he remembers are not truly his. Perhaps…” Her hand closes and opens on my finger. “But no. He will be better here. With his people. He represents the future.”

“So… you want me to tell him he can’t go with us?” I demand, ready to throw this fool away.

“Yes. For his people,” Folthka says, nodding her cloth head. “He’s proof that pu’shaha aren’t second class citizens. If he’s lost… It’s what Uthica would want, isn’t it?”

It feels as though she’s driven a knife into my gut with those words. Looking at where Rose is laughing with Demo, I see a K’tharn walk up to him. They incline their head respectfully to him, asking him about their next task. He directs them away with a smile and a clap on their shoulder.

“Yes. You see it. Good.”

I watch her drift down the ramp, floating to join the others. Rufka looks toward me, raising an eyebrow as she waves me forward.

Taking a deep breath, I move down the ramp. It’s not how I wanted to be re-united with Rose. And while I’m not as close to him as I feel I am to Josh, I consider him a friend.

When the time comes, will I tell him no?

Or will I prove his friendship is more important, and allow him to join me?

Either way, now I know what Uthica means. Sometimes, it’s hard to have friends instead of allies.

6.64, Playing With Fire... Magic

A note from Draith

Update 3/7 for Friday, July 14, 2023.

April 30, 2024. 11:52 am.

Deciding I don’t want to do the last couple hours again, I set a new Save-point. Then I spend the next few hours re-acquainting myself with Rose and Demo, the both of them going over their many adventures from when I was in the past. So, I create another one.

Peeling a orange-like fruit, I say, “Can’t help but notice how often you both need to replace your clothes after your adventures.”

Demo glances at Rose. “Well, Rose’s interface is bugged, since he’s technically still a pet, and can’t bind equipment with his System.”

“And Demo refuses to bind anything,” Rose says, giving demo a light shove.

“Just another thing for the System to control,” Demo spits.

“You know… I might be able to help you with that Rose,” I say, taking a sip of some tart juice. Non-alcoholic.

Rose glances at where his mother is floating at another table, leaning forward. “That’d be great. But don’t you need to be leaving soon?”

“Hmm?” I look into his eyes.

“Just… I know you’re going back to Earth. You can’t afford to spend days teaching me how to work with my crippled System.”

“Oh. Did… I never mention?” I wonder, looking to Rufka. She shrugs at me as I turn back to Rose. “Should be easy to help you. I can roll back time. Plus, I don’t have a linked System anymore. With some-”

The entire table shakes as Demo spits his drink all over Smoulder. She glares at him as she explodes into a ball of fire, burning away the fluid.

He doesn’t notice, turning toward me. “Say that again.”

“What? I can roll back time. Yeah, it’s just-“

“Not that. The other part,” Demo demands, poking his finger at me.

I blink at him twice, before squinting. “I don’t have a linked System anymore?”

“How? No, that’s… never…” He sits down in his chair. “Wyonna mentioned it was broken. But I thought it was just your interface…”

Waiting in silence, Demo holds his head. His toothpick is nowhere to be seen as he turns toward me.

“Do yeh know what this means?”

Nodding, I respond, “The System can’t track me. Or control me. Also, I can go back in-”

“It means it’s possible. By the Great Sister... It’s possible to free someone from the System.” Demo gets up from the table pacing as he starts rambling, listing everything he remembers from what I’d mentioned about my System being damaged. He really doesn’t seem to care about my time-looping, solely focused on the fact I’m outside the System’s control.

But he’s missing a couple details.

“I kinda had the System’s help to break free. And I had to rebuild my soul,” I say, interrupting his rambling with an arched eyebrow.

He stops, turning to look at me.

“Or as close to a soul as I have. I actually call it my soul-scape. A place that represents my link to my body,” I say, Rufka nodding alongside.

“Just like us,” Folthka says, floating closer, her hair fluttering while her dress remains perfectly still.

“I think the System uses something similar for everyone. Just… automated,” I say, creating a copy of my old soul-scape out of water.

“That is quite similar to our mental constructs,” Folthka says, waving her hand and creating a similar construct from the surface of the stone table.

Demo’s eyes are wide as he pulls a pad out of his storage. Glancing at it as he moves around my construct, I spy images of our constructs filling the screen. Each image is accompanied by dozens of lines of text.

The next hour is filled with detailed analysis of my System’s old soul-scape, the Daughter’s version and what I’m willing to reveal of my replacement. We even make comparisons with Rose’s System.

Rufka pushes away from the table, giving me a peck on the cheek. “Love you, Lex. But I can’t handle any more. I’ll be outside, stretching my legs.”

Nodding, I watch said legs as they stride out, Smoulder hopping off the table racing after Rufka. Can’t blame her. Turning back to the table, Demo’s arguing with Folthka about whether dying is necessary to escape the System. Again.

Maybe I should go stretch my legs too.

A small wave from Rose draws my attention. I follow him to a side table, away from the excited debate.

“So, I was thinking,” He glances at Folthka and I brace myself. I still haven’t decided whether I’ll turn him down. Not sure I’m- “Could you teach me how to use all… that… to bond to my vest? This was actually woven for me by mom. I’d hate to lose it.”

I almost laugh in relief as I take him outside, teaching him the basics of infusing Twilight into his vestments using my System’s guidance to start the process. It doesn’t even take long, his System kicking in partway to simplify the process. Which makes me wonder…

I recreate the blueprint for one of the simple ability designs I bought from the System store, taking him through it. And as soon as we’re done, he’s able to confirm it’s been added to his abilities.

“That’s pretty awesome,” I say, crossing my arms as I watch him create a small stream of fire.

“You can literally shoot fire a hundred times this size. And apparently rewind time,” he says with a shake of his head. “What’s so great about me being able to copy such a weak ability?”

“Not the point,” I reply, grasping his shoulder in excitement. “Creating that effect is easy with manipulation. But it’s a simple rune structure. Not the complicated series of runes you’re using. How much can you change the effect?”

“Hmm.” Rose adjusts his hand, the stream growing thinner. Inspecting the new rune structure with Facet, I make notes for my own spells. And then I instruct him to change it again. And again.

When Rufka shows up half an hour later, we’re on our third spell. Thanks to my huge supply of options, and the ability to copy off each other, we’ve both added a sleep spell to our repertoire. For the moment it’s limited to iron-rank targets, but I’m sure I can use some processing power to improve it. And maybe spend a couple loops trading more spells with Rose. Using Rose to shore up the missing components definitely makes learning the abilities cheaper. Much cheaper.

“Hey, are you two burning things without us?” Rufka asks as she saunters up with Smoulder on her shoulder.

“We’re adding new spells to our repertoires,” Rose says, swinging a water whip about. The third of the spells we’ve tried.

Nodding, I ask, “Want to try a proper Fireball spell?”

Rose’s eyes go wide, as he nods his head rapidly. “Definitely. Ranged area spells are one of my biggest gaps.”

“Okay, so if I’m reading this right…” I trail off as I see Rufka’s grin. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just nice to see you like this again.” Rufka emphasizes her point by walking forward and booping my nose. Then she and Smoulder sit off to the side, watching Rose and I as we work through the runes for Fireball.

When he first fires off the spell, Smoulder perks up, looking into the distance then back at him, her eyes squinting. I can feel her confusion. But then Rufka gives her head-scritches and she settles back. Only to perk back up as he casts several more.

But it’s when I cast mine that she hops onto my shoulder. At first, I think she wants me to give her more pets, but she keeps booping my shoulder while sending a feeling of curiosity. It’s only as Rose casts another Fireball when she squeaks in excitement that I decipher what she wants.

Taking my time, I weave the spell, showing each step to Smoulder as I go. When I release the spell she boops me, her excitement clear through the bond.

So, I continue recasting the spell. I’ve cast it fourteen more times when Smoulder hops off my shoulder. She turns back to make sure we’re all watching. Then when neither Rose nor I begin casting, she turns back around scrunching down. Then her ears extend upward, and a ball of flame starts to form between them. It’s bigger than the fireballs, Rose and I have been casting. I glance at Rose and Rufka as it gets bigger.

“Uhm, Smoulder,” I start.

Before I finish, I can feel her satisfaction through the bond. The imbued ball of fire hurtles forward, slamming through the stone dummies we’ve been using. It continues forward melting a hole through several abandoned buildings before exploding with a force that makes Demo’s little firecrackers from earlier feel like a hiccup.

I blink as a large section of the city just… collapses.

“Smoulder…” I start, then trail off, shaking my head as she hops over to me. She’s just so… proud.

“Very good fireball. But we need to talk about damage control, I say, even as I reach back along our thread to when Rufka and her were walking up. Tugging on it, we return to when the city isn’t collapsing. Which makes Smoulder even more excited, as she realizes for the first time that me resetting time means she can burn things more than once.

Thankfully, this is immediately followed by the revelation that I can unburn things that should stay burned.

While Smoulder gets lost in her philosophical crisis, I apologize to Rose.

“Sorry. Had to rewind time by a few minutes. You didn’t miss much though. Just a giant explosion that blew up half the city,” I say, trying not to sigh as Smoulder complains that it was a really good fireball.

He raises his eyebrows, but instead of asking about the explosion, he starts questioning Smoulder about her spell structure. Which leads to the three of us working together to design an even bigger fireball.

…

I’d pretend it’s for science, but I’m getting better at not lying to myself.

After our experiments, the rest of the night passes quietly. Several times.

After a dozen loops with Rufka, Rose and I working on spells while Folthka and Demo get refined versions of their own notes, I finally receive a positive result from my castles.

The first of the patterns has finished.

But it can wait till morning. Finally ending our loops, Rufka and I enjoy the last night with Rose, catching him up on his missing spells before turning in.

Morning greets us with roaring thunder rolling through the city. When I poke my head outside, I see a Mana-storm raging overhead. But it’s blocked. As far as I can see, the energy crashes down, but doesn’t strike the city. The largest bolts seem to be drawn to spires I’d taken to be ornamental. The energy writhes down their ivory and deep burgandy surface before visibly pulsing outward in a light blue wave that highlights a near-transparent barrier stretching between the spires.

That barrier is what has been absorbing the strikes not caught by the spires, though the impact seems to be the actual source of the thunder. We gather near the gate pillars which stand silent, not even a hint of the purple and yellow runes that lit their surface the day before remain present.

When Demo shows up, I barely greet him before asking, “Where did you get those spires?”

Demo blinks at me a couple times, removing his cap and scratching his fluffy ears before turning to look at the spires shielding the city. “Those? The Daughters had the designs. And most of the materials too. Course they couldn’t build them without my expertise. System-less tech.”

“Of course,” I agree, staring at the towers. “Do you think you could build bigger ones?”

“Probably? But they don’t have the materials for it. Used most of ‘em already.” Demo sets his hat back in place as he scratches his chin. “Got a couple spares though. In case one of these goes down.”

“Hmm. Could you show me a list of materials? And send a copy to Tipan. These might be just what we need.”

“Oh. To save yehr home?” Demo asks, looking away.

I elbow him, as I respond. “That was my thought. Well, part of it. You think it won’t work?”

“Hmm. Could work. But we’d have to find the materials on Earth. Even if I get Sara spaceworthy again, he’s only got an itty bitty storage hold.” Demo holds his fingers up, barely a centimetre apart as though to illustrate just how little his ship can hold. “It’d be tough fitting the core materials for one regular tower. Never mind a complete one.”

“Damn. The Second Promise isn’t much better,” I grumble. It's big for a shuttle, sure. But not big enough to fit more than a few towers worth of parts if the Seratesa can only hold one.

“Still, I’ll give you the list. Maybe yeh have some of the parts in yehr inventory.”

Taking the list from him, I’m presented with a large number of monster parts. The first illustrates how frustrating just finding the components would be. Three Therbal hearts. Still beating.

I don’t even know what a Therbal is. Or how I’m supposed to harvest their heart while still beating. Looking up at the spires in the distance, their dark red appearance is more sinister than a moment before. I shake my head.

“Okay. I’ll admit, I’m not sure I’d want to use these to save Earth.”

“They’re just monster parts. Specific configurations of Mana,” Demo objects until I turn narrow my eyes at him. “But if you don’t want to use them, I understand. If we were back in the Spheres…”

“What? Oh, right. You can’t tell me,” I say, grinding my teeth. Then I stop. “But… you can help me adjust this, right? Maybe using ship parts I know how to make?”

Demo stares at me for a few seconds, blinking twice at the end before slowly nodding. As a grin creeps onto his face, he takes the list back from me, worrying his toothpick. “Might do, might do. Let me say, I’m glad we don’t have to rely on such grisly methods.”

“Hmm. Going through all my parts and getting you to tell me which will work will probably take a while, wouldn’t it?” I ask, staring off in the direction of the rim.

“Yep.” Demo grins, flashing his perfect white teeth.

Smiling back, I clap him on the shoulder. “I need to make a quick stop, but then… then I think I need to take a closer look at these monster parts.”

“Was hoping yeh’d say that.”

6.65, Unofficial Meatbag Ambassador

A note from Draith

Update 4/7 for Friday, July 14, 2023.

May 1, 2024. 9:06 am.

As I’m standing in the storage chamber, inspecting the tower parts, I regret taking a second helping of eggs and toast. My stomach is mostly objecting to the sight of preserved organs on principle, but it’s still objecting.

It was the right decision to come here after acquiring my Progression Pattern. Which allowed me to blast directly to Copper-10. The effect of which made processing new Attribute levels slightly cheaper, but more importantly, provides stable secondary-frameworks to expand my abilities. Which means I’ll be able to customize them even further, and it won’t cost as much Mana or processing power to do so. I don’t even need the other potential Progression Patterns.

Administrator Pandora’s Status

Framework: Cataclysm Paradox

Tier and Approximate Strength:

Approved Temporary Designation: Copper-1 > Copper-10

Core Attributes. Accuracy guaranteed with 99.7% Confidence.

Strength: 185

Constitution: 182

Agility: 209

Endurance: 204

Intellect: 239

Spirit: 233

Perception: 231

Resolve: 230

Storage: 241.3 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 7/8

Iron Resources

Progression Patterns: Standard: 106, Specialized: 24

Ascension Matrices: Standard: 92, Specialized: 1 > 32

Copper Resources

Progression Patterns: Standard: 395, Specialized: 230, Personal (Pending): 3

Ascension Matrices: Standard: 79, Specialized: 161, Personal (Pending): 1

Core Resource Abstraction

Health

Pool: 2600/2651 > 2600/2867, Edge: [309.2] > [320], Regen: (2.3/minute) > (2.4/minute)

Stamina

Pool: 2602/2706 > 2602/2922, Edge: [363.5] > [374.3], Regen: (2.4/minute) > (2.5/minute)

Mana

Pool: 4191/4393 > 4191/4789, Edge: [389.3] > [409.1], Regen: (4.4/minute) > (4.5/minute)

Focus

Pool: 3800/4396 > 3800/4792, Edge: [377.2] > [397], Regen: (4.3/minute) > (4.5/minute)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 2100/2328 > 2100/2724, Edge: [145.8] > [165.6], Regen: (725/second) > (797/second)

Matrix Ancillary Functions:

Core Framework Improvements:

Increased Facet Pool: 10/10, 10/10

Increased Facet Edge: 10/10, 10/10

Increased Facet regen: 10/10, 10/10

Framework Processing patterns:

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1, 2/2

Elemental Chakram: 3/3, 0/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2, 0/1

Shifting Tides: 1/1, 0/1

Echo of Agony: 2/2, 0/1

Entropic Shift: 1/1, 0/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 2/2, 0/1

Limits of Mortality: 1/1, 0/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1, 0/1

Anchor: 1/1, 0/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1, 0/1

Seed: 1/1

Auxiliary Processing patterns:

Lightning Warp: 1/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 1/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 3/3

Didn’t really change my current resources much, but it’ll be nice to augment my abilities. Even if I haven’t needed them as much lately. An upgraded Cataclysm would be…

Well, I’m glad that there’s already an apocalypse headed for Earth. If it blows up, totally not my fault.

Besides, if that happens, I’ll just roll back the clock.

Looking back to the organ in front of me, I push off thoughts of causing Earth’s final hour to instead concentrate on preventing said event.

I’m able to discern half of the organ’s underlying magical functions just by cycling Mana through it. Amusingly, my extensive knowledge of ship engineering is really helping. Every monster part we’ve looked at has an almost identical ship part somewhere in my giant compendium of voidcraft.

I know a lot about ships. It’s possible I know more about ships than there is to know about ships.

“This is part of ‘the Deal’, isn’t it?” I ask Demo, who’s taking notes for every monster part. Even his tools aren’t able to capture what’s happening as accurately as when I use Facet. And that’s before I get my System involved.

“Uhm. Identifying which monster parts do what? No, this is all gravy.”

“No. I mean, you’re getting some parts from them to repair your ship.”

“Oh. Yeah. Nothing here. It’s a Mana-dwemer conversion device.”

“Dwemer. Your ship uses darkmatter-H3 reactions?”

“How… yeh know more than yeh used to,” Demo says, shaking his head. “Yeh know there’s a reason we don’t call it that.”

“Sorry. But you use dwemer? Isn’t that challenging to harvest?” I ask, picking up a set of tube-like organs that may have been arteries. Really hoping they were arteries, cause the other options are very ‘ew’.

“Not outside the Mana-warped System.”

“Huh. Hey, this one’s a conduit-class F-33.”

Demo whistles, writing it down as I move on. After making it through the entire warehouse, we cycle through the parts I couldn’t identify from a simple Mana-dump. It takes us another three hours, but by the time we’re done, between the two of us we’ve identified every part used in the spire.

Then I copy it all over, reset time and hand him the results.

As Demo is blinking at a full pad of data, I look back at the warehouse.

“Now, if only I could create enough of them from raw mana in time to actually be useful,” I sigh, creating a shower stall directly in front of the warehouse. While I haven’t technically been inside the warehouse, I can almost feel all the remnants on me from our work. There is zero chance I’m going to spend the rest of the day with that feeling clinging to me.

Demo mutters a few words, but I miss them as I step into the shower for the second time today. Totally worth.

When I emerge from my shower, I find Demo already waiting to the side, his slightly floofier fur the only sign he took advantage of the conjoined stall.

“Sorry. You were saying?”

Demo doesn’t answer, just looking me over. I almost feel self-conscious, but the frown gives me a feeling he’s not excited by what he sees probably should’ve left the glamour up. “Yeh know, this world’s been a lot harder on yeh than most. I’ve never seen a person from a System world who was less than perfect.”

Sighing, I nod. “Better this than dead. And it has its perks,” I add, flexing my hand and changing the metallic design.

Demo smirks as he throws me a wink. “Yeh still look better than any Core-worlder I’ve ever seen. The steel and gold hand’s a nice touch.”

“Thanks,” I say, feeling the blush spread all the way to my ears. “You don’t look half-good… I mean… half… uhm.”

Demo’s laughter helps save me from digging myself deeper, and I decide teleportation is the better part of valour and return directly to the roof of our morning abode. Rufka and Smoulder aren’t there when I get there. But that’s fine. It gives me time to cool down. But I’m still flushed when Midnight rouses himself, and notices me beside him on the roof.

And of course he raises an eyebrow at me.

He probably felt my embarrassment! Turning away from the edge of the roof, I retreat to a hastily erected chair. It’s fine. He was just making a joke. Anti-System bias.

Thankfully, Midnight doesn’t care about any of my silly worries. He just wants a bit more to snack on.

I sight, letting him take a bit of my finger. Then I start giving him scritches. Then the traitor inquires why I’m hiding from the many tailed imitation Smoulder.

I’ve managed to wrestle him into submission by the time Rufka and Smoulder return. Rufka’s fur is a little singed behind her ear, and Smoulder’s ear is bent at a weird angle. But they both seem happy, so I just keep my mouth shut and try not to let Midnight eat any more of my hand…

I do not succeed.

Demo arrives shortly after Midnight and I call a truce. He takes his cap off, holding it in front of him. Before he’s able to utter a word, I hold a finger to his lips. “Don’t you say a word.”

He nods, but smiles when I pat his shoulder.

“Your deal is to clear the city of debris, right?”

“That’s ‘the Deal’.”

“Well, Rufka, Smoulder? What do you ladies say we give them a hand?”

Midnight raises his head, and I can feel his displeasure at being left out. “Fine, you too, Midnight.”

“It’s not that simple. Taking the plants to the jungle is part of it,” Demo objects.

“Okay. No problem. Activate the gate so I can go through once. Then we’ll get this taken care of.” We all step to the edge of the roof as I turn back to Demo. “Oh, and make sure there’s a big lunch waiting. I’m going to be so hungry, I could eat a fox.”

Then with a wink, I soar off the building Smoulder nodding seriously on my right and Rufka openly laughing on my left.

Cleaning the city goes much faster once we start helping out. Especially once I start teleporting the materials directly to the jungle that’s only six-hundred kilometers southwest.

We go a little past lunch before stopping. I’ve used up more than half my stockpile of food, turning it directly into Mana to accelerate my regeneration, but we’re finished. Mostly. There’s a few little scraps being cleaned out by the K’tharn workers, but they should be able to finish it before the day’s done.

Flying back to the Gate plaza, we’re greeted by Rose and Folthka. Folthka’s beady little eyes of emerald green watch us land, keeping her thoughts hidden within. But Rose is open with his praise. “That was amazing Lex. How did you have the Mana for that?”

“Ah. Another little trick I picked up on my trip into the past. Maybe I’ll show it to you when-“ I can practically feel Folthka’s glare trying to drill into my mind. Which makes me realize I haven’t had a direct mental projection from her. Not like that other daughter did. Turning my gaze to meet hers, I smile. “Can’t get in, can you?”

Folthka blinks, a feature I didn’t realize her model of doll came equipped with. And suddenly her floating image shatters. At a glance, not much changes. But when I look closer, I see that the stitches, buttons and gems are more, granular. Individual. And her damn eyes have pupils.

Still creepy, but not nearly as bad.

“Sorry. As I was saying, maybe I can show it to you during practice after lunch. I imagine you’ll want to make sure everything is properly cleared out,” I tell Rose, smiling at Folthka as her eyes narrow.

“That’d be useful,” Rose agrees while leading us inside, where I’m greeted by a table overflowing with food. “I know how you like to pack things away for later.”

He’s… not wrong. I move forward, sampling dish after dish while storing them away while Rufka does likewise. Smoulder simply finds a stack of roasted meat and roasts it properly and Midnight steals several bites whenever she’s distracted. There are a lot more veggies than I’ve grown used to on Akilo. A lot more.

It’s a nice change. Fifteen minutes after we start, we’ve sampled everything, storing most of it away. I’ve kept out a nice stir-fry while Rufka’s got a plate of candied meats. Meanwhile, Smoulder has expanded her selection. She has three different dishes in front of her. Including one particularly large, stuffed bird that Midnight seems to be trying to steal with middling success.

Once we’re finished our meal, I take Rose to the rim of the rift, where we go through several more of the designs I downloaded. Including one that might help me speed up creation of the Mana-structures Demo and I scanned earlier.

Once he’s used up most of his Mana, I start showing Rose how to draw Mana directly out of food. When his System stops him, interrupting the process he looks at me with a wide grin. “This is an amazing ability Lex. And we don’t even have to make it into potions or brews first.”

“Just be careful. Like I said earlier, too much Mana can be embarrassing. And probably bad for you,” I remind him.

“I remember. I’ll be careful. And speaking of being careful… Now that we’ve completed our deal, and Demo’s going to be able to get Saratesa flying again, you’re leaving, aren’t you?”

Grimacing, I nod as I shoot off a small lightning ball that bursts into a dozen smaller rings when it strikes the target. Pretty, but not that strong compared to my regular spells. Still, basically free, so I’ll take it. “Yeah. Who knows what the Reapersworn are planning. Or the Melkog. They’ve attacked me twice since I came back.”

“Rufka mentioned.” Rose tosses a rock, completely unpowered by any spell, at one of the dummies, watching it bounce off. “So, are you looking forward to going back to Earth?”

“Looking forward to seeing Sab. And healing papa.”

“But Earth, not so much?”

“It’s fine. And there’s this chicken place I want to take Rufka to. But… there’s so much out there. I can’t imagine staying on Earth. Not once we figure out a way to save it.”

“Yeah… about that,” Rose picks up another rock, tossing it away. Then he shakes himself off, standing straight as he turns back to face me. His gaze meets my own glamoured eyes, nodding as he says, “I won’t be coming with you. It’s not my place.”

I blink twice. Then I start laughing as I pull him into a hug.

“Uh, you’re not mad?” he asks, tentatively returning my hug.

“No. Not mad. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll miss having you along. But…” my eyes look past him, surveying the city in the distance. “There’s a lot to be done on Akilo. And Tipan’s amazing, but she doesn’t have the sway over the Daughters you do. Son of their leader and all.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that. What with the mind magic and all,” Rose says, but he’s smiling.

Booping his shoulder, I say, “I imagine it is. But I’m not wrong, am I?”

“Not really. No,” he admits with a shrug. “I think I’ve been elected their unofficial ambassador to the meatbags.”

“Hey!”

“What? That’s how they think of you. Us.”

I shake my head as I start shaping the next ability, one designed for constraining water spells. “Should’ve known. At least now I don’t have to feel bad about thinking of your mom as a bundle of poorly woven fiber.”

Rose snorts, but offers no other comment as he starts copying the spell structure.

We continue playing with abilities until one of the K’tharn workers comes up to Rose, informing them they’ve finished.

Returning us to the plaza, Rose goes over to Folthka with the worker while I join Rufka. She and Smoulder are playing a round of Vaus’ Champions at a nearby table, in a building that could be an outdoor diner. If there were any other patrons. Despite playing against each other, Smoulder’s purring in Rufka’s lap as she leans forward, moving her Dragon to take Smoulder’s Elementalist.

Smoulder seems to decide that means the game is over, leaping off Rufka’s lap to bounce directly onto my shoulder as I ask, “Where’d Demo go?”

Proving me wrong, Smoulder grabs her Archmage in a ring of fire, sliding it forward, a smug feeling emanating over the bond in Rufka’s direction.

Rufka chuckles as she turns to me. “The Daughters said his terms’d been fulfilled, so they’re ready to retrieve his stuff. I think he went to find you so you could-“

“There yeh are!” Demo cries, landing on a nearby building as his rocket boots cut out. “I swear yeh did that on purpose.”

“Did wha-“

“Teleporting away the moment I finally spot yeh. I’ve been looking for yeh for hours,” Demo interjects, waving his finger in my face.

“Ten minutes,” Rufka says, staring at the board, then at Smoulder then back at their board.

Demo swivels in place, pointing at Rufka instead. “It felt like hours to me.”

But she just ignores him. So he returns his attention to me. He’s already lost his momentum and when I greet him with a raised eyebrow over my starry right eye, he just completely sputters out.

Sighing, Demo flicks his toothpick away as he says, “Fine. I came to ask yeh for a favour anyway.”

“Well, I was hoping to ask for you to carry some stuff home. So maybe we can trade?” I reply, giving him a nudge.

“Ha. Fair point. I guess yeh’ll owe me a couple more favours.”

Taking his shoulder in my steel and gold hand, I look him directly in the eyes. “If you can help me save Earth, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

Demo’s grin gets as wide as I’ve ever seen it as he clasps my shoulder in return. “Oh. I don’t know about that.”

He looks over at Rufka, then up at the starless evening sky. “Might just take yeh a little while.”

6.66, When Hell Freezes Over

A note from Draith

Update 5/7 for Friday, July 14, 2023.

May 1, 2024. 1:13 pm.

Taking a moment to join Demo in looking upward, I notice Ukila barely peeking over the horizon. The evening sun casts it in dark red, and I can’t help but wonder if the Reapers still have their little base there.

In fact…

“Hey Demo, are you able to get to Ukila with Saratesa?”

“Shouldn’t be a problem once I get the converter. Why? Yeh want to make a pitstop along the way?” he asks, elbowing me as he adds. “I’ll just add it to your tab.”

I smile back at him, then at Ukila. The coordinates for Uthica’s sphere still firmly engrained in my mind.

Part of me is tempted to teleport him straight there. But I don’t want to go until we’re ready. Investigating their base could be dangerous. And I’d rather have him around to check things out. Who knows what he might notice that I’d have no reference for.

Though with Ukila’s verdant forests and jungles, at least food shouldn’t be a problem.

“Was thinking you could pick me up, actually,” I tell Demo as I turn away, moving to watch the rest of Rufka and Smoulder’s game.

I’m just in time to catch Smoulder’s final move, her ears only twitching slightly as Rufka leans back, glaring at the board.

“Astra’s Stride is better,” Rufka declares before glancing up at me with a smile. “Hey Lex. What do you think?”

I get a surprisingly clear agreement from Smoulder. “Yes, little sister. Which move-move do you like? Color spheres or mini-sisters?” The accompanying images make it plain that Smoulder color spheres refers to Astra’s Stride and mini-sisters refers to Vaus’ champions. It’s also clear that Smoulder prefers Vaus’ champions.

“Uhm. Can I decline to answer?” I ask, while backing away slowly and trying not to let anything leak over my bonds to either of them.

“What? You mean it’s not Astra’s Stride?” Rufka asks, her smile dropping away to be replaced by a small frown as she looks down at the board again. “But this is a horrible game for practicing magic.”

“Better for hide-fight-run skills,” Smoulder states, nodding her head with confidence. And managing to project the words using her flames. It causes a low and warbly voice that I would’ve found intimidating back on Earth.

Demo starts laughing, causing both to turn and glare at him. And saving me from having to answer. Which is good, cause despite how thoroughly Uthica beat me at it, I do prefer Vaus’ Champions. Which I’ll tell Rufka later, when she hasn’t just lost a game. Maybe after she beats me at Astra’s Stride.

“I hope we’re not interupting anything important,” Folthka says as she and Rose join us.

“Just a debate about whether strategy or magical training is more important,” Demo says, inclining his head toward her slightly.

Folthka nods. “Clearly they’re both important. Magical training develops your inherent strength and skill while strategic training ensures you’re alway in the most optimal place to make use of those skills.”

Rufka rolls her eyes while Smoulder’s flames start licking up over her ears. Both glare at Folthka.

At this, Folthka smiles, adding, “That said. I’ve always preferred Astra’s Stride myself. More room for maneuvering.”

“And it’s better for groups. Better for socialization,” Rufka adds, a smile spreading across her face.

“We have heard some pretty good stories from Roberts while playing Astra’s Stride,” I agree.

“Which is why Vaus’ Champions is the better game,” Demo notes, interrupting Rufka as she’s raising her hands in the air.

“Sorry, what?” Rufka asks, her head tilted to the side as she stares at Demo. “How?”

“Because yeh’re able to ignore the game while still having a reasonable chance of success at it. A true game should require focus and thought.” Demo says, his grin wide. Smoulder gives a sharp nod in agreement as flames burst forward, moving to pack away the pieces. I watch in bemusement as she struggles to use fire for what would be a simple task with almost any other element.

“I think that’s just a different preference in games,” I finally say, causing Rufka to shift her gaze from Demo to me. “It doesn’t mean it’s a better game. Which is why I can’t say which is better. They’re both good in different ways.”

Smoulder stops packing the Dragon, dropping it on the ground as she tilts her head, joining Rufka in her staring. Then they shake their heads at me as Rufka helps Smoulder pack the pieces away, making much better time using hands instead of flames.

“Yeh tried,” Demo consoles me, a hand on my shoulder.

“You know the unfortunate part?” I ask him as Rose appears on my other side. Demo shakes his head as I say, “We’re gonna be stuck playing those games with them all the way to Earth.”

Demo stares at me as though I just slapped him and insulted his mother. Then he laughs. “Good thing I’m going to have my own ship.”

I stare at him for a long second before asking, “Are you trying to tell me you’re not bringing anyone else? At all?”

Demo’s laughter dies down and he just gives me a small shrug. “It’s an exploration ship, designed for a single Phothean. Not one of those luxury cruise boats the Thenites send between their colonies. You’re lucky I have any free space.”

Folthka clears her throat, which is all the more attention grabbing as she doesn’t have one. “As amusing as all this is. We’re here to conclude ‘the Deal’. If you would accompany me, we shall retrieve the converter.”

Demo nods, and I inform Rufka who acknowledges me and tells me to have fun but otherwise ignores me as she and Smoulder have a debate across our bonds. It’s getting surprisingly complex, with both of them using a combination of mental images and words. Thankfully, I’m able to tune them out mostly by keeping their thoughts flowing between their own connections.

Mostly.

Folthka guides us toward the gate. Several of the runes along the pillars flash and change as she stares at it. Once she’s replaced the top three runes on each pillar, a much smaller gate flashes open. Through the transparent door is a frigid wasteland, snow coming down so thick it’s nearly impossible to see.

“Let us secure the converter for Demo,” Folthka says, floating ahead of us. “And then you can see your room for yourself.”

The glacial temperatures on the far side of the gate barely tickle my nose, despite the complete lack of sunlight to warm us. Rose, Demo and I stand looking at Folthka as the gate winks out behind us.

“Stay close. Do not speak loudly. Do not use sophisticated magic. Do not fly. And most importantly, do not deviate from my path,” Folthka instructs us, landing on Rose’s shoulder. Then without further instruction he treks forward through the snow into the swirling darkness.

Glancing to Demo, I shrug, receiving a frown and a nod in return. While pushing through the snow, I use my most basic version of Twilight-enhanced vision to inspect the landscape. Even so, all I’m able to make out are the rough forms of several low dunes or hills and a single spire. It’s difficult to be certain, but the area around the spire seems free of the worst of the storm.

Which is where Folthka leads us, though not directly. First, we’re forced to trudge behind her, detouring up and over one of the low hills. Which expands my view, but not by much. There’s still nothing but snow and ice.

Continuing down, she leads us past a low rise where the wind suddenly cuts out. A trail no more than a meter wide and bare of snow and ice is hidden in the leeward side. Dark burgundy runes engraved along its length illuminate a winding path leading toward the spire.

Rose stops, not turning to look toward us as Folthka says, “Do not step off the path.”

Resisting the urge to turn to Demo again, I follow behind keeping my hands to myself as I study the runes. With the wind dead, I can just barely hear Demo mutter, “This isn’t what I expected when she said it was being kept in cold-storage.”

A slight smile touches my lips as we continue along the path, the storm raging less than a meter overhead. Part of me wants to ignore Folthka’s warnings. To just fly out into the storm, embrace it. As if inviting me to dance, figures form within the ice.

More hound than humanoid, they flit above our heads circling around us. More and more gather as we approach the dome. It’s only as we pass beneath the area shielded by the spire that they turn away.

Once we’re all inside, Rose turns toward us, a tight smile on his face as Folthka flies ahead. “Sorry bout that. The Daughters prefer to avoid harming the Frostlings unless necessary.”

“Wait, so all her instructions weren’t to keep us safe?” I ask, following Rose up the narrow path toward the top of the rise.

“Hardly. There’s not a Frostling alive that could hurt a Copper-Rank. But they can be injured just from our body temperature. Or loud noises.”

“Well, could have told us about them before we came,” Demo grouses, shaking off his cap before resettling it on his head.

Folthka turns, staring at Demo. “We were being observed by a hundred strange K’tharn. The Frostlings are delicate beings. And K’tharn would kill them for their essence shards alone.”

“Not all K’tharn are like that, mother,” Rose says, sighing.

She turns to him, her gem-eyes softening as she runs her hand through his hair. “I know, my son. But there are enough that we must take care.”

Rose turns away, his ears flicking back as he says, “Anyway. We’re here. Shall we get Demo’s converter?”

“Aye. I’d be quite happy to get my hands on it,” Demo agrees.

Folthka nods, flying ahead of us over the rise. Hidden in a small valley is a building of ice blocks. But not the smooth ice structure I would’ve expected if they’d been made from magic. Instead, it looks as though the blocks were transported here then fit into place.

When we reach the entrance, it’s sealed by hundreds of icicles. A frozen maw of jagged teeth blocking our path. Folthka chants to herself for a second and the lower ice-teeth retract into the ground while the entire upper portion of the tunnel lifts itself. Even so, they barely leave enough room for us to fly through.

The moment we’re inside, the teeth snap closed and for a brief second I feel cold absolute enough to penetrate my resistances. But then it’s gone, having not even done any Health damage.

Folthka leads us down an icy hallway, stopping at several places to stare into the ice wall as we pass. Inspecting the first spot she stopped, I discover a very mechanical arm frozen in the ice. It’s little more than a pair of parallel metal rods with swivel joints and a pincer claw in place of a hand.

There are several more simple but mechanical items frozen within the walls. But more grisly treasures as well. Much like the organs in their other warehouse. I scan them all.

After dozens of stops, Folthka finally draws to a halt.

We gather around her as she taps the surface of the wall. There’s a hiss as steam rises from thin lines around the edge of a doorway. The ice in the center folds to the side as Folthka takes us inside, revealing dozens of objects that had been invisible from the hallway. Hmm. Wonder how much more I missed. She stops in front of one at the far end. “Here it is. Mana-Dwemer converter. S-12 class. As promised.”

It’s as tall as I am, a cylinder with tubes, dials and more than one strange spike. Exactly what I’d expect from an S-12 class Mana-Dwemer.

“Hmm. Bigger than I was expecting. And I’ll need a few adapters. But this should do nicely.” Demo says, kneeling next to it.

“Remember, you shouldn’t teleport it or place it in storage. You might-“

“De-stabilize it. Or knock off the calibration. Though I’ll have to run it through a re-calibration anyway.” Demo looks to me with a smile. “Help me carry it back?”

“Sure. But am I able to use magic to carry it? I thought we didn’t want to hurt the Frostlings.”

At this, all three of them laugh.

“What?”

“Try picking it up,” Rose suggests.

I walk over to the cylinder, looking at it carefully before finding a handle on the side. Its a little awkward to hold, but I’m able to lift the entire converter with a single hand. “Huh. Not as heavy as its specs said.”

“Oh. It’s definitely heavy,” Demo says, pointing at the floor where it was resting, cracks spreading out in a web. “You’re just strong enough it doesn’t matter.”

“Whoa,” I say as I tilt it back and forth, trying to get a sense for it’s balance.

“Yes. Whoa, please be careful with that,” Folthka says.

“Yeah, I only just paid for it,” Demo says, clapping me on the shoulder. “Yeh know it’d be impolite to break my new toy.”

“Sorry,” I say, holding it at my side while ensuring I don’t bump anything. “But hey, wouldn’t take me long to build you a new one. Couple hours at most. It’s actually pretty simple.”

Demo narrows his eyes at me as he squeezes my shoulder. Then he just shakes his head with a laugh. “No harm done. Now, what say we get back to… wait, when yeh said no teleporting it… does that include yehr gate?”

“Of course not. The gates are designed to minimize interference.” Folthka reassures him while gesturing us to vacate the room.

She re-seals the room while I hold the converter in front of me, trying not to bump anyone. Or to touch the floor. The real challenge comes when I have to squeeze it through the teeth without bumping them.

I spend three minutes maneuvering it through, only rotating it by a fraction of a centimeter at a time until it pulls free.

Looking at Folthka, I ask, “How did you even get it in there?”

Folthka points at one of the teeth and it begins to melt. “Very slowly.”

With that we return back through the shielded path and over the hill. Now that I know they’re there, I see the Frostlings dancing in the storm as we gather near the gate. More than once I have to move the converter to the side as one dives toward it.

We wait for five minutes, and yet the gate still hasn’t opened. Right as I’m turning to Folthka to ask what’s happening, the gate flares to life.

With a nod, Folthka waves us through.

I’ve barely put down the converter when Smoulder slams into my stomach, her eyes glaring at me while she projects a combination of worry and anger at me.

When I’ve finally settled her down, I find Rufka glaring at me as well.

Well, at least they’re not arguing anymore.

6.67, Into The Phothen's Den

A note from Draith

Update 6/7 for Friday, July 14, 2023.

May 1, 2024. 2:42 pm.

“You left us here to go halfway around the world,” Rufka says, her arms crossed in a manner that is eerily similar to the way Letonga used to. Totally doing that on purpose.

“I told you I was going,” I point out, looking to Demo and Rose for support. Thankfully, I receive a nod from Rose.

“She said it right to yehr face. You even said she should have fun,” Demo confirms.

Rufka frowns, glancing at Smoulder as she uncrosses her arms. “I don’t remember you mentioning going halfway across Akilo though.”

Looking to Folthka, I say, “I didn’t realize we were going halfway across Akilo.”

“Nope. That detail was omitted. As were several others,” Demo states as he claps Rufka on the shoulder. “By our host though, not Lexi. So feel free to direct yehr ire her way. For all the good it’ll do yeh.”

Smoulder does glare at Folthka, who winces back at my little ball o’doom’s attention, but Rufka’s ears fold back in embarrassment. “I was worried, that’s all.”

“And I love you for it,” I say, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Now what do you say we get this thing to Demo’s ship so we can get flying?”

Before Rufka can respond, Demo says, “I like the way yeh think Lexi. But I think it’ll be faster to bring Sara back here.”

“Wait, your ship’s not here? Where’d you leave her?”

“She’s back with Rufka’s friend Theria. You remember her, right?”

“Uh yeah. I remember Theria,” I answer, holding up my steel and gold hand. As I stare at it, I cycle it through water, air then fire while flexing it. Theria was there when I first lost my hand. And helped me get it under control.

“That’s where you parked your ship?” Rose asks, his jaw dropping. “I thought you left her down in the swamp where we pulled her out.”

“Sorry Buddy. But there was no way I was leaving Sara where the Daughters knew about her. No offence,” Demo addresses the last to Folthka.

She merely nods as she replies, “None taken. I believe our business is concluded for the moment, Mr. Demo. If you have further need of us, you know how to contact my son.”

Rose gives the doll a hug that looks like it’ll crush Folthka, but she survives it fine. Cause she’s obviously not as fragile as she looks.

Then she’s gone.

“What say you give me a ride to Theria’s then? We can be back inside an hour. Assuming Sera’s not being moody.”

“I’m coming with you this time,” Rufka states, glaring at me as if I’d refuse.

Smoulder nods seriously beside her. When I glance to where Midnight’s been napping, he just raises an eyebrow. He wasn’t worried. He knew he was only a few seconds away.

Shaking my head, I smile at them. “Cool. Rose, you coming too?”

“Not this time. Too much to do here,” he says, stepping forward and giving me a hug.

“Can you wrap that up?” Demo asks, pointing to the converter that’s still sitting just to the side of the gate. A few quick motions and I have it firmly entrenched in a new case of stone, steel and liquid fire.

“Everybody packed?” I ask, not waiting for an answer, whisking us away.

The four of us arrive standing in the same ring of stones where I first arrived on Akilo. I could’ve gone straight to Theria’s, but I wanted to visit one last time before we leave.

Though, looking around the clearing, I realize that while I’ve returned with four people, not one of them are the among those I first woke up beside. They’re all hurtling toward Earth without me. Possibly with Reapersworn among them.

“Let’s get to Sara. She’s at Theria’s, you said?” I ask, turning to Demo who gives me a shrug.

I give him the ol’ ‘gaze of the heaven’s’ eye treatment and he quickly adds, “Sera’s actually tucked away South of Genitha’s cabin. Close enough Theria can keep an eye on her for me. But far enough away no one’s likely to find her.”

“Well, point me in the right direction.”

“Best to go back to Genitha’s cabin first.”

“Done,” I say, teleporting us directly over Genitha’s cabin. Everyone hangs in the air as I ask, “Okay, where next?”

Demo scratches his head as he scans the woods to the south. Then after a few seconds he points. “There. Just between those-“

His words are interrupted as I teleport us once more.

“Trees. Yep, this is the spot.”

Demo descends, parting the trees we landed above. His ship must be camouflaged, cause I don’t… wait… “Did you bury it?”

“Yep. Only way to keep her from being spotted too easy. Yeh want to give me a hand digging her out?” he asks, as he digs a thick pad out of his inventory. Turning a dial, he causes bright yellow lines to shine, highlighting the outline of his ship. “If yeh’re careful, you should be able to move the highlighted sections without hurting the foilage too much.

Following his direction, we excavate the Seratesa, which comes out remarkably clean.

She stands larger than any vessel I’ve seen on Akilo. Most buildings too. She must be at least the size of a cruise ship. But most of that’s her engines. Engines designed to work without Mana.

Very, very expensive. Some of the components I can’t even create.

“Pretty sure it wasn’t that clean when we dug her out of the swamp,” I say, inspecting the hull.

“Nope. But half her systems were offline. Now her structural shielding is working properly,” he explains as he press a big solid button that causes the ramp to descend.

Turning to him, I arch an eyebrow. “Structural shielding keeps it clean?”

“Sure. It prevents structural weakness. Preventing the hull from degrading is an important part of that,” Demo says as he leads us up the ramp. “Sera, say hello to our guests.”

“Hello, guests,” a deep masculine voice greets us. Which I’ll admit, isn’t what I was expecting.

“So, you got your AI working? Didn’t you say you’d need to get back to Phothean space to repair it properly?”

“Yeah. Still true. Only got the voice recognition working. And not even Sera’s true voice. Had to settle for a second rate, military standard voice sample,” Demo says, his tails flicking back and forth in sharp motions. He sighs, turning to me, “Wish I’d had more time with Wyonna before they left. She probably coulda fixed her up properly.”

I pull him into a side hug as I steer him further up the ramp. “I’m sure she’ll help once we catch up. Just need to get there first.”

“Aye. Good idea. Oh, and if you want to catch a ride, there’s a room down this hall. Third door on the left,” Demo says before darting the opposite direction. Tempting as it is to check what a Phothen guest room is like, I follow Demo instead.

When I reach the cockpit, he’s already in the pilot’s chair, flipping switches that are just as solid as his remote. Taking one of the crash chairs behind him, I ask, “So, how long until she’s ready to fly?”

“Checking that now. Shouldn’t be long since her structural shields held.”

Rufka plops down in my lap, despite a perfectly functional chair next to me. When Smoulder settles into Rufka’s lap, I know my fate is sealed. At least for the next five minutes, anyway.

With my elemental hand giving Smoulder head-scritches and my other hand giving Rufka head-scritches I watch Demo work until he turns in his chair saying, “Okay, everything looks good. I just… D’awww.”

I try to level a glare at him, but I’m suffering a minus twenty cuteness modifier to my intimidation attempt. So he just laughs.

“You were saying,” I remind him while continuing my head-scritching regimen.

“Just need to do a manual check on the engines. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Why don’t you wait here.” He laughs again as he dashes out of the cockpit.

Demo returns to the cockpit ten minutes later, Smoulder and Rufka both asleep in their respective chairs when he arrives. “Huh. Yeh should strap them in. Atmospheric flight isn’t the smoothest.”

Nodding at him, I move to follow his advice, securing Rufka in her crashseat while moving Smoulder into my soul. Then I take my own position just behind him. The ship shakes as a low whine pierces the cabin.

"Okay Sera, let’s just…” Demo mumbles, his hands flicking across the console until he stops, resting his hand on a thick double-stick lever. Taking a breath, he eases the lever forward and the whine climbs in pitch, stuttering for a second before transitioning to a hum.

“Good, good,” Demo says, flashing me a grin. And then a thunk-thunk shakes the entire ship. Demo’s grin is gone as he scrambles at the controls again. “It’s fine. Everything is…”

The thunking stops as Demo pushes the lever forward even further and the trees outside the viewport suddenly disappear behind us.

“Fine,” Demo finishes as I glance at Rufka. She hasn’t so much as stirred, though Smoulder has reemerged from my soul, staring out at the rapidly moving trees. It makes her uncomfortable, but she acknowledges that we’re going to be flying much higher soon.

Sending Smoulder a burst of reassurance, I lean back in my chair, watching the world disappear beneath us as we ascend. From my window, I can make out Vaus’ Peaks which we rapidly rise above.

A herd of the giant dinosaur-like Zanbia disappears as fast as I spot them.

“See, all fine,” Demo says a few minutes after launch.

Pulling my eyes from the distant surface of Akilo, I turn to Demo. “So… can she go faster?”

His answering grin is just enough warning for me to lean back into the seat as the ship lurches forward. It only lasts for a few seconds before a whine penetrates the cabin and Demo eases back on the lever.

“Poor Sera’s in rough shape,” Demo explains, glancing over his shoulder before returning his attention to the console.

I nod, despite the fact he can’t see me. Instead of noting how fast the Second Promise is able to go, I say, “Still badass though.”

The rest of the flight is peaceful, not so much as a blip of turbulence before we’re landing next to the gate where we left the converter.

As I’m reaching over to shake Rufka awake, Demo grabs my hand. “No point waking her. She can’t help anyway.”

“Uh. Rufka’s way better at enchanting than I am,” I point out, but I stop reaching for her.

“Yeh’re probably right. Doesn’t matter. I won’t let either of em in engineering.”

“Oh.” I say, brushing Rufka’s hair. “Wait, but you’ll let me in?”

Demo looks at me for several long seconds before nodding. “Yeah. Yeh’re welcome in the engine room. So long as yeh listen to my orders. And don’t expect answers to yehr questions.”

“Deal,” I declare, extending my hand. “I’m still gonna ask.”

“Yep. Figured yeh would. Still, before we go. I need yeh to promise yeh won’t tell anyone anything about what you see inside,” he presses, taking my hand in his, staring me in the eyes.

“I promise. I won’t tell anyone about anything I see inside. Or anything you tell me about the Phothen.”

“Let’s get to it then. With luck, we’ll be able to get ‘er done by morning.”

Nodding, I head outside, retrieving the converter from its cage of steel and stone before bringing it inside.

When Demo escorts me to the engine room, he pauses at the entrance looking at me one more time. Then he kicks the bottom of the door while keeping both hands pressed on the middle. The door jerks upward, revealing a small room I’m assuming is an airlock. Then again, with Demo’s desire to keep things private, it might just be to prevent prying eyes.

As the first door closes, Demo turns to me. “This might be uncomfortable. Need to keep Mana levels low when we’re working on the engine.”

Nodding, I brace myself as a whirring noise fills the small space, the air cycled out of the room as the ambient Mana-levels drop. But they’re still higher than inside the Silver-Bullets of the Builder’s cities, so it’s not too bad.

When the second door jerks open, Demo leads me through a cramped passageway with cables secured to the walls by rough brackets and bits of loose materials scattered on the ground.

Shaking my head as I look at the obvious signs of repair, I say, “Still can’t believe you rebuilt most of this yourself, without magic.”

“Just glad Akilo has the old System standard parts. Would’ve been hell trying to adapt modern System components. Too much Integration,” Demo says, ducking under a cable and holding it up as I pass underneath. “Right over there. Next to the pedestal.”

Following his directions, I set the converter in place. It takes us nearly five minutes to line it up properly. And then another three hours attaching cables, hoses, clamps and one large round turnwheel. No clue what it’s for, but Demo was very insistent it needed to be connected just like the rest. Despite his earlier protests, Demo answers several of my questions about how the converter works. Technical details like why it needs a ratio of 16.3 Mana to 1 Dark matter when using Mana as part of the fuel mix.

Having it as an option greatly reduces the fuel costs when inside Mana-permeated space.

And the ratio creates an ideal reaction rate, maximizing engine thrust without exceeding safety limits. He admits that he’s mostly guessing on the parameters for safety.

With the converter in place, he takes me back to the airlock. “Thanks Lex. I need to run through a few more tests, but yeh don’t need to stay for that. Yeh should grab some sleep.”

Nodding, I step into the airlock. “We’re really doing it, aren’t we? We’re going to leave Akilo.”

“Sure are.” Demo nods as the door begins to jerk shut. Then he adds under his breath just as the door closes. “Right as soon as I figure out how to get passed the System shield locking us in.”

6.68, Past the Barrier

A note from Draith

Update 7/7 for Friday, July 14, 2023.

May 1, 2024. 5:21 pm.

Staring at the blank door leading back into Saratesa’s engineering area, I shake my head. Of course we need to get out of the System’s little lockdown mode. Wonder if Midnight can sidestep that? Or if I can teleport straight through?

Even as I’m considering my options, I head straight back to the cabin. But instead of going to sleep, I rouse Rufka from where she’s napping with Smoulder. She stares up at me, a frown on her face. “What?”

“How did Beth make it past the barrier?”

“What barrier?” Rufka asks, stretching out slowly, careful not to disturb Smoulder.

“The one around the Akilo System. The one that blocks out the stars,” I say, pacing back and forth.

“Uh. I think the Builder ships just… went through. Wasn’t involved in that. Ask Tipan, maybe?”

Turning, I stare at her. “I would, if I could message her.”

“Oh. Right. One second,” Rufka shifts back and forth, working her way to a more upright position one movement at a time. She’s adjusting a pillow she’s pulled from storage when she stops. After three seconds, she starts fiddling with the pillow again as she says, “Tipan says she’s been looking into it. And she might have something figured out. But there’s a minor problem.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. We need to get to Ukila first.”

Staring at her, I can’t help but chuckle. “Rufka, you do realize we can fly there, right? Or teleport? I can literally get us there in seconds.”

“Forgot bout that. How long until we’re back in… wherever we found Rose?” she asks, glancing over to where Smoulder remains curled up on her bed. No need to wake her. Not yet. “Oh. Tipan’s saying it’d be best if we returned to Mount Smoulder first.”

“Wait. That’s actually the name of the mountain?” I ask, squinting at Rufka.

“Yep! Great idea, right?”

Laughing, I shake my head as I plop into her lap. "I’ll tell Demo. Right as soon as he gets here.”

“Hmm. Sounds good,” Rufka says as she plays with my hair.

I’ve almost drifted off when Demo pokes his head into the cockpit. He pulls back, but it’s too late. “I see you,” I call out in a wavy voice.

“Ah. Didn’t want to disturb yeh. Yeh looked comfy,” Demo says, stepping into the room.

Rufka yawns, as she waves at him. “It’s fine. Talked to Tipan, and she’s looking for a way out. Has a possible lead, but she needs more time.”

“Good. I’m gonna talk to Rose, see if the Daughters know anything,” Demo is already walking down the hall as I set a new save-point before pushing out of Rufka’s lap.

Which prompts Rufka to groan as she follows after me. We race down the ramp into the quiet city, and I stop to stare at the sky. For a second, I swear I can see the stars. But then they’re gone again, only the shining surface of Ukila remaining.

We don’t dwell there long, tracking Rose down. We find him playing a game of Vaus’ Champions with his mother, several empty dishes scattered nearby.

“Guess we missed dinner,” I say, as Folthka moves her Challenger.

Narrowing his eyes at the board, Rose says, “You know I saved you some.”

“You’re too kind.” My words are met by Rose waving a steaming bird with three types of sauce into existence. Which I immediately split with Rufka as Demo starts questioning Folthka about ways out of the shield.

“Three ways out. Through the portal, authorization to leave or…” Folthka pauses, her fluffy cloth hand hovering over several pieces as she turns to look at us. “Or you can bring it down. Your friends already weakened it when they took the old anchors.”

“What happens if the shield falls,” Rufka asks, taking one of the large drumsticks for herself.

Folthka turns, her eyes only passing over Rufka for a second before settling on me as she answers. “The System will return to Akilo. In full.”

“What do you mean return? We have the System,” Rufka asks, balancing on her chair as she glances at me. “Don’t we?”

“Not exactly,” Demo chimes in. “Yeh have an old copy of the System. Less up to date. By a few centuries. Not as intrusive.”

“Okay. So, let’s just… not do that then,” I say.

“Which leaves the other two methods. Through the portal, accessible for the first time in decades with the fall of the Aetherium,” Folthka says, her emerald eyes sparkling in the late Ukila-light. “Or you can get System-level authorization.”

“Well, I doubt Tipan’s thinking about going through the portal. Not if she thinks…” Rufka trails off, staring at Folthka who’s turned to her. “Right. Anyway, the portal only opens once in an Astra’s Void. Basically off the table from the start.”

“Except it will open within a few days,” Folthka says, turning back to her game of Vaus’ Champions and taking Rose’s Dragon.

“Still a non-starter. Can’t take Sera through the portal. She’s too big,” Demo objects. But he’s staring at Folthka. “But you know that.”

“Hmm. If only you had a spatial mage powerful enough to collapse your ship to the size of a teacup,” Folthka says, smiling at Rose as he manages to take her Archmage with an archer.

Demo glances at me, to which I shrug. “I might be able to do it. Though I’ve never tried. Not without expanding something right away. It’d take some experimenting.”

“We’ll keep it in mind,” Rufka says, rising from the table. “But I think we should get some sleep. Tipan will have more in the morning.”

“And besides,” Folthka says as we’re walking out the door. “Your friends had System access. Maybe you do too?”

Stopping, I look to Demo and Rufka. She might be right. Not that we can tell her, thanks to the System’s restrictions on Citizen information sharing. But… why would we need to go to Ukila? “Guess we need to talk to Tipan.”

“Tomorrow,” Rufka insists, dragging me outside where we find Smoulder and Midnight waiting for us. Well, waiting for us might have been their original intention, but now they’re debating the finer points of fireballs vs invisibility.

Surprisingly, they’re doing it non-destructively, using small spells to challenge each other.

As cute as it is, we decide to leave them be, settling in for a peaceful night. Or twelve. By the time the real morning rolls around, Smoulder and Midnight have elevated their theory crafting to the point where they’re using the Library to look up words to continue their debate.

It’s as Smoulder says, “Hidey-spell is good at avoiding incineration, but not when hottest-fire is indiscriminate,” that I realize they’re getting very involved. Also, that Smoulder’s vocabulary might exceed mine soon.

Scary thought.

During the same loop, my processing finally succeeds in creating an Ascension Matrix that should be compatible with my Framework.

When Rufka finds out I’m ready to become Silver, she goes quiet for several seconds. Then she leans her head on my shoulder. “Do you… think you could move me to your System?”

“I… huh,” I reply with maximum eloquence.

Prodding my System, it brings up examples of bestowing a crude System on Letonga. And everything I’ve learned from our work with Rose and studying soul-scapes.

It… would be a heck of a project. My System calculates that I’d be able to reach Gold for the amount of processing power and Mana required.

“So, good news, bad news,” I tell Rufka as I look over the results.

“Oh?”

“Good news is yes. Bad news is, it’ll take like…” I do the math, squinting into the distance. “Assuming all my castles keep running, and we’re able to use all that Mana to fuel the process. It’d take three months to convert you.”

“Wow,” Rufka says, her head resting against my shoulder.

Hmm. Why was Letonga’s so much easier?

“Damn,” I say, as I poke at a few variables.

“What?”

“It’d be cheaper if you weren’t integrated. Could probably do it in three days. But then it’d take a week to get you up to upper Copper,” I say, rubbing my chin on the top of her head. “And that’s assuming we loop all the processing.”

“Oh. Yeah, we don’t have that much… seriously, only a week?” Rufka asks, tilting her head back.

“There’s a lot of Mana coming out of the rift,” I reply with a shrug. “Technically, if we had proper condensing arrays, it’d be way more. Like, a couple orders of magnitude. But the castles are super cheap and easy to build. Mana-condensers are not.”

“Ha, don’t have to tell me that,” Rufka says, and I smile.

“Right. Master enchanter,” I say, kissing the top of her head. “I still don’t get why… oh.”

“What?”

“Most of that cost is just disconnecting you from the System safely, and without it throwing up a dozen alerts about what we’re doing.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that if we leave System space, I can do it in a day. And you’ll still be as strong as you are now. Maybe a bit stronger.”

“Huh. That’s not so bad. Good thing we’re going to Earth, huh?” Rufka asks, leaning back and giving me a big grin.

“Yep. Now, I think I’m ready to break into Silver.”

“You’ve always been Silver,” Rufka says, leaning her head against me. “To me, anyway.”

“You know, I distinctly remember you pointing an arrow at me when we first met,” I reply as I teleport us to the castle with the successful Ascension Matrix.

“Bah, that hardly counts. Besides, you’re the one who believed that jam was blood,” Rufka snorts, shaking her head.

Even as I scan over the Ascension Matrix, I roll my eyes. “In my defence, I knew almost nothing about your culture except that your ancestors used to eat your dead, Uthica was kickass, and most K’tharn didn’t value pu’shaha.”

Not technically true, since I picked up a lot of other culture during Uthica’s earlier lessons. But true enough.

“Yep. Totally silly. Eating our dead. Still hard to believe that one,” Rufka replies shaking her head.

“So, time for my upgrade,” I say after confirming that it should do everything it’s supposed to. Which is mostly improving my Framework’s stability even further, allowing me to push myself higher with less risk.

Rufka doesn’t reply, simply nodding against my shoulder. With one last thought, I send reassurance across my bond to Smoulder and Midnight. Even if my System is mostly sure this will work out perfectly, it still only states that with a 99.5% certainty.

“System Ascension Ready. Proceed with Ascension to Silver?”

Taking a deep breath, I confirm.

A note from Draith

And just a teenie cliff for the last chapter of the day. Tomorrow's is already done, and will be up at the usual time.

6.69, Very Nice

May 2, 2024. 1:06 am.

The Ascension Matrix glows within my soul-scape, and the hope-tree responds.

Right, probably should’ve seen that part coming.

My entire soul-scape is lit up with golden light, which is a little weird, since I’m ascending to Silver, but I decide to withhold comment.

Once more, the process is a little more hands on than it was with the old System. Instead of waiting for my System to rewrite my being, I’m down in the trenches, lending my own not-inconsiderable analytic power to the process. It’s somewhat similar to the original growth of the sapling, except now everything is much more responsive. And there’s a plan.

Despite requiring my attention for nearly an hour, everything goes smoothly.

I’m soon able to exit my soul-scape, and bestow a kiss to Rufka’s head. Or at least that had been my plan. Despite everything going well inside my soul-scape, it seems I should’ve laid down in the real world first.

Still, waking up in Rufka’s lap is hardly the worst thing in the world.

A quick look at my Status confirms that I’m now Silver.

Administrator Pandora’s Status

Framework: Cataclysm Paradox

Tier and Approximate Strength:

Approved Temporary Designation: Silver-1

Core Attributes. Accuracy guaranteed with 99.2% Confidence.

Strength: 185

Constitution: 182

Agility: 209

Endurance: 204

Intellect: 239

Spirit: 233

Perception: 231

Resolve: 230

Storage: 241.3 > 24130 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 7/8

Iron Resources

Progression Patterns: Standard: 106, Specialized: 24

Ascension Matrices: Standard: 92, Specialized: 32

Copper Resources

Progression Patterns: Standard: 395, Specialized: 232, Personal: 1

Ascension Matrices: Standard: 79, Specialized: 161, Personal: 1

Silver Resources

None

Core Resource Abstraction

Health

Pool: 2600/2867 > 2600/7992, Edge: [320] > [647.5], Regen: (2.4/minute) > (6.9/minute)

Stamina

Pool: 2602/2922 > 2602/8157, Edge: [374.3] > [722.6], Regen: (2.5/minute) > (7.3/minute)

Mana

Pool: 4191/4789 > 4191/13218, Edge: [407.1] > [998.6], Regen: (4.5/minute) > (13.1/minute)

Focus

Pool: 3800/4792 > 3800/13228, Edge: [395] > [977.5], Regen: (4.5/minute) > (13/minute)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 2100/2724 > 2100/4824, Edge: [165.6] > [315.4], Regen: (797/second) > (1967/second)

Matrix Ancillary Functions:

Core Framework Improvements:

Increased Facet Pool: 10/10, 10/10, 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 10/10, 10/10, 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 10/10, 10/10, 0/10

Framework Processing patterns:

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1, 2/2

Elemental Chakram: 3/3, 0/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2, 0/1

Shifting Tides: 1/1, 0/1

Echo of Agony: 2/2, 0/1

Entropic Shift: 1/1, 0/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 2/2, 0/1

Limits of Mortality: 1/1, 0/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1, 0/1

Anchor: 1/1, 0/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1, 0/1

Seed: 1/1

Auxiliary Processing patterns:

Lightning Warp: 1/1

Lesser Flight - Mass: 1/1

Cloying Earth: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 3/3

Tertiary Processing patterns: 132

A more thorough look reveals that it’s the exact same jump as Uthica had, more than doubling every aspect of every resource.

Even knowing what was coming in general terms, my storage capacity feels both huge and yet so terribly tiny. More than twenty-four thousand cubic meters. Sounds like a lot. Yet it’s only twenty-nine meters to a side. Not big enough to match either the Saratesa’s or the Second Promise’s cargo holds.

Still, it’s an upgrade I’m not complaining about, cause I can take it with me wherever I go, and it’s in addition to both ships.

A quick check of costs for resources confirms that advancing to Silver has reduced them by nearly thirty percent across the board. Which implies I probably should’ve advanced to Silver earlier. If it’d been an option.

Even if I don't seem to have hard caps to my attributes anymore, they're still bloody expensive to increase, even with my Silver-grade Framework discount. Thirty percent out of billions, still leaves me with a cost in the billions.

Looking to the side, I realize we’re still situated on the edge of the rift. A rift I can siphon Mana out of.

Hmm. I’m not really doing anything that important with all that Mana at the moment.

After running through the math with my System, I decide gathering Mana from the pit isn’t worth the hassle. There’d be constant teleporting involved for minimal gains. My castles don’t exactly work well as storage mediums, and I can’t siphon Mana from more than one at a time. I forgot that there’s a reason they’re pouring it all into processing.

When we return to the gate where Saratesa is parked, the local time is somewhere in the AM, and the weather is decidedly wet. The rain blots out the sky, collected on the same shields that protected the area from the Mana-storm.

Right as we’re approaching the building we’ve been taking our meals in, Folthka approaches, her hands clasped behind her back. Waving Rufka inside, I turn to the doll lady only to realize Rufka’s still hovering at my shoulder. I roll my eyes, but otherwise ignore her as I shift my attention back. “Morning Folthka.”

“Good morning. You will be departing soon,” she states, her eyes flitting to where Saratesa looms nearby.

“That’s the plan, yeah,” I agree, flexing my hand. Being near her is still unsettling. And not because she’s a doll.

“I want to offer an apology. For everything. My experiments on your friend Josh. The attacks by Ivicka. The Fallen. Minister Yelthen. They are all my fault,” Folthka says, the emerald in her eyes fading to near blackness as she looks past me. Then she shakes her head in a surprisingly fluid gesture. “This city is the least we can do for my people. But that is not why I sought you out. I… have a gift for you. From my personal collection.”

With that, Folthka pulls a pitch black orb from behind her back.

Staring at the ball of darkness for a couple seconds, I look to Rufka but she just shrugs. The orb is just similar enough to the one in Vrathorn’s ship that I don’t want to scan it. Shifting as I scratch my chin, I ask, “Sorry, what is it?”

“Ah. After your work with Demo, I thought. No matter. It is a conveyance device for large creatures. Such as a dragon, like your pet,” Folthka says, waving in the direction of Midnight. “You’re departing for the void, and he will need accommodations Demo’s ship will be unable to provide.”

She holds the orb forward, raising her sewn-on eyebrow while holding it out. I trade a glance with Rufka, who just shrugs.

Midnight can always stay in my soul, but she does have a point that it’ll get a bit tight for him. And Demo’s best projections have us taking a month to get to Earth. The Second Promise isn’t going to be any faster. In fact, it might be slower once we leave the Mana-infused parts of space. It’s engines are a few centuries older than Demos.

A quick Savepoint later, and I hold my hand out for the orb. As it bobs over my hand, I ask, “So, how does this work?”

Folthka reaches toward the orb, but pauses.

“Go ahead,” I encourage her, though I keep myself Hasted.

She palms the orb, showing me how to activate it while explaining its effects. Time won’t pass for Midnight while he’s locked inside, and it’ll render him immune to damage for the duration. Which means it’ll be up to him if we use it. Plus, if I do release him, the process to store him again will take a full hour. Time we can’t bypass.

“So, make sure I only activate it when I’m sure he’ll be out for a while,” I say, spinning the orb on the tip of my finger.

“Yes. And he should be content but I suggest you check on him. We don’t have much use for these, so we haven’t used them often. Perhaps ask one of those dragon trainers that showed up after the distortion.”

“Hmm. Yeah, I’ll make sure to ask Lethka,” I decide, as I send a single tendril of Facet towards the orb. When it doesn’t get burnt, I do a complete scan, and my System confirms everything Folthka told me. And reveals that it won’t work on bonded creatures.

Whoops.

“Well, I appreciate the gift,” I say, giving her a small nod before slipping the orb into a pocket on the opposite hip from Smoulder’s pocket.

I’ve just finished bidding Folthka goodbye when Rufka sidles next to me and asks, “So… is that a dragon in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”

“What… where did you even hear that?” I demand, my eyes narrowing.

Rufka throws a thumb over her shoulder singling out a doubled over Rose, who just waves.

Deciding it’s not worth responding, I move to acquire breakfast instead. They rejoin me, and we spend breakfast together talking about nothing serious before making our way outside. I give Rose a hug, telling him I intend to see him again one day before making our way to Demo’s ship. He already has Saratesa waiting when we arrive, his excitement palpable as we board.

“Tipan says she’s got us a guaranteed exit plan,” Demo says, practically leaping into his seat.

“Straight to Ukila?” I ask, taking the seat just behind him.

“Not yet. Need to pick up a guest from Mount Smoulder first.” His hands dance across the console. This time when the engine spins to life, a smooth hum fills the cabin. As he rests his hand on the lever, there’s no whine or thunking. Just the pleasant hum.

As Demo slides the lever forward, Saratesa surges to match. It’s smoother this time, but there’s still some rumbling as we soar above the low hanging mountains.

"Yeh wanna see something truly sharp?” Demo asks, glancing over his shoulder, his grin telling me he’s already decided he’s going to show us.

“Sure,” I nod, watching out the windows as Demo flicks another switch on his console. Everything outside dims slightly, then the colours wash out, the entire world turning grey as the engine’s hum drops to a constant thrumming.

And then we’re gone, passing over the ocean in the same amount of time it’d take me to teleport.

Colour restores itself outside our window as Demo guides Saratesa down, Mount Smoulder on the horizon.

“Wow. That was way faster. Was that the ripple drive?”

“Yep. Can’t use the…” Demo glances over his shoulder at where Rufka is still staring out the windows before continuing, “The other engine in a Mana-field this dense.”

“Is it similar?”

“Faster,” Demo’s grin threatens to jump off his face, as he reverts his attention to guiding Saratesa onto a platform near the temple-palace near the peak of Mount Smoulder.

Disembarking, we meet Tipan in another of the generic seeming meeting rooms overlooking the rest of the city. Two days and I can already see changes in the buildings below.

“So, I hear you’ve got another city for people to take refuge in,” Tipan says in lieu of greeting.

She does pull me in for a quick hug, so I decide not to tease her about it. “Yeah, Rose will be your main point of contact. I’m hoping he’ll keep the daughters in line, but you’ll probably need to keep your eyes on them.”

“Oh, I will,” Tipan reassures me, clapping me on the shoulder. “But that’s not why you came back. You remember Peth?”

“Sure. The ambassador from Ukila. The squirrel-like one,” I confirm, nodding as I look around for him and his partner Belcix.

“Indeed. He’ll be here shortly. Rufka didn’t bother telling me you were on your way. We’ll need time to load the supplies you asked for.”

“You got them? Nice. At least we’ll be able to build stuff during the trip,” I smile back.

“Demo’s ship was faster than I expected. I got distracted,” Rufka shrugs.

“Clearly. Shall we-“

The door at the far side of the hall slams inward, Belcix rushing forward with Peth on his shoulder. Belcix barely wheezes out, “You… you summoned me, my lady?”

Tipan blinks, but otherwise doesn’t acknowledge his sudden entrance gesturing to the table. As I’m sitting, Peth leaps off Belcix’s shoulder to land in the empty spot across from Tipan and I, bowing to each of us in turn. “Our apologies Lady Tipan. Queen Pandora.”

“Nice to see you again Peth. Belcix,” I say, giving each of them a shallow nod as Smoulder pushes her way onto the table.

Peth is in the middle of rising when he makes eye contact with Smoulder. They give each other a small bow, before he continues. “Lady Tipan has informed us of your need to bypass the Void-shield. Preparations for such a day were made a long time ago by the Reapersworn. But they were unable to make use of it.”

“Really, why not?” Rufka asks, reaching out to pet Smoulder.

Smoulder hops into Rufka’s lap as Peth answers, “They lacked something. Something I believe you possess. Authorization.”

“Wait. They built a way out of the shield, but couldn’t use it because they didn’t have the authority? Why would they do something so silly?”

“We don’t know. We only know that when we raided their facilities, it had been left behind,” Peth explains as Beclix slides into the seat behind him.

“So… we need to go to Ukila to get it?” I ask.

Peth nods, “The device is small, but secured. You’ll need to collect it personally. We will share it with no other.”

“Okay. Easy enough, I can probably have it back before the end of the day. If you can be my guide,” I say, extending my hand toward him. He looks at it for a second, glancing toward Smoulder. She’s busy getting pets from Rufka, and doesn’t even notice him, so he steps forward with a single foot.

He watches Smoulder for a few more seconds and when she remains purring in Rufka’s lap, he steps all the way on.

“Okay. I’ll be back before you know it,” I say to Rufka, giving her shoulder a squeeze with my metal hand.

Rufka glances up, then her eyes narrow as she says, “Wait!”

And I do, raising an eyebrow at her. “Yes?”

“You’re just going to teleport to Ukila? On your own?”

“That was the plan.”

Rufka shakes her head. “Nope. Demo get your ship, we’re going with her.”

“Sounds good,” Demo says from directly behind me, having not chosen to sit.

“Good. I’m glad Lexi’s listening to you,” Tipan says, giving us a small smile.

“She’d better listen,” Rufka says as she stands, Smoulder still purring in her arms. “Don’t need her getting herself killed when we’re not even there.”

“Pardon us, but we would never harm Queen Pandora,” Peth states, drawing himself up.

“Yeah, they’d burn Ukila to the ground first,” Belcix agrees.

“Seems extreme, don’t you think,” I ask, holding Peth a little further away.

Peth turns to glare at Belcix, who just shrugs as he adds, “What? You know it’s true.”

“I can respect that choice,” Rufka states, a hint of a smirk on her face as she crosses her arms. Then she glances at me. “We’re still going with you,” Rufka adds, giving Tipan a hug. “If your people got everything loaded, we can leave right away. Which is good, right?”

“Right. Of course,” I agree. “But… there’s still something I want to try, a special connection for teleporting to Ukila.”

Now that we’re back in the present, will Uthica’s beacon still work? Do I even need it with my monstrous new capacity with Facet?

Demo nods. “Give me the coordinates, should be easy enough to track you down.”

Clapping Demo on the shoulder, Rufka says, “You’d better be quick about it, tails, or we might leave you behind.”

Still, smiling, I pull Rufka close while holding Peth before me. Then I close my eyes for a second, creating the barrier around us before whisking us away. I don’t send us directly to Ukila though. Instead, we go to the facility below the Pernite Academy. It costs me next to zero Facet to teleport halfway across the world. Not even sure it’s the beacon at this point.

“This seems familiar,” Rufka says, looking around. “You weren’t kidding when you said they were similar.”

“Not the right place,” I tell her, holding her close so she doesn’t wander off. “Was just bringing us to the main site on Akilo first. Next, we’re gonna head back to the Second Promise and get it to fly over too. Just in case.”

Rufka smiles, leaning her head on my shoulder as I bring up the coordinates for the beacon on Ukila. Modified, as per the adjustments Uthica left behind.

Then she sends them to Demo as I teleport us to the Second Promise. It’s annoyingly easy to punch in the coordinates and put the Second Promise on an automated course to join us. Auto-pilot takes all the fun out of flying.

Back in the beacon chamber, I make sure Midnight and Smoulder are both comfortably tucked away in my soul before teleporting Rufka and I back to Ukila. Once more, I watch the world pass through the distorted lens of teleport. And I note Rufka’s eyes going wide as well.

Seems our bond is providing her with more incidental benefits.

Technically, it takes us less than a second to pass from the beacon room on Akilo to the smaller room on Ukila. But I know it’s closer to five seconds that we experience.

When we appear, the first thing I notice is the thick cloying smell of something vaguely cherry-flavoured in the air. Which is followed by realizing we’re not alone.

All around the room stand elves and K’tharn with rifles drawn and pointed in our direction.

“Huh. Well this feels familiar.”

6.70, K'tharn in the Cradle

May 2, 2024. 7:02 am.

Pausing time before Rufka can destroy people who might just be reacting to intruders in their home, I send a flurry of metallic hands out to rip the rifles free. Not a single one of the elves is prepared for my sudden intervention, and their rifles are gathered in a ball floating over my head before they have time to react.

Taking in our surroundings, I can’t help but note how… flabby they all are. And the fact that there’s a table at one end of the platform with what looks like snacks and soda.

When I allow the Pause to end, there’s a cascade of curses and more than one of our assailants dives off the side of the floating platform. Deciding a conversation is in order, I focus on an elf who’s standing at the edge of the platform with his hands balled into fists. “Hi. Quite the greeting. It seems you were expecting me.”

The elf glances to the sides, but when he realizes none of his fellow ambushers have held their ground, he sighs and relaxes his stance.

“We were told Agent Letonga would be reporting in the next twenty-four hours. Are you agent Letonga?” His words are clipped but smooth. As if he’s said them dozens of times.

I blink at him, then I look up at the rifles. They’re reminiscent of Reapertech, though not of a design I recognize. “No. I’m not agent Letonga.”

He stiffens at this, his hand drifting toward a pistol on his belt. Which I use a few strands of metal to pluck away.

“I used to be her boss though,” I add, dropping my glamour to glare at him with my starry eye while Rufka smirks and draws her bow.

His eyes widen, and I’m certain if I wasn’t literally adding steel to his spine, he’d have leapt off the edge of the platform like the rest of them. All of whom I’ve gathered into a loose ball just out of sight. No point letting them get themselves into trouble.

“So… who told you Letonga would be returning here?” I ask, glancing at the still silent ambassador in my hand.

“Her brother,” The elf stammers, a stain growing in his pants.

Welp, guess the fear tactic worked better than I expected.

Avoiding pinching the bridge of my nose by pointing at him, I bring him a step closer. “How could her brother…”

His weeping sobs prevent me from asking him further questions. Instead, I bring several of the others up, questioning them one at a time.

They’re not even Reapersworn.

They’re just a bunch of kids playing at it. Even their weapons aren’t proper Reapertech. They’d barely sting Rufka, nevermind me. If they hadn’t found a journal written by Letonga’s brother, they wouldn’t even have this much. The same journal was their sole source of Letonga’s return date, though it’s dated to several months ago. Which means it was written before she reconciled with him.

They didn’t actually know we’d be here, it was just a weekly ritual that we happened to arrive during. Same as the question.

By the time I’m finished interrogating the ‘Reapertech kids’ as Rufka’s taken to calling them, Demo and the Second promise have arrived, waiting for us on the surface.

Belcix is standing outside, and when he hears what happened, he does something totally unexpected. He takes responsibility for them.

He marches forward, chastising them for their stupidity, calling them down and generally berating them for not coming to him with their theories. Until he spots one of their sidearms.

“Let me see that,” Belcix demands, holding out his hand until the blushing elf finally produces the pistol.

Belcix holds it up, flipping it back and forth before sliding the battery pack out with a surprising amount of dexterity. With a grunt, he slides the pack back in then turns and fires the pistol at a nearby rock. Other than a few sparks of light, there’s no effect.

“Impressive,” Belcix says, making me glance at him and take a closer look at the rock. But it still seems unharmed.

Noticing my arched brows, Belcix grins before explaining, “It’s a disruption weapon, Alexis. Good for countering rune based spells. It’s effects aren’t as obvious with raw Mana.”

This last is directed toward the elf who took a step back while Belcix’s attention was elsewhere. “Like I said. Impressive. For a bunch of kids who never had proper instruction. They might just have potential.”

It’s fun to watch the elf work her way through Belcix’s words, and I can’t help but wonder what he might teach them. Or what I might be able to add, if we had the time. But we don’t. Not yet.

“Sorry to break this up… but we should go.”

Peth clears his throat, drawing my attention for the first time since we arrived. “We have the authenticator ready for you. It’s being kept in the Cradle.”

“The Cradle?” I ask, striding toward the Saratesa while Rufka runs off to set the Second Promise to follow along. Teleporting may be faster, but it’s a bit more of a hassle to survey the planet as we travel.

“The birthplace of our society. Where we first met, Queen Pandora.”

“I first met you back on Akilo,” I point out as we walk up the ramp into Saratesa.

Peth shifts on my hand, then nods. “You met this shell on Akilo. But you first met us hundreds of years ago.”

“Oh. First met the vartha. The canyon.”

“The Cradle is within a canyon, yes.” Peth agrees as I settle into my seat in Demo’s cockpit. He hands a map to Demo, with the canyon clearly marked out.

Five minutes later and we’re cruising over a thick lush jungle, several towering trees spiraling up at the center. Demo starts descending into the trees and I ask Peth. “What happened? The last time I was here, this was a wasteland.”

“Time and perseverance happened.” Peth points to a spot nearly hidden behind one of the great trees. “There is your landing spot.”

“Got it,” Demo says, guiding Saratesa to land on a bare stone surface, the only gap in the vegetation I’ve seen for kilometers. It’s narrow enough, the Second Promise is forced to wait for us above. At the North end of the clearing is a path, marked with a pair of pillars topped with busts of Smoulder.

Demo begs off joining us, wanting to give Saretesa another check over before he attempts true space travel. Belcix steps out to join us, but Peth turns to him and instructs him to remain here. Peth directs me into the canyon, the rest of the party following along. Smoulder pauses to inspect the busts, before nodding in satisfaction.

The canyon itself is almost exactly as I remember it. The trees are bigger and that’s it. The bushes remain in the same place, the protections Uthica and I wove are all intact and there are a multitude of the squirrel-like Vartha running about. Peth glances over at them for a second before taking us to our old campsite.

Which is definitely not like we left it.

Inside are hundreds of devices, of at least twelve different styles. All of which are neatly sorted on shelves, stands and a pair of display cases.

“This is quite the collection,” I mention, as four Vartha approach, carrying a watch on a lush pillow.

“We’d hoped you would like it. We have collected and studied as much as we’ve been able since your first visit.” Peth waves the four Vartha forward. “This is the device. It should react to your signature.”

Reaching down, I collect the watch, inspecting it. It definitely has that Reapertech feel, all cold dark greys and blacks. When I scan it with Facet, I’m not able to detect much from it’s inner workings. “Seems to be inert.”

“Our understanding is that it will only work for someone with the proper authorization,” Peth says, his eyes locked on the watch.

“Well, it doesn’t look like it’s got any traps built in.” At least, my scan hasn’t revealed any. Turning to Rufka, I ask, “What do you think? Should I put it on?”

Rufka looks at the watch, then at me. Then back at the watch. Then she shakes her head. “No. It should be me.”

“Hmm. I suppose you do have more hands to spare.”

“It’s true,” Rufka agrees. “And even if I lose one, I’m sure you can figure out a way to grow it back.”

“Nope. Definitely not,” I say, wrapping the watch around my only remaining wrist, causing her to frown. When my hand doesn’t shrivel away into nothing and the watch doesn’t explode we both sigh in relief. “Well, that was anti-climatic. Is it even on?”

“It… should be. If you have the proper authorization,” Peth says, scratching his head. “Perhaps we were wrong.”

“Hey, my turn,” Rufka says, extending her hand. Removing the watch, I pass it to her. The second it lands in her hand I can feel the Mana shift. And then she places it around her wrist with a flick. “Huh. Still noth-“

Whatever else Rufka was going to say is lost as a deep thrum fills the clearing for a second. And then it’s gone.

“Guessing that means it worked,” Rufka says, tapping the watch. “It says something, but it’s Ukilese to me.”

“I believe it’s Reaper-code,” I reply, taking Rufka by the wrist. “But it’s changed.”

“Perhaps the children can assist. Or my companion, Belcix.”

I glance at Peth, and Rufka stares at him with her eyes narrowed. But then she nods sharply. “They might help. Let’s go find your buddy.”

Striding past me, Rufka’s giggling as she snags me by the wrist.

Her giggles have started to settle by the time we make it back to the ship where Belcix is pacing back and forth at the bottom of the ramp.

“Oh. Hey, did you guys find- Urk,” Belcix grunts as Rufka holds her wrist up in front of his face.

“Can you read this?” Rufka asks, fighting down a giggle. Starting to think she got a mild case of mana-giggles.

“What? Oh, this is Reaper-code. But it’s deviated from the prime variant. Likely an offshoot. Maybe…” He continues chattering, and I listen in, gently stopping him every time he starts talking about random Reapertech. But finally, a few minutes later, we arrive at a translation.

“Really? That simple?” Rufka asks, looking at her watch with drooping ears.

“Yes. This is for entry. That’s to Exit. And this is to disable the device for twenty-two hours.”

“Why would I want to disable it?” Rufka asks, holding the watch close to her face as though it’d let her understand the words written on its surface.

Belcix just shrugs, shaking his head. “No clue. I just know that’s what it says.”

I nod. “Pretty sure he’s right. Neither of us are exactly experts, and there’s no user manual.”

“Hey!” Belcix objects when I say neither of us are experts.

But I ignore him as I add, “It might also say hold this to disable others for 22 hours. Or yourself.”

Rufka’s hand pulls away from the watch fast enough to cause a snap to sound through the clearing as she drops Smoulder. She glares at me where I’m chuckling alongside Belcix.

“Kidding. It won’t disable you for twenty-two hours if you press it,” I apologize, retrieving Smoulder from where she landed a few paces away. She gives everyone else a twitch of her nose before sneaking into my pocket.

“It shouldn’t,” Belcix agrees. “But Alexis isn’t entirely wrong. It’s only a few words. There’s a chance it will disable you.”

“Okay. Don’t use that function. Easy as winning,” Rufka declares, turning to look at me before tilting her head up to stare at Akilo. “And… mum finally called. One minute.”

While Rufka’s talking to her mum, I return Belcix and Peth to Mount Smoulder before meeting Demo and Rufka back on Ukila just outside the beacon chamber.

“That’s a smidge unfair,” Demo remarks as I appear.

“What? Saratesa is just as fast… maybe even faster,” I lie as I erect an obstacle course for Smoulder. Probably the last full-size obstacle course I’ll be able to make before we reach Earth.

“Sure, she’s fast. Fastest you’ll find this side of the Nine. But you don’t need a ship. And you’re not even bound by the System!” He declares. It sounds angry, but the smile on his face and the rapid flicking of his toothpick reveals his excitement.

“It’s… cheap too. Especially using these chambers. And you know those designs Uthica left me?”

“Yeah, the ones for the smaller chambers.”

I smile. It took a long time to figure out why Uthica would’ve left me the design mixed in with everything else. After all, she’d already built the chamber. “Not chambers. They’re buoys. I can leave them in space and use them to travel back.”

Demo blinks, then he starts laughing. His laughter is loud enough Smoulder glares at him as I stop creating our obstacle course. Once I continue, she returns her attention to it, sparing Demo her wrath. He’s still laughing as I take off through the course, chasing Smoulder before being chased by Midnight in turn.

Once our exercise is complete, I find Demo and Rufka waiting at the foot of the ramp. There are no games or conversations. They’re just standing there, watching as Smoulder, Midnight and I approach.

“Something wrong?” I ask, running a hand through my hair before shaking it free behind me.

“Nah. Just… having a moment, yeh know?” Demo says.

Rufka nods, saying, “Yeah. We’re going out there. Into the black.”

“Not much change for yeh then, just like yehr heart,” Demo says, lightly punching Rufka’s shoulder before stepping onto the ramp just out of range of her retaliatory backhand.

Looking up at the mostly empty black sky it flickers again, the stars visible for a second before the void-shield steals their light away.

A brief flash of the last time I saw Beth plays through my mind. The empty darkness that felt as though it wanted to consume everything I was.

Into the black, indeed.

6.71, Into The Black

May 2, 2024. 11:13 am.

Four days after I’ve returned from the past and I’m already leaving Akilo behind, watching from the cockpit of the Second Promise as Demo’s ship rises from the surface. Both ships are loaded with all the spare monster parts we could wrangle, filling both his bays and mine. Amazing how easy it is to solve the logistics of monster hunting when you can loop.

Looping also let us work out the mechanics for docking the Second Promise to the Saratesa. Demo insisted we include shaped charges he could trigger from inside Sara. Just in case. Only took three days of looped time to smooth out the details.

Huh. Technically, if I include all the Frozen and looped time, I’ve been back for almost two months.

The nearby trees fall away swiftly as I prompt the Second Promise up after him. Then we’re flying outward, away from the twin planets. Colours dim as the Second Promise gains speed, flying us away from the star at the center of the hidden System.

It doesn’t take long for us to reach the void-shield separating Akilo from the rest of the universe. Rufka fiddles with the watch until the Exit word flashes a dark blue.

“Does that mean it worked?” she asks, looking at me.

“I… don’t know. It’s not a colour code Letonga was familiar with,” I reply.

Bringing up Demo on the comms, he shakes his head. “Yeh’ll have to test it.”

“Which means looping,” I say, staring at the empty void standing between us and the rest of the universe.

“Yep,” Rufka agrees, leaning her head on my shoulder.

“Probably best you remain here, give us… hmm, an hour, before you reset? For the first attempt, anyway,” Demo suggests, looking away from the screen. “You want to bring her over or dock?”

“Oh, can we fly through space? I want to fly through space,” Rufka says, shaking me slightly.

Smoulder perks up, nodding from her place in my lap.

“Right. Space walk it is,” I say, shaking my head.

Soon we’re down at the Second Promise’s loading dock, instead of the regular airlock. Because it’s cooler this way.

Style points are totally worth it when we’re going into space with nothing but our magic to protect us.

Cause, that’s what we’re doing.

“This is… exciting. Never seen this before,” Demo says, his fluffy tails flicking back and forth as fast as his toothpick over the transparent screen floating next to the loading ramp.

“Yeah, me either,” I say as the ramp slides down.

Rufka gives me a thumbs up as the air starts hissing out of the chamber. Summoning a sphere of alloyed metals around the three of us, I monitor my Mana carefully.

With just a small opening in my steel-sphere, I cover the inside with a second thicker layer of water leaving us with just enough space to sit hunched over with our foreheads touching and our legs crossed in the center.

I don’t even feel when the pressure drops outside my sphere, my Mana remaining steady. After a minute with no change to the Mana, I drop the steel sphere. The water sphere remains stable, not having any issues. Slowly, I thin the water sphere until we have no more than a single centimeter of water orbiting us. And we’re all completely fine.

“You ready?” I ask Rufka, reaching toward the outside of the sphere.

She’s grinning at me as she nods, her eyes playing across the inner radius. Smoulder also nods, and I feel a reassurance from Midnight that if anything goes wrong, he’ll be there to take us away.

If I don’t just loop us back instead.

I take a deep breath before breaking the sphere apart. There’s a slight tugging at my skin, and my starry eye itches. But otherwise there’s no noticeable effect for being in complete vacuum. Rufka gives me a thumbs up, and I realize there’s one minor detriment to being in space. We can’t talk.

After a few minutes of enjoying being in space, we get Rufka to the Saratesa’s airlock. It closes with a bit of a shudder, but then seals shut tight.

Smoulder in tow, I return to the Second Promise where I make sure Rufka’s safely on board. Demo nods, and the Saratesa starts moving forward.

From outside the void-barrier isn’t visible. But it’s tangible. The mana-currents flow differently around it, their usual smooth curving paths, rigid and fixed. When Saratesa pulls close, I can feel the paths shift. But even my Facet doesn’t allow me to observe the changes. Then they’re gone.

Funny how slowly time passes when you’re floating at the edge of the solar system, feet hanging off the edge of the loading ramp, waiting for word from your friend and thiani that they made it through an impenetrable barrier of destruction intact.

It made sense when they suggested it. I stay back, where it was safe, and revert time if they ran into any problems. Just wait an hour and see.

Sending my Mana past the invisible shield keeping air inside the Second Promise, I create another simple Mana construct. They’ve been gone for thirty-five long minutes. I stopped being able to wait quietly after ten, coming outside to where the Mana is easier to sense. Not like I have to worry about a little bit of vacuum or radiation at this point.

My worry isn’t helped by the fact I can barely feel Rufka through our bond. The bond is still there. And I can tell vaguely where she is. But it’s not strong enough to send a signal. Or maybe my attempts are just being distorted too much.

At least I know Midnight’s safely snuggled up inside my soul. And Smoulder’s keeping me company, helping distract me.

Smoulder and I watch my latest construct, a chariot of fire, as it races behind her fire bunny through a field of floating steel castles, bridges, and atmospheric lakes. A disturbance in the Mana-flows, causes me to glance up. But there’s nothing. No sign of the Saratesa. This is the fifth disturbance. I can’t tell if that means they’re trying to get back in and failing or… something worse.

Another ten minutes and I’ve dispersed my constructs. There’s still no sign of them. Other than another disruption.

If Demo hadn’t insisted on the full hour, I would’ve reset already. Instead, I spent the last fifteen minutes counting down the seconds. There are only fifty-three remaining when the Saratesa’s sleek hull emerges from the void-barrier. I feel Rufka’s connection the moment they’re through. It’s such a rapid change that I sit stunned for a second.

Then Smoulder and I are flying directly to Demo’s airlock, wrapped in a bubble shield, just in case. I wait impatiently for it to cycle, Smoulder’s ears flicking in annoyance at the incredibly loud hissing of the air returning to the empty bay. By the time the door opens, I’ve consoled her with scritches. Just in time to be greeted by Rufka pulling us into a hug while exclaiming about the stars.

“So, no problems with getting out then?” I ask, as we all find a seat in the cockpit.

Demo shakes his head as he turns Sara around. “None. But it’s not as simple to pass through as I’d hoped. I’d explain but it’ll be more fun to show yeh. And we’re gonna need to dock the Promise extra tight.”

Nodding, I head over to the Second Promise, getting it to grant temporary control to Demo. Finally, she nestles in next to his ship and we build the required links between them.

With the Second Promise secure, I return to Saratesa’s cockpit.

Rufka taps her watch before we get close to the void-barrier. Then as we enter, the void springs to life. Within the dark walls, glimmering yellows dance up and down. A wild cacophony of light, with little discernible pattern surrounds us as we move deeper. Well, no pattern other than swirling alongside us, dancing close without touching either Saratesa’s or the Second Promise’s hull.

“Barrier’s not quite so dark on the inside. But it slows the engines to a crawl. We’re moving at less than a metre-per-second,” Demo informs me as the lights continue to encircle us.

“So… we’re basically stuck in the mud?” I ask, leaning back from the window.

Demo tilts his head to the side for a second before nodding. “Yep. Good analogy. Stuck in cosmic mud.”

“Better than being torn to dust,” Rufka says, “And way prettier.”

“Mhm,” I agree, settling in to wait. This time with the others for company and considerably less dread.

When we emerge from the barrier, the star-scape is practically black in comparison. But only in comparison. The sky is brilliant in a way the inside of the barrier couldn’t compare to.

And I suddenly feel free.

“Oh. Guess what?” Rufka bumps my shoulder, drawing my gaze down. “I got achievements.”

“Achievements?”

“Yeah. When we exited the barrier. I got a bunch of achievements. And rewards.”

Glancing at Demo, he nods, a frown on his face. “Despite the planet being blocked off from the live network, out here we’re part of it. Our Systems are patched in.”

“Which means Achievements. And updates,” Rufka says, a giant grin on her face. “Including an update to our Citizen status.”

“That’s… good?” I half-ask, half-congratulate her, taking Rufka’s hand as she tells me about her rewards, including upgrades to almost all her tattoos.

Being free of the System is good. At least, in theory. But having it do the upgrades for me was nice. Easy mode. Also, I’ll admit I’m pretty curious what Achievements the System would’ve awarded me.

Rufka’s new tattoos are pretty great. Not only does she get great bonuses that align with her existing build, one of them greatly reduces the cost for her lightning avatar form. And they come with an option that lets her display them visibly.

Which she activates immediately, of course.

With iridescent waves of violet running along her upgraded tattoos, Rufka’s never reminded me more of her mum. And yet, she looks so… her.

“And… I just realized,” Rufka says, stopping in the middle of her pose, causing the tattoos to fade.

“You realized?” I ask, turning to stare out the window and compare the stars' beauty to hers. And finding them wanting.

Rufka elbows me, getting me to look at her. “That you didn’t get any rewards.” Pulling me in for a hug, she adds, “Thanks.”

“Hey, no problem,” I reply. We sit quietly, until I remember something. “What was that about a Citizen upgrade?”

“Right. The one good thing about being part of the System,” Demo says as Saratesa turns, and the void-barrier is splayed across one half of the screen. Except… it looks like the event-horizon of a black hole. It’s not the only thing in the celestial neighbourhood, an orange ball of fire hanging in the sky nearby, a brilliant plume stretching toward the black hole.

“Wow,” I say, and Rufka and Smoulder both turn to match my gaze. Almost feel bad, having to keep Midnight locked away in my soul. Which is mitigated when I feel his chuffing laughter through our bond. Right, long as I don’t lock down the connection, he can see what I see.

To my amusement, Smoulder emulates Rufka’s gasp of shock as Demo moves us away while keeping the event horizon to our left. It’s only after a full minute I realize we’re circling outward.

“It does make for an impressive sight,” Demo says, his toothpick hanging loose. “But as you were asking. The upgrade gives us access to places like this.”

“Not just access,” Rufka interjects. “But locations too. And the general location of the nearest System Agent.”

“That last one…” Demo says, shaking his head. “It makes no sense. Why would the System give us a way to track its highest members? Why would it want us to know there’s an agent heading for Earth?”

“We’re supposed to be working for the System, remember. Not against it,” Rufka says, clapping Demo on the shoulder.

Demo grins. “Sure yeh are. But I’m a Phothen. First ever to be a Citizen according to my Achievements. The System knows we’re the enemy.”

“Well, maybe part of the System feels differently,” I say, thinking back to the quest updates I got shortly before I died. “It gave me a quest to avoid being captured by a System agent.”

Demo’s toothpick drops as the entire ship wobbles as it veers toward the event horizon. Before I can say anything, his hands skip across the console and the ship evens out, slowly moving away from the blackhole.

“Say that again,” Demo says, turning away from the console, both hands clasped in front of him.

“I said, the System gave me a quest to avoid being captured.”

“By a System Agent?” Demo repeats, leaning forward his eyes narrowed.

“Yes, by a System agent,” I confirm, matching his forward lean with one of my own. “Now, did I hear you mention an agent was headed for Earth? When will they get there?”

“Hard to say,” Rufka answers as Demo runs his hand through his hair, turning away but glancing back at me as he taps his console a few more times. Then she continues, “The System’s not giving us exact details. Just that they’re on a vector heading in the general direction.”

Her next words are lost as Sara shakes. Then we’re suddenly accelerating away from the black hole at a much greater speed, the colour leeched away as the stars start to waver and ripple.

Then it’s all gone, and we’re travelling through a world of rippling grey light.

Tilting his chin upward, Demo starts laughing. He doesn’t respond when I ask him if he’s okay. But I can see the moisture in the corner of his eyes as we soar away from the black hole.

I just hope we’re on course to Earth.

6.72, Can't Stop the Signal

May 2, 2024. 12:44 am.

While I’m worried about Demo’s health, and whether he’s aimed us at Earth, I’m also hoping he didn’t forget that we have the Second Promise strapped to his hull. It should be fine in ripple-space, but I’m still a little worried about her.

“You okay?” I ask Demo again, the interior of the ship the only source of colour as the rippling grey light outside continues its impression of a 1950’s TV with no signal.

“Me? I’m fantastic,” Demo says, still throwing in an occasional chuckle.

“You sure? Cause you’re doing the crazy person laugh,” I point out. Which probably isn’t the wisest thing to do to the person flying us at faster than light speeds.

Demo shakes his head, a tear dripping down his cheek. “Totally fine. It’s just… the System’s had us fooled for years. I… we’re barely holding it off, yeh know that? We’re losing the war. And all this time, it hasn’t even…”

Pulling his toothpick out of his mouth, Demo holds it in front of him. “It’s like… this is us.”

Lifting his other hand, he starts pushing on the toothpick, causing it to bend. “And this is the System and its limitless hordes. Except… what if the System’s just like my hand?”

“Applying enough pressure to bend, but not break,” Rufka agrees, nodding. “That’s what mum always said it did.”

Smoulder nods, a feeling of regret tinting our connection as she blazes out the words, “Never break.”

Jabbing his toothpick in her direction, Demo asks, “But what if your System’s not just trying to test you. Maybe some part of it wants you to be free. Oh, this is huge.”

“You know, you could have a point,” I agree, staring out at the wavering lines of ripplespace. “The System gave me a quest to stand in a Mana-storm. And being caught in a Mana-storm is what led to me losing the System. It also helped me escape the System agent, and gave me the Seed for my own System.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Demo exults, throwing his hands in the air.

“System’s always done right by me,” Rufka states, giving me a not so subtle four-thumbs-up. “My question is… does it prefer meat crisps or slow roast.”

I stare at Rufka for a second before losing it. I’m joined by Demo, even though it really wasn’t that funny. Which is probably why Smoulder’s not laughing. Or maybe it’s because Smoulder only likes things extra crispy.

We spend the next hour talking about possibilities of what the System could want, or what the System Agent is up to but ultimately, we just don’t have enough information to do more than guess.

Rufka and Demo are debating whether the System might prefer a good game of Astra’s Stride, Vaus’ Champions or one of Demo’s favorites, a game he simply refers to as ‘Tails’ when a light flickers on his console. Turning in the middle of explaining the rules, he taps the console twice before his hands start running across it.

“Problem?” I ask, looking over his shoulder.

Shaking his head, he flicks another switch and ripplespace disappears, replaced by a colour-leeched view of normal space. At least, I’m assuming it’s colour-leeched. Hard to tell with nothing out there.

“We’re just running low on Mana. Need to stop to replenish the stores. Should probably check the bindings to the Second Promise too.” As he says this, he flicks a blue toggle and the ship shudders.

“That was quick. I thought this was a long range scout ship.” Glancing at the viewscreen, I can see four hatches sliding open.

“She’s got plenty of range. We could go halfway across the galaxy on a full charge at normal cruising speed.” Demo brings up a map, showing the entire galaxy.

“Then why are we stopping?”

Zooming the map in along one of the spiral arms, Demo points at a jagged red line stretching from what I’m guessing was the black hole toward earth. The red line intersects with a thicker green line about halfway, transitioning to a smoother blue line after. “We’re not cruising. We’re running hot with a whole nother ship attached. There’ll be more stops, but we’ll reach the Mana front quick as a fox this way. Five, maybe six more jumps, depending on the shape of Ripplespace near the front.”

“How long would this take normally?” I ask, watching as massive sails bloom out of the now open compartments.

“At cruising speed? The last hour would normally have taken a week. Not bad though, more than five hundred lightyears in an hour.”

“So, this section,” I say, pointing at where the red line passes through the green line. “That’s the Mana front?”

“Yep. Won’t be easy to recharge after we’re through there. We’ll be at cruising speed only.”

“And after we’re through. Weeks for the rest of the trip, instead of hours?”

“Yep. Way faster than the ships yehr friends were on. Even so, they’re probably on Earth by now.”

“Speaking of which. Now that we’re outside the barrier, can we send them a message?”

“No buoys,” Demo says, shaking his head.

“Buoys? Like the ones Uthica designed?”

“Not exactly. System buoys. They’re normally deployed to spread the System’s control. It’s also how users send messages in Mana-space.”

“Users. So Rufka can’t reach them, but you could send a message their way?”

Demo’s face twists into a half-frown. “Yes. But not to yehr friends.”

“Cause they don’t have the right receivers and there’s nothing to carry the signal?”

Blinking at me, Demo nods. “That’s bout it, yeah.”

Glancing out at the sails, I push away from the console. “How long is the recharge going to take.”

“Bout three hours. Why?”

Pulling Rufka to her feet, I turn back to Demo. “We have some buoys to build.”

Leading Rufka directly to Demo’s airlock, I start shaping the first components of the buoy. Most of Uthica’s instructions don’t require anything but metal alloys combined with Runes. Which I’m better at, but still not nearly as fast as I’d like. With Rufka helping, I’m hoping we can get one built before the recharge is done. Rather not have to loop just to build a buoy.

Despite our best attempt, however, when Demo informs us the ship is ready to jump we’re only three-quarters of the way finished.

“Any idea what the range on these might be?” I ask him, running through the numbers.

“Not that great. Might already be pushing it.”

“Damn. I guess they’re not that important-“

“We’re not leaving till we finish this,” Rufka growls. “We can get it done in an hour. Two, tops.”

“Uh, guess we’re staying,” I say to Demo, who grins but otherwise just turns off his comms.

The last of our adjustments takes us four hours to complete, though the time passes quickly. When we finally finish the buoy, we all stand around it grinning.

“Needs a name,” Rufka says, patting the buoy’s side.

“Biggest, the protector,” Smoulder suggests with a roar of flame over her head, her fluffy tail wrapped around in front of her face as she inspects it.

“The protector?” I ask, looking at Smoulder and then back at the buoy. “You know it’s just a teleportation and communication buoy, right?”

Smoulder just tilts her head, looking at me as if to ask, ‘So?’

“Nothing. Just saying.” Raising both hands, I take a step back.

“I like it,” Rufka says, reaching down to scritch Smoulder. “Biggest is a great name."

“Biggest. The. Protector,” Smoulder repeats, in another roar of flames. “Big brother name.”

“Right. Biggest, the protector,” Rufka agrees.

I give them both a thumbs-up before walking to the side of the chamber then shooing them out. Waiting, I place a hand on Biggest, the protector, glancing at the viewport where Rufka gives me a small wave.

“I’m totally naming the next one,” I whisper as the air is sucked from the room.

Escorting the spherical buoy outside the airlock, I blast myself away from Saratesa. Once I’m five kilos away, I stop. There’s nothing in the vicinity but me, the buoy and the ships. Not even a distant sun or dark barrier of void-energy. Yet I can feel the Mana soaking into me. Thick currents more powerful than any I encountered on Akilo.

Tying into the current, I make the final adjustments to the buoy, locking it in place. Then I teleport inside it. The inside is cramped, compared to the beacon sphere back on Akilo, but it’s still large enough to stand with three people. Maybe five, if they all crouch.

Teleporting outside is harder than moving in, having to trace Rufka and Smoulder’s bonds to keep my direction. It’s not difficult, by any stretch. But teleporting to the beacons feels like teleporting downhill. More natural.

When I return to the ship, the airlock hasn’t even finished cycling before we’re back in Ripplespace. While Demo’s hauling us towards Earth, we start work on the next buoy.

Thirteen hours, three buoys and one massive lunch of not-useful-for-parts-but-still-tasty monster meat later, Saratesa drops out of Ripplespace at our fourth recharge point. For once, we have the buoy finished before we arrive. Rufka and I are getting better, and Smoulder is trying to figure out how she can help.

Even as I’m on my way back from testing the buoy’s launch, I see Rufka rocketing toward me in her lightning avatar form.

Pretty sure she’s making use of an ion-pulse drive, though her speeds don’t really make sense for that.

But then, we can literally conjure air from nothing, who am I to judge. I wave at her but she just zooms past me before curving around to travel overhead. Guess she was tired of me being the only one in space.

She circles me another two times, waving at me before it hits me. She wants to race.

Nodding, I fly next to her, then point back to the buoy, then back to the ship. Her sparkling form has a smile spread across it’s rough features as she gives me a thumbs up. Then dashes away. I follow, but even with no air to offer resistance, I’m unable to keep up. She makes it halfway back to the ship by the time I reach the buoy. And she’s doing her victory dance by the time I arrive at the ship.

Flying inside, I wait for her. She remains in her lightning form until the air rushes back into the chamber, at which point it dissipates and she returns to regular old Rufka. An improvement, in my opinion, no matter how cool her lightning form. An opinion I share with her.

We’re still laughing as we enter the cockpit and collapse in the crashseats. I earn a disappointed shake of Smoulder’s head as I pick her up. Racing without her or Midnight.

“Well, I’m glad yehr both in a good mood. Have some news for yeh,” Demo says, turning in his seat. “Sara, tell them what you just told me?”

The masculine voice says, “Certainly Captain. Long range scanners have detected a Ripple-space distortion approximately five light years away. It lies outside of the charted path, but remains well within Mana-space.”

“A Ripple-space distortion has two causes, right? A massive Mana buildup or a damaged Ripple-drive?” I ask Demo.

“Three, though the third is fairly rare. Haven’t seen a Ripple-wyrm in centuries.” Demo folds his hands behind his head as he brings up the map on one of the viewscreens. There’s a new yellow line, showing a route almost perpendicular to our planned jump.

“Only one extra jump,” Rufka observes. “Unless I’m reading that wrong.”

“Yeh’re correct. We’ll be going to check it out. But I thought yeh should know.”

“Oh? You weren’t asking?”

“Nope. Phothen’s don’t leave people stranded. Not even System folk.”

“That’s fine. I had no intention of leaving them either. And besides. Maybe it’ll be a Ripple-wyrm.”

As we draw close to the distortion, it becomes abundantly clear it’s not a Ripple-wyrm. Drifting there, with half of its buildings spinning around it like little moons, is one of the Sanctuaries.

A note from Draith

Non-story update coming in ten minutes with Art and announcements about the audiobook and stubbing book 1.

Not-A-Chapter Art, Thanks & Upcoming Audiobook release, free epubs and stubbing for zon

A note from Draith

Update 2/2 for today. There's an actual chapter before this, if you missed it.

Decided to make a multipurpose chapter, since I finally figured out how.

I have an audiobook coming out on August 8, 2023! Whee!

You can join us on discord for a limited time to get ARCs (aka free epubs) of book 1 until July 31, 2023. Chapters will be taken down July 25, 2023.

Pretty much what it says in the header.

I'm finally taking The Forerunner Initiative to the zon. And the audiobook is available for preorder. Which I think is pretty exciting. (Linked above, cause the link's WAY too long to put here.)

If you wanna help out and have a free credit, pre-ordering on Audible counts towards day one sales. (Which is awesome, since regular Kindle sales don't work like that.)

Honestly, part of me really doesn't want to stub TFI. I've lived on RR for a long time. But to have any real chance of success on zon, I gotta go KU, at least for a while. I won't be giving links to that until day of though, cause it hurts to have pre-orders of ebooks. (Their system is soooooo weird. Almost weirder than mine.)

Chapters will be taken down July 25, 2023.

That said, I'm gonna be giving away ARC (Advance Review Copies) of book 1 until July 30, 2023 to everyone who wants one over on my discord, https://discord.gg/CeYPmctpgQ. It's the same as what's posted here, minus a few more typo corrections, but you get to keep it forever.

Or until your hard drive gives up the ghost.

Anyway, now that the announcement is out of the way, let's get on to the arts. These are all ads or covers I've used on RR at some point.

Ads in order they were posted.

The Volume Covers

The Special Limited Time Only Covers

A Random Chibi Roberts

Line Sketches

Ensemble, Starting from the Left, Lord Thansome, Midnight, Ivicka, Demo, Josh, Roberts, Letonga, Genitha, Rufka, Lexi, Beth, Tipan, Rose, Raz. (High rez versions on discord)

Letonga

And then a bunch of non-canon inspirational art

Elementalist's Peak, mostly as I envisioned it, though not enough storm.

The closest image I could find to how I pictured the Twice Scuttled (from book 4)

Fanart

Smoulder by Faefox

A note from Draith

Thank you to my Builders: Codeki, NO! and Bryson, who all helped with the early drafts of The Forerunner Initiative.

Typospotters

Big Thanks to the following RR users for typo spotting. I may have missed a person or two, but I tried to get everyone.

Much appreciation to all the following Royal Road users:

Arkeus, Aldous, lenkite, AbeoLogos, Fabian28879, Musemaker, SilversterSun, Eggman314, Rainnyth, Gryxx, Max-musterman, ChristopherCraven, Liliet, blaat, MicroShock, Friggo, ed720, Dragrath, Jolteon, sinhakcer, hikari izuki, Feuerhai, Plaguehunter, Penthero, Azareck, Bamboocha, chriku18, Syra Sol, orbliterator, Mad Dessert, Soulwager, Pletter, dtape467, DevilWolves, Feuerhai, Orskelo, Kkrazyken, rycuda, Shaka Alek, orp, Book Addict, Vance, PaleProfessor, One-eyed Mike, trashe1, Calamitous, Guenther, Sudogym, Greener ThanGreen, ChocolateMintChipmunk, Kalenjii, LightnigShadow7, chacofeli, BBrowning, Plus1, uni r., Lupenblae, Sho, about-99pandas, LilRora, Builder Bob, afganitia, DeadmanwalkingXI, TigerCannon, FlashBangMaster, VinRaven, CredulaPostero, Invoke, BlazingImp77151, vegizombie, mrel, victorfw, Ayashi, Nosoundpog1, opossumclunk, BenevolentChaos, Shadarack, J. Davis, Nightdrift, Elry, SensibleMalarkey, TheFodel, DeadPhoenix, Zoro50, StormWHM, LilaWeyland, airball5, allatonce, sonicslow, Carlosbet, Blatch, Neyri, Oceanflex, Alfarel, Miles Sand, sheep-dodger, Neru, farlfr, Ironbeagle, Dennis A, OrionXIX, Astrowoud, CannedBread, Shlu, BrandonCorey, catbearpenguin, Vandalieu, JNMC, Centinel, NotStart, s44, TransrealClouden.

Patrons:

Special thanks to my patrons for your support, despite my lack of advance chapters:

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6.73, Sanctuary Lost

May 3, 2024. 11:52 am.

“Damn. Good thing we detoured,” I say, watching as the viewscreen highlights different sections of the Sanctuary with different colours. It bothers me slightly that it highlights the orbiting buildings in green and the main structure in red with the legend stating the red area has high structural integrity.

“Looks like there are still people alive down there,” Demo says as we pass by the outermost wreckage.

“Accident or sabotage?” Rufka asks, her new lightning armour already manifested.

“Likely sabotage, what with yehr not-so-friendly friends sneaking along with them,” Demo says, squinting at one of the pieces of debris.

Nodding, I study the viewscreen. “Any clue which Sanctuary this is?”

Pointing at a string of Phothen characters in the bottom left corner he won’t teach me the meaning of, Demo says, “It’s Slethwerd. Looks like the environmental shields have recovered. But this is why you don’t trust everything to shields.”

At this, he sends me back to the Second Promise, breaking the linkages along the way. Then he brings the Saratesa closer, landing in the broken remains of a building that once stood near the silver control spire while I land outside. When we head down the ramp, Midnight comes out, and he and Rufka insist I stay behind them.

I follow their direction, but mostly so I can keep an eye on both as we make our way toward the spire where we saw several survivors working together. The second Rufka appears, there are cries of alarm and several people even start throwing spells at her.

All of which is vaporized by a single arrow.

At this point, people start running, though a pair of K’tharn who were watching just sit quietly, their eyes tracking us as we approach.

Once we’re within a few meters, one of them calls out, “You’re not them, are you?”

“Them? Them who?” I ask, though I have a good idea.

“The traitors. The ones calling for the One-Eyed Queen’s blood,” the K’tharn answers, her eyes narrowed on me.

Oops. Suddenly feeling like I should’ve been wearing my glamour. “You’re her, aren’t you?”

“I-“

“You’re the Rabbit Queen! You’re here to save us!” The K’tharn doesn’t wait for me to respond, scrambling to her feet as she shakes the K’tharn next to her. “She’s here. She came back for us!”

“Uhm-“ I try, but the K’tharn look at each other, darting inside the building, both yelling about the return of the Rabbit-queen.

“Vaus-damnit,” I mutter, rubbing my head above my starry eye. “Why are my enemies the only ones who use the cool name?”

Rufka and Midnight share a shrug while Demo says, “Cause your enemies have no sense of humour.”

Giving him my best starry-eyed-queen glare only provokes laughter. Which is interrupted when a tall and lanky form limps out of the building toward us.

“Josh?”

I don’t remember crossing the space, and in fact, I probably didn’t.

Either way, I find myself standing in front of his still armoured body right as he stumbles. It’s depressingly easy to support his weight, even with his full Rose-petal armour in place. With my new strength it’s a trivial task to set him on a rapidly formed bench. I draw one of my hundreds of healing trinkets from my pack, channeling the energy into him before he can speak.

Thankfully, I’ve improved, so he only clenches his jaw instead of screaming in agony as his leg audibly pops.

“Thanks… I think,” Josh says when I cut the flow of Mana.

“Yeah. No problem,” I respond, before pulling him in for a hug.

“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” Josh asks even as he returns the hug.

Pushing away from him, I wind up to hit him in the shoulder, but he’s smiling at me now. “Glad you’re okay, Lex.”

“Thanks. You too. What happened here?” I ask, even as I slug him. Gently. I did just fix him, after all.

“Explosion. Rebellion, I think? It’s been hell trying to figure things out. All I know for certain is we were stopped to recharge the engines. There was an incident at engine six. When I went to investigate, boom. Big bada boom.” Josh expands his hands, opening and closing them as he makes little boom-boom noises.

“Part I don’t understand is why Beth left. I knew she was upset with me, but to leave everyone else behind…” Josh shakes his head, looking over his shoulder. At this, Demo gives me a short wave, before disappearing back toward the Saratesa as Josh continues. “But enough of that. You’ve got working healing items and we have injured.”

“What about your healing items? Beth was working on stockpiling them before you left,” Rufka asks, her lightning form still crackling.

Josh doesn’t even blink an eye as he leads the way inside. “All lost in the explosion. Or taken. Either way, they’re gone.”

As we reach the entrance to the spire, the entire city shakes.

“Oh. And we keep getting those too. Vera! Are you still awake?” Josh calls as stone dust drifts in the air only to be wrested away by one of the nearby K’tharn.

“What do you want? If you’re going to start screaming about the Rabbit-queen’s return, I don’t want to hear it, I already-“ the larger than usual K’tharn stops in her tracks, narrowing her eyes at Josh before turning to stare at me. “Huh. Guess Puthe hasn’t completely sold her bridge.”

Blinking at her, I shrug.

“Guess that means I don’t have to crack any more heads to keep order. Good thing. Already got enough injured K’tharn here,” Vera says, squinting at me. “You any good with glamours?”

“Vera, I’m not-“ Josh starts, but Vera makes a chopping motion, cutting him off.

“Yeah. I heard you the first ten times. Can we talk? In private,” Vera asks, looking around the crowded room. Even now there are K’tharn gathering, whispering and pointing at us.

Nodding, I gesture toward her as I say, “Sure, lead the way.”

Vera grabs Josh by the shoulder before turning about and stomping up a nearby staircase. Josh pulls loose, turning to me. “Your healing talismans.”

Pulling several out, I hand over all but one. The one that still makes people scream if I use it…

Best to save that one for emergencies.

Rufka turns over several healing talismans as well. Twenty in total. More than enough for the K’tharn gathered here, but nothing compared to my total stockpile.

Josh in turn distributes the talismans to several of the gathered K’tharn. But Vera stops him before he’s able to give out the last few. “Keep those. They have enough to work with.”

Josh opens his mouth, but Vera repeats the chopping motion and he closes it, frowning but giving her a nod.

With the healing talismans passed into the hands of others, she leads us to a closed room. She doesn’t start talking immediately, instead activating several runes before grunting at them. “It’ll have to be enough. Back in Aethire I would’ve… but we aren’t.”

“What did you want to talk about?” I ask, taking a seat on one of the mismatched chairs decorating the room.

“The traitors who did this!” Vera booms out, slamming her hands into the stone table. Josh jumps to her side, but she’s already waving him away. “Sorry. Never used to lose my temper like that. I was… Nevermind. Point is, we have glamoured-up elvenoids and K’tharn running around causing havoc.”

“You’re sure they’re glamoured?”

“You’re Vaus damn right, I’m sure,” Vera says, slamming the table again. “Took one of the traitors in the shoulder with a spear of steel. Collapsed their glamour. But they killed themselves before I could question them. Blew their whole body to dust!”

“That… sounds rather inconvenient,” I say.

“Inconvenient, she says,” Vera half-yells, stopping as Josh puts a hand on her shoulder.

“Lex isn’t the problem here,” Josh says, squeezing Vera’s shoulder.

“Fine. Point is, we need a better way of piercing through their illusions. Can’t be waiting until they’re already attacking innocent K’tharn.”

“Rufka, you think we could set up something to disrupt glamours?” I ask, turning to her.

“Actually, yeah. Remember that pistol Belcix grabbed from the kids? I think we might be able to modify something like that to disrupt glamours within… hmm, need to build it to be sure, but I’d guess around eighty meters or so,” Rufka replies, her eyes closing as she tilts her head back to think.

“Huh… I was thinking more of a mana-purge,” I said, scratching my chin. “But disruption would probably be cheaper, wouldn’t it? Easier to build too.”

“Think I could do it in about an hour. Less if we cheat,” Rufka says, smiling at me.

I nod, my grin growing to match hers. “Design something easily repeatable, you’re thinking?”

“Mhm, then cheat and deploy,” Rufka agrees, nodding.

Looking towards where Vera is squinting at us, her upper eyes closed, I nod. “Give us an hour or so, and we should be able to help.”

“Fine. But whatever you’re doing, I’m going to watch. Need to stay here to keep the area private so they don’t figure out what you’re doing,” Vera says.

I don’t bother objecting, since once we’re done, we’ll be reverting time anyway. But no reason to tell her that.

It ends up taking us more than an hour, but that’s because Smoulder decided it was a good time to get more lessons on enchanting halfway through.

Vera was understandably upset, but Josh managed to reassure her that we wouldn’t waste time. Which he reinforced by staring at me with near full-on puppy dog eyes.

A man over six feet tall should not be able to pull off puppy dog eyes.

Still, despite the nagging feeling, Rufka and I take our time to build the glamour-negator properly while explaining our choices to Smoulder.

Then, once we’re done, we revert to the point where Rufka says she can build one. Except this time, the phrasing is a little different. “Got it figured out. Shouldn’t take more than an hour to build, max.”

With the design complete, I shift my attention back to the actual problem, turning to Josh, “How many people are still out in the city?”

“We don’t know. Without healing, every injury set us back hours, if not days. With the messaging system down… and they have enough glamours the buddy system doesn’t work. Seriously, I’m glad you guys showed up, would’ve been a long few weeks without you,”

“Weeks?” I ask.

Vera answers for him, “We’re not sitting in the spire for nothing. We have a team working to restore the engines. But it’s not quick.”

“We might be able to help with that. How long have you been here?”

Vera and Josh exchange a glance. Then Josh gets up, walking to a series of marks on the wall. I’d dismissed them as just another trait of the rather cluttered room. He runs his hand across them, turning to me. “Fifty-four days.”

“That’s…” I start but trail off when he turns around.

“Since we retook the spire. I’m not certain how long we were fighting before that,” Josh adds, looking to Vera.

“Least a week,” Vera states, running a hand through her dark brown mane. “But not much longer than that. Eight or Nine days I think. First day or two were like Vaus herself had decided to play.”

“Wow,” Rufka says, and I find myself nodding along with her as she adds, “Fifty-four days. And you still didn’t figure out a way to pierce their glamours? You spent way too much time whining about Lex’s death, and not nearly enough training.”

“Rufka,” I hiss, my face going warm in embarrassment.

“No Lex. She’s right,” Josh says, rubbing at his nose. “I did waste too much time just… drifting. And not just after you died. Before too. Never worked half as hard as the rest of you.”

“You think a few months would’ve helped him?” Vera demands, slamming the table again. “I’ve studied enchanting for decades. Do you blame me for my failure as well?”

“No. But you’re not…” Rufka stops, her face screwed up into a grimace. Finally, she sighs, “You wouldn’t understand. You’re not one of us.”

Vera stands straight, looking at Josh who’s still hanging his head before nodding to me. “Very well then. If it’s all well and good then, I’ll just take my leave then. Queen Pandora.”

“Wait! Vera!” Josh cries, seeming to finally realize what’s happening.

“Yes?” She asks, turning to him with her upper eyes closed.

“You’ve seen what Beth can do? What Roberts can do?”

“Yes, and?”

“I’m one of them? But you’ve seen how little I can do?”

“Oh. That’s it is it? You’re not able to bring people back from the dead, or rip a hole through anyone who opposes you, so, you’re worthless?”

“What? No. But… Lexi, you know what I mean, right?”

I hold up my hands, backing away. “Hey, I’m not getting involved. I can barely tell an input rune from a flow regulator,” I lie. “Enchanting’s challenging.”

At this, Vera barks a laugh, sitting down in her fur lined chair. “I spent three months inscribing those backwards. You ever try tying a triple Mana-regulator into an Uthican chain?”

“Wouldn’t that just explode?” Rufka asks, leaning forward.

“Not if you use Pellka’s mana capacitor design. Prevents the buildup,” Vera answers. They quickly descend into further debate over the merits of different uses of the Uthican chain, which is a rune I recognize from Uthica’s teleportation buoys. One that took way too much time to get right.

Josh stares at them, then looks over to me. I gesture him to the far side of the room, letting the enchanters talk shop.

“How did you…” he starts asking, but trails off as he looks back at where Rufka and Vera are talking about enchantments for the spire, Vera waving her arms while Rufka bobs her head.

“Me? All I did was say I didn’t want to be involved,” I tell Josh with a straight face and a wink.

For some strange reason, Josh laughs at this.

Though it’s only a half-hearted chuckle, I’ll take it.

Sitting at the far end of the broken column, I say, “You know, Vera had a good reason to be angry. You’ve been fighting a guerrilla war here for over a month. The both of you. That couldn’t have been easy.”

“It hasn’t been. And in Vera’s defence, she tried to figure out something for glamour detection. But after we lost the third patrol… well, we stopped searching the city. There just hasn’t been enough of us on our feet,” Josh sighs again, standing up. “Speaking of which, we’ve wasted enough time here. I need to attend the garden.”

“Garden?” I ask, standing with him.

A weak smile appears, as he gestures for me to follow him. “It’s not much. But it’s our main advantage over the traitors. We won’t run out of food.”

“Only as long as you stay safe,” Vera interjects. She and Rufka are both standing at the exit, waiting for us.

“Sorry Josh,” Rufka says as we approach. “That was uncalled for.”

“It’s okay. We all dealt with it in different ways. And if I’d just believed you instead of thinking you were in denial…” he says, clasping her hand. “Beth grew like a million thorns, I swear.”

“Pretty sure that’s your department,” I say, tapping his armour.

“Heh, you’re right. Let me show you the garden,” Josh says, leading the way to a building across the plaza from the central tower. “There’s no roses, but it’s still pretty beautiful.”

Nodding, I follow behind him until we get to a doorway that’s propped open by the broken back of a chair. Raising an eyebrow at Josh, he shrugs. “We don’t have any stone-shapers, and I haven’t had time to practice mine.”

“No metal, stone, or ice. And if not for Josh, we wouldn’t have any Earth shapers either,” Vera says. “Always said it was a fool’s game, having so many air and lightning shapers.”

“Why didn’t you learn something differ…” I trail off as we emerge from the dark doorway into a garden that must take up eight floors of the building. Possibly more. Turning around, I see terraces overflowing with berries, leafy vegetables, roots poking out of the ground. “I’m seeing a lot of veggies. Not much meat.”

“Yeah. Turns out K’tharn don’t need to eat meat to survive since the System came. They just prefer it,” Josh says, plucking a red fruit the size of his fist from a tree half-hidden behind a trellis. Spinning it in his hand, he turns, tossing it to me.

Instead of catching it, I create a metal skewer which I use to split the fruit into eight even pieces. Which I then rearrange onto a plate formed of the same original skewer. Holding out the skewer-turned-plate, I ask, “Anyone want to share?”

“Yep,” Rufka says, reaching over my shoulder to pluck one of the pieces off the tray.

“That right there. So useful. Two hours and you could solve all my enchanting problems,” Vera says as she takes a piece of the fruit.

Holding the plate to Josh, I ask, “So, why didn’t you learn?”

“An enchanter with metal-shaping? They would’ve blacklisted me faster than Pethe and Arrika trade whispers,” Vera answers, pursing her lips as she takes a bit of the rich fruit.

“Vera,” Josh protests.

“What? Those two have the loosest lips of any adult K’tharn I’ve known,” Vera states, shaking her head.

“Yes, but… they try, at least,” Josh says with a half-smile and small shrug.

Vera nods. “They do at that. Excellent on watch. Hard part is getting them to tell us the important news.”

“Uh. Speaking of which. There was a bit of an altercation when we arrived. A few K’tharn attacked Rufka then ran off,” I inform them as I finish my second piece of fruit. It’s really good.

“Pethe told me. ‘Rabbit Queen’s guard chased us away, Vera.’ ‘Like we were nothing, Vera.’ ‘She’s here to save us, Vera.’ All very excited,” Vera says, waving her hand.

“Do you wanna learn,” Rufka asks, placing her game of Astra’s stride on the table.

“What?” Vera asks, turning to Rufka. “What are you talking about?”

“Metal-shaping. Or Stone. You said you didn’t know how. But Aethire’s a memory. Do you want to learn?” Rufka asks again, holding up a pair of coloured round stones. The light steel-grey token for metal and the near-black grey token for stone. She bounces them along the knuckles of her hand, rolling them up along her arm and over shoulders before manipulating them back down her other arm. “This is an original Astra’s Stride. First step to unlocking your very own metal-shaping.”

Rufka draws a stone table up in the middle of the path, a steel chair forming on either side where she places the board. She takes the far chair, staring at Vera.

“All you have to do… is win.”

6.74, Only Child

May 3, 2024. 1:01 pm.

Vera looks at Rufka’s table for all of three seconds before shaking her head. “I wish I could.”

“What? It doesn’t take that long,” Rufka objects, standing up.

“I’d love to. But with an actual metal mage of her quality at our disposal, it’d be for purely personal gain. We don’t have time for that,” Vera says, shaking her head.

Josh is nodding, so I ask, “What can I do? More than just stand around looking at your beautiful garden, I’m sure.”

“Vera can show you.” Looking at the steel chairs Rufka produced, he shakes his head. “If I had a tenth your skill, we’d have won this fight weeks ago.”

“Too late for it now,” Vera says, clapping him on the shoulder. “You take care of your plants. And you!” Vera turns to point at Rufka, who’s finished putting the board away and is returning the table to the floor as she looks up.

Shaking her finger, Vera says, “You better keep that game ready. Cause once we’ve got thing calmed down, you’re on.”

The smile on Rufka’s face turns into a crooked grin as she says, “Ah ha! Challenge accepted!”

And then we’re marching back down the stairs, back to the spire. Vera leads us into the basement, where she sets us to work creating a huge number of crude runeforms. Which she’ll refine and enchant by hand. Ten minutes. That’s all it takes Rufka and I to fill most of the room.

Vera shakes her head, inspecting one of my plates. “This is almost usable. And you did it with no tools…”

“Uh, well, I’ve kind had a lot of practice without tools,” I admit. “And that one’s pretty basic. Doesn’t do anything but cool the air.”

“On its own, sure. But if I could… so much wasted time. Should’ve been like Genitha. She never let her pride get in the way,” Vera says, shaking her head.

Rufka tilts her head to the side, squinting at Vera as she asks, “You know mum?”

Vera sets the plate down, turning to Rufka. “Mom? You aren’t saying… you do have her eyes… and her ears… Wow. You’re the one, aren’t you?”

“The one?” Rufka asks, flicking her eyes toward me. I just shrug as she looks back to Vera. “The one what?”

“The child. The only child of the Crimson Archmage.”

“Uh. Yep. The one and only.”

“Exactly. Twelve child license. Unheard of. And she only has one,” Vera says, shaking her head.

Rufka responds with a shrug, “Mum said one was perfect.”

“Perfectly awful?” I ask, elbowing her.

“Sometimes,” Rufka admits with a half-grin. “Okay, most of the time.”

“Much fun as this is, now that I have materials, I need to work. You can stay and help, or…”

“Or?”

“You have a way to pierce through the glamours, right? And much as I hate to admit it, you’re going to have an easier time dealing with any hidden threats. I’m not much of a fighter and Josh is too valu-“

Rufka’s able to press her finger to Vera’s lip in a fraction of a second, “Now, I know you’ve been working with Josh for a while, and you only barely know Lexi. But there’s no one more valuable to me than Lexi. So, let’s stay friends and not finish that sentence.”

Vera just quirks an eyebrow at me, and I shrug. It’s hard to be upset with Rufka being overprotective when she’s also being so cute.

“Ahem, and Josh needs to attend to his garden,” Vera says when Rufka pulls her finger away.

Rufka slips an arm around Vera’s shoulder and gives her a side-hug, winking at me as she says, “See, I knew you’d understand.”

Rolling my eyes, we bid Vera goodbye, returning to the Second Promise, where we quickly pull out the parts we’ll need. We commandeer the temporary bench we used for the buoys for our current project.

Soon, there are enchanting tools and other less definable objects scattered on the floor around us.

While I’m still working on the base structure of the pylon we designed, Rufka moves off to the end of the workbench. After a couple minutes, she stretches looking my direction and asking, “Can you pass me the C-cutter?”

I reach out toward a crescent-shaped blade, my hand hovering over it. But she shakes her head and gestures to a different crescent-shaped tool. It doesn’t have a blade, but when I hold it out to her, she takes it.

Should’ve known Rufka’d have different names for her tools than Uthica.

Rufka holds it over the cube in front of her, flipping it back and forth before adjusting a few small switches on the handle. Then she lets go and the C-cutter flips itself back and forth as tiny marks are etched into the cube.

Floating the cube up, Rufka rotates it while squinting at it. Then she gives it a nod, levitating it into a nearby metal gauntlet. She slides the cube into a spot on the palm with a solid ‘clink’. The gauntlet bobs in place as she slides her hand underneath it. A multitude of clinking fills the room as it closes over her hand. She waves it back and forth a couple times before turning toward me.

“Are we finished? Already?” I ask, looking at the gauntlet.

“Mhm. I salvaged the pistol we nabbed. Which provided most of the circuitry. It was easy to incorporate the disruption and scanning functions,” Rufka answers with a smile that morphs into a frown. “But it’s gonna be a pain to reproduce. Especially without access to proper facilities. But that’s what the pylons are for.”

“And it should be enough for now. Is it working?”

Rufka nods, splaying her fingers and releasing three short pulses at the far side of the room. They strike open air, but have no other visible effect.

“It’ll do the trick. Won’t hurt anyone either.” Rufka clasps the gauntlet closed, slipping her hand out. “Want to try?”

“Will it work?” I ask, holding up my steel hand. Which matches the right handed shape of the gauntlet.

Proffering the gauntlet toward me, Rufka says, “Try it and we’ll find out.”

The gauntlet wraps around my hand as I slide it inside but hangs loose.

“Pulse your Mana.”

Doing as Rufka instructs, I release a small pulse of mana. And the gauntlet cascades inward, wrapping around my hand. “Neat.”

“Now to fire-“

It’s amazing how intuitive it is to fire. I can feel the interface between the Reapertech and the Mana. Within a second I’ve fired a dozen blue pulses at the far end of the airlock. Another second later, and Demo’s voice sounds from a nearby speaker. “What are you doing down there? You’re messing with Sara’s systems?”

Oops.

“Testing a new tool,” I respond, flexing the gauntlet while inspecting the components with Facet. The scanner remains… complicated. Not something I can understand. But the disruption…

Clenching my hand, I try to pull it out, but it doesn’t release. Sending another pulse of Mana doesn’t work either. “How do I-“

My question is cut short when Rufka taps the gauntlet, and the plates expand outward. “That part’s still keyed to me. Don’t want anyone removing it while we’re hunting sneaky sneaks.”

“Ah. Makes sense,” I say, shifting a few components inside my steel hand. Then I look around the airlock. “There’s another test I want to run, but maybe we should do it outside.”

Rufka nods, slipping the gauntlet back on before following me down the ramp.

“Okay. Fire test one,” I say, erecting a new stone-dummy. I channel energy through my hand, copying Rufka’s device. Only for the pulse to explode when it hits the base of my steel hand.

Gritting in pain, I collapse to my knees as I reform my hand. Rufka’s kneeling next to me when I look up with a grimace.

“Sorry. Forgot to adjust for material transitions,” I say.

Getting a nod from Rufka, before she starts shaking her head. “You sure you wanna do this?” Rufka asks, holding up her gauntlet. “I already have mine working.”

“A portable way to disrupt illusions with nothing but a pulse of my Mana? I’d be foolish not to at least try,” I say, standing again, shaking the phantom pain out of my hand.

This time when I raise my hand, I ensure the Mana channels leading into my arm maintain a proper flow, no sudden spike due to the Mana-saturated nature of my steel hand. My fingers tingle blue for a second, but there’s no pulse.

“Not bad. A disruptive touch will be useful. Less obvious,” Rufka says, nodding in approval.

“Could be. But… it’s not what I was going for.” Trying twice more, I still can’t get a pulse. “Hmm. Can I see that again? You can keep it on.”

Rufka nods, holding the gauntlet toward me as I inspect if with Facet. Still not seeing what I’m missing…

“Can you fire it for-“ Rufka doesn’t wait for me to finish, directing a blast at the target dummy. And there it is.

“Got it,” I say, adding a Mana-packet to my hand. The pulse needs a delivery mechanism.

This time when I fire the pulse it works… mostly as intended. My aim is off, but another twelve shots helps me pull it into alignment as I design my anti-glamour spell.

“Are you going to copy the scanner too?” Rufka asks, holding up the gauntlet.

Shaking my head, I clap her on the shoulder, “Not a chance. Way too complicated.”

“Good… I mean, shame. Could’ve been useful,” Rufka says, but she’s unable to keep the smile off her face.

She’s still smiling when I revert time, taking us back to when she completed her gauntlet.

Rufka blinks, then shoves my shoulder. “Cheater.”

“Absolutely,” I reply, summoning Smoulder and Twilight. “With that out of the way… What do you say we hunt down some Reapersworn?”

Rufka and Smoulder both nod enthusiastically. Too enthusiastically.

“And this time… no disintegrations.”

Watching their faces fall almost makes up for the fact neither gets the reference.

Almost.

6.75, Not Guilty

May 3, 2024. 1:32 pm.

As we’re returning to the spire to talk to Josh, I stop, staring at it for a second. It’s… practically the same as the spires the Daughters used to protect the reclaimed city on Akilo.

Wonder if the Daughters copied the design directly?

Josh is still in his garden when we return, as are a dozen K’tharn. Every person is harvesting buckets of produce as the plants blossom then grow into full fruit even as we approach.

Neat.

“We’re ready to go hunting,” I tell him. But Rufka taps my shoulder before we can leave.

She lifts her gauntlet, swinging it back and forth, aiming it at the gathered K’tharn. “There’s a glamour here.”

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” Josh demands in a low voice, slapping Rufka’s arm, only for her to barely budge, causing him to frown.

As I’m about to speak, Rufka grins, lowering her arm slightly. “Just finding the traitors in your midst. That’s what you wanted, right?”

“Do you have to be so… blatant?” Josh asks while stepping between her and the workers.

Rufka blinks, turning to me. “Lexi?”

Taking in the gathered K’tharn, I note that they’ve stopped working and are all watching us, talking amongst themselves. “Discreet isn’t an option anymore. Sorry Josh, Rufka will have more discretion going forward, won’t you dear?”

As I’m talking a pair of K’tharn step forward. “This’ll prove I’m not a traitor, right? No more questions?”

Josh sighs as he steps away, shaking his head. Mumbling to himself, I hear, “I never should’ve asked for this.”

Rufka nods at the pair, gesturing them forward. As she does so, I watch the rest of the room, though I bring my hand up to match her gauntlet. When they’re standing directly in front of us, I pause time. Then I release a pulse at every K’tharn in the room. And one at Josh too.

Just in case.

The pulses are just reaching their targets as I bring my pause to an end, my primary target being the very last to be hit. Unsurprisingly, neither of the K’tharn who stepped forward are affected. Neither is Josh. But a K’tharn near the back, who’d been talking with three other workers has their image flicker and collapse.

Before she knows what’s happened, I Pause again, ensnaring her with a cluster of golden-tinted bands as I inspect her for daggers or pistols that might pass through my defences. But she’s completely unarmed.

When the second pause ends, one of her coworkers gasps, pointing at her change in fur colour. At a glance it wasn’t that big a change, dark grey and black to a lighter grey and black. But the stripes and facial markings are completely different.

The K’tharn seems to realize she’s been revealed, and attempts to run only for the bands I put in place to close tight around her limbs. Still not willing to give up, she begins summoning a spike of ice and aiming it at Rufka. But I disperse the Mana, wresting control of the area around her.

“I’m not a traitor,” she snarls, struggling to pull free of my golden-tinted bands.

“Yet you were glamoured in the heart of the spire. And you attempted to attack my thiani,” I say, bearing down on her with my eternal eye.

She doesn’t say anything else, glaring at me. And I feel a sudden weariness. Turning to Josh, I ask, “Do you have anywhere we can keep her?”

“Uh… Ask Vera? I think she knows how to create Mana-suppression chambers.”

“If she doesn’t, we have suppression shackles,” Rufka says, nodding to me.

“You… have shackles?” I ask, turning to stare at my thiani.

Rufka nods, opening a pouch on her bandoleer and pulling out a small black square. “Standard issue. Made extra since you were so keen on taking everyone alive. We’ll need to check on them every couple hours, but they should work on any copper-rank or lower threat.”

“I’m not a threat,” the K’tharn repeats as Rufka steps forward with the black square. Which splits into several pieces, a thin black cable connecting them as Rufka wraps one around each of the K’tharn’s limbs.

“What’s your name?” I ask as Rufka binds her.

The K’tharn narrows her eyes, staring at me for three long seconds before saying, “Deptha. Of clan Thetarlin.”

The other K’tharn in the room start muttering, but the name means nothing to me. “Well, Deptha of clan Thetarlin. If you’re here, you’re one of my subjects, which means it’s my duty to protect you. Or you’re a Reapersworn, in which case it’s my duty to stop you. I intend to find out either way, but until I do, I’m afraid you’re under arrest.”

Much as I may leave the ruling part to Tipan, these people joined up to help Earth. I owe them this much, at least.

She nods, still staring at me as Rufka finishes her work.

Once she’s secured in the flimsy looking shackles, Josh leads us beneath Vera’s workspace to a set of empty rooms. I convert them to proper cells, replete with all the amenities. Then I escort Deptha inside.

She watches me as I seal the door closed without so much as a seam. I’m turning to leave when she calls out. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Queen Pandora,” I respond, turning back.

She snorts, all four arms crossed as she says, “That’s not your name. That’s your title. What’s your real name? I told you mine.”

Inspecting her for a few seconds, I shrug. “Alexis. Alexis Wyonna Everette.”

“Huh. Didn’t think that’d work,” Deptha says, sitting on her bench. “Good luck out there Alexis. Hope you come let me out soon.”

Staring at her for a few more seconds, I nod before turning away. “I hope so too.”

Josh sets guards at the front entrance and then has me seal the door, locking everyone inside as we sweep through the spire. We don’t find a single additional person who’s glamoured. After searching through all four of the buildings serving as their temporary shelter, we still haven’t found anyone else.

Which is a huge relief to me, as well as Josh. By the time we’ve finished, Vera’s finished wards that will only deactivate at the proper passcode.

Meaning it’s time to search the city.

Our initial efforts to hunt down the hidden traitors have a pleasant start. We end up rescuing four K’tharn who were hidden in a ruined building not far from the Saratesa.

Once we situate them within Josh’s compound, we spend an hour searching the ruined cityscape before coming across a group of two K’tharn and an elf under an invisibility glamour.

The immediate attack using Reapertech rifles practically guarantees they’re Reapersworn. With Rufka and Midnight drawing their attention as Smoulder and I flank from within Pause, they have no real chance. Three quick sleep spells leave them collapsed at my feet as Rufka drops down to shackle them.

As we take their equipment away, Rufka says, “Yes, yes… oh yes. This is great.”

“Good news?” I ask, floating the third and final member of the Reapersworn squad into the temporary holding cells I’m floating behind us.

“Should be able to make another few scanners. This Reapertech is so awesome. I’m glad you were able to steal so much… I mean, pass so much of Letonga’s knowledge on to me. Ohhh. A working K-232 assault rifle. Might be able to get a bigger burst out of this beauty,” Rufka answers, hefting a pack that quickly disappears into her inventory.

“Good time for a break then. If we can give Josh a scanner, and a few pistols, they can take care of themselves while we finish our search,” I say, flying up to where Midnight is keeping watch above the buildings. “Plus, we need to interrogate these three. Once they wake up.”

“Didn’t think a sleep spell would work so well,” Rufka says, shaking her head.

“I’m just glad it didn’t kill them,” I reply as we soar toward the spire. “They’re so weak.”

“They’re just not obscenely strong, like us,” Rufka replies with a wicked grin as she joins me on Midnight’s back.

Then we chuckle together as Smoulder takes her place on his head, as we fly back to the spire.

We don’t escort our new prisoners to their cells, so much as float them. Deptha is staring at the ceiling when we enter, but she quickly sits up to stare as we put the Reapersworn in their cells.

“So… you caught them? Does that mean I get to go now?” she asks, leaning on the bars of her cage.

“Not yet. We still need to talk to them. And search the rest of the city,” I explain.

Deptha stares at me for several seconds, before nodding. “Okay. But then you’ll let me go?”

“So long as you’re innocent, yes.”

“Oh, I’m far from innocent,” she replies, smiling as she shoots me a wink. “But I’m no traitor.”

Turning to Rufka, I receive a crooked grin. Choosing to ignore them both, I turn to the first of the Reapersworn.

While they’re unconscious, I scan them for any possible suicide devices. It seems silly, but the old man had one, so they could too.

First, I remove the suicide capsule in their teeth. Then the explosive bone nestled near their hearts in their left chest. The spinal severance device running the length of their neck is too tightly wound to be removed, so I can only disable them.

“They really don’t want to be taken alive,” I say, as I grind the explosive bones into dust within a steel sphere while scanning to see if there are any more traps I missed.

“At least you know they’re Reapersworn. No civilian would have so many precautions,” Rufka says, glancing at Deptha.

“You think it’s that simple?” I ask, turning to our captive.

“No. But it’s as good as we can get without locking her away on suspicion,” Rufka says with a shrug.

“How about it?” I ask Deptha, “You okay with me scanning your body?”

Deptha leans back, glancing at Rufka. “Hey, I may have been a joking earlier, but I’m no freak. Don’t listen to what the rumours say, I ain’t into you elvenoids like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like… you know… sex?” Deptha says, her ears folding down as Rufka starts chuckling. “But… that’s not what you were asking, was it?”

“No. No it was not,” I reply, shaking my head. “Rufka’s the only one I need.”

Rufka kisses my cheek as she says, “Aww. You say the sweetest things when you’re flustered.”

“Wait. Hold on, you…” Deptha says, pointing at Rufka. Then her finger drifts toward me as she adds, “And her? You’re… together?”

“Yep,” Rufka says, slinging her arm over my shoulder. “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Now who’s saying the sweetest things,” I whisper.

Looking toward the stairs, Deptha says, “But you’re K’tharn. How do you deal with the… rumours?”

Rufka tilts her head back as she laughs, wiping a tear from her eye as she jostles me. “Lexi’s the damn Rabbit Queen. She’s worshiped by thousands of K’tharn. What’re they gonna say to her dating one?”

“Right. I… uh, hadn’t thought of that. That means… so dating an elvenoid isn’t immoral?” Deptha asks, looking between us.

“Course not,” Rufka scoffs. “Though what we do in-“

I elbow Rufka in the stomach before she can complete that little sentence. “She’s our prisoner. She doesn’t need to know what we do in private.”

“Speaking of being a prisoner,” Deptha says, gripping the bars with all four hands. “Can you do your thing? And let me go?”

Nodding, I pour several tendrils of Facet out, sending it sweeping through her. There’s no sign of any suicide devices or weapons hidden anywhere. Not so much as a butter knife.

“You’re clean,” I say, unfusing the bars of her cell. “Wish we’d thought of that earlier.”

“Thanks,” Deptha says, still standing in her cell even as I back out of her way. Her eyes drift toward the imprisoned Reapersworn. “What’s… what’s going to happen to them?”

“Depends on what they tell us. Either way, they’re going to end up punished. But it’ll all be in accordance with the laws of Tipan’s queendom,” I reassure her.

“I… I hope you kill them all,” Deptha says, spitting into their cell.

“What?” I ask, catching the spit before it lands turning to stare at her.

Deptha meets my gaze. “They killed my thiani. She never hurt anyone. Just protected me from…”

“And if you can know who’s innocent… then they should die. Keep them from hurting anyone else.” She winds up, as if she’s going to spit on them again, but then she stops herself. “Thanks Alexis. Hate to admit it, but this isn’t the first time I’ve been arrested. Has been the best, though.”

She whispers something in Rufka’s ear as she’s leaving and I keep myself from listening in, but I can’t help but see Rufka’s answering smile as she looks at me and says, “Don’t worry. I will.”

And then she’s gone, leaving me alone with Rufka and three unconscious Reapersworn.

“Well. Time to get back to work,” I say, turning to face the defanged terrorists.

A large part of me is afraid I’ll be forced to do as Deptha suggested. As I note the wisps of their temporal threads stretching into the past, I close my eyes.

Right. There’s another way to find out what we need.

But I’d rather save that for later. If I hadn’t seen what the slaves had done with my own eyes, maybe… maybe I wouldn’t have been so swift to judge them guilty.

6.76, Cleaning Up

May 3, 2024. 2:17 pm.

The first of the Reapersworn awakens screaming. Which is mostly my fault, as I’m healing them with the only talisman that never breaks when I use it. Hopefully, it might’ve caught any more suicide triggers I may have missed.

When they stop screaming, the elf turns his gaze on Rufka before shifting toward me. The second he spots my stellar eye, he starts screaming again. But this time, he scrambles away from me, climbing over his unconscious companions.

“I take it that means you recognize me. Good, that’ll save us some time,” I say, grabbing him with a pair of golden hands as he clenches his teeth. When that doesn’t work, he closes his eyes and squints.

When he’s still breathing after that, he tries to reach for his chest. Probably for where the explosive bone was located, but I’m not taking any chances. I grasp his wrist with another golden hand, pulling it away from his chest.

“Yeah… that’s not gonna help,” I say, floating him close to the bars less than a meter from my face. “So, you know who I am. Only feels fair you tell me your name.”

He still doesn’t answer, twisting and pulling at my golden hands. His struggles have the same effect a butterfly would trying to stop a tornado by flapping its wings. So, theoretically possible… But very unlikely.

Letting him struggle for a minute, I try again. “You’re not very entertaining. Last time I met a Reapersworn, they at least had something to say.”

Even if Letonga mostly just called me names at first.

He stops struggling for a second, his eyes narrowing as he looks between Rufka and I. Then he clamps his jaw shut, tears forming in his eyes as he grinds his jaw. Allowing him a few seconds of this, I’m about to resume questioning when he spits a wet gob onto my foot.

It’s significantly heavier than I expect, and when I glance down the severed end of his tongue stares back at me. He’s wearing a wide blood-smeared smirk as I sigh. Making a beckoning motion, my hands press him against the bars as I dangle the healing talisman I just used on him to revive him. His eyes follow the bobbing talisman for a second, before seeming to realize what it is.

As he pushes against the bars, trying to squirm away, I hold the talisman to his head, hard enough that the feathers leave an imprint as I channel more healing energy through it.

Perhaps the first time I’ve heard a scream become more articulate as I healed a person. He sags as I cut the energy. Pulling back my golden hands, he lifts his head to glare at my talisman.

“Do we really need to do this?” I ask, sighing again.

“No words for whore-queen,” he growls out in Letonga’s tongue, though he has a thick accent. It’s possible he actually said mighty-queen, yet somehow I doubt it.

“Not even your name? After killing our people, I feel you owe that much at least.”

“No deserve name,” he snarls.

“Oh? Why not? Am I not good enough.”

He just snarls, and I sigh, giving in and scanning him.

“Analyzing Temporal Thread. Interpolating current Temporal position.”

“Sapient Analyzed: Reapershell. Sexless. Gene seed D.”

“Name: Gestation-4 of jherl-kin Kaybee.”

“Relevant lore: The soulless Reapershells are the Wyrdsmith’s answer to the System’s infinite waves of monsters. The legions of Hel that hold worse monsters at bay.”

“Disposable imprints of a jherl-kin are pressed into temporary bodies, meant to survive for weeks, at most. Those with humanoid bodies are deployed where a Reaper or their jherl-kin believes infiltration is deemed more likely to produce favorable results. Most jherl-kin will keep far greater numbers of warforms than Reapershells. Information learned by a Reapershell will be acquired by their jherl-kin upon the shell’s death.”

“This Reapershell’s donor believes they have failed at their mission.”

“Attributes: Physical; Pathetic, [Mid Iron], Mobility; Pathetic, [Mid Iron], Magic; Pathetic, [Low Iron], Awareness; Pathetic, [Mid Iron].”

“Attacks: Weak physical attacks. Reaper tech proficiency.”

“Defences: Physical: Pathetic, Mana: Pathetic. I am Legion.”

“Temporal Thread: Quality; Mid 20th percentile, Durability; Lower 10th percentile, Malleability; Mid 50th percentile. Proximity to Pandora’s Temporal Thread: Distant.”

He glares at me, deep heaving breathes as I consider him, relaying what I’ve learned to Rufka in Vausian. Studying his straining eyes, I ask, “What do you think they failed at?”

“Hard to say. Something important to a Reaper? Probably something involving the Sanctuary drifting for two months? Maybe they were supposed to destroy it? Or steal it,” Rufka says, shrugging. “Considering they didn’t kill themselves, it can’t be totally failed, right?”

“You think this is what would’ve happened to Letonga, if I hadn’t bound her?” I ask, gesturing toward the still snarling Reapersworn.

“No,” Rufka says, taking me by my shoulder. “And you’re not binding these… You’re not binding them to you. It turned out well enough the first time, but if something happens…”

I’m raising my hand to point out I had no intention of binding them, but Rufka pushes it down, shaking her head.

Still, I speak. “I agree. They’re… not really all there. This one is a shell. No soul even. According to my scan, there needs to be a jherl-kin nearby. Which is some sort of servant of the Reapers.”

“Huh. Think you’ll get anything useful out of talking to em?”

“Maybe. Just knowing they didn’t succeed is something. But what we need is to find this jherl-kin. Or Reaper if we’re unlucky.”

Rufka grins. “I don’t know. After what you’ve shown me about Reapers, might be kinda fun to bump into one.”

Rolling my eyes, I turn back to our prisoners. “Sure. I’m going to ask him some more questions. Then try his companions.”

As promised, I continue to question him for another five minutes, but his responses are mostly variations of different insults or insistence he doesn’t deserve a name. At this point, I’m not sure he was even responding to me when I asked for his name. Hitting him with the sleep spell, his body slumps. Before turning to the next, I place him at the back of his cell, secured so he shouldn’t be able to hurt himself again.

With no fear of them having another method of self-destruct, I wake the next occupant more gently, dispersing the spell matrix keeping her unconscious. When she doesn’t stir immediately, I shake the K’tharn’s shoulder gently with a golden hand.

The K'tharn stirs, gazing up at me before pulling herself into a low squat and surveying the room. Her eyes linger on my starry eye, then move to her unconscious companions. But there’s no immediate attempt to kill herself, so I’m counting that as a win.

“Hello,” I say in Ulthean. “My name is Alexis. What’s yours?”

The K’tharn stares at me for a few seconds, before her gaze settles on my eye again.

When I scan her, most of her results are the same as the first, though this one also has a note about being ‘burned out’. Even more of a shell than the first.

“What do we do with them?”

“Keep them locked up until we deal with the jherl-kin?” Rufka suggests, waving her off and looking toward the last K’tharn lying in the corner.

Questioning her is no more enlightening than the others, and scanning is just as bad. Just another shell.

Leaving them we head back up. As we’re leaving, I turn back, looking them over. What my overview didn’t mention, and I didn’t notice until I swept them with Facet a second time, is that their brains are breaking down. Fast. The rest of the body seems fine, but I’m pretty sure the brains are the part that prevents them from living for long.

The steps leading to the surface are covered in grime that I scour clean as we ascend. When we get to the central chamber, I realize it’s not just the stairs. I spend the next minute just scouring the chamber clean. I’m about to move to the stairs when Rufka’s hand lands on my shoulder.

I stop, taking a deep breath as I turn to her. Her upper eyes are closed and she just stands there, waiting. Looking around the room, I find Smoulder sitting near the entrance, her head tilted to the side as she watches with amused concern.

There are also a few K’tharn who were passing through who are staring.

“I… they… Cleaning is so much simpler,” I finally say.

“Sometimes, yeah,” Rufka smiles. “You know what else is simple?” She holds her hand up, and a small spark manifests atop it.

Smiling, I raise my hand, creating a matching spark.

“Cute,” Rufka says. “Ready to continue?”

Nodding, I follow her and Smoulder outside the spire. Deptha is sitting a few steps down, keeping watch alongside another K’tharn. They wave us through the newly enchanted gate, and we head back out into the city.

It’s not pleasant… but there are more of the shells out there. And someone’s using them to attack innocent people.

I suppose stopping them could be considered another type of cleanup.

Two hours and a couple dozen loops later, we’re returning to the central compound without having found any sign of the jherl’kin. We have found another five squads of Reapershells and nearly a hundred K’tharn.

Which leads to Josh asking me to restore two buildings so they have a safe place to put them. When Demo comes walking up the street, I’m putting the finishing touches on the second, tentatively named Chataeu de Stone.

The name is a work in progress, much like the building.

His approach is calm, but his toothpick is absent. Turning to him, I gesture for him to take a seat on one of the decorative benches I added in front of the chateau. “What’s up?”

“Yeh know how the city’s creating a distortion?”

“Yeah. It’s how we found them in the first place.”

“Well, it’s gotten worse since we arrived. Another of the engines has destabilized,” Demo says evenly, as though discussing the weather. Which is currently a strange mix of cloudy, glowing shield and starry sky.

Space cities are weird.

“More sabotage? Which engine?”

He points to the far side of the city, next to where large chunks of the city are missing. “Engine 4. I don’t know if it was sabotage. Wouldn’t need to be. Was already pretty damaged.”

“So it might just be bad timing?”

“Hmm. Very bad timing. With three engines offline, the shield might not hold for-“

A flash across the sky is followed by thunder that cuts off his words.

“Welp. Even worse than I thought,” Demo says, sliding a toothpick in his mouth. “If we’re gonna save these people, we need to tie in the ships.”

Looking at Saratesa, I glance back at the buildings I just built. Not much chance of carting them around like that. “Maybe I could teleport them back to Akilo?”

“If yeh feel comfortable taking them through the shield, sure.”

“Right. So, maybe not the best idea. You have another one? They’ve been trying to make repairs for weeks, and they don’t expect to have it running for another few weeks.”

“One. There’s a… planet nearby. Lots of water, perfect habitability zone. Already saturated with Mana.”

“But?”

“But it’s empty. A barren ball of stone. With Mana, it’ll only be a few decades before that changes. But…”

“We don’t have a few decades. Breathable air?”

Demo shakes his head, looking around the city. “But if we can get er down without much more damage, it’ll keep people safe. Probably.”

“How much time are we talking?”

“Oh. Plenty. Should be a week. Maybe tw-“

Another flash ripples across the sky, and for a second the shield above almost seems to flicker. The flicker is followed by an explosion that rolls through the city. I watch in disbelief as engine number four tears free of the city, rocketing into space.

“Uh… a few hours. Two… maybe three,” Demo says. “Welp, guess we’d best get started.”

“What am I even supposed to do?” I ask, looking around helplessly.

“Easy. Yeh build a shelter.”

“But what about the engines?”

“Yeh just leave that to me,” Demo answers, dashing away as Rufka and Smoulder return from securing our latest wave of prisoners. Smoulder doesn’t do much other than watch Rufka’s back while she’s working, but that’s still enough.

“What was all that about?”

“Oh. Just the city falling apart and us charting a course to a new world… Give me a hand with this would you?” I ask, stepping toward Chateau de Stone.

Building a separation between it and the city is only the first step, as I convert the latest building from residence to emergency bunker. I can’t bring myself to damage the facade, so instead I extend it upward, creating a tower nearly as tall as the spire. More than enough room for everyone. Then I get Rufka to help me with reinforcements, a full second skin of steel-titanium alloy coating the inside.

The only exception are four airlocks at the bottom, three of which are primitive in function, requiring brute muscle to operate. The fourth requires a master metal mage.

We’re finished putting the final upgrades on the Chateau when Josh emerges from the Spire. He’s carrying a bundle of fresh produce, all diced into a set of shiny serving bowls I forged for him. A bundle he nearly drops when he sees the tower.

“What’s this?” he asks, holding one of the bowls toward Rufka while not taking his eyes off the tower.

“Don’t know if you noticed the problems with the shield, but Demo said it probably won’t hold much longer.

“What? Why wasn’t I told?” Josh demands, pulling my bowl back.

“Wanted to have this ready for you. It’s a bunker. Should keep everyone safe, even if the shield goes down. And you’ve got enough wind mages, fresh air won’t be a problem, right?”

“Not so far,” Josh acknowledges, setting the bowls down. “I have to tell Vera. We need to get this-“

“I heard. Nice of you to answer all our prayers,” Vera says as she appears, a glower fixed on us. “We’ll just move everybody over to this shiny new prison then.”

“Vera, we don’t have time-“ Another flash of the shield going out interrupts me, and causes a massive ‘pop’ to resonate throughout the city.

Vera’s eyes widen, and before I can say another word, she’s grabbed Josh, throwing him toward the spire. “Get as much of the food as you can.”

Not stopping, she charges into one of the nearby buildings, screaming out names. K’tharn start appearing around her as Josh disappears up the spire. I’m about to follow him when Rufka stops me.

“What is it?”

She points toward the spire. “We just locked away twenty shells. What’re we going to do with them?”

Rubbing my forehead I look toward the chateau. We could bring them with us. We have plenty of room to keep them safe. Or I could leave them in their cells, leave their fate to chance.

“What do you think we should do?” I ask.

“Space em,” Rufka answers without pause. “They’re not even real people.”

Smoulder nods, looking at my bunker. And sending an image of what one of the Reapertech rifles could do to my recently bunkerized Chateau de Stone. The image of the building crumbling to pieces is not exactly reassuring.

“But… they’re not responsible for their actions. Not really. They’re-“

“Empty shells,” Rufka interjects. “You even said so.”

“Yeah, but… they’re still… they still look like a person. And the one was talking.”

Rufka rolls her eyes. “More like blabbering. Only thing he said that made sense was that he didn’t deserve a name.”

Smoulder nods her agreement, and I look over to where Vera is escorting the K’tharn into the tower. Even after receiving healing, most look haggard and worn. Sticking the Reapershells in the tower with them…

“You’re right. They can’t come with us.”

Rufka shifts forward, her hand already going to her bow as she asks, “So, do you want me-“

“No. We’re not killing them either. The basement of the spire is basically a bunker already. It would take almost no effort to leave them safe enough to survive a week inside. And we’re going to get started a bit earlier. Sorry to waste your time, but we need to investigate engine four before it fails.”

The city shakes again, though this time there’s no flicker at least. “Speaking of which, what do you say we help them with their evacuation then poke around a bit before cheating?”

The next couple minutes are spent escorting and even carrying the K’tharn into the Chateau de Stone, where I memorize every one of their faces and hit as many as I can with a tether. We manage to get half of Josh’s garden transported. At this point I’m regretting not just fortifying his garden building instead. Which is what I’ll do in the next loop.

As we’re about to go back once more, Vera comes up to us. “That’s everyone accounted for.”

“And I’ve got everything I need. Strictly speaking,” Josh says, wiping his brow.

“But all the plants…”

“Extras. A day’s work to duplicate from the ones we’ve stored, at most.”

“Then… we’re done?”

“Not by a long shot,” Vera says, shaking her head. “This is a solid building. Amazingly strong considering the lack of wards. But we need to layer enchantments on it. Give us a proper chance.”

“I’ll help. One of us should stay here until you cheat, just in case,” Rufka says, patting me on the shoulder. “Make sure you don’t do anything too stupid.”

Vera stares at us for a second before asking, “You’re going back out there?”

“Yeah. Not done. Not yet,” I answer, pulling the magically sealed doorway open.

“What’s out there that could possibly be important?” she asks as I reseal the chamber.

I look down at my hands, then glance to where Rufka is waiting inside. Sighing, I whisper, “If only I knew.”

6.77, Shell Games

May 3, 2024. 5:48 pm.

The moment I step outside, the city shakes again. But that’s not surprising. The city is shaking continually, a new surge every minute or so.

Closing the airlock, I’m surprised to find letters burned into the plaza walkway just outside, long sharp shapes that still give off an acrid scent.

‘I’ve tied Sara’s navigation to Slethward’s. The Second Promise is being stubborn. Should make planetfall intact but the shield’s going to take a beating.’

Part of me is tempted to tell him to forget about this attempt. I’m just going to reset time anyway.

But it’d be best if we knew if his idea even works. Besides, I still need to investigate the remains of engine four.

Approaching the former location of engine four, I discover it hasn’t just been sabotaged. It’s gone. Yeah, that definitely calls for a reset.

With everything I can think of covered, I fly over the city, looking for any K’tharn stragglers until colours start leaching out of the city. Then we’re in Ripple-space. We’ve barely entered before we’re thrown back out again. The city slams down, and the shield gives way with a thunderous crack. Sara’s still intact, but there’s an obvious dent in the side.

And it looks like my reinforcements held. Despite being on their side, and half buried, the buildings are still intact. When I check in, most of the occupants are rattled, and there are only a few minor injuries. Most of Josh’s garden was wrecked though.

Deciding I have enough intel, I revert.

A second later and Rufka and I are standing at the workbench the moment she confirmed her scanner was working.

“Whoa, that’s weird when we’re not together,” Rufka says, blinking and leaning against the table.

“You okay?” I ask, pulling her chin towards me as I send a scan through her.

“Yeah. But maybe we set the next reset a couple minutes later if we’re split up again. Was almost as confusing and when mum comes home early from an errand,” Rufka says, shaking her head.

Laughing, I step outside, leading Rufka to where Josh is working. This time, I slap him on the back and ask him to join us. “We need to check out engine four. Thought you should be there.”

“Uh. Sure, right now?”

“Better now than after it goes offline, don’t you think?”

Josh stares at me for a few seconds before nodding, and I give him a thumbs up while asking Midnight to come pick us up.

Instead of rounding up the K’tharn and shells, we make a bee-line straight for the engine. When we get close, the sky is suddenly full of crossed beams. And a moment later, twisted forms that look nothing like an elf or K’tharn leap into the sky.

A quick scan confirms that these are Reapershell warforms. Just as disposable as the others, but a little bit tougher.

Between Rufka, Smoulder, Midnight and I, they have less chance than a snowflake in hell.

Josh tries to help, but he’s simply too slow.

During the fight, I notice several dark runes burned into the sides of nearby buildings.

So as we approach the engine, I let Smoulder work off some energy, releasing enough fire to reduce the dark runes to scattered dust. Along with the buildings they once belonged to. The entrance to the engine hangs open, the inside dark. The simple silver halls have been reworked, every wall wrought through with dark black lines.

The wall expands and contracts, a warm wind blowing over my cheeks as I float outside. Halting, I wait a few seconds before the walls do it again. Are they some sort of vein or artery? Turning to the others, I send a pulse of caution through our bonds while signing the same to Josh.

Josh tilts his Petal-covered head forward while drawing his thorn-gauntlets up as Rufka nods and I take a moment to create a Savepoint. Thus prepared, we move into the apparently living ship.

Our first step inside brings with it an immediate change. Instead of dead Mana, like I’d expected, the Mana is alive. And it’s not just the Mana. The warm wind blows past our cheeks every few seconds, keeping the inside of the engine smelling fresh, despite it’s dark appearance.

The upper levels prove to be devoid of occupants, no more than empty rooms where the black veins have barely spread. But as we approach the stairs to the lower-deck, — the same deck where the Ripple drive rests — we pause. Directly at the head of the stairs is a thick black vein, pumping in time with the thinner ones on the walls. It protrudes from the doorway, and as we move closer, I see it running back and forth in a jagged line down the stairway until it disappears around the bend.

Shaking his head, Josh gestures to retreat. Which would be a reasonable suggestion if I couldn’t cheat. But I even have a Savepoint.

And… whoever’s done this has been sending the Reapershells to their deaths. If we stop them here, the one’s we’ve captured might have a chance. Err, the ones I’ll end up capturing later, that is…

I negate Josh’s suggestion, signaling that we should go forward. His Rose-petal visor swings between Rufka and I, glancing at the pulsing black vein, then back toward the entrance.

Then he nods, taking a step forward.

Which is when the vein bursts.

The fluid within the vein hasn’t travelled more than five centimeters by the time I Pause. Josh is already reacting, his shield growing to block the thick black fluid. But I don’t let him. I reach for the metal of the ship, and find it surprisingly pliable. A barrier of metal intercedes between Josh and the fluid before he’s finished swinging his own shield around.

After my pause ends, we stand there for a second as the fluid drips down the stairs.

Josh is completely dry as he glances up at me, mouthing the word ‘thanks.’

I nod, before flying down the corridor, making sure not to brush against the dark fluid. The vein lies empty and deflated now, but a multitude of thinner veins interweave as we descend. When we reach the actual drive-room, they’ve formed a dark mass thick enough to blanket the entire floor.

We float into the drive-room, and are greeted by the low thud-thud of the steel-flesh column that occupies the space the Ripple drive once did. All the veins lead into the flesh-steel column, including a multitude of thick ones that were not just hidden, but actually invisible from outside.

All of which I take in before my attention is drawn to the glowing face buried within the steel cage. It seems to be an elvenoid woman, older than any Reaper or Reapersworn I’ve ever seen. Her eyes are nothing but empty darkness, not so much as a fleck of colour. She’s almost as creepy as one of the Daughters.

When her head swivels at a clearly unnatural angle, I revise my opinion. She has managed to out-creep the dolls.

Black veins throughout the room continue to pulse as she swivels her head back and forth. It’s like she’s…

Waving my hand in small motions, she doesn’t focus on it.

As I’m signaling to the others, a figure steps into sight at the far end of the room. The strange woman in the column’s head snaps directly toward us at the same time.

But… they’re dealing with a time mage. They were too late the moment I showed up.

Within Frozen time, I scan the blob lady in the center of the room. Which turns out to be another shell, though this one is specifically designed for creating more shells on behalf of her jherl-kin.

And my second scan reveals that the giant woman at the other end of the room is said jherl-kin. I can immediately see the resemblance to all the elven Reapershells we’ve faced. They share the same face, though hers is less… hollow.

“Analyzing Temporal Thread. Interpolating current Temporal position.”

“Sapient Analyzed: Jherl-kin. Female. Gene seed D.”

“Name: Kaybee.”

“Relevant lore: Second soul-shard of the jherl, Kaylah Frostwarden, Kaylah-B has earned her right to existence through service.”

“Currently serving an unknown Reaper who is attempting to find the source of the story disruption near Midgard space. Kaybee only knows that her part of the mission was to conquer the Sanctuary Slethwerd after reaching Earth. When her mission failed, a regular soul-shard would have destroyed themselves and all their shells, returning to the jherl who birthed them. But as an independent soul-shard who has existed for hundreds of years, Kaybee refuses to take this path. Instead, she has reinterpreted her orders, and is determined to find a way to get Slethwerd to Earth. And once there, she will conquer it. Even if it takes her centuries.”

“As an old and independent soul-shard, she has deviated greatly from the philosopher-Orator she was spawned from. Kaybee is personally responsible for the deaths of millions of sapients. Her unending legions, far more. An accomplished painter and fan of heavy rock opera.”

“Attributes: Physical; High, [Mid Silver], Mobility; High, [Mid Silver], Magic; Equivalent, [Low Silver], Awareness; Equivalent, [Low Silver].”

“Attacks: Strong physical attacks. Reapershell cultivation. Reaper tech proficiency.”

“Defences: Physical: High, Mana: High. The Legion Falls, The Soul Lives On.”’

“Conditions: Depleted.”

“Temporal Thread: Quality; Upper 60th percentile, Durability; Lower 40th percentile, Malleability; Mid 30th percentile. Proximity to Pandora’s Temporal Thread: Distant.”

Oh. She might be a bit of a threat.

Focusing closer, I discover that her ability, the Soul Lives On allows her to transport herself into any Reapershell under her control if her current body dies. Or even if she just chooses to.

Be rather tough to take her out, but maybe she’ll negotiate. Especially since the depleted status indicates she’s running on fumes, soul-wise.

“Uh, hi,” I say in Letonga’s language, as everyone except Josh moves to use me as cover from the giant elf-lady at the far end of the room.

Her eyes barely flick over me, before she raises a hand. And in response, dozens of Reapershells rise from the ugly black mess below us.

“Smoulder?” I say, my voice light.

The shells don’t even manage to finish standing before they’re incinerated.

I catch the barest twitch on Kaybee’s face before, she uses a slightly different gesture, before waving at the mess again.

Once more, dozens of shells start to rise.

And this time, it’s Rufka’s turn to obliterate them.

“So… any chance we could talk about your mission to conquer Slethwerd? Is that an option? Or is this a fight to the death sorta thing?”

My question seems to startle her, as her hands jerk to a halt partway through her most recent attempt to summon more shells. And I’m guessing, based on the increased summon time, that these ones will be a bit more… annoying.

Kaybee opens her mouth, then clicks it closed. She shakes her head, and resumes her motions.

“Think it’s a fight to the death, Lex,” Rufka says, shaking her head.

I sigh, looking down at the poor old lady Reapershell that’s been birthing the rest. Then I teleport her out of the network of vines. Which seems to have the unfortunate side-effect of killing her.

Damn.

It also causes Kaybee to hesitate. This time when she opens her mouth, she speaks. A low hiss accompanies every word. “You are not welcome here, thief. You will be purged. As will your precious kittens.”

“Right. That was definitely a threat,” I say, squinting. “Think we have shackles strong enough to keep a Silver locked up?”

“Nope,” Rufka replies instantly. “We don’t even have shackles that could keep my mum locked away.”

“That’s… kinda depressing, you know that?”

Rufka just shrugs. Then she forces my hand, transforming into a goddess of pure lightning and blitzing across the chamber to strike Kaybee.

Kaybee shrieks, swiping an ax of dark blood at Rufka. But it doesn’t impact. Both because Rufka’s already gone, and because I teleported the ax away. As a precaution, I attach a tether to Kaybee.

And then Smoulder and Midnight join the fight, and in less than a second the room is bathed in cleansing fire. When it clears, it becomes apparent that the engine was consumed in their weird creation process.

It also becomes apparent that despite her silver-rank strength, Kaybee isn’t that tough, as a single volley from the others is enough to leave her on one knee.

Tougher than a lot of things we’ve fought lately, though, since that’s not enough to take her straight out of the fight.

Instead of continuing the fight, her body crumbles to the ground then turns into mana-dust. And I feel the tether shift.

Plus side, she can’t hide.

Down side, unless we find a way to trap her, she’ll just bounce between shells until she runs out, possibly taking others with her along the way.

“Don’t suppose anyone has any ideas on how to keep her from escaping?” I ask, as I float over to look at where the body collapsed.

Smoulder’s suggestion of ‘more fire’ manages to bring a small smile to my face as everyone else just shakes their heads.

I do have one way of dealing with her I’m sure will be permanent. Same way I dealt with Vrathorn. But I only did that to him cause… well, cause I wasn’t really in the best head space after what he did to Lexica and the other scouts.

“Hmm. She did steal the engine once. Maybe we can do something with that,” I say, looking towards Rufka. “Change her course or something?”

“So, boot the problem down the road? Is that how you say it?” Rufka asks, looking towards Josh, who’s frowning.

“Lexi. I think she needs to be removed. She’s already killed a lot of innocent people. Friends,” Josh says, looking up at me.

Right. This isn’t a new problem. She’s been attacking Josh and the others for over two months.

“Okay. No problem, gimme a few minutes,” I reply, teleporting to my tether. As I emerge, I notice that the shield overhead seems to be weakening again, a flicker rolling across it even as I focus on Kaybee.

She’s glaring back at me, her new host clearly not having enough resources to regrow her properly, her frame little more than a thin figure. One with Silver-rank strength though.

“I’d try talking again, except my friend reminded me just how much of a jerk you are,” I tell the corpse as I teleport it into two pieces. Then I follow the tether to her new host and do the same there. On the third, I decide to try mixing it up, testing out some of my new spells from my studies with Rose.

Sixty shells later, and she’s calling out, begging me to stop. Her current shell is a K’tharn whose fur is the same colour as Rufka’s.

It’s the only reason she was able to get the words out.

“I’m sure you realize you can’t hide from me. Every time you jump to a new shell, I’ll find you.”

She nods her head, the frame terribly thin as it expands to her full size. “The Thief has proven her strength. Let this one serve.”

“That’s… no. Just, no. Return to your jherl. It’s pretty much the only option.”

Kaybee stops bowing, and tilts her head to glare at me. Ah, I’m betting she wishes she had laser eyes right now. When her eyes start lighting up, I almost chuckle, blocking the effect with a shield of reflective steel.

As the beam envelopes her, she closes her eyes. The body lays down on the street, crumbling to mana-dust with an annoyingly pleased smile on its face.

And I feel my tether shift. But not to anywhere within the Sanctuary. Instead, it moves far into the distance. For a brief second, I feel her presence reform. Except its far sharper, and despite the distance, I feel terrible danger. But then the tether snaps, and the feeling fades.

When I fly upward to orient myself, I see several other puffs of blue dust floating into the sky.

It seems that in her return to the jherl, she took the rest of the shells with her.

Teleporting back to the others, I find they’ve burned away the remnants of the black vines, along with most of the engine.

“This… is bad. We were hoping to be able to get that engine online. Without it, I don’t know if we’ll be able to get the city running again,” Josh says, shaking his head.

Throwing my arm over his shoulder, I gaze down into the remains of the engine. “You know, Demo was telling me there’s a planet nearby. Might just be able to stop in and make some repairs.”

“That… that would be good. Did he mention it’s name?”

“Nope. But I was thinking something like Bob.”

Josh manages to make his glare felt as he stares at the side of my head.

“Man, no one appreciates the beauty of planet Bob,” I say, chuckling to myself as I teleport us back to his garden.

6.78, Camp Cosmic Castaway

May 3, 2024. 3:22 pm.

Even with the time it took to hunt down Kaybee, we still start working on the evacuation of Slethwerd several hours earlier than the first time. And this time I tell Josh and Vera first, which leads to me creating an entirely new Chateau de Stone, this time using Josh’s garden building as a base.

I use a couple loops to locate all the missing K’tharn, some of whom are hiding in completely different spots than they were the first time we found them. Once I have them all located, it only takes me three minutes to teleport them to safety.

Seriously, logistics are so much easier with teleport.

This time, Demo has enough advance warning to tie Sara’s engines into Slethwerd’s systems properly. Unfortunately, he still can’t connect the Second Promise. I’d have to figure that out myself, and he’s pretty sure we won’t need it. Especially once I feed him his own data from the first jump.

The shields are still flaring occasionally, but we’re ready to take off before they get as bad as last time.

I seal the door, joining the others inside Chateau-2, looking out through a tempered-steel window.

The shield is barely visible at this point, but I’m able to make out the familiar loss of colour that indicates we’re transitioning to Ripple-space. And then the stars go wavey. The shaking stops, and I motion for Smoulder to join me, before teleporting directly to the Saratesa.

We’ve made our way from just outside the airlock, all the way to his cabin when Demo drops us out of Ripple-space. This time, we don’t crash directly into the planet. Instead, as colour returns, a bright blue star dominates the viewscreen. Demo guides us toward a dark burgundy world, the shaking muted but still present aboard the Saratesa.

“Yeh’re just in time for landing,” he says over his shoulder. “Do me a favour and take a seat. Don’t need you bouncing into something on accident.”

Nodding, I take my seat, Smoulder sitting in my lap as the viewscreen zooms in on an empty crater. Strings of numbers appear as the shaking increases by an order of magnitude, slamming me against the restraints hard enough to cause them to creak. After a few more bumps, there’s a solid thump that resounds through Sara’s hull.

“Well, not as smooth as I’d have liked. But mostly in one piece,” Demo says, flipping the viewscreen to an external rendition of the nearby terrain. Prominent in the viewscreen is an entire detached building strewn halfway across the side of the crater.

As I raise an eyebrow, he shrugs. “I did say mostly.”

“Definitely better than your first attempt,” I agree, pushing out of my seat.

“That one didn’t count. I don’t even remember it,” Demo shoots back with a grin.

We disembark Saratesa to a failing shield, the atmosphere having escaped at some point during our descent.

Demo joins us outside in a full spacesuit, reflective silver dome helmet and all. He points at the flickering shield, before gesturing toward the tower and giving us the signal for ‘investigate.’ Which I have no trouble understanding. Despite the non-transparent dome, the articulation of his suit’s finger joints is surprisingly fluid.

Despite the upgrades, Josh’s garden took a hell of a beating. Most of the plants have been uprooted, a veritable maze of green and brown I couldn’t sort through in a week. Then again, I couldn’t have done that when they were still in the dirt. Good thing that’s Josh’s job.

As I’m stepping out of the magical airlock to check on Rufka, a clump of dirt lands near my foot. Looking up, I find Rufka floating above me, her full lightning armour form active with another clump of dirt already sailing in my direction. I attempt to dodge, but trip over Smoulder as she emerges from behind me. My failure results in a face full of grimy soil. Luckily, my mouth is firmly closed, due to the lack of air.

Summoning enough water to wash the earth away, I throw the resulting ball of muck in Rufka’s direction, but she’s already gone. No more earthy projectiles fly my way as Rufka instead takes her place at my side, dodging my retaliatory elbow with a small bow.

Returning my attention to the city, I start toward Josh’s tower while creating a bubble of air around me so I can ask, “How was the ride from your end?”

“Coulda been smoother. Glad you put in those weird grippy chairs though. Kept people from bouncing around too much.”

“Grippy chairs?” I ask, as Rufka leads us through one of the mechanical airlocks. But I realize what she was talking about the moment we’re inside. There are chairs on every floor with looping arms styled after looping vines and flowers. Little more than an afterthought, an artistic flourish. But they’re anchored directly to the structure of the building, and I’m in the habit of reinforcing most of my stone designs with steel these days.

Looking toward the chairs I’d actually designed for keeping people safe, I notice they’re completely empty.

“Yeah, no one used those,” Rufka says, patting me on the shoulder.

I shrug as we make our way up the tower. Didn’t invest much time in them anyway. Meeting with Josh and Vera is uneventful as we discuss what we’ll be doing next. With the shields offline, we end up spending the next few hours building reinforcements. And the entire time, Vera supervises volunteers playing Astra’s stride, unlocking metal and stone manipulation. Deptha is her first volunteer. And opponent.

When I see her, I take her aside to have a similar talk to the one that got erased when we were looping. Which leaves her crying. After consoling her, I return to work.

By the time we’re finished creating the large linked structure they want as a main base, they’ve finished thirty games. Which allows me to start instructing several people on the basics of creating their own tunnels. And how to repair the ones we’ve built for them.

Demo returns from his investigation right as we’re building a tunnel that creates a large open lane between the buildings, hooded by transparent steel. A technique Rufka learned from her mum.

Even with the chamber full of air, he waves us outside, leading us towards the Saratesa. Only after we’ve cycled the airlock completely does he remove the silver dome helmet. “I’ve got good news and bad news. Which yeh want first?”

“Bad news. Always start with the bad,” I reply, trying not to pace.

“The bad news is Sara’s been bled dry. I’m gonna have ta force her through a complete restart sequence… again.

Smiling I flick his toothpick. “Jerk, that barely qualifies as bad news.”

“Sara’s grounded again! How can yeh say that’s not bad news?” Demo demands, jutting his toothpick at me.

Rolling my eyes, I ask, “So, what’s the good news.”

Demo smiles as he pulls the leggings of his suit off. “Yeh’re not gonna believe this. But the shield went out cause it’s trying to compensate for the missing engine as if it’s still there.”

“Not because it’s overworked?”

“Nope,” he says with a smirk. “I’ve initiated the diagnostic reboot. It should reactivate any minute now.” He sets the bottom of his suit down, folding it all inside the helmet as he exits the airlock

“And all this,” I say, grabbing his shoulder as I wave toward the compound we just built.

“Is gonna be critical if the shield fails again. We can’t bring them with us. Our ships aren’t big enough. But… yeh might be able to use the buoys.”

“Don’t exactly want to abandon the city,” I object. “And I definitely don’t want to leave it to fall under Reaper control.”

“That’s… a whole other Stellar Hazard.” Demo pops his toothpick out to point at the compound. “But this’ll keep em safe long enough for yeh to ferry them back to Akilo.”

Rufka coughs, getting us to turn to her. “You might want to ask them if they want to go back. I got the impression most don’t.”

“What?” Demo asks, dropping his toothpick. “They do know they’re stranded on a rock without air?”

“I was talking with that guard, Pethe about whether they’d consider going back to Akilo when Vera joined us. Now that they have stone and earth manipulation, they’re feeling safe again. They don’t want to take the Sanctuary into space again, but they think they can make it here. And that’s before anyone knew the shield was coming back,” Rufka states, gripping her elbows as she looks out the window. “And I think we should help them.”

“Uh, sure thing. What’d you have in mind,” I ask, gesturing for her to continue.

Rufka nods, pulling out a list printed on metal sheets. I read through it, nodding. Mostly things we can do quickly. More buildings, some simple enchantment templates, and helping bulk out several advanced agriculture spaces.

Flipping the design over a couple times, I glance at Rufka again. The design of the agriculture spaces is… huge, nearly half the size of the city for each compound. And there are five. A glint from outside draws my eyes to where a few K’tharn are planting some of Josh’s garden in the transparent corridor we created.

Looking at my thiani, I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t some sort of prank. But she seems serious.

“Okay. Let’s do it,” I say, handing the design back to Rufka.

“Really?” she asks, clutching the plates to her chest as she closes her upper eyes.

“Yeah. I’ll ferry those who want to leave back to Akilo, but those who want to stay.” I pause, looking up into the sky. Beth and the Reapers are getting farther away. And I only have fifty-one days to get there before the world ends. For all my plans to work, I figure I’ll need about a week of real time.

But with Demo already needing to restart Sara, and having confirmed that the Second Promise is much slower in regular space… “We’re stuck here anyway. We don’t have much time, but we’ll get as much done as we can. Might not get everything finished, so make sure they prioritize.”

“I’ll talk to Vera,” Rufka says, giving me a quick hug before starting the airlock cycle again.

I decide to save her the time, teleporting us directly into Chateau-2. Which is already becoming Vera’s headquarters, tables and plans strewn about the space with a transparent image of the city floating in the middle.

Vera confirms most of Rufka’s plans, though she’s already made adjustments to the designs.

“Weren’t expecting you to help,” Vera admits, taking me to a lone chamber. “Thought you’d be on your way.”

“My primary goal’s always been to help out. Besides, my ride’s kinda busted. It’d be a pretty jerk move to just sit around.”

“Mhm. Letie said you’d say something like that. Don’t understand it, but always knew you were a strange one. How about you get these quitters home,” Vera says, opening a door to reveal three K’tharn waiting around an empty table.

“This is all? No one else wants to go back?”

Vera shakes her head, turning away from the room without so much as a glance at the three K’tharn. I recognize them, but I don’t know any of their names.

I try to be gentle as I instruct them to take each other’s hands and gather close. Then I craft a sphere around us, Rufka at my shoulder and Smoulder snuggled tight against my chest and Midnight curled up inside.

And with a gentle push, I return us to the first of the beacons.

The return to Akilo proceeds with no problems. Not even a glitch as we pass through the void-shield. After divesting ourselves of our passengers in Vort Camlin, Rufka and I take half an hour to purchase some supplies Vera requested before returning through the network to the crashed Sanctuary.

Josh is pacing the edge of the proposed site of the first of the agricultural compounds when we find him. When he see us, he waves us over to a nearby building where they’ve set up an easy-use airlock. It only takes superhuman strength to open and close it, no special skills.

Yep, super easy.

6.79, Longshot

May 3, 2024. 5:03 pm.

I’m chuckling before he’s even finished pushing the second door closed. No one asks why, moving directly into discussions of what needs to be done. Instead of demonstrating more of my artistry, Josh and Vera convince me my time is best spent erecting the core of the massive structures.

It’s boring, but I do as they ask. The designs are simple, great arches that bear most of the weight without much need for reinforcement. A design easy to create only because I’m able to support the edifice the entire time I’m erecting the massive arches. When I’ve finished the first one, I turn around looking toward the far end. I could fit at least three stadiums inside. Four, if I don’t include room for all the support areas.

And it’s just the first of the giant buildings. Two hours and over a thousand literal tons of transformed stone later and I’ve completed the fifth of the giant agricultural domes. It’s as I’m adding a personal touch above the entrance — a small set of murals with every one of my friends on it — that Vera finds me again.

“Didn’t think you’d finish so fast,” Vera admits, running her hand along the rough surface of the entrance hall.

“Not my best work. But they say quantity has a quality all its own. I think. And don’t ask me who they are.”

“I won’t,” Vera says, a smile on her face as she looks up at the plaque. “There are still a number of smaller outbuildings to build. It would be nice to have you help with those.”

“Sure, just-“

Her raised hand interrupts me as Vera adds, “Your friend Demo requested your assistance. He was rather excited.”

“Oh. Well, I’d best be going then. Thanks for passing on the message.”

“I didn’t come just to pass on the message. I wanted… I wanted to thank you. For showing up when we needed you. I didn’t believe before,” Vera says, turning her head away from me.

“Oh, it’s fine. No belief required,” I say, patting her on the shoulder. “I prefer it that way.”

When she looks back at me, she nods. But I see it there. That gleam in her eye as she says, “Of course. Skeptic till the end. You should go.”

Returning to the central compound doesn’t take long, but it’s considerably noisier than it was before I left. The tunnels connecting the city carry sound a lot better than the empty vacuum on the surface. Or even the atmosphere inside the city shields, now that I think about it.

When I arrive in the central corridor, I see there are already work crews setting up secondary doors between chambers. Probably to keep the atmosphere in, but I suspect they’ll take care of the noise too.

Rufka and Midnight are both helping with a work crew that’s erecting what will serve as Slethward’s spaceport in the near future, while Smoulder supervises with a stern glare.

Which is where the only two visiting craft are currently parked.

The Saratesa and the Second Promise rest on what’s basically a solid slab of stone with fancy lines painted on, not so much as a docking airlock or tunnel having been constructed yet. But it’s been less than a day. They’ll get them done, I’m certain.

Entering Sara’s airlock, Demo is waiting for me by the time it decompresses.

“Good. Was worried yeh’d spend the rest of the day making those Odeon-forsaken monstrosities,” he says, taking my hand and tugging me toward the engineering section.

Allowing him to guide me, I ask, “What’s the problem?”

“Need yeh to make some parts. Turns out I burned through several conduits.”

“That’s it? You just need… pipes?”

“Won’t fly without them,” Demo replies, releasing my hand. “Just glad we didn’t lose the converter. Can yeh imagine trying to recreate one of those?”

“Uhm. I told you it’d only take me a couple hours, remember? Or I could just teleport back to Akilo. I’m sure I could find another one,” I reply as we pass through his mana-desaturation chamber.

“Yeh do know how crazy that is, yeah? Even the Nine Worlds don’t have many people who can just jump between planets. Or make rare mana-parts in ‘just a couple hours’.”

I shrug. It’s really just part of the whole ‘reality-is-stranger-than-fiction’ thing for me at this point.

Creating a single one of the conduits that Demo needs takes longer than creating an entire supersized stadium. The inner workings require a level of finesse that we’re only able to achieve using his tools and the low-ambient Mana of the engine room.

Guess there’s a chance it would’ve taken me longer than two hours to make the converter. Probably closer to four.

Three hours later, we’ve reinstalled all the damaged conduits and a small bypass valve. Despite being a more complex part, it was easier to rebuild than the conduits thanks to its much lower capacity.

“Shouldn’t all this failing have damaged other parts of the ship?” I ask, as we exit the engine.

“They didn’t fail. What sort of captain waits until things stop working to make repairs?” Demo asks as we cross through the cramped space that serves as Saratesa’s meeting room, dining area and tactical planning centre. Also, the main hallway. The Second Promise’s layout is so much more people friendly.

“A bad one,” I answer his rhetorical question.

“Exactly. A bad captain. Do I look like a bad captain to yeh?” he asks, one hand on the grenade at his waist, the other waving a toothpick in my face. As I start to smile, he waves me away. “Don’t answer that.”

“What? You afraid I was going to tell you the truth?” I tease as we reach the airlock.

Demo shakes his head. “Course not. Cause yeh’re not that stupid, are yeh?”

I’m still chuckling to myself as the air is sucked away and we head out into the city to track down the others. It’s an easy task, Rufka, Smoulder and Midnight all working on projects nearby. Completely coincidental, I’m sure.

With them in tow, we head back to the primary agricultural center, where Josh is tending the plants Vera is directing into the chamber.

“Oh, hey Lex,” Josh says, his black curls slicked back with enough mud his hair almost matches his complexion.

“Hey. Been rolling in the fields, have we?”

“What? Oh, the mud. Nah, just trying to prove I’m no different than everyone else.”

“Is it working?” I ask, patting his shoulder with more intensity than I’d intended nearly knocking him over as I step forward.

Vera interjects as Josh regains his balance. “It has endeared him somewhat. But we all know he’s a hard worker.”

Josh turns away, his cheeks noticeably darker as he tends to a bush the size of my room back on Earth.

“Anyway, we came to… say goodbye, I guess. We’ve finished the repairs.”

“Oh,” Josh says, turning back and glancing over everyone. “I… I guess I thought we’d have more time to catch up. I’d go with you, but if anything goes wrong…”

“Yeah. I get it. You’re needed here,” I say, gripping his shoulder. “Sides, it’s not like I won’t be able to visit. We still have the buoys.”

“Actually,” Demo says, raising his toothpick.

“Yes?”

“The buoys won’t be much use once we pass out of mana-space. Course, once the storm reaches your home, they’ll work again. Mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“The mana-front is class five. That’s… well, there’s going to be massive amounts of interference for a while.” Demo looks around at the rest of us, but I’m the only one who really has any idea of what he’s talking about.

Vera shakes her head as she says, “You certainly make it sound bad. I’m almost glad we were sabotaged.” Her eyes drift closed for a moment as she whispers, “Almost.”

Squeezing her shoulder, Josh turns to me with a sigh. Then he looks at the others. “Can we have a minute?”

Nodding, I follow him into a side area that’s already filling up with simple tools like buckets the size of a K’tharn. Josh leans against one of the buckets, massaging his temples. “I… should go home. But my parents and… Ariane. They wouldn’t want to talk to me anyway.”

“You’re sure?” I ask, not letting him look away.

“I told you about what Ariane, did, right? Well, I… I got her arrested. And a bunch of the punks she was running with,” Josh admits, running a hand through his mud encrusted hair. “Dad did not appreciate that. I thought it was the right move though. She wouldn’t listen.”

Sighing, he glances over at Vera. “But he was right. Now she can’t even get into a decent college.”

Chuckling, I sit on a smaller cube-bucket. “I don’t think that’s going to matter much. Not once the mana-storm hits.”

Josh shrugs, giving me a small smile. “You’ll look after them better than I could anyway. You will save them, won’t you?”

“Of course,” I reassure him. “Though… it’d be easier if I knew where they lived.”

“Right, of course. Just let me…” Josh starts, producing a metal tablet. A short inscription and liberal application of Facet later, and I’ve entered the address into my Journal and memorized his parents' phone number and address. Just in case.

We stand there, the tablet held loosely in Josh’s hand. He looks up at me, his eyes searching my face for a minute. “Really is goodbye then.”

“For now,” I agree.

“You know, when we woke up on that grass in the middle of nowhere… I thought I’d need to protect you. It was the only thing that made sense. Keep my kid neighbour safe. Just like always. Instead… you know, I’ve lost count of the things you’ve saved me from.”

“Life’s weird like that.”

“Nope, pretty sure it’s just you,” Josh teases.

“Hey!”

“Are you denying it?” he asks, arching an eyebrow.

“No,” I admit with a small smile.

“I’m glad you made it, Lex. I really am,” Josh says, reaching an arm out like he’s going to give me a handshake.

I dismiss the elemental metal within my hand just so I can squiggle my empty hand at him before pulling the lanky fool in for a hug.

“Don’t you dare think this is the last time we’ll see each other. We’ve both come back from the dead. A little apocalypse isn’t going to be the end of our friendship,” I say, squeezing him.

His response mostly comes out as a wheezing cough until I loosen my hug. After a moment of catching his breath, Josh says, “I’ll miss you too. Though not your hugs. You’re getting too strong.”

“Shut up,” I say, though I let him go. “Not my fault I can’t control my strength as easily as you can. Goes up too fast, remember?”

“Yeah. Hard to forget,” he says, flicking a piece of the mud from his hair at me. Which I snag out of the air and flick back.

He moves to walk out of the shed, but I stop him. “I know it was a long time ago. But… my power. Are you still afraid of it?”

“Yeah. Terrified,” he answers, pausing in the doorway.

“Figured,” I say, nodding to myself.

But he turns to me, adding, “But I’m not afraid of you. Remember that, okay? You’re not your power.”

“Thanks,” I say, pushing him forward, “Now get back to work, you slacker.”

Despite my words, we still end up visiting for another fifteen minutes before taking our leave. And trading another hug. Which I totally overdo again. Just cause I can.

As we’re nearing the spaceport, Rufka pulls me to the side. In the service building, she’s built another permanent buoy twice the size of the previous one with Midnight and Smoulder’s help. I give them each a hug, though I’m even less careful than I was with Josh. I know they can take it.

Then I memorize the runes.

And we fly away, looking down on the impromptu colony. “Did they pick a name?”

“Pick a name for what?” Demo asks, as he flips switches.

“The planet.”

Demo stares at a spot on one of his viewscreens for a second. “Hmm. No name, just a designation. SCS-KV-22-3.”

“Not true,” Rufka says, staring back at the colony. “They’re calling it Longshot.”

“I thought that was a joke,” Demo replies, looking back to where Smoulder is purring in her lap.

Rufka shrugs. “Guess it stuck.”

I shake my head. “Shoulda gone with planet Bob.”

Rufka smiles, as the Second Promise docks with Sara once more.

With a final glimpse of Longshot in the distance, the stars turn into grey ripples.

6.80, The Long Road Home

May 3, 2024. 11:49 pm.

Twenty minutes later and Demo’s dropping us out of ripple-space. There’s nothing here except the nearest edge of the mana-storm. It’s visible, only barely. It takes up half the sky, stretching out of sight in every direction.

“Vaus’ tears,” Rufka whispers.

“Never been this close before,” Demo says, his voice just as low.

I lean on his console, staring at the viewscreen squinting. “Just how close are we?”

Flicking his screen to another display, Demo highlights the mana-storm and our current location. “Little over a lightyear.”

“Doesn’t that mean…” I start, but can’t quite articulate just how overwhelmed I’m feeling.

“That it’s lightyears across? Yeah. And it’s unstoppable too. No wonder the System can’t be beaten,” Demo says, closing the display. “And we’re going through.”

“Seems dangerous,” Rufka observes.

Demo leans back, tossing a grenade back and forth between his hands. “Hmm. Could be.”

“We can’t go around?” I ask, pulling at my hair, then frowning and tucking it back in place. Should probably get a haircut soon.

Demo holds up his grenade, tracing his finger along it’s surface. “We could. But it’d take us at least an extra week. Possibly longer. Can’t guarantee we’d make it to Earth before the storm. We’re already cutting it close.”

“So, we’re going through,” I say, plucking the grenade from Demo’s hand.

“Yep.” His grin is practically splitting his face in two as he pulls another grenade from his waist. “I get to thread the needle.”

Rufka interjects, still trapped beneath Smoulder, “Why am I more worried than when we were under attack by the Reapershells?”

“Cause yeh’re smart,” Demo says, catching his grenade and returning it to his belt while holding his hand out to me.

Handing back his grenade, I ask, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Demo blinks, then scratches his chin. “Yeh know. There is.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep. Yeh can witness my amazing skills,” Demo says, turning back to the console and taking us forward. We don’t move into ripple-space, but colour does get leeched out as he activates his other drive. Except for the mana-storm. It’s still vividly flashing across the screens in full colour as we get closer.

It looms ever larger as we approach. I can practically feel it pressing against me, an implacable force. But when I reach out to it, it responds. Just like normal Mana. I can’t help but smile as I smooth the area around Demo’s ship.

“What… what’re yeh doing?” Demo demands, spinning around.

“Just easing out the bumps?” I say,

He grabs my elemental wrist, wincing as he pulls his hand back from the molten steel. “We need to be invisible. There are things that dwell in the storms. Drawing their attention… Let’s not risk it.”

“Okay. Sorry,” I apologize, releasing the Mana.

Demo nods, not making any adjustments as we drift out of the calm pool I’d created. Sara shakes and rumbles a couple times, but Demo still doesn’t take us forward.

It’s only after ten minutes of drifting that Demo, returns his attention to guiding Sara manually.

The Mana flashes around us, the disturbances creating lightshows that carry from one edge of our vision to the other. After ten minutes of relatively smooth travel, the storm grows dark. I recognize the voids within. Touching my empty eye-socket, I can’t help but think about the storm that stole my eye back on Akilo.

And Demo takes us directly toward them. The next few minutes are a non-stop series of jerks and starts as Demo maneuvers past hundreds of empty holes in reality.

When we finally pass out of the field of reality tears, Demo lets go of his controls, leaning back and running a hand through his hair.

“So, was that the worst of it?” Rufka asks.

Demo gives a weak smile, replacing the toothpick that he’s chewed down to a stub. “Hardly. We’ve just hit a smooth patch. There’ll be another couple hours of this. At least.”

“Ah,” I say. None of us speak after that, watching the viewscreen as another dark patch grows ahead of us.

“Welp. No rest for the Systemless. Or System-cursed, I guess,” Demo says, leaning forward.

He continues navigating through the dark, crossing through several sections of twisting emptiness with only short breaks between each. Demo remains glued to his controls the entire time, and none of us move, watching his hands as they make continual adjustments.

After four hours we reach another calm patch and I ask, “How’re you doing?”

“I’m… surprisingly fine. Being able to draw on Focus is making this easier than I expected,” Demo says, turning toward us. “At this rate we should be nearing the front soon.”

“Anything we should know about the front?” Rufka asks from where she’s cuddled next to me. It’s been four hours, no reason for us to remain apart. “You know, like keep your Mana within the vehicle.”

“Actually, the front is the one place it should be fine for you to manipulate Mana. There won’t be anything living there.”

“Well, that is the opposite of reassuring,” Rufka laughs out. “Not even the monsters get close?”

“Too unstable. If they crossed out of the storm, there’s a very real chance they’d die,” Demo explains.

“Huh, what do you know, that is reassuring,” I chuckle, and Rufka nods along.

We wait quietly, the storm rocking the Saratesa gently as we pass closer to the edge. When we reach the edge of the calm patch, it’s not darkness, but light that awaits us. Raw Mana manifesting in incredible combinations. Stone and ice comets smashing into blazing bolts of lightning. As in, the lightning bolt was literally on fire.

Countless reactions rain around us. And slam into us.

The entire ship lurches as one of the blazing lighting bolts practically wraps itself around the ship.

“I jinxed us. I totally jinxed us,” Demo says, his hands flying across the console.

“Why? What’s happening?” I demand, leaning over his shoulder.

“Living lightning. It’s trying to eat us.”

“Wait, that thing’s alive?”

Demo grimaces as he flicks open a cover revealing three red switches near the top of his console. “Yeh’d best brace yehrselves.”

As I pull Smoulder and Rufka close, Demo flicks the first of his switches. And the Saratesa jumps forward. There’s no lurch or transition. Just, one second we’re being hit, the next we’re deeper inside the storm.

And Sara continues to shake, flickering lights filling the cabin. Demo curses under his breath, but I’m reaching out to figure out what’s happening. And I meet a wall. A being of mana so powerful just sensing them leaves me stunned.

Then we disappear again.

I recover just in time to see Demo climbing back into his seat… when did he fall out?

His hand hovers over the third switch, but there’s no further shaking. It seems we’ve left the living lightning behind. We drift past several more flashing phenomena before Demo pulls his hand back, yet he doesn’t flip the cover down.

Ahead, I can see the edge of the storm, thinning out only starlight beyond.

And then we’re through, the whirling elemental chaos simply left behind as the world outside returns to its monochrome state.

“Didn’t think it’d go so well,” Demo says, turning to us with a grin.

“That was well?” Rufka asks, her grip on my arm tighter than necessary.

“Yeh’re alive, aren’t ya?”

“Seems like it,” I agree.

“And now for the hardest part,” Demo says, swirling about in his chair.

“Harder than that?” Rufka asks, Smoulder glaring at her as she shifts in the seat.

But Demo’s already turned back to his console, closing the viewscreens and flicking a few switches as the cabin lights dim. Then he pops to his feet, striding past us down the hall, pausing to look back with a wink. “Yep, the hardest part of any trip. The waiting.”

…TPWM…

Demo wasn’t wrong.

The journey after the front takes us over a month of real-time.

Which we spend trapped inside two tiny ships with only a few short breaks to sneak outside when we stop to update Demo’s stellar charts.

With only the food in our inventory to replenish Mana, and no way to teleport stellar distances until the Mana-front passes over us, we can’t be too reckless with our Resources.

Not until Rufka and I are finished converting the sun-ring into a mana-fusion generator. A project that has consumed most of the Second Promise’s free room, alongside mine and Rufka’s time. It’s been trickier than I expected, especially since we’re doing it in a low-Mana environment.

Even when we do stop, going outside isn’t that great anyway. Without Mana, space feels as cold and empty as I’d always imagined it, leeching away not just warmth but Mana every second we spend outside. Less than I generate on my own, but enough to cripple the others pretty quickly.

I’ve managed to convince my System to upgrade Anchor to be reactive, and to trigger a reset to the second most recent Save point when several preset triggers occur. Still can’t get it to react to weird conditions like death, but half-Health was pretty easy.

While I’ve upgraded the contingencies, the actual looping is more restricted. Trying to grasp a thread that stretches back outside of mana-space is hard. At least when we’re using Demo’s faster-than-light drive. Turns out there’s a distance limit to looping. At least, outside of mana-space. Never ran into this problem before we entered regular space, but I also didn’t test it much when we were going faster than light.

The fact I can disrupt the drives by using too much Mana, means Rufka and Smoulder are actually dealing with the cramped space better than I am. Though it helps that in addition to our work on the generator, they’re continually challenging each other at Vaus’ Champions and Astra’s Stride. I join them, but I don’t find it nearly as engaging.

Also, I’m pretty sure Smoulder’s already better than me at both.

Rufka’s not using her special set for Astra’s Stride because she left it with Josh, with a stern warning not to lose it.

I swear he was more shocked by that than by the fact I came back from the dead.

Figures.

Midnight chose to retreat into the egg shortly after we passed through the front, not wanting to lounge around my soul watching us do enchanting work and play games for the long, slow voyage to Earth. A feat that is easily accomplished when my System fakes Midnight's status, making the egg think he's unbonded. Which reveals that the reason bonded aren't supposed to use the egg is that they're still aware of everything from my end. It takes another hour to build a new gate that doesn't let even a hint of my awareness from leaking through the bond. As soon as it's done, the egg has a silvery outline of Midnight appear on its side as Midnight slips into his artificial hibernation.

I’m trying to indulge Rufka as she tells me about the latest tweaks to Vaus’ Champions she and Smoulder are planning to make when Demo comes stomping in from the direction of the shower unit. He strides past us directly to the cockpit. I’m the first to follow, but Rufka’s not far behind, leaving Smoulder to hop after us.

Demo’s already in his chair, a yellow light blinking near the top of his console when we catch up.

“Problem?” I ask, slipping into what has become my favorite crash chair. Mostly cause it has a good view of all his viewscreens.

Shaking his head, Demo brings up another viewscreen. A dark shape fills the screen, a cylinder like a rolling pin that’s had a thousand holes drilled in it. And according to the readout, one that’s the size of a mountain. Wait, no. There’s a notation on the side that indicates it’s… way bigger than a mountain. Bigger than Akilo and Ukila put together, actually. “Is that… actually, I’ve got nothing. What is it?”

“The past,” Demo says, flicking his wet drooping hair out of his eyes with a strong blast of air that dries it but also leaves it sticking up like a spike.

Ignoring Demo’s hair, I focus on the screen. “The past could mean a lot of things. Can you give us anything more specific?”

“It’s a remnant. Of one of the Forerunner species.”

“Like, the Forerunners who sent us here?”

“No. Yehr little organization named themselves after the originals,” Demo responds, his hands reaching for a blue handle on the far left of his console.

I choose not to point out that I know otherwise. But I’m left wondering if the Second Promise has any records of this spinning structure.

His hand hovers over the handle as I ask, “What do you mean originals?”

“I mean, there were others. When… Before the System. We always knew there had to be some remnants of their civilization but this… this is bigger than anyone could imagine.” Despite his words, Demo leans away from the console, tapping his chin with his toothpick. Then he rotates slowly, looking us over. “This could be important. Very important. The Council would be very… Perhaps we should take a look.”

“How far is it?” Rufka asks.

Demo spins back to his console, bringing up a new display showing our route. The cylinder’s literally in our path.

“Well, that’s convenient,” I mutter, squinting at the intercept course as Demo zooms in.

“I think it’s detected us,” Demo says, pointing to a readout for… electromagnetic emissions? “It’s on an intercept course. We could go around easily enough. An extra hour, maybe two.”

“Oh, Vaus no!” Rufka declares. “We’ve been stuck inside for weeks. This is a perfect opportunity to stretch our arms.”

“Legs,” I correct, but Rufka waves me off as Smoulder jumps onto Demo’s console sniffing at the screen. “But I agree with Rufka. This ship is nice enough, but a warrior needs to move. And by warrior, I mean me,” I tease before Rufka can interject. Which she was totally about to do, her face already morphing to a grin as I pluck Smoulder off the console before she can kick anything important.

One accidental venting of a cargo bay is enough, thank you.

“Think it detected the Second Promise?” I ask, giving Smoulder extra scritches to make up for my sudden grab.

“Could be. Would explain why it’s active,” Demo says, still studying his readings.

“Well, far be it for us to refuse their invitation,” I say. I’m probably itching to get off the ship as much as the others, if not more. The last few weeks have been productive, but not being able to flex my magical skills has been a bit frustrating.

Since playing with magic could’ve disrupted the drive, which would’ve slowed us down, I’ve been extra careful but with a structure larger than a planet to let loose in, that’s hardly a concern. Besides, we’re getting close, but we’ve still got a week before we can make it to Earth. With the mana-fusion-reactor almost complete, I feel we’ve earned a break.

And poking around an ancient Forerunner derelict sounds like exactly my kind of break.

Table of Contents

Title Page

0.00 The Forerunner Initiative

1.00 One of those Days

1.01 Loading Please Wait

The Story Continues

2.00 Camp dayz

2.01 Easy, Super Easy

2.02 Hitting the Field

2.03 Fallen and Falling

2.04 The Moonshine Talks, and the Moonwalk Walks

2.05 Turbulence

2.06 Project Airborne 2.0

2.07 A Broader Perspective

2.08 Plans? Where we're going, we don't need plans.

2.09 All Out Elemental Action

2.10 Citizen Pandora

2.11 Tunnel Time

2.12 Unexpected Discoveries

2.13 Why You Wittle Wascal

2.14 Early, but not so Bright

2.15 What is a Father Anyway?

2.16 Challenge Accepted

2.17 Fear Not The Bunny!

2.18 Crew Quarters

2.19 Brainfreeze

2.20 Model Ships

2.21 Fire Drill

2.22 Enchanted, I'm sure

2.23 Status Check

2.24 Deep Cleansing, Soul Deep

2.25 Soulstone Summoner

2.26 Checklisting Challenges

2.27 Bonus Rounds

2.28 Ugh, Spiders

2.29 Tallest Tower

2.30 Unlimited Library Card

2.31 Account Cancellation

2.32 No Checkered flags

2.33 What Friends Do

3.00 Change of Plans

3.01 A Walk in the Forest

3.02 Fly by Night

3.03 Pick me ups

3.04 Small Improvements

3.05 Demo

3.06 Sleepus Interuptus

3.07 Cross Country

3.08 Glimmering Sands

3.09 Removable Obstacles

3.10 Unexpected Guests

3.11 Turning up the Heat

3.12 Face to Face

3.13 Now Shopping for Widgets

3.14 Holding Up

3.15 It's Raining Tower

3.16 Discouraging Pursuit

3.17 One Small Step

3.18 Wake me up

3.19 Before you Go-Go

3.20 Hell of a Drop

3.21 System Access?

3.22 Forerunner

3.23 Not so Simple

3.24 Some People's Parents

3.25 Are Not as They Appear

3.26 Breached

3.27 Little Complications

3.28 Making the List

3.29 If You Choose to Accept It

3.30 Gather Round

3.31 Rest and Remote Infiltration

3.32 Task Failed Successfully

3.33 Setting Sun

3.34 To Them the Spoils

3.35 Humble Abode

3.36 Message in Hand

3.37 Ring-a-ding!

3.38 The Few Who Stand

3.39 Playtime

4.00, A Meeting Between Moments

4.01, I have a… no? Later then? Okay

4.02, Living Dead Guards

4.03, What Stays Up

4.04, Something Rotten

4.05, Living on the Edge

4.06, Not Ivicka

4.07, World's End Palace

4.08, The Taken known as

4.09, Higher Heights

4.10, How Do You Like Them Poisoned Apples

4.11, Tabled Meetings

4.12, Forbidden Knowledge, Denied

4.13, Hottest Spot Around

4.14, Challenge Requested

4.15, High Voltage, Rock and... Twilight?

4.16, Taken Tears

4.17, After Earth Magic

4.18, Petting the Pussy-cat

4.19, Elementary Spell-craft

4.20, Ineesis' Trial by Fire

4.21, Hero Pose

4.22, When One Door Opens

4.23, Another Gets Blown-off its Hinges

4.24, Oh Mighty Rabbit Queen

4.25, Population Limits

4.26, A Not So Honest Merchant

4.27, A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea

4.28, The Isle of the Vale of the Tomb of Desh Atun

4.29, So Edgy, it Must be Emo

4.30, Immortal Kombat

4.31, Sweetest Things

4.32, Thirty-Six Days and Nights

4.33, Grinding Atun

4.34, Desh'mersa

4.35, Round One, Fight?

4.36, Desh Atun

4.37, Exit to Your Left

4.38, Yeah, They Had Something to do With It

4.39, One Small Step

4.40, One Giant Teleport for Lexi

4.41, An Unusual Vigil

4.42, I’ll Show you a Sacred Tool

4.43, There's Always Another Bug

4.44, Not Ugly Enough to Save

4.45, A Hundred and One Fallen

4.46, Down Where it's Wetter

4.47, You Know that It's Better

4.48, Important Studies

5.00, A Light Second Away

5.01, To Steal a City

5.02, Some Assembly Required

5.03, Inhibiting Progress

5.04, Random Encounters

5.05, That Which Binds

5.06, Beyond the Rise

5.07, Testing, Testing, 1,2,3

5.08, Where Have You Been

5.09, Smo No Mo

5.10, Throwing Down

5.11, Elswyrms to Elsewhere

5.12, Into The Mire

5.13, Talmaskan Tea

5.14, Nightstar Rising

5.15, Economy Class

5.16, Security Bypass

5.17, The World Dungeon

5.18, Around the Rim

5.19, Grounded

5.20, Stepping Up

5.21, Bountiful Bounties

5.22, Cabin in the Dungeon

5.23, Thunderstruck

5.24, Static

5.25, Not Home Alone

5.26, Tel-e-phone

5.27, Old Tricks

5.28, When I Stared into the Abyss, it Blinked First

5.29, Nice Chairs

5.30, Shades of Twilight

5.31, Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop

5.32, It’s Alive

5.33, Heavy is the Head

5.34, That Doesn’t Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

5.35, A Little Dignity with your Squid

5.36, Do Fix What is Broken

5.37, User Error Detected

5.38, Very, Very, Un-dignitary

5.39, Best Laid Plans

5.40, Of Women and Monsters

5.41, The Darkest Update

5.42, New Game Plus

5.43, A Missing Thiani

5.44, Exception Error

6.00, Moment of Quiet

6.01, A Really Early Start

6.02, Framework

6.03, Build-a-System

6.04, Sister in the Sky

6.05, Over 9000!

6.06, Hands in the Air

6.07, Dragons!

6.08, Unto The Slaughter

6.09, Freeze

6.10, Me No Speakie Squeaky

6.11, New Threads

6.12, Tear it Up

6.13, Landscaping

6.14, Repairs and Renovations

6.15, Stop. Rewind. Play again

6.16, Good Cop, Scary Queens

6.17, Not-A-Dentist

6.18, Junkyard Heart Transplants

6.19, Diagnostic Delights

6.20, No Nice Things

6.21, Mind Squared

6.22, No Cardboard Boxes

6.23, Oh Damn

6.24, Cosplay Cosmic

6.25, Precious Cargo

6.26, Just Give Me a Reason

6.27, Sweep it Off

6.28, Parts Run

6.29, The Beaconing

6.30, Boulder Bob's Bad Day

6.31, Uneven Affections

6.32, Watered Down

6.33, All Green Thumbs

6.34, Eye of the Forerunner

6.35, Grand Theft Starship

6.36, Severed Threads

6.37, Stem to Stern

6.38, The Blood Price

6.39, Inconvenient

6.40, Yes, Commandant

6.41, Temporal Annihilation

6.42, In The Cards

6.43, How To Bond Your Dragon

6.44, Reaching Out

6.45, Nothen Doing

6.46, An Empire's Reserves

6.47, The Second Promise

6.48, Dis-entangled

6.49, See You Later, Alligator

6.50, Tidying Time

6.51, Hopalong Lexi

6.52, Re-Queened

6.53, Echoes

6.54, Feeling Frisky

6.55, Pesky Locals

6.56, Bits and Bobs

6.57, Tidebreaker

6.58, The Heart

6.59, Finding the Patterns

6.60, Starstruck

6.61, Under The Radar

6.62, Shaking Off the Dirt

6.63, Return of the... Prince?

6.64, Playing With Fire... Magic

6.65, Unofficial Meatbag Ambassador

6.66, When Hell Freezes Over

6.67, Into The Phothen's Den

6.68, Past the Barrier

6.69, Very Nice

6.70, K'tharn in the Cradle

6.71, Into The Black

6.72, Can't Stop the Signal

Not-A-Chapter Art, Thanks & Upcoming Audiobook release, free epubs and stubbing for zon

6.73, Sanctuary Lost

6.74, Only Child

6.75, Not Guilty

6.76, Cleaning Up

6.77, Shell Games

6.78, Camp Cosmic Castaway

6.79, Longshot

6.80, The Long Road Home